IWA-MS April Bloodshowers 2005 4/1/2005

Written by: Bob Colling

IWA-MS presents April Bloodshowers
Date: 4/1/2005
From: Herrin, IL

This show is shot at ringside and does not have a hard cam. If you’ve ever watched an ECW Fancam show, it’s basically the same idea.

Opening Contest: Arik Cannon vs. Trik Davis: They start off with some basic holds leading to some mat wrestling. Cannon takes Davis down to the mat and works over Davis’ left arm, but Davis takes Cannon down to the mat. For the most part, they’ve just kept it to basic wrestling on the mat without anything of note happening. Davis takes Cannon over with a few arm drags causing Cannon to bail to the floor. Cannon grabs a kendo stick but doesn’t bring the weapon into the ring. Cannon stops Davis with a backbreaker and a vicious sounding chop. Cannon drives Davis down with two backbreakers followed by a side slam for a two count. Cannon hits a delayed vertical suplex on Davis for a two count. Cannon keeps control with a neckbreaker for a two count. Cannon hits an elevated double under hook piledriver for a two count. Davis drives Cannon down to the mat with a snapmare stunner. Davis heel kicks Cannon followed by a double knee. Cannon misses a shining wizard and Davis hits a neckhreaker for a two count. Cannon tries for an elevated neckbreaker, but Davis gets out of it. Cannon hits a suplex for a two count. Cannon calls for the brainbuster and plants Davis to the mat. Davis avoids a shining wizard and almost wins with a rollup. They trade a few pin attempts and the match ends in a draw. (*1/2. Honestly, this was a rather boring opener as the first five minutes or so was just uninteresting mat wrestling and stalling. The remaining ten minutes was decent, but nothing memorable. Certainly doesn’t have me excited for the remainder of the show.)

Second Contest: NWA Midwest Women’s Champion Daizee Haze vs. Rain: They have a very similar start to the match that the opening match had. Haze hits a head scissors to keep the early advantage. Haze works over Rain in the corner with a few strikes, but Rain comes back with a forearm shot. Rain dropkicks a seated Haze for a two count. Rain wraps Haze’s arm around the ring post and apron. Rain drives Haze down with an arm breaker for a two count. Haze counters a submission with a rollup, but Rain counters with another rollup, but there’s no count. Haze counters a suplex attempt with a DDT. Haze nails Rain with a running forearm strike. Haze comes off the top rope to hit a missile dropkick for a two count. Rain plants Haze with a reverse DDT for a two count. Haze hits a heart punch and a yakuza kick for the win. (*1/2. Women’s wrestling is difficult for me to enjoy and that was the case here, too. They had a few bright moments, but the match as a whole was lackluster.)

Third Contest: TJ Dalton & Lone Star vs. Silas Young & Eric Priest vs. Sal Thomaselli & Vito Thomaselli: Young and Star kickoff the match with Star delivering several strikes followed by a spinebuster for a two count. Dalton gets tagged in and faces off with Sal. They trade some mat wrestling holds. Dalton hip tosses Sal, but gets kicked away. Dalton fights back with a dropkick and keeps wrist control. Dalton hits a hurricanrana, but Vito keeps control of the match for a moment. Sal heel kicks Dalton and tags in Sal. Young enters the match and works over Dalton with a few strikes. Dalton arm drags Young followed by an atomic drop and dropkick to send Young to the floor. Sal kicks Star to the floor preventing Dalton from tagging out. Sal hits a back suplex on Dalton for a two count. Vito comes off the top to hit a leg drop on Dalton for a near fall. Priest enters the match to work over Dalton with stomps and a chokehold. Priest gets a two count on Dalton after a big boot. Dalton fires back with chops and runs into an elbow in the corner. Priest delivers a headbutt to Priest’s groin in the corner. Priest drives Dalton to the mat gut first for a near fall.

Dalton almost steals the match on Priest with a rollup. Star is prevented from getting in the ring as Vito hit a German suplex on Dalton. Star finally gets the hot tag and cleans house with strikes on everyone in the match. Star chokeslams Sal and Vito leading to a near fall on Sal. Dalton heel kicks Sal while Star gets pulled to the floor. Dalton gets flapjacked by Sal and Vito. Sal has Dalton in a pendulum swing allowing Vito to hit a double stomp for the win. (*1/4. I really didn’t care for this and nor did I want to sit through it. Dalton and Priest were the only guys I found myself interested in seeing while in the ring. Dalton took an extended heat segment and just ends up losing anyway. That just felt like weird storytelling.)

