ICW One Year Anniversary Show 1/25/2002

Written by: Bob Colling

Impact Championship Wrestling presents One Year Anniversary Show
Date: 1/25/2002
From: Queens, NY

Opening Contest: Low Ryda vs. Abunai: Abunai has the control early on with strikes in the ring. Abunai gets a two count following a snap suplex. Abunai works over Ryda with chops in the corner. Ryda comes back with a splash and a twisting dropkick in the corner. Abunai blocks a strike with his feet and hits a springboard splash for a two count. Abunai continues with a gut wrench suplex for a near fall. Abunai knee lifts Ryda and delivers a dropkick to send Ryda to the floor. Ryda kicks Abunai on the floor from the apron but misses a springboard splash hitting the outside hard. Ryda stomps on Abunai before hitting a somersault clothesline. Ryda kicks Abunai on the back of the head for a near fall. Abunai hits a German suplex for a two count. Abunai continues with a back suplex but misses a split legged moonsault. Ryda hits a bronco buster in the corner and a headbutt to the groin. Ryda hits a roll of the dice for the win. (**. These guys came across like they were relatively new to wrestling, but they showcased some decent offense. For an opener between two guys I’ve never really seen, it wasn’t too bad.)

Second Contest: Kevin Matthews vs. Danny Demanto: Matthews nails Demanto with a dropkick early on sending Demanto to the floor. Demanto kisses Matthews manager on the floor, and she’s grossed our by it. Matthews dives over the top rope onto Demanto, who doesn’t really catch him and hits the floor. Matthews hits an ugly looking moonsault for a two count. Demanto crotches Matthews on the top rope to hit a superplex for a near fall. Matthews hits a reverse DDT/leg drop combo and taunts the crowd. Demanto is choked over the ropes by the female manager. Matthews hits a top rope leg drop and does a complete back bump on the floor, which just shows how dangerous and ridiculous that move was. Demanto nearly wins with a surprise pin. Matthews sits Demanto on the top rope and gets shoved off. Demanto hits a big splash on Matthews for a two count. Demanto heads to the top rope but gets hit by the female manager with a bag of something. Matthews is able to pin Demanto to win the match. (*1/2. Matthews did a few cringe worthy moves that were probably not great decisions for his long term health. These two would go on to have long runs on the independents.)

Third Contest: Boogie Knights (Danny Drake & Mike Tobin) vs. Christoper Street Connection (Mace & Buff-E) vs. The Solution (Havok & Papadon): Before the match even starts, there is a cat fight between two female managers, who then attack the Christopher Street Connection. Mace and Buff are clotheslined by the other teams, too. Everyone is wrestling each other in the ring. Havok gets clotheslined over the top by Mace and Buff. Drake is suplexd and Buff covers Drake in the 69 position for a two count. Drake is met with a side slam/neckbreaker combo. Drake is splashed by both Mace and Buff in the corner. Drake stops Mace with a spinebuster and Tobin hits a senton splash. The Knights completely mess up a double team move. Tobin hits a gut wrench on Mace for a two count. Mace is driven down with a spinebuster/elbow drop combo for a two count. Havok enters and is doubled teamed by the Knights upon entry. Havok clotheslines Tobin and Papadon hits a top rope bulldog for a near fall.

Papadon continues with a snap suplex for a two count. Tobin gets a sunset flip on Papadon for a two count and delivers a superkick. Buff tags in and works over Papadon with several strikes and a springboard splash for a two count. Mace power walks to the corner and slaps Papadon. Papadon works over Mace with a seated dropkick. Drake tags in and Havok delivers several clotheslines. Havok hits a powerslam on Drake for a two count. Tobin is being worked over by Mace and Buff on the floor. Tobin sends them into the guard railing to break free. Havok splashes Drake in the corner. Papadon got crotched on the top and Drake face plants Havok to counter a powerbomb attempt. Knights hit a sloppy spike piledriver and pin Havok to win the match. (*1/2. Christopher Street Connection are entertaining for the comedy, but that’s about it. The action was lackluster and sloppy for the most part.)

Fourth Contest: Striker vs. Damian Dragon: Striker has Francine with him for this match. Early on, they trade some mat wrestling holds with neither man getting a clear advantage for any long period of time. Dragon seems to get the better of the exchange. Dragon takes Striker down with several arm drags. They trade backslides and they have a standoff. Striker works over Dragon with slaps in the corner followed by a leaping shoulder block. Dragon avoids a springboard attempt with a boot and tries for a tornado DDT, but Striker counters with a slam for a two count. Striker rolls Dragon on the mat and has a unique cover, but Dragon pops his shoulders up. Striker powerbombs Dragon to counter a hurricanrana attempt for a near fall. Dragon kicks Striker off the apron to the floor and Striker lands over the railing. Dragon hits a springboard somersault dive to the floor onto Striker. Dragon whacks Striker over the back with a steel chair.

