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IZW Halloween Hangover Review on GFL.tv

Posted: Nov 6th 2013 By: CMBurnham

?Halloween Hangover? delivered another stellar show with multiple titles changes as well as the crowning of a new #1 Contender, courtesy of the Monsters Bash Battle Royal, who will challenge for the IZW Title at ?Chaotic Christmas? on December 21. The athleticism and drive of each and every wrestler who participated in this event proved why IZW has no peer on the independent wrestling scene. If you only buy one wrestling iPPV this season, check out ?Halloween Hangover? to see the rough and tumble style of IZW.

To begin the show, the IZW Impact Division Championship was on the line as Champion ?The Urban Legend? Drake Gallows took on ?The Image of Fear? Kevin Morgan in an Impact Rules Match. Morgan took the lead with a clothesline that wrecked Gallows, followed by an efficient beat down that saw Gallows absorb kicks, stomps, head butts and punches to the throat. Gallows took a nasty spill outside of the ring but managed to finally get in some offense when he threw Morgan down the length of the entire ramp which saw Morgan crash onto the concrete floor and smash into the ring. Gallows connected with multiple chair shots including a DDT onto a chair and a baseball drop kick onto a chair as Morgan?s head became a pi?ata. Morgan retaliated by punching the chair as hard as he could with it ricocheting into Gallows? face and splitting his forehead open. As blood poured out of Gallows, Morgan continued his punishment by whipping Gallows into the steel steps on the outside of the ring. Gallows? knees took the brunt of the impact as he flipped head over heels onto the concrete floor. After being dropped face first on the same steel steps, Gallows was now sporting an authentic crimson mask. After tossing Gallows back into the ring, Morgan set up a table on the outside. Morgan whipped Gallows into the ropes and went for a back body drop, looking to dump Gallows on the table waiting below. Instead, Gallows regained his balance, landed on the ring apron but was suplexed back into the ring by Morgan. Later, after trading haymakers, Gallows connected with a drop kick to the face only to be destroyed with a big boot seconds later when he looked for another drop kick. Morgan gave Gallows and overhead press slam from the top turnbuckle followed by a double handed choke slam. The ref only counted to two before Gallows got a shoulder up. Morgan hit a running power slam in the center of the ring and followed up with a Detonator but a lazy pin attempt allowed Gallows to lift a shoulder. Then out of nowhere, Gallows hit Morgan with a chair, hoisted the big man onto his shoulders and delivered an Emo Killer but was only able to get a two-count of his own. Gallows followed up with a moonsault from the top rope but even that was not enough to get a three-count! Gallows went to the adjacent corner and climbed to the top rope once again looking to connect with another moonsault but was instead hurled down to the floor below crashing full force through the table that was set up earlier in the match by Morgan. Morgan dragged Gallows? limp carcass back into the ring and got the 1-2-3 becoming the new IZW Impact Division Champion in impressive fashion.

