Written by: Bob Colling
IWA-MS presents Morris Mayhem 2
Date: 10/13/2005
From: Morris, IL
Opening Contest: IWA-MS Tag Team Champions The Iron Saints (Sal & Vito Thomaselli) vs. Marek Brave & Tyler Black vs. Brandon Thomaselli & Josh Abercrombie: Vito and Brandon kickoff the tag title match. Vito gets control with a wrist lock, but that doesn’t last very long. Vito takes Brandon over with a under hook suplex. They counter each other on the mat a few times leading to a standoff. Brandon almost gets a rollup on Vito, but only gets a two count. Sal and Tyler Black enter the match with Black gaining control with a headlock but Sal counters with a hammerlock. Abercrombie tags in and nearly pins Sal with an inside cradle. Sal gains control and tags in Vito, who uppercuts Abercrombie. Brandon tags in and forearms Vito a few times. Brandon chops on Vito and backdrops Vito over the top to the floor. Brandon hits a twisting dive to the floor and kips up. Brave goes to the top rope and takes Vito out with a moonsault. Sal clotheslines Abercrombie in the ring and gets stopped by Black on the top rope. Black hits a hurricanrana on Sal off the top onto the guys on the floor!
Vito gets dropkicked by Brandon and Abercrombie. Brandon nearly wins following a standing shooting star press. Abercrombie gets planted by Vito with a spinebuster leading to a near fall for Sal. Sal and Abercrombie trade chops in the middle of the ring. Sal hits a side suplex for a two count. Vito nearly wins following a middle rope leg drop on Abercrombie. Saints have managed to keep control on Abercrombie preventing Abercrombie from tagging out. The referee is distracted when Abercrombie manages to tag out to Brandon. Vito accidentally clotheslines Sal and Abercrombie heel kicks Vito. Brave and Black get tagged in and clean house on the Saints. They hit a kick/Death Valley Driver combo for a two count on Sal. Brave spears Sal for a two count. Brandon plants Brave with Air Raid Crash for a two count. Black puts Brandon on the top rope to hit a German suplex. Black tries for a cover managing a two count. Vito stops Abercrombie with a jaw breaker. Abercrombie is on Vito’s shoulders and counters with a backstabber for a two count as Sal breaks the cover.
Sal goes to the top rope hitting a crossbody on Abercrombie as Vito hit a vertical suplex. Brandon and Black trade strikes on the floor. Brave and Vito trade strikes in the corner. Brandon hits a Razors Edge on Vito and Sal gets driven down, as well. Brave and Black hit stereo Phoenix Splashes but can’t get a three count. Brandon knocks Vito off the middle rope and hits a 450 splash double stomp to Black in midair. Iron Saints turn on Brandon hitting a flapjack. Saints hit the pendulum double stomp and that’s good enough for the three count. (***1/4. An enjoyable contest to start off the show as they sprinkled in enough high spots to create entertainment throughout. The clean win for Iron Saints adds to their reign as champions, too. I’d imagine that Black and Brave will be the team to chase them for the tag titles.)
Second Contest: Eddie Kingston vs. Justin Credible: Kingston slaps Credible in the corner and backs way to the ropes to prevent Credible from getting any revenge for that. Kingston chops Credible in the corner, but Credible fires back with chops and strikes in the corner. Credible continues to send Kingston face first into the turnbuckles. Kingston bails to the floor after another chop. Credible keeps a side headlock on Kingston to slow the match down some more. Credible hip tosses Kingston and clotheslines Kingston over the top to the floor. Credible follows to the floor and sends Kingston into a gate by the bleachers. Kingston sends Credible into the gate followed by right hands. Kingston sends Credible into empty chairs. Kingston works over Credible in the ring and sends Credible sliding groin first into the ring post. Kingston atomic drops Credible before putting a sleeper on Credible. Credible elbows out and sunset flips Kingston for a two count. Kingston runs over Credible with a clothesline. Kingston heads to the top rope. Kingston leaps off but misses an elbow drop. Credible decks Kingston with several strikes and a leaping forearm strike. Credible connects with a spinning DDT for a near fall. Credible signals for the superkick, but Kingston blocks it. Kingston hits a northern lights suplex for a two count. Kingston leaps off the middle rope, but is met with a superkick. Credible spikes Kingston with That’s Incredible to win the match. (*1/4. Credible didn’t seem to be overly confident with himself and he’s looking very slender compared to his ECW days. The finish was fine, but the overall match was rather boring and didn’t fit the style I was expecting.)
