Just Another Wrestling Story...

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You've seen it a million times. Indy company opens up, does well initially, then the money or the competition catches up with them and they're done.

 

Sometimes you'll see one open, catch alot of buzz, run alot of shows, maybe go on PPV, maybe get a TV show, get its talent raided and eventually go under and become a footnote.

 

Sometimes you see a situation like what TNA has. Essentially an indy fed with a show and PPV's which carved a path into the annals of wrestling history and became what had been thought to be a rival of the WWE in a market where there's no real significant competitor to them.

 

Then there's us...

 

http://i356.photobucket.com/albums/oo3/hillbillyjesus/redux.jpg

 

 

**MAJOR PROPS HERE to my pal Togg for helping me with the original graphic for this, which due to me being a doosh I lost by deleting all my PM's. I want to once again thank him for helping me in the early stages with this, and helping me out. I encourage all of you if you already don't, read his TNA dynasty, which I believe is one of the best ones here.**

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I. COMPANY HISTORY

Part One: In The Beginning (2003-2004)

 

The seeds of eWr were planted in early 2003 when Reckless Youth, who recently made a comeback in the business following his retirement and his leaving CHIKARA, along with indy vets Ace Darling, Devon Storm and his former partner in CHIKARA Mike Quackenbush, spoke of creating a large scale indy Northeastern promotion, different from the stale shows being run in NY and NJ. After Reckless and Quackenbush purchased the name Independent Pro Wrestling from Florida promoter Joe Price, they finalized their roster with many current stars for Quackenbush's CHIKARA promotion including Hallowicked, Ultramantis, Eddie Kingston and Shane Storm along with a very big mix of talent ranging from Midwestern stars Brad Bradley and Ryan Boz to ECW alum Steve Corino. IPW's goal was to present a true wrestling show that helps showcase the new and most talent stars out there. Independent Pro Wrestling opened it's doors on September 13, 2003 with it's first show, and the first show in Yonkers, NY in nearly 8 years with "Birth Of A Promotion". The show was a complete success, led by a special 4 way main event which saw Reckless Youth defeat Steve Corino, Christopher Daniels and Devon Storm. It also saw the New York debuts of men who would play key parts in eWr later on in Chris Hero, Colt Cabana and Nigel McGuiness. Major buzz began to surround IPW due to the overall level of the show. IPW began to run shows around the NY-NJ-CT tri state area on a bi-weekly status for the rest of 2003. A majority of these shows were co promoted with CHIKARA, who were in their "off season". Many of these shows featured exhibition matches, not really having a storyline for it. However, it would take until January 2004 for that all to change. Seeing a trend in how many NY/NJ promotions were booked, such as USA Pro Wrestling and JAPW, using alot of top flight indy talent, IPW decided to change their entire approach "suspending" the promotion in December. During that month, IPW signed deals with Smart Mark Video to be the official distributor of IPW DVD's. The relationship of IPW and CHIKARA was officially cemeted as they refered to each other as brother and sister promotions of each other. However, the most notable change of IPW was it's roster. Gone were many of the bigger indy names, replaced with a healthy number of lesser known and younger talents across the nation and world. IPW also hired it's first announcing team of former CZW and PWU announcer Eric Garagulio and former NWA Florida commentator Aaron Royal. IPW also commisioned 3 titles to be filled as soon as possible: IPW World Heavyweight, IPW World Tag Team, IPW World Hybrid Titles. With a new lease on life, IPW would go into 2004 confident and cautious they would succede.

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I. COMPANY HISTORY

Part Two: The Fight To Survive (January 2004- June 2004)

 

With it's new roster and direction in place, IPW held it's debut show of 2004 from the Knights of Columbus in Levitown, NY dubbed "ReGenesis". The night saw the crowning of two new champions. Firstly we saw the young Canadian duo of Beef Wellington and El Generico steal a victory against the odds, defeating the young North Carolina brother team of TJ and Kirby Mack and the roughed veteran duo of BoogZ and Dub L known as The Dead Prez following Wellington nailing an E Coli Driver on Kirby after Kirby broke up a sure fire pin after BoogZ nailed a Burning Lariat on Generico. After the bout, tensions between Dead Prez and The Macks went to a fever pitch and the 2 duos had to be restrained, as the new champs bailed. But the big title was decided in a special one night tournament which saw Reckless Youth win the first ever IPW World Heavyweight champion, defeating former ROH Champion Xavier, "Mr. Wrestling" Kevin Steen and Jimmy Jacobs after knocking out Xavier with is 2nd rope brainbuster dubbed Roofies. However, the night did not end as happily as Reckless wanted, when Jacobs, a fan favorite, apparently lost it and savagly attacked Reckless after the match to the point the locker room cleared to pry Jacobs off of Reckless. However besides this, the show saw one of IPW's first memorable feuds, when "Sweet and Sour" Larry Sweeney badmouthed the legendary Iron Sheik, who was on hand for a special autograph session. Sweeney goaded the Sheik into the ring where the two traded "insults" until fellow rookie Ricky Landell rushed the ring and attacked the Sheik until mysterious new comer Delirious rushed the ring to save the legend. As The Sheik and Delirious stood ready to fight, Sweeney and Landell, now calling themselves The Dynamic Duo, quickly ran out of the arena. The show itself got rave reviews across the community of wrestling fans. IPW announced it would now tour across the northeast rather than stay in NY, NJ and CT and their next show took them to Wakefield, MA in Feburary.