Striker sends Dragon into the guard railing before picking up the chair and whacking Dragon over the back. Dragon low blows Striker in the corner and hits a spinebuster. Striker plants Dragon with a DDT for a two count. Dragon hits a neckbreaker for a two count. Dragon hits a slingshot senton splash for a two count. Striker is choked over the middle rope and Francine gets on the apron. Dragon gets a near fall following a leg drop. Striker hits a wheelbarrow face buster and locks in a surfboard before getting a near fall. Dragon drops Striker face first over the turnbuckle. Dragon puts himself and Striker in a tree of woe with a choke hold. They end up being tangled and it looks weird. Dragon hits a top rope elbow drop for a two count. Striker hits a stunner and a kick for a near fall. Striker slams Dragon and stomps on Dragon. Striker comes off the ropes to deliver a bulldog and locks in his interesting head scissors submission. Dragon doesn’t submit, however.

Dragon tries for a fisherman suplex, but Striker hits the Overdrive. Dragon’s manager enters to the breakup the pin. Striker punches the manager in the corner and Francine enters the ring. Francine hits a bronco buster in the corner. Dragon grabs Francine but Striker gets up only for Dragon to spit mist into Striker’s face. Dragon hits a Slice Bread and wins the match. (*1/2. Needless to say, this match went on way too long. It didn’t need to be this long and Francine didn’t really do much. I was surprised that Striker lost the match since he had the big name manager with him.)

Fifth Contest: Chris Divine vs. Nick Berk: Divine arm drags Berk to begin the match and they have a standoff. Berk does the same to Divine moments later. Berk dropkicks Divine to the floor. Divine dropkicks Berk on the left knee and keeps control on the knee. Divine puts a figure four on Berk but doesn’t get a submission. Divine dropkicks Berk face first into the middle turnbuckle. Berk drives Divine face first down to the mat. Berk misses a somersault leg drop and holds his injured knee. Berks rolls over Divine and reaches the ropes to grabs the ropes. Divine locks in a Sharpshooter, but Berk reaches the ropes. Berk takes Divine over with a German suplex and a full nelson suplex. Divine hits a double under hook suplex for a two count. Berk plants Divine with a bulldog. Berk sends Divine into the corner, which takes out the referee. Berk hits a swinging neckbreaker, but the referee is wiped out. Divine crotches Berk on the top rope hitting a twisting suplex to pickup the win. (**. A rather average match with nothing overly exciting taking place. The finish was high impact and an effective way to end the match.)

Sixth Contest: Psycho Sam vs. Mike Bell: Sam dropkicks Bell in the corner to start the match. Bell fights back with chops and a clothesline. Bell hits a snap powerslam for a two count on Sam. Sam clotheslines Bell in the corner and a bulldog out of the corner. Sam drives Bell down to the mat with a vertical suplex for a two count. Sam hits a spinebuster before heading to the middle rope to hit an elbow drop for a near fall. Bell drives Sam down to the mat with a vertical suplex. Bell backdrops Sam followed by a spinning heel kick for a two count. Bell slams Sam heading to the top rope, but Sam cuts Bell off with a powerbomb off the middle rope to win the match. (*. Huh, Bell is even doing jobs to guys on the independent scene. I would have expected Bell to win here, but clearly not the case.)

Seventh Contest: Tom Marquez & Jac Sabboth vs. DeVito & Simon Diamond: DeVito and Diamond storm the ring and hammer away on Sabboth and Marquez. DeVito slams Marquez to the mat and Sabboth is worked over by both men with strikes. Sabboth is driven down to the mat with a flapjack. DeVito slams Sabboth to the mat followed by an elbow drop. Diamond enters to kick Sabboth in the ribs and tosses Sabboth to the floor. Diamond sends Sabboth into the guard railing a few times. Diamond takes Sabboth down with a side Russian leg sweep and keep a submission on the mat for a moment. DeVito jabs Sabboth several times followed by a dropkick. Diamond slams Sabboth followed by a leg drop. DeVito misses a top rope moonsault and Sabboth tags in Marquez. Marquez clotheslines DeVito followed by a toss. Marquez sends DeVito into the railing and they brawl on the stage and backstage. The referee goes with them leaving Sabboth in the ring with Diamond. Diamond hits a few snap suplexs and a sit out front suplex. Diamond gets mist to the face by Damien Dragon. Dragon holds Diamond’s foot down and Sabboth pins Diamond while the referee ran back to the ring and counted the fall from the apron. (*1/4. Well, Sabboth is the booker of the company and of course he puts himself over a former ECW star. The match was not good and the finish was just head scratching.)

