Written by: Bob Colling
IWA-MS presents Blood Is Thicker Than Water
Date: 3/19/2005
From: Highland, IN
Backstage, Dave Prazak is with IWA-MS Heavyweight Champion Danny Daniels, who will be wrestling BJ Whitmer in a dog collar match. Daniels notes that he cut corners and did bad things in the past that he doesn’t take back. Daniels puts over Whitmer for being pretty good. Daniels mentions that Whitmer has left him laying down every month in Highland. Whitmer has taken away all his glory. Daniels believes all of this started because Daniels won the championship from Chris Hero and Whitmer couldn’t handle being the second guy. This isn’t about the championship but rather personal. Daniels promises to kick Whitmer’s ass tonight.
Backstage, Jimmy Jacobs says that a lot of people have been asking what’s going on with him lately. People have been saying he’s a bad guy now. Jacobs asks if you were working a job for six years and then some young guy comes in and takes his main event spots. Jacobs doesn’t feel like he’s a bad guy for that. He’s mad about it. Jacobs talks about a steel cage match with Delirious where he thought it was his last wrestling match due to his body wearing down. Jacobs is mad about seeing posts making light of his career nearly coming to an end. Jacobs doesn’t feel bad for being mad about that. He wants respect and suggests everyone do that.
Jim Fannin says that Chandler McClure isn’t good enough to be part of his family because he doesn’t know how to cheat.
Opening Contest: Chandler McClure vs. Steve Stone: Stone works over McClure early on with right hands, but McClure drops Stone with clotheslines. McClure decks Stone with spinning right hands causing Stone to bail to the floor. Stone comes off the ropes and is met with a hip toss, arm drag and a scoop slam. McClure backdrops Stone coming out of the corner. Fannin trips McClure coming off the ropes and distracts McClure. Stone gets control with a clothesline. Stone clotheslines McClure in the corner and hits a rolling neck snap for a two count. Stone bires McClure’s forehead while the referee is distracted. Stone sends McClure to the floor where Fannin chokes McClure before rolling him back in. McClure hammers away on Stone but is met with a knee lift. Stone chops McClure leading to a near fall. Stone yanks McClure down to the mat by his hair. McClure hammers away on Stone, but is stopped with an eye rake. McClure hits a modified bulldog. McClure scoop slams Stone followed by a side slam for a two count. Stone boots McClure in the corner, but runs into a powerslam that nearly beat him. Stone plants McClure with the White Out, and chooses to not pin him. McClure low blows Stone with a rulebook and pins Stone with a rollup. After the match, Fannin tells McClure he’s not in the family because he cheated. He can’t trust him if he cheats the family. (*1/2. The stipulation here is ridiculous and makes zero sense. The match was ok, but certainly nothing memorable.)
Second Contest: Brad Martin vs. Brad Bradley: Bradley shoves Martin to the mat a few times to get the early advantage. Bradley shoulder blocks Martin and misses a lariat. Martin dropkicks Bradley into the corner and delivers a few strikes. Bradley sends Martin into the corner and misses another clothesline. Martin avoids a charging Bradley, who goes to the floor. Martin hits a suicide dive to the floor. Bradley spears Martin to get the advantage. Bradley drives Martin down to the mat with a back suplex. Bradley takes Martin over with a snap suplex for a two count. Bradley locks in a bearhug in the middle of the ring. Martin runs into a snap powerslam leading to a two count. Bradley plants Martin with a Falcon Arrow for a two count. Martin stops Bradley with a flapjack and a dropkick. Martin knee lifts Bradley, but runs into a lariat and Bradley wins the match. (*1/2. Sign me up for some Brad Bradley with this kind of showcase.) After the match, Bradley calls out Samoa Joe as his next victim.
