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.