IWC Proving (Hooven) Ground Review 2017

Proving (Hooven) Ground, as held by the International Wrestling Cartel (IWC) last night was one for the books.  All titles got defended, and we saw the debuts of all sorts of young wrestlers ready to start their career.

Here’s a brief recap:

 

• Team Storm continued their winning streak by defeating the team of Remy Lavey, Keith Haught, and Santana Diamonds, very solid match that went over 10 minutes long and had a few instances of Air Keith
• The audience seems to like it when Keith shows a little skin…is Playgirl calling?
• Jinx made her wrestling debut in a big way, defeating Samantha Heights by reversing what seemed to be an attempt at an Alabama Slammer by Samantha
• Definitely the upset of the evening, for as I’ve mentioned before Samantha is as tough as they come
• Chest Flexor and Wild Child Lee Ryans defeated Corey Futuristic and his friend, who turned out to be a real person after all.  I believe his name was Billy
• Billy is a big giant of a wrestler and I think at one point did a double suplex on Flexor and Ryans, good stuff
• After the match, it seemed that all was forgiven, as Flexor, Ryans, Corey, and Billy embraced in the middle of the ring….looks like we may have ourselves the newest member of the STD’s!
• SIDE NOTE: the reveal of the evening happened during intermission, as Chest Flexor told me that it was Lee Ryans that set up the meetup for Dollar Burger Night that I was controversially not invited to…please tell me this is not the case Wild Child?
• Andrew Palace took the debuting Calvin Couture to school, making a statement to Jack Pollock at Couture’s expense
• Couture was very resourceful throughout the match though, mainly in finding a way to make sure his hair was on point via the usage of as many rope breaks as possible
• SIDE NOTE:  Couture’s fan base included a highly attractive young woman with blonde hair and the always appealing tattoo sleeve…more on that later
• The Fraternity retained their tag team titles by defeating John McChesney and Daniel Hooven
• Hooven ignored the instructions of McChesney and did a top rope dive outside the ring onto the Fraternity, though it was effective, Hooven got hurt in the process
• The Fraternity used Hooven’s camera that they busted up at Reloaded to knock out Hooven and get the pin, as nefarious as they are, The Fraternity continue to find ways to win, will any team out there be able to take away their stranglehold on the tag team titles?
• After the match, Chris LeRusso, who had been doing commentary ringside, laughed at John McChesney’s failure to defeat the Fraternity…Big League was not amused
• Next up was Wardlow’s open challenge, in which he mentioned that last time he was in Rural Valley he threw Super Hentai out of the ring and no one had seem him since
• As an fyi to Wardlow, I’ve got strong resources telling me that Hentai landed in West Newton
• Out came newcomer Plato Meremec to try his shot at heavyweight gold, it didn’t work out too well for him as Wardlow pinned him without even taking his belt off, that was pimp
• Plato did try the whole wrench hidden in the book trick but was not able to capitalize on that…I think he must have picked up that idea from old episodes of Prison Break or something
• Noctus then came out to face Wardlow, he lasted about ten seconds longer than Plato, but the result was the same, Wardlow smash
• Finally the Country Hammer Jami Jamison came out, and he had the size to stand up to Wardlow that the previous two wrestlers did not
• Jamison was very game, and had the debut of the evening as he was a missed moonsault away from possibly defeating Wardlow
• End of day, Wardlow nailed his finisher and defeated three opponents in one evening to continue his dominance of IWC
• Marshall the Bull and Bronco McBride defeated Bulk Nasty and Officer Dan Murphy after Bulk walked out on his tag partner and left Murphy to fend for himself
• Early on in this match, Bulk showed why he is still a powerhouse to be reckoned with, manhandling Marshall and Bronco, if he and Murphy would have formed a better partnership perhaps they would have won the match.
• This match also went out into the bleachers for a short bit…it seems that if Marshall and Bronco are in Rural Valley they are magnetically drawn to taking the action outside the ring
• SIDE NOTE:  Before the match, Bulk took my FREE BULK NASTY sign I made for him, in homage to the old FREE MIKE TYSON movement…and he tore it up.  I don’t think he realizes the two plus minutes of hard work I put into making that sign.  I had not put in two minutes of hard work since prom night so he should have been a bit more grateful
• Britt Baker defended her IWC women’s title by defeating the debuting Katie Arquette, who had a lot to say before the match but was no trouble for Britt and the IWC debut of her rocking new black ring gear
• After the match Calvin Couture came out to help escort Katie Arquette to the locker room…looks like these two may be gunning to be the power couple of IWC
• In the main event, Chris LeRusso defended his Super Indy title by defeating Shane InYaFace…Shane had a few moments where he seemed to have LeRusso’s number, but LeRusso feigned a leg injury which caused Shane to be over aggressive and LeRusso capitalized
• After the match, McChesney came out and had words with LeRusso before being attacked by Bulk Nasty and BC Steele…..but just as Big League once saved Hooven, this time it was Hooven doing the saving as he came out and took out Bulk and Steele, leaving McChesney to state to LeRusso that he was coming for the Super Indy title as the show ended
• Overall a great event, and though I would usually call a match of the night, in this instance I feel it would be a disservice to all who put effort into their ring debuts – so the official TreyFabe Match of the Night dedication goes to myself, for being able to not be distracted by the extremely attractive Calvin Couture fan and maintain focus on keeping notes for this blog.  You’re welcome.  If she happens to be reading this, it may come as some small surprise but hey, I’m still single here….and I’m loyal!

Here are my rankings after the events of Hooven Ground, as the roster grew big time last night, some feelings will get hurt (previous rankings in parentheses)

IWC Heavyweight Champion:  Wardlow
IWC Super Indy Champion:  Chris LeRusso
IWC Tag Team Champions:  The Fraternity
IWC Women’s Champion:  Britt Baker

1. DJ Z (1) – he’ll be up against Wardlow next month at IWC 16
2. Jonathan Gresham (2) – though inactive this month, since he already has a Super Indy spot locked up look for him to remain highly ranked until June because he is just that awesome
3. Andrew Palace (3) – statement win over Couture, next up, Pollock?
4. Jack Pollock (4) – if he wants to leapfrog Palace in the rankings he’ll need to beat Palace, clean
5. Shane InYaFace (7) – good match against LeRusso, can he learn from defeat and rebound?
6. John McChesney (NR) – looks like Big League is getting over the injury rust and coming for the Super Indy title
7. Bulk Nasty (8) – moves up a spot despite being a poor teammate to Officer Murphy
8. Daniel Hooven (NR) – with Big League going after the Super Indy title, Hooven is now free to go after that bully Bulk Nasty after their altercation at the end of Hooven Ground, maybe as early as IWC 16 next month?
9. Santana Diamonds (10) – had some great moments including an outside the ring dive last night
10. Matthew Justice (NR) – don’t think you weren’t seen sitting in the bleachers bro, I think Justice was scouting talent and may have his mind on either Wardlow or LeRusso’s belt…more to come on this one maybe?

Tag team rankings are as follows:

1.  Team Storm – Argos and Dupree keep on finding ways to win
2.  The Upper Echelon – we gonna be able to see these guys back at IWC?
3.  Chest Flexor and Lee Ryans – for real guys, invite me out for burgers
4.  Corey Futuristic and Billy – they had chemistry, we’ll see where this goes
5.  Remy Lavey and Keith Haught – let’s not forget, they are the last team to beat The Fraternity, I think they need to have a #1 contender’s match with Team Storm with the winner getting a crack at the Frat

IWC Women’s rankings are as follows:

1.  Ray Lyn – I repeat, until she has a chance at the belt in the division she helped create, she will always be the number one ranked contender
2.  April Sera – don’t think I didn’t see you ringside either….two words:  comeback
3.  Chelsea Green – since she got stood up at her wedding last week, I think a shot at Britt’s title may be just what she needs to get over her heartbreak…that or a date with my friend Justy Rhodes
4.  Jinx – hey, she’s undefeated and full of energy, a few more matches and ample practice she may be ready for Britt
5.  Katie Arquette – though she lost to Britt, it was her debut, give her time and she may just be the one to dethrone Baker and turn Brittsburgh into her version of Hollywood

That’s it for now, next card up is IWC 16 which I will be unable to attend, before exiting out of the blog check the plugs before and support indy wrestling!

