RD: I meet up with Pete at about 6:45pm despite the fact I was planning on getting in earlier. Stupid traffic. He informs me that Jac had announced that they were supposed to do a "Showcase" type deal like ROH has been doing and like they did a half hour before the last ICW show. I'm all for something like this and actually think this is something Goodman should do on USA Pro. I mean, if you're determined to do a 5 to 6 hour show, which seems to be the only thing USA seems to want to do, at least give me the option of not having to sit through matches with really green rookies and ticket sellers. Not a knock on guys, because if you're a wrestler, you should have matches, and hell, I've paid to see shows that only had students and rookies on them. But if I'm paying $20 to see guys like Homicide or Ki, I'm waiting 5 hours to do so and I'm usually burnt by the time they get out there. At any rate, Pete tells me the showcase is supposed to start at 6:30 and from the Wendy's we can see a ton of people still waiting outside, so it's pretty safe to say, we don't have to rush on down. When we do show up, we find out that there are problems setting up the ring. We later find out that the "problems" are that the ring showed up, but some parts were missing, I think it was just bolts, but wood might have been missing too. They didn't have a ring apron either. Outside, the place is littered with KFC's answer to the barriers being put up on the Boulevard of Death to prevent people from being run down: the ½ Gallon of soda. Now if only Atlas would let us in with them. We get in the building finally around 7:40 or so and get our usual balcony seats. We end up talking to Chris the Stinger who sits with us. We notice Ken Scampi and Tara Charisma and some other unidentified students doing all the work putting out the mats and tightening the ropes. We also notice that the ?WA ring looks really huge. Mikey needs to get them tracksuits with "K. Scampi" and "T. Charisma", etc on them. Despite the SNAFU with the ring, things get off at almost exactly 8pm which all things considering is pretty good. Stephen DeAngelis announces before we get away the Amazing Red has aggravated an injury from Japan and won't be wrestling tonight. A little bit later, they announce that Jerry Lynn is still in the air and his flight is delayed.

PP: Before the show I make an attempt to swing by the Compleat Strategist store on 33rd Street as Jac has apparently set them up as a ticket outlet. Mad phat props (yo) to Jac's efforts to reform himself with moves like this, and it's not his fault I screw up at the subway by accidentally wasting my Metrocard as I try to go in. Having done that, I settle for killing time at the Donnell Library on 53rd St. before heading out to Queens in the MTA's only non-air-conditioned subway car. Mmmm, steamy. I get to Wendy's at 6pm and read the Homestead Grays book I got at the liberry until Ray shows up 45 minutes later. The half-gallon KFC soda is a marvel of fast-food engineering as it literally comes with a handle like it's a sand bucket or something. I was looking for the tiny shovel that came with it. Lack of bolts for the ring means they have to cancel the Showcase, which I'm fine and dandy with in any case. We get to our usual spot and note the gigantic QWA ring (complete with WCW Pro logo knockoff on the mat- still more than you get with most indies). Harry Slash is wandering around before the show starts and my heart soars as the original U/ICW didn't start having problems until after he left the group.

MATCH 1: DEVON MOORE/DRU BLOOD vs. LOS BORIQUAS (Warpath & Johnny Blaze)
RD: Moore and Blood were on the last ICW show in a 3 way and looked pretty good, though Moore did most of the work in that one. Los Boriquas were kind of a heavier team and had the full matching Puerto Rico flag designs. This was OK, but kind of eh. Boriquas had some ok double teams, nothing really flashy, but solid. This seemed shaky in parts with a lot of Dru. He did tag more he did a little bit, but tagged out again pretty quick so maybe he was hurt. At any rate, Los Boriquas were setting up for the finish hitting a pair of top rope splashes, but I think Moore made the save. The finish was sort of out of nowhere with Dru setting up one of los Boriquas in that weird piledriver type move EZ Money used to do (I think it was called the Ka-Ching). Moore ended up doing a springboard drop kick, I think to the other guy's face while he was upside down, but it was tough to tell because Dru's back was to us.

