A CALL TO ARMS
DECEMBER 12th, 2003
CAMBRIA COUNTY WAR MEMORIAL – JOHNSTOWN, PA
Complete results from Joe Dombrowski
- Sonjay Dutt def. Chris Hero
- T. Rantula & Dennis Gregory def. Jimmy Vega$ & Bubba the Bulldog
- Sebastian Dark def. Shirley Doe in a No DQ match
- Dean Radford, Alex Shelley, JT Rodgers, & Troy Lords def. Super Hentai. Al B. Damm, Jimmy Jacobs, & Eric Xtasy in an elimination tag match
- IWC Super Indy Champion Colt Cabana def. AJ Styles
- Shane Douglas def. Raven in a Johnstown Street Fight
- Dr. Feelgood def. Carlton Kaz
- IWC Tag Team Champions Matt Cross & Glenn Spectre (replacing an injured Josh Prohibition) def. Devil Bhudakahn, Jake Garrett, & Hijinx in a Handicap match
- IWC Heavyweight Champion Sterling James Keenan def. CM Punk
- Dusty Rhodes def. Jerry Lawler with Mick Foley as the special guest referee
IWC Sends Out “A Call to Arms” and the Wrestling Fans in Johnstown Answer!
After weeks upon weeks of anticipation, the “Call to Arms” was finally upon us as over 1,100 fans packed into the Cambria County War Memorial and shattering IWC’s indoor attendance record. Nothing, not even a technical glitch with the War Memorial’s own music system, could ruin the fans’ excitement and anticipation. While the card was stacked with some of the best talent in the world from top to bottom, our legendary special guest made perhaps the biggest impact.
Mick Foley had the chance to appear at a building close to his heart on Friday, December 12. He had an opportunity to appear in a building where he grew up watching wrestling, Madison Square Garden in New York City as part of a WWE live event. But the always-selfless Mick had to respectfully decline, as he had more important business to handle that night: maintaining order in the IWC ring.
His first mission was to take care of the always antagonistic and disrespectful duo of Bubba the Bulldog, and the muscle behind his mouth, Jimmy Vega$. Foley searched throughout the IWC roster for a tag team and he came up with two of the most respected veterans in the area: former two-time IWC Heavyweight champion Dennis Gregory and T. Rantula. Despite their past differences, Gregory and T were able to unite to defeat the much-hated Bubba and Vega$, but unfortunately that would be far from the last we’d see of these two self-centered glory hounds on this night.
Foley’s second mission was to maintain order in the main event, a difficult task considering he was in the ring with two of cagiest veterans around, Jerry “The King” Lawler and “The American Dream” Dusty Rhodes. The previous Lawler/Rhodes match ended in a great deal of controversy, and only someone like Foley would be able to control the carnage. However, Lawler wasted no time before he broke out his conniving maneuverings, telling Foley that since they both work for WWE, and since Lawler claims Foley still owes him money for Lawler’s illustrations in Foley’s children’s books, he expected Foley to “remember where his bread is buttered,” as he put it. But as distasteful as Lawler’s obvious attempt at gaining an unfair advantage was, the prematch comments were about to get a whole lot more incredulous.
Bubba the Bulldog and Jimmy Vega$ returned to ringside, with Bubba continuing to claim he trained and made Kurt Angle what he is today. A delusional Bubba even went as far as to claim he also trained Mick Foley and Dusty Rhodes, and they owe him for that and, until he gets what he deserves, he’ll be at ringside. Not long after that, Bubba’s true intentions became known as he assisted Jerry Lawler in hiding a foreign object from referee Foley as Lawler used it excessively to weaken Rhodes, before handing it off to Bubba when necessary. Bubba and Vega$ also interjected themselves physically several times as Lawler distracted Foley. It was clear that all three were helping each other: Lawler getting assistance in defeating Dusty Rhodes, and Bubba and Vega$ propelling themselves into the spotlight once again. After several minutes of intense punishment to The Dream, Foley finally caught Lawler in the act, and forced the object from his hand. Dusty Rhodes used the momentary distraction to mount a bit of a comeback, but Lawler battled back from the flip, flop, and flyin’. The King tried to score a pinfall with his feet on the ropes, but Foley quickly shut down that strategy as well. None of Lawler’s strategies for victory were getting past Foley. This infuriated Lawler who confronted and provoked the special guest referee, but Foley shoved Lawler backwards, allowing The Dream to roll up Lawler and score his second pinfall victory over The King.
