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Inner View #9 – War X

By on January 21, 2013
Inner View

War Wrestling presented War X on Saturday with a show that was 10 years in the making. 10 years for a company in wrestling is a long time and there are not many that make it that long for whatever reason. There are even less companies that are still growing after 10 years, that is what makes War Wrestling special in my opinion. I’ve often told people that I would put the roster of this company up against any other in independent wrestling in terms of both talent and work ethic. Sitting at the commentary table calling the action I was blessed enough to see a group of guys who backed up my claims repeatedly with their performances for our first ever IPPV that will air next month.

Before I recap the show itself I want to take a minute here to talk about just how great the day as a whole was. There are a ton of people who put a lot of work in before the doors opened that you will never see or even probably think about. Being around these people all day is a huge honor and a great learning experience on just exactly how much goes into putting a show like this on, and how exactly to get that done. If you come out to the show on March 9th (and why wouldn’t you?), please take a second as you file in the doors for the show to stop one of the staff members and tell them thank you for all that they do to help give anyone lucky enough to perform in front of you a chance to do so by arriving at 10am and setting up chairs, or making the food you buy during intermission. It will make their day, trust me.

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Being picked to host the 2013 War Wrestling Hall of Fame was something that I took a lot of pride in and considered a huge honor. I’ve always tried to pride myself as sort of an extension of the fans as a member of the commentary team. As someone who is also a huge fan of the promotion it’s an honor to sort of “be the voice” if you will of the fans in attendance and that is why I loved being able to host the show as it gave me the opportunity to not only meet some of the amazing people and performers who have paved the way for all of us today, but to listen to their stories right along with everyone else. A couple of the moments that stick out in my brain as I look back at the Hall of Fame would be first of all walking out from backstage and seeing SO MANY people there early for it. If ever there was a humbling experience that was it, just having everyone there early to celebrate the past, present and future of Lima wrestling, I’ll be honest I had goosebumps when I laid eyes upon all of you in attendance at the start. Another moment that I think will live in the lore of the show is being able to present a trio of true unsung heroes with an award to recognize all that they do to make the machine that is War run smoothly and see their reactions as none of them knew they would be honored. Was there any more sincere moment in the show than seeing a shocked Christine accept her award to a well deserved round of applause with tears streaming down her face? Longtime fans who have attended shows in Lima were treated to the Nightmares taking off their masks and revealing their true identities as well as seeing the very first War Wrestling champion “Sweet” Stevie Lee get his rightful place among the greats as the headliner of the first of many to come classes of Hall of Fame inductees and be inducted by one of his greatest rivals in the “King of Lima” Danny Daniels, what a moment that was to be a part of.

Hosting the Hall of Fame

 

When I first heard about independent wrestling in Lima from one of my best friends in life in Peachy Rodriguez and went to my first ever War show, I was hooked. I have previously stated some of the guys I was a huge fan of when I started coming to shows, but getting to sit at the UAW Hall and call some of their matches Saturday night was the biggest honor I’ve ever had in my broadcasting career. First we had a battle royal with not only some of the biggest stars of the past, but some that are sure to be in the future as well before it was ruined by a masked man who has been attacking everyone in sight the past couple of months and revealed himself to be none other than disgruntled employee Grant Parker. Mr. Parker got what was coming to him though when the returning Dexter Dementia chased him off.

Grant Parker eliminates the ladies to win the battle royal

Who is the best faction in War Wrestling history? If you go by the results of the six-man tag that took place before the IPPV taping the answer is an obvious one, the Michigan Invasion. “Amazing” Nate Mattson, Jamie Coxx and the “Motor City Monster” Eddie Venom returned after a lengthy hiatus much to the delight of the crowd and dispatched the trio of “Buzzsaw” Brian Ireland, Mr. Main Event, Dean Visk with “Beautiful” Brian Fury lurking at ringside collectively representing Hotseat Productions.

The MII ride high one more time in Lima

February 16th is the date as of right now that you will be able to see War X exclusively on IPPV, tell your friends as they will not want to miss this epic show. Two out of three falls matches are generally reserved for guys who have such an intense hatred for one another than one pin or submission just won’t do to settle the score, and that is exactly what we had Saturday night in the case of  “The New Tradition” Caleb Stills and “The Archangel of Justice” Raguel. Raguel despite being outnumbered as Stills brought his hired henchman Zakk Spades picked up the first fall in the bouts first couple of minutes to go up 1-0. Moments later however Stills evened the fall count up with a surprise quick 1-2-3 of his own. With neither man wanting to be caught staring at the lights a second time both competitors pulled out all the stops for the rest of the contest, but it was Raguel with a series of moves who came out victorious in the end of the match in a great kickoff to the IPPV.