PP: Basic but fun little opener as the Boricuas were rock-solid and accessorized quite nicely, what with the Puerto Rico jerseys and PR flag boots. Moore and Blood were there to bump and really nothing else as the Boricuas were quite the World's Greatest Indy Three-Minute Warning for the balance of this... in any other part of the country they'd be the babyfaces but hey, this is Queens and Puerto Ricans will never get heel heat here unless they really ask for it. Anyway, Blood has good heel charisma and Moore has the tights that say "No, I am NOT Rorshach from Chikara." Finish looked good as Blood hits the EZ Money "Money in The Bank" finisher (I don't think that was the Ka-Ching) while Moore does the dropkick.

MATCH 2: (THIS IS) STRIKER vs. "HOT STUFF" EDDIE GUAPO
RD: Guapo didn't use the Magnum Tokyo music this time out. Striker didn't use his first name this time out though he had his "MS" tights on. They started out trying to do fast arm drags and stuff and it seemed like things weren't clicking, so there was some ugly looking spots at the start, but they did the smart thing and slowed down, and then things were on track. They did some nice mat stuff and back and forth stuff. Striker tried to do his fall back double knee to the back move on Guapo off the second ropes, but it sort of looked like Guapo missed his knees and took it like a powerbomb like falling bump. Guapo ended up kicking out of the Overdrive at one point, but Striker ended up putting him away with an odd submission. He had Guapo sitting, Striker sat on his upper back/neck facing away and bridge back, bending Guapo in half to get the submission. Post match, they shook hands setting up something for later.

PP: This got off the tracks early as they were blowing a bunch of stuff for some reason, but they recovered about halfway through and the rest of the match was fine. Guapo must be quite the Toryumon freak as he busted out the Sol Naciente near the finish.

MATCH 3: BOOGALOU w/ LowRyda vs. MONSTA MACK
RD: This started with both guys taking it to the mat and doing some reversals and amateur stuff. This was pretty good with Monsta taking a few suplex bumps from Lou and Monsta hitting some good stuff. However, this in the end just really ended up as angle fodder. Monsta had Lou set up for the Van Mackinator sans the chair. LowRyda knocks him off the top rope and then starts attacking him drawing a DQ. The Boogie Knights, resplendent in their Cobra Kai outfits run in to make the save.

PP: Cobra Kai outfits = #1 And The Best. And Lo-Ryda's outfit was way up there too (green/white/red pants with "LOS LUNATICS" down one leg... he looked like he should be joining the Italian Connection). This was fun while it lasted and I could've seen it going a lot longer. Monsta's really turned into the forgotten man around these parts as Mafia's basically lapped him, which is a shame.

MATCH 4: THE SOLUTION (Papadon & Havok) w/ Miss Michelle vs. THE DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELZ (EC Negro & KC Blade)
RD: The Solution are working heel in ICW. The DRS come out as faces and it's quite funny that they've gotten over so well as faces. This was a fun match and I think probably had the best heat of the night as the fans were in it and Negro did a good job of trying to get the crowd into the match to cheer for Blade as he was the face in peril. The Solution continued their streak of looking real solid in their stuff. They hit some nice double teams including their stunner/face eraser. Michelle ended up distracting Negro near the finish, but otherwise, this was pretty much a clean while by the Solution as they tossed Negro out of the ring and put away Blade with their version of the Problem Solver. Post match, Blade took a real crazy bump as Havok gave him a blockbuster suplex over the top to the floor. Negro answered this move by tossing a chair (not a folding one mind you) and ended up clocking Havok upside his head with it. Fun match, one of the best of the night. The Solution now advance to be in the Impact Cup which is the tag tournament Sabboth has been trying to put together since 2001.

PP: You really need a scorecard as the Solution work heel in ICW, face in USAPW while the DRS work face now in USAPW and ICW, heel in JCW and JAPW. Of course, Michelle is eminently hittable no matter where she works. =P~ This is a good old-school match with a ton of heat as DRS play RNR Express to the Solution's Russians. The Solution have gotten really good... I think they're the best big-man team in the area now that DHS have seemingly been broken up everywhere else. Michelle jumps onto the apron near the end; Negro intercepts her but this just allows the Solution to toss him out and go over clean on Negro with the Problem Solver. Negro's postmatch chair-heave onto Havok may have resulted in the biggest pop of the night as the crowd got hot again after temporarily dying after DRS lost the match (again, tons of DRS shirts in the crowd).

