Breaking Point 2004 Review…

20 Man Cruiserweight Gauntlet ( * * * * ½ )
What a way to kick off this super card. This was awesome action all the way as all 20 men strutted their stuff as only the world’s best Cruiserweights can. World Cruiserweight Champion “The American Dragon” Bryan Danielson was at ringside to offer some colour commentary (his recent injury having in reality set up this big number one contenders match for the title) and quite insightful it was too. Order of Elimination was as follows… I) Dynamite (Rick Shaw), II) Funaki (Brian Kendrick), III) Gregory Helms (Kenta), IV) Jamie Knoble (AJ Styles), V) Billy Kidman (Simon Starshot), VI) Acid (Susuma Yokosuka), VII) Chavo Guerrero (Tajiri), VIII) El Ultimo Dragon (Rick Shaw), IX) Simon Starshot (Brian Kendrick), X) Naomichi Marufuji (Kenta), XI) Elix Skipper (Paul London), XII) Susuma Yokosuka (Chris Daniels), XIII) Kaz Hayashi (Rick Shaw), XIV) Paul London (Brian Kendrick), XV) Tajiri (Kenta), XVI) AJ Styles (Chris Daniels), XVII) Chris Daniels (Rick Shaw), XVIII) Brian Kendrick (Kenta), XIX) Kenta (Rick Shaw) WINNER – RICK SHAW!
After the match Bryan Danielson got into the ring and argued with Shaw, and the two are set to clash at January’s Corporal Punishment PPV.
Rancour Vs Matt Morgan (DUD)
From the sublime to the ridiculous. About all we can say about this one is that it was short (under two minutes) and at least Morgan vanquished the final member of Zoltar’s crew that he hadn’t already smashed, the truly abysmal Rancour. Ever wondered why Nathan “Rancour” Jones has never had a televised singles match before? Well you found out here. Short as it was, Jones still managed to mess up the two moves he had to do, and it was with great delight that we witnessed Morgan finish him off with the Morgasm. After the decision he smashed Zoltar with a Morgasm too.
Kurt Angle Vs The Big Gee ( * * ½ )
Could Angle work a miracle with the Gee here? Not quite was the answer, but this was still a solid, workmanlike match with a few moments of great excitement thrown in. Indeed considering the hugely contrasting size and style of these two this was a good affair indeed. Gee controlled the early going, which in real terms could only mean one thing…he was going to be the one doing the j-o-b.
And so it turned out, although it took a role-up with a handful of tights for Angle to get the victory. Yes that’s right…the beloved face used one of the most passé tricks in the book to cheat his way to victory over the dastardly heel. Go figure.
Chris Jericho Vs Booker T ( * * * )
IWF Vs PWF in this one, and this was a good, fast paced match which was well received by the crowd in attendance. Neither man really gained much of an advantage throughout this one as this was very much a back and forth battle all the way. Booker hasn’t looked this focussed for years, and Jericho had his “game” firmly on track tonight and so this was a treat indeed.
In the end it was Booker who prevailed as he sneaked out of the Lion-Tamer and hit a Book-End for the 1-2-3.
Kane Vs Xavier ( * * ¾ )
This battle of the former tag team partners has been brewing since Neon Blue and whilst the reaction from the crowd certainly suggested that this was an eagerly awaited match the action itself was a tad disappointing. That’s not to say that the two men didn’t give it their all, because they did, and there was some pretty brutal stuff on, a-hem, show, but the main problem was the finish. Or more specifically the lack of a proper finish. Because wouldn’t you know it…the referee simply couldn’t control these “former friends turned enemies” and so after all that he called for the bell and announced a double disqualification. Not that that stopped the two men, who had to be dragged apart by a group of road agents. Obviously then these two will meet again somewhere down the line, but that’s no excuse for the cheapness prevalent in the finish of this one here.
Eddy Guerrero Vs Chris Benoit ( * * * ½ )
Sure they’ve fought many times before, but it is always a pleasure to see two great technicians such as Eddy and Chris go at it again. This was as smooth as they come, although the opening half lacked a bit of the spark that one might have expected from a “IWF Vs PWF grudge” match such as this.
Still this would not have been out of place on an NJPW card at the Tokyo Dome, such was its’ technical proficiency, and it was another match that was warmly received. The closing moments of the match were some of the most exciting of the card. Benoit seemingly had the match sown up when he locked on the Crossface, but Eddy managed to escape by reaching the ropes. Benoit locked it on again but this time Eddy reversed it into one of his own. Benoit broke free, but Eddy slammed him and then hit the Frog Star splash for the very popular pinfall victory.
Dean Roberts Vs The Undertaker ( * * * ¼ )
Believe it or not, Dean accepted the Undertaker’s challenge for this “final” match because his ego forced him to act tough in front of Girls Aloud. Which is a ridiculous premise for a match I grant you, but at least it did give ‘Taker a final chance to break Dean’s winning streak (stretching back six years) over himself.
There was little finesse and subtlety about this match…this was pier-six brawling all the way, but there is an art to this kind of stuff too, which is what these two proved. The brutality slowly escalated as the match went on, and ‘Taker slowly began to wear Roberts down. Roberts fought back, and everyone thought he’d won it when he pulled a Scholarship out of nowhere, but it wasn’t to be. ‘Taker gained control once more and hit two tombstones (naturally Dean kicked out of one…) and finally got the pinfall victory over Dean that he’d been waiting years for.
Matt Hardy Vs Randy Orton Vs Edge Vs John Cena ( * * )
All these four men were thrown together into this four way title match for one simple reason…the card was already too big for two separate singles matches to be added from the Hardy/Edge and Orton/Cena feuds. Which may have been a blessing in disguise (come on, did you really want to see another Orton/Cena match…? Thought not). As you might expect, time constraints also meant that this was fought under first pinfall wins rules, which totally ruined any flow of the match. Yes this was the usual big move…pinfall attempt…broken pinfall match you always get under this format. In the end, Hardy retained his title by pinning John Cena. That is really about all you need to know.
Triple H Vs Rob Van Dam ( * * ¾ )
Rob Van Dam had won a one-night tournament on Warfare (incorporating RVD alongside John Cena, Edge, Randy Orton, Chris Benoit, Chris Jericho, Eddy Guerrero and Booker T) to become the number one contender to HHH’s Unified World Title. Which is pretty impressive…so why did this match feel like a glorified card filler? Well that answer is easy enough. No-one, and we mean no-one, had any belief that this was going to be RVD’s night to unseat the champ. In fact everyone was damn sure that he wouldn’t.
So what could have been a good little match ended up being a competent but totally predictable affair which played out in front of a decidedly dis-interested crowd. And sure enough, HHH finished off his opponent with the Pedigree. Thank you and goodnight.
Matthew Mercy Vs Chris Kanyon ( * * * ¼ )
So it was time for the main event. This was the match that the crowd had really come to see, and for the most part they were not disappointed. Whilst not quite matching their famous MuscleMania effort, this was still a very exciting and thrilling match which saw great performances from both men.
It was refreshing to see this match with the tables turned (as in Heel Mercy Vs Face Kanyon) and it seemed as if the two wrestlers were having a whale of a time too. The only let-down was the finish really, as it took interference from The Show’s Director Of Operations Luke Todd-Wood to distract Kanyon and leave him open for Double M’s match winning Mercy Bomb. The crowd hated it, and they hated it even more as Mercy’s “Show” compadres Dean, Xav and Gee joined him and LTW to celebrate as the show went off the air.

All in all, Breaking Point was a good show, but not a great one. There was some good, some bad and some indifferent, but overall it just about broke into thumbs up territory. Still this wasn't the climate changing supershow that the IWF needs at this point in time. As usual the show was a good one, but did little to spark the new and exciting ideas that the IWF will have to start implementing in order to boost more interest in the product.

BREAKING POINT CARD

International Wrestling Federation Presents...In association with ARGOS...

BREAKING POINT 2004

Monday 27th December 2004

Millenium Dome, London

WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT TRIPLE CROWN TITLE;

Triple H Vs Rob Van Dam

Matthew Mercy Vs Chris Kanyon

Dean Roberts Vs The Undertaker

EUROPEAN TITLE;

Matt Hardy Vs Randy Orton Vs John Cena Vs Edge

Kurt Angle Vs The Big Gee

Chris Jericho Vs Booker T

Eddy Guerrero Vs Chris Benoit

20 Man Cruiserweight Gauntlet;

Particpants: AJ Styles. "The Fallen Angel" Chris Daniels, Kaz Hayashi, Tajiri, Simon Starshot, Brian Kendrick, Jamie Knoble, Rick Shaw, Elix Skipper, Acid, Chavo Guerrero, Gregory Helms, Funaki, Dynamite, Paul London, Billy Kidman, Kenta (Noah), Naomichi Marufuji (Noah), Susuma Yokosuka (Dragon Gate), El Ultimo Dragon

