NEON BLUE Results

CM PUNK Vs COLT CABANA ( * * * ) - The show kicked off with this highly anticipated battle between Punk and Cabana, formerly members of the Second City Saints tag-team and the anticipation was only heightened by the prescence of Maria at ringside. She's the girlfriend of course of Cabana and has been the object of unwanted advances from Punk in recent weeks. She came to the ring with Cabana and took a first class ringside view of the action. And what action it was; the two former friends turned enemies really went at it with a vengeance and this was one of those matches which was in the balance all the way. In the end though it was Maria who tipped the balance, in a way that a few could have anticipated. As the violence escalated Maria was drawn into the action and ended up in the middle of the ring, with only a Steel Chair for protection. And she swung it...but instead of clonking CM Punk, she hit her boyfriend Cabana. At first she seemed distraught but slowly a smile crept across her face as Punk made the pinfall that won him the match. Punk and Maria then embraced in the middle of the ring before sharing a positively sloppy wet kiss as the boo's reigned out in the arena. Great match, great twist ending. All you could wish for from a PPV opener.

PAUL WARDLE Vs PETER TURNER ( * * ) - Why the bookers chose this to follow the heated opener we'll never know. Mind you, this could follow Austin Adulteress versus Hal Hacker and they'd struggle to get a reaction. This is nothing to do with Wardle mind you; he's got a couple of wins against Kanyon under his belt in recent months and when faced with a compatible opponent, he shows that he could well live up to the supersrat potential label put upon his young shoulders. Turner on the other hand returned to the IWF and was pushed as if he was some kind of superstar - which he's not and further more he never has been at any time he's ever worked for the IWF. Which meant that this battle of the heels, which was never about much more than "I hate you" totally bombed with the live audience. Which is a slight shame as it wasn't a bad little match. Still the sutble change in the booker's intentions was clear here. It was Wardle who was portrayed as the better wrestler and he got the pinfall over Turner when all was said and done.

THE BIG GEE Vs TRIPLE H ( No Holds Barred, * * * 1/2 ) - The crowd came back to life for this one and why not? Fought under NHB rules, this was anything but a technical classic but it showcased intense performances from both men which showed the doubters that these two are both still capable of scaling the heights when they want to. The crowd ooh'ed and aah'ed through an arena-wide brawl which went through the crowds, into the concession area's, went backstage and finally made it's way back into the arena. Now you might be thinking that this was a NHB match instead of a FCA match, and you'd be right, but let's not quibble. Both men bled, both men took pretty insane bumps and both men survived each other's finishing moves (no wonder Riley Mason stayed away from ringside!) before Gee finally finished off Trips with a Gee-Bomb through a table. Both men got a standing ovation for this one, but just as it looked as if the two would shake hands, HHH used his trusty Sledgehammer to KO the Gee and he left to a chorus of boo's.

AMW Vs MNM ( * * * 1/4 ) - The two best tag teams in the IWF finally met with the World Titles on the line...of course some would say that these two are the only two proper tag teams left on the IWF roster, but that's another arguement for another time. What mattered is that the two teams took this opportunity to fly the flag for the Tag Team division, and despite a couple of sloppy moments in the first few minutes, that's exactly what they did. Of course this was another match where it was difficult for the fans to know who to cheer, but by a process of elimination it seemed to be MNM who got the cheers (mainly because of Melina at ringside I suppose) and this did seem to invigorate them to some extent. It wasn't enough though as those dastardly Team Orton members Storm and Harris used every dirty trick in the book to prevail, finally finishing the match when Chris Harris pinned Joey Mercury. Still if for no other reason than that these are the only two teams left, this feud seems far from over.

XAVIER Vs ABYSS ( * * * 3/4 ) - He's been out of the IWF since MuscleMania, but tonight was the night that Xavier returned. And boy, what a welcome the Xav man got! He looked, shall we say, bigger than when we last saw but we'll attribute that to the Japanese diet he's been on. This was a wild and riotous encounter which had everyone in the crowd "oohing" and "aahing" with all the crazy and insane bumps and moves that were on display. In fact, even the referee gave up trying to control this one and he had no option but to call for a DDQ...not that that stopped the wrestlers. In the end however, after Xavier had hit Abyss with a chair assissted Xav-Attack, Abyss scurried off back to the locker room area in order to preserve himself to fight another day. Sure this was a bit ridiculous (you could hardly call it a "match" in the classic sense) but it was high-octane and exciting stuff all the same and no doubt whetted the appetite for more of the same.

