After much delay, the debut of monthly MPW shows at the Bloomington
Armory took place on a hot and extremely humid Saturday night. The
weather gave the card an unexpected finish. The show began with Mick
Karch interviewing Cruel & Unusual, who put down their
opponents
and claimed that they were the best Tag Team in town. Ian Xavier's
image continues to change as he wore no face paint this night and had a
new hair cut, both of which showed off more of his face and
personality. Then Mortimer Plumtree came out with Adrian Lynch.
Plumtree was wearing some sort of cricket outfit of a monogrammed
sleeveless sweater and knickers, and carried a cricket bat with him.
Adrian Lynch complained about wrestling the opening match and said that
he belonged in the main event. At ringside was a living room sofa
described by the announcer as the "best seats in the house". At first
this sofa was occupied by Lenny Lane and Lacey. Later on the privilege
was given to two very deserving audience members.
1.) Adrian Lynch
(w/Mortimer Plumtree, heels) pinned Doctor Darin Davis (face).
Lynch stalled early until DDD threatened him with The Glove. Plumtree
then demanded that the referee make him remove it, calling it a foreign
object. Doc hit Lynch with a cross-body block and an armdrag takedown,
and was going for more when Mortie hit him with the cricket bat. Lynch
took over and dominated with a swinging neckbreaker, suplex, and a slam
off the top rope. From the ringside sofa Lenny Lane held up a "use me"
sign made famous on Monday Nitro. Davis battled back with a Russian leg
sweep, but it was to no avail as Lynch scooped him up for a pin out of
nowhere. Good match but too short.
2.) K-train (face) pinned
Scott Free (heel).
K-train opened things up with two slams and a Hogan leg drop. Free
countered with a second rope Russian leg sweep and got heat from the
crowd with a kick to the crotch. Free then delivered a vertical suplex,
and later, he went into the crowd and cleaned out a section of fans up
and running from their seats. K-train got the pin after a Stone Cold
stunner. Again Lane held up his "use me" sign. This match was kind of
slow and lacked pace. At times it had the look of a hardcore match, but
without the hard core. Shifty came out next with his cruiserweight belt
and travel bag. He declared that his opponent had not shown up, that
there was no one "in the back" worthy of him, and that he was "outa
there". The MPW "commissioner" then came into the ring and said that
indeed there was no one in the back to wrestle him but there was
someone right up front, Lenny Lane. She said that Shifty would have to
fight Lane that night.
3.) Cruel &
Unusual (Big Daddy Hoofer & Ian Xavier, heels) pinned Judge
Jesse & Shawn Daivari (faces).
Daivari is one of the kids at the Sharkey/Fox wrestling camp. This was
one of his very first matches. Hoofer tossed Judge Jesse around like a
rag doll early and the heels gloated over their dominance. JJ tried to
respond with an aerial assault but has hampered by ring ropes that were
too loose. He did connect though with a top rope leg drop on Xavier
that looked good. The two faces then began working on Ian's left leg in
a determined manner. C&U rebounded with Hoofer working of
Daivari
outside the ring, then double teaming the rookie with slams. When
Xavier was unhappy with the referee's pin count speed he exclaimed,
"Were you taught by Sandy or what?" That must have hurt. The match went
on like this with the heels just pounding wildly on the faces in and
out of the ring, finally taking Daiviari out with talcum powder to the
face. Jesse tried to compete with a few flashy moves such as a spinning
heel kick and a senton, but in the end C&U proved too tough and
finished him off with a double team move. Hoofer and Xavier looked
really good in this spot. This is the best match I've seen these two
in. Ian was helped to the back limping and wincing in pain while
favoring his left ankle.
4.) Sheriff Johnny
Emerald (face) pinned Helmut von Strauss (heel).
Helmut came out first and worked the crowd with his "bad German"
routine. He challenged the Sheriff and spit on him, which got the match
going. Helmut's offense centered on his kicks, the most showy one being
a stiff axe kick that knocked Johnny to the mat. The pin came when SJE
reversed an attempt at an inverted DDT and turned it into a Pedigree.
5.) Mitch Paradise (face)
pinned Scott Zappa (w/The High Rollers, heels).
Mitch had the biggest pop of the night. (Why doesn't this guy sell
T-shirts?) Early on Paradise threw the High Rollers onto the ringside
sofa, breaking it. Zappa used everything he had against the big guy but
to no avail. The champ delivered a chokeslam and got the pin. Lots more
happened but the sofa thing distracted me. Zappa made Paradise look
good. After the match Mortimer Plumtree entered the ring and said that
Adrian Lynch deserves a title shot. Then the commissioner came out and
said he'll get his shot at the next Bloomington card.
6.) Lenny Lane (face)
pinned Shifty (heel).
Before the match Shifty declared that since Lane was a last minute
replacement, it will be a non title match. It started out with fast
corner-to-corner action. Shifty did a flashy move where he vaulted over
the top rope and connected with a huracanrana on Lane who was outside
the ring. He went on with a over the top rope leg drop, and an over the
top rope bulldog. Lane's offense included a Rock Bottom, and unreleased
powerbomb, and a Boston crab. Both men were really working hard and
sweating on a humid night. This was a long and good match. Lane hit
with a swinging neckbreaker, two atomic drops and a top rope body press
as attention began to move from the ring to the announce table where
Mortimer Plumtree had turned pale and passed out from the heat.
Insiders say that this was no work as Mortie was planning to interfere
in this match. The two in the ring had no choice but to improvise a
quick finish, with Lane gaining the pin, as paramedics aided the fallen
Plumtree. Mortie was overdressed for the conditions of the night and to
observers appeared dehydrated and was not sweating. A very odd end to a
good night of wrestling. Best match: Shifty-Lenny. Best pop: Mitch
Paradise.