INTO THE DARKNESS 2004 REPORT

 
Randy Orton Vs Phil Jackson (Non-Title, * * * )
                The card kicked off with this “battle of the champions” which pitted European Champion against United Kingdom Champion.  The crowd were quite into this, with the Graduate getting a good reception and Orton showed that his all-round act is improving with each passing month. 
                The two had some great back and forth exchanges and they really were matching each other move for move, with neither man seeming able to keep the advantage for very long.  Orton did slowly appear to get the upper-hand in the match though and it seemed like he was set for the victory that his title’s superior status would have suggested, but he was just a little bit too cocky.  As he sized up Jackson for the RKO, he left Phil plenty of time to regain his thoughts and when he finally went to hit it, Jackson blocked it and then wrapped up the “Blue Chipper” in a small package to get the very popular 1-2-3 and the surprise pinfall victory.  After the match however, Orton did manage to hit Jackson with an RKO and he left to a chorus of boos.
Raven Vs Acid ( * * ½ )
                These two men have sworn all out war on each other ever since the build up to MuscleMania, and tonight they were finally getting the chance to go one-on-one without any distractions…what’s that…ok, so there were plenty of distractions but for once they seemed to add to the match. 
                This was, if you like, ICW style brawling all the way, with the two taking a tour of the ringside and battering each other with all kinds of implements as the referee struggled to maintain control (although why he didn’t just disqualify both men we don’t know).  Eventually the ref took a bump and this was the cue for Zoltar and his merry men to waltz in.  Mathuras and Rancour went straight for the kill on Raven, and even when Jamie Knoble and Rick Shaw ran out to even up the odds, it did Raven little help. As the extra curricular activity went on, Acid hit Raven with a killer chair shot and then Zoltar woke up the referee and the pinfall was a mere formality.  Not that the fun stopped there.  Acid continued his attack, alongside Zoltar’s cronies, but finally Knoble and Shaw managed to fight them off, as a hoard of IWF officials swarmed the ring to keep them all apart.
John Cena Vs Rhino ( * * * )
                So it was time for the first slice of “PWF” influenced action of the evening, and the very popular John Cena certainly did go down a storm.  Rhino has had a recent upturn in fortune too, and so this was a highly charged match that had plenty of heat to go with it. 
                This was very entertaining stuff indeed, and Cena’s pre-match rap about Rhino was a real hoot, though Cena wasn’t laughing as Rhino immediately launched into him with some serious offence.  Rhino dominated the match for the most part, but Cena stuck in there and with the help of the crowd (who were cheering like mad for him to make his comeback) he finally gained the upper hand.  Even then Rhino fought back into it, but when he went for the Gore, Cena sidestepped it, and nipped in and hit Rhino with the F-U for the pinfall victory.  Decent enough stuff and promising signs for both men. 
Matt Morgan Vs Sean O’Haire ( * * ¼ )
                Two men who faced huge disappointment at MuscleMania got a quick chance to redeem themselves in a high profile match here.   Sadly whilst this was decent, it wasn’t great and the crowd did seem to be disinterested, at least until the final moments of the match. 
                O’Haire surprisingly dominated the early going with some slick moves, but it wasn’t long before Morgan used his sheer strength and presence to overpower O’Haire and dish out some punishment.        
                Indeed, Morgan’s ever impressive array of power moves brought the crowd back to life somewhat and some of them even cheered for Morgan as he pummelled poor Sean.  They were positively wowed however when Morgan climbed the ropes and hit a Big Splash onto O’Haire.  Ok, so we’ve seen flashier moves, but when done by a man this size it was an impressive sight, and he did look graceful as he flew.  It came as little surprise after this when the ref slapped the mat three times, and we had ourselves a winner. 
Kevin Nash Vs Xavier ( * ½  )
                Go on, be honest, did you ever expect to see “Bi-Sexy” Kevin Nash back in an IWF ring?  Exactly, but back he is, and here he was tangling with Xavier, who seemingly is finally being treated as a genuine top-liner (after his sojourn with X-Rated) once again.  But could even the super-worker that is Xavi, pull a half way decent match out of the ageing Nash?  Well no, but he made a decent fist of it. 
                Xav bumped like a beast in an attempt to make Nash look good whilst Nash mainly just stood there flicking his hair.  Xav also seemed to get visibly annoyed when Nash messed up a couple of spots and, with shades in the memory of that infamous Xav/Mercy UKWF match from many years ago, Xavi potatoed him with some wicked chops. 