MATCH 5: JOHNNY OVA vs. DAN BARRY vs. AZRAEL vs. DANNY MAFF
RD: This started out as a straight 3 way with Ova, Azrael and Barry. The first part was fun with each guys hitting some nice spots on each other. There was a funny spot where Barry and Ova try to super kick each other and end up with their legs tangled and both of them hopping around on one leg. Azrael hit his electric chair driver on one guy, but the other made the same. There was a really crazy spot where Azrael had Barry set up on his shoulders like he was going for another electric chair driver, but Ova climbs up on the top rope and dives as Barry, who in turn catches him in mid air and suplexes him off for his Irish Car Bomb finisher move. At this point, Maff's music comes and all 3 guys stop what their doing. They announce it's now a 4 way. All 3 guys play afraid of facing move and shove someone to him. I was kind of disappointed in the decision to throw Maff out there as this wasn't a bad match and the crowd seemed into it. In the end they're going to try to get Maff over as a monster, but at the same time you've got Ova, Barry and Azrael eating it when they could have gotten themselves over with a good match like it seemed like they were doing. To his credit, Barry was funny playing the chicken shit begging off to Maff "PLEASE GOD DON'T HURT ME". He ended up eating hot death as he took a half nelson superplex and a Burning Hammer. I don't mind them pushing Maff, but I think this wasn't the guys I'd have him murderlize.

PP: The three-way portion of this was really good while it lasted as all three guys looked sharp, particularly Ova which kind of surprised me and Ray. Barry's Irish Car Bomb was the crazy-go-nuts spot of the night as he caught Ova and did a full moonsault off Azrael's shoulders into a powerslam on Ova. Then Maff came out and all of the wee fellers had to start bumping like pinballs for him. Maff rules the universe right now but this was NOT the way I would've used him... fuck, Samoa Joe was RIGHT THERE. Low-Ki was RIGHT THERE. No need to have to feed these guys to him after the match they were having. Monsta cracks me up as I see him waving "bye-bye" to Barry as Maff gets him up for the Burning Hammer.

RD: Up next was angle time as Jac Sabboth came to the ring. I think this is the point that they announced Jerry still hadn't landed, but they hoped he would still make the show. Anyway, El Shoes, who was their TV announcer who used to do dancing and lip synching to the music during intermission, has been named the commissioner. Shoes announces that he is dropping the Super J Title after Alexis Laree won the thing in a match she wasn't even involved in. After they have a feedback problem with the mics, Prince Nana comes out and confronts Jac. Nana is upset that he's not booked on the show, especially since he's wrestling for WWE and in Japan. Jac ends up giving him the spot against Xavier that Red was originally scheduled for. Nana threatens Jac that he better not double cross him and makes for of DJ Anthony. Nana leaves, Jac asks if anyone else has a problem with him and he gets confronted by 3 people as Damian Dragon, Danny Demanto and Tim Arson. All 3 were upset about not being booked after they had supported Jac before he ended up closing shop last year. Jac decides to give them a chance and books them into an impromptu 3 way with the winner getting a spot in the company. The 3 guys agree to be still be friends, but to go at it since a spot is at stake.

PP: There were lots of thunderstrikes in the area as the night was going on so I could understand Lynn's predicament... it also gave me hope that there might be one less match on the evening. I started the stopwatch as Jac started talking and wound up clocking his stickwork at 5:07. Note to Jac: 5 minutes is a nice, round number and you got your points across quite well in that timeframe. The trick is to staying in this timeframe and not burning people with 17-minute SHOOTS~! that no one cares about.

