One of the less obvious shows for ‘Mania weekend saw Interspecies Wrestling run a late, late show that brought on a Cease and Desist!
We’ll keep this short as this is one of the “background watches” before the live shows kick in later today. This is another show from the Collective’s venue in Jersey City, New Jersey… This ring announcer’s pretty cool, as he shoots down all of those tropes. No “Fight Forever”, no “one fall”. Good!
Werewolf of Wall Street vs. Tony Deppen vs. Jigsaw vs. Sanchez
This was a nice, breezy four-way to get us going, although I have no freaking idea why we’ve a Werewolf of Wall Street in wrestling, some six years after the film came out.
Invariably, there were some weird moments, like Sanchez leaping into thin air before a tope con giro saw him, Deppen and Jigsaw fall into the front row, before the Werewolf took to the sky for a tornillo. I was NOT expecting that! Deppen trips Jigsaw hard into the corner before a slingshot lungblower in from the apron drew a near-fall, before the Werewolf… took a big superkick amid a Parade of Moves, ending with Sanchez’s hook kick and diving knee on Deppen. Bright and breezy, which is just what you want for a late-starting show! ***
Jonathon Rukin vs. Daniel Makabe
There’s a tonne of buzz for Makabe, who’s been flying under the radar on the US indys as of late, and we get going with Makabe sending Rukin into the third row with a tope!
A missile dropkick back inside’s good for a near-fall as Makabe took off his jacket, revealing his love for Montreal FC. Strikes from both men led to Rukin getting caught in the corner with a dropkick… but Rukin keeps up with his shots as Makabe was more than happy to play ball. A suplex from Rukin dropped Makabe for a near-fall, before a spinebuster-like takedown just opened up Makabe for a single leg crab after the kick-out. Makabe stayed in the match though, only to get shoved off the top rope as Rukin missed a double stomp, leaving the door open for a bridging German suplex… however, Makabe’s instantly caught in a key lock from the kick out. He escapes that before clocking Rukin with a wind-up punch… only to get caught in a rear naked choke as Rukin forced the submission. A good little match, with Makabe pushing Rukin before ultimately falling short. ***
Gym Nasty Boys (White Mike & Timmy Lou Retton) vs. Team Tremendous (Dan Barry & Bill Carr)
You know what you’re in for here. Comedy.
White Mike makes the most of Bill Carr’s gear by twanging his braces into him, only to get crushed with chops in the corner. Things picked up when Timmy Lou tagged in briefly, only for Dan Barry to catch him up top with a gamengiri ahead of a top rope ‘rana. Carr’s back with a Black Hole Slam, before Retton decided to take to the skies with an Orihara moonsault as the dives continued with a tope con giro from Dan Barry. Carr repeats the feat with a tope con giro of his own, before Barry got caught with a uranage/back cracker combo back in the ring for the win. They kept the comedy light, the match short, and I can’t complain about that. **½
Falls Count Everywhere Championship: Sexxxy Eddy (c) vs. Swoggle
I don’t think the stipulation before this title needs to be explained…
Swoggle and Eddy swivel a la Rick Rude to get us going, which led to Swoggle getting rather enchanted by Eddy’s dangly bits, so much so, he gave him a wedgie. They spill outside, where Swoggle sprays Eddy with someone’s drink, before a straight up punch to the balls finds its mark. They do shots by the bar, before Eddy took the match back into the ring, where the ref gets laid out… so nobody’s there to count a pin from Swoggle’s cutter. My favourite spot. Eddy gets the win with a belt shot, taking advantage of the no DQ nature, and this is mercifully over. **
Post-match, Swoggle takes another shot at Eddy’s dangly bits.
After a brief interval to put on a tarp, we’ve got a food fight!
