Prime Time

Prime Time - No Holds Barred

Monday 30th July

Butlins, Minehead

No Holds Barred Match;

Matthew Mercy Vs Finlay

IWF World Triple Crown Title;

Triple H Vs Mistico

IWF World Tag Team Titles;

Elijah Burke & Chris Jericho Vs CM Punk & Randy Orton

Jay Reso Vs John Cena

Trent Acid Vs Shelton Benjamin

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1) Burke & Jericho Vs Punk & Orton ( * * * 1/4 ) - The show kicked off with this interesting tag team match, set up when Commissioner Dean Roberts put "every IWF superstar's name" into a hat and pulled out two names "at random" to ascertain who would get the shot at the tag team champions. Yes, that was a neat way of hyping the Super Series Invitational idea...The match was a good one as well, with Punk playing his role as the one face to the three heels superbly. Ok, so the ending was predictable in some ways, with the challengers turning on each other, but it was Punk who turned on Orton, letting Burke get the pin, so the fans were happy anyway. After the decision, Punk locked Burke in an Anaconda Vice for good measure. The crowd approved.

2) Reso Vs Cena ( * * 3/4) - For some reason, the IWF seems to have decided the time is right to push John Cena. Why, we don't quite know, but they are doing and it has to be said that Cena, having spent an age "paying his dues", is at least doing better than he has done previously in the IWF. The fans at least seem interested in his existence now. Of course Reso carried the match with his superb heel shenanigans but Cena kept up well, and even when Reso finished him off with the Unprettier, people seemed to be mildly impressed with Cena's effort. Which is an improvement is it not?

3) Triple H Vs Mistico ( * * * ) - This was another match that came about due to the hyping of the Super Series Invitational (this time, Mistico won a battle royale on Warfare to get this title shot, which was to presumably reinforce the message that "anything" could happen during the course of Super Series). It was a bit strange to see the distincly small Mistico take on HHH, but Tripper made no attempt to outright squash the exciting Cruiserweight youngster and the two had a thrilling little match. Of course, HHH won with the Pedigree, but this was a competitive match that did much to aid Mistico and took nothing away from HHH.

4) Acid Vs Benjamin ( * 3/4 ) - Well this was progressing quite well as a match until Charles Anderson decided to interrupt things. He made a beeline for Acid's new beau, Shelly Martinez, but when Acid went to make the save we found out it was a set up all along and Shelly was working with Anderson. Acid was then carried off by Anderson so we suppose that Benjamin won by count-out for those keeping track.

5) Mercy Vs Finlay (No Holds Barred, * * * * ) - Time for the main event, and what a main event it was. The fans were aching to see these two go at it, and they didn't disappoint. The two brawled all over the building with an intense fury and both men sustained cuts (Finlay in particular was bleeding like a bitch) and took their fair share of bumps. Mercy won in the end, with a wicked Mercy-Bomb through a table, but this was just a fantastic slice of wrestling action.

What a night of action. The IWF really pushed the boat out here and gave us a fantastic 90 minutes of action. Ok, so the lack of anything specific to build up to at the Super Series PPV gave the bookers a better playing field this time, but we hope they continue to give us more of the same in future Prime Time episodes.

Super Series PREVIEW

SUPER SERIES 2007
Sunday August 12th
Morecambe Dome

SUPER SERIES INVITATIONAL:
32 IWF Superstars are randomly drawn into 16 tag teams, to face off in 8 tag team matches, with the winners advancing to the 16-man battle bowl finale.

PARTICIPANTS:
Triple H, CM Punk, Elijah Burke, Chris Jericho, Matt Morgan, Matthew Mercy, Jay Reso, Finlay, Randy Orton, Mohammed Fakjir, Barabus Lashley, James Storm, Chris Harris, Paul Wardle, Joey Mercury, Milano Collection AT, Rick Shaw, Matt Sydal, Mistico, John Cena, Edge, Rhino, Shelton Benjamin, Brian Kendrick, Umaga, Lance Hoyt, Sherlock Burchill, Dr Lewington, Lance Cade, Trevor Murdoch,
WITH:
Other superstars to be announced on the night.