After the match, Bubba & Vega$ charged into the ring, hammering away on the former three-time world champion Rhodes, before Foley and his good friend, Mr. Socko, evened up the odds. Bubba and Vega$ were both victims of the dreaded Mandible Claw submission hold, until they were propelled into Rhodes who finished them off with a Bionic Elbow. Lawler received the same Socko/elbow treatment as well to finish off his evening. Foley congratulated Dusty on his win and relayed how much respect he has for him. A wonderful moment to cap off an unforgettable night for Foley, Lawler, Rhodes and everyone in attendance that night.
But the action hardly stopped there, as the in-ring competition was like no other all throughout the night. Including the match which saw very little time actually in the ring, the Johnstown Street Fight between “The Franchise” Shane Douglas and Raven. Douglas also had some prematch comments: in addition to expletive-filled diatribes toward some of his former bosses in the wrestling world, he expressed his displeasure for being in Johnstown, as he’d much rather be back in his hometown of Pittsburgh, a statement that quickly turned the crowd against him. Raven responded by stating that Shane may have once been a “Franchise” but now he looks more like “The French Fries.” After that, the fight was on! Raven and Douglas tore through the entire Cambria County War Memorial, destroying fans’ chairs and the ringside guardrail in the process. No one was safe, not even referee Christopher Kalikapela who was sandwiched in the corner by both men, knocking the wind out of him. The Franchise used the momentary confusion to pull a steel chain out from his attire and use it across Raven’s forehead. When the referee returned to his feet, he saw The Franchise on top of Raven, counted to three, and proclaimed Shane Douglas the victor.
One of the more anticipated matches of the night was the IWC Super Indy Title Match: “Cabana/Styles 2.” Ever since their 20-minute time limit draw from four months ago, there has been dispute as to who the true IWC Super Indy champion should be, but all those allegations were put to rest in this match. Both “Classic” Colt Cabana and “The Phenomenal” AJ Styles put forth a tremendous effort, wrestling in perhaps the most evenly-matched competitive contest of the evening. Neither man had a significant edge above the other, and that remained so throughout the entire match. During a sequence of several pinfall attempts, Cabana was able to get just enough weight, momentum, and leverage on his side to keep AJ’s shoulders down for a three count. Cabana had finally pinned Styles in a Super Indy Title match, thus ending over six months of controversy. Cabana, always the sportsman, extended his hand to Styles, even though AJ refused to shake it after their match four months ago. However, on this night, Styles finally came to grips with the fact he is not officially “the best” and shook Cabana’s hand in a showing of respect. Cabana left the ring as the champion we all know he is, and Styles left acting like a champion truly should.
IWC Heavyweight Champion Sterling James Keenan had a difficult defense as well, as he had to take on the returning CM Punk. As chants of “Skinny Me” rang out from the crowd, infuriating Sterling, he also had to focus on one of the most well-rounded impressive wrestlers today in CM Punk. Sterling’s claims he had made on IWCWrestling.com and in IWC’s official live event program stating “CM Punk Fears Me” did not appear to be evident as Punk took the fight to Sterling relentlessly, trying to become one of the few two-time IWC champions in history, and to recapture the title he was never pinned for when he was forced to forfeit the title due to injuries about a year and a half ago. Both men were engaging in an incredible war for the gold, until referee Bryce Remsburg accidentally caught a stray boot to the face and was momentarily dazed. During that time, Punk had pinned Sterling for a duration of over three seconds, and then forced Sterling to tap out with a deadly version of the Texas Cloverleaf submission hold. However, Punk needed to revive the referee and, as he attempted to do so, Sterling recovered, hit the MK Ultra, and scored a pinfall with his feet on the ropes for another cheap victory. Sterling continues to defend the championship with success, but he comes closer and closer to defeat. The competition gets tougher and tougher, but Sterling’s “Unstoppable Uprising” continues.