 

"St. Valentine's Slaughter" saw the budding feud between Reckless Youth and Jimmy Jacobs explode. Before the show, Jacobs came out and apologized to Reckless for the attack, claiming he was having "problems at home" and shouldn't have taken it out on Reckless. Reckless and Jacobs shook hands. Jacobs and Reckless were to team up in the show's main event, taking on the duo of Xavier and NWA Wildside's champion Adam Jacobs. But as the bout started, Jacobs showed his true colors and yet again brutally attacked Reckless, bloodying him with a chair. Jacobs then announced to the shocked audience that the old fun loving Hussing Jimmy Jacobs was dead, and now the true Jimmy Jacobs was in IPW and was ready to not only take the IPW Title but end the career of Reckless Youth. Delirious defeated Ricky Landell with Shadows Over Hell, which prompted The Iron Sheik 5 minutes alone with Larry Sweeney, but Sweeney shocked many by sacrificing Landell the beating so he could leave. The feud between Dead Prez and The Mack Boys ended abruptly when Dead Prez, in an angle before the show, jumped the Mack Boys as they entered the arena, forcing both men to go to the hospital and out of IPW. The Dead Prez turned their sights to the Tag Team Titles, attacking Beef and Generico following their successful defense against the team of Quiet Storm and Josh Daniels. The night however did see the debut of one of the first big IPW stars as Chris "The Bambi Killer" Raber made his US debut, by taking out long time indy star Chris Hamerick in less than 2 minutes. IPW made waves during this show, announcing that in March it would make it's debut in the former ECW Arena, going head to head against PWU which was promoting across town. The show and the intenet buildup for the show was revolutionary because it utalized streaming promos and such for the matches, which really turned on internet fans, a key audience which it catered to.

 

IPW's "Fight Night" was easily at this point IPW's biggest show, selling out the Arena and totally killing the PWU show. The night saw a special double main event. The now infamous "Humble Match" between Larry Sweeney and the Iron Sheik, which saw "Brian Blair" run in to save Sweeney and Delirious saving the Sheik and ending with the Sheik making Sweeney humble with the Camel Clutch. The second main event saw Reckless Youth and Jimmy Jacobs battle in an epic encounter which ended with Jacobs seemingly pinning Reckless, but upon closer inspection Reckless' foot was on the ropes. This caused Jacobs to attack referee Mike Posey and again Carter. In a now infamous moment, Jacobs took out a railroad spike and proceded to carve up Reckless. Jacobs then wiped Reckless' blood on the title and held it up as medics worked on Reckless. The night also saw the second defense of the IPW Tag Titles when Generico and Beef defeated Dead Prez, but following the match, the brawl between these two teams literly went all over the arena. In a match which many call one of the better early matches, Chris Raber continued his dominance, defeating Eddie Kingston in a 17 minute stiff brawl. During the show, it was announced that IPW would debut at the Rexplex in Elizabeth, NJ, headlined by Reckless Youth taking on Mike Quackenbush for the IPW World Title.

 

"Battle of The Titans" started off with a bang with the announcement that Jimmy Jacobs was offically suspended from IPW due to the events of the prior month. Fans were treated to a special 4 way dance to crown the first IPW Hybrid Champion when Derek Fraizer defeated Ruckus, B-Boy and Xavier after nailing Xavier with his spinning Impaler dubbed Derek Fraizer. The Delirious/Larry Sweeney feud continued as Delirious and Iron Sheik defeated Larry Sweeney and Kamala in a dream partner match after Sweeney commanded Kamala to splash the Sheik, Kamala refused, Sweeney attacked Kamala, and Kamala destroyed Sweeney to the delight of the crowd. The Quackenbush/Reckless match was one of the best matches IPW had put on to date, going 35 minutes with Reckless beating his best friend with an inside cradle. However following the match and postmatch handshake, a masked man ran in from the crowd and threw a fireball at Reckless before running off by Quackenbush. Reckless was wheeled away from the arena. However, the true main event saw the Unsanctioned street fight for the IPW World Tag Team Titles as El Generico and Beef Wellington clashed with Dead Prez in a "match" many will remember for a complete riot, capped off by the iconic image of Beef Wellington superplexing Dub L through 3 flamming tables. However the night may be remembered best for the shocking apperance and one time only match of NY Giants Tight End Jeremy Shockey, who was in attendence and took objection to Emil Sitochi and Chris Raber's anti American views as the duo offically became the European Union. Shockey then aided Eddie Kingston as his tag team partner against Sitochi and Raber, even getting the pinfall on Sitochi following his variation of the FU. The Shockey incident offically put IPW on the map, and thusly catapulted it into one of the top 3 indy promotions in the US. It was covered by ESPN and numerous media outlets.

