The first ever time I get to watch IWW Whiplash TV, or IWW for that fact, opens up with an interesting video package. I am so amazed lately at how impressive some Indy video packages have been. No offense, but a lot of ROH's packages are complete crap, but this one and other ones like NECW are just damn impressive. After the video, Eamon D'Arcy runs down the card and I haven't heard a damn thing about any of these wrestlers. That's not necessarily a bad thing either; it's good to try new things, especially in wrestling. Hell, if I stuck with what I knew, I would never have discovered some of my favorites like Jushin Liger and American Dragon. By the way, you can download this episode of IWW Whiplash TV by right clicking here and selecting "Save Target As."
Forbes Kelly Vs. George McFly
George McFly? Isn't that the name of the dad from Back To The Future? Well, this is Ireland and I doubt those movies are as big over there as they are here, but still. It's going to be funny reviewing a match with Michael J. Fox's dad in it. Oh dear God was this match horrible; botched moves, delayed selling, exposing spots, horrible mannerisms, and an offense that would make even John Cena look like a star by comparison. This is definitely not what I want to see on the first match of a new promotion for me. The crowd didn't even care about this match either and it was a relatively hot crowd for the entrance of McFly. I have seen wrestling students training in the ring and that is exactly what this match looked like: students training in the ring. Even more, I have to wonder where the commentary is during this match. They started off the show with some guy named Eamon hyping up the card, but then he's nowhere to be heard during the match. Let me tell you something right here; even bad commentary is better than no commentary at all. This was probably one of the worst matches I've watched all year and that is really saying something as I have seen some stinkers from WWE, TNA, and MECW this year. I hope this is not what passes as normal wrestling IWW. This kind of a match is the perfect example of why scripting a match spot by spot hurts it in quality. Things come off as sloppy and everything just looks painfully phony. After ten minutes of mind-numbing action that would give the TNA main event a run for its money, the match ends with a top rope press slam that gives McFly the win.
Winner: George McFly
Star Wrestler: Neither
The day I give someone a star wrestler nod for no-selling, botching moves, exposing the business, and wrestling like you should be paying me to watch is the day I stop watching wrestling.
After that crap, I'm actually laughing my ass off as to the little video package they have hyping up a "Special Report" segment with Eamon D'Arcy. It had SNL style music with pretty much the same kind of shots being taken. It was just hilarious and was a great attempt at comedy which was really well needed after that last match. Eamon basically puts over IWW and talks about the main event which is Sheamus O'Shaunessy going against Jay Phoenix for a shot at the IWW championship. They then show us the end of a triple threat match, with commentary, which had Phoenix and some other guys I didn't know. This kind of action looked a little better than the first match so hopefully IWW will not be as bad as it looked at first. It looks like Fergal Devitt is in this match. Jesus Christ, I am seeing this guy all across the world. I saw him in NWA-VA on the 22nd and he was apparently at the NEWC IRON 8 card on the 15th. This guy is getting around and let me tell you, the guy is damn impressive. Anyway, after the end of the match is shown, Eamon talks about McFly's win and calls him one of the biggest stars in IWW. Ok, that's not something you should be proud of, kayfabe or not. He then talks about McFly's former partner and next week's show. We then see some highlights from a tag team match with the two guys from earlier and two new guys. This doesn't look as bad as the earlier match too, so I'm going to just chalk that up as that first match being a fluke piss-poor match. They totally killed the hot tag in the match though, but that's not that bad of a thing considering it is so overdone. Eamon then goes over the main event for next week's card and we got right back to the action. Definitely a buzz kill segment from that hilarious opener package. They need to do more than just running down the matches and showing the ends of matches. Have a star on for an interview and have Eamon emote a bit more than his monotonous voice allows; that would make it a lot better.
Sheamus O'Shaunessy then cuts a generic about Phoenix. Not a lot of time given to him though, but he could have still done a bit more with it. Phoenix then cuts a promo a bit better, but still not even enough to be called good and we go right to our main event. Well, it looks like this one is going to be twenty minutes! Hopefully they can go at it well enough for that long.