The opening match of the night was red-hot and set the tone for what would be a night of unbelievable excitement. The debuting Sonjay Dutt, “The Original Playa from the Himalayas,” took on the returning Chris Hero, who hadn’t been seen in IWC in nearly a year due to him being unceremoniously ousted from the company back when he had aligned himself with Shirley Doe in Doe’s quest to wreak havoc all over IWC some 12 months ago. Now with that clearly in the past, Hero was welcomed back and given a chance to show his skills against Dutt, and he did not disappoint. After a tremendous back-and-forth match that the fans enjoyed a great deal, Dutt climbed to the top rope and hit his “Hindu Press” to score the victory.
The Sebastian Dark and Shirley Doe saga of sickening violence continued to escalate. The blood hatred between these two stretches far beyond what any of us can imagine, and Johnstown was only the beginning. Much like the Street Fight, this match went all over the building with both men slamming each other onto the hard wooden floor. Bloodied and bruised, Dark even went so far as German suplexing Doe onto the hard floor. It didn’t stop there either as a steel chair came into play, leading to some sickening-sounding thuds on the skulls of both men. When the match came back into the ring, Dark continued his disrespect by first attempting to pin Doe using Doe’s patented Sillyhead DDT, then by spitting green mist into Doe’s eyes. With Doe dazed, Dark delivered a torture rack drop to Doe and pinned him for three. Dark continued to one-up Doe, but this war is far, far from over. Before this is all said and done, more pain, more agony, and more blood loss will be inflicted. You can bet on it.
Quite possibly one of the most underrated competitors in the entire IWC, “M-Dogg 20” Matt Cross joined his interim tag team championship partner, Glenn Spectre, for their title defense against Devil Bhudakahn, “Mastermind” Jake Garrett, and their newest charge: Hyjinx. While the IWC newcomer’s association with The Devil’s Advocates is still somewhat a mystery, he put together a strong showing, however not strong enough as Cross and Spectre were able to retain the titles yet again. While Spectre wore down his former abusive teammates, M-Dogg used his high-flying arsenal such as the Space Flying M-Dogg Driver and his shooting star press for the victory. The duo of Spectre and M-Dogg remain your IWC tag team champions, and the Advocates have reached a crossroads in their careers. Still feared by many, they haven’t been able to recapture the championships since losing them on November 1, making this their longest run without the tag team titles since last April. However, with mastermind Garrett at the helm, you have to believe that they’ll be back and stronger than ever.
As a special treat, IWC presented a gigantic eight-man elimination tag team match, pitting JT Rodgers, “Balls Hot” Troy Lords, Alex Shelley, and Dean Radford against Eric Xtasy, Super Hentai, Jimmy Jacobs, and Al B. Damm. The action was fast and furious, as several of the more high-profile feuds of the year were all put together into one match. From Xtasy’s wars with former best friends Rodgers and Lords, to the Jacobs/Shelley series, to Hentai’s battles with Lords when Lords was still under the “X” persona, there was so much bad blood all put together in one explosive elimination match. The action was almost impossible to keep up with, and eliminations were occurring left and right. The match came down to Eric Xtasy at a 3-on-1 disadvantage, but Dean Radford was incapacitated after just taking a “Hot Damm” from Al B. Damm. Xtasy battled through Troy Lords, battled through Alex Shelley, despite both men targeting his surgically repaired leg. Xtasy was on fire, showing the heart of a champion, and the entire crowd was behind him until Radford snuck in, muscled 300 pounds over his head, driving Xtasy down to the mat with The Radicator and getting the win. Radford was the sole survivor of this eight-man war, and got perhaps the most impressive win of his career, along with a most impressive feat of strength.
Johnstown’s own Dr. Feelgood didn’t make Carlton Kaz feel all right. Kaz pranced to the ring carrying his own personal souvenir of the day when his lengthy losing streak ended, the vest of the man he defeated, “Dreamachine” Dustin Ardine. However, the debuting Feelgood managed to put “Simply the Best” back in his place, gaining a submission victory with a sharpshooter.
What a happening IWC’s debut in Johnstown was. The extravaganza had something for everyone, and IWC is already looking forward to our return there in 2004. However, now our sights have to be set toward Hopewell High School. As always, stay tuned for the latest breaking news on IWCwrestling.com!