XTREME OVERLOAD REPORT

Xtreme Overload 2004 Report…
 
Raven & The Saints Vs Acid, Drake & Mathuras ( * * ½ )
We kicked things off with this crazy, ICW style, six-man effort.  Whilst the action in this was only satisfactory, the burgeoning Acid / Raven feud has really picked up over the past few months which led to a white-hot crowd for this opener.  Thankfully Mathuras was kept out of this match as far as possible.  It seems a waste to labour this point every month, but the former A-Train really is the pits.  Still Raven and Acid managed to keep up the interest with some crisp exchanges and CM Punk looked amazingly sharp in his in-ring IWF pay-per-view debut. 
The end came when the referee took a dive and Zoltar finally came good on his promise to introduce The Rancour to the world.  And wasn’t it just worth the wait…ok, so it wasn’t.  Out came former PWF idiot Nathan Jones who looked like he had been playing dress-up with his eight-year-old sister. Ooh, scary.  He was chained to Zoltar with some chains.  Zoltar brought him to ringside and then unchained him and the Rancour went berserk, attacking all three of Raven, Punk and Colt Cabana.  Rancour then hit Cabana with some god-awful high kick (which saw the feckless goon Jones nearly lose his own balance) and the Drake made the pinfall to get the win for his team.
This was a fair match, until the truly terrifying (and not in a good way either) and abysmal finish.  And to think that Drake & Mathuras are our current World Tag Team Champions..!
Matt Morgan Vs Jay Reso ( * * )
                Could Morgan keep up his reign of terror, or would Reso manage to halt the Blueprint’s charge?  That was the only question in this bout, and it wasn’t really one that the IWF had given us any reason to want to know the answer to.
                In the end the answer was…well Morgan kept up his reign of terror.  This wasn’t an awful match by any means but it wasn’t exactly memorable.  Reso was his usual entertaining self and Morgan ran through his big-man routine with clarity, it just wasn’t exactly inspiring on the whole.
                There were some smart exchanges towards the end and the crowd did seem to enjoy the proceedings.  Indeed they were jumping in their seats when Reso hit the Unprettier, and they were all fooled by the subsequent near fall.  But Morgan rallied back, hit the “Morgasm” (who thinks up crap like this?) and got the pinfall victory.  The Blueprint marches on.
Phil Jackson Vs Paul Wardle ( * * * )
                These two have actually cultivated quite an intriguing storyline between themselves, so much so that there was definitely a sense of anticipation as they made their way to the ring.  There was a clear sense that the fans wanted to see what would happen in this match. The IWF had also done a great job of disguising Wardle’s recent off-screen motorcycle crash in on-screen terms.
                The two started off cautiously, but rather than losing the crowd’s interest, this merely meant that by the time the two cranked it up the fans had been drawn into the battle of wills and they went wild when Jackson, after being on the receiving end of a prolonged period of offence from Wardle, finally offloaded some of his own fiery offence.
                However despite the fact that the fans were 100% behind “The Graduate”, it was “The Phenomenon” who took the glory.  Jackson went to finish Wardle off with the Graduation Day, but Wardle pulled the referee into the melee and then hit Jackson with a low blow.  As the referee wondered what the hell had gone on, Wardle hit Jackson with his Phenomenal-Plex and then he made the pinfall, whilst grabbing a handful of Jackson’s tights, which made him the new United Kingdom Champion.  Which also made for the third heel win out of three.
Randy Orton Vs Eddy Guerrero Vs John Cena Vs Matt Hardy (Elimination, * * * )
                When all else has been done, throw some guys into a four way and let them at it!  Whilst hardly insightful booking, it did toss four over people into a match and once again the crowd were hot for this one.  This was handily fought under elimination rules (none of this first pinfall wins stupidity this time out) and was a good, if not great encounter.
                All four men put in good performances and most everything they did was crisp and on target.  Crowd favourite was definitely Eddy Guerrero, whilst Randy Orton whipped up his usual storm with his heelish mannerisms, and his act is improving all the time. 
                Order of elimination was as follows; I) John Cena (eliminated via pinfall by Randy Orton following an RKO); II) Matt Hardy (pinned by Eddy Guerrero following a roll-up); III) Eddy Guerrero (pinned by Randy Orton who hit Guerrero with the title belt).