Jim Fannin comes out and reads a letter stating from his grandmother that he can’t be part of the War Games match. Fannin notes New Jack being in IWA-MS and he wasn’t afraid of him at all. Fannin has a suitable replacement for the match. Chandler McClure is shoved out to the ringside area by BJ Whitmer and Steve Stone. McClure doesn’t look interested in helping Fannin here. Rotten doesn’t believe that Fannin is hurt. Rotten makes a few gay jokes referencing that being as the reason why Fannin is hurt. Ed Shulman comes out from NWA Midwest. Ed says he’s here to see what he’s competition is for War Games. Ed asks for his team to come out right now. Silas Young, Sal and Vito Thomaselli, and Eric Priest come out. Tank is also on that team, but he’s not there. Fannin reveals that JC Bailey is his replacement. Bailey slides into the ring from behind and attacks Rotten in the corner. Tracy Smothers slides into the ring to make the save and runs off six guys. Wait, Tracy Smothers beats on Rotten, too. Danny Daniels comes out and goes after BJ Whitmer on the floor. Axl Rotten enters the ring and makes the save for Ian. Axl decks Stone with a clothesline and the ring clears. Axl grabs the microphone and says that June 1st will mark one year that he’s been clean and sober. Axl notes that he broke down in tears when Ian called him to return to IWA. Axl can’t believe that Tracy Smothers would do what he did to Ian tonight. Axl doesn’t have his gear, but the fans like the idea of Axl competing in the IWA tonight. Ian tells Bailey that all the crystal meth in the world won’t save him from the beating.
Third Contest: NWA Midwest X-Division Champion Matt Sydal vs. Jimmy Jacobs: They have a standoff after neither man is able to get lasting momentum. Jacobs goes to the ropes to break Sydal’s momentum and they shake hands to show respect for each other. Sydal arm drags Jacobs followed by a dropkick to send Jacobs to the floor. Sydal backdrops Jacobs coming out of the corner. Sydal slams Jacobs and hits a middle rope leg drop for a two count. Sydal hits a backbreaker, but Jacobs blocks a standing moonsault by getting his knees up. They trade chops in the corner until Jacobs stops Sydal with a headbutt. Jacobs forearms Sydal in the corner and gets a few near falls. Sydal takes Jacobs over with a head scissors and misses a slingshot crossbody attempt. Jacobs uses the apron to bulldog Sydal onto chairs. Jacobs delivers a few standing fist drops. Sydal dropkicks Jacobs in the corner, but Jacobs trades strikes with Sydal. Jacobs pummels Sydal on the mat and the crowd begins to boo Jacobs. Jacobs dropkicks Sydal after a drop toe hold for a two count. Sydal leg sweeps Jacobs and hits a standing moonsault for a two count.
Jacobs hits a middle rope flying forearm shot for a two count. Jacobs double stomps Sydal a few times followed by a senton splash. Sydal boots Jacobs and hits a middle rope spinning heel kick. Sydal forearms Jacobs followed by a gut buster but Jacobs bails to the floor. Sydal baseball slides Jacobs and hits a cannonball splash off the top to the floor. Sydal comes off the top and is met with an atomic drop. Sydal trips Jacobs and hits a shooting star press for a two count. Jacobs crotches Sydal on the top rope. Jacobs slams Sydal off the top turnbuckle for a near fall. Jacobs hits a modified Pedigree for a near fall. Sydal hits a spinning heel kick but Jacobs nearly gets a three count on a cover. Jacobs crotches Sydal on the top rope and Sydal crashes to the floor. Jacobs takes Sydal out with a suicide dive out of a chair in the crowd. Sydal is helped up by a fan and returns to the ring. Jacobs slams Sydal and heads to the top rope. Sydal dropkicks Jacobs in midair on a crossbody attempt. Sydal misses a shooting star press, but lands on his feet. Sydal counters a Slice Bread attempt and crotches Jacobs on the top rope. Sydal tries for a top rope overhead belly to belly, but Jacobs shoves Sydal off. Sydal strikes Jacobs on the top turnbuckle. Sydal hits the top rope belly to belly suplex and wins the match. (***. That was a fun undercard match and I was actually surprised that Sydal went over since there appears to be some momentum for Jacobs in his new heel role for the company.) After the match, Sydal doesn’t shake hands with Jacobs and rather delivers a slap.