MATCH 6: DAMIAN DRAGON vs. TIM ARSON vs. DANNY DEMANTO
RD: About a month ago, we got taken to task by Jim Brambila for the 500 because we didn't put Damian Dragon on it. Fact is, Pete and I lobbied for Damian in the past for his feud with Striker which was really good. The problem is, he basically stopped working in USA Pro which was the only NY fed we had seen him in since ICW folded and had burned us a few times that we stopped going. Well, we saw Damian again. Unfortunately, this wasn't a performance that will get him back on, though I doubt it was entirely his doing. This match was eh. There were some rough spots with Damian doing an enzugiri or a spinning heel kick while Demanto had his leg that went way over Danny's head, but he sold anyway. They did a spot on the floor where Arson and Dragon are fighting each other and there's a chair set up in between them. While they're fighting, Demanto climbs up the ropes and slips, resulting in him getting jeered and flipping everyone off before he did the dive to the floor which resulted in Demanto landing knee first on the chair and bending the fuck out it. Ow. Dragon and Arson take it to the ring. It ends up with Dragon hitting the Sliced Bread No 2 on Arson and Demanto recovering to the point that he hits the frog splash on Arson. At this point, Boogalou and Low Ryda run in and attack both guys. Though, Dragon takes a few shots, the focus moves to Demanto and boy, that was a focus he didn't want to be. Lou and LowRyda hit him with a bunch ton of chairshots that definitely didn't look like they were all that pulled. Demanto eventually tried to make a break for the locker room, but as he got up on the stage, it seemed like Mikey Whipwreck and Brian XL were waiting to cut him off. Lou ended up dragging Demanto back to the ring where he took some more chair shots and Arson hitting his finish and Demanto getting pinned. They ended up breaking the metal back piece off one of the chairs. This really had the look of a receipt for something as Demanto apparently has heat with a lot of people for various reasons and it looked like they came to a head. If it wasn't, if you want people to believe a beating is legit, Boogalou is your man after this and his stretching of Mile Thomas (which I'm told was an angle as Thomas has a Manami Toyota like ability to be bent backwards). Anyway, Sabboth comes out to the ring and welcomes Arson to the promotion and gives him a Dynasty t-shirt which was Sabboth's old heel stable. So Jac's back to being a heel manager again. Oh boy.

PP: Yeah, my guess was that this was Lou giving Demanto a big, fat receipt via Mr. Homicide for knocking out Deranged at that USAPW show awhile back. As far as receipts go this was quite the whopper as Lou literally destroys the chair on Demanto, giving him some of the most brutal chairshots I've ever seen. Regarding Dragon, I'm starting to think that the Striker/Dragon feud may have been a Flair job on Striker's part as Dragon did not exactly have an outing for the ages here. This match was decent, but they were handicapped by having to follow the previous three-way (an old Jac bugaboo... his fascination with putting three-ways after threw-ways after three-ways on his shows). Arson hits the ONTARIO SMASHAAAAA! on Demanto for the win and gets a spot with the group. Jac announces Arson/Lou/Low-Ryda as the "New and Improved Dynasty." Comsidering the original Dynasty included Xavier as a member, I'd say he's half-right.

RD: After this bit, Shoes comes out again and says he wants to introduce everyone to the new King of Public access, Strikervision. This brings out Striker and Eddie Guapo to I think so sleazy background music. Striker gets the mic and explains he's debuting a new program called Strikervision which is in the same vein as Backroom Facials or Bangbus.com. So now he's got Guapo as his cameraman. He walks around ringside looking for a potential guest for Strikervision. He tries to talk up certain girls including a ringside camerawoman. He eventually finds a girl who looks barely legal (if legal at all) and pulls her out of the crowd. He gets her up on the apron and gets her to strip down to her bra and panties. Guapo was really great during this moving around and giving the suitable for internet porn angles and making great faces as Striker was talking to the girl much like the host of one of those sites would.... Not that I would know... DOH. Eventually they head towards the back and Striker gets her to lose her bra but she covers her boobs and Striker covers her when she moves her hands. While I'm not sure how much mileage the gimmick will have, Striker did a good job with it. He clearly loves his work as he got to hit his "I get paid to do this" catchphrase again. I hope if they run these bits on their commercial tapes that they use the footage Guapo is shooting. This is also his forth or fifth totally different gimmick he's working simultaneously on the indies. Makes me wonder how soon until someone at WWE tries to scoop him up.