All IWC cards are available for purchase here:  http://www.indywrestling.us/

And more details on upcoming IWC cards can be found here:  http://iwcwrestling.com/

Be sure to check out all the latest interviews on the Wrestling Mayhem Show podcast, featuring tons of folks from IWC these past few weeks including Jaxon Argos, Shane Taylor, Santana Diamonds, and more here:

http://www.wrestlingmayhemshow.com/

 

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February 26, 2017

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No loyalty, no free pictures – a Hooven Ground Preview

• This Saturday night, in Rural Valley, the IWC will be having their next event, Hooven Ground 2017 (formerly known as Proving Ground 6)
• Last time IWC was in Rural Valley, Remy Lavey and Keith Haught defeated Marshall the Bull and Bronco McBride in a fans bring the weapons street fight that bought sheer violence and destruction to the venue – topped only last year by the infamous New Kensington Street Fight that was the only five star rated match in the Western PA area last year, but that is a whole other story
• Figured I’d shell out some predictions for this week’s event, using my usual match prediction method of whoever gives me the most retweets and Twitter likes, it’s proven to be quite accurate:
• Bulk Nasty and Officer Dan Murphy over Marshall the Bull and Bronco McBride
  • Officer Dan is making his debut, what I’m trying to figure out is if Officer Dan is Bulk’s parole officer or not….apparently there was an assault charge levied against Bulk a few weeks ago, an altercation at Red Lobster….Bulk swears that the plaintiff fell down the stairs…I dunno
• Samantha Heights over Jinx
  • Jinx is also making her wrestling debut, but no way will Samantha let some rookie steal a win from her….saw Samantha in a hardcore intergender match a few weeks ago and she is not a woman to be messed with
• Corey Futuristic and his friend over the Sexy Talented Dudes
  • My prediction for who could possibly be Corey’s friend, with some suggestion from someone in the Mayhem chat room (forgot who it was, sorry) – is none other than Virgil.  I think that perhaps Corey and Virgil have been in cahoots for two years and the plan all along was to break up the Sexy Talented Dudes.  I hope this is not the case but at any rate I’m mad at Chest Flexor for not inviting me to dollar burger night so I’m picking him to lose this one
• Calvin Couture over Andrew Palace
  • Now I know I said that a rookie can’t steal a win over a veteran just a few predictions up…but I’ve got Calvin winning this one after Andrew gets distracted by one of Calvin’s bowties.  Have you seen his bowties, they are pimp!
• Santana Diamonds, Remy Lavey, and Keith Haught over Team Storm
  • The Diamond Life teams with Remy and Keith to take out Team Storm in what looks to be match of the night
• Britt Baker over Katie Arquette
  • The real question on this match is if Britt is going to wear her new pimp black gear that I seen her post a picture of last weekend
• Wardlow over surprise opponent T Rex in the rematch of the year
  • That’s right, Wardlow’s opponent has yet to be named and I have searched far and wide to see who is not booked Saturday night and the only names I could come up with were Jeweller Jeff, Bradley Ruthers, and T Rex.  Word on the street is that T Rex has invoked his rematch clause
• John McChesney and Daniel Hooven over the Fraternity
  • Team Big League is going to give the Fraternity all they can handle, and they will win the match…..by disqualification, meaning the Fraternity will take a loss but still retain their belts
• Shane InYaFace over Chris LeRusso
  • In what will be the one match where we do have a title change, Shane will use his MMA background and take the Super Indy title from LeRusso with that same move that Gracie used to beat Severn on one of them old UFC’s that you’d have to rent from the video store on VHS back in the day…don’t tell me I’m the only one
• Be sure to catch up on all of your favorite IWC action by buying the DVD’s or downloading the matches at http://www.indywrestling.us/
• Tickets are still available but they are going fast, be sure to get yours quick at http://iwcwrestling.com/
• As always, loyalty is rewarded here at Breaking TreyFabe, so follow me on Twitter @treygar
• See you Saturday!

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February 20, 2017

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IWC Reloaded 3.0 Review

International Wrestling Cartel’s (IWC) annual Reloaded card is always the toughest one of the year for the IWC champions, as they have no way of preparing for their title defenses, as their opponent’s are determined by the wily Reset Button.  This year’s card lived up to its billing, and then some.  

I’m just going to get right to the highlights:

• When walking into the venue was instantly saddened…you see I am usually the cutest guy at these events (and I’m still single ladies) – but there were two younger, cuter, bachelors working the Sorgatron Media table so I knew my chance to find the wrestling fangirl of my dreams was already shot
• Bulk Nasty welcomed me to the venue by throwing up a finger, acknowledging that I’m his number one fan….he did not use the usual finger that people throw up when signifying the number one though…
• The opening bonus match was a new (to IWC) tag team, the Upper Echelon (PB Smooth and Colby Redd), defeating former tag team champions Remy Lavey and Keith Haught
• Very impressed by the Upper Echelon, a definite value add to the tag division
• Wardlow came out to the ring to start the taped event, stating he was ready for the Reset Button to give him an opponent already, and the Reset Button obliged….
• With a T- Rex!  Yes you are reading that right, Wardlow’s first title defense was against a T-Rex.  Now, I know that the new presidency sent the country back to prehistoric times but I didn’t know that they were taking wrestling with them..I had to pinch myself that I was not dreaming this all up at this point…
• At any rate, the beast Wardlow quickly defeated the T-Rex.  After the match Shane Taylor came out to challenge Wardlow setting up a main event that night between two modern day dinosaurs – Wardlow and Shane Taylor for the IWC Heavyweight Championship
• With the help of Team Storm, Jack Pollock defeated Andrew Palace in his first match at IWC   
• What is it going to take to get Team Storm banned from ringside so that Palace and Pollock can settle this with no outside interference?
• Britt Baker’s opponent for her IWC Women’s Championship ended up being Chelsea Green, who has recently been seen bullying Allie down in Florida
• Like I mentioned to Chelsea during intermission, why is she wasting time bullying Allie…Allie is not even a trained wrestler!!  #stillrealtome
• Chelsea pulled out all sorts of maneuvers to get the win, including a sweet looking top rope superplex and a dropkick off the top ropes, but Britt prevailed and got a submission victory to retain her title in a great match that lasted just over 15 minutes
• There will be a rematch between the two next weekend in California at the RISE 2 event, wish I could make that one, if you’ve paid attention to this little blog you’d have seen my RISE 1 commentary already
• The randomly selected wrestlers for the Four Way Super Indy qualifying match were Dominic Garrini, Jaxson Argos, Sless Taylor, and Jonathan Gresham!  
• This was Garrini and Taylor’s first matches with IWC I think
• Argos got too excited setting up a top rope maneuver and it didn’t go exactly as planned
• Gresham got the victory, pinning Garrini at the end of it, and is the first qualifier, and early odds on favorite, to win this year’s Super Indy tournament
• Speaking of Super Indy, next up was Chris LeRusso against his randomly selected opponent which turned out to be….
• The Franchise, Shane Douglas…so we had a match between the Heir Apparent and the Franchise, awesome
• LeRusso got the victory after hitting Douglas with a chain to the face…it took a lot of interference by Bulk Nasty and BC Steele to get to that point
• After the match Shane thanked the crowd and mentioned he is nearing the end of his wrestling career so this may have been his IWC swan song
• Shane InYaFace defeated Bulk Nasy via submission, after the match LeRusso attacked Shane, causing Shane to state that he would use cash in his title shot at Proving Ground against LeRusso for the Super Indy title
• The Mega Plowers (Jock Samson and Magnum CK) defeated Corey Futuristic and The Kingpin Brian McDowell
• Corey was upset that Virgil did not show up to the event so he could exact some revenge on him, and I totally agree with him
• Corey did cause his team the match though, by leaving the ring in search of his mystery friend that no one has yet to see…this caused The Kingpin to leave the ring angry with Corey as he felt abandoned
• Could Corey’s actions bring about the demise of the Sexy Talented Dudes?  
• In a very tough match between two of IWC’s Icons – DJ Z gained the #1 Contender position for the IWC Heavyweight title by defeating Jimmy Vegas
• Vegas had a chair positioned in the corner to use but it backfired, as Z got out of the way forcing Vegas to crash his already tender shoulder into the steel chair, setting up Z for the victory
• DJ Z was highly verbal after the match, speaking into the camera that he was coming for Wardlow
• The Fraternity was up next to defend their IWC Tag Team Championships…and the first person the Reset Button selected was…
• PHOTOGRAPHER DANIEL HOOVEN!!  What a surprise.  This led to the Road Warrior pop of the night
• In a flashback to my freshman year in high school, the Fraternity took off Hooven’s glasses and smashed them to pieces with their feet
• They then smashed his $15,000 professional camera as he was held back, unable to do anything to stop them – stop the insanity!
• Hearing the battle cry “Do it for Ryback!” – Hooven began to put up a fight
• Never one to let someone get bullied, Big League John McChesney made his return from injury and inserted himself into the match
• And a great match it was, as Team Big League 2017, John McChesney and Daniel Hooven defeated The Fraternity to become new IWC Tag Team champions…except…
• The Reset Button never officially chose McChesney, making the official result of the match to be a no contest…however…
• At Proving Ground next month….an event that IWC head Justin Plummer has now renamed Hooven Ground…The Fraternity will have to officially put their belts on the line against McChesney and Hooven
• In the main event, Wardlow got a driver on Shane Taylor after Shane let himself get distracted by Justin LaBar, and Wardlow retained his IWC Heavyweight Championship…but not without having his chest scarred for life by some monster chops by Shane
• While Wardlow and LaBar were celebrating…the screen came on and it turns out that Broken Matt and Brother Nero, the Hardy’s – had a message for Wardlow and it was that they are coming to Night of the Superstars in April….what their business is with Wardlow remains unclear but he did not seem all that happy about the possibilities
• For good measure, Shane Taylor knocked LaBar to the ground with a punch to the face to end the evening
• Overall another excellent card, with TreyFabe match of the night honors going to Team Big League vs The Fraternity
• IWC returns in February to Rural Valley, PA for Proving Ground 2017, stay tuned to their website for details