"The Blueprint" Matt Morgan Vs Rancour

NIGHTMARE REPORT

Chris Benoit & Booker T Vs Chris Jericho & Eddy Guerrero ( * * * * )
The opening match was everything that one might expect from these four, and makes you wonder why exactly Benoit & Booker were ever jettisoned from the IWF roster earlier in the year. Mind you, in a funny way it’s worked out for the best all round. Benoit & Booker always were class acts, and the “PWF Invasion” style angle which saw their return does mean that there is actually a reason behind their matches these days.
This was non-stop action from start to finish and it was lapped up by the Wisconsin crowd. Jericho and Guerrero started off like the proverbial house on fire, and they really took the fight to the invaders. Some sneaky double teaming from Benoit and Booker though brought them straight back into the hunt and from there they cut the ring in half and isolated Guerrero. The crowd were willing Eddy on, but the dastardly PWF-ers always seemed one step ahead. Things looked bleak for Eddy but from out of nowhere he stunned Booker with an Enziguri kick and then the race was onto see who could get the tag first. Booker reached Benoit, but Eddy reached Jericho just in the nick of time and a pier six brawl kicked in. In the melee, Booker grabbed hold of a steel chair and smashed Jericho with it. As Booker then brawled with Eddy, Benoit climbed the top rope, hit the flying headbut on Jericho and got the 1-2-3 to give his team the victory. Fantastic opener.
Edge Vs Randy Orton ( * * ¾ )
Was management sending these two out to follow that last match someone’s idea of a joke? It certainly would have seemed that way as the two kicked off their match in front of a very disinterested crowd. Still, credit where credit is due, the two battled well and did manage to win the crowd over, especially towards the closing moments of the match.
The two were evenly matched throughout and this was a competitive match which saw moments of good work from both men. If they’d gone to a clean finish, the crowd might have popped huge…but they weren’t afforded that opportunity. To the surprise of many, John Cena decided to come out to ringside, and in the end, after much teasing, he took advantage of a ref bump to nip into the ring and hit an F-U on Orton. Edge looked bemused, but it did get him the win. Decent match, but neither man showed much of the pizazz that a genuine main eventer here in the IWF needs.
Rhino & Raven Vs Jeff Jarrett & Bill DeMott ( * * ½ )
These two teams were part of the Four Way Dance for the titles at Neon Blue, and it has to be said that it’s fair to suggest that not too many people were anxiously anticipating a re-match of sorts between these two teams. In fairness though, the build up has been good and effective, and this was a decent match, albeit one with “card-filler” written all over it.
Allocated a mere seven minutes, there wasn’t much time for this match to grow, but there was some pretty entertaining brawling on show, and all four men put forward good and focussed performances. It looked like there would be a changing of the guard when DeMott hit the “No Laughing Matter” moonsault on Raven, but Rhino popped out of nowhere with a Gore, and Raven draped his arm over DeMott’s limp body for the title retaining pinfall victory. Decent, if instantly forgettable, match.
Shawn Michaels Vs Chris Kanyon ( * * * ¾ )
Two men with a lot to prove? Maybe. HBK maybe as good as ever on the big occasion, but it’s a while since he has been in the position of such a high profile one-on-one match. 2004 was supposed to be Kanyon’s year, but “his” title is around Triple H’s waist and there appears to be no immediate prospects of him getting it back. So if these two did feel like they had points to prove, after this grand match we can probably consider most of the points proved!
This was, quite simply, outstanding, and with an extra 5 or so minutes (to add to the 15 they got) this could have been off the chart. Both men were crisp and on form and the action swung back and forth throughout this one. What was even better is that the two went to a clean finish. Michaels was lining up some Sweet Chin Music but when he went for it Kanyon ducked, hit back with a Kanyon Cutter and the pinfall was a formality. The crowd went wild throughout this match and gave both men nice ovations at the end. A great match, which hopefully puts both men back up where they should be.
Matt Morgan Vs Zoltar’s Crew (Gauntlet, * * )
So the big question was could “The Blueprint” Matt Morgan beat all four of Zoltar’s henchmen one after the other? Well the answer was quite simple…YES, he could. First up for a smashing was Yzeabek, who was swiftly dispatched with a Power-Bomb. Mathuras didn’t last too much longer as he was sent packing with a brutal Reverse Plunging DDT. Acid put up a spirited fight, but the Cruiserweight was way out of his league here and he was creamed with a Guilotine Leg Drop (which drew a HUGE pop from the crowd). Finally it was Ashten Drake’s turn to face Morgan and he actually got some effective offense, managing to temporarily stun Morgan. But it was to no avail as Morgan hit back with a top rope splash (which got another HUGE reaction) and he vanquished the final member of Zoltar’s stable…
Or did he? It was at this point, as Morgan was celebrating, that Zoltar informed the world that the Rancour was here and Morgan had to beat him to truly beat the gauntlet. As Morgan was distracted, the Rancour hopped into the ring and attacked him from behind, sending him sprawling. There was then a big beating as all of Zoltar’s men attacked Morgan. The Rancour then hit him with a big boot and made the cover as Zoltar himself counted the pin. So whilst Morgan officialy won the match, it seems like we have a Morgan/Rancour one-on-one decider to look forward too. Oh my god.
Triple H Vs Matt Hardy ( * * * )
Could Hardy really lift the Triple Crown title? The survey said no, but both men put in the kind of performances that, at least for a while, suggested an upset could be on the cards. In fact the whole thing was built up well, with Hardy cashing in his Man Of Steel “number one contenders” stipulation, much to the obvious chargrin of Triple H.
Tripper controlled the majority of the match, and at times it did seem a little pedestrian, but the energy of the crowd was enough to keep this one bubbling, and Hardy really looked as if he was relishing the chance at the World Title on a big ppv event. Hardy even looked like he could walk away with the title when he hit Tripper with a Twist of Fate, but a distraction from Eric Bischoff meant that he didn’t quite get the three count. Hardy hit Eric with a lovely right, but he took his eye off the, a-hem, game for just a split second, and he turned around to get a boot in the gut, and then a Pedigree. HHH got the pinfall that retained his Triple Crown match. Great little match, which, even in defeat, will do Hardy a lot of good, so thumbs up all around.
The Big Gee, Dean Roberts & Xavier Vs Kane, The Undertaker & Kurt Angle ( * * * ¼ )
So once again Dean Roberts and The Undertaker are involved in the main event match…and once again that decision was just about justified. The crowd were well hot for this “Anything goes” match and there was great receptions for all six men. Finesse and technical ability was more or less thrown out of the window for this one, but this wasn’t just a crazy brawl. Ok, so it was a crazy, exhillarating and enjoyable brawl, but it also told a great story too.
We pretty much had three separate matches at the beginning as Dean/Taker, Xav/Kane and Gee/Angle all took early opportunities to try and settle on-going scores. And it was the good guys who were seemingly on top in the early going, and all three members of “The Show” bumped like mad men for their opponents .
Once all six men were battling in the same immediate locations however, the heels used their superior team work to really set to work to gain an advantage. The Show looked really into handing out a grade A beating and they really worked over their opponents. Still, you can never keep the Undertaker down for long and he led his lads into an almighty comeback which set up the end sequence of the match. All six men were involved in an almighty collision in the ring and when The Undertaker hit Dean Roberts with a tombstone it looked all over. Unbeknownst to the Taker though, Xavier had waffled Kane with the ring bell and made a pin attempt on him….which the referee counted, leading to The Show getting the big win. Xavier and Gee helped the battered Dean out of the ring and celebrated on the rampway as the show faded off the air.

After filling Neon Blue with too many matches, the IWF pared back down to a mere seven matches for Nightmare, and whilst some people may be disappointed that certain guys didn’t make it onto the card, it did mean that what was on was given ample time to breathe and as a result this was a entertaining card, and featured it’s share of hot matches. The opener was the pick of the bunch, but Michaels/Kanyon, Hardy/HHH and the six man tag were all great bouts too. A throughly enjoyable show which did all the necessary in terms of building up to Breaking Point, but at the same time presenting a card that was good on it’s own merits.

NIGHTMARE CARD

International Wrestling Federation presents

in association with Memorex

Nightmare 2004

Sunday 21st November 2004

Bradley Center, Milwaukee, WI

TRIPLE CROWN WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE:

Champion Vs Champion;

Triple H Vs Matt Hardy

SIX MAN TAG TEAM GRUDGE MATCH:

The Undertaker, Kane & Kurt Angle

Vs

Dean Roberts, The Big Gee and Xavier

Chris Kanyon Vs Shawn Michaels

Chris Benoit & Booker T Vs Chris Jericho & Eddy Guerrero

Edge Vs Randy Orton

WORLD TAG TEAM TITLES:

Raven & Rhino

Vs

Jeff Jarrett & Bill DeMott

GAUNTLET MATCH:

