Into The Darkness Review

John Cena Vs Eddy Guerrero ( * * ¾)
So Into The Darkness, which incidentally has got to have one of the worst line up’s in IWF ppv history, kicked off with another futile attempt to get John Cena over. The fans love Eddy…they hate Cena. But sadly, they hate Cena in a bad way, rather than in the “heel” sense. So every time he was on the offensive in this match he got roundly booed and conversely every time Guerrero so much as laid a finger on his opponent, the crowd loved it. Eddy won, and Cena better hope that MMK gets that new promotion he keeps being linked with up and running because he may well soon be in need of the work.
Sean O’Haire & Batista Vs Phil Jackson & Rick Shaw ( * * ½ )
On paper this looked a bit of an idiotic mis-match, but in reality it was a relatively entertaining David Vs Goliath style match, albeit one where the outcome was fairly predictable. Yes, that’s right, Batista and O’Haire retained the titles when O’Haire pinned Shaw.
Phil Jackson Vs Shelton Benjamin ( * * ¾ )
Shelton has been quietly making a name for himself over the past few months, which led to this UK title shot against The Graduate. This was a decent enough battle, but although Shelton acquitted himself well, few people ever thought he really was going to win, and so it proved as Jackson finished him off with the Graduation. Shelt’s is definitely one to watch though.
Matt Hardy Vs Jay Reso ( * * * ¾ )
Finally, after being one of the most popular “mid-card” attractions on the roster, Jay Reso got his chance to shine once again on the big PPV stage. And he made the most of it by not only participating in a great match, but by actually winning it to lift the European Title. He had to hit Hardy with a Steel Chair whilst the ref was down to get the job done, but get the job done he did. And he seemed genuinely pleased about his moment of glory.
Randy Orton Vs Chris Jericho ( * * * ½ )
Orton has really hit his stride recently, and this continued in this match. Whilst he still has some way to go to achieve genuine main-event superstar status, he is making all the right moves and, perhaps more importantly, keeps racking up the wins. And this was no exception as Jericho became the latest IWF superstar to fall to the RKO.
The Big Gee Vs Xavier ( * * * )
Mercy has toddled off to Hollywood again (maybe for good this time) and Dean Roberts is taking a well-earned rest, so it was up to Xav and Gee to battle it out in the aftermath of the demise of The Show. Well I suppose they could have added Luke Todd-Wood to this, but surely his 15 minutes is up right about now. This wasn’t really the grudge match that some people might have expected, but it was sturdy stuff and did keep the crowds royally entertained. It was also one of the few matches that kept the crowd guessing in terms of a winner, although in the end it was Xavier who took it . The two looked like shaking hands afterwards, but Gee walked off before that could happen.
Chris Kanyon Vs John Bradshaw Layfield ( * ¾ )
Ok, so JBL has transformed into a hugely entertaining character over the last few months, but there is no way on earth that he is qualified to be fighting Chris Kanyon in the penultimate match of a ppv. He’s just not up to the task in the ring. And the fans knew it. He was out of his depth here, and Kanyon had little trouble finishing him off with the Kanyon Kutter.
Kurt Angle Vs Kane (* * * *)
If ever a show needed to end on a high point, this might have been it, and thankfully these two delivered a cracking effort. Angle dragged Kane to his best singles match in aeons, and both men did a superb job of telling the story of the match. Could Angle derail the monster Kane…? Well of course he could, and he finished him off with an Angle Slam to retain his world title.
Ok so Mercy’s gone, Goldberg wouldn’t come back and the likes of Undertaker, Dean Roberts, Triple H and Shawn Michaels all have minor injury problems keeping them out of the ring in the build up to this match, but this was still one of the least inspiring PPV line-up’s that the IWF has put out. When it was all said and done, the action was actually quite good overall, but lets hope they have something a bit special up their sleeves for Heat Wave…

Into The Darkness Card

Into The Darkness 2005
Sunday 22nd May

WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT UNIIFIED TRIPLE CROWN;
Kurt Angle Vs Kane

The Big Gee Vs Xavier

Chris Kanyon Vs John Bradshaw Layfield

WORLD TAG TEAM TITLES:
Sean O’Haire & Batista Vs Phil Jackson & Rick Shaw

EUROPEAN TITLE:
Matt Hardy Vs Jay Reso

Randy Orton Vs Chris Jericho

John Cena Vs Eddy Guerrero

UNITED KINGDOM TITLE: Phil Jackson Vs Shelton Benjamin