————————————————————-

Here are my rankings after the events of Reloaded, and I’m adding in a Women’s rankings as well because I don’t have enough wrestlers mad at me about ranking placement (previous rankings in parentheses)

IWC Heavyweight Champion:  Wardlow
IWC Super Indy Champion:  Chris LeRusso
IWC Tag Team Champions:  The Fraternity
IWC Women’s Champion:  Britt Baker

1. DJ Z (NR) – last time I had rankings Z was champ, he’s now the #1 contender as he was never pinned for his title
2. Jonathan Gresham (7) – nice to know that Gresham will be at Super Indy
3. Andrew Palace (3) – the face of IWC, which is sometimes more curse than blessing
4. Jack Pollock (NR) – Pollock showed he was a great wrestler, giving it his all against Palace, but you don’t move ahead of anyone in my rankings until you pin them cleanly
5. Jimmy Vegas (NR) – lost a tough match…does he have a title run left in him?
6. Shane Taylor (NR) – two words:  CHOP CITY
7. Shane InYaFace (NR) – needs to make the most of his upcoming title shot against LeRusso
8. Bulk Nasty (10) – still slightly confused by his hand gesture to me…
9. Dominic Garrini (NR) – showed a lot of heart in the 4 way qualifier
10. Santana Diamonds (NR) – this top talent needs some higher profile matches, was a travesty that the Reset Button did not land on him at Reloaded

Tag team rankings are as follows:

1.  Team Big League – Hooven and McChesney are for real
2.   Team Storm – how come no one has thought about booking a Canadian Civil War match between The Fraternity and Team Storm’s Jaxon Argos and RC Dupree?
3.   The Upper Echelon – rough and tumble big dudes here
4.   Chest Flexor and Lee Ryans – another travesty of the evening was that Chest Flexor was not on the card
5.   Mega Plowers – classic rock will never die

TreyFabe’s 1st ever IWC Women’s rankings (now that there’s a belt)

1.  Ray Lyn – never had an opportunity for the title, will be the top contender until she has a title shot
2.  Chelsea Green – lost a close one to Britt
3.  April Sera – was tough in the 4 way match to determine the title, will she be back or will she slowly fall out of my rankings?
4.   Marti Belle – always one to give Britt fits, I have a feeling she isn’t done with her
5.   Jenny Plummer – if Daniel Hooven can get a match, Mrs. Plummer can get a match…am I right?

As always,  all IWC cards are available for purchase here:  http://www.indywrestling.us/

And more details on upcoming IWC cards can be found here:  http://iwcwrestling.com/

Photo credit to Daniel Hooven, check out his website and book him for your wedding or party or special event – http://drhphotography.pixieset.com/

Be sure to check out all the latest interviews on the Wrestling Mayhem Show podcast, featuring tons of folks from IWC these past few weeks including Jaxon Argos, Shane Taylor, and more here:

http://www.wrestlingmayhemshow.com/
Thanks for reading, and see you at the shows….

 

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January 22, 2017

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PCW New Year’s Revolution Review

Checked out my first Premier Championship Wrestling ‘New Year’s Revolution’ event in Cleveland last weekend, not knowing any of the storylines and only really familiar with the Pittsburgh area talent that was there, figured I’d give this a quick fanboy/first timer review….so please feel free to comment on anything I may not be hip to…

• Before the card I pregamed at Melt…and I have to admit…that place is a national treasure holy hell
• Venue was nice, it was also my first time at Turners Hall..I prefer venues with space vice some of the cramped places some feds run out of
• Old school program sheets were given out, which is a nice touch that takes me back to the old days..I need to find some of my old WWE program sheets that I would scribble on the match results and any card changes
• Before the card started a 10 count was dedicated to the recently passed Jimmy Superfly Snuka, as news of his passing was announced just hours before the card
• Sonny Vice defeated Nickie Valentino…during the match Valentino payed homage to Snuka by doing some of his wrestling moves, that was a nice touch
• Thunderkitty and N8 Mattson defeated Shawn Phoenix and Joseline….was great to see the highly talented Thunderkitty in action and was impressed with Mattson and his old school tough guy heel banter
• During the match it was confirmed that Thunderkitty once worked the Detroit territory with Mildred Burke…who knew!!
• Wardlow’s opponent couldn’t make the event, so Dale Patricks stepped in…but much like what has been seen in Pennsylvania….no one can stop the man with War in his name, as Wardlow got the win with some help from his manager
• Wardlow’s manager came to the ring with a Viewfinder…which is awesome and makes me wonder how come I never thought of walking around sporting a Viewfinder….I could probably get a Valentine’s date that way….right?
• In the no doubt match of the night, Dropkick Dave and Uppercut Ulysses defeated the Black Hand Society, Jack Pollock and Payton Graham
• The match started off outside the ring as Uppercut gave Pollock an erm….uppercut…which sent both men over the ring barriers into the crowd
• For real, though it is silly for a tag team to do the two moves, an uppercut and a dropkick, over and over, it works – and it keeps the crowd hot and wanting more…erm….uppercuts and dropkicks.  It shouldn’t work, but it works beautifully
• Gory submitted Frightmare in what was also an excellent match.  Wouldn’t mind seeing a 2 out of 3 falls match between these two one day
• In an upset, Ethan Wright and Seth Allen defeated the Mega Plowers, Jock Samson and Chris Kahn.  The reason the Mega Plowers lost is simple, not enough Air Jock
• Ace Perry got a win over Mance Warner, I thought Perry was done for as early on he went for a move on Warner that Warner ducked out of and Perry slammed himself headfirst into a chair
• Remy Lavey defeated Andrew Palace with the help of Gory….I had seen Remy plenty of times but not in this fashion…I missed the episode where he turned to the dark side and I’m not sure that I like it…the evil Culmination faction seem to win by outnumbering their opponents, I wonder how long that is going to last in PCW before others team up to stop them
• In the main event, Ricky Shane Page defeated Ganon Jones Jr.  These two men are absolute beasts.  I enjoy main events that are just two big men going at it and that’s what this one was.  My first time seeing RSP and I was impressed with his charisma.  Ganon is of course one of the best big men out there.  Neither of these two gave an inch and RSP eeeked out that victory.  
• Overall I really enjoyed the card, it was a good way to kill a Sunday evening and worth the admission, gas money, and tolls that it took to get there.  It seems this new fed is working on a championship tournament as well.  A solid mix of Western PA and Ohio wrestlers makes this a great regional federation to check out if the schedules work out.

 

Be sure to follow PCW at the following:

www.premierchampionshipwrestling.com

www.joe-dombrowski.com

Follow on Twitter at @PCWCleveland

Thanks for reading, and see ya at the matches….

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January 20, 2017

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IWC Reloaded 3.0 Preview

Last year the Reloaded 2.0 vibe got delayed a bit by the winter storm that took out indy wrestling from Maine to Tucson.

If you do recall though, I had a great interview with IWC head Justin Plummer before Reloaded 2.0 and he has been grateful enough to sit down with Breaking TreyFabe staff for another interview ahead of Reloaded 3.0.

TreyFabe: Man oh man, insane year 2016 was.  We’ve spoken a few times about some of the top moments of 2016 but in short, give me your personal favorite 2 or 3 moments.

Plummer:  I could go on and on with this subject.  Obviously, crowning the 1st ever women’s champion in the 15 plus year history of the company was a very proud moment.  Getting to down some beers with the Sandman and the best athletes in IWC House of HARDCORE was another great moment.  Just partnering with Tommy to put on that event in general was a blast.  Overall, DJ Z stepping up to the plate to be the face of IWC in light of the unfortunate loss of Jimmy Nutts was something that I’ll never forget either.  I would be crazy not to file away the memory of Chris Jericho telling me how good WTA was and that I should be proud.  That was a surreal moment for sure. Like I said, I can go on and on. 2016 was a blessing.

TreyFabe:  Looking ahead to 2017, let’s get into some talk on Reloaded 3.0…which I always like to promote as the event where the only thing guaranteed is Virgil and an awesome night of wrestling.  First let’s just do some brief discussions on the announced matches…

TreyFabe:  Jimmy Vegas vs DJ Z in a #1 contender’s match – Z never lost the title in the ring, and Vegas has hinted this may his last year in the business – both with a lot on the line in this one.

Plummer:  I’d love to see DJ Z back on top of the IWC. I don’t know of many others that embody the spirit of the company like he does.  On the other hand, I’d love to see  Vegas get one last good run in before he’s done.  He has been the backbone of IWC since the start, and may deserve it more than anyone.  Should be a great match between two men who rarely lose and have very clashing styles.