"The Blueprint" Matt Morgan

Vs

Mathuras, Yzaebek, Acid & Ashten Drake

NEON BLUE RESULTS

Simon Starshot & Elix Skipper Vs The Second City Saints ( * * ¼ )
Opening match time, and this was an intriguing, if slightly anaemically promoted, tag team affair. It has to be said that Starshot And Skippers “SAS 2004” tomfoolery has been entertaining over the past couple of weeks though, and Punk and Cabana make a nice double act too. This was comedy time for the most part (which probably won’t have pleased the ultra-serious Punk) and as such was entertaining, without ever being exciting. There were a modicum of hot moves thrown in, including an impressive Pepsi Plunge from the top rope to finish of Skipper for the 1-2-3. Nice little match that warmed the crowd up a treat.
Kurt Angle Vs Tajiri ( * * * )
For some reason, the fans went crazy throughout this one . It seems like this micro-feud between Angle and Tajiri has really caught the imagination of a lot of people. Of course the end result was never really in doubt, but Angle did such a masterful job of making Tajiri look like his equal that the fans really were willing Tajiri to get a win. It looked as if Tajiri could pull off one of the all-time biggest upsets when he locked Angle in the tarantula and then hit him with a series of his trademark devastating kicks, but Angle survived these and hit an Angle Slam to get the 1-2-3. Another short match, but one that was exciting and very competitive and as such this was very respectable indeed.
Paul “The Phenomenon” Wardle Vs “The Graduate” Phil Jackson ( * * ¾ )
The perennial rivals over the UK title battled in a hugely anticipated match-up. Both men have shown, dare we say it, main event qualities in their recent feud and this was another one that the crowd was wild about. The two didn’t pull off a main event quality match, but for eight minutes they took us on a fairly dramatic ride, which the crowd oohed and ahhed along with all the way. After an evenly matched opening period, Wardle took control and really took the battle to Jackson. But with the crowd behind him all the way. Jackson fought back and eventually hit the Graduation Day to get the pinfall victory and reclaim the United Kingdom Championship.
Shawn Michaels Vs Edge ( * * )
Oh Edge, you so almost had it all. At the beginning of 2004 there were genuine feelings that this could have been Edge’s breakout year, but here we are in October, and he’s still stuck firmly in the mid-card. The fact that although he was supposed to be the “good guy” in this match but got more boo’s than cheers says it all. Edge was seemingly frustrated by the crowd’s reaction to him (mind you, he should be getting used to it by now) and this dragged the match down somewhat. Michaels looked his usual proficient self and it is clear that his short break has done him the world of good. He wrapped this one up with some Sweet Chin Music, much to the delight of most of the crowd. Edge meanwhile just looked pissed off with everything.
Alexis Laree & Annalise Anderson Vs Lisa Marie Veron & Trinity ( * * ¼ )
Well it seems like these are the only four women left in the International Wrestling Federation that can actually, you know, wrestle. And in the absence of any real storylines for the quartet, they were all bunged into this entertaining tag team affair which, like most of the under-card, was really too short for any lasting impressions to be made. All four women hit some of their big moves, but there was no real pacing in the match. Still the crowd did seem to enjoy this for the most part and there was some entertaining face/heel shenanigans on show. In the end Annalise hit the Merry-Go-Round on Lisa Marie, but it was Alexis who nipped in for the pin. Annalise didn’t look to happy about that, but the two of them shook hands and then celebrated their win.
Triple H Vs Chris Kanyon (Last Man Standing, * * * ¼ )
What? The world title “main event” and we’re not even half way through the evening? In retrospect we should have heeded the warnings that this should have given us. For a start, and let’s get this straight, this was a good match, UNTIL it came to the ending. Both men put a lot of effort in to this and both men suffered for their art, but a lot of this was negated by the stupid finish. Yes the whole Last Man Standing concept was rendered pointless by the fact that at the end, there was no last man standing, as both men failed to make the count after some ass shenanigans. The crowd were livid that such a high profile match on such a high profile card could end in such a low profile and cheap way. Triple H retained, but this did neither man many favours in the long run.
Chris Jericho Vs Eddy Guerrero ( * * * ¾ )
They may have only given these two men ten minutes, but the two of them packed in a whole shed load of excitement, which would have warranted an even higher rating if it hadn’t been for the non-finish. Mind you, even the non-finish had its fair share of excitement. From out of nowhere, IWF rejects Booker T and Chris Benoit ran from the crowd and attacked both men, causing the referee to declare a no-contest. The two gave Chris and Eddy a complete pasting and then quickly scampered away before IWF security could get to them. Seems like we can chalk up two more men for Eric Bischoff’s army! Jericho and Guerrero both had to be helped backstage after the brutal attack.
Xavier & Kane Vs The Big Gee & Matthew Mercy ( * * )
After Kane, Xavier and the Gee had made their entrances, the world waited with bated breath for Matthew Mercy’s first appearance in the IWF since MuscleMania. His music played, but there was no sign of Double M and the crowd were far from happy about it. Backstage clips of Commissioner Shane McMahon showed that he wasn’t happy about it either. It seemed as if a handicap match was due, but Xavier had other ideas. He took the house mic and said that he was a fair guy and that as Gee had not signed himself up for a handicap match he would graciously step aside and allow Gee and Kane to go at it one-on-one. And with that, Xavier joined George Minister and Paul Heyman at the commentary booth to talk us through a match that now had little meaning to the fans.
What the two big men did was passable, but the crowd were well pissed at not seeing Mercy and the silence was so deafening that even the commentators had to recognise it. It was solid action but try as they might, Gee and Kane just couldn’t get much of a reaction. It was only when Gee got hold of a steel chair and went postal on Kane’s ass that the fans really got into it. Gee went mental, and the referee had no option but to call for Gee’s disqualification. All this got the poor ref was a taste of the steel as well.
Gee continued his assault which naturally brought Xavier out from his commentary position but Xav couldn’t get in the ring as every time he came near, Gee was swinging the chair like a mad man. And this it happened. The familiar opening strains of The Dandy Warhols’ “Nietzsche” kicked in and to an absolutely spine-tingling reaction Matthew Mercy made his return to the IWF. The fans went wild as Mercy strode purposefully to the ring. Gee stood in the ring transfixed and Mercy got in and grabbed the chair from Gee and stared at him. Xavier hopped into the ring and Mercy looked about ready to hit both Gee & Xavier…except he didn’t. In “the chair shot that was heard around the world” Mercy turned to Kane, who was finally coming around, and smashed him smack bang in the face. The crowd started to boo but they booed all the more when Mercy, Gee and Xavier all started to kick the crap out of Kane, who was bloodied and indeed coughing up blood by this point. With every ounce of Kane’s energy now gone, the dastardly trio raised each other’s hands and saluted the crowd, and the crowd reigned down boo’s on them.
As Kane was being attended to by the medical staff, Shane McMahon came out to the rampway and seemed to realise that he’d been the victim of a “set-up all along” and he ordered security to throw Mercy, Gee and Xavier out of the building. After a struggle the trio were led away and out of the arena. A nothing match, but one hell of a segment. Mercy returned, but as a heel! Absolutely killer angle.
Rob Van Dam Vs Kaz Hayashi ( * * ½ )
Why was Kaz getting a singles match on ppv? Who knows, but it was a welcome sight to see him, especially considering how badly he was misused by the PWF in his time there. This was, and you are not going to believe me when I say this, another short affair, and although Kaz did get in some tasty morsels of offence, this bout existed mostly as a conduit for Rob Van Dam to show off some of his big moves. And that he did, much to the delight of the crowd. In the end he finished Hayashi off with a Five-Star Frog Splash for the popular victory. Good quick match, but it is a sobering thought to think that at the 2003 version of this event 12 months ago, RVD was lifting the world title.
Alias Storm & Haas Vs Bryan Danielson & Paul London ( * * * ¼ )
This is going to start sounding like a broken record now, but this was a good little match, which would have been even better if more time had been allocated to it. The big story was Danielson’s attempt to add European Tag Team gold to his Cruiserweight title. There really wasn’t an awful lot more to the build up to this one than that. Still this was an excellent bout for what it was and featured some hot and tasty moves which wowed the crowd. It looked over when London hit the Shooting Star Press on Storm, but Haas managed to nip in, hit London with the Haas-Attack and get the pinfall that kept his team as Euro tag team champions. Fantastic little match.
John Cena Vs Jay Reso ( * ¾ )
It’s time to be brutally honest here. John Cena cannot keep putting on performances like this if he expects to climb the ladder of opportunity in the IWF. The crowd lapped up his pre-match rap, but everything he did after the bell rang was met with complete apathy. Bless Reso for trying to drag a half decent match out of Cena (he half succeeded in the task) but there was little he could do in the face of overwhelming apathy. But it was Cena who got the win following the F-U. At least the fans popped for that, but Cena has to start rectifying his flaws sooner rather than later.
Ashten Drake & Mathuras Vs Raven & Rhino Vs Jeff Jarrett & Bill DeMott Vs Mark Jindrak & Mystery Partner ( * * )
The big suspense here (and some unkind people would say the only suspense) was the mystery partner of Mark Jindrak. And for once it was a reasonable scenario as “The Blueprint” Matt Morgan got the nod, much to the shock of all his opponents. He immediately started cleaning house and as Raven and Rhino collided with Jarrett & DeMott, Morgan and Jindrak really took the fight to Zoltar’s crew. So much so in fact that Zoltar had to call out Yzaebek, The Rancour and Acid to help quell the monster. It didn’t really work and Morgan hit Mathuras with a devastating power-bomb and Jindrak pinned him. By this time a raft of IWF officials had reached ringside to quell the melee, and this gave Jeff Jarrett the chance to smack Jindrak with a steel chair, and get the pinfall to eliminate Morgan and Jindrak.
Once the officials had cleared the melee, this meant we were left with Raven & Rhino against Jarrett & DeMott. A fairly exciting exchange then took place which ended off with Raven hitting the Evenflow DDT on DeMott, who was then subjected to the Gore from Rhino and the pinfall was a formality. This wasn’t a great match, but hey, it ended without the abysmal Drake & Mathuras being tag team champions and for that we should be grateful.
Randy Orton Vs Matt Hardy ( * * * ¼ )
These two have been waging war for months, but this was the first time (on TV at least) that Orton’s European title has been on the line. Could Hardy finally do the business with the title on the line? Well the sold out crowd were itching to find out. The heat for this one was huge, which is a testament both to the booking squad and the increased competence of both men as the storyline has progressed. Again the time constraints (yes. even this match suffered) meant that we didn’t quite get the quality of match that these two can produce (witness their stellar Man Of Steel final last month) but this was still a very rewarding and very dramatic match. Orton took control for most of it and it really seemed that he would take the victory when it arguably most mattered in the feud, but try as he might he could not finish Hardy off. Hardy’s comebacks were willed on by the partisan crowd, but Orton always seemed to have just enough about him to repel Hardy. However Hardy’s persistence paid off and he managed to hit a Twist Of Fate on Orton and, much to the delight of the crowd, it was enough to get the three count and to a HUGE reaction, Matt Hardy had won the European Championship.
Dean Roberts Vs The Undertaker ( * * * )
So now it was time for the final match of the evening. And what a prospect it was; The Undertaker in his first match in IWF territory in over four years, Dean Roberts’ first match in 15 months and their first one-on-one meeting for nearly six years! The crowd really were up for this one, and you really could sense the atmosphere as the bongs sounded to herald Taker’s appearance. There were chills in the air and the fans were already going wild. And when Dean Roberts came out the cheers turned to boos and we really did sense that this match was on.
The two went at it with a wild brawl right from the onset. This wasn’t technical wrestling, but it did show that brawling based grappling can be exciting and entertaining. The fans were with every step of this one; cheering wildly when Taker took the fight to Dean and booing just as loudly when Dean took control of portions of the bout. Some stiff offence from ‘Taker opened up a cut on Dean’s forehead, reminiscent of their classic 1998 cage battle, and it added a visual flair to the bout. As the bout wore on it looked more and more likely that the Undertaker would be the one winning, as Dean was visibly flailing, but it wasn’t to be. In sheer desperation, Dean hit a low blow on the Undertaker and in the ensuing melee the referee took a tumble. And it was then that the damndest thing happened.
Taker recovered enough to get Dean read for The Last Ride, but then from out of nowhere, Matthew Mercy, Xavier and The Big Gee reappeared from through the crowd and lynched the ‘Taker. They hid at ringside as Dean hit the Scholarship on the Undertaker and the referee awoke to see Dean making the pin and three seconds later, the referee rang for the bell and Dean Roberts had won.
The trio returned to the ring and shook hands with Dean, before all four of them continued the onslaught. The quartet then kicked Taker out of the ring before standing centre stage and lifting all their arms aloft as the crowd went absolutely berserk.

An interesting pay-per-view that had far too much crammed into three hours for comfort. That said, it was rarely less than entertaining and you really got the feeling that you were watching a special event. And the ending…WOW. Who knows where that is leading, but it is clear that the IWF is hotting up once again.

NEON BLUE CARD

International Wrestling Federation presents…
In association with Club Nokia
NEON BLUE
Sunday 24th October
MEN Arena, Manchester

IWF WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT UNIFIED TRIPLE CROWN;
Triple H Vs Chris Kanyon

THE PHENOM RETURNS:

Dean Roberts Vs The Undertaker

MOVIE-STAR HOMECOMING?
The Big Gee & Matthew Mercy Vs Kane & Xavier

WORLD TAG TEAM TITLES;
Ashten Drake & Mathuras Vs Raven & Rhino

EUROPEAN TITLE:
Randy Orton Vs Matt Hardy

Rob Van Dam Vs John Cena

Kurt Angle Vs Tajiri

Chris Jericho Vs “The Famous” Chuck Palumbo

Shawn Michaels Vs Sean O’ Haire

Alexis Laree & Annalise Roberts
Vs
Lisa Marie Veron & Trinity

EUROPEAN TAG TEAM TITLES;
Alias Storm & Haas Vs The Second City Saints

UNITED KINGDOM TITLE;
Paul “The Phenomenon” Wardle Vs “The Graduate” Phil Jackson

Edge Vs Eddy Guerrero Vs Jay Reso

Bryan Danielson, Kaz Hayashi & Paul London
Vs

Brian Kendrick, AJ Styles & Chris Daniels

MAN OF STEEL RESULTS

EDDY GUERRERO VS BRYAN DANIELSON ( * * * )
Opening Man Of Steel Quarter Final was a joy to watch, well at least it was for the time that it lasted. Give credit to both men though, they crammed more than you would have thought possible into a seven minute match, and this really was nip and tuck all the way. It looked as if Eddy would take the victory when he slammed Danielson and signalled for the Five Star Frog Splash, but this was only the cue for Danielson’s PWF buddies to hop down to ringside and as Kaz Hayashi distracted the referee, Paul London threw Guerrero off the top rope, and Danielson crawled over to get the pinfall that advanced him into to semi-finals.

