Another random one from IWTV – and it’s from a show in a five-sided ring? Yep…
This show’s from Bellingham, WA, and a promotion that was having its debut show. Their gimmick was a differently-shaped ring – a pentagon! Knowing how many complaints there were about TNA’s six-sided ring, I’m really curious as to how this’ll go, especially given that the bog-standard “running the ropes” is off the table here. Unless you do it at an angle…
Kikyo vs. Daniel Makabe
This was one of Kikyo’s first matches back after a long time out with a knee injury, and was accompanied by Rook Kelly, fresh off of a loss earlier in the night.
Belgium is the answer.
Kikyo slaps away a handshake, so the ref gets it instead as we open with a standard wristlock that Kikyo reverses, taking Makabe to the mat. He scounters out, as the pair went between headlocks and headscissors, forcing Kikyo to handstand her way free into a square-off…
Back to their feet, Makabe goes in with a hammerlock, but we’re still countering back-and-forth as an overhead wristlock took Kikyo to the mat, She powers up and breaks in the ropes, throwing a cheeky forearm before Makabe reversed a whip to take her into the corner… following up with a springboard armdrag rolling into a STF, that was right by the ropes, so Kikyo could force a break.
Another side headlock led to a hair pull form Kikyo, as the pair broke down into shoulder tackles, with Rook Kelly tripping Makabe in the ropes, leading to a distraction as Kikyo bulldozed Makabe with a clothesline for a two-count. Kikyo snapmares Makabe for a kick to the back from there, before she used her knee brace to her advantage, trapping Makabe’s fingers in there ahead of a stomp.
Makabe rushes in with a roll-up for a near-fall, but Kikyo goes to the eyes as Makabe became friends with the middle rope… and even closer with Rook Kelly, who choked away. Hip attacks follow as Makabe’s caught in the corner, leading to another near-fall, as some grounded body scissors looked to force a submission on the Canadian. Going after the recently-healed knee, Makabe fought free, but quickly got caught in the ropes with a knee before he managed to charge down Kikyo.
Kikyo ducks the Big Unit punch, but got kicked back as a missile dropkick took her off her feet for a delayed cover and a two-count. A Makabe Lock ends in the ropes as Kikyo got back to her feet, but Makabe’s quickly back with a corner dropkick that stunned her long enough for him to put on the Makabe Lock… which ended in the ropes again. Staying in the corner, Kikyo resists an Irish whip, then sidestepped another dropkick from Makabe as she comes back in with a shoulder charge and a STO for a near-fall.
They both got back to their feet, trading forearms and uppercuts, before Kikyo ducked a Big Unit again… third time was the charm for Daniel though as a German suplex followed for another two-count. Makabe tries again, but Rook Kelly distracts on the apron, as a Kikyo capitalised with a Samoan Driver for a near-fall. Kikyo argues with the ref, which led to some shoving and a roll-up for a two-count, before another Big Unit from Makabe nearly hit the ref… in among the confusion, Kikyo drops down and hits a low blow before rolling up Makabe for the win. The ref gets shoved down for the hell of it as well, as commentary almost blew a gasket over the quality of the officiating. I agree. As for the match, this was pretty decent, although it wasn’t until Rook’s interference that I fully “got” who the bad guy was meant to be – and I liked how Makabe saved some of his big stuff until he absolutely needed it. There’s a guy who doesn’t dive or head up top too often… ***¼
That was followed up with a backstage with the same ref seemingly being mad at being shoved down. 5CC Management (I guess) said they’d address it… but not the whole “ref missed the low blow” deal?
If you’re looking for some names you’ll not see in many other places, 5CC and the rest of the Pacific North West’s scene isn’t a bad place to look – and with IWTV having added a bunch of those promotions, now’s the time to dive in! Just don’t get too focused on the unusual ring…