PP: "BACKDOOR SLUTS 9?!?!" Personally I'm shocked that Striker hasn't at least made it to ROH yet considering that he brings the wrestling along with all of the zany personas. The gimmick is a riot as Striker is basically doing a less-offensive version of his frat-boy rapist gimmick in USAPW. He and Guapo make the rounds to appropriately chintzy techno music ("the system is down... the system is down...") until they finally find one girl who strips down to a big "STRIP!" chant from the crowd. She gets down to her frillies and takes her bra off, but naturally they escape to the back before she really shows anything. Striker has some incredible charisma and this was far from the worst way I've ever seen to waste a few minutes on an indy show.

MATCH 7: GRIM REEFER vs. CHRIS HAMRICK
RD: This match was fun though it did have some spots that seemed a little rough. Hamrick is so much fun to watch though. He also used the "Dukes of Hazzard" theme again which is number one and the best. Fun stuff, though Hamrick didn't do either of his usual "Kill Myself" to the floor missed drop kick or the front flip off the apron, but that's fine with me. He was saving it up for the finish. Reefer got in his splash off the stairs spot. He went for the rope walk senton but Hamrick rolled out of the way. Hamrick hit the stunner out of a suplex. I forget if he hit or missed it, but Hamrick did the big leg drop and I have him a big Dukes "YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHAAAAW!" as he was in the air. Hamrick goes up top again but Reefer catches him. Reefer hits a DDT while both guys are standing on the top rope to score the win. Post match, Hamrick is down and Reefer looks concerned. They try to get someone from the back to check on Hamrick. Hamrick gets to his feet and the fans applaud and Reefer offers him a handshake, but... IT'S A TRAP! Hamrick lands a super kick and drags Reefer over to the corner and gives him a wicked piledriver from the second rope. The medical crew shows up in time to check on Reefer now as we go to an intermission.

PP: Hamrick's entrance busts me up as people in the audience are actually singing along to the "Dukes of Hazzard" theme. Somewhere Waylon Jennings is digging the hell out of this. This was pretty fun although I noticed that Hamrick has a weird way of selling things at points. Like his body language was selling Reefer's stuff perfectly but facially he didn't seem to really sell anything. It's like if Buster Keaton was an indy worker. That aside, Hamrick is just a machine when it comes to matwork and chaining moves together. Hamrick does hit the legdrop at the end (Ray slays me with his Bo Duke impression) but gets caught up top going for the second one and Reefer drills him with the top-rope DDT for the clean pin. I can't praise Hamrick enough for putting the kid over as clean as he did here. Postmatch Hamrick's down an awfully long time and folks start to get worried. Hamrick is truly a MASTER at this bit as stays down long enough to draw everyone into it, then catches Reefer with the superkick, heads up top with the lad and absolutely NUKES him with the piledriver off the ropes.

RD: When we come back, Nicole Bass comes out for an interview and I swear to go she looks like Tim Arson in drag. Anyway, she uses "She's a Lady" by Tom Jones as her theme which is pretty funny. Nicole does some mic work on the really terrible sound system. She gets into it with some people on the crowd and says some stuff about being on top which fortunately I couldn't make out. At this point, Strikervision makes an appearance. They come out and Guapo looks suitably afraid. Striker thinks about going to the ring, but eventually they run away which I think is a good thing. I mean, let's not shoot your wad so to speak with this angle right off the bat. The gimmick should evolve as Striker gets more and more jaded they move into more and more depraved things. You shouldn't jump right to doing she-male videos. There's a lot ground to cover. I already await the MILF Hunter edition of the gimmick. I already give permission for him to steal the MILF Mascaras name and mask for it. Anyway, Nicole then puts out a challenge to any of the bitches in the back which brings out the Christopher St. Connection. They have some banter and I think Nicole attacks them and they hit the low blow on her. Mace hits the broncobuster on her too and then she leaves leading to...