RANDY ORTON VS JOHN CENA ( * *)
Management had high hopes for this feud when Cena became the first PWF star to sign a deal with the IWF back in April, but the fact that the feud was canned proves how well “can’t miss” prospect Cena has fared here in the IWF. This was decent, but nothing more and the temptation is to say that until Cena fleshes out the in-ring side of his arsenal, he’s going nowhere. Which is why Orton got all the fans cheers here, and why it was Orton who won in rapid order with the RKO. Thank you and goodnight Mr Cena.

CHUCK PALUMBO VS JAY RESO ( * * ¼ )
Believe it or not, “The Famous” Chuck Palumbo has made quite an impression here in the IWF, and it continued tonight in some senses as at least he managed to rile up the IWF fans in the right way and he more than did his job of helping the match to be relatively decent. This was another short one, but it was exciting for what it was and the end portion of the match was very heated indeed. Reso took the win with the unprettier, but both men came out of this one looking good.

PAUL WARDLE VS MATT HARDY ( * * ½ )
Whilst this wasn’t much of an in-ring encounter, this was riotously entertaining with both men taking the crowd on a wonderful journey. Wardle was superb as the cocky heel and Hardy matched him step for step as the slightly less cocky face. The UK champion put up a splendid fight, but in the end Hardy took it with a Twist Of Fate.

ASHTEN DRAKE, MATHURAS & ACID VS RAVEN & THE SECOND CITY SAINTS ( * * )
One word, CHAOS! That’s what this six man tag team match was all about. This was just crazy brawling all over the building, which was relatively entertaining albeit totally one-dimensional. Mathuras stunk the place up as usual, and CM Punk was the star performer. Which makes it nice that it was Punk who wrapped this one up by pinning the feckless Mathuras.
RANDY ORTON VS JAY RESO ( * * ¾ )
The crowd were really looking forward to this match and their reactions certainly did seem to spur on the two combatants to put their best feet forward. In many ways this was an “old school” style match and the crowd dug it. Reso was in control for the most part, which in wrestling terms could only mean one thing…Orton won with yet another RKO, to take his spot in the final.
BRYAN DANIELSON VS MATT HARDY ( * * ½ )
There was a slight clash of styles evident in this one which whilst not making the match a complete mess, certainly made it a slightly disappointing one in relation to who we had in it. Still there were some hot sequences in the match, and it once again looked like Danielson would advance when his buddies Hayashi and London toddled down to ringside again, but this time help was at hand from IWF Cruiserweights Brian Kendrick and AJ Styles who evened up the odds and gave Hardy the opportunity to hit Danielson with a Twist Of Fate and get the pinfall which advanced him to the final.
RHINO VS THE BIG GEE ( * * )
If you goto the wrestling internet dictionary and look up “card filler” you will probably find a clip of this match. There was no build up and no issues to exploit, and it seemed as if this match was put on purely to allow us all to see The Gee’s latest valet, the delectable Abi Titmuss, is a state of near undress. Distracting? It certainly distracted poor Rhino, who fell to the Gee-Bomb after Abi had blown a kiss in his direction and hitched up her already very short skirt to reveal her peachy ass. Gee wins, but who really cares?
RANDY ORTON VS MATT HARDY ( * * * ¾ )
If the tournament to date had been somewhat of a disappointment, these two certainly made up for it with a wonderful final, and one which was well deserving of it’s status and profile. The two went back and forth for nearly 15 minutes and they dragged the crowd along for the ride. There was serious heat for this one and both men delivered. Orton slowly began to take more and more control, but in the end Hardy prevailed, even managing to kick out of a pinfall attempt after an RKO, and he finished Orton off with Twist Of Fate, for a verey popular tournament victory. Your 2004 Man Of Steel…Matt Hardy.
TRIPLE H VS CHRIS KANYON VS SHAWN MICHAELS VS XAVIER VS CHRIS JERICHO VS KURT ANGLE (Elimination Chamber, * * * * ½ )
Well if ever a card needed a great main event to save it, it was this one, and boy did these six men deliver in the demonic Elimination Chamber. All six men made their way to the ring to great reactions, and a pre-match draw meant that Shawn Michaels and Xavier kicked it off.
ORDER OF ENTRY; Openers – Shawn Michaels & Xavier, 3rd (S mins)– Chris Kanyon, 4th (8 mins) - Chris Jericho, 5th (11 mins)–Kurt Angle, 6th (14 mins)– Triple H.
ORDER OF ELIMINATIONS; 1) Chris Jericho (pinned by Kurt Angle – 17 mins), 2) Shawn Michaels (pinned by Chris Kanyon – 20 mins), 3) Kurt Angle (pinned by Xavier – 22 mins), 4) Xavier (pinned by Chris Kanyon – 24 mins), 5) Chris Kanyon (pinned by Triple H – 29 mins). So there we had it. HHH was last in and was the last man standing. The fans hated it, but no-one could deny the greatness of the match, and there were great performances by all six men. A great main event to end what was a disaapointing pay-per-view overall.

International Wrestling Federation presents…in association with Pot Noodle
MAN OF STEEL 2004
SUNDAY 12th SEPTEMBER
WHITLEY BAY ICE RINK

UNDISPUTED WORLD TRIPLE CROWN HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE;
SIX MAN ELIMINATION CHAMBER MATCH

TRIPLE H
VS
CHRIS KANYON
VS
SHAWN MICHAELS
VS
XAVIER
VS
CHRIS JERICHO
VS
KURT ANGLE


MAN OF STEEL QUARTERFINALS;

EDDY GUERRERO VS BRYAN DANIELSON
RANDY ORTON VS JOHN CENA
CHUCK PALUMBO VS JAY RESO
PAUL WARDLE VS MATT HARDY

THEN THE SEMI’S & THE FINAL !

PLUS;

WHITLEY BAY STREETFIGHT;
ASHTEN DRAKE, MATHURAS & ACID VS RAVEN & THE SECOND CITY SAINTS

RHINO VS THE BIG GEE

Get the Man Of Steel Theme "Any Second Now" by Soulwax on Dias Records.

MoS PLAY OFF RESULTS

Randy Orton won play-off 1, outlasting Phil Jackson and Rob Van Dam in a Three Way Match

Chuck Palumbo won play-off 2, outlasting Brian Kendrick and Kaz Hayashi in a Three Way Match.

MOS QUALIFIERS AFTER STAGE 1

AUTOMATIC QUALIFIERS FOR QUARTER-FINALS;
Eddy Guerrero, Jay Reso, Matt Hardy, Paul Wardle, Bryan Danielson, John Cena.

2ND PLACE PLAY-OFF PARTICIPANTS;
Randy Orton, Brian Kendrick, Phil Jackson, Chuck Palumbo, Kaz Hayashi, Rob Van Dam

GROUP F MoS RESULTS

Rob Van Dam pinned Simon Starshot
John Cena pinned Charles Haas
Rob Van Dam pinned Charles Haas
John Cena pinned Simon Starshot
Charles Haas pinned Simon Starshot
John Cena pinned Rob Van Dam

Final Standings;
John Cena 9pts
Rob Van Dam 6 pts
Charles Haas 3pts

Simon Starshot 0pts

GROUP E MoS RESULTS

Bryan Danielson pinned Jeff Jarrett
Kaz Hayashi pinned Ashten Drake
Bryan Danielson pinned Kaz Hayashi
Ashten Drake pinned Jeff Jarrett
Kaz Hayashi pinned Jeff Jarrett
Bryan Danielson went to a time limit draw with Ashten Drake

Final Standings;
Bryan Danielson 7pts
Kaz Hayashi 6 pts
Ashten Drake 4pts
Jeff Jarrett 0pts

GROUP D MoS RESULTS

Paul Wardle went to a time limit draw with Sean O Haire
Chuck Palumbo pinned Mark Jindrak
Mark Jindrak pinned Sean O’Haire
Paul Wardle pinned Chuck Palumbo
Paul Wardle pinned Mark Jindrak
Chuck Palumbo pinned Sean O’Haire

Final Standings;
Paul Wardle 7pts
Chuck Palumbo 6pts
Mark Jindrak 3pts
Sean O’Haire 1 pt

GROUP C MoS RESULTS

Matt Hardy pinned Phil Jackson
AJ Styles and Chris Daniels battled to a time limit draw
Matt Hardy pinned AJ Styles
Phil Jackson pinned Chris Daniels
Matt Hardy pinned Chris Daniels
Phil Jackson pinned AJ Styles

Final Standings;
Matt Hardy 9pts
Phil Jackson 6pts
AJ Styles 1pt
Chris Daniels 1pt

GROUP B MoS RESULTS

Jay Reso pinned Lance Storm
Brian Kendrick pinned Paul London
Lance Storm and Brian Kendrick went to a time limit draw
Jay Reso pinned Paul London
Jay Reso went to a time limit draw with Brian Kendrick
Paul London pinned Lance Storm

Final Standings;
Jay Reso 7pts
Brian Kendrick 5pts
Paul London 3pts
Lance Storm 1 pts

GROUP A MoS RESULTS

Randy Orton pinned Hugh Morrus
Eddy Guerrero defeated Mathuras by pinfall
Eddy Guerrero pinned Randy Orton
Hugh Morrus pinned Mathuras
Eddy Guerrero pinned Hugh Morrus
Randy Orton pinned Mathuras

Final Standings;
Eddy Guerrero 9pts
Randy Orton 6 pts
Hugh Morrus 3 pts
Mathuras 0pts

MAN OF STEEL ODDS

Wrestlingodds.com have released the odds for the winner of the 2004 Man Of Steel Tournament...