Next up, the IZW Tag Team Titles were on the line as the Champions Team Bull (The Bronze Bull & ?The Brass Bull? Bobby Starr) wrestled What Wrestling Shoulder Be (?Lights Out? Jordan Jacobs & ?Larger Than Life? Jermaine Johnson). Before Team Bull could make their intro into the ring, they were ambushed from behind by WWSB. The Bronze Bull was whipped head first into the steel ring post while Starr had his spine rearranged by a metal chair shot from Jacobs. And this was before the match officially started! Team Bull gritted their way to the ring and the match began. Bull and Jacobs locked up first with Bull managing to throttle both Jacobs and then Johnson who jumped into the ring only to get tossed out like a rag doll. Jacobs took a reverse atomic drop full force followed by a spear from Bull before Starr tagged himself in. Jacobs hit a leaping double knees to Starr?s lower back and continued to work Starr over in the corner of WWSB. After Johnson tagged in to land a couple stiff shots to Starr, Jacobs was back in sinking in a modified camel clutch. Starr rose to his feet and dropped Jacobs to the mat, but that only served to have Johnson tag in who continued to annihilate Starr with elbows to the jaw. Jacobs tagged back in but Starr reversed a suplex which gave him some breathing room for the first time in the match. But with Starr?s lower back still hurting from the chair shot before the match, Jacobs was able to make it to his feet first and tag in Johnson who connected with a suplex of his own on Starr. Johnson then power bombed his own teammate, Jacobs, onto Starr for an innovative pin attempt, but Starr got a shoulder up at the last second. WWSB went for another original move as this time Johnson tried to give Jacobs a crucifix power bomb onto Starr, but Starr ducked the move and Jacobs ended up being hurled into the turnbuckle. Starr next dumped Johnson over the top rope where Johnson was able to run over to the other side and prevent Bull from tagging in. In the melee, Jacobs recovered enough to hook on an inverted kneebar until Johnson took over with a rear waist lock on Starr. Starr escaped long enough to connect with a DDT but was dropped with a spinning heel kick by Johnson seconds later. Jacobs locked on a front face lock but somehow Starr mustered up enough strength to give Jacobs a suplex and tag in Bull, which the ref did not see. As Bull was ushered back outside the ropes by the ref, Johnson locked on an abdominal stretch. Jacobs and Johnson took turns keeping a fresh body on the attack at all times until Starr managed to connect with a spear that dropped Johnson and move out of the way of two flying leg drops by Johnson and Jacobs. Starr jumped to his corner, tagging in The Bronze Bull who clotheslined both members of WWSB followed by a splash in the corner. Bull connected with another clothesline on Johnson and a spinebuster on Jacobs as every move was more powerful than the last. Bull hoisted Jacobs up for a Greetings From Mt. Olympus but was caught with an ES2 from Johnson and then pinned by Jacobs as WWSB became the new IZW Tag Team Champions!

The Queen?s Crown was up for grabs as Champion Erica took on Miss Diss Lexia and ?The Megastar? Angel Blue in a Triple Threat Match. It was clear from the beginning that MDL and Blue were working together against Erica. A double clothesline, hip toss, suplex and splash in the corner had Erica taking twice the punishment with every move. It wasn?t until MDL and Blue both went to pin Erica that they began to wrestle against one another. With Erica outside the ring recovering, Blue and MDL had a nice one on one grappling match. Blue had a nice hip toss takedown while MDL reversed the position with a leg scissors. Erica leaped back into the match only to take a hurricanrana by Blue that took Miss Diss Lexia down too. Erica recovered shortly after and began to systematically take out Blue and MDL. Erica hit Blue with a slam and connected with a leg drop bulldog on MDL. It was back and forth all match with Blue elevating Erica at one point and MDL meeting Erica with a drop kick to the face. MDL then hit a clothesline on Erica before being tossed outside of the ring. Erica tried to catapult herself onto MDL down below, but missed and took another brutal clothesline crashing down to the outside mats. Blue, the only one left in the ring, climbed to the top rope and connected with a huge dive outside that knocked MDL and Erica on their backsides. Blue dragged MDL back into the ring where she went back to her scientific wrestling background as she tried to pull MDL?s shoulders out of socket while Erica was still recovering outside of the ring. Erica returned to the ring and bludgeoned both Blue and MDL culminating in giving MDL a torture rack-cutter combo. Not to be outdone, Blue and MDL hit each other with a running clothesline that loosened a few teeth. In the move of the match, and possibly the night, Erica gave MDL and Blue and double German suplex displaying the type of raw power that makes her a cut above most every other female wrestler on the planet. Erica used every type of pin attempt to keep Blue and MDL down but both challengers? resolve was forged in fire as neither one would stay down for a three-count. Later, not to be outdone by Erica?s double German suplex, MDL gave Blue and Erica a power bomb-suplex combo from the top rope, showing off her supernatural strength! Erica took the brunt of the move and fell out of the ring while Blue and MDL went one on one each trading signature moves. Blue hit a bicycle kick as MDL followed up with a butterfly suplex. Blue then hit her finisher, the DejaBlue, only to be thrown out of the ring by Erica. Erica tried to steal the pinfall on MDL but was reversed as MDL pinned Erica?s shoulders to the mat for a three-count to win the Queen?s Crown and become the new champion!