Third Contest: NWA Midwest X-Division Champion Delirious vs. Nate Webb: Delirious takes Webb down on a test of strength, but Webb counters Delirious to the mat before they break apart. They run the ropes until Delirious curls up on the mat and Webb stomps around Delirious to scare Delirious. Delirious bails to the floor and goes under the ring. Webb goes to the floor and looks under the ring, but Delirious comes back and hits Webb from behind. They begin to trade chops on the floor until a headbutt by Delirious drops Webb. Delirious rolls Webb into the ring and hits a back suplex for a two count. Delirious snapmares Webb and delivers a kick to the upper back. Delirious forearms Webb, but Webb drops Delirious with a forearm strike. Webb misses a somersault splash in the corner and kicks Delirious in the corner. Webb dropkicks Delirious into the corner and connects with a crossbody to a seated Delirious for a one count. Webb misses a splash and Delirious connects with a clothesline for a two count.
Delirious sends Webb into the corner and misses a running strike allowing Webb to hit a spinning kick for a two count. Delirious knee strikes Webb and delivers a cobra clutch backbreaker. Delirious heads to the top rope, but Webb crotches Delirious. Webb tosses Delirious with a suplex. Webb misses a moonsault and Delirious hits the Shadows Over Hell for the win. (*1/4. The finish was poorly setup as Webb clearly put himself in the right position for it. They went for comedy and it wasn’t successful for the most part.)
Fourth Contest: IWA-MS Women’s Champion Mickie Knuckles vs. Daizee Haze: Haze takes Knuckles down to the mat early on and walks on Knuckles back. Knuckles shoves Haze and delivers a forearm strike. Knuckles staggers Haze with a few strikes and they chop each other. Knuckles gets out of a head scissors and kicks Haze over the back. Knuckles arm drags and hip tosses Haze to maintain control of the match. Haze drop toe holds Knuckles and delivers a few elbow drops. Haze keeps Knuckles on the mat with a chin lock. Haze sends Knuckles chest first into the corner followed by a few strikes. The referee pulls Haze out of the corner. Knuckles fires away on Haze, but a boot ends that. Haze connects with a bulldog leading to a near fall. Haze keeps a head scissors on Knuckles. Haze tries for a suplex, but settles for a snapmare and a kick to the back of Knuckles head for a two count. Knuckles takes Haze over with a northern lights suplex for a near fall. Haze beats on Knuckles with strikes, but Knuckles hits a German suplex.
Knuckles forearms Haze several times and backs Haze into the corner. Knuckles sends Haze into the corner and misses a splash attempt. Haze delivers a heart punch, but misses a yakuza kick. Knuckles forearms Haze. Haze delivers a reverse DDT for a near fall. Haze goes to the top rope and misses a missile dropkick. Knuckles nails Haze with a kick to the face, but Haze was in the ropes. Knuckles puts an Indian death lock on Haze in the middle of the ring. Haze is forced to submit. (*1/4. Haze is a rather sloppy worker and Knuckles surprisingly didn’t do a whole lot. It just felt like a flat match for me.)
Fifth Contest: Arik Cannon vs. Claudio Castagnoli: They trade wrist locks early on with Castagnoli taking Cannon down to the mat for a moment. Cannon keeps a wrist lock on Claudio, but Claudio gets leg control after taking Cannon down to the mat. Castagnoli has a full nelson on Cannon for a few moments and switches to a headlock on the canvas. Cannon takes Castagnoli over with a quick arm drag. Chris Hero makes his way down and sits at ringside to watch the match. Cannon counters Castagnoli to put a neck vice on, but Castagnoli breaks free quickly. Cannon arm drags Castagnoli a few times followed by a hip toss. Castagnoli goes to the apron and Cannon kicks the middle rope to low blow Castagnoli for a two count. Castagnoli sends Cannon chest first into the middle turnbuckle and drops Cannon with an uppercut. Castagnoli goes for a cover and manages a two count. Castagnoli delivers a running uppercut to Cannon’s back for a near fall. Castagnoli uppercuts Cannon followed by an arm yank in the corner. Castagnoli hip tosses Cannon out of a hammerlock position for a near fall.
Castagnoli tries to rollup Cannon managing a two count. Castagnoli focuses his attack on Cannon’s injured left shoulder and delivers an uppercut. Castagnoli wrenches on the arm, but Cannon nearly wins with a rollup and is met with an uppercut. Castagnoli continues to wrench on the shoulder of Cannon, but doesn’t get a submission. Cannon breaks free and almost wins with a small package. Castagnoli drops Cannon with an uppercut. Castagnoli misses a clothesline and Cannon hits a neckbreaker. Cannon drops Castagnoli with a clothesline and back elbow. Cannon hooks Castagnoli for a brainbuster, but Castagnoli blocks it. Cannon drops Castagnoli with a step up kick to the head. Castagnoli bails to the floor and Cannon follows to deliver strikes. Cannon uppercuts Castagnoli and stares at Hero before spitting at Hero. Castagnoli rolls Cannon into the ring delivering another series of uppercuts. Cannon plants Castagnoli with a side suplex. Hero drops Cannon’s shoulder over the top rope and Claudio traps Cannon in a rollup for the win. (**. They told a decent story, but clearly the focus here was to continue the issues between Cannon and Hero. Cannon isn’t someone that usually holds my attention and that was the case here, as well.)