Food Fight Invitational: Food Fighters (Bastian Snow & Pasquale The Italian Chef) vs. Nelson Pereira vs. Dad Bod Squad (Kyle Zachary & Sean Rice) vs. Red Eagle vs. Glaad Bad vs. Craigslist Homo vs. Super Beetle vs. Boris the Bear vs. Steven the Turtle Weiner vs. John Henderson vs. Tyler Murphy vs. George Gatton vs. Terra Calaway
Like hell am I doing play-by-play coverage for this. Look, it starts with these fever dreams, and there’s a lot of food-based offence, including the use of a pineapple like a it was a cheese grater.
I feel like I need to be under the influence of something here.
Two masked guys attack Weiner and hammer in some spaghetti into his back like it was skewers. We’ve got over fifteen wrestlers named by the time everyone’s entered, and apparently this is an elimination match as Terra Calaway eliminated folks with chokeslams. Fortunately the rest of the eliminations are equally speedy as Code Red out of the corner from Henderson led to a nice pin in among… macaroni? In the end, Calaway goes under the ring for a “table” of ramen noodles, which she uses to 3D Bastian Snow with, before Henderson took the win with a superkick. This was wacky as hell, and something I have no idea how to process. You need to see if, if only to see how inventive the food stunts got.
Fluffy the Killer Bunny vs. Leon St. Giovanni
This is like CHIKARA gone wrong…
LSG kicks an ear off of Fluffy’s mascot head, before he just bounced off the bunny with a crossbody. We have a stoppage as LSG glues his moustache back on, before he stretched Fluffy in the ropes. Fluffy’s back to punch off LSG’s ‘tache, before a running suplex dropped Leon, who didn’t get covered for… reasons. Ground and pound from the bunny has LSG covering up, before LSG’s manager uses an Indiana Jones-style whip to help pull his charge into the ropes for safety from a rear naked choke. LSG manages to respond with a powerbomb out of the corner, getting a near-fall and also riling up LSG’s manager, who hands off the whip… and yes, LSG accidentally cracks him with it as he aimed for the bunny. OW.
The Bunny grabs the other end of the whip and pulls LSG into a powerbomb, and that’s your lot. Surprisingly enjoyable, and not just for the whipping either. **½
The Ugly Ducklings (Lance Lude & Rob Killjoy) vs. The Butcher and The Blade (Andy Williams & Pepper Parks)
I’ve not exactly been sold on the Ducklings in past viewings, but maybe they’ll play better in this pseudo-comic arena?
Williams easily shoves aside Killjoy at the bell, as the Butcher wasn’t exactly a willing participant in there with the Duckling. Killjoy leaps into a chop, before Pepper Parks came in and winded up taking a pair of moonsaults as the Duck, Duck, Goose combo almost put him away. Williams tags back in to knock Lude silly, before he invited a crossbody as Lude just bounced off of him. A kick-assisted gutwrench dropped Lude for a two-count as this was starting to look awfully one-sided. Gutbusters knock the wind out of Lude, who was left isolated in there before a stunner finally got Lude some breathing room. Killjoy tagged in and hit a Quebrada, but couldn’t get a cover as Williams broke it up, only for Killkoy to take him outside for an Arabian press!
The Ducklings keep up the pressure with a tope to the outside, before Andy Williams ran himself into the ringpost as Killjoy ended up using Andy as a stepping stool for a flying Blockbuster for a near-fall. Williams comes back as he powerbombed Killjoy onto Lude as the Ducklings went for a finish… and that’s where things took a turn for the worse as Parks headed under the ring… for a door! Andy stacks them both up on his shoulders, but Coach Mikey made a save for his charges, only to get tossed through that door. Ye Gods.
A crossbody from Williams wipes out the Ducklings not long after, before Killjoy gets suplexed onto Parks’ knees for the win. I loved this match, perhaps a bit sloppy in spots, but this was anarchic and fun – and I need to see the Butcher and the Blade elsewhere, stat! ***¼
Chris Dickinson vs. Chris Brookes
In the adverts, Brookes was billed as a “British wrestling star”, a generic tagline that he’d probably make work on t-shirts. Brookes was out with Lykos, whose shoulder strapping is now furry, and this is the last straight singles match on this show…
Dickinson works a wristlock early, before dropping Brookes with a clothesline as his usual “I’m so tall, I can get the ropes from anywhere” didn’t work too well. Brookes heads to the back as he just disappeared… then returned up on the stage near the commentary team. Oh look. Empty seats… it’s been a while since there’d been a Brookesing… Except we don’t get that as they chop each other back into the ring, before Brookes countered a powerbomb on the floor by unsighting Dickinson and stomping him in the head. Behind the ref’s back, Lykos ‘ranas, dropkicks and topes Dickinson back to the outside, as Brookes followed in with a suicide dive of his own. Back inside, a back senton clattered Dickinson for a near-fall, as Brookes began to focus on Dickinson’s leg.
