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Impact Report

Posted: May 27th 2007 By: CMBurnham

The Memorial Day weekend IZW show promised to be a great one. All IZW titles were being defended and the MSWA Mid-South Title was on the line as well. By the end of the night, a title had changed hands, another title was MIA and some new alliances may or may not have been forged.

The first match saw the IZW Cruiserweight Champion Mitch W. Carter, with Marianne Albright, defend his title once more against Matt Garza. These 2 had some thrilling matches over the course of 2007 and most people believed that Garza had received his last shot at the belt when he lost to Carter in a ladder match last month. But Garza was able to convince the powers that be that all he needed was one more shot and he was not going to let that go to waste. The pair fought for over 10 minutes both in and out of the ring before Garza executed a frog splash off the top rope to gain his first win of the year and the Cruiserweight title.

Ring announcer Steve O then brought out Ryan Davidson. Davidson, who normally would have been demanding certain things, was more subdued this month. He polled the crowd as to whether they were tired of Impact, Inc. He said he certainly was, especially MSWA Oklahoma Champion Aaron Neil. And while he was not scheduled to wrestle this night, he wanted to settle his issue with Neil right then. Neil came out and said he couldn't believe what he heard. Every time the two of them met in the ring, Neil left Davidson laying. Plus, Neil was already scheduled for a match this evening against IZW Champion Michael Barry and he didn't want anything to prevent him from walking out of the arena as a double champion. At that point, Michael Barry appeared on the video screen and told Neil to be ready for him later that evening. Davidson & Neil left the ring area separately.

The second match was for the IZW Impact Division Title, with John O'Malley defending against Thomas Rumsfeld. Rumsfeld came to the ring without Marianne Albright, who presumably was consoling Mitch W. Carter over his loss. Steve O announced O'Malley, but O'Malley didn't come to the ring. Instead, the video monitor once again showed what was going on backstage, where O'Malley was digging through everyone's lockers and personal possessions, looking for his title belt. A moment later, O'Malley came barreling through the entrance. After a conference with referee Thomas Patrick, Steve O announced that this would now be a non-title event as the belt could not be found. This upset both Rumsfeld and the fans in attendance, but Rumsfeld was no less determined to win the match. He was able to control O'Malley with his strength, at one point moving the ring as he whipped the 320-pounder into the corner. Towards the end, O'Malley regained control and picked up Rumsfeld for the Burning Hammer. Then MSWA Mid-South Champion Brad Michaels appeared on the screen and reveled that he had stolen O'Malley's belt and the O'Malley would never see it again. This distraction allowed Rumsfeld to roll up O'Malley from behind and, with a handful of tights, gained the pin. Neither man could be happy after the match though. Rumsfeld walked away without the title he thought he was winning and O'Malley ran back to the dressing area to try and get his belt back.

IZW Tag Team Champions Team Shenanigans put their titles on the line against former champions John Zorthos & Bernie Donderwitz. Kenny Campbell & Tyler Bateman used their teamwork to control the beginning of the match, but the Impact, Inc. team was eventually able to isolate Bateman into their corner where they kept him for quite a while until he was able to make the tag to his partner. Kenny came in to clean house and Donderwitiz, knowing that things weren't going his way, exited the ring and grabbed one of the tag team title belts. He brought it back to the ring to try and hit Bateman with it, but MSWA Mid-South Tag Team Champion Bad Boy ran out and dropped Donderwitz on the top rope, dislodging the belt. A nice double team maneuver from Team Shenanigans and they remain the tag team champions.

After an intermission, Steve O and MSWA & SWCW ring announcer Jesse Storm met in the ring for the first time. At first things were polite and cordial, but neither man could resist trying to play a game of oneupsmanship. Steve O declared that he had been voted "Best Dressed Ring Announcer" in a recent poll on Oklafan.com (which was not true. The readers voted Mike Iles best dressed.). Jesse Storm countered that he had been voted Ring Announcer of the Year for 2006 by the fans (this is true). He also stated that the MSWA bylaws declared that any time an MSWA title was on the line, the MSWA ring announcer is the only sanctioned person to announce that event. So Storm took the microphone and brought out Brad Michaels to face Angel Williams. Michaels took a beating and tried to give one to little avail. Clearly overpowered, he resorted to cheap shots and treachery through the match, but Williams was prepared for all of that. He was even prepared when John Zorthos ran out to distract the referee so that Gary Tool could hit Angel with a chair. This had no descernable affect, but when Angle headbutted the chair into Tool's skull, that had an effect. And then, when Angel hit yet another home run on Tool's head, that had the effect of knocking Tool out in the middle of the ring. But, with the referee still distracted, Michaels kicked Williams in the crotch, then piledrove him on the chair, allowing him to pin "The Widowmaker" and remain champion.

Finally, the main event, as Michael Barry put up his title one more time against Aaron Neil. And the fans were treated to a surprise as it was announced that this would be a No DQ match. The match started outside the ring and even went outside the barricade back towards the lockers. Both men used chairs, body slams on the concrete and the lockers themselves on their opponents as they made their way around the arena. Finally, Barry threw Neil into the ring and the match continued. Both men punished each other, pulling out every move they knew and making up some on the spot. It appeared that Neil was finally going to regain the title he had lost 9 months previously to Barry, but Ryan Davidson ran out and, taking advantage of the No DQ policy, gave Neil a release cradle-suplex, then rolled Barry on top to gain the pin. No one was happy after the match, though. Neil did not gain a second title and stormed to the back, picking up and throwing a ladder which had been used in the match, in his frustration. Barry was upset because he felt his win was tainted due to Davidson's interference and Davidson was unhappy because he felt like he wasn't getting a proper "Thank You" even though Barry appeared to be on the verge of losing his title. Both men left separately and the show ended.

IZW returns to the National Guard Armory on June 23. Matches will be announced on www.IZWrestling.com.