Fourth Contest: IWA-MS Tag Team Champions Ryan Boz & Trik Davis vs. Eric Priest & Silas Young: Davis and Young kickoff the tag match with Young taunting Davis. Davis controls Young on the mat with a wrist lock, but Young counters with one of his own. Davis nearly pins Young with a rollup. Davis maintains arm control on Young. Davis arm drags Young and tags in Priest. Priest and Young collide and Davis arm drags Priest, who gets decked by Boz on the apron. Boz legally tags into the match and delivers a kick to the arm. Boz continues to kick Priest to keep the advantage. Davis and Boz work over Priest while the referee was distracted and they didn’t tag each other. Boz delivers a hammerlock scoop slam and stomps on Priest’s arm. Davis leaps off the top to axe handle Priest, but Priest backs Davis into the corner and Young beats on Davis in the corner. Davis takes Young down with an arm drag and continues to work over the arm of Young. Davis heel kicks Young and Silas ends up upside down on the apron. Priest misses Davis and knocks Young off the apron to the floor.
Davis tries for a crossbody to the floor, but gets caught. Boz takes everyone out with a suicide dive to the outside! Boz sends Young into some chairs. Davis chops away on Young and hits a crossbody, but Young rolls through and press slams Davis before delivering a kick to the midsection on the way down. Priest beats on Davis with strikes and Young helps double team Davis in the corner. Priest plants Davis with a pumphandle slam. Davis chops Young in the corner, but gets tripped to the mat. Young fakes the fans out on a high risk move and just stomps Davis. Priest plants Davis with a spinebuster. Boz gets a kick in on Priest, but Young tags in and keeps Davis on the mat with a chin lock. Young gets met with a knee to the groin, but Priest cuts off Davis. Davis backdrops Young and Boz gets the tag, but the referee didn’t see it due to Priest distracting the referee. Priest continues to work over Davis with strikes. Priest misses a swinging slam and Davis kicks Priest on the mat.
Boz gets the hot tag and cleans house with right hands on Young. Boz slams Young and Davis hits a splash with help from Boz for a two count. Davis isn’t the legal man. All four men are in the ring brawling as the referee doesn’t know what’s going on. Priest plants Davis with a swinging slam, but again, Davis isn’t the legal man. Priest takes Boz down with a belly to belly suplex. Young handstand in the corner and gets dropkicked to the floor by Davis. Davis gets a crucifix pin on Priest to win the match. (**. A rather standard and basic tag match with the closing minutes being fun. However, it took a little long to get to the good part. They didn’t follow the basic tag rules as the referee lost track who was legal since Davis wasn’t the legal man in the match.)
Jim Fannin comes out and talks about asking Mickie Knuckles if he can manage her and kissed her. Knuckles slapped Fannin and he’s here to apologize with some flowers. Fannin does the Carlton Dance, which was awful. Fannin wants someone to take mental notes and then let him know on the message board. Knuckles comes out and wonders why the box of chocolates is open. Fannin admits that he’s fat and got hungry. Fannin still wants to manage Knuckles to the Women’s Championship. Fannin knows that she doesn’t want to work with him because of Ian Rotten. Fannin notes that being the son-in-law to the man in charge works in Stamford. Knuckles tells Fannin that she doesn’t need him. Fannin promises that Knuckles that she would beat MsChif. Knuckles tries to leave, but Fannin kisses her hand instead. Knuckles decks Fannin and shoves the box of chocolates into Fannin’s face. Fannin eats a chocolate on the mat to end the segment.
