FIP In Full Force
FIP In Full Force (5/27/2005)- Arcadia, FL
STEVE MADISON PROMO- okay. He’s got some potential, but he is clearly not close to there yet.
He bragged about beating Jamie Noble at the last show, claiming that this had run Jamie out of FIP forever. I sure hope not because the opportunity to see more Jamie Noble indy matches is why I bought most of my FIP DVDs.
STEVE MADISON vs. JAY FURY- 2.75/10
The match was short and not very exciting, but it told its story competently. Madison is developing into a good old-school southern-style heel.
DON JUAN & THE HEARTBREAK EXPRESS SEGMENT- they get into an argument about who had dibs on a girl last night at a club, so they will no longer be a unit. No attack. Just â€"okay. We’re not a trio anymore.â€
Phil Davis kept going on and dumped on the town, so Antonio Banks came out to be a good babyface and defend their honor. From his promo, it’s pretty easy to see why he would be getting a push on Smackdown before the year was out.
ANTONIO BANKS vs. PHIL DAVIS (w/Sean Davis)- 2.25/10
Banks has the TTB locked in but Sean Davis causes a DQ. Then Banks beat both heels up.
NEW DAWN PROMO- good.
Punk has brought Cabana in to take the title from Homicide. He has also recruited Samoa Joe to his group, and is offering an open challenge for anyone to take Joe on right now.
EVAN STARSMORE vs. SAMOA JOE (w/the New Dawn)- very quick squash, but quite boring to watch. It didn’t even feel like Joe kicked this guy’s ass. He just no-sold his punches, gave him a few chops, and locked in the choke.
RAINMAN vs. SAMOA JOE (w/the New Dawn)- 4.25/10
Short, but a quick win over a much bigger opponent than Starsmore did make Joe look very dominant.
JARED STEEL vs. VORDELL WALKER- 5.5/10
Decent match, but they kind of lost me towards the end.
TONY MAMALUKE vs. DON JUAN- 5/10
The match was going well with Don Juan working over Mamaluke’s arm… but then they just ended with a small package that definitely was, as Prazak described it, â€"out of nowhere.â€
FIP TAG TEAM TITLE #1 CONTENDERSHIP MATCH: The New Dawn (CM Punk & Azrieal) vs. Sal Rinauro & Spanky- no rating.
The match never happens because the New Dawn beat Sal and Spanky up. Then Punk cut a promo asking for some competition, so we got…
FIP TAG TEAM TITLE #1 CONTENDERSHIP MATCH: The New Dawn (CM Punk & Azrieal) vs. Roderick Strong & Jerrelle Clark- 6.75/10
Good match. Heat on Roddy. I’m such a mark for the Rude-Warrior SummerSlam finish.
SAL RINAURO vs. â€"FAST†EDDIE VEGAS (w/Dave Prazak)- 6.25/10
Eddie works over Sal’s back for a while, with Sal getting some good false finishes in until the real finish came.
FIP HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE MATCH: Homicide(c) vs. Colt Cabana (w/CM Punk)- 6/10
Cabana was acting like a goofy heel all night and did comedy early, which felt very out of tone with everything else going on. The whole show was very Memphis style, so by the time the main event rolled around, I felt like I had seen all of their spots multiple times already. It would have been so much better if Cide and Cabana had actually just gotten in there and tried to wrestle each other.
POST-MATCH SEGMENT- good.
The New Dawn jump Homicide. Roddy and Jerrelle come out to make the save, but when that doesn’t do it, Sal and Spanky come out to even things up and send the heels packing. Punk vows that he will never come back to this town.
This was a bad show from FIP. Almost every single match felt the same, between the standard Memphis-style heat and the pre-match promo dumping on the local town. It made an already weak undercard feel like something that you really had to slog through to get to stuff that might actually be exciting… and then most of the stuff that had seemed like it could be exciting felt dull and repetitive by that point.
STEVE MADISON PROMO- okay. He’s got some potential, but he is clearly not close to there yet.
He bragged about beating Jamie Noble at the last show, claiming that this had run Jamie out of FIP forever. I sure hope not because the opportunity to see more Jamie Noble indy matches is why I bought most of my FIP DVDs.
STEVE MADISON vs. JAY FURY- 2.75/10
The match was short and not very exciting, but it told its story competently. Madison is developing into a good old-school southern-style heel.
DON JUAN & THE HEARTBREAK EXPRESS SEGMENT- they get into an argument about who had dibs on a girl last night at a club, so they will no longer be a unit. No attack. Just â€"okay. We’re not a trio anymore.â€
Phil Davis kept going on and dumped on the town, so Antonio Banks came out to be a good babyface and defend their honor. From his promo, it’s pretty easy to see why he would be getting a push on Smackdown before the year was out.
ANTONIO BANKS vs. PHIL DAVIS (w/Sean Davis)- 2.25/10
Banks has the TTB locked in but Sean Davis causes a DQ. Then Banks beat both heels up.
NEW DAWN PROMO- good.
Punk has brought Cabana in to take the title from Homicide. He has also recruited Samoa Joe to his group, and is offering an open challenge for anyone to take Joe on right now.
EVAN STARSMORE vs. SAMOA JOE (w/the New Dawn)- very quick squash, but quite boring to watch. It didn’t even feel like Joe kicked this guy’s ass. He just no-sold his punches, gave him a few chops, and locked in the choke.
RAINMAN vs. SAMOA JOE (w/the New Dawn)- 4.25/10
Short, but a quick win over a much bigger opponent than Starsmore did make Joe look very dominant.
JARED STEEL vs. VORDELL WALKER- 5.5/10
Decent match, but they kind of lost me towards the end.
TONY MAMALUKE vs. DON JUAN- 5/10
The match was going well with Don Juan working over Mamaluke’s arm… but then they just ended with a small package that definitely was, as Prazak described it, â€"out of nowhere.â€
FIP TAG TEAM TITLE #1 CONTENDERSHIP MATCH: The New Dawn (CM Punk & Azrieal) vs. Sal Rinauro & Spanky- no rating.
The match never happens because the New Dawn beat Sal and Spanky up. Then Punk cut a promo asking for some competition, so we got…
FIP TAG TEAM TITLE #1 CONTENDERSHIP MATCH: The New Dawn (CM Punk & Azrieal) vs. Roderick Strong & Jerrelle Clark- 6.75/10
Good match. Heat on Roddy. I’m such a mark for the Rude-Warrior SummerSlam finish.
SAL RINAURO vs. â€"FAST†EDDIE VEGAS (w/Dave Prazak)- 6.25/10
Eddie works over Sal’s back for a while, with Sal getting some good false finishes in until the real finish came.
FIP HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE MATCH: Homicide(c) vs. Colt Cabana (w/CM Punk)- 6/10
Cabana was acting like a goofy heel all night and did comedy early, which felt very out of tone with everything else going on. The whole show was very Memphis style, so by the time the main event rolled around, I felt like I had seen all of their spots multiple times already. It would have been so much better if Cide and Cabana had actually just gotten in there and tried to wrestle each other.
POST-MATCH SEGMENT- good.
The New Dawn jump Homicide. Roddy and Jerrelle come out to make the save, but when that doesn’t do it, Sal and Spanky come out to even things up and send the heels packing. Punk vows that he will never come back to this town.
This was a bad show from FIP. Almost every single match felt the same, between the standard Memphis-style heat and the pre-match promo dumping on the local town. It made an already weak undercard feel like something that you really had to slog through to get to stuff that might actually be exciting… and then most of the stuff that had seemed like it could be exciting felt dull and repetitive by that point.