Squared Circle Wrestling presents 2CWAthon
Date: 7/21/2007
From: Syracuse, NY
MATCH #1: GORDY WALLACE VS. JASON AXE
FINISH: Late in the match, Axe knocks the referee down with a chair. However, Spike Dudley comes out and grabs the chair leading to Spike whacking Gordy over the head with a steel chair shot allowing Axe to win the match. After the match, Gordy is busted wide open and beaten down by Spike and Axe.
Bob’s Take: Jason Axe the man who believes he should only be in the main event continues to open shows in 2CW. Axe gains the advantage with a chop block and focused his attack on Gordy’s left knee. Gordy hits a nice sit out powerbomb at one point in the match. Axe low blows Gordy and grabs a steel chair from under the ring. Spike coming out and delivering a chair shot to Gordy means that Spike has aligned with Axe after feuding with Axe for months beforehand and having to leave the company just last month. The match isn’t much of anything to kickoff the show, but the aftermath was nicely done to show the heel side of Spike and add a layer to Axe.
Match Rating: *1/2
Spike Dudley grabs a microphone and says he doesn’t care about the fans. Spike puts down working for 2CW for little pay after being in the WWE. Spike talks about being on tacks and chairs. Spike suggests a fans girlfriend had sex with D-Von. Spike uses a homophobic slur to describe the fan. It looks like a fan tossed something at Spike. All Money Is Legal comes out to make the save and brawls with Spike and Axe. AMIL issue a tag team match for later tonight and that’s signed.
MATCH #2: THE WYLD STALLYNS (OMEN & TEZZ) VS. AJAX 820 & KEVIN GRACE
FINISH: Stallyns plant Grace with a wheelbarrow/tornado DDT combo to win the match.
Bob’s Take: The Stallyns are a team that I have never enjoyed and I remember back in this era not looking forward to seeing them compete. Stallyns work over Ajax, but Grace helps him out by hitting a dropkick on both men. Ajax does a springboard off of Grace’s back to hit a somersault dive to the floor to pop the crowd. Grace and Ajax hit a side slam/middle rope elbow drop to show some good double team offense. Omen cleans house on Ajax and Grace. Ajax is met with a Hart Attack clothesline. Stallyns finishing move is a good one, I will give them that. This wasn’t too terrible of a tag match with Ajax and Grace doing a good job with tag moves and the Stallyns not doing much comedy, which is what I think I remember them mostly doing previously.
Match Rating: **
MATCH #3: ANTONIO THOMAS VS. JOHN WALTERS
FINISH: Thomas counters a powerbomb attempt and rolls through to get a rollup with a handful of ropes to steal the victory.
Bob’s Take: At the start, they lockup and remained locked up as they fell to the floor. In the ring, they keep it simple at the start with neither man getting a clear advantage. The crowd is heavily in favor of Walters, who always feels like a bigger deal in 2CW. Walters has vicious chops on Thomas in the corner a few times much to the crowds delight. Thomas gains momentum with a strike focused attack, but Walters traps Thomas in the ropes to deliver a forearm and middle rope dropkick to the knee. Walters focuses his attack onto the knee of Thomas for a bit. Walters misses a slingshot dive to the floor and sent into the railing allowing Thomas to get control of the match. Thomas almost wins after a missile dropkick. Thomas traps Walters in the ropes to deliver a dropkick to the back. Thomas countered a tornado DDT with a bridging suplex for a two count, but the fans still dislike Thomas quite a bit. Walters fought back with a flurry of clotheslines and back suplex. Walters gets a very close fall with a backstabber. The finish with Thomas stealing the win happens moments later and I don’t hate it. Thomas is a good heel and I think he’s one of the more underrated talents 2CW uses. Walters is not going to be hurt by this and if anything it only establishes Thomas more for the crowd. I enjoyed this bout and they kept a great pace throughout the entire bout.
Match Rating: ***
It is announced that Spike Dudley & Jason Axe will wrestle All Money Is Legal.
MATCH #4: ARIEL VS. NIKKI ROXX
FINISH: Ariel prevails following a cutter.
Bob’s Take: Nikki has worked a few 2CW shows prior to this, but hadn’t been wrestling on TNA TV yet, so the audience isn’t overly familiar with either wrestler. We’re still in an era where women’s wrestling may not get the greatest respect, but 2CW fans aren’t horrible about it by any means. Ariel dropkicks Roxx to the floor as her biggest impactful move early in the match. Nikki gets an extended amount of offense on Ariel right afterward. They might have been in a tough spot coming off the good Walters/Thomas match. I found myself lacking investment in the action. Ariel is taking quite the beating as she’s able to kick out after a polish hammer and Samoan Drop. As soon as I typed that, Ariel hit the cutter for the finish. The last couple of minutes showed Ariel’s fight to overcome a beating and get a good clean win over Roxxi. It’s not a bad match by any means, but I didn’t find myself invested. Maybe if it was earlier in the show I’d have a different view.
Match Rating: **
MATCH #5: ALL MONEY IS LEGAL (MURDA & PUSHA) VS. SPIKE DUDLEY & JASON AXE
FINISH: The referee ends up leaving the ring due to the carnage and it’s a no contest. After the match, Spike references Don Imus comments toward AMIL. It’s noted that the match never officially started, but I’m treating it as a match.
