Night of Legends 2011 – April 16th, 2011
Rocky Grove High School – Franklin, PA
Complete results from Joe Dombrowski
- Justin Idol def. Nickie Valentino in a pre-show match
- Jason Gory def. Bobby Beverly in a pre-show Super Indy X Qualifier match
- Kato, Super Oprah, & Lumberjack LeRoux (with Grizzly Redwood) def. Chest Flexor, Corey Futuristic, & Shane Taylor
- Super Hentai def. IWC Super Indy Champion Matt Justice to win the title
- The Rock & Roll Express (Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson) def. The Midnight Express (Dennis Condrey & Bobby Eaton, with Jim Cornette)
- Jerry Lawler (with Sunny) def. Salvatore Sincere (with Chest Flexor)
- Logan Shulo & The Founding Fathers (Dennis Gregory & Jimmy Vega$, with Dean Radford & John McChesney) def. Marshall Gambino, Tyler Stone, & David R. DiMera
- Marshall Gambino, Shane Douglas, & The Patriot def. Logan Shulo & The Founding Fathers (Dennis Gregory & Jimmy Vega$, with Dean Radford & John McChesney) with Jimmy DeMarco as the special guest referee
- IWC Tag Team Champions Flippin’ Ain’t Easy (Jason Gory & Michael Facade) def. The Bravado Brothers (Lance & Harlem Bravado)
- IWC World Heavyweight Champion John McChesney (with Dean Radford) def. Shiima Xion
- Val Venis def. Rhett Titus
WRESTLING LEGENDS SHINE; AN IWC LEGEND SURPRISES
While our annual trek to Franklin, PA is oftentimes a perfect opportunity to pay respect and homage to wrestling’s greatest legends, a number of IWC legends have done little to deserve adulation – Bubba the Bulldog’s Founding Fathers, consisting of Dennis Gregory, Jimmy Vega$, Dean Radford and IWC Champion John McChesney. Their goal of re-asserting their position atop IWC cards and gaining all of the power in the IWC hierarchy has thus far seen a lot of success, but made a lot of enemies.
No bigger enemy was made than the most popular IWC Champion in history “DeeeLicious” Jimmy DeMarco, whose wrestling career was effectively ended when The Founding Fathers’ master plan came together and McChesney became IWC Champion. However, while DeMarco cannot wrestle, he still came calling when he realized his company needed him. Jimmy was back in the ring at Night of Legends, but as a referee. After the Founding Fathers annihilated their scheduled opponents – injuring Mickey Gambino in the back and overwhelming youngsters Tyler Stone & David DiMera, IWC Owner Chuck Roberts, in the absence of Bubba, gave Marshall “The Bull” Gambino two new partners and a chance for redemption – The Patriot & “The Franchise” Shane Douglas. Bubba is the one who had legally forced The Franchise OUT of IWC a year ago, and it was a measure of retribution for Douglas to lead The Patriot & The Bull to defeat Dennis Gregory, Jimmy Vega$ and alleged recruit Logan Shulo, whom the Founding Fathers promptly forced to do the bulk of the work, merely using the youngster to further their cause. And what a moment it must have been for Jimmy DeMarco to count the winning pinfall to give a metaphoric ‘screw you’ to the men that ended his lifelong dream.
Following the bout, DeMarco, Douglas, and The Patriot had very emotional words about their friend the late “Sweet & Sour” Larry Sweeney. It was announced that this year’s tenth-annual Super Indy Tournament, the same event Sweeney won in 2007 and that inspired Sweeney to become a professional wrestler in 2003, would be held in his honor. Unquestionably, the spirit, energy, and legacy of Larry Sweeney will live on in IWC for years to come.
For Shiima Xion, this night was his attempt to not only avenge his being screwed in his Super Indy Title re-match, but also become IWC Champion as well as he challenged “Big League” John McChesney for the gold. With an injured but still ever-dangerous Dean Radford on crutches at ringside representing The Founding Fathers as well, Shiima was at a disadvantage. The years of Shiima’s supermodel rock-star egocentric attitude has unfortunately alienated him from the friends and allies he may normally turn to for back-up. The Fathers avenged Shiima’s hesitation over their offer to join them, as a distraction based off of Shiima’s hairspray, the weapon “Big League” had used to screw Shiima out of the Super Indy Title in Clearfield, orchestrated by the two led to McChesney’s successful title defense. What is next for Shiima as he enters deeper into a gang war all by himself?