TreyFabe:  Jack Pollock vs Andrew Palace – can Palace ever catch a break?  Seems every time someone new pops into IWC they gun for Palace.  This match doesn’t seem to be fair either as Pollock will probably be bring his Team Storm folks with him.

Plummer:  Everyone knows that Andrew Palace is IWC, and I think that honor is also a curse.  I’d love to see Palace put this to bed quickly and get him in the heavyweight title mix, but it’s a crowded spot right now and everyone will have to earn their opportunities in the ring.  Nonetheless, this will be a dream match between two of the best in Pittsburgh!

TreyFabe:  Bulk Nasty vs ShaneInYaFace – highlighting some of the best young talent in IWC, this match should be a barnstormer huh?

Plummer:  Yes it should. No matter the outcome, don’t forget that Shane earned a title shot of his choice in February, so he could use the momentum heading into that opportunity.

TreyFabe:  A Super Indy four person qualifying match in January – I’m probably looking forward to this one more than any – last year’s four person qualifier was one of the top matches of the year – any hints on who is coming to town for this one?

Plummer:  The Reset Button will ultimately decide who gets into this one for a shot at the 1st spot in Super Indy, but I do know that superstars currently finding success in Evolve, CZW, ROH and more will be there hoping to have their names called.

TreyFabe:  The Fraternity dominated the tag team scene last year – you really think the Reset Button is going to find someone to take them down?

Plummer:  It’s hard to see anyone taking down the Fraternity any time soon, but I do know that we have some MAJOR stars coming in for this one.  We’ll see if The Reset Button calls their number for the frat boys.

TreyFabe:  Chris LeRusso for once will not be able to prepare, as he has a mystery opponent for his Super Indy title, this should be interesting to see him caught off his guard for once.

Plummer:  Yes is should!

TreyFabe:  Britt Baker was perhaps the feel good story of 2016, and as I have written many times had one of the most successful years of anyone from the IWC getting major television and promotional exposure – at the same time there are plenty of women who would love to get their hands on that IWC Women’s title and make her reign a short one – how has the response been on the women’s title?

Plummer:  I knew bringing a women’s division and ultimately a women’s title to IWC would be huge, but I never expected it to get this much publicity. I’m proud to have Britt Baker as the athlete leading this division into the next level in 2017 as the IWC Women’s division continues to expand in its 3rd year.

TreyFabe:  Finally, Wardlow.  Dude is a beast….I think it may take someone of Brock Lesnar proportions to come in and stand a chance against him….that being said…Virgil needs a match, right?    

Plummer:  Alone, Wardlow may be beatable, but LaBar is a cancer. If Wardlow can manage Labar’s garbage, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him go undefeated for a second consecutive year.  He’s an absolute athletic freak.

Plummer:  Speaking of monsters, I can also now announce that Shane Taylor has announced that he will be returning to Pittsburgh in hopes of being selected for any of these matches by the Reset Button.  I can say, I hope his trip is worth a because I’d love to see him back in an IWC ring. I just hope his time away has changed his past relationships here in Pittsburgh, because last time he was here he was in camp LaBar.

Plummer:  I can also say that a former WWE/WCW/ECW star will be in the building and in the mix for a potential Reset Button match, but you’ll have to be there to see!

Be sure to get tickets at http://iwcwrestling.com/ for your chance to see the always unpredictable Reloaded card.

Also of note, Jaxon Argos is going to be doing an interview the the top podcast out there, the Wrestling Mayhem Show, the week before the event – stay tuned to their website and twitter for that schedule – http://www.wrestlingmayhemshow.com/ and @MayhemShow

While I’m here, may as well throw some predictions out there in hopes that the Reset Button will listen to me….

• Jimmy Vegas over DJ Z to become the #1 contender to the IWC Heavyweight title
• Andrew Palace over Jack Pollock despite loads of interference by Team Storm
• Shane InYaFace over Bulk Nasty after Bulk mistakes someone on the outside of the ring as his favorite pizza delivery man and gets distracted for a roll up loss
• In the four person Super Indy qualifying match, the Reset Button will implode the Sexy Talented Dudes, pitting Chest Flexor, Lee Ryans, Corey Futuristic, and the Kingpin Brian McDowell against one another – I’m not even going to call this one and actually this much awesome going against one another in the ring at the same time may cause the entire crowd to self combust
• The Fraternity will lose against the Reset Button chosen John McChesney and Shane Taylor…basically the Fraternity will see Shane Taylor up close, run out of the building, and get counted out
• Chris LeRusso will defend his Super Indy title against the Reset Button chosen Santana Diamonds.  The Diamond Life will pull the upset and win the Super Indy title.  
• Britt Baker will defend her IWC women’s title against the surprising Reset Button choice of the evening, Ginger
• The Mega Plowers will have a match and though I’m not sure who it will be against I can guarantee that we’ll get ourselves some AIR JOCK!!!
• In the main event Wardlow will face up against his toughest competitor yet, of course I’m talking about Virgil.  Virgil will have the Million Dollar Dream locked on and be just about to get the victory on Wardlow, but he’ll get distracted by seeing a paying customer at his merch table and he’ll get himself counted out while trying to make an honest twenty bucks

Thanks for reading, as always feel free to leave me some comments or cheap digs in the comment section or on the Twitters at @treygar

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January 8, 2017

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IWC 2016 TreyFabe Year in Review

Tell ya what, it has been an amazing year at the International Wrestling Cartel – though not the only federation I have been to in the area this year, it has been the one that I have been to the most, so I’ve got more to write about.  You can check past blog posts for some of the other feds I’ve been lucky to make it out to, and in 2017 I plan on going on some road trips to check out some other feds – for instance Rockstar has a main event on January 6th of Dezmond Xavier vs David Starr vs Sami Callihan – oh my.

Here are a few rewards, lists, and occasional one liners from the staff here at Breaking TreyFabe.

What follows are the top 20 matches I was able to see live.

1. Josh Alexander vs Jonathan Gresham, Caged Fury – twice this year Gresham and Alexander put on classic matches.  I have this rematch for the Super Indy title as the match of the year as they put on a clinic of classic mat grappling along with beating the hell out of one another for 30 minutes.  
2. Chris LeRusso vs Dezmond Xavier vs Timmy Lou Retton vs Alex Daniels, Reloaded 2.0 – if you like flippy wrestling, this is the match for you.  It introduced me to Xavier who I could watch wrestle all day.  Everyone put their all into this match and it showed in the results.
3. Chris LeRusso vs Gory vs Alex Daniels, Rumble in Rural Valley – another flippy match equalled another high ranking on my list.  
4. Josh Alexander vs Jonathan Gresham, Super Indy – Super Indy is always the can’t miss card of the year and this year was no different (although I do love me the Reloaded card each year) – after Alexander and Gresham made it through two rounds they took this match into the crowd and proved why they are two of the best in the business.
5. Andrew Palace vs Team Storm, Winner Takes All – a handicap ladder match, that started out as two on one (Team Storm of Jaxon Argos and RC Dupree) before it became three on one when Jack Pollock made his IWC debut.  Got to hand it to Palace, he very nearly took out two game opponents in a ladder match but once it was three on one, he was done.
6. DJ Z vs Jimmy Nutts, IWC 15 – DJ Z took the title in this one in a great match, which was Nutts final match for what could be a lengthy time given some injury issues he has going on.  
7. Andrew Palace vs Gory, IWC 15 – I really don’t think Gory is capable of putting on a bad match – and this area is really lucky as Gory makes the local circuit so you can see him nearly monthly in the area.  This was a great back and forth affair celebrating the 15th year of IWC at what was a very great card.
8. DJ Z vs Jimmy Demarco, Reloaded 2.0 – two words:  thumbtacks.
9. Ray Lyn vs Britt Baker, Rumble in Rural Valley – the two dominate females of the women’s division went at it one final time in Rural Valley before Ray Lyn moved out to take over women’s wrestling on the west coast.  
10. Dezmond Xavier vs Josh Alexander, Super Indy – for my money the top wrestler in the indy’s Dezmond vs the eventual winner of Super Indy Alexander – instant classic.
11. Andrew Palace vs Bulk Nasty, Rumble in Rural Valley – Palace was out for revenge on his former friend Bulk Nasty in this match.  They both pulverized one another until Palace eeked out a victory.
12. Facade vs Chris LeRusso, House of Hardcore 20 – one of two IWC centric matches on the HOH card – this one between the high flyer Facade and the wily LeRusso was amazing – and wrestled on only two ropes!!!
13. Britt Baker vs April Sera vs Marti Belle vs Sonya Strong, Winner Takes All – perhaps the most historic match on this list as Britt was crowned as the first ever IWC Women’s Champion in this match…putting the IWC on the national map as a federation that now supports the growing talent level of the women’s division worldwide.
14. The Fraternity vs EYFBO, Caged Fury – The Fraternity owned the tag team division this year, if there was one team that took them to the limit it was the debuting and highly skilled and entertaining team EYFBO.  Need to get them back to IWC asap.
15. Darin Dinero vs Dave Crist, IWC 15 – hometown hero Dinero qualified for the Super Indy in this match.  Would love to see both of these wrestlers in an IWC ring as we move into 2017.
16. Ray Lyn vs Lufisto, Caged Fury – another debut at Caged Fury led to another classic match, and one of the upsets of the year as Lufisto is an icon but the always resourceful Ray Lyn was able to pull out the victory.
17. Andrew Palace vs Chris LeRusso, Caged Fury – the final match in the Palace/LeRusso feud this year and it was a brutal one.  Palace showed his resiliency and pulled out the victory in this one, tentatively ending his feud with LeRusso.
18. Sam Adonis vs Chris LeRusso, Winner Takes All – seeing a theme here with LeRusso, the dude puts on good matches.  Sam is working the scene in Mexico but needs to get back to the Burgh quick.  This match was also of national interest thanks to a special ring announcer.
19. Andrew Palace vs Chris LeRusso, Super Indy – put these two in a ring you are going to get an A+ match.
20. Billy Gunn vs Dylan Bostic, Reloaded 2.0 – this was one of the funner matches of the year that had great fan participation and chants.

