Neon Blue Report

1) Mistico Vs John Hennigan ( * * * ½ )
What a way to kick off Neon Blue 2007, with this hugely entertaining battle for the United Kingdom Championship. Mistico has come from out of nowhere to really make an impact on the IWF (as great as the notices where from Mexico, did you really envision him catching on as quickly as he has done?) and Hennigan has taken the split from MNM, and the name change, more than in his stride to really kick start his solo career. It wasn’t to mean, however, that he was to make the leap to UK Champion quite so quickly. The two had a very evenly matched contest and Hennigan came close on a number of occasions, but in the end Mistico finished off Hennigan with the first IWF outing for La Mística (spinning headscissors into armbar takedown and from that into Fujiwara armbar) for the win via tap-out. The fans approved.

2) Jazz Hands Gee Vs Finlay ( * * ¾ )
From the sublime to the ridiculous maybe? Ok, so it’s not saying much for two former world champions but against all the odds, the Lil’ Louis / Hornswoggle dynamic has gotten this feud far more over than a regular battle would have done…and that’s before we’ve taken into account Jazz Hands Gee’s amnesia fuelled personality. Indeed the reworking of Christina Aguilera’s Candyman into “Jazz Hands Gee” still makes us chuckle two and a half months down the line. We had high hopes for the match as well, given we feel Finlay is the perfect opponent for Gee (witness Gee’s independent battles with the likes of Bruce Hart & Dory Funk Jnr to see how well Gee can brawl). As you might expect though, the comedy midgets did distract from proceedings, although we would have to admit to the entertainment value. In the end, the midgets fought, Jazz Hands Gee got a shelaghly to the cobblers and Finlay got the pinfall victory.

3) Chris Jericho & Elijah Burke Vs AMW ( * * * * )
Wow. That’s all we can really say about this one. They were given the time, and the backing, to put on a show, and put on a show they did! AMW have been the best regular tag team in the IWF since their defection from TWA-T and once again put in a superb performance here. Jericho and Burke may be a makeshift team but they have a certain dynamism that keeps them apart from the chasing pack. This was a great back and forth encounter with great performances from all four men. Burke was the star of the show and showed that his Man Of Steel tournament victory could be the start of something beautiful indeed. Alas tonight he was on the losing side as a miscalculation by Jericho meant that he was easy prey for the Death Sentence which meant that AMW got the victory and became the first team to win the IWF World Tag Team titles four times! Burke did not look very happy at all as a result.

4) Xavier Vs Dick Stratus ( * * * ¼ )
Kidnap, torture, extra marital sex…this hasn’t been a feud for the kiddies my friends. Still it has been an interesting one and it did lead to an important night for lady of the moment Trish Stratus. Would she choose to remain by her husband’s side or would she “defect” to her lover Xavier once and for all. The match itself was fine; it had that hard-edge to it that you expect from such a heated storyline and although it did seem clear that the rumour that Xavier was carrying an injury going into this match was true as he was a slight level below his best here. In the end all the build up to Trish’s big moment was worth it as the crowd erupted as she finally made her choice…and it was indeed to go to the arms of Xavier. She slapped her brutish husband across the face and then Xav nipped in for the Xav-Attack to get the pinfall victory. The fans went wild as Xav and Trish shared a kiss. But the happiness was not to last for long. As they were making their way back to the locker rooms, the Anderson Family music kicked off and Charles Anderson walked out with Matt Morgan. Anderson cut an impassioned speech against adultery and then Morgan kicked the crap out of Xavier, causing him some internal bleeding. As a multitude of officials made the save, Trish was in tears, tending to the limp body of her man. Morgan on the other hand just made his way to the ring for his match,

5) Matt Morgan Vs Abyss ( * * ¾ )
The Anderson Family (consisting of leader Charles, Acid, Shelly and the random swastika wearing girls singing their haunting hymns) have finally began to pick up some steam after “abducting” Matt Morgan and indoctrinating him into their ways. Indeed he is now their “muscle” and was sent in the direction of Abyss, who had the temerity to refuse to join the Anderson family. This was a bloody and brutal match between the two giants with both men swinging hard in an intense fight. Morgan looked to have the upper hand, especially when Acid and Shelley made their presence known but if they thought they had the numbers game won, they reckoned without a surprise guest. A man, who we now know as Jahbuhlun, jumped from out of the crowd to aid the monster Abyss and we have subsequently found out that this man is Abyss’ brother. A no-contest was declared as Jahbuhlun and Abyss joined forces to clear the ring of the Anderson Family members. This was actually a very entertaining hard-hitting battle, which only loses marks for the non-finish. Although we have to admit that the debut if Jahbuhlun was one of those “wow” moments as well.

