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FULL IMPACT PRO DVD REVIEWS

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*** Official OWW.com FIP DVD Reviews by Brad Dykens ***
October 8, 2005 - FALLOUT - Bushnell, Florida

The first match was between Evan Starsmore and Benny Blanco -- it wasn't that good but hey, you have to get your experience somewhere. Starsmore came out to Beck's "Loser," which is so clich� that it sort of doesn't work in his favor. Thankfully they kept it short and it ended in a No Contest when Rainman came out and whacked both of them with chair-shots (making him the prototypical babyface in my eyes) and then called out FIP Champion Homicide. They had a brief brawl that had Rainman bailing out of the fight twice and deciding to wait until the main event.

Altar Boy Luke was booked against with Ring Crew Express member Marcos -- Luke has some good talent but needs the right opponent to have a good match and Marcos was a nice choice in this case. I have become such big fans of both Dunn and Marcos since I had the opportunity to see them in FIP; I mean they were fun in ROH, but they were your basic one-hit-wonders there. They have been allowed to show their stuff and develop here in FIP. It was a nice little match with Luke scoring the victory and both grapplers showed good sportsmanship after the match ( 6 / 10 ).

The other half of the Ring Crew Express, Dunn, had his hands full with the "Sicilian Shooter" Tony Mamaluke. This was also a great pairing and really forced Dunn to take his game up a notch. Mamaluke made Dunn tap out to the Fujiwara Armbar and then showed some good sportsmanship after the match ( 7 / 10 ). With all this mushy sportsmanship tonight I thought I would most certainly cry before the night was over. But alas, the rest of the night was full of good old fashioned wrestling hatred!

The following was a grudge match which stemmed from the last show when both teams lost a three-way number one contender's match to the Ring Crew Express; Jerrelle Clark and Jay Fury ended up having a big time brawl with Steve Madison and Erick Stevens after that match. Clark and Fury are appropriately named "Fast & Furious," but they came out on the losing end of this very good tag team match. Fast & Furious looked like they were going to win, but it took a rare FIP ref-bump and a steel chain wrapped around the fist to secure victory for the heel tandem of Steve Madison and Erick Stevens ( 7 / 10 ).

The previous night, Roderick Strong and Milano Collection A.T. were tag team partners in a special contenders match. They ended up with the losers share of the purse after that match and blamed each other for the loss -- leading to a heated match-up on this night. They took the time to feel each other out with a lot of mat-based wrestling and close falls. Every time I see Milano, I try to figure out what everybody thinks is so special about him. I honestly don't see it. I keep thinking oh maybe he just had a bad day but I have seen a good dozen or so matches and I have yet to be really impressed with him. This match was good but it all had to do with Roderick and very little to do with Milano. Roderick Strong put a major beating on Milano Collection A.T. during this match, but for some reason Milano made a brief comeback and scored the pin! ( 7 / 10 ).

Azriael's feud with DP Associates continued with a scheduled match against Jimmy Rave that he earned by defeating Dave Prazak's "hired gun" last time they were in Bushnell. Azriael came out and said he wasn't afraid of Jimmy Rave, which led to Austin Aries attacking Azriael from behind before the match got started. Sean Waltman hit the ring wearing his ring gear and offered to team up with Azriael against Jimmy Rave and Austin Aries later.

The first legitimate defense of the FIP Tag Team titles since the Heartbreak Express won the belts was against the team of Colt Cabana and Sal Rinauro. The challengers are both notorious for injecting comedy into their matches, so it goes without saying that they had a lot of fun at the expense of the Heartbreak Express. So-Cal Val was sauntering around ringside with an unusually large purse, which made me wonder how that would come into play. As predicted, the purse was used by the Heartbreak Express and they were disqualified so they could leave with their tag team titles ( 7 / 10 ). After the match, Sean and Phil Davis literally ran away with their belts leaving So-Cal Val in the ring to get a big sloppy non-consensual kiss from Colt Cabana. Not only is Val good to look at, she actually knows how to work. I hope this isn't that last we've seen from her in Full Impact Pro.

Dave Prazak led Jimmy Rave and Austin Aries into battle against Azriael and Sean "6 PAC" Waltman -- who came out to the old "DX" music again. While the last match was kind of goofy, this one was just the opposite -- a very intense encounter between good and evil. Rave and Aries got a big victory over Waltman and Azriael in what ended up being the best match of the night ( 8.5 / 10 ).

Rainman got his opportunity at the FIP Heavyweight title in a match against reigning Champion, Homicide. They wrestled in the ring, and brawled all over the arena, and for a few brief moments it looked like Rainman was going to win but Homicide scored a pin out of nowhere to retain his FIP Championship ( 7.5 / 10 ). After the match, Dave Prazak, Austin Aries and Jimmy Rave came out and destroyed Homicide's shoulder with a chair. The locker room emptied and turned into a huge brawl with the babyfaces standing tall at the end. They were calling for an ambulance for Homicide but I *think* it was a work. God bless'em.

Final Thoughts: Great outing for FIP. It was great to see some of the lower end guys improving themselves and stepping up. Sean Waltman can bring nothing but goodness to the promotion as long as he continues to show up. The Heartbreak Express have finally won me over, it may have something to do with So-Cal Val - who knows? They are great as the tag team champions though. FIP is the place to be!

If you would like to purchase this or any other Full Impact Pro DVD, please check out ROHwrestling.com - and also be sure to show your support by checking out www.fullimpactpro.com/ - Thank you!



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