Jerry “The King” Lawler may have been greeted by over 70,000 fans in Atlanta, GA a few weeks ago, but his reception this past weekend was no less special. Lawler planned to teach a lesson to an alleged close friend of Michael Cole, Salvatore Sincere, however the brash Italian brought the fluffy and flamboyant Chest Flexor to ringside to aid him. Lawler could sense danger, so The King recruited a manager of his own – recent WWE Hall of Fame inductee and professional wrestling’s original “diva” – Sunny! Sunny spent the match watching Lawler’s back, cheering him on as he pinned Sal following a miscue with Chest Flexor. After the match, Flexor found himself alone in the center of the ring surrounded by enemies, and actually ended up the recipient of a Stone Cold Stunner from Sunny! Chest Flexor is now effectively 0-4 in confronting the legends of wrestling, and Sunny & Lawler make their Franklin debut an unforgettable one!
Someone who had considerably less fun in Franklin was the “Louisville Lip” Jim Cornette. While busy today as the Ring of Honor Executive Producer, Cornette on this night reprised his managerial role of the team he is most synonymous with – “Loverboy” Dennis Condrey & “Beautiful” Bobby Eaton, The Midnight Express. Their rivalry with Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson, The Rock & Roll Express has been raging for 30 years and many consider them the two top tag teams in the history of the industry. Cornette’s mouth, mind, and tennis racket caused a lot of problems for Ricky & Robert, but once the racket accidentally made contact with Condrey, the R&R Express stood tall once again. Cornette was able to make amends with Dennis & Bobby, however was ultimately foiled in his latest attempt to thwart Ricky & Robert. Indeed, Rock & Roll can never die.
Val Venis gave new word to the meaning versatility in his match with “Addicted To Love” Rhett Titus. This match had everything, from karaoke, a freestyle rap battle, a posedown, and even a bit of mixed martial arts thrown in. Titus utilized systematic dissection of Venis, isolating the back for a number of minutes. Venis, in agonizing pain, fought through gallantly and was able to put away the man who feels “The Thrust is a Must” with the Money Shot. Val closed the night reminding us anything is possible, and it was an inspiring performance on all levels from The Big Valbowski.
Flippin’ Ain’t Easy, Michael “The Bomber” Facade & Jason Gory, may have stolen the show in their outing against upcoming ROH tag team Lance & Harlem, The Bravado Brothers. In spite of competing in their best wrestling attire, hand-knitten by their dear grandmother, the Franklin faithful were clearly not on the Bravado Bangwagon. After a fantastic athletic contest the Neon Ninja & Heavy Metal High-Flyer were able to retain the IWC Tag Team Titles with their patented Buddy Moonsault!
New Super Indy Champion was crowned as the Super Indy Innovator himself, Super Hentai, etches himself into the record books one more time, capturing his third reign of the championship he made famous as he defeated Matthew Justice. The Super Indy Title has been the subject of much controversy in recent months with the actions of The Founding Fathers, but with finally a decisive winner crowned center-ring, hopefully Hentai can help us move forward, keep the Super Indy Title safe from The Founding Fathers and continue to build his already outstanding legacy. Following the bout, the fans gave a very heartfelt farewell to Matthew Justice who has recently signed a contract with World Wrestling Entertainment. Matt is a very driven and focused athlete right now, and all of us at IWC wish him the best with his upcoming endeavor.
It was the damnedest six-man tag match in history, if you can even call it that. The veteran Kato joined forces with the androgynous Super Oprah and the Venango County native Lumberjack Leroux (managed by ROH favorite “The Littlest Lumberjack” Grizzly Redwood) to defeat Chest Flexor, Corey Futuristic, and Shane Taylor. Flexor was decked out in his sheep’s wool-type attire, the Rocky Grove High School principal was assigned as special guest enforcer, and I’m fairly sure Super Oprah is smitten with Grizzly Redwood. Most other events in this match defy verbal or written description.
In a very pivotal pre-show bout, Jason Gory (competing twice because of the importance of both of his opportunities this evening) of Flippin Ain’t Easy joined his partner in qualifying for Super Indy X, as he bested Bobby Beverly in a competitive bout. Gory still has the dubious distinction of being the shortest-reigning Super Indy Champion in history, can we erase that stigma this June?
And it was the young veteran Justin Idol embarking forward on his singles career with a victory over another very rapidly rising young star “Late Nite” Nicki Valentino. Valentino shows much promise and potential but on this night it was “Whammy Kablammy” and the lights went out.
Fresh off of this extremely eventful night, how will this shape our second installment of College Fightfest THIS Wednesday night??