What up everyone in DOI land and welcome to another McTape Review. I'm literally sitting on a bunch of tapes and I'll try to pop out as many reviews as possible. (Dani your tape is second on the list now lol). Many people said they didn't like the play by play style of reviewing, so I'll just review the show like I normally do. Plus it's alot faster to do it that way as well.

I saw this show already live. To read the live review go to ICW 3/15 McReview
The reason I'm chosing to watch this show on tape is:
a) It was just released
b) I thought the main event was one of the better main events on the indy scene
c) ICW IS BACK!
That's right, ICW is returning on July 9th 2004 at Club Amazura. For more information keep it here on the DOI site, and check out www.icwzone.com. Look for a Jac Sabboth interview to soon be up as well. Also, in the next McRoss Report, I will discuss ICW and Mr. Sabboth.

With that said, let's get into the Tape Review.

Commentators for this tape are Mike Johnson and Buck Woodward of PWInsider.com
I thought Buck was pretty good, and had a "Japanese" feel. Johnson came off smarky, but then again, smarks are the ones buying these tapes.

We start off with the ICW Tape Intro.
In ring is the ring announcer El Shoes and he takes us to our first match...

All Money is Legal (Kash and Kaos) d. Dirty Rotten Scoundrelz (KC Blade and EC Negro)
This was the precursor to many good matches down the line. This wasn't the best match between the two (I think CZW's version as stronger), but this match showed what these two teams are capable of. This match went to the outside real fast. AMIL whipped out some of their double team offense, such as neckbreakers and a rolling flip into the corner on Blade. Blade really took a beating in this match. The DRS used their nefarious tactics in this match, which set them up for a Dirty Rotten Driver. KC Blade hit a nice 20 second stalling suplex on Kash. Kash hit a double hurrannacarranna on the DRS. Impressive. Kaos hit a top rope double X-factor on the DRS, and pinned Blade for the win. Good tag match.

Wayne “The Convenience Store Guy” d. Johnny Ova
A good indy match. This was one of Wayne's last matches as the Convenience Store Guy. This match went back and forth. Lots of good chain wrestling in this. The crowd was feeling this match. Wayne wins with a version of the F-5.

In a Loser-Leaves-ICW Match
Danny Demanto vs Damian Dragon w/ Foxxy Dreams went to a double disqualification
This was one of Demanto's matches where he used Ice Cube's "Put Your Back Into It" as his theme music. Funny shit in hindsight. I ripped this match when it happened live, and still don't think much of it today. The end result of this angle didn't really go anywhere. Demanto's took a wack bump where his leg wacked the guard rail viciously. Someone give Zevon the tape so we can put it on DOI TV!
During the middle of the match, Harry Slash came out. He fired both of them. He said the only way for them to come back was for them to join the Kiss My Ass club. He admitted to ripping off Vince, which was actually pretty cool. Slash leaves, and Demanto/Dragon are pissed.
POSTMATCH: Dragon snaps. He spits at Slash. El Shoes lets Dragon know he isn't wanted. Alot of the live part of the show was cut out on the tape, which is probably for the better.

Mega/Scampi d. The Braggiols (Joey Braggiol/Poppalishus)
This was before Poppalishus was exposed as a penis baring freak. How Poppalishus can be considered part of the Mafia is beyond me. This wasn't funny in an ECW way, it was dumb like in a not a good idea way. Ken Scampi has made leaps and bounds since this match, with the obvious improvement his gear. His gear in this match makes him look like a member of Devo. Now his gear is flashy and he stands out. Despite all that, this match was fun to watch. All 4 men, besides Poppalishus (Because I haven't seen him enough) have improved. Mega worked like a true big man in this match, that's something I'd like to see more often. Braggiol is very agile for someone his size. Mega went on an ass whippin spree towards the end of this match. He hit a mid rope splash on Poppalishus. Scampi and Tara piled on top of Mega and the ref slapped the canvas 3 times for the win.
POSTMATCH: The victors celebrate like they won the SuperBowl. Poppalishus is mad at Braggiol and asks where he was at. Poppalishus talks more shit. Poppalishus looks like he's going to make up, but he clotheslines Braggiol down. He then slaps him in the face like a bitch.

Prince Nana d. Chris Divine
This was a match to make Nana look strong and it did. Nana hit his signature moves such as his running ass to the corner. Divine hit some nice dropkicks in this match. There was alot of action in this match. Divine hit a nice headscissors for 2. Nana hit an implant DDT for the pin out of no where.
POSTMATCH: Some fan starts with Nana. Nana spits in his face. In the corner, Slingblade Carl stands there in his Hayabusa shirt laughing.