PP: DEE SNIDER~!- oops, sorry. Between Nicole using "She's a Lady," challenging women to a wrestling match and selling a nutshot from the CSC, it really makes me wonder what made her think she had a snowball's chance in hell at winning her WWE suit. Nicole pontificates on the mic for a bit and picks out men in the audience as the crowd turns on her. Then THE STRIKERVISION'S! music hits again and the crowd reaction is hysterical as half the crowd is going "YEEEAAAAAHHHH!" and the other half is like "NOOOOOOOOOOO!" Buck Johnson and MKJ's reactions in the crow's nest (they're the show's commentators) are particularly priceless. Striker and Guapo hit the stage only to see what's in there and they bail out. It's at this point that I turn to Ray and say something to the effect of "They have to send out the CSC here..." and sure enough "It's Raining Men" hits to a GIGANTIC pop as Mace and Buff E mince out. Buff is a riot as he hits the ring and lays down making goo-goo eyes at Nicole... the crowd starts the obligatory "You suck dick" chant and Buff asks us who we're chanting at this time.  Even better is the ensuing "Suck her cock!" chant while the three go back and forth. Eventually things break down, Nicole bails out and the Backseats come out leading into the next match.

MATCH 8: THE CHRISTOPHER ST. CONNECTION (Mace Mendoza & Buff E) vs. THE BACK SEAT BOYS (Trent Acid & Johnny Kashmere)
RD: This was another qualifier to the Impact Cup. This was pretty fun but it was also a little disappointing. First off, the Back Seats pretty much controlled the match and did a lot of double teams and their fruity embellishments on certain things which doesn't bother me as much when they were working tags. I was kind of disappointed the CSC didn't get to do as much of their schtick as they normally do. I mean, if there's a team I want to see them go nutso over the top with their sexual harassing like they did with Wayne and Whipwreck, the Back Seats were the team. Especially since Kashmere kept having the fly on his pants open up on him. At one point, Buff E was doing a beg off spot in front of Acid and promised to do a favor for him. Anyway, out of nowhere, DeAngelis announces that there's like 1 minute left in the match. This seemed really out of place and they end up with the Back Seats hitting a bunch of last minute double teams including a Hart Attack but time runs out so it ends up a draw. The crowd calls for 5 more minutes but the Back Seats say now. Not any fault of the wrestlers, but this was much shorter than DRS/Solution match. This was fun, but they called it too soon.

PP: Fine little match ruined by DeAngelis making the "one minute left" announcement from out of nowhere. As Ray said, the BSBs are good in straight tags like this since their goofy shtick works well in that style. Anyway, the BSBs dominate most of the match save for Buff E's Prancing Forearm on Acid in the corner. DeAngelis makes the "one minute" call to a big "WTF?!?!" reaction and everyone in the ring reverts into headless chickens, running around hitting everything they can think of until the bell finally rings for the flat finish. BSBs tease another 5 minutes before Acid says something to the effect of "Queens, we love you... but we don't love you that much" and they bail. FEH. Presumably this sets something up between them at the Impact Cup.

MATCH 9: XAVIER vs. PRINCE NANA for the ICW NORTHEASTERN TITLE
RD: It should be noted that during this match, Xavier had a moving cheer section which consisted of Low Ki (Who knew! The man can smile!) and the Hit Squad, and supposedly Samoa Joe for part of the evening. The crew would go to the 4 corners of the arena and the balcony to do an occasional "X! X! X! X!" chant. It was pretty funny as they were losing it and Xavier was starting to lose it too when they'd show up on a different side of the building and start the chant. The match itself was solid. Xavier avoided one of the corner ass attacks, but I think he took one later on. He also got in the El Paso Del Muerte which will always scores points with me. Xavier ends up hitting the X-Breaker and the 450 to score the win. Post match, Arson and Nana beat down Xavier. Nana ends up joining the Dynasty which is a switch from before the promotion shut down which Nana was a babyface and feuding with Xavier who was a heel and in the Dynasty. During his post match speech, Nana ended up breaking the wireless mic when he dropped it to the floor.