PLUS:

WORLD WOMEN’S TITLE:
STEEL CAGE MATCH:
Alexis Laree Vs Rebecca Knox

These two women have waged a war for months over the women's title but now it comes down to a one-on-one battle within the confines of a Steel Cage. Only one woman can survive.

EUROPEAN TAG TEAM TITLES:
Flavio Love & Loco Delgado Vs Harry Smith & Teddy Hart
With Bang Gang & Hart Foundation members handcuffed together at ringside.

The ongoing battle between the Bang Gang and the Hart Foundation 2.0 wages on, and Flavio & Loco put their belts on the line against Smith & Hart in a match which sees Mantorras Figueirdo, Mario Lama and Titi Buengo will be handcuffed to TJ Wilson, Jack Evans and Nattie Neidhart at ringside.

Identity of Trent Acid's new Girl Revealed

Tonight on Warfare, Trent Acid's new girlfriend made her IWF debut. We can reveal her to be Shelley Martinez.

Little is known about Shelley, but we are sure to become accustomed to her charms in the coming weeks and months.

Xtreme Overload Report

The show kicked off with a bang as we saw various IWF staffers setting up the room where Xavier was to be welcomed back into the arms of the IWF bosom. IWF Commissioner Dean Roberts was supervising and things seemed to be going well until two police officers walked in. Apparently they were here to take DNA swabs in an attempt to identify who had ordered the kidnapping of Xavier. They had fibre evidence that proved there was a third man involved who wasn’t Murdoch or Cade. The police stated they had a court order that allowed them to swab every IWF wrestler on the roster in an attempt to find a DNA match. And throughout the evening that’s exactly what they did, with Dean Roberts being their first task. Intriguing…

1) Murdoch & Cade Vs Lewington & Burchill ( * * ½ )
Although we know not who ordered the kidnapping of Xavier, we certainly know, thanks to Sherlock Burchill and Dr Lewington, that it was the dastardly duo of Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch who carried out the attack. As daft as the storyline sounds on paper, in practise it has been very entertaining, and whilst the issue between these two teams may not be the main one (at some point we will surely find out who ordered the kidnapping) the fans did lap it up. Lewington & Burchill have been around the IWF for a while, doing nothing of note, but there is a certain chemistry between them and both are more than competent in the ring; Murdoch & Cade are newcomers, brought it for this story (although yes, Cade has had previous IWF stints), and whilst they do look like the proverbial odd couple, they’ve made a decent impression too. This was, therefore, a decent enough match, which was, if nothing else, great fun. In the end, and didn’t it have to be so really, it was the detectives who beat the kidnappers when Burchill pinned Trevor Murdoch. A fun opener.

The police were swabbing and the likes of Brian Kendrick and Rick Shaw were being done. There was a queue of wrestlers though and the police nearly had a coronary when they came up to Umaga. A translator was on hand, but the police didn’t seem too keen to get too close to Umaga.

2) Randy Orton Vs Lance Hoyt ( * * )
What has happened to Randy Orton? Have the IWF forgotten about him or is it his turn to take a back seat in readiness for further headline action down the line? Probably the latter, we hope anyway. Here he was, presumably, attempting to “season” the promising Lance Hoyt, who had beaten him clean on a recent episode of Warfare. Of course Hoyt wasn’t to pull of that trick a second time, falling prey to the RKO for the spotlessly clean Orton pinfall victory. A decent enough match, but where either man goes from here is questionable.

At this point the police were backstage and they came across Jay Reso. After many protestations that he was being unfairly targeted by the police (in recent weeks he was the main suspect or so it seemed) he relented and allowed the police to get their swab.

