War Games 2003-09-19 from War Memorial Auditorium in Fort Lauderdale, Fla
Champions
World: Steve Corino
GTC: Simon Diamond & CW Anderson
The show opens with the Extreme Horsemen coming down to ringside with a four man in a mask. We hear on commentary a familiar voice that is not Joey Styles but Kevin Kelly. Champion Steve Corino lets us know that Jerry “The King” Lawler was pulled from the show by the WWE. Corino hypes MLW and talks about pro wrestling over sports entertainment. The crowd cheers, kind of not what he should be going for. He gets the crowd to turn back on him by shit talking their opponents for tonight. Simon Diamond says they needed someone who was just as sick of being passed over as they were. They went out and got the guy who is “just not the coolest, just not the best”… The man unmasks and its Justin Credible, I’m not sure if that’s supposed to be exciting or not. Credible says “they got the guy who is the most extreme ass kicking son of a bitch in MLW. They got PJ Walker”. So I guess Vince owns the name. Corino says he has another surprise and calls out the “original extreme Horsemen Barry Windham”. Now that’s an exciting surprise!
Los Maximos vs. Super Dragon & Juventud Guerrera
So our first match and our first no show as this was supposed to be Los Maximos and Mexico’s Most Wanted. Kevin Kelly is very awful. Dragon starts with Jose. The over under on blown spots is 7. I’ll take the over. After some arm drag spots takes in. Juvi hits a bulldog. Joel comes in and hits a rana. Headscissor by Juvi on Joel. Juvi hits a cool spot where he flips round on the apron using both rights that are set up for War Games and finishes it with a rana. Juvi tags Dragon. Jose reverses an irish whip and hits a spin kick and tags. Dragon sent into a corner and Joel follows with an elbow and northern lights for 2. All four men come in and they do the boston crab camel clutch combo. Dragon fights back and makes the tag. Juvi comes in with a snap suplex on Jose and then a pump handle into an x-factor, that was pretty cool looking. Peoples elbow for 2. A juvi driver is reversed into a small package for 2. Jose up and gets a belly to back suplex both men tag. Joel comes in with a second rope dropkick to Dragon. Joel pulls Juvy into the ring and hits a powerslam but Dragon pulls him off and hits a dragon suplex for 2. Dragon goes up top but he gets cut off. Jose goes for a super rana but it’s blocked. Joel runs up the buckle but slips and pulls everyone off the turnbuckle. Juvi comes into the ring with a dropkick and hits a driver on Jose. One on Joel and Juvi goes up top for the 450. Jose knocks him down and out of the ring. Joel hits a German on Dragon for 2. And then hits a rolling cradle for 3 in 8.39. Yet another Maximos match where everything was a jumbled mess, I hate them.
Junior Heavyweight Championship Tournament RD 1: Tony Mamaluke vs. Sonjay Dutt
Nice fast paced start to the match. Dutt ends up on the apron and ranas Tony to the floor. On the floor Mamaluke takes out the knee of Dutt. Mamaluke goes up top and hits a somersault senton to the floor! In the ring Mamaluke goes after the knee of Dutt and goes for a submission win. Mamaluke all about the submissions in this match. He goes for a tornado DDT but gets countered and placed back on the turnbuckle. Muscle buster by Dutt and he goes up top and hits the Himalayan press for the victory after 3.58. Way to short to really be anything.
Junior Heavyweight Championship Tournament RD 1: Eddie Colon vs. “Evil F’N Show” Jerry Lynn
No Sinister Minister with Lynn, hope that doesn’t mean he’s gone. Colon out quicks Lynn for the first few minutes of the match but Lynn is able to throw him to the floor to take over at the 3 minute mark. Colon sent into the ring post. Back in the ring a chop right is won by Eddie. Colon hits a drop kick in the corner and then charges again but Lynn ties him up in the tree of woe. Lynn with a drop kick to his face for 2. Tilt a whirl back breaker for 2. Colon comes back and with a reverse DDT and both men are down. Colon up first and he fires away at Lynn. Colon with a big back body drop and neck breaker for 2. Victory roll for 2. Lynn hits a tiger bomb for 2. TKO for 2. Lynn can’t put away Colon. Lynn goes for a cradle piledriver but gets tripped up and Colon slingshots him into the corner. Eddie goes up top and hits a corkscrew body block for the win in 9.08 to advance in the tournament.
