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DWF 17/09/07

91Posted on 02/12/05 at 00:49:01

Card Information:
Held in: GREENVILLE COLISEUM
Location: SOUTH CAROLINA, UNITED STATES
Date/Time: 17/09/07 at 8:00pm
Matches/Interviews booked: 9
Arena Capacity: 10000
Attendance: 6408
Ticket Buy Rate: 64.08%
TV ratings: 3.3%
Approximently Viewers: 9900000

Doug Furnas & Phil Lafon (Doug Furnas and Phil Lafon) defeated
The Rock'n'Roll Express (Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson) when Furnas pinned
R. Gibson after a German suplex in 0:12:39.
Rating: **** 1/4

Doug Furnas and Phil LaFon are understandably unhappy right now. After losing
the tag team titles due to an injury suffered to Furnas on the night they won
the belts, they had gotten their rematch two weeks ago and after a tight
encounter, had fallen in defeat. They made their feelings vocal before the
match, complaining that they deserve another crack under the circumstances and
were doubly upset at not even being featured in last weeks show. A little bit
of revenge was on their minds as they took on the team that lost the belts to
them in the first place and injrued Furnas in the process, the Rock'n'Roll
Express. In no mood for Morton and Gibsons crowd pleasing style, they wasted
no time in picking them apart bit by bit, winning in quite the dominant
display. No flash, no glamour, no need - Furnas and LaFon are back and are
intent on proving a point.

Edge defeated Steve Corino by disqualification in 0:07:12.
Rating: ** 3/4
(Steve Corino retained the Television Title.)

On the subjects of casts, Steve Corino did have a title defense as was
hinted, having to square off against a very motivated Edge. So much so that
Edge was on top for large portions and seemingly was on his way to taking it
after Corino had missed a last ditch Old School Expulsion attempt. Edge lined
up for one of his spears and a desperate Corino countered by clocking him in
the head with his cast, drawing an instant DQ and plenty of heat for his
blatant cheating. Two things to note here - first of all, Matt Hardy warned
Corino last week not to use his cast in this defense and he did, lining himself
up for some sort of punishment. Corino better hope it's nothing more than a
fine because knowing Matt Hardy, he'll come up with something obscure. Second
off, while the injury to Corinos arm is certainly legitimate, it can't be far
off healing now.

Rene Dupree pinned Tajiri after hitting him with a foreign object in 0:02:03.
Rating: ***

La Resistance, try and try as they might, can't win any friends. Rene Dupree
was in singles action today against Tajiri and tried to appease the American
audience by singing the USA's praises by pointing out how much better their
country was than Japan... despite higher crime rates, more poverty, shoddier
technology and more problems with obesity, but those things apparently didn't
matter and the U.S.A. was number one. Forget it, the crowd was quickly turned
against Dupree and Grenier, and by now Tajiri, accompanied by partner Hayabusa,
were a little pissed as well. Tajiri was slightly stronger for much of the
match, using his speed and stiff kicks to knock several lumps out of Dupree,
but the sneaky Grenier had other ideas, goading Hayabusa into a chase around
ringside, distracting the ref and allowing Dupree to nail Tajiri with the
French flag before picking up a victory. Grenier got kicked in the face for
his troubles, but the win was theirs.

No-Countout-No-DQ-Ladder Match:
The Syndicate (Lance Storm and Ken Shamrock) defeated
Pretty Perfect (Owen Hart and Curt Hennig) in 0:11:06.
Rating: *** 3/4
(The Syndicate retained the Intercontinental Tag Team Titles.)

Pretty Perfect were given a second chance by Matt Hardy at claiming the
Intercontinental Tag Team Titles, but this would also be their last chance
before The Syndicate moved towards a champions versus champions match in two
weeks time against Psychoanalysis. Pretty Perfect did manage a few contract
wranglings to make this match tonight a ladder match, and turned what is often
a type of match of spotfest proportions into quite a nice exhibition of
psychology as they methodically and carefully worked The Syndicate down, with
the ladder more being an object that participants were trying to get the
opportunity to climb, rather than as a weapon. That said, it did come down to
just that, inevitably, as the match wore on with the challengers looking
desperately to put them away, and it probably cost them. First Owen Harts
attempted monkey flip on Ken Shamrock onto the ladder was blocked and Owen
was unceremoniously thrown onto it, putting him out. Curt Hennig then tried a
Perfect Plex on Lance Storm, only to be backdropped onto the same ladder. Try
as they might, The Syndicate were too on their game tonight and quickly, they
climbed the ladder to success, and the titles.

So now they've retained the gold, the next challenge for Lance Storm and Ken
Shamrock is the champions versus champions match match in two weeks, which
Matt Hardy will have signed up officially next week. The Intercontinental Tag
Team Titles won't be on the line, but they will be vacated should The Syndicate
defeat Psychoanalysis for the World Tag Titles. Word has it that a tournament
would be set up under these circumstances and word also has it that Matt Hardy
has something extra planned for this match, no doubt in an attempt to upstage
the Syndicate/Psychoanalysis match that Jody Fleisch had on his show.