No top 10 lists this post, instead I’m going to list the top contenders for each belt as we enter into 2017….some dream opponents if you will.

IWC Heavyweight Title:  Wardlow is the champion, but he never pinned DJ Z, so when Z is healthy he should get a rematch.  Others I’d like to see Wardlow face would be Jimmy Vegas in a cage, Bulk Nasty in a falls count anywhere match at any random Red Lobster, and Corey Futuristic.

IWC Super Indy Title:  Chris LeRusso had a great year, more on that later, but don’t we all want to see a Sam Adonis rematch?  While we’re talking rematches, how about Facade?  As for new contenders, Shane InYaFace and Santana Diamonds are rising stars that need title shots.

IWC Tag Team Title:  The Fraternity is hard to bet against at this point, that is why I think the team of Zachary Wentz and Dezmond Xavier needs to be brought in to see how they’d fare against them.  John McChesney when he recovers will surely find himself someone to partner with as he has some unfinished business with The Fraternity as well.

IWC Women’s Champion:  Britt Baker is on fire right now, but I’m telling you the women’s talent pool out there right now is hungry, and there is a long list of competitors that could be brought in to take on Britt including Angel Dust, Tess Valentine, Samantha Heights, Tessa Blanchard, Kiera Hogan….and let’s not forget that Ray Lyn never got a shot at the title which is perhaps the biggest bunch of BS perpetrated this year by the head honchos at IWC.

All that being said, here are a few more awards:

IWC Wrestler of the Year:  Wardlow.  Let’s face it, dude started and ended the year undefeated and with the Heavyweight title around his waist.  Took out some top competition along the way including Jimmy Vegas, RJ City, Bulk Nasty, and Jimmy Demarco.  Also receiving votes were Andrew Palace, Chris LeRusso, and Britt Baker.

Best representation outside of an IWC ring:  Now, you would think Britt Baker would win this award, she was on Monday Night Raw, she had my match of the night at Girls Night Out 18, and she faced one of the top women’s wrestlers in the world Nicole Matthews at RISE 1….but…..

At a musky church in New Kensington as part of Billtown Championship Wrestling, the Sexy Talented Dudes won a brutal New Kensington Street Fight (or, as they call it in New Ken, a fight) and showed Billtown why this town belongs to the IWC.

Most Underrated Wrestler:  The Kingpin Brian McDowell – every single time The Kingpin comes out from behind the curtain, the crowd pops as if it was the Iron Man era Road Warriors.  I’ve been campaigning for a title shot for The Kingpin all year long and perhaps 2017 the powers that be will listen.

IWC Card of the Year:  Usually this is where I would say Super Indy….but this year I think Caged Fury was just a hair above it.  The card had two cage matches including one being a loser leaves IWC match and one being the LeRusso/Palace payoff match.  It also had the 30 minute Gresham/Alexander match, the best tag match of the year, and Ray Lyn/Lufisto.

Fans of the year:  The front row Palace fans continue to come up with good chants like Discount Wardlow, and they always bring the energy.  Shout out to that group who along with their honorary member Bradley are also some of the nicest folks to talk to during intermission.

Surprise of the year:  When that one dude with the scarf came out to ring announce before the Adonis/LeRusso match.

Holy sh!t moment of the year:  When the rope broke during the first match of House of Hardcore….and the card continued with two ropes up through intermission!

Podcast of the year:  as you know the Wrestling Mayhem Show podcast features much of the IWC roster, as well as many other wrestlers and wrestling related folks from around the world – my favorite interview of the year had to be Jimmy Vegas as he was just brutally honest and not afraid to shoot from the hip.  Check out the Mayhem Show podcast here – http://www.wrestlingmayhemshow.com/

As always, make sure to check out upcoming cards, past results, title histories, and ticket information on the IWC website here – http://iwcwrestling.com/

IWC cards are available for purchase here – http://www.indywrestling.us/

Photo credit to Daniel Hooven, check out his website and book him for your wedding or party or special event – http://drhphotography.pixieset.com/

Thanks for reading, feel free to post any comments or cheapshots you may have in the comment section or feel free to flame me on the Twitters @treygar

More importantly, thanks to the talent and staff at IWC for putting on a product that keeps me coming back for more.

 

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December 18, 2016

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IWC Winner Takes All 2016 Review

I was going back and forth all week on whether I should go to see IWC’s Winner Takes All or the She Wants Revenge concert, I think I made the right decision.  The card will go down in IWC’s storied near 16 year history, may have been my favorite card of the year as EVERY match was solid, and the house was packed.

To the match results we go:

• Before the show, IWC head Justin Plummer came out and thanked everyone for coming out, even giving a shout out to all the regulars that have supported a very successful year for IWC.  Dude even gave me a shout out, appreciate it

• Wardlow defeated Jimmy Vegas in the opening match

• Vegas had the match won until that bum Justin LaBar interfered just enough to distract the ref so that Wardlow could deliver a low blow and roll up Vegas for the win

• PLUG:  Make sure to check out Vegas’ recent interview on the Mayhem Show, in which he reveals some very important things concerning his career and this upcoming year.  http://www.wrestlingmayhemshow.com/

• I don’t think Vegas is done with Wardlow, would like to see a match between these two giants with LaBar banned from ringside

• SURPRISE:  first surprise of the night was the Labar reveal that DJ Z was not medically cleared to wrestle.  Z came out to confirm this and graciously stated the IWC deserves a fighting champion, laying down the belt on the mat for what I assumed was going to be a formality and the belt to be given to top contender RJ City

• Wardlow attacked Z and threw him out of the ring

• SURPRISE:  LaBar then fired RJ City from Team LaBar…I had to take a work call during all this but I guess he stated something about Wardlow being more deserving of the IWC Heavyweight title, and this set up a new main event of Wardlow vs City for later in the night

• The Fraternity continued their tag team title stranglehold, defeating Remy Lavey and Keith Haught….the match became bedlam at the end and for a second there I think I was the legal man in the ring

• SURPRISE:  The Fraternity teased us before the match, playing Booker T’s ring entrance music before attacking Lavey and Haught from behind.  I mean, no way would any WWE Superstar show up unannounced to an IWC event, right?

• It took throwing some liquid in the face of Lavey for the The Fraternity to get their pinfall victory.  Much like during their Stats class finals, The Fraternity had to cheat to get by

• PREVIEW:  A promo for a new tag team called the Mega Plowers played on the screen, it was funny enough, looks like Jock Samson found himself a new tag partner named Greg Kahn.  I’m sure they will be going after them tag titles, and that we’ll get ourselves some much needed Air Jock

• In the match of the night, Team Storm defeated Andrew Palace to gain IWC contracts

• Palace held his own much of the match, dishing out a lot of punishment but taking a lot as well, he had Team Storm all but defeated until….

• SURPRISE:  Jack Pollock made his IWC debut as a member of Team Storm, helping put Palace through a ladder and getting Team Storm the win

• It makes me wonder why everyone always guns for Palace when they come to the IWC…are they jealous of his curly hair or his dedicated fanbase?

• In a history making moment, the first IWC Women’s Champion was crowned (Thanks Plummer for listening to the fans and creating this title) – as Britt Baker got the win over Marti Belle, Sonya Strong, and April Sera

• Britt went hardcore spending much of the match outside the ring, setting up a table outside the ring

• April Sera was the unlucky one who went through the table, getting tossed through it by Marti Belle – got to give April all the credit, she was all over the place in this match, instigating much of the action, and she got my award for top ring entrance music of the night

• Marti pinned Sonya, Britt pinned Marti, and then Britt pinned April – April nearly had the match won with one of her patented super kicks but Britt kicked out and nailed her finisher and the crowd went wild

• SIDE NOTE:  Britt had a lot of cute friends in town from Punxsutawney cheering her on.  Ladies, TreyFabe is still single over here, just saying…..