Eighth Contest: ICW North Eastern Champion Xavier vs. Nova vs. Red: Well, Xavier decides to not start the triple threat match and will join the match when he feels like it. Nova takes Red to the mat with a drop toe hold before a standoff. Red arm drags Nova but is met with a hip toss. They have a few pin attempts that lead to a standoff. Red dropkicks Nova from behind to send Nova to the floor. Xavier tries to pin Red from behind for a two count. Nova overhand chops Xavier and Nova atomic drops Xavier. Nova and Red dropkick Xavier to the apron. Nova keeps Red on the mat with an arm bar. Red dropkicks Nova after being lifted into the air. Xavier tosses Red to the mat with a cobra clutch, but Nova puts a headlock on Xavier. Red hits a standing shooting star press on both men. Red head scissors Nova but Xavier beats on Red in the corner with strikes. Red double stomps Xavier on the arm and puts an arm bar on, but Nova enters and puts a figure four on Xavier! Nova gets knocked off the apron by Xavier. Xavier hits a twisting crossbody to take Nova out on the floor. Red takes both men out with a somersault dive!

Red spin kicks Xavier twice to knock the champ down to the mat. Red delivers another kick, but Xavier decks Red with a clothesline. Xavier forearms Red and taunts the crowd. Xavier slams Red to the mat. Xavier uppercuts Red and gets backdropped to the apron. Xavier sunset flips Nova, who hits Red with a German suplex. Nova big boots Xavier for a two count. Red hits the Code Red on Nova for a two count! Red kicks Xavier in the corner followed by a spinning kick for a near fall. Red works over Xavier in the corner with strikes. Red tries to hit a hurricanrana, but Nova comes over and Xavier clotheslines Red off of Nova’s shoulders. Nova plants Red with an Air Raid Crash, which causes Red to be eliminated.

Nova elbows Xavier a few times, but Xavier hits a side suplex for a near fall. Nova plants Xavier with a Flatliner for a two count. Nova gets met with a low blow and falls off the top rope. Red hits a Spiral Tap on Nova allowing Xavier to hit a 450 splash for the win. (***1/4. The finish made no sense to me. I had no idea this was even an elimination match until Red was eliminated. Once Red was eliminated, the crowd investment dipped for sure. Red was really good here and it is no wonder that Red gained significant steam later in the year all over the place. Nova was in great shape and made sure he didn’t do a clean job to a guy like Xavier.)

Ninth Contest: ICW Tag Team Champions SAT vs. Da Hit Squad (Maff & Mack): Mack and Joel start the match with Mack showcasing his strength by tossing Joel away on a headlock. All four men enter the ring and almost all start brawling, but they instead show respect for each other. Maff and Jose enter the match, which has been rather slow to this point. They have another standoff after avoiding each other. Maff doesn’t let go on a handshake and Jose shoves Maff. Maff counters a hurricanrana by hitting his version of a Styles Clash. Maff counters a springboard attempt by Jose and hits a double under hook overhead suplex. Joel tries to clothesline Mack, but that doesn’t work very well. Mack decks Joel with a couple of clotheslines to stumble the champion. Mack tosses Joel with an overhead suplex. Joel comes off the ropes to head scissors Mack followed by a dropkick to send Mack to the floor. Joel messes up a baseball slide and gets decked by Maff off the apron. Maff hammers away on Jose before slamming Jose to the mat. Maff hits a wheelbarrow suplex/clothesline with Mack.

Squad chop Jose followed by kicks to the chest and back. Joel hits a springboard missile dropkick to knock the Squad down. Joel plants Maff with a tornado DDT. Jose hits a missile dropkick to send Mack to the floor. Jose hits a springboard moonsault to the floor. Joel hits a swanton bomb allowing Jose to get a two count on Mack. SAT nail Maff with a running big boot. SAT hit Poetry in Motion on Mack, but Maff counters with a spinebuster driving Jose onto Joel. Squad hit a Hart Attack on Joel. Maff locks in a Boston Crab and Mack delivers a few leg drops. Mack hits a frog splash on Joel while Maff had a figure four locked in, but Joel kicks out at two. Jose frog splashes Maff to help Joel get out of the figure four. SAT hit the Spanish Fly on Mack! Maff is able to breakup the pin attempt. Jose misses a dive to the floor and lands on the guard railing chest first. Maff low blows Joel on the middle rope and connects with the Burning Hammer to win the titles! (***. I was getting nervous that this match was going to be a major disappointment because they seemingly went the wrong route early on with a lot of stalling and counters. Luckily, they got into their groove with big spots and the SAT selling big time for Maff and Mack.)