5-2 FAV - Randy Orton
3-1 - Rob Van Dam
5-1 - Matt Hardy
6-1 - John Cena
8-1 - Eddy Guerrero
10-1 - Jay Reso
15-1 - Brian Kendrick, Jeff Jarrett
20-1 - Chuck Palumbo, Paul Wardle
22-1 - Simon Starshot, Phil Jackson, Bryan Danielson
33-1 -Mark Jindrak, Sean O’Haire
35-1 - Paul London, AJ Styles, Chris Daniels
40-1 - Ashten Drake
44-1 - Charles Haas
50-1 - Kaz Hayashi, Lance Storm
60-1 - Hugh Morrus
100-1 - Mathuras

MAN OF STEEL NEWS...

This year’s Man Of Steel Tournament is a new and improved version. This year there are 24 participants, who will be split into six groups of four for the round robin qualifying stage (3pts for a win, 1pt for a draw), which will take place as usual on Warfare and Impact. The six group winners automatically go forward to the quarter-final stage at the pay-per-view. The six runners up will be split into two triple threat matches, which will also take place on Warfare and Impact, with the two winners joining the quarter final line up.

MAN OF STEEL QUALIFYING GROUPS

A – Randy Orton, Eddy Guerrero, Hugh Morrus, Mathuras
B – Jay Reso, Brian Kendrick, Lance Storm, Paul London
C – Matt Hardy, Chris Daniels, AJ Styles, Phil Jackson
D – Mark Jindrak, Chuck Palumbo, Sean O’Haire, Paul Wardle
E – Jeff Jarrett, Bryan Danielson, Kaz Hayashi, Ashten Drake
F – Rob Van Dam, Charles Haas, Simon Starshot, John Cena

SUPER SERIES REVIEW

Following on from the “huge” success of last year’s Super Series Invitational, won by Edge, the International Wrestling Federation decided to do it all again this year. Only difference was that this year instead of 20 men in the field, we had 32. These 32 were split into 16 tag teams for 8 matches, with all the winners going forward to the Battle Bowl final. All drawings were random apparently.
Eddy Guerrero & Phil Jackson Vs Paul Wardle & The Big Gee ( * * * )
We kicked off things with this entertaining tag team match. Guerrero & Jackson seemed delighted to be getting the opportunity to team with each other, and although Wardle and Gee were on the surface more cautious, you had to know that the real life student and mentor duo were glad to be a team if only for a night.
This was fast paced and saw numerous quick tags, which kept the momentum of the bout going and meant that the crowd really got into this one. Guerrero was his usual excellent self, Gee showed more signs that he really is working hard to improve his all round act and Jackson and Wardle showed glimpses of form that marks them both out for great futures in the mat game.
In the end it was Guerrero & Jackson who prevailed when Jackson pinned Wardle, the man who took his UK title off him at Xtreme Overload, with the Graduation Day. To rub further salt into the wound following his loss, Gee hit his partner with a Gee-Bomb after the decision.
Dash Riprock & Steve Corino Vs Edge & Hugh Morrus ( * * ¼ )
The draw threw up the perfect scenario for Corino & Riprock as the Positive Role Models were drawn together to take on the pairing of Edge & Morrus. Indeed Riprock and Corino looked chuffed as punch as if they expected to win this one rather easily. But Edge & Morrus looked very confident too, and in the end it turned out that theirs was the confidence that was the best placed.
The combination of Edge’s speed and Morrus’ power made for quite a combination and was one that too much for the former European Tag Team Champions that they were facing. Riprock looked sharp out there but he could only look on helpless as an Edge spear and a Morrus No Laughing Matter finished off his buddy Corino.
Mathuras & Acid Vs Xavier & Matt Morgan ( * ½ )
There was another convenient teaming here as fellow Zoltar’s advocates Mathuras and Acid were drawn together to pit their wits against the little and large combo of Xav and Morgan. Indeed Xav seemed very pleased that he was at least teaming with the Blueprint and not fighting against him. And despite the fact that their opponents had more experience (or indeed any) as a team, it came as little surprise when Morgan smashed his way through the Zoltar crew, and whilst he destroyed Mathuras at ringside, Xavier hit a Xav-Attack on Acid to get the win for his side.
Ashten Drake & Chris Jericho Vs Chuck Palumbo & Kurt Angle ( * * )
There was little connecting any of these four together, and whilst it was a solid enough match it was only when Angle and Jericho were in there together that the crowd showed much interest in proceedings. Which is not surprising considering that Palumbo has yet to do very much in the IWF since his signing from the PWF and Drake’s role as one half of the World Tag Team Champions with Mathuras represents the nadir of the tag team division. In the end all you really need to know is that Angle pinned Drake following an Angle Slam. Thank you and goodnight.
Jay Reso & Rhino Vs Charles Haas & Raven ( * * ¾ )
The draw set up an intriguing match here and whilst the clash of styles was apparent this was a relatively good affair, which kept the crowd perfectly interested throughout. Reso and Haas provided the technical exchanges whilst Rhino and Raven went at it with an brawling intensity which both men obviously picked up in their old days in the now defunct ICW. In the end it was Reso who pinned Haas following an “Unprettier.” And how Reso & Rhino celebrated.
Randy Orton & Sean O’Haire Vs Mark Jindrak & Yzaebek ( * )
There were three good workers in here, all with histories between themselves. Orton & O’Haire had a memorable feud and O’Haire and Jindrak used to be tag team champions of the world. Sadly the three were lumbered with the abysmal Yzeabek, the man who turns everything he touches into Grade A crap.
In fact it was a merciful retreat when Mark Jindrak got tired of his partner’s all-round general crapness, and left him at the mercy of his opponents. An Orton RKO is all it took. The fans cheered simply because Yzaebek is god damn awful and they were glad to see the back of him.
Colt Cabana & Lance Storm Vs Rob Van Dam & Shawn Michaels ( * * * )
Whilst nobody may have cared about team one in this bout, there was a great reaction when the crowd realised that HBK and RVD would be teaming together. HBK said he didn’t care who he was teamed with and Van Dam was his usual cool self, saying that he was easy about the whole thing. Cabana & Storm played their part in this very decent encounter, but they really were just the fall guys here. The simmering distrust between Rob and Shawn was the key here, but they kept it together just long enough to win the match, with Van Dam finishing off Storm with a Rolling Thunder.
After the match, Michaels had seemingly had enough and he attempted to smack RVD with some Sweet Chin Music but Van Dam ducked out of the way and then hit HBK with a wonderful spinning kick to a great pop.
Matt Hardy & John Cena Vs Jeff Jarrett & CM Punk ( * * * ¼ )
This final bout of the qualifying stage was an intriguing one indeed. For different reasons all four men could be said to be some of the hottest and most pushed acts in the abundant IWF mid-card at the moment, and they put together the best match of the tag team stage. Time constraints meant that build up was thrown out of the window of course, but these men put so much effort into things that
IWF Vs PWF Cruiserweight Elimination ( * * * * ¾ )
Simon Starshot’s dastardly actions at Xtreme Overload have certainly lit a match under the Cruiserweight division, and recent TV shows have been cram packed with superlative one-on-one and two-on-two matches. This meant that expectations were high for this one…and the wrestlers did not disappoint.
This match was jam packed with high-impact and insane manoeuvres, which for the most part were bang on the money. Also they paced themselves well rather than cramming in every high spot as soon as possible, which made the match all that better. The order of eliminations were as follows…
I) Tajiri (pinned by Paul London, following a roll-up)
II) Elix Skipper (pinned by Rick Shaw following the Rick’n’Roll)
III) Kaz Hayashi (pinned by Chris Daniels following the Last Rites)
IV) Rick Shaw (pinned by Bryan Danielson following Reverse Swinging DDT)
V) AJ Styles (pinned by Paul London following a 450 splash)
VI) Paul London (pinned by Brian Kendrick following a small package)
VII) Chris Daniels (pinned by Simon Starshot following a Starshot-Bomb)
VIII) Simon Starshot (pinned by Brian Kendrick following the Sliced Bread)
IX) Brian Kendrick (pinned by Bryan Danielson following a Shooting star press)
SOLE SURVIVOR: BRYAN DANIELSON
Of course it should be pointed out that prior to hitting Kendrick with the SSP, Danielson had clonked him good and proper with his title belt.
Four Way Women’s Title Match ( * * * ¼ )
You have to feel sorry for the ladies, having to follow the thrilling Cruiserweight bout and whilst they naturally didn’t manage to reach anywhere near the same heights, this was nevertheless an interesting and exciting bout which did grab the attention of most fans. This was also fought elimination style, which added to the excitement as well. And thus the order of elimination was as follows…
I) Lisa Marie Veron (pinned by Trinity following a top-rope leg drop)
II) Trinity (pinned by Annalise Roberts following a Double A Spine buster)
III) Annalise Roberts (pinned by Alexis Laree, following the Alexis Express)
SURVIVOR, and new World Women’s Champion…ALEXIS LAREE
The ending was particularly exciting, and the crowd were well into the bout by this time, although the match wasn’t really helped by the bout coming down to two babyface. It was a good segment though, and Alexis took it with the Alexis Express. The two then shook hands following the decision to a polite round of applause.
SuperSeries Invitational Battle Bowl Final ( * * * )
So it was onto the battle royale for the chance to become the winner of the 2nd Annual SuperSeries invitational tournament. The participants left over from the tag team stage were as follows…Eddy Guerrero, Phil Jackson, Edge, Hugh Morrus, Xavier, Matt Morgan, Chuck Palumbo, Kurt Angle, Jay Reso, Rhino, Randy Orton, Sean O’Haire, Rob Van Dam, Shawn Michaels, Matt Hardy and John Cena. Which was quite a line-up.
You know the score with these things, so let’s just go to the order of elimination…
I) Sean O’ Haire (Matt Morgan)
II) Chuck Palumbo (Matt Morgan)
III) Hugh Morrus (Matt Morgan)
IV) Matt Morgan (Eddy Guerrero, Edge, John Cena & Matt Hardy)
V) John Cena (Eddy Guerrero)
VI) Jay Reso (Matt Hardy)VII) Phil Jackson (Shawn Michaels)
VIII) Kurt Angle (Rhino)IX) Eddy Guerrero (Randy Orton)X) Edge (Rob Van Dam)
XI) Rhino (Xavier)
XII) Xavier (Shawn Michaels)
XIII) Rob Van Dam (Randy Orton & Shawn Michaels)
XIV) Shawn Michaels (Rob Van Dam & Matt Hardy)
XV) Randy Orton (Matt Hardy)
WINNER – MATT HARDY
The end sequence was very hot. Orton and Michaels teamed up to dispense with RVD, but as the two of the were celebrating, RVD hopped back onto the ring apron to distract Michaels, whereupon Matt Hardy snuck up behind HBK to toss him over the top rope. Orton & Hardy then had a right ding-dong battle, which looked like going Orton’s way, but Hardy rallied and, to the delight of the crowd, tossed Orton over the top rope to get the win.
Chris Kanyon Vs Triple H ( * * * * ¼ )
And so finally we got to the main event. And the storytelling has been masterful leading up to this one and the crowd were pumped from the very moment that the ring announcer made the first introductions. The tension was evident on both men’s faces with neither man making much effort to play to the crowd prior to the referee signalling for the bell for the action to begin.
The two men had a lengthy sizing up period before the action really hit up. The fans really did seem to have suspended their disbelief for this one, which is to be expected really as the build up has been so spot on that it is really believable that these two hate each other’s guts.
Fans cheered royally when Kanyon was on the offence but booed HHH out of the building when he was on the attack. What made this quite refreshing was that the periods where one or the other were in total control were relatively short and this really did foster up the feeling that any man could win.
The atmosphere in the last third of this 20 minute match was electric as the two traded up the intensity and packed in the near falls. Even when the ref took a huge bump, which can be taken as a sure fire sign that some kind of “creative ending” is upon us.
Which it sure was. But it wasn’t the kind of ending that anyone expected. First of all, Triple H’s “PWF” buddies Jeff Jarrett, Chuck Palumbo (good god) and Shawn Michaels ran out and looked to cause some havoc, but they were soon nullified by the IWF trio of Chris Jericho, Xavier and Rob Van Dam. As a pier six brawl ensued on the outside, back in the ring Kanyon & HHH were still going at it with the referee out. Kanyon hit the Flatliner on HHH and it looked all over if the referee could be awoken. And then the damndest thing happened. Someone from the crowd ran into the ring with a Steel Chair and went to smack Kanyon with it. The blow had no effect, but imagine the shock as Kanyon turned around to see…former PWF CEO…ERIC BISCHOFF! The crowd were booing like mad as Bischoff cowered in front of the man he said was too bland to ever be a world champion. Kanyon was just about to smack the living crap out of Bischoff when HHH smashed Kanyon from behind. He then set up the steel chair, hit Kanyon with the pedigree onto the chair and then the refreee slowly crawled over and made the pinfall count which grabbed Triple H the Unified Triple Crown title. The crowd were incensed, and the show went off the air with HHH and Bischoff quickly running back to the locker room under a hail of drinks and fast food thrown by the crowd.

