MPW "Burned Bridges" 
November 24, 2001
Bloomington Armory

The aptly named "Burned Bridges" show started at 7:30 sharp, is this a disturbing trend in wrestling? Some guy wearing a suit and tie was the announcer. He also did commentary for the video tape.

1.) James Phoenix (face) pinned Ian Xavier (w/Ashley Xavier, heels). Ashley has dumped her MPW commissioner gimmick to be a straight ring slapper. Ian is wearing face paint again. Phoenix has some height and a broad shouldered frame. Ian started out ripping on the crowd. JP slammed the "Lethbridge Leviathan" and got applause. At the end, Ashley got in Phoenix's face, Ian moved to hit him, JP ducked, Ian hit Ashley, and JP rolled up Ian.

2.) "Straight Edge" Eric Hammers & "Anarchist" Arik Cannon (faces) defeated "Superstar" Mike Mercury and Asylum (heels). Arik Cannon wears a shiny black outfit and has a pudgy body. His black hair die rubbed off on his foes during the match. Asylum has gym muscles and wore Road Warrior face paint and hair. Mike Mercury did most of the work in this match. He talked continuously and did all the important wrestling. The Anarchist, who missed several spots, sold in the middle, until the hot tag. The faces pinned Mercury after a top rope huracanrana by Hammers, and a spinning side salto by Cannon. The "Straight Edge" phoned in his performance.

3.) Black Stallion (face) pinned Kujo (heel). Kujo blew his nose on the crowd as he came out. Working the stick, he got a "what?" chant in return. He used the term "retard" several times. At one point while Black Stallion held Kujo in an armbar, Kujo body slammed him, only to have BS maintain the arm bar. At the finish Stallion looked to be trying for a running power slam, but couldn't get his foe up, so settled for a running salto. Slow match with lots of power moves, if you like that sort of thing. Kujo is very loud.

Intermission

4.) "Kamikaze" Ken Anderson (face) pinned "God's Gift" Kevin Kruger (heel). At the beginning Anderson milked the crowd for cheers and Krueger stalled. KKA got things going with a Japanese arm drag, and after GGKK bailed out, dove over the top rope onto him. Later, Krueger countered a huracanrana try and converted it into a backbreaker, and followed up with a Boston crab. KKA came back with a running back flip and a monkey flip. The finish came when Krueger went for a superplex, but Anderson, on the top turnbuckle, knocked him to the mat, hit the Swanton Bomb, and got a three count. Good match, solid back and forth action. For the record, the nipple ring is back.

5.) Shawn Daivari (heel) pinned Shifty (w/ODB, faces) to win the MPW Cruiserweight Title. Daivari came out with a small rolled up rug. For a moment, I thought he was going to do the prayer rug bit. These two started with a two count exchange that received the requisite applause. With Daivari out of the ring, Shifty dove onto him with a second rope, springboard plancha. Later Shawn hung him in the tree of woe and delivered a slide kick. After a neckbreaker, SD used a drop toe hold to put Shifty's neck onto the second rope, choked him, then ran across the ring and jumped on his back. When he tried this a second time, Shifty moved, and Shawn hung up on the ropes. Shifty followed with a Shiftyvault famasser. SD wasn't down for long though and hit a top rope tornado DDT, and a spinning heel kick. Then he left the ring to get the rug. Calling it the "Flying Carpet," he used it with a top rope splash on Shifty. Then Shawn tried again, but Shifty answered with a drop kick, a vertical hanging superplex, and a straight famasser. Then Shifty climbed the ropes for a moonsault try but landed on the referee instead. Daivari then grabbed a steel chair and clobbered Shifty. ODB then climbed onto the top turnbuckle and hit a missle drop kick onto Daivari who was holding the chair. Shifty covered Daivari but there was no referee to count the pin. SD recovered enough to deliver a blockbuster, Shifty's own finisher, and the referee recovered enough to count to three. After the match Daivari powerbombed ODB. This was a very good wrestling match. It's the best match I've seen Shawn Daivari in. He has made huge strides and is as good as any of the little guys working now.

6.) "Sick" Nick Mondo (face) pinned Sheriff Johnny Emerald (heel). The stipulations for this match were: "no DQ, one hour time limit." Wouldn't it have been better to have said: "no DQ,. no count-out, no time limit, one fall to the finish!" Emerald came out first and ripped the crowd and Mondo. Nick dominated early with a spinning heel kick, two spinning rabbit kicks, (or whatever you call those kicks to the back of the head) and a sitting drop kick. Mondo next hit SJE with a steel chair. Johnny went under the ring to get a Kendo stick and got in two shots. The pair fought outside the ring and threw each other into rows of chairs. Eventually, Mondo produced a small bundle of fluorescent light bulbs, and laid them across two steel chairs. He tried to powerbomb SJE onto them but Emerald slipped out. Later Johnny took over and drove Mondo onto this pile. The crowd responded with a CZW! CZW! chant. Mondo won with a top rope leg drop. After the match Mondo put a table in one corner and powerbombed SJE through it. By this time much of the locker room had come out and Nick had a staredown with Shifty. Good, satisfying brawl with lots of scary moves. Mondo was bleeding by the end. Johnny Emerald looked totally exhausted. Does this mean Mondo's push in Steel Domain is over? Has this bridge also been burned? Whether or not you like "Sick" Nick's style, his star appeal is undeniable. -doc d'X