Fourth Contest: IWA-MS Light Heavyweight Champion Delirious vs. Josh Abercrombie: Delirious complains that Abercrombie cheating, but Abercrombie is not cheating. They are keeping to a mat wrestling start, similar to the other two singles matches. Delirious is using strings from his mask to choke Abercrombie for a moment while in a headlock. Delirious kicks Abercrombie but runs into an uppercut. Delirious decks Abercrombie with a clothesline and dropkick. Delirious delivers several short clotheslines in the corner, which was actually twenty. Abercrombie stops Delirious on the floor but is met with several strikes. Delirious gets knocked off the top rope to the mat. Abercrombie flapjacks Delirious followed by a knee strike for a two count. Abercrombie hits a middle rope moonsault for a two count on the champ. Abercrombie slams Delirious and goes to the top, but Delirious rolls away. Delirious rolls away again. Delirious strikes Abercrombie but Abercrombie hits a springboard kick. Delirious goes to the floor and Abercrombie follows with strikes. Abercrombie hits a springboard moonsault and they fall off the stage into the crowd.

They return to the ring at the same time and Delirious delivers a kick and leaping clothesline. Delirious goes to the top and missile dropkicks Abercrombie from behind. Delirious hits a running knee in the corner. Delirious misses the Shadows Over Hell splash off the top. Abercrombie hits a middle rope backstabber for a two count. Abercrombie hits a snapmare driver for a two count. Delirious hits the Chemical Imbalance #2 for the win. (**1/4. An average match, but by far the best thing on the show. Delirious carried this from an entertainment point of view. The action was solid and I felt like I hadn’t wasted my time for the first time on this show.)

Fifth Contest: Tracy Smothers vs. Billy Gunn: They stall for several minutes by talking smack to the crowd. Gunn drops Smothers with a shoulder block and Smothers continues to stall by complaining that Gunn is cheating. Smothers hammers away on Gunn to get the advantage. Gunn comes off the ropes with a crossbody and a standing dropkick. Smothers bails to the floor to regroup and Gunn tells Smothers to suck it. They brawl on the floor with Smothers missing a clothesline and hits the ring post. Gunn stalks towards Rain on the floor, but Smothers sends Gunn face first into the ring post. Smothers rams Gunn back first into the ring post. Rain gets a cheap shot in on Gunn before Gunn returned to the ring. Rain chokes Gunn in the corner while the referee is distracted by Smothers. Gunn has a backslide on Smothers for a two count. Gunn gets a sunset flip but the referee was distracted by Rain. Smothers keeps Gunn on the mat with a few strikes. Smothers keeps a headlock on Gunn and uses the ropes for leverage.

Gunn has a rollup on Smothers, but the referee was distracted again by Rain. Gunn gets to his feet to get out of a sleeper hold. Smothers beats on Gunn with strikes in the corner. Gunn fights back with right hands. Gunn drops Smothers with a flying forearm and jabs in the corner. Gunn clotheslines Smothers and hits a splash in the corner. Gunn signals for the Fame-Asser, but Rain causes a distraction. Gunn plants Smothers with a cobra clutch slam. Gunn kisses Rain on the apron and Smothers accidentally hits Rain. Gunn hits the Fame-Asser for the win. (*1/2. If you enjoy heel work and mic work by Smothers, you’ll probably like this better than I did. It came across like it was a WWE house show match with the usage of referee interference and the general stalling.)

Sixth Contest: Mickie Knuckles vs. MsChif in a first blood match: MsChif goes right after Knuckles before the bell and delivers a few strikes. MsChif mule kicks Knuckles a few times. MsChif knee strikes Knuckles a few times followed by strikes. Knuckles uppercuts MsChif to the floor. Knuckles grabs a steel chair from the floor and misses a wild chair shot. MsChif tries for a DDT onto the chair, but Knuckles counters with right hands on the mat. Knuckles sends MsChif to the floor. Knuckles takes out MsChif with a suicide dive! Knuckles nails MsChif with a right forearm on the floor. MsChif nails Knuckles with a spinning back fist. MsChif grabs her spiked vest and tries to hit Knuckles, but Mickie blocks it. Knuckles kicks MsChif on the back and they go into the crowd. Knuckles chops MsChif against the stage. Mschif gets a few forearm strikes before sending Knuckles into the wall. Knuckles rams MsChif head into the wall, which got a loud thud and a decent reaction from the crowd.

