IWA-MS April Bloodshowers: The Final Chapter 4/28/2007

Written by: Bob Colling

IWA-MS presents April Bloodshowers: The Final Chapter
Date: 4/28/2007
From: Midlothian, IL

Opening Contest: Jimmy Shalwin vs. Jack Thriller: Before the bell, Thriller goes on the attack with a few strikes. Shalwin fights back with a scoop slam and a leg drop for a two count. Thriller delivers a few knee strikes and a dropkick to Shalwin’s knee. Thriller focuses his attack on Shalwin’s left knee for a few moments. Shalwin battles back with a few chops and jabs. Shalwin backdrops Thriller, but Thriller delivers a few stomps to the knee. Shalwin plants Thriller with a chokeslam for a two count. Shalwin misses a top rope moonsault. Thriller takes Shalwin down to the mat and locks in a figure four leg lock managing to win the match by submission. (*1/4. A rather basic match between these two. It wasn’t a bad match. They didn’t get a lot of time and the action was consistent.)

Brandon Thomaselli comes out and tells Ian Rotten that he isn’t going to compete in a strap match with Josh Abercrombie because he doesn’t have to. Thomaselli thinks that Abercrombie is afraid of him. Thomaselli wants a steel cage, but Rotten says the cage doesn’t fit through the door. Thomaselli wants a regular match but Rotten wants a lumberjack match. Rotten says the match will now be a lumberjack strap match.

Second Contest: NWA Wisconsin Champion Dysfunction vs. Troy Walters: Dysfunction starts off with a few strikes but Walters hits a heel kick to send the champ to the floor. Walters comes off the top to hit a somersault dive to the floor. Walters connects with a slingshot senton from the ring to the floor onto the champ. Walters gets a two count in the ring. Dysfunction cuts Walters off with a superkick for a near fall. Dysfunction hits a dropkick to a kneeling Walters for a two count. Walters is sat onto the top rope, but tries for a tornado DDT. Dysfunction tosses Walters into the corner with a suplex followed by a double stomp. Dysfunction nearly wins with a rollup. Walters counters a press slam with a midair leg drop. Walters delivers a kick and a German suplex for a near fall. Walters goes to the top rope but Dysfunction stops Walters with a strike. Dysfunction wins the match with the Rubik Cube. (**1/2. Another short match, but I enjoyed this one. Their styles matched up very well and they delivered an enjoyable match.)

Third Contest: Josh Abercrombie vs. IWA-MS Light Heavyweight Champion Brandon Thomaselli in a non-title lumberjack strap match: They aren’t attached to a strap as the lumberjacks at ringside have straps. Early on, they trade several strikes and both men avoid being sent to the floor. Abercrombie is tossed to the floor first and actually gets a strap to scare the other lumberjacks away. Thomaselli bails to the floor to avoid the strap and tries to go under the ring but is whipped before getting back into the ring. Abercrombie beats on Thomaselli with the strap for a few moments. Thomaselli has been busted open from the strap shots. Abercrombie gets dumped to the floor and met with straps to the back. Thomaselli delivers an uppercut for a near fall. Abercrombie is stopped with a knee lift to the midsection and a suplex for a two count. Abercrombie backdrops Thomaselli over the top to the floor where lumberjacks get a few more shots in. Thomaselli leaps off the top rope to take Abercrombie over with a reverse hurricanrana. Thomaselli chokes Abercrombie with the strap and a loud whip. Abercrombie gets a second wind and hits a middle rope Backstabber for a two count. Thomaselli hits the Air Raid Crash for a near fall. Abercrombie takes the referees belt off as Thomaselli grabbed a strap. Abercrombie chokes Thomaselli with the belt and forces the champ to submit. (**1/2, I enjoyed the action and the finish was done nicely. It felt like these two could have a really brutal feud and that has my interest for future matches between them.)

Fourth Contest: xOMGx vs. Jaysin Strife: Early on, OMG delivers a few arm drags to send Strife to the floor. OMG hits a somersault dive to the floor to take out Strife. Strife nails OMG with a few kicks to get a near fall. Strife keeps a chin lock on OMG for a few moments and yanks OMG down to the mat by his mask. Strife scoop slams OMG a few times followed by an elbow drop for a two count. Strife avoids a tornado DDT and delivers a kick to the chest for a near fall. Strife clotheslines OMG leading to another near fall. OMG almost wins with the Air Raid Crash. Strife hits a missile dropkick for a near fall. OMG is stopped on the middle rope with a dropkick. OMG hits a spinning pedigree off the middle rope for the win. (*1/2. Well, it was kind of funny that OMG tried so hard to get the crowd behind him but it didn’t really connect very well. The action was okay, but sloppy.)