The much talked about Monsters Bash Battle Royal was next with the winner becoming the #1 Contender to the IZW Title. Double D who was the #1 entrant and Jermaine Johnson who was #2 began the match. Both D and Johnson desperately tried to toss one another over the top rope, but they were both too strong and their battle became a stalemate until the two minutes were up and the #3 entrant, Graham Bell, rushed to the ring. The match resembled a Triple Threat at this point with each man looking after his own best interest and trying to toss whomever was vulnerable at the time over the top rope. ?Bad? Brad Michaels was #4 and had a bullseye on Double D from the get-go. If Michaels eliminated Double D, then he would be given an automatic title shot at the IZW Championship regardless of if he won the whole battle royal or not. As Michaels and D paired off, Bell came extremely close to eliminating Johnson with a leg scissors throw. Erica was #5 giving Impact Elite the numbers in the early going. In a close call, Erica, Double D and Michaels were almost all eliminated in successive order. The Bronze Bull brought the total to 6 as the ring was starting to fill up quickly now. Johnson and Bull paired off with Bull torturing Johnson with fisticuffs, while Bell and Michaels went tit for tat and finally Double D and Erica squared off with D coming close several times to tossing Erica over the top rope. ?Big, Bad and Sexy? Angel Camacho entered at #7 and was double teamed by Double D and Langley while Johnson and Michaels looked to toss The Bronze Bull out as Erica rested in the corner. #8 was a newcomer to IZW as a Mighty Morphin Power Ranger made his debut. The entrance of the Power Ranger caused everyone else to stop what they were doing. The Power Ranger showed off some skilled techniques as he was able to drop Johnson, Michaels, Camacho and Erica. Soto Miyagi entered at #9 and had a showdown with the Power Ranger in the middle of the ring. After they both hit one another with drop kicks, the remaining wrestlers seized Miyagi and the Power Ranger and tossed them over the top rope eliminating both masked men at the same time. Kevin Morgan entered at #10 just as Bell missed with a splash in the corner and fell over the top rope. D almost got tossed over the top rope by Morgan, but was saved by Michaels ironically, because Michaels wanted to be the one to do it. D unloaded with multiple knees to several opponents after getting a reprieve just as the #11 contestant, Montego Seeka, entered the ring. Seeka leveled almost the entire collection of wrestlers with leg kicks or chops before succumbing to a 3 on 1 thrashing from Johnson, Morgan and Camacho. Jordan Jacobs became the 12th entrant and promptly got into the mix by helping Johnson try and eliminate The Bronze Bull. On the other side of the ring, Michaels came close to tossing out Double D, but D managed to hold on and fall back into the ring to safety. Angel Blue clocked in at #13 and went straight towards Erica. Blue started to smash a hole in Erica before Jacobs intervened, but he ended up the worse for wear as Blue hit him low and went back to attacking Erica. With so many people in the ring at once it was chaos with people getting chopped, punched in the face and kicked while they were down. ?Worst in the World? Copycat checked in at #14. Copycat made an immediate impact by eliminating one of the odds on favorites as he clotheslined Jermaine Johnson over the top rope. Seeka was eliminated thanks to being tossed over the top rope by Morgan in what amounted to an 11 foot fall. Next up was newcomer the Mexi-Heel at #15. Mexi-Heel and Camacho worked in tandem to try and eliminate Copycat, but Copy hung on to the top rope for dear life and managed to escape. In the meantime, Double D hung on upside down by one foot as Michaels was relentless in trying to earn a title shot at the IZW Championship by eliminating Double D. The returning ?Detroit Hype Machine? Brandon Bishop caused quite a few heads to turn a he was #16. Bishop had been decimated several weeks earlier by The Convict and was left for dead. No one in IZW had heard from him since, but the Monsters Bash was too big of an opportunity to pass up and Bishop was back in full force. Bishop gave neck breakers to Jacobs and Copycat, chopped the hell out of Mexi-Heel and went back and forth with Michaels giving one thunderous overhand right after another. Bishop?s intensity gave Double D a break from Michaels for the first time in several minutes. Miss Diss Lexia checked in at #17. It had already been a huge night for MDL by winning the Queen?s Crown