Chris Jericho pinned Pete Gas after an Asai moonsault in 0:02:12.
Rating: ** 1/2

The Intercontinental Title match at Retribution is fast approaching and Brad
Armstrong will no doubt have his hands full with the former world champion
Chris Jericho. Of course, "The Rocks" efforts to wear out Jericho before the
big event took a nosedive last week when Armstrongs hired opponent for Jericho,
Rodney, fell with a bit of a whimper. This week "The Rock guaren-damn-teed" he
was onto a winner and called out Jericho. Jericho came out more out of
amusement than anything and stood in the ring waiting for Armstrong, stood by
the announce table, to hit him with another surprise. This time Armstrong had
a man who had told him earlier than he was the most evil, demonic, diabolical
and satanic wrestler ever, and out came... Pete Gas. Oh dear. Jericho couldn't
hide his smirk at that one and put away Gas in little time whatsoever, before
leaving, pointing smugly at Armstrong and motioning that he would be soon
wearing the gold. Armstrong meanwhile was not happy and demanded an explanation
out of Gas. When he was met with some more gibberish along the lines of "I, the
great and evil Pete Gas, who strikes fear into the heart of all mankind, blah
blah blah", Armstrong knew where the problem lay - when Gas had told him he was
the most evil and demonic wrestler ever, "The Rock thought he was talking to
Mordecai for Christs sake". Gas was now the one not happy and took a swing at
the champion. Bad move. Armstrong countered with a quick Rock Bottom and to the
surprising delight of the crowd, delivered a Peoples Elbow for good measure.

Brian Pillman pinned Jody Fleisch with the DDT in 0:04:32.
Rating: *** 1/2

Matt Hardys aim to make Jody Fleischs time in the DWF hard is certainly working
as he handed Brian Pillman the chance to exact a little payback for losing the
chance to wrestle for the title at Retribution. Pillman took gleeful joy in
ripping Fleisch apart and scoring an easy win as Fleisch look far more jaded
and still a little bruised from the beating Don Muraco gave him. Pillman is
not a man to show compassion, at least these days, and is going to give Billy
Kidman one hell of a match at Retribution. But if this was already awkward
for Fleisch, Matt Hardy confronted a hurt Fleisch backstage and told him he
would be the special guest referee for the Pillman/Kidman match, and if he
didn't call it right down the middle, he'd be fired. Fleisch had nothing to
say, but the scowl he threw afterwards spoke volumes.

As for Kidman, he was spending all his time with the doctors begging for them
to put a cast on his arm - the attack from Brian Pillman last week evidently
did little more than jar his arm for a short while, but Kidman wants the same
sort of advantage that his partner Steve Corino receives. The doctors remained
adamant that his arm was just fine, leaving Kidman to angrily note that he
can beat Pillman with or without a cast (hmmmm...), before creeping out of
the first aid room nervously making sure nobody, specifically Pillman, was
around.

Rob Van Dam and Sean O'Haire defeated Larry Zbyszko and Kurt Angle when O'Haire
pinned Angle with the Seanton Bomb in 0:10:02.
Rating: *** 3/4

Sean O'Haire, like his fellow tag team champion Brian Pillman, has very much
developed a seperate rivalry. He and Rob Van Dam are very much out for revenge
on Kurt Angle after the events of Ultimate Annihlation. Angle needed a tag team
partner for today and managed to persuade Jonathon Coachman to get his protege
into the match by using some sort of mind trickery, telling Coach that he
wouldn't be a real American until Larry Zbyszko was his tag team partner for
the night. Angle chose wisely as Larry did a great job, and has a victory of
course over Rob Van Dam. It was a rematch of the clash we saw in the United
Kingdom that dominated this one, with Larry holding advantage until the hot
tags brought O'Haire and Angle in. Angle should have done better really but
O'Haire is another man on fire and tore into Angle in dominating fashion. RVD
had already taken a few lumps out of Zbyszko just before the tags and was able
to hold him at bay and allow O'Haire to powerslam the wind out of Angle and
finish him with the Seanton Bomb.

If that was exasperating for Angle, the fact he's stuck in the upcoming match
at Retribution with Rob Van Dam is also eating him up. A dissapointing night
for him tonight, but his frustration at seeing RVD happily dance away after
the match, already enjoying a post-match smoke, can't have helped, and the
bitterness on his face told it all.