• The Proving Ground battle royal was next, with way too many participants to name, so will only comment on some highlights –

• Bulk Nasty eliminated Shotzi Blackheart by throwing her on top of Corey Futuristic who had already been eliminated and was outside of the ring

• PLUG:  make sure to keep up with Shotzi, she is doing big things in California.  I got to see her at RISE and SHIMMER in Chicago and I am telling you now, she is one to watch.  She has an upcoming event at the second Sabotage Wrestling event in Cali alongside IWC Icon Ray Lyn, and she may be popping up at the next Girl’s Night Out event in Cleveland if my sources are correct…

• Bulk Nasty ended up eliminating 10 wrestlers, including my predicted winner Santana Diamonds and Chest Flexor, who spent much of the battle royal hiding under the ring apron, that sly dog…

• SIDE NOTE:  it was made official over Twitter, so it must be official, but I am an honorary member of the Diamond Club.  Represent!

• Last three in the battle royal were Bulk Nasty, Shane InYaFace, and The Playboy, who I am unfamiliar with but he was quite a fun bad guy who kept on doing Rick Rude throwback gyrating moves towards the previously mentioned Punxsutawney hotties in hopes of getting a date after the show, that sly dog…

• Shane InYaFace was able to outlast The Playboy and Bulk Nasty who were teaming up against him, lastly eliminating Bulk and earning himself a title shot of his choosing

• Chris LeRusso vs Sam Adonis for the Super Indy title was the next match up, but first –

• SURPRISE:  Chris Jericho was announced as the guest ring announcer for the match, coming out to a humongous pop and standing ovation as he announced both combatants before leaving the building to catch some last minute scarf deals at Tanger Outlets

• SIDE NOTE:  Jericho’s scarf game is on point, I will never deny that, but no one, and I mean NO ONE, rocks the scarf game better than Debra Messing did when she was on that underrated television show Smash 

• Though Sam Adonis had LeRusso pinned or submitted a half dozen times, thanks to loads of interference by BC Steele and Bulk Nasty, LeRusso eventually got the pin and retained the Super Indy title

• Wardlow ended 2016 undefeated, winning the vacated IWC Heavyweight title by defeating RJ City, in another match highlighted by LaBar being enough of a distraction for the referee so that Wardlow could hit his top rope maneuver and get the pin over RJ

• SIDE NOTE:  RJ depends on his Knee Arthur move to honor everyone’s favorite Golden Girl Bea Arthur, and it backfired – maybe he should instead do a move honoring Blair from The Facts of Life or something?

• Overall, amazing card and I am so looking forward to what kind of surprises the Reset Button will bring on January 21st back in Elizabeth for Reloaded 3.0

• There are only a few things guaranteed for Reloaded – all the titles will be on the line with opponents set by the Reset Button, I will be there, and Virgil will somehow find a way to weasel himself into an appearance, that sly dog….

————————————————————-

Not doing my top 10 this month, will have a blog full of lists to be released more than likely next weekend so do stay tuned for that.
     In fact, you can participate as I will be listing my top 20 IWC matches of the year – I’d love to hear what some of your favorite matches or moments are so shoot me a message in the comment section or the usual social media forums and your comments will be included in my year end blog.
     Instead of my top 10 list, I will list the champions of IWC here at year’s end and my Santa wishlist of who I’d like to see them face in 2017.

IWC Heavyweight Champion:  Wardlow
– Dear Santa, in 2017 I’d like to see Wardlow face Jimmy Vegas in a rematch with LaBar banned from ringside.  If you can’t make that happen give me a tag match of Wardlow and LaBar vs Bulk Nasty and BC Steele, where the stakes are so high that say if Steele were to pin LaBar, then Bulk Nasty would win the title.

IWC Super Indy Champion:  Chris LeRusso
– Dear Santa, in 2017 I’d like to see Chris LeRusso face Shane InYaFace for the Super Indy title.  If you can’t make that happen I’d be down for a Facade vs Adonis vs LeRusso triple threat match.

IWC Tag Team Champions:  The Fraternity
– Dear Santa, sure The Fraternity seem to be unstoppable, but there is a team out there of two men who have separately appeared in IWC the past year who could probably take them out – I say bring in Zachary Wentz and Dezmond Xavier to take on The Fraternity.

IWC Women’s Champion:  Britt Baker
– Dear Santa, I know the title is fresh, and Britt is on as high a streak as any woman wrestler out there…but there is one girl paying her dues around the country that may make her reign a short lived one.  Bring back Deonna Purrazzo, please.  Also, let’s get April Sera that rematch.

Thanks to all for reading and playing along this year, here’s to hoping everyone has a safe and Happy Holidays…..me I want a hula hoop….

Reminder,  all IWC cards are available for purchase here:  http://www.indywrestling.us/

Details on upcoming IWC cards can be found here:  http://iwcwrestling.com/

IWC photo credits by Daniel Hooven, follow him at @DanielHooven and reach out to him if you are interested in his work.  One day I’m going to have him photograph my wedding to Debra Messing….

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December 11, 2016

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IWC Winner Takes All 2016 Preview

It has been an amazing year at the International Wrestling Cartel (IWC) here in Pittsburgh….and the year ends this coming Saturday night at Winner Takes All, perhaps my third most favorite card of the year behind Super Indy and Reloaded (which will be happening in January!)

I thought I was going to miss the card, but some things fell through and next thing you know Justin Plummer himself wrote me that the IWC would not bail on me – so now it is game on.

Not going to talk much about the card but heck, I like offering up predictions for what is a STACKED card so here you go.  Full blog review of the card to go to press on Sunday…and by year’s end I’ll have my year end IWC review up with hopefully some interviews and my always popular final top 10 rankings that are pretty much official since no one else is doing it.

Breaking TreyFabe’s Predictions for Winner Takes All 2016 (keep in mind a newborn infant can predict matches better than me):

– I’ve got Santana Diamonds winning the Proving Ground Battle Royal, eliminating Bulk Nasty to get himself a title shot at a future event.
– The Battle Royal is stacked, and even features Shotzi Blackheart who I got to see in Chicago at the RISE and SHIMMER events, as well as the most underrated wrestlers in Western PA, the Sexy Talented Dudes.
– Though Bulk and myself have had a strenuous relationship this year, in the spirit of Christmas he has an open booking to join me at Red Lobster and help me eat the restaurant out of that addicting cheese bread.
– In the classic unstoppable force meets immovable object match of the night, I’ve got Jimmy Vegas and Wardlow ending in a double countout.  I don’t think any of these monsters have lost a match since the last time I went out on a date….which was a very long time ago and the subject of a whole other blog.
– Team Storm will defeat Andrew Palace to earn IWC contracts in a ladder match.  Nothing against Andrew, but no way can he defeat two men and a ladder.  He has proven me wrong before though.
– For the second time, Remy Lavey and Keith Haught will defeat The Fraternity and become tag team champions.
– In perhaps what will be the most historic match of the night, four women will contend to become the first ever IWC Women’s Champion.  I’m torn in many directions on this.
– Marti Belle owes me a dance scene recreation.
– Sonya Strong was amazing in her matches at RISE and SHIMMER and is as tough a competitor as they come.
– Britt Baker has taken on Nia Jax and Nicole Matthews this year, I think maybe the only other woman that has done that this year is Asuka.
– Ray Lyn should be in the match as she started the Women’s Revolution in IWC, so I think it is a bit of BS that she isn’t in the match.
– That being said, I’ve got April Sera winning the match and the title since she listens to jamming music.
– Chris LeRusso will retain his Super Indy championship by dubious measures over Sam Adonis.
– RJ City will defeat DJ Z to become once again the IWC World Heavyweight champion.
– RJ will go on to lose the title at Reloaded next month to Tommy Dreamer in a case of deja vu.    

As always, feel free to say hello to me at the card because I am generally a lonely dude looking for someone to go on long walks in the park with and…..I digress…

Be sure and support the top wrestling podcast out there where many of the wrestlers on this card have been guests on – the Wrestling Mayhem Show – http://www.wrestlingmayhemshow.com/

For tickets, make sure to go to http://iwcwrestling.com/ before they sell out!

Be sure to follow the wrestlers and feds mentioned in this blog on Twitter at the following:

@ZemaTNA
@TheDiam0ndLife
@BulkNastyIWC
@Shotziblack
@RealBrittBaker
@FuturisticCorey
@MainstreamMat
@MayhemShow
@wardlow_1
@MartiBellTNA
@Sonya_Strong1
@SeraFeeney
@sorgatronmedia
@ChrisLeRusso
@RJCity1
@TheAndrewPalace
@Sorgatron
@USIndywrestling
@Ray_lyn
@iwcwrestling
@plummerlovesyou

And with that I’d like to add all IWC cards are available for purchase here:  http://www.indywrestling.us/

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December 7, 2016

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RISE 1 IGNITE Review

Ended up in Chicago over the weekend, figured I’d give SHIMMER weekend a go, and was not disappointed.  Town is just massive – had only been once before for Lolla and it took two years for my legs and ears to recover from that one.