and she picked up right where she left off by first assisting Blue in trying to toss over Erica, but then changing it up and throwing Blue over the top rope herself. The gorilla was up next at #18 and that put everyone on high alert. Who?s going to want to fight a gorilla? #19 was The Midnite Rider who was shrewd enough to bring with him a banana. Rider tossed the banana over the top rope and like clockwork the gorilla followed suit eliminating himself as things got back to normal inside the ring. Drake Gallows entered at #20 with his head heavily bandaged from his prior match with Morgan where he lost the Impact Division Title. Gallows was clearly injured but went after Morgan as the two battled in the corner until the next entrant was up. ?The Brass Bull? Bobby Starr drew #21 and hobbled to the ring looking to get his pound of flesh. Double D and Bishop came close to eliminating each other as they both toppled over the top rope but hung on to a rope to stop their momentum. O?Malley made his return to IZW as the #22 participant. O?Malley begin throwing one-hitter quitters to everyone in his crosshairs as a surplus of wrestlers started dropping to the canvas like flies. Luke Langley entered the ring at #23 and joined the mass of bodies who were all trying to increase their chances at winning by any means necessary. Bishop was biting O?Malley, Michaels and Camacho were teaming up against Starr, The Bronze Bull was hitting Morgan with a running splash and much, much more. ?The #1? Shawn McHale was # 24 in the Monsters Bash as the Co-Commissioner decided to get physical. McHale came out dressed as The Convict, in shorts. As O?Malley chased McHale around the ring, The Bronze Bull eliminated The Midnite Rider while Gallows eliminated the Mexi-Heel. Striker had his number called at #25 and was eliminated shortly after by overshooting a splash attempt and flying over the top rope. Erica was eliminated next courtesy of Copycat giving Copy two notches in his belt when it concerned Impact Elite. MDL also was eliminated shortly after leaving no women left in the match. The final entrant was The Convict at #26. As soon as The Convict entered the ring, McHale hot-tailed it out of there, jumping over the top rope and eliminating himself. There can be only one Convict. Bodies started falling at a break neck pace as The Convict eliminated The Bronze Bull, Gallows eliminated Jacobs with an Emo Killer, while Langley was sent flying over the top rope by O?Malley. Convict eradicated Starr in a blink of an eye, and sent Gallows flying out a minute later. Double D eliminated Kevin Morgan with a nifty head scissors that sent Morgan flying head first out of the ring with Bishop doing the same thing to The Convict seconds later. Then in a stunner, Michaels eliminated Double D with a super kick punching his ticket to an IZW Title Match sometime in the future! Michaels eliminated himself after that, because he had nothing else to prove with his future title match now secure. The Convict came back into the ring and gave Bishop a 15 to 20 over the top rope to eliminate him from the competition. Convict was already eliminated by this point, so the fact that Bishop was indeed tossed out by someone no longer in the match was a bit contradictory to the rules of the match. But after the 15 to 20, even if Bishop wasn?t technically eliminated, there was no way he was coming back in this match. His night was over. That left three: O?Malley, Angel Camacho and Copycat. O?Malley tossed Copy high into the air with a back body drop and Camacho added to the move by pushing Copy down as he fell to the canvas. O?Malley and Camacho teamed up again with a standing splash with Copy in the middle. With Copy against the ropes unable to stand up on his own, O?Malley took a running start and looked to clothesline Copy over the top rope, but at the last second, Copy ducked, pulled the top rope down and O?Malley and his 400 lb frame went sailing out of the ring leaving Copycat and Camacho as the final two competitors. Copycat then hit a Thesz Press on Camacho followed by several punches to Camacho?s face. Camacho responded by regaining his composure and whipping Copy into the ropes then squashing him down with a standing splash. Camacho rose to the top rope looking for his finisher, the BBS Splash, but Copy managed to rise to his feet and run full force at Camacho, hitting him with a drop kick in the midsection that knocked Camacho out of the ring. ?The Worst in the World? had finally done it! He was now the #1 Contender for the IZW Title and was well on his way to making people learn?today.