Junior Heavyweight Championship Tournament RD 1: Jimmy Yang vs. Juventud Guerrera
Juvi out pretty quickly after his last match. Not really a good idea to enter a tournament and have a non-tournament match before hand. Their pants look almost identical. Juvi with a head scissor and Yang goes to the floor. Juvi with a plancha to the floor. Yang fights back in the ring. After some back and forth reversals Juvi hits a spin kick. Kevin Kelly tells us that Jerry Lynn and Mikey Whipwreck attacked Eddie Colon backstage. Yang with a drop kick and then a cobra clutch. Juvi with a DDT for 2. Dominator by Juvi but Yang is able to kick out. They do a back and forth pin attempt spot with about ten 2 counts. Both men hit clotheslines and they are down. Juvi goes for a reverse suplex but Yang flips out of it. Juvi with a juvi driver and then he goes for the 450. Yang moves but Juvi lands on his feet. Yang goes for a German but Juvi lands on his feet. Juvi hits a SICK driver and gets 2.9! That should have killed him. Juvi comes off the second but Yang drop kicks him and hits yang time for the win in 10.38. Last two matches were pretty boring. Yang gets his second straight win after not really doing much during the match.
Junior Heavyweight Championship Tournament RD 1: Super Dragon vs. “Fallen Angel” Christopher Daniels
Some arm drags and head scissors start us off. Daniels goes to the floor to get a break and Dragon dives through the ropes onto him. Back in the ring Dragon stomps on Daniels chest. Daniels comes back with a neck breaker. I can’t stress how awful Kevin Kelly is on commentary. Daniels takes over for the next few minutes. He hits a snap suplex and leg drop for 2. Daniels goes up top but Dragon pulls him to the mat. Both men are down but Dragon gets up first. Dragon attacks the arm in locks in an arm bar. Daniels gets to the ropes and then is sent into a corner. Dragon charges but Daniels catches his coming in with an STO. Dragon with the go behind but Daniels kicks him low. Last rites and a 3 count in 9.17. Ehh you know people always rave about how awesome Daniels is. Watching all the MLW stuff is my first time really watching him on a consistent basis and I gotta say I am not impressed by him. Second round matches are Yang vs. Daniels and Dutt vs. Colon. Pretty clear that Dutt is going to the finals not sure how the other match will play out though.
Mikey Whipwreck vs. Norman Smiley
Both men without their usual managers. We actually get a chant for GI Ho from the fans. No commentary on this match which is weird. After two minutes of some stalling and a little back and forth Mikey blocks in arm drag and takes over on Norman. Mikey makes fun of the high pitched screams of Norman. Norman comes back with a few clotheslines and the big swinging slam. Norman goes for the big wiggle but Mikey kicks him low. Mikey gets a few near falls by beating on Norman and then sends him into the second ring. Norman takes a Flair bump on a corner whip and then clotheslines Mikey from the apron. They are now on the apron between the two rings. Norman slams Mikey’s head into both rings turnbuckles. Norman charges Mikey but he gets a boot up. Mikey goes up but Norman knocks him down and Mikey is lying across the two rings big wiggle by Norman. They are both on the turnbuckle now and Mikey hits a super whippersnapper for the win in 7.39. Nice use of the apron between both rings. Mikey was good when he was making fun of Norman.
Matt Martel & Rich Criado vs. Mana
Francine comes to the ring to scout. Mana throws Criado over his shoulder and hits a cutter. Samu and Ekmo show up in the crowd beating on Monsta Mac. They fight to ringside Mac is really beat down. The match is now a six man falls count anywhere match. So yet again Mafia is a no show. The crowd has been pretty dead all night and even a Samoan brawl isn’t getting them up and loud. The Samoans go to the stage and put Criado in a wheel chair and send him off the stage. Crowd liked that and it looked pretty cool. Ekmo gets a hulk hand!! Mac bends a chair over Mana’s head but it does nothing. Mac spears Mana on the floor. Mac puts Samu in a corner and lays a garbage can on it. Mac jumps off the top rope in the opposite corner and head butts the can. I don’t get why that was a good idea. In the ring they take over on Mana. Samu and Ekmo get in the ring and turn things back in their favor. Samu superkicks a garbage can into Mac’s face. Mana with a 2nd rope Samoan drop. Ekmo hits a press slam into a samoan drop on Martel. They put Martel on a table in the crowd. Ekmo climbs to the buckle and dives over the ring post into the crowd through the table and gets the win in 9.51. Another awesome finish from Ekmo. Mac’s team got in to much offense, should have been more of a squash then it was.