PP: Xavier and Nana have had two chances to top the classic match they had a couple of years ago which I and almost no one saw since it was three days after 9/11... they didn't top it here, but the match was really secondary to X's cheering section. At the start of the match I hear something going on behind me... I look over my shoulder and see Mafia, Monsta Mack, Low-Ki and Samoa Joe standing right behind us. I don't think anything of it at first as workers usually camp out in the Lodge balcony during shows since it's a great viewing spot. Then they all start chanting "X! X! X!" and making the "X" hand-signal. This quickly turns into the world's greatest RIB! as they repeat this about 6-7 times, from all corners of the floor, the balcony, the stage etc. It finally gets to the point where they head backstage... and before too long, disembodied arms stick through the stage curtain X'ing away. Frigging hilarious, especially to see Ki cracking up for this while it's going on. X retains the NE title via 450, only for the New Dynasty to beat him down with Nana's help. Nana eventually does some stickwork on the stage with a corded microphone (Messrs. Mack, Maff and Ki still X'ing away through the curtain... hysterical) and the crowd gives him the "WHAT?" treatment (the local Nana tradition).

MATCH 10: JOSE & JOEL MAXIMO vs. THE BOOGIE KNIGHTS (Danny Drake & Mike Tobin)
RD: This was ok, but in the last few times I've seen Drake wrestle, it seems like he's been hurting. Which sort of makes it odd he gets the hot tag, but then again, if you're hurting you probably don't want to be in the ring selling a beat down most of the match. Either he was doing a good sell job or it looked like he hurt one of his knees in the course of the match. I would think it was selling as he took a mean looking Dragon Screw, but I think he hurt the leg that didn't take the move. This was ok though. The Maximos teased the Spanish Fly at one point, but the Boogie's broke it up. The finish seemed out of nowhere as Jose hit an Olympic Slam on Tobin to get the win. Post match, the SAT said that they used to think the BK's were jokes, but they don't think that any more and shake their hands afterwards. Eventually Boogalou and LowRyda run in and jump the BK's, but Monsta Mack runs in for the save and they seem to be solidifying them as a group. After this they announce that Jerry Lynn has made it to the building, but due to him showing up late they were going to shuffle around some of the matches.

PP: Pretty good match once you get past the strangeness of this being a face-vs-face match. Joe L busts out the monster clothesline for the first time in awhile. Drake screws up his knee at one point and spends most of the match on the apron, which leads to the problem of him getting TWO hot tags in as many minutes near the finish. He even goes up top for a legdrop and you can tell he can barely put any weight on his knee. Jose hits an Angle Slam on Tobin for the win (which really came out of nowhere since I can't remember him using it before), and all four guys make with the hail-fellow-well-mets until Lou and Low-Ryda break things up. Monsta comes in to save the BKs... if this leads to Monsta in the Cobra Kai gimmick, ICW will become the greatest promotion ever. 

MATCH 11: LOW LIFE LOUIE RAMOS vs. ABDULLAH THE BUTCHER
RD: Before Abby comes out, a portly Southern gentleman comes out and I'm immediately having Kenny Bolin at the Eddie Gilbert Memorial flashbacks. But he doesn't ramble on, he's pretty quick and to the point and does the talking for Abdullah thanking the New York fans for their years of support despite the fact he never really wrestled in the area. Abby ended up using "One of These Days" by Pink Floyd which was his music in Japan. Abby gets to the apron and Louie immediately jumps him and forks him. That's pretty much the end of Louie's offense and eventually Abby gets in the ring and forks Louie and that's pretty much all Louie was getting for the rest of the match. Louie ran into a few of Abby's throat shots and eventually Abby hits the elbow drop and that's it. Not really a good match mostly because Abby's 15 years past taking bumps that require him getting up. The fans booed as Louie is pretty over in the area and Abby really gave him nothing in the match except for the fork attack and the bell and some punches to the stomach. Post match, Abby attacks Louie some more and rips up his shirt with the fork. They fight up onto the stage where Abby hits him with a board and a garbage can. It was probably smart they didn't end up putting this on last.