Tenth Contest: ICW Heavyweight Champion Low Ki vs. Sabu: Ki tries to go after Sabu’s legs, but Sabu is quick enough to avoid him. Ki takes Sabu down to the mat and gets wrist control briefly. Sabu gets a two count following a quick elbow drop. Sabu gets leg control on the mat, but isn’t able to get a submission. Sabu sends Ki chest first into the corner followed by a clothesline from behind. Ki boots Sabu in the corner and tries for a tornado DDT, but Sabu counters with a northern lights suplex for a two count. Sabu dumps Ki to the floor. Sabu takes Ki out with a slingshot somersault dive! Ki stops Sabu on the apron and nails Sabu with a jumping kick to send Sabu to the floor. Ki tries for a suicide dive, but his legs got caught between the ropes and crashed to the outside. Sabu smashes Ki with a chair to the face. Sabu locks in a camel clutch, but Ki isn’t going to give in. Sabu leg drops a chair onto Ki for a near fall. Ki trips Sabu to hit the chair face first. Ki hits a running somersault kick, which Sabu was confused by. Ki locks in a dragon sleeper, but Sabu doesn’t submit. Ki slams Sabu before heading to the top rope.

Ki misses a twisting 450 splash and is clotheslined by Sabu. Sabu punches Ki a few times before getting a two count. Sabu hits a triple jump moonsault, but acts like Ki got his knees up. Ki drives Sabu face first onto a chair a few times. Sabu does the same to Ki followed by a side Russian leg sweep. Sabu loses his footing on a springboard, but still hits a leg drop. Ki tosses a chair at Sabu on the floor and goes for a suicide dive, but Sabu mistimes the chair shot and Ki looks like an idiot for a second time. Sabu sits Ki on the railing and misses a springboard dive hitting the railing chest first! Sabu tries to get into the ring, but Ki holds Sabu’s foot and they are both counted out. Ki sends Sabu into the guard railing back first and they return to the ring to trade right hands. The crowd is not happy with that bullshit finish. Sabu punches the referee a few times before going after Ki again. Ki and Sabu trade some submissions on the mat while also brawling. They fight backstage and the crowd hates that. (**1/4. There were a few good spots, but they mistimed a bunch of other ones that left Low Ki looking kind of foolish. The finish was pretty bad and the crowd let it be known. You shouldn’t book matches that require such bogus finishes. I can’t say I’m surprised that Sabu didn’t lose to Ki, but anything other than the finish they gave here would have been better.)

Main Event: Boogalou & Homicide vs. Balls Mahoney & Sandman: Homicide and Sandman start the match, which apparently is going to have tag team rules. I’m really hoping that doesn’t last long at all. Sandman knee lifts Homicide a few times to gain the early advantage. Sandman continues with an arm drag and a dropkick to send Homicide to the floor. Boogalou tags into the match to try his luck against Sandman, who is drinking a beer. Boogalou works over Sandman with strikes, but runs into a boot in the corner. Sandman hip tosses Boogalou followed by an arm drag to showcase his wrestling skills. Sandman backdrops Boogalou and tags in Mahoney. Mahoney comes off the ropes to shoulder block Boogalou and ducks a clothesline before hitting a standing dropkick. Mahoney misses a splash in the corner and Boogalou heads to the top rope. Boogalou misses a moonsault and Mahoney goes to work with jabs and a right hand. Mahoney hits a top rope frog splash. Sandman is tagged into the match to keep control on Boogalou with a side Russian leg sweep for a two count.

Sandman keeps control in the corner with several knee lifts. Mahoney accidentally superkicks Sandman and Homicide gets tagged in. Sandman comes off the ropes and is met with a double back elbow. Boogalou clotheslines Sandman followed by an overhead suplex. Homicide hits a top rope double stomp on Sandman. Homicide chokes Sandman while the referee is distracted by Mahoney on the apron. Sandman hits a double clothesline and tags in Mahoney. Mahoney jabs Boogalou and Homicide followed by a double elbow smash. Sandman tosses Homicide to the floor while Mahoney does the same to Boogalou. All four men are outside the ring brawling at this point. Homicide and Boogalou hit a back suplex/elbow drop combo out of the corner on Mahoney for a two count, and they do the same to Sandman. Mahoney gets a rollup on Homicide and wins the match. (*. This was not the match I wanted to see. It was a formula tag match with zero brawling or weapons. I’d consider this a major disappointment. ) After the match, Sabu enters the ring and whacks Boogalou and Homicide with a steel chair. Da Hit Squad run out and attack Sabu. Maff whacks Sandman with a kendo stick several times. Homicide whacks Mahoney over the head with a steel chair. It would appear that Maff, Mack, Boogalou and Homicide are the new top stable in ICW.

Final Thoughts:
This is a two match card with the the three way match and the tag title match being the best matches. Outside of that, this show was a disappointing viewing experience. Sure, they used several ECW names, but it didn’t amount to quality wrestling. Some of the booking decisions were poor and a lackluster in-ring product didn’t help matters. Overall, a show you can skip.

Thanks for reading.