Joe Seanoa vs. Mike Awesome
Seanoa is better known as Samoa Joe. Flying shoulder block by Awesome and Joe goes to the floor. Awesome hits the ropes and dives over the top with a plancha. Awesome sets up a table outside. Awesome his a slingshot shoulder block from the apron back into the ring. Joe sent into the corner and Awesome charges but Joe hits a STO. Suplex from Joe gets 2. Chop fight ends when Joe switches up to a few forearms. Enzuiguri by Joe and they go back to the floor. Joe hits a weak chair shot that the fans boo. He sits Awesome in chair and hits a running boot to the face. Two count back in the ring as the fans rally behind Awesome. Another chop fight and Awesome charges and hits a clothesline but is cut off right away with another big boot. Joe ducks a clothesline and hits a German for 2. STF but Awesome gets to the ropes. Fans begin to chant “boring”. Joe brings a chair in the ring but gets cut off. Awesome slides under a clothesline and BLASTs Joe with a chair and hits a sit out Awesomebomb for 2. Awesome puts the chair on Joe and comes off the top with a big splash for the win in 7.14. Gotta go with the fans on this one, pretty boring. Sick chair shot from Awesome but nothing else at all worth seeing. No commentary on this match which means it probably won’t be on TV.
Junior Heavyweight Championship Tournament Semifinals: Eddie Colon vs. Sonjay Dutt
Dutt with an injured leg from his first round match. He sells it on his way down to the ring but once the bell sounds he seems perfectly fine. Dutt quickly hits a rana but Colon thumbs him in the eye. Dutt sends Colon to the floor and then springboards to the floor with a spinny flippy thing. Back in the ring Dutt goes up top but gets cut off and Colon hits a razor edge into a power bomb for 2. Superplex by Colon for 2. Dutt fights back and hits a back body drop. Colon begs off as Dutt tries to fire up the crowd. Dutt with a big boot he does the hand to the ear and fakes going for a leg drop but hits a standing shooting star for 2. Colon back up and he hits a clothesline. Colon comes off the top with a sunset flip. A few near Colon with a springboard but Dutt spinebusters him and rolls him up for 3 in 5.59. So Dutt didn’t sell the leg at all during the match nor did Colon attack the leg at all. Another boring match.
Junior Heavyweight Championship Tournament Semifinals: Jimmy Yang vs. “Fallen Angel” Christopher Daniels (w/ Mikey Whipwreck)
Daniels beats down Yang to start. Yang comes back with a rana that sends Daniels to the floor. Baseball slide follows and Yang has the advantage on the floor dropping Daniels chest first on the guardrail a few times. Yang with a second rope spin kick back in the ring and a nice vertical suplex for 2. Daniels sent into the corner. He gets a knee up on Yang’s charge then hits a gut buster. Another one by Daniels and Mikey gets in on the action behind the refs back. Daniels works over the abdomen of Yang for the next few minutes. Daniels comes off the top rope but Yang hits a spin kick as Daniels dives at him. Daniels with a tornado DDT but Yang handsprings out of it and lands on his feet. Daniels with a Urinagi but then he misses the BME. Spin kick by Yang for 2. Yang goes up top but Mikey slows him down. Daniels tries to cut it off now but he gets knocked down and Yang hits the yang time to a standing Daniels for 2. Yang goes up top again but Mikey crotches him allowing Daniels to hit the last rites for the victory in 8.19. Better then Daniels’ last match but still nothing great,
Raven vs. Nosawa
No CM Punk with Nosawa. Nosawa with the early advantage on Raven. We get our first good shot of the crowd, it’s much emptier then the last time they were here. That’s when Awesome won the title and then immediately dropped it to Corino and the crowd shit all over it. Now that I’m reminded of that I realize why the crowd has been so dead tonight. Raven fights back and hits the high knee and running bulldog. Raven goes for the pin but the straight edge ref comes out and distracts the ref. Nosawa with a superkick for 2. Punk comes to the ring and grabs Raven. Raven moves out of the way of another superkick, it hits Punk, Raven nails the DDT and gets the win in 4.34. Punk gets a mic and runs down Nosawa. Vampiro hits the ring making his return to MLW! We get a bell and have…
CM Punk vs. Vampiro
Vamp with an overhead belly to belly and spin kick that sends Punk to the floor. Maybe we will finally get that Raven Vampiro match from months ago. Punk sends Vamp into the guardrail but then gets back dropped into the crowd. They fight into the crowd. Back in the ring Punk able to take over and he gets a 2 count after a Russian leg sweep. Vertical suplex by Punk for 2. Vamp comes back with a kick that takes down Punk. Vamp goes up top but takes way to much time as Punk gets up and pushes the ref into the ropes crotching Vamp. Punk with a super rana but Vamp rolls through it and gets the win in 5.28. Vamp leaves through the crowd. All the matches tonight are too short. These last two were good for storyline though. Fans are going crazy for Vamp. It seems that the story between Vamp and Punk will continue.