Number One Contendership For IWW Championship
Sheamus O'Shaunessy Vs. Jay Phoenix
Before I forget, this one had commentary. Yay! This was a twenty-minute match and a fairly good one at that. It had some problems, but in all, it was a nice methodical twenty minute bout as opposed to trying to rush everything and kill the heat for each spot. By the look of the two before, I was sure SOS was heel and Phoenix was face, but it is vice versa. That's weird too because you should really be able to tell who is who just by looking at someone. Looking at Triple H, you know he's heel. Looking at John Cena, you know he's face. You should really just be able to look at someone and tell even before they open their mouths or pull of a move. The match opened with some good chain wrestling and mat work which you could see in any Bret Hart match from the early 90s. Naturally, Hart did it better, but these guys were great for going back to the basics when it seems people would much rather piss on that style than even think of doing it. They did a great job of captivating the audience and building towards a good finish as well. As far as the audience goes, I saw one of the best audience spots in this match ever. I really don't think I've ever seen it before. SOS had Phoenix in the position to ram his crotch into the steel post, but he got a young fan to come out and help pull on Phoenix's legs twice to ram him into the post. Great spot and a great way to rile up the crowd, but they really didn't need it which is a true compliment. Moving on, the only real complaint I have with this match is Phoenix. He didn't really do much. Sheamus was supposed to sell his ass off and do the comebacks here and there, but Phoenix was supposed to stay on top of him with holds, moves, and beat downs. He really didn't. He just kind of walked around and killed time. He played to the crowd as well as SOS did, but the rest of his job was definitely left unsatisfactory. As much fun as it was having a long TV match without commercials, you could tell Phoenix was a little out of place. Plus, add in the fact that they ended the match almost 4 minutes early (though they claimed it to be twenty minutes), it just seemed like they were getting blown up way too quick; or to point fingers, Phoenix. Finish came when Sheamus and Phoenix both traded variations of the Texas Cloverleaf. Finally, Sheamus locked it in on Phoenix and held onto it for over a minute and a half as Phoenix would not give up. Time ran out and we got a good ol' fashioned draw, which I am seeing a lot lately after a draw drought in wrestling. You could really tell they were working towards the draw finish excessively. With the way they started putting over the time winding down in the last five minutes; it was just kind of obvious that it would be a draw. Once Sheamus locked in the cloverleaf and the announcer said there was a minute left, the writing was on the wall.
Winner: No Contest
Star Wrestler: Sheamus O'Shaunessy
SOS was over like sliced bread in this match. He was great with selling, interacting with the crowd, making his comeback, and a ton more things I could list off here. Phoenix's control of SOS was really the only problem in the match based on the fact that there was no control! Had Phoenix worked over SOS a bit more, this match would have been great and Phoenix would have made himself and SOS look that way too. As it was, SOS held up his bargain of the deal and then some, but Phoenix truly faltered. I'm fairly confident a match between the two going ten minutes would be light years ahead in quality, but as this was, Phoenix needs some work on going the distance and SOS needs to teach a lot of people just how to make an old school comeback as he did one of the best I've seen in a while.
After the match, Phoenix and Sheamus share some words before Phoenix runs off. Eamon D'Arcy comes back on next and he talks about that match as well as next week's show and we go off the air.
This was the first show I ever watched from IWW and to tell you the truth, I'm split. I loved how they used their time. Two matches; one short, one long; two quick promos, and one segment to get over the product. If TNA did Impact like this, the show would improve immensely, though I bet fan feedback would drop like a boulder in water. The first match was just god-awful, but the second match was good with only a time problem. The special report segment lacks flavor, but I love the effort and the idea of doing it; plus, that SNL-style opener was just classic. Overall, this episode of IWW Whiplash TV wasn't that good, but I'd like to see more and given the audience they had and the time management they show, I am really looking forward to some more by them.
That's going to wrap it up this time folks. Up next, I got Heat followed by a long list of almost a dozen more shows. I'm still backed up, but I'm slowly getting back. Thanks for sticking with me guys, and if you want to watch this episode of IWW, the link is at the top. Well, that's it, so ‘till next time, this is "Squared Circle Reviews" signing off and hoping you enjoy what you watch.
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