Super Series Report

Ladies and gentlemen, this was a strange one indeed. You look at the list of 32 names for the tournament and you had a list that looked very lob sided towards mid-card talent, but those fears dissipated with what was, for the most part, an entertaining evening of action, even if it was rarely out of this world in terms of in ring action. As a point, the first four matches were drawn out at the start of the show, the second four matches were drawn out just before the European Tag Team Title match. Which was an interesting way of doing things in its own right.

Mohammed Fakjir & Randy Orton Vs Rick Shaw & Brian Kendrick ( * * )
Whilst, like the majority of the Invitational Matches, this never really got going, it was an exciting enough 7 minute match, only harmed by the fact that few believed that Shaw & Kendrick had any real chance of winning and advancing to the Battle Bowl final. Fakjir’s head of security Justice Porter outlined to Orton prior to the match that he better not try any funny stuff and that was more than enough to keep him on the straight and narrow and it was his RKO on Shaw that won his team the match.
CM Punk & Chris Harris Vs Edge & Chris Jericho ( * * * )
This was actually a very good match. Punk was the lone good guy in the match and as befits his newfound superstar status (yes, we consider him a genuine headliner in waiting now) he was mega over with the crowd. The highlights of the match were the clashes between him and Jericho, although it must be said that Harris and Edge brought their game with them as well. In the end Punk finished off Edge with the Go2Sleep for the well received win.
Umaga & Barabus Lashley Vs Matt Morgan & Mistico ( * * ¼ )
When this match was drawn out we would imagine the look on Mistico’s face (if we could have seen it under his face) would not have been one of joy and there was a funny moment when backstage interviewer Leticia Cline tried to grab a word with the non-English speaking Mistico before the match. He jabbered on in Mexican and then Cline told us she’d took a Spanish course at college and that Mistico had basically said “In case I don’t make it out of this match alive, Mom I love you. And I’d like to tell my brother that my porn is stashed under my bed.” We think she made that up. In the ring, Mistico put on a spirited display and at first it did look like Morgan was very protective of his Cruiserweight partner, but as is Morgan’s want these days, he seemed to lose interest in that and by the end of the match was content to see Umaga destroy Mistico on the way to his team winning. Morgan did pause momentarily before leaving, but decided not to show any sympathy to his fallen comrade.
Triple H & Matthew Mercy Vs Joey Mercury & MYSTERY #1 ( * * * ¼ )
This was the match of the night in terms of the Invitational tag team encounters, and a lot of that was down to the first mystery partner of the evening. Mercury looked crestfallen when the match was drawn out at the beginning of the evening and even though he held out hopes that Mercy & HHH might not be able to co-exist, he was looking at a long night. Especially when he seemingly didn’t know whom his partner was. But he was thrown a lifeline when his partner was revealed to be…his former MNM partner, Johnny Nitro! So what transpired was a great little match, and one with which you could almost imagine MNM causing a huge upset. It wasn’t to be, but the match did elevate them to a great extent. The end came when it looked as if Triple H was considering attacking Mercy, who was setting up the Mercy-Bomb on Mercury, but Nitro got involved, tasted The Pedigree for his troubles as Mercy pinned Mercury. After the match though, HHH went to shake hands with Mercy but then booted him in the midsection and hit a Pedigree, much to the disgust of the crowd.
Flavio Love & Loco Delgado Vs Harry Smith & Teddy Hart (Bang Gang/Hart Foundation Handcuffed, * * ¾ )
Basically, the Gang Bang and the Hart Foundation have been banging heads ever since the Hart’s joined the IWF back in May. And it shows no signs of abating after this entertaining, but slightly sloppy, tag match. You also knew that the old chestnut of the “handcuffing the protagonists together at ringside to stop them interfering” malarkey would end up being exactly the opposite. Suffice to say, there was a melee, and in amongst it all, Flavio Love pinned Teddy Hart to retain the European titles for his team.