6) Randy Orton Vs Jay Reso ( * * * )
You’re never quite sure what you are going to get with either of these men. Whilst both are entertaining characters and good wrestlers, both are maddeningly inconsistent; tonight was a decent, but not brilliant match and thus, as ever seemingly, leaves both men in this upper-mid card limbo. This was a spirited back and forth tussle that, sadly, never really reawakened the passion of their memorable 2006 battles and in the end Reso finished off Orton with the Unprettier for the surprisingly spotless 1-2-3 pinfall victory.

7) Paul Wardle Vs Harry Smith ( * ¾ )
We didn’t know why Harry Smith was getting a shot at the European Title on a PPV, but we soon realised why Paul Wardle needed to be on the card. The match itself was a decent enough crash TV style match (albeit one you will never feel the need to watch again), which Wardle won fairly convincingly. The main story was the fact that after the match, Wardle got into an altercation with special ringside guest Callum Best. The two had a, fairly convincing, fist fight before security dragged Wardle off. If we didn’t know better we’d think this was going to lead somewhere…

8) Dean Roberts Vs John Cena ( * * * )
Once upon a time, a very big wrestling promotion called the PWF went bankrupt; the IWF signed one of their most promising performers and expected him to be a breakout star. He wasn’t. That is the sum total of the John Cena story. Why, in 2007. he is getting a big match like this is beyond us, and despite the Michelle Cena “rape” allegations and the generally entertaining, if ever so slightly over the top, storyline arch that has led us to this point no one really buys John Cena as the equal of Dean Roberts. Still Dean, as ever, has done his best to make Cena seem a genuine threat and the two did at least have a good match here. Michelle Cena was at ringside, and did at least add to the flow of the match (her expressions as the match went on were utterly believable, which is not something you can always say about Wrestling Diva’s) as was the spot where her brother John saved her from Dean’s clutches (given the storyline, Dean couldn’t very well smack her one anyway could he?). There was, sadly, little of the real drama that we would have liked, but that’s mainly because IWF fans do no take Cena seriously as a top-line wrestler. In the end, Dean won and we would imagine the interview where Michelle admits she made the whole rape allegation up can’t be far off.

9) Mercy Vs HHH (CM Punk as Ref, * * * * ¼ )
Main event time and WHAT an atmosphere there was. Fans popped huge for Punk as the referee and therein were clear signs that he’s on his way to being a genuine headliner (which is a good thing with his Gold Rush title match at November’s Prime Time coming up). Of course fans also popped huge for both challenger Triple H and champion Matthew Mercy, There have been plenty of soap-opera style storylines recently but this one has been a classic old-school feud. The two men hate each other and both want to claim the World Title as their personal property. This was main event wrestling at it's best and the two men put on great performances. Punk was good as the referee as well, although he played a direct part in the finish. Triple H tried to introduce a chair into the proceedings, but Punk grabbed it off him. HHH was infuriated and started some verbals before spitting into Punk's face. Finally, Punk lost it, swung the chair but actually took out Mercy instead. As Punk had to "call it down the middle" (under orders from Commissioner Roberts who stated that Punk would lose his Gold Rush opportunity) he had no option but to count HHH's pinfall on Mercy and we had a new World Champion once again in Triple H!!! The crowd were livid, and Punk hardly looked thrilled either; but Punk just shrugged his shoulders and walked off. HHH celebrated and as the show went off the air, Mercy was just coming around again and he looked far from pleased himself.

Neon Blue was a much anticipated show when the line up was announced, and for the most part it was one that delivered. The opener started the show on a very high note, the tag team title match was excellent and the storyline-heavy Morgan/Abyss, Dean/Cena and Xav/Stratus all delivered entertainment by the bucketload. Toss in an absolutely thrilling main event and you have one great night of action. Long may the IWF continue to deliver like this.