What a show. The first section was too rushed to really make too much of an impact, but there was plenty of fun and entertainment to be had in the randomly drawn tag team matches. The second section of the show was hot as hell though. The Cruiserweights put on one hell of a show and just about took the match of the night honours. But whilst that match was the technical highlight of the evening, the main event was the most heated. No-one can surely be questioning whether this was a main event that the fans wanted to see. Throw in the surprise appearance of Eric Bischoff and you have a storyline which looks to be really hotting up.

SUPER SERIES INVITATIONAL ODDS

Wrestlingodds.com has just posted the running odds for the winner of the 2004 Super Series Invitational Tournament...

5-2 FAV; Xavier
3-1; Kurt Angle
5-1; Chris Jericho, Shawn Michaels
6-1; Matt Morgan
8-1; Rhino, Randy Orton, Rob Van Dam
10-1; The Big Gee
12-1; Edge, Jeff Jarrett
15-1; Eddy Guerrero, John Cena
18-1; Matt Hardy
20-1; Jay Reso
25-1; Sean O'Haire
28-1; Raven
30-1; Mark Jindrak, Phil Jackson, Chuck Palumbo
33-1; CM Punk
35-1; Paul Wardle, Hugh Morrus
40-1; Acid, Ashten Drake
45-1; Lance Storm, Charles Haas
50-1; Steve Corino, Dash Riprock
60-1; Colt Cabana
80-1; Mathuras
100-1; Yzaebek

Leave your comments and place your bets...

SUPER SERIES CARD

International Wrestling Federation presents…in association with Chewy Smarties
 
Super Series 2004
Sunday 15th August 2004
Nottingham Arena
 
WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT TRIPLE CROWN TITLE;
Chris Kanyon Vs Triple H
 
 
2nd ANNUAL SUPER SERIES INVITATIONAL;
Featuring;
Xavier, Chris Jericho, Shawn Michaels, Edge, Rob Van Dam, Kurt Angle, The Big Gee, Rhino, Randy Orton, John Cena, Matt Hardy, Jay Reso, Raven, CM Punk, Trent Acid, Mathuras, Ashten Drake, Colt Cabana,
“The Blueprint” Matt Morgan, Sean O’Haire, Eddy Guerrero,
Mark Jindrak, “The Graduate” Phil Jackson, Chuck Palumbo,
Lance Storm, Charles Haas, Dash Riprock, Steve Corino,
Paul “The Phenomenon” Wardle, Jeff Jarrett, Hugh Morrus, Yzaebek
 
 
FIRST EVER IWF Vs PWF CRUISERWEIGHT ELIMINATION MATCH;
IWF Brian Kendrick, Chris Daniels, AJ Styles, Rick Shaw & Tajiri
Vs
PWF Bryan Danielson, Simon Starshot, Paul London, Elix Skipper & Kaz Hayashi
 
WORLD WOMENS TITLE;
Annalise Roberts Vs Lisa Marie Veron Vs Alexis Laree Vs Trinity
 
Plus:
Will Dean Roberts confront his attempted assassin?
 
Get the Super Series 2004 theme tune “Forgotten” by Avril Lavigne.
Available on the number one hit album “Under My Skin”. 
 

INTERNATIONAL WRESTLING FEDERATION

Hey there.  I'm using this blog site to post the results from my fantasy promotion The International Wrestling Federation. 

It's run  completely in my head, with some brainstorming sessions with my mates. 

In case you are wondering, some of the wrestlers are made up (or are based on my friends).  Here is a short list of names you might not recognise and where they come from.

Dean Roberts - This is my alter-ego.  I'm out injured at the moment having been shot in a backstage angle.  (Hopefully in the future i will get around to posting some "classic" results which will explain back stories - the IWF has been going since 1995!).

Matthew Mercy, Xavier, The Big Gee, Phil Jackson, Paul Wardle, Dash Riprock, Simon Starshot - all the alter-ego's of friends of mine. 

(i know there is a Xavier in real wrestling terms, but my mate had the name first!)

Ashten Drake - in real life this is Doug Basham
Yzeabek - in real life this is The Godfather
Mathuras - in real life this is A-Train
Lisa Marie Veron - in real life this is Victoria
Annalise ROberts - in real life this is MOlly Holly.  In storylines she is the daughter of Arn Anderson and is married to Dean Roberts (again i hope to post "classics" at some point which may help to explain storylines)

Should anymore come to light i will edit this and post them here

The IWF has two weekly TV shows, Warfare and Impact (and i came up with that name four years before TNA stole it!), a monthly terrestrial TV special called Slammin, and monthly pay-per-views.  Schedule is as follows...

JANUARY - Corporal Punishment
FEBRUARY - Shoot Out
MARCH - (overseas PPV)
APRIL - MuscleMania
MAY - Into The Darkness
JUNE - Heat Wave
JULY - Xtreme Overload
AUGUST - Super Series
SEPTEMBER - Man Of Steel
OCTOBER - Neon Blue
NOVEMBER - Nightmare
DECEMBER - Breaking Point

I used to do full TV reports too, but at the moment i don't have the time.  All that will be on this site will be the ppv reports and the Slammin specials. 

As i get the time i will add older results.  I also hope to add full title histories, although it may be some time before i get to do that.

CURRENT CHAMPIONS as of 21st July 2004

World Heavyweight Triple Crown Champion; Chris Kanyon
World Tag Team Champions; Ashten Drake & Mathuras
World Cruiserweight Champion; The American Dragon Byan Danielson
World Women's Champion; Annalise Roberts
European Champion; Randy Orton
European Tag Team Champions; Alias Storm & Haas (Lance Storm & Charles Haas)
United Kingdom Champion; Paul "The Phenomenon" Wardle

XTREME OVERLOAD CARD

International Wrestling Federation, in association with iPod, presents
XTREME OVERLOAD
Sunday 18th July, 2004
Wembley Arena, London
 
 
TAG TEAM GRUDGE MATCH;
Triple H & Shawn Michaels Vs Xavier & Chris Jericho
 
WORLD HEAVYEWIGHT TRIPLE CROWN TITLE;
Chris Kanyon Vs The Big Gee
IN A NO-HOLDS-BARRED WEMBLEY STREETFIGHT
 
Kurt Angle Vs Rhino
 
Edge Vs Rob Van Dam
 
WORLD CRUISERWEIGHT TITLE; LUMBERJACK MATCH
Brian Kendrick Vs “The American Dragon” Bryan Danielson
Lumberjacks – Kaz Hayashi, Elix Skipper, Paul London, Simon Starshot, Ultimo Dragon, Chavo Guerrero
AJ Styles, Rick Shaw, Tajiri, Funaki, Billy Kidman. Chris Daniels, Gregory Helms, Koji Kanemento
 
EUROPEAN TITLE; FOUR CORNERS ELIMINATION
Randy Orton Vs Eddy Guerrero Vs John Cena Vs Matt Hardy
 
SIX-MAN TAG TEAM MATCH;
Raven & The Second City Saints (CM Punk & Colt Cabana)Vs
Acid, Ashten Drake & Mathuras
 
“The Blueprint” Matt Morgan Vs Jay Reso
 
UNITED KINGDOM TITLE;
“The Graduate” Phil Jackson Vs Paul “The Phenomenon” Wardle
 
Get the Xtreme Overload Theme Song “No Regrets” by the Von Blondies
Available on the album “Pawn Shoppe Heart”