PP: Said portly gentleman's name was Honest John Cheatum... I was afraid I was going to do the New Jack balcony dive onto him if he started rambling on about the Big 56 in Lexington. Fortunately he gets his opening remarks out of the way, thanks NYC for our support and brings Abby out for the match. There's an unintentionally funny bit at the start where they have to set up a couple of chairs for Abby to use to climb into the ring since there aren't any ring stairs. During intermission we were talking with Buck and we told him about the old Jimmy Valiant quote ("Number one: I ain't bumping for ya. Number two: If I fall down, pick me up")... this would be oddly prescient in light of Abby's performance here, although to be fair he's at least 60 now and fans aren't exactly paying for him to whip out his big flying moves. I was especially amused at the DOI's MiC expressing his shock that Louie wasn't booked to win... c'mon. I was shocked too... that Jac had the money to bring Abby in, never mind have him put his opponent over. Besides, from watching Louie as the night progressed you could tell he was jazzed out of his skull just to be working Abby.

MATCH 12: MIKEY WHIPWRECK vs. JUSTIN CREDIBLE for the ICW Heavyweight Title
RD: I'm not sure but I think Justin was trying to work baby face. Well, at least he did a big talk up like he was working baby face to try to hype up the crowd. This was ok, I'm really not a fan of Justin's work, though this was acceptable wrestling. Whipwreck through really good punches and kicks though. Justin took the Triple H corner bump to nowhere. Whipwreck kicked out of a That's Incredible. I think Justin kicked out of a Whippersnapper too. The finish was Mikey jumping off the top rope and getting caught by Justin who either gave him another piledriver or a powerslam. I looked away for a sec, so I missed exactly what it was. Post match, Justin gloats over Whipwreck and Mikey recovers and gives Justin the Whippersnapper. After this, Justin gets into a shoving match with Jim Mollineaux who was sharing reffing duties with Hanson and Jim gives him the stunner as well.

PP: Kind of a quickie match as it was starting to get late. Justin was trying to work babyface with his micwork at the beginning, but I guess it didn't take as he was working heel by the time the match ended. IMSMR Justin actually evaded the Whippersnapper as opposed to eating one and kicking out of it, then got the win by giving Mikey the That's Incredible onto a chair. Postmatch Mikey hits the Whippersnapper on Justin, walks out and then hocks a loogie that lands smack-dab on Justin's rump from 10 feet away. Impeccable placement on Mikey's part. Justin then gets into a shoving match Bobcat Molineaux and takes a KICKWHAMSTUNNER for his troubles.

MATCH 13 : HOMICIDE vs. JERRY LYNN 
RD: This was a good match to close out the show on. Some good back and forth action. Lynn flipped out of a cop killer attempt. I forget who, but I think Lynn or Homicide hit a really great swinging DDT. They did a big build to the finish with both guys fighting for a finish and eventually ended with Lynn hitting the cradle piledriver for the win. Good match, especially considering they probably didn't have a lot of time to throw it together and I'm not sure how much time Jerry had to get warmed up.

PP: Fine main event from what I remember of it, although by this point I was mentally already on the subway platform waiting for the F train. This is still a vast improvement over having the same feeling on a USAPW show at a point where there's still 5 matches left.

POST SHOW THOUGHTS 
RD: Overall, I liked this show a lot more than the last ICW show. It clocked in at just about 4 hours which is long, but not USA Pro long. I think a lot of the matches had more heat and had the "it" that was missing from the last outing. I'm not sure if I would continue to spend the money to book Nicole Bass unless she's working cheap. I just hope they don't put her in matches. I'm not sure if I like Jac working in front of the crowd again as promoters as characters usually results in the promoter getting a lot of face time and Jac had a bad track record in the past with his god awful shoot angle with Goodman from Jan 2002. Call me wary. Post show we ended up riding the subway with the Christopher St. Connection who marveled at Pete's 1000% Guapo t-shirt.

PP: I dug the vast majority of this as the matches were fine and you can see where they're going with the booking here... and trust me when I say that's Harry Slash's doing. The Impact Cup should be a fun show as ICW has always been a haven for tag teams... the question gets to be who they bring in WRT "outsider" teams. The subway ride home was great just for Mace dorking out for my Shocker shirt, then for Buff to go "Whoa, I ain't getting in an unlit subway car! It's spooky!" as the lights in the car were flickering on and off.