Apparently, Jimmy Jacobs doesn’t have any lumberjacks at ringside to help him out in the next match. Ian Rotten has made it a personal mission to make sure that Jacobs loses the championship sooner rather than later.
Sixth Contest: IWA-MS Heavyweight Champion Jimmy Jacobs vs. Colt Cabana in a lumberjack match: Jacobs tries to stall on the floor but the lumberjacks prevent that from happening. Cabana has wrist control to start the title match. Cabana yanks down on Jacobs arm and asks where is Jacobs going to runoff to now. Cabana knee drops Jacobs on the arm followed by strikes. Cabana dropkicks Jacobs and Jacobs tries to bail again, but is stopped once again. Cabana dropkicks Jacobs again and Jacobs gets clotheslined to the floor. The lumberjacks attack Jacobs before sending Jacobs back into the ring and Jacobs begs off in the corner. Jacobs knee strikes Cabana against the ropes. Cabana gets tossed to the floor, but the lumberjacks don’t attack him. Jacobs isn’t a fan of this behavior. Jacobs goes to the floor and talks to the lumberjacks and is promptly attacked by them all on the floor. Jacobs is rolled into the ring and kicks out of a pin attempt. Cabana continues with a scoop slam and a hip toss. Cabana gets a two count on a cover attempt. Cabana has Jacobs over his shoulder and drives Jacobs back first into the corner for a near fall.
Cabana kicks Jacobs in the midsection, but Jacobs delivers a throat chop to stop Cabana. Jacobs drops Colt throat first over the top rope. Jacobs continues with an overhand strike. Jacobs drives Cabana down to the mat with another chop to the throat followed by a forearm drop for a near fall. Jacobs has a chain and chokes Cabana while the referee is distracted by the lumberjacks. Jacobs dumps Cabana to the floor, and Cabana isn’t attacked again. Jacobs chokes Cabana over the top rope. Cabana shoulder rams Jacobs from the apron and goes for a sunset flip managing a two count. Jacobs stops Cabana with another thrust strike and chokes Cabana with the chain once again. Jacobs hides the chain and goes back to choking Cabana. Jacobs works over Cabana with strikes in the corner to maintain control of the contest. Jacobs misses a splash in the corner and Cabana connects with a leaping clothesline. Cabana fires away on Jacobs with chops in the corner. Colt hits a running back splash and gets a two count on Jacobs. Jacobs gets the chain, but gets punched by Cabana who makes Jacobs drop the chain. Cabana punches Jacobs over the middle rope and delivers a few right hands over the middle rope. Jacobs teeters over the middle rope but doesn’t fall. Cabana has Jacobs over his shoulder, but Jacobs breaks free and runs to the floor.
The lumberjacks prevent Jacobs from getting away and Jacobs is sent into a big boot by Cabana. Cabana rolls Jacobs into the ring. The locker room has emptied and there’s a massive brawl. Jacobs drops Cabana with the chain and wins the match. (**. Despite having everything going against him, Jacobs retains the title in a rather underwhelming match. Lumberjack matches aren’t usually all that entertaining and that trend continued here.)
Seventh Contest: Chandler McClure & Eric Priest vs. Billy Gunn & Trik Davis: Gunn and McClure kickoff the tag match. McClure doesn’t touch Gunn and tags out to Priest, but Priest quickly tags back out. Gunn tags out to Davis and mocks his opponents for being chickens. Priest shoves Davis to the mat to start the match. Gunn gets tagged in and Priest quickly escapes to the floor to again avoid Gunn. McClure enters and wants to shake hands with Gunn, but didn’t actually want to do that. Five minutes has gone by, and there’s been nothing going on. Gunn controls McClure with a wrist lock. Gunn keeps McClure on the mat with a headlock. Gunn shoulder blocks McClure followed by a hip toss. Gunn gets decked by Priest and Priest keeps control with several stomps on the mat. McClure enters and Gunn is met with a double back elbow strike. McClure gets a two count following a leg drop. Priest forearms Gunn in the corner a few times and runs into a big boot in the corner. Gunn knocks Priest into the corner and delivers several jabs. Gunn drops Priest with a right hand leading to a near fall. Gunn drives Priest face first into Davis boot in the corner.