Fifth Contest: Ash & Michael Elgin vs. The Naptown Dragons (Dustin Lee & CZW Light Heavyweight Champion Scotty Vortekz): Ash and Vortekz start off the tag match. Ash shoulder blocks Vortekz a few times and takes him down to the mat. Vortekz fights back with an arm drag, but Ash delivers one of his own. Vortekz nails Ash with a spinning kick to send Ash to the floor. Lee head scissors Elgin followed by a few arm drags. Elgin is double teamed followed a drop toe hold/double stomp and a wheelbarrow splash for a one count. Elgin works over Lee with chops in the corner to get the advantage followed by a clothesline for a two count. Lee gets yanked off the apron by Ash and sent into the ring post face first. Ash knee strikes Lee several times and keeps Lee in the corner to get in Elgin. Elgin press slams Lee for a two count. Elgin plants Lee with a brain buster for a two count. Senton/leg drop combo onto Lee for a two count. Ash keeps control on Lee with a knee drop. Elgin drives Lee into the corner gut first and Ash delivers a running double knee. Ash hits a cannonball in the corner for a two count.

Elgin drops Lee over the middle rope, but Lee slams Ash. Ash staggers Lee with a few knees before hitting a running stomp for a two count. Ash and Elgin trade turns keeping a chin lock on Lee. Elgin has Lee on his shoulders going to the middle rope. Lee counters with a powerbomb! Vortekz gets the hot tag and dropkicks Elgin. Vortekz double knees Elgin for a near fall. Ash kicks Vortez from the apron, but gets slingshot into the ring onto Elgin. Vortez hits a Michinoku Driver on Ash for a near fall. Elgin turns a suplex into a powerbomb on Vortez for a near fall as Lee broke up the cover. Lee plants Elgin with a tornado DDT for another two count. Lee boots Ash while coming off the ropes. Lee gets tossed off the middle rope to the floor. Elgin has Vortez hitting a powerbomb/neckbreaker combo leading to a three count. (**1/4. Not too bad of match, really. The crowd was not invested in the hot tag segment, which was a disappointment. These four seem to be promising young wrestlers for the company. Your typical undercard match that went well.)

Sixth Contest: Billy Roc vs. Scott Lost: Roc takes Lost over with an arm drag a few times in the early moments of the match. Lost slides to the floor to avoid Roc. Lost quickly returns and is met with an arm drag. Roc baseball slides Lost on the floor. Roc arm drags Lost on the floor after coming off the apron. Lost counters a Slice Bread with a backbreaker to gain the advantage. Lost takes Roc over with a suplex for a near fall and puts a body scissors on Roc. Roc counters and tries to get a submission, but Lost reaches the ropes. Lost decks Roc with a clothesline. Lost nails Roc with a standing dropkick for a near fall. Lost keeps a chin lock on Roc and switches to a chokehold. Lost stops Roc with a knee lift to the midsection. Lost misses a spear in the corner and hits the ring post shoulder first. Roc stops Lost with a few standing dropkicks and a spinning kick. Roc takes Lost down to the mat and rams Lost’s head into the mat several times. Roc double stomps Lost for a near fall. Roc hits a side Russian leg sweep and then ties Lost up in submission but isn’t able to get a submission. Roc goes for a suicide dive, but Lost stops with a forearm drop. Roc comes off the middle rope to hit a tornado DDT for a near fall.

Roc heads to the top rope but is kicked by Lost. Lost hits a superplex for a near fall. Roc forearms Lost several times and is met with a spear in the corner. Lost kicks Roc in the corner to win the match. (**. I wasn’t overly entertained by this one, but it was okay. The finish wasn’t very high impact or anything and didn’t feel like a good finish to me. There was some good wrestling, but forgettable action.)