 

IPW then moved to "the big time" by announcing their NYC debut in the Manhattan Center. This event saw a major shift in how it's business was done. IPW hit it's advertising hard, due to several new investors thrust into the company, airing ads during Raw and Smackdown and literly soaking the NYC area with ads for the show to the point every major NY magazine and newspaper covered IPW. The show also a new step in production as new lighting, sound systems, sets and video screens were implimented, trying to give IPW a bigger time feel for it. The show "May Massacre" was the biggest to date in terms of attendence and gate. Delirious and Larry Sweeney faced each other one on one for the first time, without Sheik or Kamala or anyone like that, and for the first time, Sweeney defeated Delirious by nailing him with the Sherevesport Smash before attempting to unmask the masked man. The feud between Dead Prez and Beef and Generico continued their feud in a ladder match. When BoogZ and Generico brawled at the top of the ladder, it looked as though we would have new champions, Generico nailed a brainbuster on the top of the ladder, which once again allowed Beef and Generico somehow keep their titles. IPW Hybrid Champion Derek Fraizer's Cinderella run continued when he shockingly defeated Mike Quackenbush. Quack, ever the gentleman shook the hand of Fraizer. In the night's main event, Reckless Youth sucessfully defended his title against newcomer Davey Richards in a hell of a match. Following the match Reckless called out for IPW to lift the ban on Jimmy Jacobs and called out Jacobs to face him now, mask or not. But no one came out. However, as fans left the arena, they were shocked to see Jacobs standing ontop of Reckless' car, pouring gasoline on it and then setting it on fire, which prompted Reckless to run out in his street clothes and the 2 brawling infront of the Manhattan Center before police broke the fight up. The fire and fight event put them even more in the spotlight and this along with the advertising and production levels of the show put them on the radar of many of the noted wrestling journalists and they were thusly called unamiously the "promotion to watch".

 

IPW traveled back to Boston for the aptly named "Boston Massacre" which undoubtly was one of the bloodies non deathmatch shows in recent memory. The night saw the return of Kevin Steen who faced Davey Richards which ended in a double countout in a very hard hitting match. Derek Fraizer's run as IPW Hybrid champion continued as he defeated another major opponent in former ECW star Tony Mamaluke in an excelent battle. But the blood began to flow as Chris Raber took on Danny Doring, where Raber broke Doring's nose midway through the match and the blood quickly began to flow and Raber continued his singles undefeated streak. Delirious and Larry Sweeney collided in a Falls Count Anywhere match, which saw the blonde locks of Sweeney get covered in crimsoned after Delirious threw him into the top of the ring post. But Sweeney somehow fought back and defeated Delirious with a handful of tights. The bloody feud for the tag team titles intensiied yet again as Generico and Beef some how once again, despite the massive amount of damage they took, were able to defeat Dead Prez in a Boston Street Fight after Beef and Generico handcuffed BoogZ to the ropes and landed a Brainbuster/Backbreaker Combo on Dub L for the win. Following the match, Dead Prez challenged the champs to one last match for the belts, a Dominican Strap match at next month's show. Beef and Generico accepted. But the blood came full circle in the night's main event, an unsanctioned brawl between Reckless Youth and Jimmy Jacobs which went all over the arena and saw grotesque amounts of blood shed manily due to Jacobs' "Sullivan Spike" (a railroad spike given to him by Kevin Sullivan). But in a shocker, Jacobs defeated Reckless with the Contra Code onto a guardrail. Jacobs however was not a champion as the match wasn't sanctioned. As Jacobs left the arena, Reckless took the mic and challenged Jacobs to a match at the next PPV, a winner take all match not just for the IPW World Heavyweight Title, but the loser leaves IPW forever, and said match would be inside a 20 foot high steele cage, which on the 4 corners would be removable spikes. Jacobs smirked and accepted the challenge. The show got alot of good reviews from many within the wrestling community, and resulted in Chris Raber announcing 2 weeks after the show he would be leaving IPW in a month's time to join the WWE and he announced he wanted to face whoever the champion was at his final show in July. But the road to "Scars and Stripes" would be paved in a very shocking matter.