3) Rebecca Knox Vs Alexis Laree (Best Of Three Falls, * * ¾ )
Well at least they chose the best two women workers on the roster for this match. And it was a decent match, which was only really hurt by its brevity; whilst a 10 minute, one fall match between the two might have been able to build to something special, cramming three pinfalls into that time simply hurt the flow of the match. Laree got the first pinfall, following a Spinning DDT, whilst Knox squared it up at 1-1 after the Knox-Out. This seemed to knock Laree out cold and Knox thought the match winning pinfall was a mere formality but she took too long to make the second cover, Laree was playing possum and when Knox finally went for it, Laree wrapped her up in a Small Package to get the match winning pinfall AND lift the Women’s Title for the third time.

4) Mohammed Fakjir Vs Barabus Lashley (JP Caged At Ringside, * * ¼ )
Fakjir and Porter have made quite the impression in their short time in the IWF. In fact you could almost say that they’re at a similar level to what Lashley was at this time last year. Mid-card heels they may be, but they have that coolness factor that makes them an entertaining act. Of course the 2007 version of Lashley has been shown up for what he was all along; a guy with potential for sure, but one who’s still very green. Not that Fakjir is a five-star match machine either, but he has a winning character and a winning partnership with Justice Porter. As you might have guessed, the fact that JP was in a cage at ringside made no difference. After a ref-bump Porter managed to get hold of the keys to release himself from the cage, and he helped Fakjir to another pinfall victory (and probably the final one) over Lashley. Another match on the card that wasn’t great but WAS very entertaining.

It was at this moment in the evening that Xavier was wheeled into his “homecoming” party as various wrestlers welcomed him back. Trish Stratus, his personal fitness trainer, was also there although she was accompanied by her husband, Dick Stratus, who didn’t exactly looked thrilled to be meeting Xavier. The police were hovering, but Xav explained that he was “tight” friends with Trish and that her husband wasn’t an IWF employee (and thus couldn’t be swabbed for his DNA).

5) Finlay Vs Tito Ortiz ( * * ¾ )
This has got the IWF a lot of mainstream press (at least until the tragic Benoit incident) and even though some would question as to why the IWF would bring in Ortiz for one match, at great expense no doubt, which he was always going to win which would, in effect, “prove” some kind of superiority of the UFC over professional wrestling. As you might expect with super Dave Finlay in the ring, this was held together pretty well. To Ortiz’s credit he didn’t mind Finlay taking control of the match (in the kayfabe sense – obviously Finlay had to lead the match) to make this more believable and Finlay was able to take some of the stiff punches and kicks that are Ortiz’s trademark. In the end we had to have some form of “get out” for our boy Finlay and it came when he tried to use his shelaghly but Ortiz blocked it, grabbed it and hit him with it, making the pinfall victory a formality. An interesting exercise, but with the chances of Ortiz returning any time soon painfully slim, we don’t see what it achieved.

There was then an hilarious interlude where the police attempted to gain DNA swabs from Mohammed Fakjir. Justice Porter was having none of it, and Fakjir said that without an appointment they had no chance. He then got into his waiting limousine and it sped off.

6) CM Punk Vs Jay Reso ( * * * * )
Both of Punk’s title belts were on the line in this one and for the first time in the evening, the crowd were REALLY alive for this one. The IWF has built Punk up superbly well and Reso has used his time on top to really step up his game and he has become a fantastic all-rounder. The two had a scintillating back and forth encounter which was even more enthralling given the average combat that had preceded it all evening. Simply put this was the evening that marked a real coming of age for Punk; he went toe-to-toe with Reso and had the fans in his pocket throughout. In the end he wrapped it up with a Pepsi-Plunge for the very welcomed 1-2-3. The men then got a standing ovation.

Before the next match, the police officers were attempting to get a swab from Elijah Burke, but he said it was disgraceful that he had been targeted so close to his match. When the police officers would not relent, Burke spat on the floor and said “swab that.”