For the ICW Super Junior Championship
4 Corner Ladder Match
Billy Reil d. Rob Eckos, Abunai (w/o mask) and Low Ryda
PREMATCH: Billy Reil insults El Shoes, Rock style. Reil then makes an alliance with Rob Eckos before the match begins.
Wack ladder match. With the talent involved it could've been better. This match was very short. At least the finish made the title meaningful. During this match, Colby Corino joins the announce booth. I think Reil was the star of the match, as the whole match revolved around what he was doing. Abunai hit a ddt from the top of the ladder on Reil. Finish saw Eckos and Reil own the ring. Reil tells Rob to win the title, because he has enough gold. As Rob goes up, Reil pokes him in the ass with a chair. Reil then scales the ladder and grabs the belt. Reil turned on Eckos! That bastard!

Straight from the live review:
15 man Battle Royal for a ROH DVD. (A ROH DVD being offered as the prize for an ICW show? Whatever happened to the $20,000 prize? It’s good though to see a promotion recognize another promotion)
Prince Nana won the battle royal.
Some other participants where: AMIL, Low Life Louie Ramos (in black shirt), Johnny Bravado, and Mega. The last 3 guys were Nana, Mega and Skinhead Ivan. Nana and Mega teamed up against Ivan, in a gesture of African-American pride, and Mega wound up tossing Ivan out. Nana quickly then threw Mega run out and won the DVD. Nana would get the microphone and would then call Mega “the fat pig from the Lion King!” Mega would run back in the ring, and hit a chokeslam on Nana.

Striker d. Eddie Guapo
I thought this match was much better live than on tape. I think Guapo has improved tremendously since this match. Ditto Striker. Striker has become one of the best wrestlers today. If I was starting a promotion, I think Striker would be one of the first guys I'd want in it, as the guy can do anything and play any role. Guapo was pre-Lunatic in this match. This match tried to do alot at once, and sometime it worked. Towards the end, both guys traded forearms. Striker hit a pumphandle emerald fusion (Yep, the first ever pumphandle emerald fusion) for the pinfall. Match picked up at the end.

Cut to the back where ICWzone.com correspondent Nick Knowledge is with Billy Reil. Nick is disgusted in the way Reil won the championship. Reil cuts a funny promo about how he always cheats. He says he cheated on tests, cheats on his wife, and he'll cheat to win the championship. Nick Knowledge's face mannerisms were on the fucking point, as he looked steamed and fucking pissed off. Reil celebrates being the ICW Super Junior Champion.

Livewyre d. Ivan and John Walters in a triple threat match.
I think Ivan was the best wrestler in this match at the time. It's amazing where Walters and Livewyre are today. Give ICW credit, as they were the first promotion in the NY/NJ/PA area to use Walters. Walters is now one of the best indy wrestlers in the world and Livewyre is in OVW. There was some miscommunication in this match, but the wrestlers rebounded and put on a good show. Livewyre hit a nice powerslam on Ivan. Walters hit a nice springboard powerbomb on Livewyre. Livewyre pins Walters after his running razors edge for the pinfall. Hey, that could be a Velocity match by this time next year.

Tim Arson d. Grim Reefer
I thought this was the best wrestling match on the show when it happened live, and still think it's the best overall match on the tape. Reefer was on fire in this match. Arson can wrestle his ass off if he gets the right opponent. Working battle royals doesn't really showcase what Arson can do. Reefer hit a corkscrew moonsault from the top rope to the floor, then climbed up the stage and hit a 5 Bong Frogsplash. Incredible. Back in the ring, the rugged southpaw, Arson, went to work on Reefers back, with some slams, kicks and strikes. Arson hit a 15 second stalling muscle buster. Arson went back for another one, but had it reversed for a 2. Reefer hit his headscissor/crossface, but Arson got the ropes to break it up. Arson rebounded and hit a huge TKO for the pin. Great match, that held up in time.

Boogie Knights (Mike Tobin/Danny Drake) w/XTC d. The Solution (Papadon/Havok)w/Miss Michelle
Solution stalled before the match started. I think Tobin is a better singles wrestler than a tag wrestler. I think he's really shined in the past 8 or so months without Drake. I thought this was the best tag team match on the show. These two teams always work each other pretty well. Papadon must be the biggest Radicalz mark there is, because not only does he do the Benoit Headbutt, the Malenko sidekick, he's also doing the Guerrero senton from the outside. Figure that he does the Perry Saturn DVD from time to time, you got the complete Radical wrestler. Drake hit a nice X factor in this match. Midway through the match, the girls both got in the ring and had a cat fight. Tobin and Papadon went to go break it up, but Drake got the mic and said LET THEM GO, which got the crowd hot. After some more brawling and a missed chairshot, the Boogie Knights win this match after a double piledriver on Papadon. Good match.

