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FULL IMPACT PRO DVD REVIEWS

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*** Official OWW.com FIP DVD Reviews by Brad Dykens ***
December 16, 2007 - FLORIDA RUMBLE - Inverness, Florida

The show opened with the YRR of Chasyn "Not Cocky" Rance, "The Natural" Kenny King, Salvatore Rinauro, "The Modern Miracle" Steve Madison, and their "Oral Support" Daffney Unger declaring that they were boycotting the Florida Rumble match. The YRR would have their hands full with a huge eight man tag team main event (Although, at this point that match was not officially scheduled). Daffney had some harsh words for Allison Danger, who quickly showed up to defend herself. Allison challenged Daffney to a 1-on-1 match later tonight.

The Florida Rumble match was up first, as the winner of the match would receive a shot at Roderick Strong's FIP Heavyweight title in the Semi-Main Event. Entrant number one was Davey Richards, followed by number two, Delirious, accompanied by Dave Prazak. Entrant number three was another DP Associate, Austin Aries, who joined Delirious in an unfortunate 2-on-1 advantage over Richards. Seth Delay evened the heel/face ratio when he entered at number four. Delirious actually eliminated fellow DP Associate Austin Aries. Aries then rang the ring bell knowing Delirious would go crazy; Delirious did go crazy and foolishly eliminated himself! This led to Austin Aries quitting DP Associates and challenging Delirious tonight. Akuma and Hallowicked from Chikara were the next entrants into the match. "Sweet & Sour" Larry Sweeney strutted out and circled the ring letting time expire waiting until the last second before slipping into the ring. "American Dragon" Bryan Danielson took his sweet time walking out to the ring too and immediately eliminated Davey Richards, who Dragon had lost to the previous night in a #1 Contenders match. Jerrelle Clark hit the ring next. Dragon and Sweeney worked together to eliminate Akuma, Seth Delay, and Jerrelle Clarke. Colt Cabana made his entrance and eliminated his fellow ROH star, Bryan Danielson. Erick Stevens was the lucky final entrant of the Florida Rumble. At this point there was four people left including Stevens, Sweeney, Cabana and Hallowicked. Larry Sweeney was triple-teamed, but Sweeney managed to eliminate Stevens AND Cabana on his own. Sweeney tossed Hallowicked over the top rope, but Hallowicked "skinned the cat" and successfully eliminated Sweeney to win the Florida Rumble and earn a shot at the FIP Heavyweight title later ( 9 / 10 ). Very entertaining and unpredictable. I wish Larry Sweeney won, but that's just because I'm a huge Sweeney-mark.

Roderick Strong came out and congratulated Hallowicked on winning the biggest ass-whoopin' of his life later. Davey Richards came out and claimed Strong has been ducking him ever since he won the FIP title. Richards wanted to know when he was getting his title shot, and Strong dodged the question. Richards said he used to have respect for Strong, but now that was all gone. They had a very brief pull-apart brawl on the stage. Richards will, in fact, get his shot on the 12/22 ROH show in Connecticut.

Seth Delay wrestled Jerrelle Clark in the match with the least heat ever. About ninety seconds into the match, the YRR (Madison, Rance, King, Rinauro, and Daffney) hit the ring and destroyed both Clark and Delay causing a No Contest. Daffney confidently said she was ready for her match and called out her opponent, Allison Danger.

Daffney is deceivingly seasoned in the ring, which makes sense because she's been around long enough. It's hard to believe she was debuting in WCW almost ten years ago. Daffney pinned Allison Danger very quickly and then the YRR hit the ring to beat up Danger gang-style until Black Market (Joey Machete & Shawn Murphy) made the save.

Dave Prazak showed up and sarcastically applauded Black Market for their performance in the Cage of Pain the previous night. Prazak introduced Black Market to their opponents tonight; DP Associate Shingo Takagi and Japanese legend Osamu Nishimura. Cool. FIP should change their name to TOTAL NONSTOP ACTION because the action truly does flow from one segment to another in the blink of an eye.

It is so cool to see Osamu Nishimura in an independent American promotion! Black Market vs. Shingo & Nishimura was going great until the YRR showed up AGAIN to cause a distraction and cause Black Market to lose the match ( 7 / 10 ).