Seventh Contest: The North Star Express (Darin Corbin & Ryan Cruz) vs. The Iron Saints (Sal Thomaselli & Vito Thomaselli) in a double dog collar match: Sal and Vito go on the attack before the bell choking their opponents with the dog collars. Sal drives Corbin down with a brain buster and the Express has been attached to the dog collar. Vito and Cruz are fighting in the crowd with Cruz being choked. Vito tosses Cruz down to the floor. Corbin clotheslines Sal and pulls Sal to the floor. Corbin chokes Sal on the floor while taunting the camera. Vito chokes Cruz in the ring with the dog collar. Vito plants Cruz with a brainbuster onto a steel chair causing Cruz to be busted wide open. Corbin is sent into the wall by Sal. Vito tosses a chair into Cruz face. There are a pile of chairs in the ring as Corbin decks Vito from behind. Corbin wedges a chair in the corner. Sal pulls Corbin into the chair in the corner from the floor. Corbin has been busted wide open as well. Cruz smashes Vito with a chair shot to the head causing Vito tom bleed.

Corbin and Sal trade strikes on the floor until Corbin drop toe holds Sal onto a chair on the floor. Cruz plants Vito with a DDT onto a chair for a two count. Cruz slams Vito and continues to work over Vito with the chain. Corbin whacks Sal with a chair shot. Vito drops Cruz with a chair shot in the ring. Vito comes off the middle rope to deliver a chair shot to Cruz. Cruz clotheslines Vito with the dog collar. Sal sends Corbin into the ring post face first. All four men are on the floor brawling. Joey Eastman gets a few shots in on the Saints in the ring. Eastman has the Express sent into him and Eastman is taken out of the match. Vito gets out of a choke in the corner and slams Cruz to the mat. Corbin tries for a running move, but can’t outrun the chain. Cruz is met with an elevated DDT and the Saints win the match. (**3/4. I enjoyed this more than I was expecting. The match had a few moments where it got really interesting, but then dropped down a little bit as they settled for basic brawling. Regardless, they pulled off a solid double dog collar match, which isn’t an easy feat.)

Apparently, Ian Rotten was scheduled to wrestle Steve Corino. However, things change on the independents and we get the following match instead.

Eighth Contest:Ian Rotten vs. Tank: Early on they trade chops and headbutts causing both men to start bleeding. Tank delivers strikes in the corner and the mat to keep control of the match. They continue to brawl on the floor with Tank getting the advantage. Rotten tries for a German suplex on the floor, but Tank drives Rotten into the post. Tank misses a splash hitting the post instead. They are both bleeding quite a bit at this point. Tank whacks Rotten over the head with a steel chair. Rotten drives Tank’s knee onto the floor to continue the brawling. Rotten uses a spike on Tanks’ forehead. Tank sits Rotten on a chair to deliver a few strikes. Tank nails Rotten with a spinning back fist, but Rotten gets a second wind and drops Tank. A table has been setup on the floor. Tank puts Rotten through the table with a Samoan Drop. They are milking that spot for a long time and the referee begins to count to twenty. Rotten isn’t able to get into the ring by the count of twenty and Tank wins by count-out. (1/2*. Well, it was just brawling and your typical hardcore stuff. The finish was a surprise to me as I was not expecting Rotten to lose, even by count-out.) After the match, they trade strikes and headbutts while kneeling on the mat until Tank rolls to the floor. They deliver more strikes with Tank stopping Rotten with a right hand.

Ian Rotten grabs a microphone and talks about losing one of his best friends Chris Candido back in April 2005. Rotten was in Europe when he got the phone call. Ian knew that Candido would want him to wrestle. Rotten notes they have paid tribute to Ted Petty with the TPI. Rotten promises the fans they’ll see wrestling they’ve never seen before. Ian says that the Chris Candido Memorial Cup will be something to see.

Ninth Contest: IWA-MS Heavyweight Champion Chuck Taylor vs. Joey Ryan: Taylor is sporting a mullet and it’s excellent. Ryan and Taylor threaten a kid in the crowd and it’s funny. They go for a test of strength but kick each other at the same time. They go for an eye poke off the handshake and the crowd can be heard getting annoyed. They run the ropes and both try for several hip toss attempts, but neither man can hit the move. Taylor hip tosses Ryan but misses an elbow drop. Ryan tries to do a kip up, but can’t do it. Ryan gets help from Taylor along with the referee and they have a standoff. Taylor misses an axe handle off the apron and gets his arm dropped over the top rope. Ryan sends Taylor into the post shoulder first. Ryan focuses his attack on Taylor’s left arm. Ryan hits a hammerlock scoop slam. Ryan drives Taylor down with an arm breaker. Ryan takes Taylor over with a hammerlock northern lights suplex. Taylor fights back with a few overhand chops. Taylor continues to work over Ryan with basic holds. They begin to pull each others hair until Taylor rips Ryan’s chest hair.