Bob’s Take: Spike and Axe wasted no time attacking AMIL during their entrance. I love the wild nature of how the match starts because it’s heated enough to justify it. Spike is great with his heel intensity. Murda jabs Spike’s forehead with a fork several times causing Spike to be busted wide open. Pusha suplexs Axe on the hardwood floor. The referee has never once gained any sort of control on this match, and I’m totally fine with it. AMIL hit a double muscle buster on Spike, but Axe hits both men with chair shots. Pusha is laid onto a table on the floor leading to Spike leaping off the top to double stomp Pusha through the table! Axe drives Murda onto a chair with a fisherman buster. This match is absolute mayhem, and I enjoyed it a lot. I want to see these teams battle again.
Match Rating: ***1/2
MATCH #6: ISYS EPHEX VS. EDDIE EDWARDS
FINISH: Edwards hit a Death Valley Driver off the middle rope onto the apron causing a double count out finish. After the match, Edwards gets on the microphone and asks the crowd if they want more of the fight. Edwards asks if they want five more minutes. Ephex gets in the ring and says he’s not giving five more minutes because he doesn’t like a man in the crowd.
Bob’s Take: They start with a mat wrestling focused approach with a quite a bit of countering. Ephex drops Edwards with a nice German suplex to get the action going a little bit, but Edwards responded with a dropkick and snap suplex. Ephex delivers a double under hook backbreaker to gain the advantage. Edwards battles back with a top rope missile dropkick to send Ephex to the floor. Edwards hits an incredible suicide dive where Ephex is crotched on the railing and they both crash into the crowd. That was nuts. Ephex drops Edwards over the ropes and hit a dropkick off the top to the floor onto Edwards. These guys are doing some crazy spots. The fans are appreciating these guys efforts. Ephex keeps control in the ring upon both men returning. This is honestly a great hard hitting match with the back and forth action holding interest and the crowd is amped for all of this. Edwards almost wins following a big powerbomb. Ephex cuts off Edwards with a knee strike and both men are exhausted. Ephex spiked Edwards with a tombstone as they countered each other, but Ephex looked like he stumbled leading into it. Edwards hitting a middle rope Death Valley Driver onto the apron is absolutely nuts. Neither man can get into the ring, which seems like an understandable finish all things considered. Just as the tag match before it was a great chaotic fight, this was a great battle with a ton of big spots. Fantastic stuff here.
Match Rating: ***1/2
Prior to the next match, JD Love explains the match that’s taking place. There are four buckets with each bucket on a pole in the four corners. One of the buckets have pooh in it. Love decides to give someone a lap dance.
MATCH #7: JD LOVE VS. LOCA VIDA — POOH ON A POLE
NOTE: The canvas is covered with a blue tarp to protect it from the.. pooh.
FINISH: Vida grabs a bucket off a pole and dumps it on Love to win the match.
Bob’s Take: I feel like every wrestling promotion ever has had a poor idea seen the light of day, and it feels like this would be a poor idea. Vida grabbed the first bucket and chased Love, but it had streamers in it. Love gets the second bucket, but it’s a Red Sox jersey and a few water balloons. Love grabs the third bucket and it is Winnie the Pooh. Vida sells a splash from a teddy bear and grabs Tigger from under the ring. I don’t know what to think about this. The referee grabs Piglet to count a fall of Tigger on Winnie. Why can’t we be friends plays and they do a high five, but Love turned on Vida quickly. Vida bulldogs Love and grabbed the final bucket. Vida won by dumping pooh on Love. This is not good, at all. I get the comedy aspect, but it didn’t seem to connect with the crowd and it was not good to watch on screen.
Match Rating: DUD
MAIN EVENT: 2CW HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION DIZZIE VS. SLYCK WAGNER BROWN VS. ZACHARY SPRINGATE III — ELIMINATION MATCH
FINISH: Brown hits the Appreciation Bomb on Springate to seemingly win the title since Dizzie was escorted out. However, the bell never sounded and Dizzie comes back out hit a muscle buster to pin Brown for the win to retain the title. Ajax 820 has a chair and tries to hit Dizzie, but misses and hits Springate on accident.
Bob’s Take: Brown fights off Springate and Dizzie to kickoff the match, which shouldn’t surprise anyone. They brawl on the floor where Brown continued to get the better of the two. Brown took both men out with a somersault dive to the floor. Brown hit a nice swinging side slam on Dizzie, but Springate nearly took Brown out with a middle rope leg drop. Dizzie fakes a knee injury causing the doctor to come out and see what’s going on. Dizzie is helped backstage as Springate hit a DDT for a two count. Commentary is suggesting that whomever wins between Springate and Brown will be the new champion. That wasn’t announced to the live audience. Brown hits a top rope hurricanrana and a frog splash on Springate. The crowd did not celebrate Brown winning as if they knew that Dizzie was going to come back out. They never stated Dizzie was out of the match. So, the finish is a bit flat, but the action was good and they’re making Dizzie out to be a sneaky, coward heel. I think it translates well on the screen. A slow burn for Brown winning the title makes a lot of sense to me, too. The moment can be a bigger deal.
Match Rating: ***
Final Thoughts:
This is a great show. Ephex/Edwards, AMIL/Spike & Axe, Thomas/Walters and the main event all were good to great. Ignore the Pooh on a Pole match by all costs.
Thanks for reading.