Don Muraco pinned Rey Mysterio with the Tombstone in 0:02:51.
Rating: ***

For anyone else, an opponent like Rey Mysterio would be a major challenge. For
anyone else, Rey Mysterio would have given them a hard time. Right now though,
not even he could put a dent into Don Muracos supremacy. Bar a couple of
dropkicks that just barely staggered Muraco midway through a three minute
demolition, he had nothing to show for it and quickly, he was dropped on his
head and pinned. Muraco is on a seemingly non-stop roll and Jerry Lynn is
going to have his work cut out for him. Lynn though wasn't going to sit back
and let Muraco eat up the spotlight and came out down the aisle, title in tow,
with a sick loking grin on his face. Muraco could have left it at a staredown
but with the roll he was on, he fancied some of Lynn right now and went down
to meet him. The two went nose to nose and began circling each other - that
was clearly insinuated by Lynn as a few seconds later and with Muraco now
facing the ring, Raven sprinted out with a steel chair and levelled him across
the back. Muraco was very much staggered now and dropped to one knee. Raven
signalled that he was going to hit Muraco again until Lynn whispered to him
and the pair backed off. Muraco was fuming and Jeff Hardy was quick to make
sure he didn't go after them, but the smiles on the faces of Lynn and Raven
suggested their tactic to ensure Lynn comes out of this one with the gold is
to get into the head of Muraco and it may just be working.

Card rating: *** 1/4

Alex Wright continues to stir up more controversy, and not for the better. On
the Kings Court today, he guested and made light of last weeks flag burning,
with Wright saying there was only one flag he saluted. Wright said that what he
planned to do to Dynamite Kid was one thing, what he planned to do to the
reputations of the United States AND the United Kingdom. He then got bodyguard
Ulf Hermann to produce another British flag and lighter, the flag smelling
strongly of some sort of petrol like substance. Hinting that he was going to
set it alight, Dynamite Kid, in street clothes, ran out with a steel chair to
try to stop anything, clearly still a little banged up following Clash of the
Champions. Ulf stepped in, arms folded, and blocked Dynamites progresss, though
that didn't stop the British superstar from threatening to strike him first.
Wright with a laugh ordered Ulf back, and dropped the flag before the two left.
Dynamite was clearly very riled up, and Wright is going to have to be careful
how far he pushes him between now and Retribution.

Finally Hunter Hearst-Helmsley was at ringside again with another "escort" at
his side. Interviewed between matches, Helmsley stated he was sick and tired
of La Parka and his antics and challenged him to a match at Retribution.
Uncharacteristically straight to the point for Helmsley in making his
challenge, but perhaps he's got something up his sleeve yet...
Snabbit888Posted on 02/12/05 at 01:51:06

Good win for Furnas/LaFon.  Good to see they're not completely falling off the face of the earth after being stripped of the titles.

Wow... Corino had to use the cast to keep his title.  Is he losing his edge? *rimshot*

The build for La Resistance has been very good.  The only thing I don't like about them is that you seem to have a lot of anti-<insert country here> gimmicks right now, but doesn't take away from them too much.

Wow... Syndicate beats Pretty Perfect, clean no less.  Didn't see that coming (well, saw them winning, but so clean surprised me).  Syndicate to take the titles at Retribution, methinks.

Pete Gas is pure evil.  How Jericho got through that Freight Train of Fear is beyond me.  Glad to see The Rock show Gas that it's not wise to fail him.

Pillman continues his hot streak and Fleisch continues his getting his ass whooped streak.  Good stuff with Kidman trying to get a cast put on too.

Angle takes a fall to O'Haire... ouch.  Not that I don't thoroughly enjoy O'Haire, but it seems like way too crippling a blow going into a match with RVD at the PPV.

Weak main event... well, it did it's purpose of building toward Lynn/Murao, but a squash main event hurts, IMO.  Lynn/Muraco will be VERY good though.
91Posted on 02/12/05 at 03:19:31

I was originally going to go with the IC tag title match as the nights main event but I just felt like ending the show with the Lynn/Muraco build. Admitedly, it would have helped the guys in the tag match more but the job was done in a sense - actually the Syndicates clean win was essentially to put them over strong for the tag title match (night after Retribution by the way, and there may be a little hanky-panky with it yet...). Oh well, retrospect and everything...

Actually, I was more annoyed that, after I'd mapped out the card, I had three squash matches, way more than I would normally (and Dupree/Tajiri was supposed to run a bit closer to five or six minutes - that'll teach me to press the right button, right guy won though). By this time though, it was all really set in stone - most of the squashes involved in the build to the PPV just happened to converge at the same show. Irritating but never mind, there's always next week.

With the anti-country stuff... what, we're looking at La Resistance, Alex Wright and Kurt Angle essentially. That had occured to me before actually but I like where they're all at, particularly with Angle and Resistance having different spins on them. That said, see where you're coming from, the planned Iron Sheik debut may not go down after all. ;) If nothing else, I could cite the WWE having La Resistance, Rene Dupree and Mohammed Hassan, though how they really care is another matter entirely. And hey, it may be cheap, but it's always a REALLY easy way to make a heel.
VertigoPosted on 02/12/05 at 04:56:31

I mark for any fed that has Don Muraco as a main eventer. He's my champion in a federation I run consisting of only the OLD rubber LJN wrestlers from the 80's that I own. I use pictures of the figures with the Visualizer as well.

I'm new to this fed - is Matt Hardy commish?
Snabbit888Posted on 02/12/05 at 04:58:24

I will step in for 91 and tell you that yes, Matt Hardy is the commish.  Predominantly a heel commish.