Elijah Burke & James Storm Vs Trevor Murdoch & Dr Lewington ( * ¾ )
This was preceded by a humorous skit involving the teams of Murdoch & Cade and Lewington & Burchill, where Murdoch & Cade were trying to convince the other two that as the two had been drawn together in two separate matches (talk about luck of the draw huh?) they should work together. Of course Lewington & Burchill were wary to say the least but it seemed as if Murdoch and Cade (who, it should be pointed out are already losing the “hired kidnappers” part of their gimmick) were telling the truth and wanted to work for the greater good. It didn’t do them much good as Lewington was finished off here with the Elijah Express. After the result however, Murdoch went over to Lewington…and helped him up and commiserated him on his losing effort. Strange.
Milano Collection AT & Lance Hoyt Vs Paul Wardle & John Cena ( * ½ )
Way to profile your Cruiserweight Champion huh? What he was doing in this match we don’t know. At least he didn’t get pinned as that “honour” went to Lance Hoyt who was pinned by John “I’m Still Getting A Push” Cena following an F-U. Which admittedly, was impressive.
Finlay & MYSTERY #2 Vs Rhino & Shelton Benjamin ( * * )
Who was going to be the second mystery man of the evening? Well Finlay said he didn’t care, and Rhino and Shelton Benjamin were too concerned with arguing with each other to care either. The fans cared though. At least they did when it was revealed to be…JAZZ HANDS GEE! Yes, it seems as if the Coma that Gee has recently been in has turned him into a Jazz man, and we have to say that the new theme music, Christina Aguilera’s Candyman reworked to be “Jazz Hands Gee” (sample lyric “He's a one stop shop, makes my cherry pop, He's a sweet talkin' sugar coated Jazz Hands Gee”) is absolutely amazing. Finlay didn’t know quite what to make of it, but Hornswoggle seemed to enjoy it and the odd couple totally overwhlemed their opponents and Gee finished off Rhino with the, wait for it, Jazz Hands Knee. Don’t ask.
Jay Reso & Matt Sydal Vs Sherlock Burchill & Lance Cade ( * * ¼ )
They tried to keep some interest in this match with the Burchill/Cade (Lewington/Murdoch) storyline but it pretty much failed. That said it was a decent enough match and even though you could see the ending (Cade costing Burchill the match) coming a mile off, it was still an entertaining diversion, and gave most fans what they wanted to see (Reso may have be a heel, but the fans wanted him to win this one given the competition).
Alexis Laree Vs Rebecca Knox (Steel Cage, * * * ¼ )
They’ve had a long and winding feud, which has actually kept the fans entertained throughout, and this match, refereed by Shantelle Taylor, was promoted as the feud ender. The two women put on one hell of a display and this qualifies as one of the most brutal women’s matches we’ve seen in the IWF’s history. It was pinfall wins, rather than climbing out of the cage, and after numerous
Battle Bowl Finale ( * * * ¾ )
PARTICIPANTS: Mohammed Fakjir, Randy Orton, CM Punk, Chris Harris, Umaga, Barabus Lashley, Triple H, Matthew Mercy, Elijah Burke, James Storm, Paul Wardle, John Cena, Finlay, Jazz Hands Gee, Jay Reso, Matt Sydal
Order of Elimination
I) Barabus Lashley (Matthew Mercy)
II) Matt Sydal (Jazz Hands Gee)
III) Umaga (James Storm & Chris Harris)
IV) Paul Wardle (Jay Reso)
V) Jazz Hands Gee (Finlay)
VI) Chris Harris (James Storm)
VII) James Storm (Chris Harris)
VIII) John Cena (CM Punk)
IX) Jay Reso (Randy Orton)
X) Mohammed Fakjir (Triple H)
XI) Randy Orton (Matthew Mercy)
XII) Finlay (Matthew Mercy)
XIII) Elijah Burke (CM Punk)
XIV) Matthew Mercy (Triple H)
XV) Triple H (CM Punk)
WINNER = CM PUNK
The best moments of the match where the tussle between America’s Most Wanted (they shook hands after eliminating each other mind you), the hilarious exchanges between Finlay and Gee, and the piping hot closing section involving the last 4, Burke, Mercy, HHH and Punk. The fans went wild when Punk won and at the end of the show, Burke & HHH attempted to bosh Punk but Mercy made the save. The fans went absolutely mental, although Punk and Mercy didn’t exactly seem to trust each other.