Since there are generally many SHIMMER blogs, figured I’d focus solely on RISE…..even though there will be some relevant RISE related SHIMMER tidbits…more on that soon enough.

As always, enjoy the short comments, sidenotes, one liners, plugs, inside jokes, and nonsensical remarks….if you’re looking for in depth match detail, this ain’t the place – I instead highly suggest you get yourself the DVD or VOD when it comes out….keep an eye on the RISE website https://rise-wrestling.com/ for all that news as the DVD/VOD to be released soon enough.

On to the results, this is a long read, make sure you’ve eaten your Sweet Tarts before continuing:

• Sonya Strong defeated Liiza Hall in the opening match
• Dominique Fabiano was not medically cleared to wrestle, which was sad as I wanted to see her vs Shotzi Blackheart in a battle of neon colored hair – Dominique was allowed however to referee the second match
• Black Widow Eve vs Arianna Sarchi was declared a no contest after Kennadi Brink came out and took out Eve, Arianna, and Dominique.
• Highlight was Eve taking Arianna to Leg Drop City, with a series of three separate leg drops in succession, and Arianna hitting a twist of fate right before Kennadi interfered
• As if that was not enough in the way of surprises, out came Saraya Knight who challenged Kennadi Brink to a match later that evening – did I mention that front row seats for this were only 10 bucks and general admission was only 5 bucks – highway robbery!
• Next up was a battle royal in which the final two remaining would be a part of the mysterious #FP0R match later in the evening – it was one of them one entry at a time type of gauntlet/rumble matches
• I was unable to keep constant track of all combatants and who they eliminated but here are some highlights
• Derby Doll Layne Rosario and Faye Jackson were the first two in the ring, they hung in for quite a bit eliminating Gemma Cross, Kiera Hogan, Paige Turner, and Jawsolyn
• Paloma Starr and Rosario took out Faye Jackson…for a second there I thought perhaps Rosario and Jackson would outlast everyone and be both the first and last ones in the ring
• This was until Britt Baker and Skilled Death Artist #1 hit the ring, taking everyone out and both earning a match against one another later in the evening as part of #FP0R – did I mention that the hashtag meaning was a complete mystery?  Set up for more surprises, certainly…maybe?
• After the match Skilled Death Artist #1 took some cheap shots on Britt and unmasked, revealing herself to be none other than the SHIMMERtaker herself, Nicole Matthews!
• For those keeping up, three matches in and already three surprises with the appearances of Brink, Saraya, and Matthews
• In another #FP0R match, Angel Dust defeated Aria Black.  Had seen Angel live a bit and had just streamed Aria’s SHINE match last week – so knew they would put on a solid match which they did
• In a six woman tag match, C-Bunny, Antoinette Marie, and Sierra defeated Hellen Vale, Stacy Shadows, and Sunsette Riviera
• Originally Hellen and Sierra were on opposite teams, but as C-Bunny led a dance party, Sierra discovered she wanted to be on the team that danced and Hellen did not.  Very fun in match heel/face team switch though – kudos to so many stories being told in a very quickly paced card.
• After the match, Stacy Shadows took out her teammates Hellen and Sunsette
• SIDE NOTE:  During meet and greet talked with Sunsette about my short trip to Milwaukee once and we bonded over visits to one of the 8 Wonders of the Modern World, aka the Bronze Fonz.
• Delilah Doom defeated Samantha Heights in another #FP0R qualifying match
• PLUG:  as you know I am loosely associated with the Wrestling Mayhem Show podcast, and Delilah has been a guest a few times as an interviewee – check her out and other RISE related guests such as Britt Baker on the Twitters @MayhemShow and the website http://www.wrestlingmayhemshow.com/
• SIDE NOTE/PLUG:  Any wrestler/promoter/personality reading this, we’re taking bookings for the upcoming months on Mayhem Show now…please reach out THIS WEEK as with the Holidays and some other bookings coming up, we may not be able to respond until early December after this weekend.  We’d love to have as many of you as possible on the show though, so yeah, please do reach out – free promotion.  
• Angie Skye defeated my Billtown (now Apex) wrestling homie Tess Valentine after slightly tricking the referee.
• SIDE NOTE:  As some know, the legend that is Diamond Joe sold his shares in Billtown Championship Wrestling, which is now Apex Wrestling – and though it was rumoured that Diamond Joe was going to retire, while midway through his retirement meal Diamond Joe decided to bring back Five Star Wrestling – and the Wrestling Gods rejoiced.  Diamond Joe is a national treasure.  
• MATCH OF THE NIGHT:  Kate Carney defeated Heather Monroe in what was a tightly contested, well executed match of the evening.  Some may say that Kate used a foreign object, but I would not say that.  This was also a #FP0R qualification match.
• Shayna Baszler absolutely destroyed Ray Lyn and Duchess Ayzali with a simultaneous submission.  This match was for the AIW Women’s Championship, and was a surprise as at first it looked like it would only be Ray Lyn vs Ayzali – but next thing you know the Trifecta came out.
• Shayna tossed Ray Lyn aside once she entered the ring and I felt for my buddy Ray Lyn’s life.  It did not help that Mercedes Martinez and Nicole Savoy would punish anyone who ended up outside of the ring.
• PLUG:  AIW continues to push great women’s wrestling matches, and have Shayna vs Heidi Lovelace for the strap coming up the day after Thanksgiving here in just over a week, get more info on AIW at their website http://www.aiwrestling.com/
• SIDE NOTE/PLUG:  My beloved IWC has also invested in a woman’s title – which IWC head Justin Plummer states will be crowned at their December Winner Takes All event – both Ray Lyn and myself agree that it was a little sketchy that the IWC created this title the minute that Ray Lyn left town.  Possible contestants for the first IWC woman champ are Britt Baker and April Sera.  You definitely want to see April Sera’s promo in which she called out Britt with some curious music in the background.  Make sure to visit the IWC website here – http://iwcwrestling.com/
• PLUG:  Even though Ray Lyn did not get the AIW or IWC title, she is in the running, along with Delilah, to be the first Sabotage champion, be sure to keep up with Sabotage Wrestling out of California @sabotage2016 is their Twitter handle.
• Shotzi Blackheart defeated Savannah Evans, delivering perhaps the most clean move of the night with a top rope dropkick
• Saraya Knight vs Kennadi Brink was a straight up street fight…including a gratuitous beer shower courtesy of Saraya.  Most of the action was outside of the ring, after only about ten seconds in the ring, Saraya forced Kennadi to submit.
• In the final #FP0R match, Nicole Matthews originally had Britt Baker defeated using the ring ropes for support, but the decision was reversed as Nicole kept on beating on Britt after the match, forcing lose Nicole to lose due to excessive violence after the match. So yeah, Brittsburgh with the victory of the multiple time SHIMMER champ Matthews.
• Kikyo and Roni Nicole, the Buru Death Squad, defeated the Sea Stars in a real fun contrasting style tag team match.  Roni with the Banzai Driver onto one of the Sea Stars and the newly formed Buru Death Squad got the victory.
• SIDE NOTE:  Highlight of the evening was the adorable Jawsolyn that accompanied the Sea Stars to the ring in her shark costume.  If a girl in a shark costume doesn’t make you smile, nothing will you heartless bastard.
• RISE head honcho Kevin Harvey came out and announced that #FP0R stood for First Phoenix of Rise, and that the winner of the four way dance would be the first Phoenix of Rise Champion
• Angel Dust pinned Kate Carnage while Britt Baker and Delilah Doom were outside of the ring or too far away to assist, and in doing so became the Phoenix of RISE Champion
• SIDE NOTE/BRAGGING:  Great to see two veterans of the Wrestling Mayhem Show podcast in the final match (Britt and Delilah) as well as two mainstays of the Western PA wrestling scene (Britt and Angel Dust) in the final match.  In a blog a year ago I spoke of how the sky’s the limit for wrestlers like Britt, Angel Dust, and Ray Lyn after I had seen them all in a tag match (alongside Marti Belle).  Since that blog post Britt has gone on to a match on RAW and now Angel Dust has won a title – so I was very proud to see those I have supported these past few years represent in a different federation.
• FINAL THOUGHTS:  I followed RISE from the beginning, retweeting and blogging and watching all live Youtube feeds (you owe me that gold star attendance sticker Kevin fyi) – and I am sold on the vision that Kevin and his team have created in building that pipeline of learning and development not just for newer women wrestlers, but also for veterans that perhaps have not gotten exposure and just needed some sculpting, if you will – such as Angel Dust the 10 year veteran.  
• BUT WAIT/THERE’S MORE:  Speaking of a pipeline to the top women’s federation in the business, SHIMMER, several of those at the RISE seminar got to participate in SHIMMER matches or prelim matches over the weekend,those highlights include:
• Leva Bates defeating Angel Dust in a fun match that saw Angel Dust open up her personality a bit at SHIMMER 86
• Melanie Cruise defeating Shotzi Blackheart at SHIMMER 86
• Kikyo and Roni Nicole continuing their Buru Death Squad path of destruction defeating Arianna Sarchi and Savannah Evans in a prelim match at SHIMMER 87
• Sonya Strong defeating Heather Monroe in a prelim match at SHIMMER 89
• Angie Skye defeating Kate Carney in a prelim match at SHIMMER 89
• Mia Yim defeating Kennadi Brink at SHIMMER 89 – Kennadi, as I’ve mentioned on Twitter after last week’s SHINE card, is a great villain that brings it every match, both taking and dishing out punishment
• Kimber Lee defeating Samantha Heights at SHIMMER 89
• Marti Belle defeating Sonya Strong in a great opening match at SHIMMER 90 aka the Battle of NYC
• Samantha Heights defeating Nevaeh in a great match at SHIMMER 90 aka the Battle of Ohio
• Melanie Cruise over Kiera Hogan via tombstone at SHIMMER 90
• SIDE NOTE:  Why is Melanie destroying these RISE girls?

