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