Fifth Contest: Tracy Smothers & JC Bailey vs. Bad Breed (Ian & Axl Rotten): Axl and Smothers kickoff the tag match with Axl backing Smothers into a corner, but cleanly breaks away. Axl shoves Smothers to the mat and poses for the crowd. Ian tags into the match, but Smothers backs away to avoid a confrontation. Rotten hip tosses Smothers and Smothers goes to the corner to regroup. Bailey tags into the match to try his luck with Ian. Bailey shoulder blocks Ian, but Ian arm drags Bailey to the mat. Ian keeps control with an arm lock before tagging in Axl. Axl hip tosses and arm drags Bailey to the mat. Ian takes Bailey down with a swinging neckbreaker. Ian plants Bailey with a single arm DDT. Ian has a camel clutch in Bailey, but doesn’t get a submission. Ian takes Bailey down to the mat with an arm breaker. Bailey gets out of an arm bar and stomps on Ian before tagging in Smothers. Smothers works over Ian with stomps to the knee. Smothers slams Ian’s leg over the apron and Fannin works over the knee as well. Bailey slams Ian’s knee over the apron to keep control of the match.
Ian nearly pins Bailey with a sunset flip, but Bailey keeps control with a dropkick and elbow drops to the knee. Axl gets involved to save Ian from a double team and the match breaks apart. Axl sends Bailey into chairs in the crowd while Smothers and Ian work over each other. Axl smashes Bailey over the head with a plastic chair and overhand chops. Ian comes over and breaks an object over Bailey’s head. Axl punches Bailey on the bleachers and knocks Smothers away, too. Ian hits a snap suplex on Bailey onto the bleachers. Smothers chokes Ian with a jacket and kicks Ian’s knee. Bailey whacks Axl with a plastic chair. Smothers uses a chair to smash Ian’s leg with it. Bailey chokes Axl with a rope. Ian powerbombs Bailey on the floor! Axl nails Smothers with a plastic chair. Ian hits a lifting reverse brainbuster to pin Bailey. (*1/4. Under no circumstance do I ever want to review an Ian Rotten tag match when it’s standard rules. Once they broke it down and had the brawling on the floor, there was some enjoyment there, but not nearly enough to make this a worthwhile match. The reverse brainbuster spot was neat, though.)
Jim Fannin yells at Tracy Smothers and doesn’t care that Ian pinned Bailey because he didn’t make Bailey submit, which he’ll have to do at War Games. Smothers apologizes to the Rotten’s for what he just did. Smothers will split the money he got from Fannin to make things right. Smothers gets the fans to accept his apology. Smothers is trying to turn babyface and gets in the ring. Ian talks about giving Smothers a plaque and calls Smothers a legend. Ian would give Smothers a contract if he had a lot of money. Ian puts over Smothers for his work ethic and caring about other wrestlers on the show. Ian forgives Smothers. Smothers fakes a sneak attack on Axl a few times. Tracy Smothers is awesome.
Eric Priest comes out with Silas Young and is pissed about hearing the guys in the previous segment. Priest says they didn’t come here to leave empty handed. Priest wants someone out here right now to prove that he’s all man. Priest is issuing an open challenge.
Sixth Contest: Eric Priest vs. Shark Boy: They trade wrist locks to start the match with neither man getting a clear advantage. Priest taunts Boy and shoves him down to the mat. Boy bites Priest’s hands on the mat. Priest elbows Boy, but misses a leg drop. Boy bites Priest’s butt and Priest bails to the floor. Boy takes Priest out with a slingshot crossbody. Boy works over Priest in the crowd. Boy sends Priest into the trash can. Priest sends the referee into the ropes and Boy falls to the mat. Priest continues to work over Boy with stomps in the corner. Silas Young chokes Boy on the floor and Priest gets a two count. Priest big boots Boy and continues with right hands. Priest takes Boy over with a belly to belly suplex for a two count. Priest clotheslines Boy in the corner. Priest gets a chair from Young and lays it onto Boy in the corner. Priest tries for a springboard and clearly messes up on purpose. Boy tries to use a chair, but the referee stops him. Boy backdrops Priest followed by clotheslines. Boy hits a missile dropkick from the top for a near fall. Boy hits a facebuster and a neckbreaker for a two count. Boy hammers away on Priest in the corner before biting him. Boy knocks Young off the apron. Priest trips Boy and puts his feet on the ropes to pin Boy. (*1/2. This felt like a cool down match for the remainder of the show. Priest going over is the right decision.)
