BALDWIN PARK, AMERICAN LEGION POST #241; IWL’s annual anniversary event took place, drawing a large crowd to the legion hall in Baldwin Park.
P) Ruben Iglesias p. Biagio Crescenzo (w/ Johnny Saovi)
A major change from the previously posted gauntlet match. Ruben was able to reverse a cover attempt by Biagio, into a cover of his own, for the pin.
1) Johnny Saovi & Devin Sparks (w/ Biagio Crescenzo) d. Simon Lotto & Douglas James
Decent opener that ended with Johnny Saovi making Simon Lotto tapout to an Armbreaker submission.
2) Tag Team Elimination Match: Raze & Laura James v. Kahmora & Steven Andrews v. Tag Game Strong (Leo Blaze & Cedric The Hitman) & The Hive (Bee Boy & Mantis)
A wild & crazy match, with plenty of spots. The Aussie duo of Bee Boy & Mantis were eliminated first, after Kahmora put Mantis into a triangle submission, forcing the tapout. Raze & Laura James then took Kahmora out of the fight, then went on to take out a blind-tagging Steven Andrews. Laura James rolled Raze’s German Suplex into an Exploder Suplex for the pin & the 2nd elimination. However, Leo & Cedric would have none of it, as they threw Raze out of the ring, then hit their team finisher on Laura for the pin.
3) The American Oni successfully defended the Breakout title over Joseph Knox
Pris had to be “in a mental mess”, after being “abducted” by Knox, and likely “held captive” in the interim. Oni managed to knock Knox off the top rope, then put him in what was likely a Rear Naked Choke for the tapout submission. Pris couldn’t have been any happier than that.
4) Eric Watts p. Joey Ryan
One of the more marquee midcard matches ended with Eric hitting the DVD for the pin.
* The TMNT cosplay team were brought out next, as Justin Ryke’s son, Landon joined in. To noone’s surprise, Damon Divine interrupted the festivities, and cut a promo, before Justin Ryke came in to the ring, and started to brawl with him.
5) “Kiss My Foot” Anarchy Rules Match. Justin Ryke successfully defended the Anarchy title over Damon Divine.
There wasn’t alot of weapons used in this match, but some of the fans, and the TMNT team got involved. The loudspeaker that Damon used, a can of disinfectant spray, and a bottle of baby oil were used; the latter in which a squirt of the stuff accidentally went into the fans, including Oscar of Wrestling Heads Radio. In the end, Justin Ryke ripped off Damon’s protective scrubs, revealing a TMNT-themed tidey whitey. Then he hit the Spear for the pin, his son, Landon, hit a Spear on Damon, who then got “shell-shocked”, “becoming the Tatsu character from the classic TMNT 2 movie”.
6) The Mixtape Kings (Jacob Diez & LTP) successfully defended the Tag Team titles over The Black Parade (Eli Everfly & Pinky) & The Suburban Commandos (T-Rent & D-Unit)
A very crazy one-fall three-way match, with Eli taking a tremendous beatdown. Jacob & LTP managed to find just the right opening, with Jacob hitting a Frog Splash on T-Rent for the pin.
7) Three-Way Singles Elimination Match: Ryan Kidd v. Tyler Bateman v. B-Boy
Plenty of great stuff in this match, which really heated up when B-Boy & Bateman brought back memories from previous IWL shows in Chino, especially after B-Boy eliminated Kidd with a Brainbuster. The two veterans & “2015 PWI 500” listed wrestlers really went at it, capped by Bateman hitting his “End of Days” Elbow drop for the pin.
SM) Falls Count Anywhere match. Eric Cross p. Paul London
If there were any major hostilities left from their classic encounters in Chino, then it didn’t really show here. Eric had to endure a series of chops from fans at ringside, and a brawl all over the hall. After rolling out of the range of Paul’s 2nd Shooting Star Press attempt, he managed to catch him out of a Springboard move, and counter into the Double-Cross for the pin.
M) Peter Avalon successfully defended the Heavyweight title over Ray Rosas
Both members of PPRay cut the overall support of the fans in half, with some going for Rosas, while others backed PPA. There was a tense moment in their back-and-forth action, when Referee Justin Borden took a bump, and a steel chair was brought into the ring. Ray didn’t smack PPA into the chair, only to get face-planted onto it with a “Marti-Knees” move. The chair was shoved out of the ring, before Justin saw it, and the match continued. PPA capped it off with a Piledriver for the pin, and there was no further hostilities after that.
PPA Drives Ray to the Mat
Overall, a great card that took about 4 1/2 hours to play out. The crowd were into most of the matches, and it’ll be interesting to see how the title pictures come into play, especially with Justin Ryke eyeing the Heavyweight title.
MOTN:
1 – PPA / Rosas
2 – B-Boy / Bateman / Kidd
3 – Tag Team title match
4 – Cross / London