JAY RESO Vs SHAWN MICHAELS ( * * * ) - The common consensus seems to suggest that Jay Reso's run as a top-line face bombed (which is a tad unfair), but it doesn't take a brain surgeon to realise that he's a better act as a heel. Some might also say that applies to HBK as well, but he's just too damn popular wich at least meant that for one occasion tonight we had a clear face/heel dicthomy to ponder. Which made for a heated atmosphere, even if the straight-on wrestling action of this one struggled to follow the all out brawl that proceeded it. Still if you wanted an old-style straight up wrestling match you will have enjoyed this. It looked as if Michaels would win the day, but Reso ducked Sweet Chin Music to hit the Unprettier to the get the 1-2-3 and a HUGE win.

KRISSY VAINE Vs JENNY TAYLOR ( 3/4 * ) - Refereed by the new IWF Women's Referee Shantelle Taylor...and that was about the only noteworthy thing to tell you about this match. Oh, and new signing Rebecca Knox had had the foresight to purchase a ring-side seat for the event so she could get an up close and personal look at this match. She won't have learned much, considering this went all of about 4 minutes. Which is a shame considering these two women are capable of a decent match at least. Anyway, Vaine won, Taylor lost. Saying any more about it would be giving it more than it deserves.

MATTHEW MERCY Vs MATT MORGAN ( * * 3/4 ) - The battle of the Double M's was highly anticipated but sadly it fell a bit flat. The reason? Well the reason is quite simple; this match wasn't treated as a battle of the equals (which it should have been) but rather was put across as Mercy teaching a young upstart a lesson. Which was pointless on so many levels, although it is not our place to question just why the match was set out like that. Suffice to say that sometimes wrestling companies just get it plain wrong. What transpired was decent enough, but the fans were never really given any hope that Morgan could win, which I suppose in the end you could say was just as well as he was finished off with a Mercy-Bomb for the 1-2-3. Dissappointing.

CARLITO Vs BARABUS LASHLEY ( * * 1/2 ) - On a night when AMW & Randy Orton were defending their titles, Barabus Lashley had this chance to take the European Title for Team Orton. And I hope you were intrigued by that chance, because that's the only semblance of storyline you were getting in the lead up to this. Again, this was another match where it was unclear who the fans were supposed to be cheering. I mean we all know Team Orton are definately heels, but we're unsure as to when Carlito turned babyface. In fact, we're pretty sure he hasn't. Still this was a decent enough match, albeit one that perhaps lacked the spark both men would have been looking to deliver. It was a tight back and forth match-up which in the end was taken by Lashley when he finished off Carlito with the Be-L for the pinfall victory and the European Title. For the moment, Team Orton had three sets of Gold in the bank, but would that state of affairs see out the evening....?

RANDY ORTON Vs KURT ANGLE ( * * 3/4 ) - As it happens, it could; but it took more than a little help from all of Team Orton to ensure that it did. If you believe the hype we've been salivating at the prospect of a one-on-one match between these two ever since MuscleMania and there was a sense of expectation prior to the bell. What transpired was a trifle dissappointing, but as we found out after the show there may have been a very good reason for that indeed. And that same reason may have been why this was an overbooked clusterf**k, especially in the final stages. Yes, AMW did a run-in...yes, Barabus did a run in...and No, no-one helped out poor Angle. Which meant that although the referee managed to clear Team Orton from ringside eventually, the numerous distractions were enough to put pay to Angle's hope's of lifting the title and Orton finished him off with the RKO. As the show went off the air, Team Orton celebrated with all their title gold!

So, Neon Blue has been and gone for another year, and it was a real mixed bag. It promised much as a card and in that context the show will probably be seen as a slight disappointment. Gee/HHH, Punk/Cabana and, most of all, Xavier/Abyss all delivered great entertainment, but too much of the rest was below what we might have expected. Indeed the most intriguing point was the news after the show that we've apparently seen the last of Kurt Angle in an IWF ring...at least for the time being. Seems as if the injuries have caught up with him at last.