Junior Heavyweight Championship Tournament Finals: Sonjay Dutt vs. “Fallen Angel” Christopher Daniels (w/ Mikey Whipwreck)
Daniels sweeps the legs and gets a 2 count right away. Daniels with a back body drop and elbow for 2. Dutt to the floor and Mikey whips him back and forth from the guardrail to the apron. Daniels with a hanging vertical suplex that lasts a legit 20 seconds. Dutt comes back with a rana but Daniels right back on top. Daniels sends Dutt sternum first into the buckle three times. Tilt a whirl back breaker and Daniels taunts the crowd. Daniels goes for another tilt-a-whirl move but Dutt lands it in an octopus stretch. Daniels quickly reverses it and throws Dutt to the floor. Mikey gets in a few shots and sends him back to Daniels. Daniels with multiple cocky pin attempts but Dutt kicks out each time. Urinagi and the BME for a 2. Dutt ducks a clothesline and back elbow and lands a springboard elbow. Dutt fights back and hits a serious of moves that ends in a neckbreaker. Daniels goes to the floor. Dutt hopes on three different ropes using both rings and then dives onto Daniels. That was aweomse. Back in the ring Daniels hits a running STO and a sit out power bomb. After each man gets a few roll ups for 2 counts Dutt is able to run up the buckle and hit a rana. Mikey however distracts the ref so no count is made. Dutt dives onto Mikey. Dutt clotheslines Daniels on the top rope and hits the Himalayan press to become the first every MLW Junior Heavyweight Champion in 10.04. Decent enough. It was Daniels best match of the night.
War Games Handicap Match: Funkin’ Army vs. Extreme Horsemen
CW Anderson starts off with Sandman. Sandman busts himself open with his beer can. CW jumps Sandman as he gets into the ring. Sandman fights back and grabs his cane but gets superkicked. Anderson now with the cane he hits Sandman with it a few times but then Sandman blocks it and hits a Russian leg sweep. Anderson eats cage. Anderson busted open now. Suplex by Sandman and then he locks on a cross face. Anderson bleeding a lot and the first 5 minute period ends in 4.07. Gotta love wrestling clocks. Champion Steve Corino is out for his team and he has barbed wire wrapped around his fist. They beat on Sandman for the 2 minutes until Terry Funk comes out throwing chairs over the cage. Funk helps swing the advantage in his teams favor. He hits a piledriver on Corino. Simon Diamond out next for his team. “Dr. Death” Steve Williams is out as the final member of the Funkin’ Army. Sandman with a senton onto Anderson. Crowd is sitting on their hands this whole match. PJ Walker is out next with a ladder. Funk puts the ladder on his head and spins around hitting Anderson and Diamond. Sabu and Bill Alfonso come out next instead of Barry Windham! Sabu was supposed to be out for 3 months with an injury but he comes to join the Funkin’ Army. Sabu hits the ring and takes out everyone. Alfonso gets a table into the cage. Corino is busted open. Williams presses Corino from on ring into the other. Windham in out next and he hits a piledriver on Funk. Alfonso grabs a mic and says 5 on 4 is bullshit and jumps in the ring. Sabu puts Walker through a table. As the Match Beyond begins. Diamond beating down Alfonso. Corino has Sabu in a half carb and Funk comes over with a flaming branding iron. Funk brands Corino then blows fire into his face! Funk locks in the spinning toe hold and Corino submits in 20.49. Well I wish I could love this since it’s War Games but it was pretty boring and the dead crowd didn’t help.
My thoughts on the show…
Lots more no shows, way to many matches on this card and a boring War Games make this a pass. It was clear with this show that MLW killed the town with the way they booked Hybrid Hell a few months ago.