It looks like they were climbing up to the second floor, but Knuckles got kicked off. They are brawling in the crowd with basic strikes. The have brawled into the hallway. Knuckles tries to put MsChif into the trash can, but MsChif puts Kncukles into the trash can. MsChif is sent face first into the wall. MsChif is sent face first onto the merchandise table. MsChif hits Knuckles over the back with a kendo stick. Knuckles nails MsChif with a palm strike. They have finally returned to the ringside area on the stage. Knuckles has grabbed a steel chair but can’t use it on MsChif. Knuckles puts the chair on MsChif’s legs and delivers several forearm strikes. MsChif seems to grabbed something sends Knuckles into the referee into the ring post. Knuckles blocks red mist and the referee notices there is no cut, so the match continues. MsChif hits Knuckles with the spiked vest. MsChif presses the vest into Knuckles face. Knuckles ends up bleeding due to the spiked vest. (**. Well, this was completely a brawl and nothing more than that. I’d say it dragged on more than it needed to. The live crowd seemed to enjoy it quite a bit.) After the match, Knuckles gets a microphone and says she wants MsChif inside a steel cage on April 30th.

Seventh Contest: NWA Indiana Heavyweight Champion Brandon Thomaselli vs. NWA Midwest X-Division Champion Matt Sydal: Both titles are on the line for this match, per Ian Rotten right before the match started. They start off with some mat wrestling with neither man able to get an advantage for an extended period of time. Sydal arm drags Thomaselli a few times followed by a spinning heel kick. Sydal monkey flips Thomaselli followed by a crossbody for a two count. Sydal gets a surfboard on Thomaselli, but doesn’t get a submission. Sydal hits a back suplex and a standing moonsault for a two count. Thomaselli delivers a gut buster and a running knee followed by a quick elbow and a standing shooting star press for a two count. Thomaselli keeps control on the mat with a chin lock. Thomaselli has Cattle Mutilation on Sydal, but doesn’t get a submission. Sydal gets backdropped to the apron. Thomaselli avoids a springboard by shoving Sydal to the floor. Thomaselli hits a springboard moonsault and lands on his feet. Sydal dropkicks Thomaselli off the stage into the crowd. Sydal takes Thomaselli out with a somersault dive into the crowd.

They hammer away on each other going outside before quickly returning to the venue. Sydal decks Thomaselli with a forearm shot. Sydal hits a moonsault back splash for a near fall. Sydal drives Thomaselli down with a backbreaker and keeps Thomaselli over his knee. Thomaselli drops Sydal gut first down to the mat. Thomaselli has Sydal on the top turnbuckle but gets crotched by Sydal. Sydal hits a double stomp on Thomaselli in a tree of woe position. Thomaselli gets tied up in the ropes and Sydal delivers a running kick. Sydal hits a half nelson pump handle driver for a two count. Sydal puts Thomaselli on the top turnbuckle looking for an overhead belly to belly suplex. Thomaselli tries for a 450 splash, but Sydal gets his knees up and almost wins. Thomaselli counters a piledriver and hits the Air Raid Crash for a two count. Thomaselli hits a top rope frog splash, but is unable to get a cover. Sydal nearly wins with a rollup and they proceed to exchange rollup attempts. Thomaselli is able to keep Sydal down on a rollup and it looks like both men had their shoulders down. This ends in a draw, as expected. (**1/2. Well, that was a cheap finish. Why book a double title match and then do the lame double pin gimmick? The action was solid, but I did not like the finish at all.)

Eighth Contest: JC Bailey vs. Ian Rotten in a barbed wire ropes tables match: Bailey slides to the floor to avoid being sent into the barbed wire ropes. Rotten sends Bailey back first into the barbed wire and tries to use the barbed wire on Bailey’s forehead. Rotten uses a strain of barbed wire to scrap Bailey’s forehead. Rotten whacks Bailey with a steel chair. Bailey is busted wide open. Bailey gets the barbed wire on Rotten and both men are busted open. Bailey uses a chair on Rotten, too. Bailey digs barbed wire into Rotten’s arm. Bailey and Rotten trade headbutts with Rotten getting the better of the exchange. Bailey presses Ian’s head against the ring post as they brawl to the floor. Rotten sets a table up on the floor and kicks Bailey. Rotten suplexs Bailey onto the ring steps. Rotten powerbombs Bailey on the stage. Rotten powerbombs Bailey through the table on the stage. Rotten chokes Bailey with a piece of broken table.

