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Pro-Wrestling RAGE Week #5

xsouporheroxPosted on 04/21/04 at 22:47:22

-At the beginning of the show, Nunzio and the FBI came to the ring and called out the tag team champions. Only Matt Stryker came out however, informing the FBI that his partner, Frankie Kazarian was in a match later tonight to qualify for the Heavyweight Title tournament being held in three weeks. He then said however, that he was ready and willing to tear them both apart by himself!

Handicap-Match
Chuck Palumbo and Johnny Stamboli defeated Matt Stryker when Stamboli pinned
Stryker with the Fuhgetaboutit in 0:10:50.
Rating: **
[Nunzio interfered against Matt Stryker.]
 
Comments
The FBI called out the tag champs, but Kazarian already has a qualifier match tonight for the Heavyweight title tournament. Still Matt Stryker came out and faced both members of the FBI in a handicap match. For the second week in a row, one half of the tag champs managed to put up a great fight against two men but fell just short. The FBI appears to be itching for a tag title shot however, a shot they will be receiving next week.
 

Chris Harris pinned Johnny Kashmere with the Catatonic in 0:16:49.
Rating: *** 1/2
 
Comments
Really impressive match here from these two. Harris finally picks up a win here for the AMW after a great back and forth match pitting Harris' old school mentality against Kashmere's high-impact aerial assault. In the end though, a bloody Chris Harris kicked out of Kashmere's Cradlebreaker and hit the Catatonic to pick up a much needed win.
 
[Qualifier Match]: Four Corners Match
Mike Awesome defeated Christopher Daniels, James Storm and Red when Awesome
pinned Red with the Awesome Bomb in 0:17:03.
Rating: *** 1/2
[Father Jim Mitchell interfered against Red.]
 
Comments
For most of the match, Daniels was isolated and focused on by all three opponents. While Red, Storm, and Awesome did get their licks in on one another, their focus was definately Daniels. Yet somehow Daniels refused to die and kept fighting through. After making the tag to Red, Daniels took a breather while Awesome nailed the Awesome Bomb and qualified for the title tournament. Daniels was livid after the match and laid out Awesome with the Last Rites.

[Qualifier Match]: Four Corners Match
Altar Boy Luke defeated AJ Styles, Dean Malenko and Elix Skipper when Luke
pinned D. Malenko with the Holy Driver in 0:29:05.
Dean Malenko suffered a neck injury. He will be out for approximately 2 cards.
Rating: **** 1/4
 
Comments
Wow. All four of these guys gave it their all right up to the twenty minute time limit when the referee took it upon himself to continue the match. There were certainly no friends in this one as all four men tried their absolute best to beat one another. As all four men wanted to win, there were lots of saves involved. Early in the match Malenko put Skipper in the Cloverleaf but SKipper fought out of it after nearly a minute and made the tag to Styles. Skipper wouldn't re-enter the match for nearly ten minutes. Malenko managed to use the Texas Cloverleaf on all three opponents, but saves were made each time. In turn Skipper used the Play of the Day on both Malenko and Styles but the pins were broken up by Styles and Luke respectively. Even at the end, it took two Holy Drivers from Altar Boy Luke to put away Dean Malenko, the second one damaging the veteran's neck in a scary spot. Unlike the previous match, Luke wasn't attacked as he heads to the Heavyweight title tournament in three weeks but Styles shook his hand and raised his arm in victory.
 
[Qualifier Match]: Four Corners Match
Frankie Kazarian defeated Joey Matthews, Christopher Daniels and Trent Acid
when Kazarian pinned Daniels with the Wave of the Future in 0:13:35.
Rating: **** 1/4
(Mafia no-showed.)
 
Comments
Another great match following the last one. Mafia had some travel problems, but the championship committee was so impressed with Daniels efforts in the earlier match tonight that they gave him a second shot at qualifying for the tournament. In the early going of the match, it seemed that Matthews and Acid were going to double team Kazarian, but after Kazarian tagged in Matthews once, Acid went right into the 'singles star' of RAGE, earning himself his first cheers in five weeks here in PW-RAGE. Things settled from there as all four men worked hard to pick up the win. After a long exchange between Daniels and Acid, Acid tagged in Kazarian who mopped up Daniels and secured a spot in the tournament along with Altar Boy Luke and Mike Awesome. Daniels went after Kazarian like he had done to Awesome earlier, but Kazarian's rical Trent Acid cut Daniels off with a Yakuza kick! Kazarian and Acid stared each other down and then slowly shook hands to the delight of the fans.

-Before the main event, Jimmy Rave came down to the ring by himself. He confirmed the rumors going around that after an altercation backstage last week, Samoa Joe had been let go by PW-RAGE. This brought out CM Punk and Steve Corino who bragged about running Joe out of RAGE and said they'd do the same thing to Jimmy Rave. "The Original X-T-C" wasn't buying it though, and said despite Joe being a coward, he was still standing and there was nothing Punk or Corino could do about it. Punk seemed about to say something, but Rave interrupted him by saying that he wasn't standing alone though. He'd gone out and found a _NEW_ ally, one that CM Punk new very well and one that would keep Corino from getting involved in the match tonight...CHRIS HERO! Hero came out of the crowd and joined Rave in the ring. Punk and Corino stormed the ring but senior referee James Lamanaki got things under control and made both Corino and Hero go to the back.
 

CM Punk pinned Jimmy Rave with the Pepsi Plunge in 0:13:38.
Rating: **** 1/4
 
Comments
What a main event between these two. Punk controlled most of the match until Rave locked in a Fujiwara Armbar for a full minute before Punk could reach the ropes. Rave kept working over Punk's shoulder, using strikes and suplexes and submission holds to wear it down. At the same time Punk focused on Rave's neck, setting him up for the eventual Pepsi Plunge that'd earn him the victory, just like last week. James Lamanki got knocked down for a portion of the match, which saw the introduction of several chairs to the bout. Because of this, these two have been booked again for next week's main event in a chairshot deathmatch!
rgarrardPosted on 04/22/04 at 02:20:58

guys quitting, guys getting hurt... and guys switching sides and its only week 5!  :)

Gotta love that rematch in the main with chairshots-a-mania on the next card!
xsouporheroxPosted on 04/22/04 at 02:44:22

Yeah, Joe quitting made things rough, he was one of my top three babyfaces, but oh well.

And Acid isn't exactly switching sides just yet, just a little respect between he and Kazarian.;)