"Sweet & Sour" Larry Sweeney came out introduced the Heartbreak Express (Sean & Phil Davis), who said they consider Sweeney the only man in FIP cool enough to hang with them. The HBE spoke about the brutal "Cage of Pain" match they were involved in the previous night and claimed they were ripped off by FIP officials protested by refusing to wrestle tonight. Sean Davis then introduced the "most beautiful woman in wrestling" - the Lovely Lacey. No arguments here.

Larry Sweeney wrestled "Classic" Colt Cabana in a match the promised to provide some serious comic relief for the fans - especially since The Heartbreak Express and Lacey remained at ringside for the contest. I don't think it was a coincidence that Lacey was in a bitter feud with Colt Cabana up in Ring of Honor at the same time. There was less comedy in this match than I predicted, but it ended predictably with the HBE interfering and Lacey scoring a low-blow on her ex-boyfriend/nemesis Colt Cabana to screw him out of a victory. Larry Sweeney wins his second consecutive match in Full Impact Pro ( 7.5 / 10 ).

DP Associates began disintegrating before our very eyes as Dave Prazak led his man Delirious to the ring to face Austin Aries, who quit DPA during the Florida Rumble. It's really strange to see Delirious "try" to be a heel, because his character is the least HEEL character in the history of wrestling - okay second to Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat. Prazak interfered to help his client pick up a tainted victory ( 6.5 / 10 ). This match would have been dynamite in Ring of Honor style. We need new referees in FIP.

Chikara's Gran Akuma, whose OWW profile picture needs serious updating, had a tough challenge ahead of him as he faced 2006 break-out star Davey Richards. They set out to get Akuma over with the FIP audience and I feel they did a good job but Akuma has to get a few more matches under his belt before he reaches his potential (in FIP). Richards won by submission and then put Akuma over by saying he was a tough opponent ( 7 / 10 ).

"Explosive" Erick Stevens was put in a make or break situation against "American Dragon" Bryan Danielson. Stevens has been climbing the ladder of FIP since the very beginning and I'm not shy about saying he has gone from jobber material to a highly skilled individual in a short period of time. He scored the victory of a lifetime over American Dragon, after Prazak tossed in a pair of brass knux and Dragon botched it by accidentally knocking out his manager instead of his opponent! Stevens pinned Dragon for the upset victory and took a major step towards being an official impact player in FIP ( 8 / 10 ). The YRR showed up AGAIN and attacked Erick Stevens after the match. Daffney watched on as Rance, King and Rinauro held Stevens while Madison challenged Stevens to a Dog Collar match next month. Madison said Stevens will have to deal with the "Hired Gun" Brent Albright before he even gets to the Dog Collar match. Black Market, Seth Delay, and Allison Danger made the save and challenged the YRR to an eight man tag team main event match.

Roderick Strong successfully defended the FIP Heavyweight title against Florida Rumble winner, Hallowicked. This was a big opportunity for Hallowicked, who was making only his second appearance in Full Impact Pro. Roderick was sorta playing the heel, if only due to the fans immediately taking a liking to Hallowicked. Strong won with a Gibson-driver but the look on his face told the story - he just faced a worthy opponent ( 7.5 / 10 ).

The YRR tried to weasel out of the challenge put forth to them by coming out to the stage and thanking the fans for coming and encouraging them to leave. The fans stuck around and watched Black Market, Jerrelle Clark, and Seth Delay run out and start a chaotic eight man tag team match - throwing Allison Danger and Daffney in the fray as well. I didn't see much that resembled a match except for the 1-2-3 by the referee awarding the match to the cowardly heels after a handful of salt was thrown into Jerrelle Clark's eyes ( 7 / 10 ). Black Market was clearly upset and challenged the YRR to face them on 1/12 when they're back in Inverness!

Final Thoughts: Sort of a unique show with a lot of matches and a lot of wrestlers, most of whom wrestled at least twice on the card. The show was nonstop and flowed from one segment to another. It was pretty much flawless, or at least it seemed that way after post production. FIP plants so many seeds along the way, training the viewer to believe the illusion that they are booking on the fly.

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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