Rotten drop toe holds Bailey face first into the barbed wire ropes. Bailey is stuck in the barbed wire for a moment. Rotten hits a brainbuster onto the steel chair for a near fall. They go to the floor to another table. Bailey supelxs Rotten onto the table, which doesn’t break. Rotten throws a fireball into Bailey’s face to win the match. (*. I really don’t understand why they’d present this as a complete domination of Bailey. These death matches make me cringe and this was no different.)

Main Event: IWA-MS Heavyweight Champion Danny Daniels vs. Jimmy Jacobs: To continue the trend of mat wrestling, that’s how this one starts out that way, too. Daniels doesn’t budge on a few shoulder block attempts. Jacobs finally shoulder blocks Daniels to the mat and they trade arm drags. They eventually have a standoff after neither man gets a clear advantage. Jacobs head scissors Daniels followed by a dropkick. Daniels hits a tilt a whirl backbreaker on Jacobs followed by a few knee strikes to Jimmy’s lower back. Daniels chops Jacobs a few times into the corner followed by a few strikes. Jacobs kicks Daniels from the middle rope before hitting a middle rope clothesline. Jacobs double stomps Daniels followed by a senton splash for a near fall. Jacobs nails Daniels with an elbow strike and a few jabs in the corner. Jacobs drops Daniels in the corner with a right hand. They trade a few strikes as the intensity is picking up between these two.

Jacobs delivers a fist drop to keep control on the mat. Jacobs hammers away on Daniels a few more times. Daniels fights back with a few right hands out of the corner. Jacobs runs into a backbreaker by Daniels. Daniels works over Jacobs with a series of chops and a running forearm strike. Daniels covers, but Jacobs easily gets out of it. Daniels hits a German suplex for a two count. Daniels continues to work over Jacobs with a few chops. Jacobs plants Daniels with a DDT for a two count. Jacobs tries for a top rope hurricanrana, but Daniels counters by dropping Jacobs face first onto the ring post. Jacobs has been busted wide open. Daniels tries for a cover after a knee strike but Jimmy refuses to stay down. Daniels knee drops Jacobs for a two count. Daniels keeps a sleeper hold on Jacobs on the mat and Jacobs appears to be fading. Jacobs prevents his arm from falling three times. Daniels nearly wins following a back suplex.

Daniels continues to beat on Jacobs, but Jacobs fires back with right hands. Daniels clotheslines himself and Jacobs over the top to the floor. Daniels goes for a piledriver on the stage, but Jacobs counters with a backdrop on the stage. Jacobs sits Daniels on a chair and proceeds to hit a suicide dive on the stage. Jacobs hits a reverse pedigree for a near fall. Jacobs tries for the Slice Bread, but Daniels counters and powerbombs Jacobs in the corner followed by a lariat for a two count. Jacobs drop toe holds Daniels into the middle turnbuckle. Daniels dropkicks Jacobs to avoid a springboard attempt. Daniels kicks Jacobs to the stage. Jacobs stops Daniels on the middle rope. Jacobs gets met with a headbutt by Daniels. Daniels hits a back suplex off the middle rope and nearly wins the match. Daniels signals for the piledriver and spikes Jacobs. Daniels delivers a powerbomb and locks in a Boston Crab. Jacobs is refusing to give in and is able to break the hold. Daniels goes to the top rope, but Jacobs crotches Daniels. Jacobs hits the Slice Bread out of the corner for a two count.

Jacobs goes to the top rope and hits the back senton splash for a near fall. Jacobs goes to the top rope again and hits another back senton splash. Daniels kicks out at two, again. Jacobs heads to the top and hits a third back senton splash and puts his feet on the ropes to win the title! (***. A solid match that probably didn’t need to go 20+ minutes. The action held my interest for the most part and having a title change in a new venue could likely draw some buzz for future shows. This was probably one of Danny Daniels better matches that I’ve seen.)

Final Thoughts:
I was suckered into this show for the Gunn/Smothers match because I’m a fan of both men. There were a couple of decent matches, but it wasn’t a great show by any means. Considering this show ran for less than four hours compared to others, I’ll give it a thumbs in the middle.

Thanks for reading.