International Wrestling Federation presents...
IWF PRIME TIME - Buxton Beach Bash
Monday 11th June 2007
Opera House, Buxton
Matt Morgan & CM Punk Vs Finlay & Paul Wardle
EIGHT MAN TAG TEAM MATCH;
Elijah Burke, Chris Jericho & America's Most Wanted
Vs
Xavier, Chris Benoit, Harry Smith & TJ Wilson
Triple H Vs Shelton Benjamin
WORLD WOMENS TITLE:
Rebecca Knox Vs Alexis Laree
EUROPEAN TAG TEAM TITLES:
Brian Kendrick & Lance Hoyt Vs Flavio Love & Loco Delgado
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1) Eight Man Tag Match ( * * * 3/4 ) - Well the IWF Prime Time specials have returned...and what a way to kick them off with what was an absolutely superb eight man match involving the four teams that will contest the semi-finals of the World Tag Team Title Tournament at Heat Wave on Sunday. Shameless promotion for the PPV yes, but when the match is this good who can really complain. The end came when Elijah Burke pinned Hart Foundation 2.0 member TJ Wilson, after some chicanery from his buddy Chris Jericho. The fans loved this, we loved this...a great start to life back on terrestrial television.
2) Rebecca Knox Vs Alexis Laree ( * * * ) - How were the women supposed to follow that? Well, actually they followed it quite well. Yes, the fans were a little flat to start with but as the women cranked it up the fans really got into the match. It was proof positive that the women (well, some of them at least) of the IWF can actually go out there and work good matches. It looked as if Laree would pull it out of the bag, but as she went for the Laree-D-T Knox countered it with a roll-up, and a handful of tights ensured that she got the 3 count to retain her title.
3) Kendrick & Hoyt Vs Flavio & Loco ( * * 1/4 ) - Second title match in a row, but although we had relatively high hopes for this one, the end result was a trifle disappointing. All four men tried but something just didn't click for them, which was a shame. Still it wasn't a dreadful match by any means and did involve some breathtaking moves, especially for Kendrick. It wasn't enough to save his team's title though as Love hit a brutal Love Machine on him and got the pinfall, and the titles for him and his Bang Gang compadré. And to be honest, the match was worth the victor's celebration alone as the whole Bang Gang came out and danced to some crazy music like absolute buffoon's.
4) Triple H Vs Shelton Benjamin ( * * * ) - Triple H has been killing anyone he can get his hands on in the ring recently, and this was no exception. It was a good little tidy match though, which didn't go out of it's way to bury Shelton and kept HHH looking strong. All the more strong for winning such a competitve back and forth match. In the end, Tripper won with The Pedigree, which came as no real surprise to anyone.
5) Morgan & Punk Vs Finlay & Wardle ( * * 3/4 ) - Main event time, and more shameless shilling for the Heat Wave ppv. Still whilst technically this may not have been a great main event match, the crowd were into it and it was a hell of a lot of fun. Intriguingly, the fans seemed to be into Punk/Wardle as much as they were Morgan/Finlay, which made for a great atmosphere as well. In the end however, it was the bad guys who won it as Wardle pinned Punk following the Phenom-Press, which really sets up an interesting Gold Rush contract match at Heat Wave. As the show ended, Wardle & Finlay were celebrating...Morgan and Punk were commiserating.
A welcome return to terrestrial tv for the IWF and a good show to come back with too. Sure it all went downhill, match quality wise, after the fantastic opener but there was still enough high-octane action to keep everyone entertained. Here's to the next one!