They eye rake each other a few times and hit the referee with one. They hit each other in the nuts and Ryan knocks the referee down. Ryan dropkicks Taylor but Taylor gets dumped to the floor. Ryan takes Taylor out with a suicide dive and Ryan flips over Taylor’s shoulder and lands onto a few chairs. Ryan spikes Taylor with a tornado DDT on the floor. Ryan hits a Tiger Driver for a near fall. Taylor stops Ryan with Sole Food and locks in a cobra clutch. Ryan reaches the ropes, but Taylor hits a yakuza kick for a near fall. Ryan avoids an Omega Driver with an overhead suplex and a superkick for a two count. Taylor shoves the referee into the ropes to stop Ryan on the top. Taylor hits the Omega Driver and wins the match. (**. The comedy aspect of this match was better than any of the wrestling they did. I almost never say that. I think it went a little too long, but if you like comedy matches then this is the ideal match for you.) After the match, Jim Fannin tells Chuck Taylor that he has unfinished business with him. Taylor has champion been for seven months and notes that Jimmy Jacobs is the longest reigning champion. Fannin is giving Taylor a three month past to allow Jacobs record to be broken. Fannin says he’s coming for the belt at the end of July.

Main Event: IWA-MS Death Match Champion Drake Younger vs. CJ Otis in a barbed wire massacre match: They start off trading forearms and they roll over on the barbed wire. I should note that neither man is wearing a shirt. Otis arm drags Younger nearly sending Drake into the barbed wire. Otis gets out of a rollup and dropkicks Younger into the barbed wire. Otis rubs Younger’s forehead into the barbed wire. Younger clearly takes a blade out of his mouth to start bleeding. Otis misses a splash in the corner and lands on the barbed wire. Younger uses a barbed wire 2×4 on Otis. Younger drops Otis gut first over the barbed wire and then scratches CJ’s back with the barbed wire 2×4. Younger scoop slams Otis onto the barbed wire 2×4. Younger sends Otis into the barbed wire, but Otis drops Younger chest first over the barbed wire. Otis senton splashes the barbed wire onto Younger’s stomach, and the barbed wire sticks into him leading to a near fall. Otis scoop slams Younger and continues to deliver strikes. They begin to chop each other with barbed wire. They go to the floor where Younger sets up a barbed wire board.

Younger dives out of the ring and Otis slams Younger onto the barbed wire board! Otis continues to beat on Younger with barbed wire shots to the back before bringing another barbed wire board into the ring. Otis takes Younger over with a snap suplex onto the board. Otis puts a barbed wire 2×4 between Younger’s legs on a Sharpshooter, but can’t get a submission. Younger drops Otis Ches first onto the barbed wire and it looks like Otis had his skin get caught in his skin. Younger hits a sit out Death Valley Driver for a near fall. Younger slams Otis onto a barbed wire board. Otis smashes Younger with a chair shot over the head followed by a shining wizard for a two count. Otis decides against a chair shot to headbutt Younger for a two count. Otis superkicks the referee onto the barbed wire board. Younger takes Otis over with an overhead suplex.

Joey Eastman, Ash, Elgin and the Northstar Express enter the ring to attack Younger. Younger is lifted up by all four men and slammed onto the barbed wire board. Younger hits a straight jacket German suplex for a near fall. Otis knocks out a second referee with a clotheslines. Younger and Otis collide on a double clothesline spot. Ian Rotten runs into the ring and has a steel chair. Rotten whacks Otis with a chair and Younger hits the Drakes Landing for the win. After the match, Younger confronts Rotten asking if Ian was looking to hit him with the chair instead of Otis. Younger and Otis end up shaking hands to show respect for each other. (***. An enjoyable match, which I wouldn’t consider to be a graphic one. I’m not a fan of the interference in the finish. These kind of matches to blowoff a feud need to have a clean and clear winner. It would appear that they are teasing Ian Rotten to turn heel on Younger for some reason. Anyway, I liked the match and CJ Otis did well in there, I thought.)

Final Thoughts:
A rather solid overall show by IWA-MS. There’s nothing must-see on here but there’s several solid matches. I’ll give it a mild recommendation, but don’t drop everything to watch it. If you stumble across it, then maybe take the time to check it out.

Thanks for reading.