XTREME OVERLOAD REPORT

Xtreme Overload 2004 Report…
 
Raven & The Saints Vs Acid, Drake & Mathuras ( * * ½ )
We kicked things off with this crazy, ICW style, six-man effort.  Whilst the action in this was only satisfactory, the burgeoning Acid / Raven feud has really picked up over the past few months which led to a white-hot crowd for this opener.  Thankfully Mathuras was kept out of this match as far as possible.  It seems a waste to labour this point every month, but the former A-Train really is the pits.  Still Raven and Acid managed to keep up the interest with some crisp exchanges and CM Punk looked amazingly sharp in his in-ring IWF pay-per-view debut. 
The end came when the referee took a dive and Zoltar finally came good on his promise to introduce The Rancour to the world.  And wasn’t it just worth the wait…ok, so it wasn’t.  Out came former PWF idiot Nathan Jones who looked like he had been playing dress-up with his eight-year-old sister. Ooh, scary.  He was chained to Zoltar with some chains.  Zoltar brought him to ringside and then unchained him and the Rancour went berserk, attacking all three of Raven, Punk and Colt Cabana.  Rancour then hit Cabana with some god-awful high kick (which saw the feckless goon Jones nearly lose his own balance) and the Drake made the pinfall to get the win for his team.
This was a fair match, until the truly terrifying (and not in a good way either) and abysmal finish.  And to think that Drake & Mathuras are our current World Tag Team Champions..!
Matt Morgan Vs Jay Reso ( * * )
                Could Morgan keep up his reign of terror, or would Reso manage to halt the Blueprint’s charge?  That was the only question in this bout, and it wasn’t really one that the IWF had given us any reason to want to know the answer to.
                In the end the answer was…well Morgan kept up his reign of terror.  This wasn’t an awful match by any means but it wasn’t exactly memorable.  Reso was his usual entertaining self and Morgan ran through his big-man routine with clarity, it just wasn’t exactly inspiring on the whole.
                There were some smart exchanges towards the end and the crowd did seem to enjoy the proceedings.  Indeed they were jumping in their seats when Reso hit the Unprettier, and they were all fooled by the subsequent near fall.  But Morgan rallied back, hit the “Morgasm” (who thinks up crap like this?) and got the pinfall victory.  The Blueprint marches on.
Phil Jackson Vs Paul Wardle ( * * * )
                These two have actually cultivated quite an intriguing storyline between themselves, so much so that there was definitely a sense of anticipation as they made their way to the ring.  There was a clear sense that the fans wanted to see what would happen in this match. The IWF had also done a great job of disguising Wardle’s recent off-screen motorcycle crash in on-screen terms.
                The two started off cautiously, but rather than losing the crowd’s interest, this merely meant that by the time the two cranked it up the fans had been drawn into the battle of wills and they went wild when Jackson, after being on the receiving end of a prolonged period of offence from Wardle, finally offloaded some of his own fiery offence.
                However despite the fact that the fans were 100% behind “The Graduate”, it was “The Phenomenon” who took the glory.  Jackson went to finish Wardle off with the Graduation Day, but Wardle pulled the referee into the melee and then hit Jackson with a low blow.  As the referee wondered what the hell had gone on, Wardle hit Jackson with his Phenomenal-Plex and then he made the pinfall, whilst grabbing a handful of Jackson’s tights, which made him the new United Kingdom Champion.  Which also made for the third heel win out of three.
Randy Orton Vs Eddy Guerrero Vs John Cena Vs Matt Hardy (Elimination, * * * )
                When all else has been done, throw some guys into a four way and let them at it!  Whilst hardly insightful booking, it did toss four over people into a match and once again the crowd were hot for this one.  This was handily fought under elimination rules (none of this first pinfall wins stupidity this time out) and was a good, if not great encounter.
                All four men put in good performances and most everything they did was crisp and on target.  Crowd favourite was definitely Eddy Guerrero, whilst Randy Orton whipped up his usual storm with his heelish mannerisms, and his act is improving all the time. 
                Order of elimination was as follows; I) John Cena (eliminated via pinfall by Randy Orton following an RKO); II) Matt Hardy (pinned by Eddy Guerrero following a roll-up); III) Eddy Guerrero (pinned by Randy Orton who hit Guerrero with the title belt).
                The fans were livid as Orton won through such nefarious methods, although they got a small sense of justice when Guerrero recovered after the decision and attacked Orton and then hit a picture perfect Five Star Frog Splash on the European Champion. 
Brian Kendrick Vs Bryan Danielson (Lumberjack, * * * ¾ )
                These two had some cracking encounters on the independent circuit before they signed big deals with the IWF (Kendrick) and the PWF (Danielson) so the anticipation was high for this one.  And although the lumberjack stipulation took away from the match slightly, (as many observers feared it would), for the most part this was a cracker.
                For the opening part of the bout, the two stuck to the mat and had some swift and brutal exchanges and the lumberjacks kept out of the action unless the wrestlers were tossed outside, when they threw the unlucky man back in.  The middle part of the bout was the crispest of the whole battle as the two flew to the air with some dangerous and impressive moves.  The highlights included a stunning dive from the top turnbuckle by Kendrick onto Danielson, who was on the arena floor, and Danielson’s amazing springboard tope onto Kendrick, which took out about 4 other wrestlers too!
                The action got a bit sloppy in the final third of the match, but this was more to do with the chaos that unfurled between the lumberjacks rather than any fault of the two wrestlers.  Well you didn’t really expect that the “Cruiserweights respect each other” stuff to last did you?  The PWF crew were vastly outnumbered, and so took a bit of a beating, but in the end it didn’t turn out badly for them at all.  In the melee, Simon Starshot and Paul London ended up battling in the ring and a Steel chair got involved.  Starshot used it to scare London off and then with the whole world watching he swung it…and smacked his own IWF comrade Brian Kendrick square in the head with it.  The IWF Cruisers were shocked, but it mattered not as Danielson quickly made the cover and got the 1-2-3 which meant that the “PWF’s” Bryan Danielson was now the IWF World Cruiserweight Champion!  Starshot joined his new buddies Danielson, Skipper, London and Hayashi for some wild celebrations.  And once again this white-hot London crowd were left with a heel victory, the fifth out of five so far tonight.
Edge Vs Rob Van Dam ( * * * )
                So it was time for this grudge match.  The two have been fighting to crazy no-contests all over Europe recently, so there was a genuine question over who exactly would win.  Would it be former Triple Crown Champion Rob Van Dam, the face in this dispute and a man who carries the stigma of a “failed” world title run, or would it be Edge, the heel in this dispute and a man who has never quite reached the main event status that many predicted for him. 
                This was yet another match involving these two that was good rather than great, a calling card which is becoming increasingly more common for both men, regardless of who they are in there with.  There was enough to keep the majority of fans thoroughly entertained, but there was little to suggest that either man will become a serious main event superstar over the coming months. 
                At least the two put in the energy you would expect from a “former friends become bitter enemies” style bout, and the two played their roles well.  Edge took control early and dictated the course of most of the match with his methodical attempts to wear down RVD.  Van Dam’s periodical attempts to regain power of the match were met with great rallying cries from the fans but Edge always seemed to have the upper hand. Still it wasn’t to last; eventually RVD hit back with some of his trademark kicks and punches and then he hit the Rolling Thunder on Edge, much to the crowd’s delight.  Edge kicked out of the subsequent pinfall attempt, but once RVD scaled the ropes and hit an high impact Frog Splash to get the hugely popular pinfall victory.  As the first babyface to win a match all evening, the fans were even wilder for Van Dam’s win.  Good, but not great match, that probably won’t be fondly remembered as a classic for years to come.  Both men need to pull something special out soon if they are to climb the ladder to the top of their profession. 
Kurt Angle Vs Rhino ( * * * ¼ )
                Rhino got a big win at a recent Slammin and Angle finally would get his chance for revenge tonight.  Yep that was about it, but these two have clashed with such vim and vigour over the past few weeks that they have drawn the fans into their little feud. 
                The two went at it with a fury here, and whilst there was little cohesion and pattern to the match, it was a hard-hitting and stiff affair that went down well with the live crowd.  Rhino set off like the proverbial house on fire and he really took it to Angle, and when Angle was knocked out of the ring he took the opportunity to take a breather.  Of course Rhino went chasing him and then BAM! Angle got in control by a cheap shot.
                This was back and forth action all the way and it really did seem like either man could win it.  Rhino would take control but then Angle would fight back.  However Angle couldn’t get on top for too long as Rhino himself would fight back.
                The end section of the bout was extremely satisfying action.  The two slugged it out until Rhino finally appeared to get the upper hand.  He then went for the Gore, but Angle had the presence of mind to get out of the way and Rhino hit the turnbuckle.  Angle then went for an Angle Slam but Rhino reversed that and was looking for another Gore.  He didn’t get it though; as quick as a flash, Angle upended Rhino and locked on the ankle lock.  Rhino fought it valiantly, but he just didn’t quite have enough left in the tank and he tapped out, giving Angle the big win. 
Triple H & Shawn Michaels Vs Chris Jericho & Xavier ( * * * * )
                There was a great sense of anticipation as the four men made their (separate) entrances to the ring for this one.  There was a real sense of occasion in this one, pitting as it did four previous IWF world champions in the same match.  The match started with Jericho and Michaels going at it with a fury, but the intensity just grew and grew until the match finally exploded when Xavier & HHH finally came face to face for the first time in the bout.
                Xavier was like the proverbial house on fire as he took the fight to HHH and Tripper looked like he’d seen a ghost as he went tumbling to the outside, completely shell-shocked.  From there we settled into a very good old-fashioned tag team style encounter.
                HHH and HBK cut the ring in half and went to work on Jericho and did a very good job of battering him and making sure that he couldn’t make the tag to Xav.  Jericho periodically attempted to make a comeback and on occasion got mighty close to making the hot tag, but the dastardly former Clique duo kept him down.  It had to come in the end though, and the arena went crazy as Jericho finally overpowered Michaels with a wicked enziguri kick.  Jericho just made the tag and Xavier started to clean house.
                It really looked like Xavier was going to power on and win it, but alas it wasn’t to be.  Xav hit Triple H with a clothesline and then seemingly finished him off with a Xav-Attack.  However at this point the referee’s attention was away from the ring and he had got embroiled in a HBK/Y2J altercation at ringside.  Then from out of the crowd a masked man ran in, got hold of a steel chair and absolutely clonked Xav with it and then scampered back from whence he came.  HHH came to, and then slowly crawled over to Xav to make the hugely unpopular pinfall for the victory.
Chris Kanyon Vs The Big Gee (Wembley Streetfight, * * * ¼ )
                So it was time for the main event (…don’t you laugh, you cynics…).  This has actually been a fairly riveting feud, against all the odds, and both men continued their good form in this, essentially the feud ender.  At least the Streetfight stipulation played to the Gee’s strengths and he did indeed look like a monster in the early going of this bout.
                Almost from the opening bell Gee took the fight to Kanyon and the two brawled all the way around the ringside area, before spilling into the crowd and throughout the arena.  The two brawled their way through the aisles in the expensive ringside seats before breaking through into the passageways around the arena and the two even battled into a merchandise stand, sending tee shirts and posters flying, and through a drinks stall, with Gee pausing to have himself a cool swift lager.  The two then battled through some hospitality areas before finding themselves back in the backstage area .
                The two continued to throw everything at each other, and all manner of foreign objects were used.  Both men sustained cuts as well and there was claret red blood everywhere.
                The two finally battled their way back onto the arena floor itself and threw each other into the Xtreme Overload set, before they finally made their way back into the ring.  To end it all off, Kanyon hit Gee with a Kanyon Kutter through a table and got the match winning, and title retaining, 1-2-3.  Not the greatest technical match ever, but you have to admire the guts both men showed in this one. 
 