In the main event, IZW Champion ?The Natural Born Leader? Johnny Z put his title on the line as he took on ?Big Business? Damon Windsor in a Casket Match to close out the show. With the casket butted up against the ring, it loomed over everything that happened in the ring and foreshadowed the deadly consequences and high stakes of this all-important title match. Johnny Z did more talking and showboating than wrestling in the opening minutes as he didn?t want to lock up with Windsor. Z jumped out of the ring and had Windsor follow him and when Z returned to the squared circle he made Windsor pay with knees to the back of the head as Windsor tried to re-enter the ring himself. A back body drop by Windsor saw Z take flight, but seconds later, Z dodged a sidewalk slam and countered with a big boot that crumbled Windsor to the mat. Z took the fight to the mat where he pounded away at Windsor?s face with short right hands before tossing Windsor outside of the ring. Z scored with an axe handle from the ring apron then Windsor retaliated by throwing Z head first into the steel steps. Z reversed an Irish whip and sent Windsor into the guardrail seconds later as both men showed they were more than prepared to dig down deep and do whatever they had to do to walk out as champion. Z grinded Windsor?s face against the guardrail before missing badly with a Big Boot that left him straddling the guardrail with his package taking the full impact of the move. Windsor added to Z?s pain with several reverse elbows followed by a roundhouse right hand that dropped Z face first on the concrete. Z?s night only got worse as he was hurled into the steel steps. Back in the ring, Windsor connected with a spinning side slam and tried to roll Z into the open casket. Z avoided the coffin and hit a floatover DDT to turn the tide in his favor. Z hit a snap mare then a rear chin lock as he kept Windsor off of his feet before hitting a big boot and a second rope bulldog in successive moves. Z took an unnecessary risk and went for a top rope leg drop but missed. Whether you like Johnny Z or not, he was doing everything humanly possible to try and get Windsor into the casket. Later, Z countered a choke slam attempt with a DDT as he tried to roll Windsor into the wooden box but to no avail. Z looked for the Final Impact neck breaker but Windsor pushed out of the move and hit a sidewalk slam instead. Windsor then whipped Z into the ropes and connected with a spinning side slam. Windsor climbed to the top rope looking for his BFE but Z cleverly pushed referee Mark Wilson into the ropes causing Windsor to crotch himself. Johnny Z followed up with a Big Boot and tried once again to roll Windsor into the casket. Z got Windsor in the casket but could not get the top shut as Windsor stuck up his hand and blocked the casket from closing down on him. Windsor fought out of the casket but was met with a series of knees to his face. As Windsor recovered, Z grabbed his title belt and returned to the ring intent on plowing through Windsor?s face with it. Referee Wilson snatched the belt from Z?s hands causing Z to unload a kick right through the uprights. But Wilson had been one step ahead of Z this time as he pulled out an athletic cup from his pants. Wilson then shoved Z right into Windsor?s waiting hands where he delivered a choke slam. Windsor then rolled Z into the casket and was about to shut the lid when referee Mark Wilson did the unthinkable and gave Windsor a low blow from behind debilitating Windsor in the process. Wilson helped Z out of the casket and then Z grabbed his belt and destroyed Windsor with it hitting him in the face at full speed. Windsor was almost knocked out and Z rolled Windsor into the casket, shutting the lid and retaining his title in an ending nobody saw coming!