A chinlock keeps Dickinson on the mat, before a comeback was quickly thwarted thanks to a trip from Lykos. The Shit Wolf’s interference doesn’t though as Dickinson reverses a brainbuster, then caught Brookes with a death valley driver out of the corner. Lykos gets involved again, but he’s just squashed with a gutwrench suplex. Dickinson turns his sights back on Brookes with a sick lariat, and a deadlift German… but Lykos again runs in with a flying knee to set up for Brookes’ slingshot cutter. It’s not enough for the win though, and Brookes shoves down the ref so he could indulge in some more blatant cheating. Except the ref, Gearl Hebner, punts Lykos low before she made the count after a Shining Wizard put Brookes away for the win. Really fun stuff, and if you got sick of Brookes’ cheating… well, the ref proved to be the perfect equaliser. ***½
Fans Bring the Brightly Colored Toy Blocks Deathmatch for Interspecies Wrestling Championship: Matt Tremont vs. Jeff Cannonball vs. Nick Gage vs. Addy Starr (c)
Don’t say Lego!
There’s boxes of, erm, nondescript plastic building blocks all around the ring. Some branded, some not, along with doors that had Legos glued to it. Christ.
We start with Addy Starr spearing Cannonball through the Lego-adorned door, before she dove onto Nick Gage on the outside. Ow. We’ve got Lego baseball bats, which Cannonball used on the head of Tremont, sending Lego bits flying. Eww. Tremont and Cannonball trade short headbutts in the ring while Gage dropped Starr with a headbutt on the outside… and yeah, the two baldies in the ring are bleeding. Gage and Starr take over in the ring, but Gage just uses the remnants of a Lego door and slams Addy onto it. Yep. Painful.
Starr returns with an overhead belly-to-belly to send Gage into a Lego door, before she opened a big-ass storage box of those things. Good God, there’s Lego wheels in there too… and she dumps Cannonball into them with a drop toe hold and a double stomp! Gage catches her with a neckbreaker into the bricks, before a Samoan drop from Tremont sees Gage taste the blocks also. On the outside, Cannonball, erm, cannonballs off the apron into everyone, before Gage’s biting earned him some clubbering with a door. Yep, they’ve lost their minds as the shrapnel flew all over the place, before Starr found her second wind, clocking Tremont with forearms before she got slammed into the Legos. Dear. God.
On the outside, Cannonball ate a short brainbuster into a chair that the cameras barely caught, and things continue to go to hell as Starr ended up diving into a Fire Thunder Driver in the bricks for a near-fall. Cannonball followed up from that by putting a plastic bin on Starr, but she avoids having that flattened on her as she rolled away… then powerbombed Cannonball onto the box for a near-fall, as Gage dove in at the last second to break up the pin.
Gage quickly wrecks Starr with a Chokebreaker in the Legos for a near-fall, before Tremont tries to sneak in… only to get dumped into Lego with a Northern lights from Addy… who then ran into a death valley driver ahead of a Lego burial for Starr as a big splash finally got Tremont the win, and Starr’s ISW title. I have no idea how to rate this chaos, but I sure as hell enjoyed (and related) to it, so ***¼
Boner Jam 4 isn’t for everyone. It’s a decent enough mix of straight wrestling, violence and comedy… in which the comedy largely played better than, say, WrestlePro, and we did have some pretty solid matches. Come for the light comedy and stay for the wonderfully anarchic main event.