Boogalou defeated Kruel
Decent wrestling match, which was very methodically paced. Boogalou hit some big strikes in this match, and hit an excruciating knee drop to Kruel's face. Kruel hit a big time overhead suplex for 2. There were alot of near falls in this match. This match made both wrestlers look evenly matched. The finish saw Kruel mount Boogalou in the corner, and open him up with right fists. Boogalou then powerbombed out of it, and put his feet on the ropes for the win. Ref didn't see Boogalou cheat. Cheat 2 WiN!

Nick Knowledge is in the back with The Solution. Harry Slash is also there, but no one sees him. He mocks Nick behind his back. Papadon cuts one of the worst promos ever. He makes sure to say every cliche possible. Papadon spends more time looking at Nick Knowledge than the camera. Papadon slaps Havok and says "tell 'em Havok." Havok looks like he is about to laugh. This promo seems very scripted, so scripted in fact, that Harry Slash is right behind Havok calling the lines before Havok even says them. Funny promo due to Slash. The Solution have gotten way better in promos since this one.

Main Event
Mikey Whipreck and The Christopher Street Connection d. Steve Cornio w/Simply Lucious, CW Anderson and Guillotine LeGrande
This might've been one of the best main events of the year. While the wrestling wasn't 5 star, the match did its job, which was to entertain. This might be one of the funniest matches ever. I don't know what it is, but this match is just great to watch. This match has to be pot smoking match of the year, because if you smoke mad weed and watch this, you will just start cracking up. The Christopher Street Connection stole this match with their antics. As a matter of fact, the CSC did a similiar style of match with The Solution a year later in World 1. This match is why you get the tape. The people involved probably didn't think it was their best match, but as a fan/journalist, this is one of my favorites. The CSC are just so over the top in this match and just do improv comedy during the match. Corino looks disgusted at the whole thing. Mikey Whipwreck wins this match after a pedigree. Kudos ICW for cutting off the commentators during this match until the end, and just letting the wrestlers talk, as they really made the match.
POSTMATCH: CSC try to recruit Mikey to their side of the fence, but Mikey hits them up with some Whippersnappers, after doing the Rikishi-2 Cool dance.

POST SHOW PROMOS:

Nick Knowledge is outside with The Boogie Knights and XTC. They cut a promo about being back in ICW. Drake talks about how the internet and the message boards were asking about the Boogie Knights whereabouts. I remember Boris Kaloff and Bud Abbott going nuts on the USA Pro boards at the time. Tobin says this is a big come back for us and we're here to stay.

Nick Knowledge lets everyone know that ICW is back!

Nick Knowledge catches up with Corino, Anderson, Luscious, and LeGrande. Mikey Whipwreck runs out and says "Hey you're getting interviewed by The Fink!" Nick asks Corino and Co., what it's like to lose tonight. Corino says we didn't lose and tells Nick to back off. Mikey runs out and screams some more. Corino says ok we lost and gets out of Dodge.

Nick Knowledge says he doesn't know what to say. Harry Slash tells Nick to sign off, so Nick does. That concludes this show.

Final McWord
This was ICW's rereturn show. I thought it was a solid effort. At the time, ROH was running the same day, which conflicted many of ICW's normally booked wrestlers. I thought this show had alot of good stuff on it and highlighted some of the lesser known indy names. The main event was pretty strong. Arson/Reefer and the DRS/AMIL and Solution/BK matches were strong as well.

The camera angle is shot from a diagonal sideview, which is a good angle. It is not the usual angle, but it works for this show.

With ICW returning on July 9th, with Red vs Reefer and Homicide vs Danny Maff, it looks like ICW will be putting on an even bigger show then this one.

To recap some of UCW/ICW history check out the McTape Reviews and Show Reviews. Keep checking the DOI site for more UCW/ICW info.

Overall, for 12 bucks you can't go wrong on this tape. Alot of wrestlers on this show have great futures and there a bunch of good matches. The main event is one of the better matches on the indies today.

To purchase this tape go to either http://www.icwzone.com or call Jac Sabboth at the Wrestling Universe at 1-718-631-1518. Feel free to prank call him as a pigeon too.

Look for more tape reviews coming soon, including ROH, WD Joshi, and UCW's 4/12/03 offering.

Sean "The MiC" McCaffrey
BULLSMC@aol.com