Davis dropkicks Priest after being lifted into the air. Priest drops Davis chest first over the top rope. McClure drives Davis down with a backbreaker and Priest returns to choke Davis over the bottom rope. Priest lifts Davis over his head and delivers a spinebuster to plant Davis to the mat. McClure tags in and strikes Davis and drops Davis face first over the top turnbuckle. Priest plants Davis with a brainbuster, but Gunn enters to prevent the cover attempt. Davis breaks free and tags in Gunn. Gunn cleans house with right hands and elbows McClure. Priest gets thrown over the top to the floor. Gunn hooks McClure to hit a jackhammer for a near fall as Priest breaks the cover. Davis dropkicks Priest to the floor. Gunn sends McClure into the corner and delivers a splash in the corner. Gunn signals for the Fame-Asser, but Priest stops Gunn. Davis head scissors Priest off the apron to the floor. Gunn plants McClure with the Fame-Asser to win the match. (*1/4. A rather uninspiring match between these four. It was rather obvious that Gunn was going to get the shine. Half the match felt like stalling and the approach they went with action wise was not effective for entertainment.)
Main Event: Samoa Joe vs. Chris Hero: Joe backs Hero into a corner and shoves Hero before backing away in the corner. Hero puts a headlock on Joe, but Joe counters quickly with a wrist lock. Hero rolls through on a wrist lock and keeps Joe down with a leg lock. Hero controls Joe with a leg lock, but doesn’t get submission. Hero jabs Joe in the corner and backs away as the fans know that pissed off Joe. Joe delivers a few strikes, but Hero takes Joe down to the mat and Joe tries for an arm lock. Hero gets leg control and delivers a few cross face strikes. Hero keeps a chin lock on Joe. Joe stomps on Hero’s face and continues with several kicks to Hero’s chest. The fans are loving that Hero is getting several kicks to the chest. Joe nails Hero with a running knee strike in the corner. Joe chops and kicks Hero followed by a knee drop. Hero yanks on Joe’s knee to keep Joe on the mat. Hero keeps Joe on the mat with a leg lock. Joe nails Hero with a leaping kick to the head. Joe jabs Hero several times in the corner. Hero boots and forearms Joe in the corner. Joe catches Hero on a splash, but Hero counters an STO and knocks Joe down with a yakuza kick after an arm drag out of the corner. Hero yanks on Joe’s leg several times.
Hero chops Joe several times in the corner and delivers a dropkick to Joe’s knee over the middle rope. Hero controls Joe on the mat with a leg lock for a few moments. Joe counters with a cross arm breaker, but Hero reaches the ropes quickly. Hero back splashes Joe on the leg. Hero jabs Joe and leg sweeps Joe. Hero goes for a Texas Cloverleaf, but Joe reaches the ropes. Hero wrenches on Joe’s legs. Joe jabs Hero a few times in the corner. Hero takes Joe down with a dragon screw leg whip and locks in a half Boston Crab for a moment. Hero continues to work over Joe’s legs. Joe kicks Hero away and tries to recover in the corner. Hero chops Joe in the corner and they trade more strikes in the corner. Joe gets the advantage with several forearm blows. Hero sends Joe into the corner and is caught with an STO. Joe and Hero trade forearm strikes once again. Hero boots Joe and delivers a jawbreaker. Hero comes off the ropes and Joe nearly wins following a snap powerslam. Hero takes Joe over with a side suplex for a near fall.
Hero heads to the top rope and hits a double stomp. Hero goes to the top rope again, but Joe crotches Hero. Joe hooks Hero for a Muscle Buster, but Hero breaks free and sends Joe into the referee in the corner. Hero low blows Joe and goes for a Boston Crab. Arik Cannon comes out to distract Hero. Joe delivers a few slaps and rams his knee into Hero’s head. Joe locks in a choke in the middle of the ring. Hero is forced to submit. (**. A disappointing main event, I thought. It had to be expected that Cannon was going to get involved since Hero got involved in his match earlier in the evening. The action was very average. There was some hard hitting strike, but it lacked excitement.) After the match, Hero says that Cannon screwed the fans out of seeing a great match. Hero is bloodied, by the way. Joe rubs it in that he’s got two wins over Hero. This leads to a pull apart brawl between Hero and Cannon.
Final Thoughts:
The opening bout was fun to watch, but nothing afterward came anywhere near that level of entertainment. A disappointing show that I was hoping there would be some quality wrestling on.
Thanks for reading.