                The fans were livid as Orton won through such nefarious methods, although they got a small sense of justice when Guerrero recovered after the decision and attacked Orton and then hit a picture perfect Five Star Frog Splash on the European Champion. 
Brian Kendrick Vs Bryan Danielson (Lumberjack, * * * ¾ )
                These two had some cracking encounters on the independent circuit before they signed big deals with the IWF (Kendrick) and the PWF (Danielson) so the anticipation was high for this one.  And although the lumberjack stipulation took away from the match slightly, (as many observers feared it would), for the most part this was a cracker.
                For the opening part of the bout, the two stuck to the mat and had some swift and brutal exchanges and the lumberjacks kept out of the action unless the wrestlers were tossed outside, when they threw the unlucky man back in.  The middle part of the bout was the crispest of the whole battle as the two flew to the air with some dangerous and impressive moves.  The highlights included a stunning dive from the top turnbuckle by Kendrick onto Danielson, who was on the arena floor, and Danielson’s amazing springboard tope onto Kendrick, which took out about 4 other wrestlers too!
                The action got a bit sloppy in the final third of the match, but this was more to do with the chaos that unfurled between the lumberjacks rather than any fault of the two wrestlers.  Well you didn’t really expect that the “Cruiserweights respect each other” stuff to last did you?  The PWF crew were vastly outnumbered, and so took a bit of a beating, but in the end it didn’t turn out badly for them at all.  In the melee, Simon Starshot and Paul London ended up battling in the ring and a Steel chair got involved.  Starshot used it to scare London off and then with the whole world watching he swung it…and smacked his own IWF comrade Brian Kendrick square in the head with it.  The IWF Cruisers were shocked, but it mattered not as Danielson quickly made the cover and got the 1-2-3 which meant that the “PWF’s” Bryan Danielson was now the IWF World Cruiserweight Champion!  Starshot joined his new buddies Danielson, Skipper, London and Hayashi for some wild celebrations.  And once again this white-hot London crowd were left with a heel victory, the fifth out of five so far tonight.
Edge Vs Rob Van Dam ( * * * )
                So it was time for this grudge match.  The two have been fighting to crazy no-contests all over Europe recently, so there was a genuine question over who exactly would win.  Would it be former Triple Crown Champion Rob Van Dam, the face in this dispute and a man who carries the stigma of a “failed” world title run, or would it be Edge, the heel in this dispute and a man who has never quite reached the main event status that many predicted for him. 
                This was yet another match involving these two that was good rather than great, a calling card which is becoming increasingly more common for both men, regardless of who they are in there with.  There was enough to keep the majority of fans thoroughly entertained, but there was little to suggest that either man will become a serious main event superstar over the coming months. 
                At least the two put in the energy you would expect from a “former friends become bitter enemies” style bout, and the two played their roles well.  Edge took control early and dictated the course of most of the match with his methodical attempts to wear down RVD.  Van Dam’s periodical attempts to regain power of the match were met with great rallying cries from the fans but Edge always seemed to have the upper hand. Still it wasn’t to last; eventually RVD hit back with some of his trademark kicks and punches and then he hit the Rolling Thunder on Edge, much to the crowd’s delight.  Edge kicked out of the subsequent pinfall attempt, but once RVD scaled the ropes and hit an high impact Frog Splash to get the hugely popular pinfall victory.  As the first babyface to win a match all evening, the fans were even wilder for Van Dam’s win.  Good, but not great match, that probably won’t be fondly remembered as a classic for years to come.  Both men need to pull something special out soon if they are to climb the ladder to the top of their profession. 
Kurt Angle Vs Rhino ( * * * ¼ )
                Rhino got a big win at a recent Slammin and Angle finally would get his chance for revenge tonight.  Yep that was about it, but these two have clashed with such vim and vigour over the past few weeks that they have drawn the fans into their little feud. 
                The two went at it with a fury here, and whilst there was little cohesion and pattern to the match, it was a hard-hitting and stiff affair that went down well with the live crowd.  Rhino set off like the proverbial house on fire and he really took it to Angle, and when Angle was knocked out of the ring he took the opportunity to take a breather.  Of course Rhino went chasing him and then BAM! Angle got in control by a cheap shot.