                The end came when Nash went for his Jack-Knife power-bomb, but Xav hit a low blow and then finished Nash off with the Xav Attack for the 1-2-3.  Nash’s monster run was seemingly brought to a halt right here.  This was bad, but thanks to Xavier it probably wasn’t as bad as it had every right to be. 
Edge & RVD Vs Hardy & Reso Vs Jarrett & Morrus Vs APA ( * * )
                Time for the first title match of the evening, in the penultimate match nevertheless, which actually made this match seem more important (considering that we hadn’t sat through numerous other title bouts already) and the crowd did seem fairly up for it . Well at least for three of the teams…the APA were booed out of the building, and not in the good “heat” way either. 
                Fought under elimination rules this was a swift bout, which whilst never being excellent was decent enough, and did show flashes of entertainment.  Not least of all within the first three minutes.  John Layfield and Ron Simmons tried their usual hard-men routine but on this particular occasion it got them nowhere as all three of their opposing teams almost broke character and took great delight in knocking seven bells of crap out of them.  Once Simmons had been dealt with we saw the amusing sight of Layfield taking SIX finishing manoeuvres; Morrus hit him with the “No Laughing Matter”, he then got up only to be hit by a Reso “Unprettier”; Edge then hit him with a spear, just before Hardy got him with a Twist of Fate.  Jarrett then locked him in the figure four whilst RVD climbed the ropes and hit the Five Star Frog Splash to get the pin. 
                With the dead weight out of the way the match continued, with former champions Hardy & Reso surprisingly next to go when Morrus hit the “No Laughing Matter” again, this time on Reso for the pinfall.  The final two teams then meandered somewhat to a conclusion before Edge finished off Morrus with a Spear.  The champions thus retained. 
Chris Kanyon Vs Kurt Angle ( Iron Man, * * * * * )
                If ever a main event came to a rescue of a decidedly average pay-per-view under card, then this may very well be the one.  Not only was this a distinct early front runner for the match of the year, this has to be considered one of the greatest bouts in the IWF’s distinguished history.  The two managed to keep things fresh for an hour and kept the fans on the edge of their seats throughout.  The order of decisions were as follows;
i)                     Kanyon pinned Angle following a Reverse Neck-breaker in 17.21
ii)                   Angle pinned Kanyon following an Angle Slam in 28.12
iii)                  Angle made Kanyon tap-out to the Ankle Lock in 37.48
iv)                  Angle pinned Kanyon, who was still out of it following the ankle lock, in 38.21
v)                   Kanyon pinned Angle following a roll-up in 44.55
vi)                  Angle pinned Kanyon following a Fisherman’s suplex in 49.04
vii)                Kanyon pinned Angle following a top-rope face buster in 54.11
viii)               Kanyon pinned Angle after Angle missed a moonsault in 58.12
ix)                  Kanyon pinned Angle after the Kanyon Kutter in 6.03 of overtime.
KANYON WINS BY 5 falls to 4 in over-time.
                This was a superb effort and both men were out on their feet before Angle slowly left and Kanyon acknowledged the cheers of the crowd.  There was a twist yet to come though because as Kanyon was celebrating, he was well and truly blindsided by the Big Gee who absolutely kicked the crap out of him and he was soaking in a chorus of boo’s as the show faded to black. 
 
So Into the Darkness has passed for another year.  This is often a difficult ppv to get into, coming as it does just four weeks after the biggest show of the year, but there were no such problems here.  Toss in some choice (and, admittedly, some not so choice) “PWF” names and season it with an absolutely superb Iron Man Match main event and you had a card which held some promise indeed.  The under card was perhaps a little underdone and poor  but names such as John Cena, Phil Jackson and Acid all took steps to improve their profile and put on good performances.  However, the under card could have been the worst ever and it wouldn’t have mattered, such was the absolutely superb main event, which featured phenomenal performances from both Chris Kanyon and Kurt Angle . The two went at it for over an hour and kept the fans captivated every step of the way.  It’s hard to imagine there being a better match this year, and for something to top that in the Year end polls it would have to be very special indeed.  All in all the card easily drifts into thumbs up territory; the under card was decent enough, with enough good moments to make it fly by, and the main event was off the scale.  The very end of the show was intriguing too, with the Big Gee’s appearance and it really does look like the IWF are able to brush off the recent retirements, firings and movie-role hiatus’ and still put on one hell of a show.