Seventh Contest: The Iron Saints (Sal & Vito Thomaselli) vs. B-Boy & Brandon Thomaselli: Boy and Vito kickoff the tag match. Vito takes Boy down to the mat for a brief advantage. Brandon tags into the match as does Vito. They do a test of strength and neither man gets a clear advantage. Brandon monkey flips Sal and they trade pin attempts. They have a standoff. Boy and Vito enter the match with Vito backing Boy into the corner to deliver a few strikes. Boy fires back with a right hand and staggers Vito. Vito decks Boy into the corner and they trade a few strikes. Vito kicks Boy coming off the ropes and tags in Sal. Sal clotheslines Boy followed by a side Russian leg sweep. Boy drops Sal with a forearm strike and tags in Brandon. Brandon delivers a gut buster to Sal and Boy connects with a running yakuza kick for a two count. Brandon nails Sal with a forearm strike in the corner followed by an uppercut. Boy tags in and works over Sal with strikes in the corner. Brandon runs into a boot by Sal and a clothesline from behind. Vito returns to the match and stomps away on Brandon followed by a suplex and dropkick.
Vito and Sal deck Brandon with a jawbreaker/clothesline and a fist drop/standing moonsault combo for a two count. Sal stops Brandon with a knee strike coming off the ropes. Vito hits a headbutt off the top rope for a two count. Vito nails Brandon with a heel kick and tags in Sal. Sal dropkicks Brandon’s knee. Sal locks in a butterfly submission, but doesn’t get the submission. Brandon plants Sal with a reverse DDT to counter a tilt a whirl slam attempt. Vito and Boy get tagged in with Boy hitting an overhead belly to belly suplex and a kick. Boy nearly pins Vito with a dragon suplex. Sal gets tagged in Vito plants Boy with a hammerlock DDT. Sal gets a submission hold on Boy, but Brandon breaks the hold. Boy sends Sal and Vito into each other before hitting a double saito suplex! Brandon hits a somersault dive to the floor! Brandon hits Sal with a Death Valley Driver for a two count. Vito spikes Brandon with a pumphandle piledriver. Boy hits the Killer Driller on Vito for a near fall. Sal gets a chokehold on Boy. Boy counters the choke with a brainbuster. Vito and Brandon trade forearm strikes. Vito and Brandon collide in the middle of the ring leading to a near fall.
Sal hits the butterfly piledriver on Boy as all four men are in the ring. Boy buckle combs Vito and nails Sal with a shining wizard. Brandon hits Sal with a Air Raid Crash. Boy nails Vito with the Face Lift in the corner. Brandon and Boy hit a sit out powerbomb/neckbreaker combo for a two count. Boy sits Sal on the top rope, but Sal manages to hit a tornado DDT onto the apron. Sal dropkicks Brandon from behind. Brandon gets a flapjack off the ropes and Vito goes to the top rope to hit a pendulum double stomp. Sal covers Brandon and picks up the win. (**1/2. I don’t think this needed to go nearly as long as it did. However, the final five minutes saw these guys pull off some really good moves and some solid double team wrestling. If they cut a few minutes off from the beginning where they kept it simple and basic the match would have been more enjoyable.) After the match, Vito tries to use a chair, but B-Boy makes the save and the Iron Saints head backstage. Boy gets a microphone and challenges the Iron Saints to a tables, ladders and chairs match at Simply The Best VI. Ian Rotten comes out as Boy wants the match to be made for the show. Rotten signs off on the match. Rotten puts a bounty on Vito’s teeth since Vito loosened four of his teeth in the past.