                This was back and forth action all the way and it really did seem like either man could win it.  Rhino would take control but then Angle would fight back.  However Angle couldn’t get on top for too long as Rhino himself would fight back.
                The end section of the bout was extremely satisfying action.  The two slugged it out until Rhino finally appeared to get the upper hand.  He then went for the Gore, but Angle had the presence of mind to get out of the way and Rhino hit the turnbuckle.  Angle then went for an Angle Slam but Rhino reversed that and was looking for another Gore.  He didn’t get it though; as quick as a flash, Angle upended Rhino and locked on the ankle lock.  Rhino fought it valiantly, but he just didn’t quite have enough left in the tank and he tapped out, giving Angle the big win. 
Triple H & Shawn Michaels Vs Chris Jericho & Xavier ( * * * * )
                There was a great sense of anticipation as the four men made their (separate) entrances to the ring for this one.  There was a real sense of occasion in this one, pitting as it did four previous IWF world champions in the same match.  The match started with Jericho and Michaels going at it with a fury, but the intensity just grew and grew until the match finally exploded when Xavier & HHH finally came face to face for the first time in the bout.
                Xavier was like the proverbial house on fire as he took the fight to HHH and Tripper looked like he’d seen a ghost as he went tumbling to the outside, completely shell-shocked.  From there we settled into a very good old-fashioned tag team style encounter.
                HHH and HBK cut the ring in half and went to work on Jericho and did a very good job of battering him and making sure that he couldn’t make the tag to Xav.  Jericho periodically attempted to make a comeback and on occasion got mighty close to making the hot tag, but the dastardly former Clique duo kept him down.  It had to come in the end though, and the arena went crazy as Jericho finally overpowered Michaels with a wicked enziguri kick.  Jericho just made the tag and Xavier started to clean house.
                It really looked like Xavier was going to power on and win it, but alas it wasn’t to be.  Xav hit Triple H with a clothesline and then seemingly finished him off with a Xav-Attack.  However at this point the referee’s attention was away from the ring and he had got embroiled in a HBK/Y2J altercation at ringside.  Then from out of the crowd a masked man ran in, got hold of a steel chair and absolutely clonked Xav with it and then scampered back from whence he came.  HHH came to, and then slowly crawled over to Xav to make the hugely unpopular pinfall for the victory.
Chris Kanyon Vs The Big Gee (Wembley Streetfight, * * * ¼ )
                So it was time for the main event (…don’t you laugh, you cynics…).  This has actually been a fairly riveting feud, against all the odds, and both men continued their good form in this, essentially the feud ender.  At least the Streetfight stipulation played to the Gee’s strengths and he did indeed look like a monster in the early going of this bout.
                Almost from the opening bell Gee took the fight to Kanyon and the two brawled all the way around the ringside area, before spilling into the crowd and throughout the arena.  The two brawled their way through the aisles in the expensive ringside seats before breaking through into the passageways around the arena and the two even battled into a merchandise stand, sending tee shirts and posters flying, and through a drinks stall, with Gee pausing to have himself a cool swift lager.  The two then battled through some hospitality areas before finding themselves back in the backstage area .
                The two continued to throw everything at each other, and all manner of foreign objects were used.  Both men sustained cuts as well and there was claret red blood everywhere.
                The two finally battled their way back onto the arena floor itself and threw each other into the Xtreme Overload set, before they finally made their way back into the ring.  To end it all off, Kanyon hit Gee with a Kanyon Kutter through a table and got the match winning, and title retaining, 1-2-3.  Not the greatest technical match ever, but you have to admire the guts both men showed in this one. 
 
So that was XO for another year, and in the end it was a very respectable card indeed.  The double main event produced much entertainment, and two totally different experiences, which was a good thing.  The cruiserweight match was very entertaining too , as the likes of Angle Vs Rhino and RVD Vs Edge both provided steady action. 
Whilst there was little else that really stood out, as a whole this was a very competent and solid pay-per-view.  It finished some issues, intensified others and was well worth the pay-per-view money.