7) Matthew Mercy Vs Elijah Burke ( * * * ¾ )
Well the fans stayed pumped for this one as well, seeing as it did the first appearance by Mercy in the IWF since MuscleMania. Some may have feared that Mercy was coming back to squash the upwardly mobile Elijah Burke and keep him in his place. Well they need have feared not as Mercy treated Burke as an equal throughout, which did both men the world of good. Indeed the atmosphere was electric as the two assembled their very entertaining match and it was off the charts in the closing stages. It looked as if Mercy was going to wrap up the win, but a ref-bump brought in Mercy’s MuscleMania conqueror Finlay who absolutely smashed Mercy with a Steel Chair. Burke went for the cover but Mercy managed to kick out, much to the delight of the crowd. But, to the shock of almost everyone, Burke rallied, hit the Elijah Experience and got the pinfall victory, 1-2-3. The biggest win of Burke’s career by a long, long distance this was also a wonderfully exciting match. Kudos to all concerned.

8) Matt Morgan Vs Triple H ( * * )
How could this match follow the previous two? Well it couldn’t, but such is the necessary scheme of things from time to time. Morgan’s face turn and title reign has done nothing for him, we have to be honest here, and it was obvious to most onlookers that HHH was regaining the gold tonight so there was little drama to be held. Basically Morgan controlled the early going, Triple H bored everyone half to death in the middle potion before Morgan mounted his big comeback only to be cut short and finished off with the Pedigree, which saw HHH regain the World Title. Most fans seemed pleased, if only because it meant that Morgan was no longer the champion. At least the top-line business can only improve from hereon in hey?

PRIME TIME

PRIME TIME

Sunday 1st July 2007

Wakefield Arts & Leisure Centre

Matt Morgan & CM Punk Vs Triple H & Jay Reso

WORLD TAG TEAM TITLES:

Elijah Burke & Chris Jericho Vs America's Most Wanted

WORLD CRUISERWEIGHT TITLE:

Milano Collection AT Vs Rick Shaw

Randy Orton Vs Brian Kendrick

John Cena Vs Edge

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1) Burke & Jericho Vs AMW ( * * * 1/2 ) - We started off with this cracker, put on if only for the fact that AMW are perhaps the only regular team in the IWF who deserve a shot at the champs. Such was Burke & Jericho's proficiency as heels, the fans were firmly behind AMW, but it was all for nought. Some nefarious chicanery from Jericho enabled Burke to waffle James Storm to get the win for his team.

2) Cena Vs Edge ( * * ) - Why? Come on; why? I suppose it is nice to see that John Cena is still alive but other than that, why? No-one, and we mean no-one, cared about this. The match wasn't bad, but there was just no atmosphere at all. Cena got the spotlessly clean pinfall victory after an F-U.

3) Orton Vs Kendrick ( * * 1/4 ) - Having suffered a loss to Kendrick's buddy Lance Hoyt on a recent Warfare, Orton was all out for revenge here and he absolutely creamed Brian Kendrick in what was pretty much a one-sided affair. Give Kendrick credit though, he bumped like a bitch for Orton and the end result was entertaining. Orton won with the RKO.

4) Collection AT Vs Shaw ( * * * ) - Too short for these two to really go at it, this was a fast paced spot fest which saw them pretty much go straight for the high-flying moves. In the end Collection kept his winning streak, and title run, alive by pinning Shaw.

5) Morgan & Punk Vs HHH & Reso ( * * * 1/4) - Main event time, and a decent one too, with the crowd really into it. This was pretty much your old school style tag match, with HHH & Reso teaming up on Punk before Morgan made the hot tag. Didn't do him any good mind you as HHH managed to finish Morgan off with The Pedigree for the 1-2-3.

It's difficult to do a lot with 90 minutes in a late night time spot (the show kicked off on Channel 5 at 10:30pm) but this was an entertaining show with much to reccommend . Good work boys.