Main Event: IWA-MS Heavyweight Champion Danny Daniels vs. BJ Whitmer in a dog collar match: Whitmer attacks Daniels from behind and stomps away on Daniels in the corner. Whitmer decks Daniels with a right hand in the corner a few times. Daniels punches Whitmer, but can’t fight out of the corner. Daniels blocks a few strikes and eye rakes Whitmer followed by right hands. Daniels decks Whitmer with a forearm strike. Whitmer tries to bail, but Daniels stops him. Daniels works over Whitmer with several more strikes in the corner. Daniels wraps the chain around Whitmer’s neck to hit a neckbreaker and chokes BJ with the chain. Whitmer low blows Daniels with the chain. Whitmer rams Daniels into the ring post face first. Whitmer drops Daniels with a right hand that was wrapped around his fist. Daniels has been busted wide open as Whitmer delivers a headbutt to the wound. Whitmer returns the match to the ring and decks Daniels with another right hand. Whitmer headbutts Daniels into the ropes and wraps the chain around Daniels forehead against the ropes.
Daniels tries to fight back with strikes and staggers Whitmer. BJ eye rakes Daniels to the mat and shoves the referee away. Whitmer headbutts Daniels and continues with right hands. Daniels sends Whitmer into the turnbuckle chest first. Fannin wants a timeout to be called, but the referee will not allow it. Daniels has a steady amount of blood coming out of his forehead at this point. Daniels slaps Whitmer and fights back with strikes. Daniels tries for a piledriver, but Whitmer rams Daniels into the corner. Daniels tosses Whitmer with an overhead belly to belly suplex into the corner to stop Whitmer’s offense. Daniels is staggering while hammering away on Whitmer. They continue to trade strikes until Daniels clotheslines Whitmer to the floor. Fannin whacks Daniels over the back with a steel chair. Daniels works over Whitmer in the corner with shoulder rams and right hands. Daniels wraps the chain around his fist and beats on Whitmer with strikes. Daniels hits a modified Codebreaker out of the corner for a two count.
Whitmer has been busted open from the chain shots, too. Whitmer stops Daniels with a superkick. Whitmer tries for an exploder suplex, but Daniels avoids it. Whitmer plants Daniels with a DDT for a two count. Whitmer tries for another exploder suplex, but Daniels counters and plants Whitmer with a piledriver for a two count. Whitmer decks Daniels with a chain again. Daniels counters a suplex with a rollup for a two count. Daniels hits a butterfly piledriver for a near fall as Fannin pulled the referee out. The referee avoids a clothesline and only counts a near fall. Fannin tosses the referee to the floor and do so rather dangerously. Daniels has gotten up and low blows Fannin a few times. Whitmer decks Daniels with the championship but there’s not referee. The referee returns and Whitmer gets a two count. Whitmer connects with an exploder suplex for a two count. Whitmer hits a wrist clutch exploder suplex and Daniels kicks out again. Whitmer isn’t connected to the dog collar at this point as he grabs a steel chair. Daniels double stomps Whitmer from the top rope. Daniels slips on a tombstone piledriver and BJ lands on the chair leading to a three count. (***. I can appreciate this effort for the bloodshed and they told a great story with both men being exhausting. These kinds of matches need to be bloody and brutal and they did a fine job delivering that visual here.)
Backstage, a bloody Danny Daniels cuts a promo. Daniels had “Die BJ” written on his wrist tape. Daniels considers it over between him and BJ. He bled and it was worth it. Daniels names the various towns they go to. This is about April 8th and his match with CM Punk. Daniels is tired of hearing the praise for Cabana and Punk making the IWA. Daniels is tired that people consider his win over Punk to be a fluke. Daniels wants Punk to bring everything he has. Daniels will get the respect from the fans, promoter and himself.
Final Thoughts:
I thought this was an average overall show as they had a few solid matches. I liked that they advanced some angles going on, as well. They sure do like to use Jim Fannin in their feuds and I think he does a fine job in his heel manager role. I can’t recommend the show, but it wasn’t a bad viewing.
Thanks for reading.