 

So yeah, in closing, instant return on investment for what, a quarter of the RISE seminar participants….cheap tickets to see some of the top women’s wrestlers in the world in Saraya Knight and Nicole Matthews and Shayna Baszler with appearances by Mercedes Martinez and Nicole Savoy….FIVE BUCKS I TELL YA, it’s basically GRAND THEFT.

RISE 1 IGNITE delivered for the fans, for the wrestler’s, and for everyone else that was involved.
As always, please leave any comments, critiques, or cheapshots in the comments section or hit me up on the Twitters @treygar

Until next time….  

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November 15, 2016

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RISE, SHINE, SHIMMER, REPEAT

Going to touch on a few things in this women’s wrestling centric blog post.

– Quick recap of SHINE 38 this past weekend
– Quick preview of RISE 1 coming up this Thursday night
– Quick preview of SHIMMER weekend coming up this Friday thru Sunday
– Fanboy commentary on the leaked PWI Women’s top 50 list

I tried out FloSlam this past Friday so I could watch SHINE 38.  Overall the stream was ok, I think the commentary was a bit ahead of the action, other than that everything was clear and camera work was solid enough.

– there were two brutal basically extreme no dq matches on the card, both were very intense.  Mercedes Martinez defeated Andrea and Su Yung defeated Saraya Knight.
– there was a point in the Yung/Knight match where I thought I was going to have to call the feds or something because I thought Saraya was going to kill Su.
– the debuting Chelsea Diamond defeated Priscilla Kelly in what was a very good wrestling match
– speaking of young wrestlers, Aria Blake and Brandi Lauren was a no contest after interference by Jenna.  Definitely liked what I saw of the four younger or debuting wrestlers on the card.
– Tracy Taylor defeated Miss Rachel
– Rachael Ellering and Tessa Blanchard interfered in each other’s matches, leading to victories for Rhia O’Reilly and Raquel, respectively.
– basically Ellering and Blanchard need to settle their feud in a steel cage at this point.
– Leva Bates and a stuffed animal defeated Jessie Belle Smothers
– Shayna Baszler and ACR defeated Kennadi Brink and Amber Gallows
– Shayna nearly ripped Brink’s arm off, but Brink is quickly cementing herself as the top bad girl in the business
– Lufisto defeated Allysin Kay to become number one contender to the SHINE heavyweight championship
– I think it was a bit rude that Lufisto would not let AK win the day before her birthday
– in the match of the night Ivelisse retained her championship by defeating a very game Vanessa Kraven

Find out all about SHINE here – http://shinewrestling.com/

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Having some vacation to burn, was excited that the RISE IGNITE event was added to SHIMMER weekend.  There has been plenty of interactive promotion for RISE 1, and I’m glad that I get to be a part of it.

That being said, not much yet has been decided as to what the card will be, so I’m going to list a few matches I’d like to see

– Delilah Doom vs Angel Dust – Delilah already has a match, Angel Dust deserves a match, I’d like to see these two clash
– Kate Carney vs Heather Monroe – this match has already been signed due to them winning the MOMC competition, but I like to predict matches, so I’m taking Kate Carney solely because she wore a Star Wars t-shirt in her YG2 promo for RISE.
– Shayna Baszler vs Kikyo – Kikyo has been all over the social media promoting RISE, and Shayna made a cameo in one of Kikyo’s videos.  I think Kikyo vs Shayna would make a great main event
– Kennadi Brink vs Tess Valentine – now, Kennadi isn’t officially part of the seminar attendees, but she keeps on cutting promos as if she is going to be there.  I say if Kennadi wants to show up, she should get a chance to get in the ring.  Tess is a game opponent that would give Kennadi a great match.
– Shotzi Blackheart vs Dominique Fabiano – I want to see this match only so we can see the awesome neon hair colorings of these two in the ring at the same time.
– C-Bunny vs Ray Lyn – they both like to dance, I’ve seen all the Step Up movies, so I say why not.
– Black Widow Eve vs Aria Blake – I think this would be a good match, both very tough competitors
– end of day, I want to see all 40 seminar participants in some capacity and have no clue how the RISE brass are going to be able to make such difficult decisions – but it really isn’t about being booked, so long as each wrestler gets something out of the seminar and ups their game – while at the same time building a pipeline to SHINE, SHIMMER, NXT, Stardom, and every other federation out there looking to build upon their women’s rosters.

If you are in Chicago this coming Thursday, cannot stress enough the amount of value you are getting out of a FIVE DOLLAR TICKET.  This is highway robbery, thanks Kevin!

If five million of you can line the streets for a parade, we can get the Berwyn Eagles Club to sell out, right?

Find out all about RISE here – https://rise-wrestling.com/
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SHIMMER weekend is also upon us, and it will be my first SHIMMER weekend so I have no clue what to expect.  Not everyone has been booked, but of those who are on posters here are some matches I’d like to see.

– Leva Bates and Mia Yim to challenge Evie and Heidi Lovelace for the tag titles
– Jessicka Havok to challenge Mercedes Martinez for the SHIMMER championship
– Candice LeRae vs Nicole Matthews
– Mickie James vs Shayna Baszler
– Saraya Knight vs Kellie Skater
– Mickie James vs Tessa Blanchard
– Kimber Lee and Cherry Bomb vs Shayna Baszler and Mercedes Martinez
– Hudson Envy vs Jessicka Havok
– Taeler Hendrix and Jessicka Havok vs Evie and Lovelace
– Dulce Garcia vs Heidi Lovelace
– Mickie James vs Lufisto
– Veda Scott vs Taeler Hendrix – loser can no longer wrestle with red hair for at least two weeks
– Leva Bates taking a break and just sitting next to me for a session just hanging out.  A man can dream, right?

I’d also like to see some of the RISE roster possibly getting called up to SHIMMER for a match or two.  I think some of them match up well with those booked so yeah, we’ll see what happens.  Thanks Dave and crew for organizing a great weekend, looking forward to it.

Find out all about SHIMMER here – http://shimmerwrestling.blogspot.com/

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Lastly, the PWI women’s top 50 list was recently leaked online ahead of the issue hitting the shelves.  While I understand that PWI has generally pandered to the big federations, in a way they stifle the recognition of the top wrestlers that are slugging out quality match upon quality match in the independent federations.

Sure, Charlotte and Sasha and Bayley and company have had great years, but were their years any better than Ivelisse or Madison Eagles or Nicole Savoy?  It is all a matter of semantics I guess, and the almighty dollar.

A few comments/critiques/cheap shots from the list:

– very solid top 10, I’d have Sienna ranked higher on my list, swap her and Natalya (or just leave Nattie off the list honestly)
– how is Allie on the list, she doesn’t even know how to wrestle!  (keep the gimmick alive, it’s still real to me dammit)
– I love Paige and all, but she had an off year and looks to be done for the remainder of this year, take her off the list
– Emma is another one that doesn’t need to be on the list, too many injuries and now some weird gimmick reboot?
– Liking the inclusion of Santana in the top 25 and the promising ranking of Alexa Bliss who has been on fire as of late
– spots 26-40 one could make a claim are as tough as the top 15, so much talent there
– Eva Marie at the 50 spot is the PWI troll move of the year, I’ll actually give them credit for that
– Would like to have seen some indy wrestlers on the list, off the top of my head Deonna Purrazzo has been in great matches on a weekly basis all over the place.  Maybe even Alexxia Nicole would have been a good inclusion at the 50 spot.

Overall, I get it, and we should be happy PWI does this but still, get off the WWE/NXT payroll in exchange for journalistic credibility please.

As always, thanks for reading folks, please give me a follow on Twitter at @treygar for all pointless ramblings and fanboy moments.

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November 6, 2016

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