The victorious Raguel

Ohio Championship Wrestling champion Kaden Assad, a man who has been the titleholder since August of 2011 when he defeated Appollo Starr put his title on the line against the man who trained him in “Big Guns” Jeff Cannon next in a USA vs Iraq Flag Match. The dastardly Kaden Assad, who has proven there is no length he won’t stoop to to keep his title took advantage of a mistake made by the normally ground offense oriented Jeff Cannon that took out the referee to not only put the American flag but up on the post when it seemed like Jeff had won the match, but also to pull his own down and revive the referee to remain the OCW Champion.

The moment Big Guns lost the match by taking out both Assad AND referee Peachy Rodriguez

Five men entered the ring with a chance to become War Wrestling’s inaugural Respect Champion, one of them was named champion but was not the man that left the ring with the belt. After a spectacular fast paced matchup involving Christian Vaughn in his last wrestling match as well as “Extreme” Aaron McCormick and “Mad Dragon” Hakim Zane, it was “Marquee” Mikey D that reigned supreme as the winner. Not to be outdone however “The Candy of Your Eye” Eli McFly attacked Mikey D post match and ran away with the bag containing the brand new championship before it could be revealed. What does McFly have planned for the title? When will he get what is coming to him and when will the belt make it’s way to the hands of it’s rightful owner in the War Wrestling Respect Champion Mikey D?

 

Mikey D powerbombs Eli McFly

One of the most anticipated matches of the night was supposed to be a 3-way TLC tag team match between the champions the Painkillers, the Alpha Breed and the Scarboni’s, but Vinny From Jersey put a halt to that with his injunction. After Vinny and his lawyers were successful in putting a stop to the match they got a unique surprise in former WWE superstars and War Wrestling’s own the Highlanders joining the match to make it a 4-way tag match. In a scene that can only be described as total chaos, 8 men pulled out all the stops and put their own bodies on the line repeatedly to win the championships ended with Scarboni’s, the longest tenured tag team in War Wrestling being crowned champions for the first time. The Highlanders who have always had a special connection with the fans here in Lima wrestled together for the last time in the same ring they wrestled their last match before heading to WWE and their first match after being released but walked out with only the fans respect and no titles to show for it.

The reign of the Scarboni’s has begun

Jeremy “The Butcher” Madrox whether you love him or hate him has been the most effective War Wrestling Champion of all time with 15 successful defenses. Juice Jennings was looking to change Madrox’s fortune in his last shot by either knocking out or making him give up what matters to him the most. Early in the match both men went against what they’ve done in the past as Madrox looked to apply his patented “Columbus Crossface” while Juice looked to knock the champion out with his own move the Rolling Elbow. The question as to whether Juice could finally get over the hump and become the man was answered with a resounding thud and a yes when Madrox hit the canvas and couldn’t answer a ten count when Jennings blasted him with his own finisher to take become one of the youngest War Wrestling Champions in history in the first of two HUGE co-main events as War X drew to a close.

The Juice is loose!

The second co-main event was one of the most brutal matches in company history. War Games is quite possibly the most sadistic match ever to have taken place inside a War Wrestling ring and the brainchild of Ripper Blackhart in quite possibly an attempt to rid himself of long time nemesis Dusty Dillinger. Two cages surrounding two rings were barely enough to contain Team Jock led by the certifiably insane Jock Samson and featuring “No Shame” Jimmy Shane, Robby “Super” Starr, Sherman Tank and “The Madness” Chris Hall. After taking a beating for a full six minutes at the hands of Shane, Samson and Starr, Dusty finally got some help from the random draw that had taken place when the “Hot Commodity” Matt Mason entered the cage and was later joined by teammates “Poison” Apollo Starr, Cody Hawk and the returning “Bad Attitude” Brian Beech, the surprise member recruited by Dusty to combat Team Jock. For the better part of twenty minutes both teams beat the living hell out of one another and caused a ton of blood to be spilled on the canvases inside the cages until Mason and Dusty locked in submissions and got some much deserved revenge on their foes to pick up the victory as War X finished to a round of cheers from the 800+ fans in attendance.

Team Dusty reigned supreme

One of the most fun nights of my life and in my opinion THE best show in War Wrestling history came to an end in brilliant style in a way only War could provide. Have a party or whatever you need to do on February 16th, get all of your friends together and see this show! Don’t be the only one who is left in the cold when your friends are buzzing about the show and you have no idea because you haven’t seen it.

As always feedback is much appreciated, hit me up on twitter @mccormickwar or on facebook at www.facebook.com/mccormickwar . Until next time this has been the Inner View, see you on March 9th at the UAW Hall for Aftermath!

 

 

Pictures courtesy of John Winters II and War Wrestling.