So that was XO for another year, and in the end it was a very respectable card indeed.  The double main event produced much entertainment, and two totally different experiences, which was a good thing.  The cruiserweight match was very entertaining too , as the likes of Angle Vs Rhino and RVD Vs Edge both provided steady action. 
Whilst there was little else that really stood out, as a whole this was a very competent and solid pay-per-view.  It finished some issues, intensified others and was well worth the pay-per-view money. 

SAMUEL ADAMS TROPHY FINALS NIGHT

FINALS NIGHT
Sunday 4th July, JJB Arena – Wigan
 
Semi Finals
Xavier Vs Chris Kanyon ( * * * * ) – The crowd were white hot for this one, and a small, but very noticeable, element of the crowd were firmly behind Xav’s efforts which only added to the superb atmosphere throughout.  The fact that Kanyon’s upcoming Triple Crown opponent at Xtreme Overload,  Triple H was at ringside just winched the tension up a notch further.  As you might expect the battle went to the outside and HHH ended up getting involved with both me, but in the melee, Xavi got hold of a steel chair and when the action got back in the ring he clonked Kanyon with it.  The ref turned around to see Xavier going for the pin, and he got the slightly shocking three count which advanced him to the final.  All three men then had a pull apart face-to-face after the match.
Chris Jericho Vs Jeff Jarrett ( * * * ¼ ) – This was a decent bout, slightly hampered by the fact that absolutely everyone believed that Jarrett had advanced quite far enough in this tournament. So it came as little surprise when Jericho finished him off with the Lion-Tamer for the win via tap-out. 
 
Final
Xavier Vs Chris Jericho ( * * * ½ ) – So 32 men had come down to just these two, and the crowd were well into this.  This was a role reversal for the two, with the crowd quite behind Xavier to some extent, and both men went with the flow, which made the match.  Mind you, at the end, when Xavier cheated to win, via a low blow and another set of brass Knux, the crowd hated him.  So when he got the tournament winning pinfall he got booed out of the building.  As he received the trophy, Kanyon and Triple H came back out and a brawl ensued, which ended when another pile of referee’s jumped in and held them all apart. 
 

WINNER OF 2004 SAMUEL ADAMS TROPHY…XAVIER

PILEDRIVER MAGAZINE ARTICLE - THE GAME

PLAYING THE GAME
 
Out of all the former PWF stars that have recently inked deals with the IWF, the biggest name to ink that contract so far has been Triple H.  But can the Game survive in the choppy top-line waters of the IWF, or will the loss of his massive influence on a company, which he enjoyed with the PWF, lead to a loss of form?  Join Bob Rutcher as he investigates just what lies on the horizon for the man with the big nose. 
 
Two years ago, Jean-Paul Leveqsue was getting over the fact that the International Wrestling Federation didn’t want him.  Sure, he had a nice two year PWF deal to comfort him, but the IWF’s position on him was pretty clear, especially considering the fact that they gave him an early release to join their perennial rivals.  The verdict was in; IWF management considered Triple H to be a top-line failure.  He’d had his shot and hadn’t proved himself.  Sure this verdict may seem a tad bit unfair, considering that fellow “failures” at World Title level The Big Gee and Chris Jericho (who’s buy rates and matches were no better than the Game’s) were still in the thick of things, but the feeling was that HHH had done all he could in the IWF.
In a sense, they were probably right, but this didn’t make Tripper feel any more comfortable about the situation.  Armed with a creative control contract with the PWF and a desire to prove the doubters wrong, HHH made himself a promise.  He would prove them all wrong in the ring and he would never let himself be manoeuvred into a “job-boy to the serious stars” position again. 
Hunter scanned the anaemic PWF roster at the time of his signing and immediately came to the conclusion that only he could save the main event side of things.  Save for Goldberg, who HHH never rated, there were no big names on the scene who had their glory in front of them.  The likes of Kevin Nash, The Undertaker, Sting and Bret Hart were all towards the end of their careers in terms of genuine usefulness and success and HHH was going to become the biggest star of them all. 
Immediately however there were problems.  Having creative control over his own storylines gave him a lot of backstage heat, and whilst many contend that HHH didn’t unfairly use his control it was clear that if anything regarding Tripper and the bookers went against what another top star wished, it was all going to be Helmsley’s fault.
Take the formation of the clique for instance.  The on-screen alliance of HHH, Shawn Michaels, Kevin Nash, Justin Credible and Sean Waltman was actually one of the PWF’s better ideas in a period of poor and uninspiring TV.  As the lead heel stable it actually was responsible for some entertaining segments and did have a positive effect on ratings and arena attendances.  Which should have been good news for everyone right?  Well no. Unlike in the IWF (where the downside guarantee system is in place) the PWF paid everyone on the roster a guaranteed salary.  So a successful storyline had negligible effect on anyone’s money and so rather than applauding a decent storyline, the backstage area was awash with wrestlers bemoaning that HHH was using his influence to book the top storylines around him and his four mates. 
Granted, at times the Clique did veer too much towards being a vanity project for the five involved, but for the majority of the time the group lost when they had to (although admittedly Triple H’s shoulders rarely went down for the three count) and did their best to elevate their opponents.  Deadwood talent such as Konan never looked as hot as they did then when they were against the clique.  Critics will argue that none of the mid-card talents that rubbed shoulders with the clique made much of an impression at the very top of the card, but I would argue that that was more symptomatic of the PWF’s failures as an organisation than of the Clique’s mischievous work.
When push came to shove, Triple H showed himself to be quite a team player, in small doses anyway.  When the time came to put Goldberg over, HHH did a wow of a job.  Sure, he regained the World Title a few months later, but that shouldn’t take away his credit.  And it has to be said that in the early months of 2004, he was wrestling all kinds of people, from all different levels in an attempt to help create some new stars. 
Was this the work of a “changed man” or was Tripper playing the political game to great effect?  The writing was on the wall for the PWF at this point but HHH was, once again, in an unenviable position.  His PWF contract was up in June 2004 and that was the absolute worst time.  Guys like the Undertaker, MMK and Sting had long term deals which meant that even if the worst was to happen, they could sit on their asses and collect their guaranteed deals from Tiny Weiner.  Hunter was staring bleak times in the face.  Indeed even if the proposed buy-out from the IWF became reality, would he be welcome back and even if he was, would it be on the top-line level that he so desired?
In the end the IWF buy-out did go through, but only at a reduced level.  The IWF snapped up the intellectual rights to the PWF, which meant the name, video library and the trademarks, but none of the wrestlers contracts.
At this point the rumour mill went into overdrive.  The entire roster of if’s and but’s were debated in minute detail, and Triple H’s future was at the top of everyone’s list. 
HHH himself discussed his future on Off The Record in late March, just weeks after the buy-out.  At that stage he had yet to meet IWF officials, and hadn’t even set any date for such a meeting.  “At the moment I’m taking my time.  It’s a difficult situation to say the least, but I’m not going to rush any decisions.”  Many didn’t see this as an admission of wanting “time out” at all, most saw it as confirmation that HHH was not at the top of the IWF’s wish list and would have to play the waiting game to see if there was going to be anything available to him. 
The situation seemed to worsen when comments attributed to Matthew Mercy started to do the rounds.  Mercy had been in America tying up the loose ends for his film deal when he did a quick interview.  “I don’t know whether we would want someone like [Triple H] in our locker room.  He caused problems when he was here before and from what I’ve heard, he’s been even worse elsewhere.”  For a top-liner to come out and say something like this, the omens aren’t good for the person involved.  Seeing the likes of John Cena, Jeff Jarrett and Bill DeMott grab deals couldn’t have been nice either.   But hope soon became apparent.  IWF officials announced through their web-site, that talks were planned with Triple H (and Goldberg and MMK for that matter) and so it seemed like the invitation was there.  Dean Roberts then extended an olive branch on a prowrestlingimpact.com interview.  Asked if he would like to see Triple H in the IWF Dean replied “for sure.  He’s an immense talent and I’m sure he could work within our structured environment very well.  He would possibly have to check in some ego at the door first though.”  Whilst Mercy may often speak the first opinion that comes into head, the fact that Dean was saying such things had to be good news for HHH.  For Dean to say this, then there must have been some serious intent as regards bringing HHH in, and the soft warning revealed that management were banking on HHH leaving his creative control problems behind for the sake of good business. 
On the morning of the Into The Darkness pay-per-view the two parties shook hands on a two-year deal, stipulations, and the following day the papers were signed and Triple H officially became a member of the IWF roster.  Two days later he made his first IWF appearance for two years and immediately challenged Xavier to a match at Heat Wave.  HHH was all over IWF TV and in many respects his match was being pushed as the main selling point of the show.  Indeed when it came to it, his match went on last at the big show and it ended with his hand being raised in the air by special guest referee Shawn Michaels.  That HHH and HBK have formed an alliance should be viewed as a positive.  Whilst some continue to labour a Clique related point, there is no doubt that this was a sound business move.  It clarified HHH’s position as a heel and has set up some potentially intriguing storylines. 
Rumours abound that a third member will be added to the alliance, with the latest name being associated with the position being that of Dean Roberts.  Whilst this seems unlikely given Dean’s current status, it is clear that management have huge faith in the abilities of HHH.  In fact everything seems plain sailing at this point in time.  HHH is “behaving” backstage and seems to be getting on well with most workers. 
The hot story at the moment is that Tripper’s proposed World Title clash with Chris Kanyon, tentatively scheduled for Xtreme Overload, will now not occur until further down the line.  Perhaps it was never a serious suggestion, or perhaps IWF management are testing the patience and attitude of HHH in order to ensure that he really is a changed man.  So far he seems to be impressing the people that matter both in the ring and out of it. 
Everyone, however, is eagerly awaiting the return of Matthew Mercy once his film run is over.  It’s clear that there is little love lost between the two and whilst Mercy hasn’t got an official creative control clause in his contract, it’s clear that if one man in the IWF is in position to refuse to “do the right thing” with Tripper, then it’s Mercy. 
Who knows, perhaps HHH’s good behaviour will continue and by the time Mercy returns he will see that perhaps the rumours about HHH in the PWF weren’t all true.  Maybe however, Mercy’s mind is already made up and there is no way that we will ever see what could be an exceptional Mercy/Tripper feud.  What is clear is that Triple H has settled in nicely and is making all the right noises.  Now as long as that continues, the arrangement between HHH and the IWF could turn out to be a long and prosperous one indeed.