Featuring:
The Briscoe Brothers
Roderick Strong
Singo
Jigsaw
Larry Sweeney
The Heartbreak Express
So Cal Val
Yamato
Sal Rinauro
…many more
DVD Release Date:, 2008
Rating: Not Rated
Running Time: 180 Minutes
The Event
For twenty-four years of my twenty-eight years of existence, I’ve watched professional wrestling. That includes live, taped, television, WWE, WWF, WCW, TNA, ECW, GLOW, and countless others. This was my introduction to the world of Full Impact Pro (FIP) and it was interesting to say the least. First off let me say that the production and all that goes along with it reminds me of old school ECW. Only a couple cameras, a mic that echoes, and one of the announcers sounds a lot like Joey Styles. Let’s not forget that the action is taking place from inside a school gymnasium.
If you had ever watched ECW from the warehouses or bingo halls it took place in, then you’ll have a lot of respect for the action that happens in FIP. There’s no mistaking who are the faces (good guys) and the heels (bad guys) unlike what you may see in the bigger federations where there are tweeners (good guys who get booed, bad guys who get cheered). But there is a lot of respect for the action that goes on in the ring and I’ve got to admire the incredibly small crowd for doing that.
I’ve only heard of a handful of the wrestlers on this card, and actually seen even less of them in the ring. After this DVD came to an end, there wasn’t a single performer I wouldn’t mind seeing again either. Even those not in the best of shape still delivered fantastic ability and the sheer drive to put on a good match. Each match had a great deal of psychology in it and told some fantastic stories simply by how the participants wrestled and also by the characters they portray.
For my first trip into the world of FIP, it wasn’t perfect or great but it sure as hell was good. I’ve been a long time WWE/F fan and probably will be until the day I die or they go out of business, but all wrestling can be good wrestling. “Can be” I said, not “is.” FIP couldn’t possibly deliver a blockbuster card with all classic matches, but it kept me entertained and showed me a lot of stars that I barely knew of before. My favorite matches on the card had to be Castagnoli/Clark and the Bar Room Brawl because one was a great wrestling match while the other was just a straight up beatdown.
~ Larry Sweeney Vs. Seth Delay – Here is a match that starts out incredibly slow and then makes it’s way into a very decent back and forth match. The ending was quite abrupt and not the best, but still good while it lasted.
~ Claudio Castagnoli Vs. Jerrelle Clark – There is a big brawl at the end of the first match and this one began right as soon as that was done. No seriously, it just starts when the ringside area begins to clear out. Castagnoli has a clear size and strength advantage over Clark, but Clark fought back with his agility and quickness. Castagnoli did some classic heel maneuvers even going as far as to put his valet So Cal Val in harm’s way so Clark would back off.
~ The Heartbreak Express Vs. The YRR – This is a pretty straight forward tag-team match but the YRR seem to clearly be the superior team. The Heartbreak Express is your run of the mill faces that seem to stand up for everything that is good and gets the fans to cheer. It’s a fairly short match that ends with another dumb finish.
~ Delirious Vs. Jigsaw – Jigsaw is the obvious fan favorite here and calls out Delirious before the match wanting a rematch because last time there was just way too much cheating going on. Delirious accepts but says that this time will be exactly the same as the last. There was a bit of trickery thrown into this match along with some really good in-ring action. Overall it’s one of the best matches so far on this card and if these two have had a series of matches, I’d like to see them continue.
~ FIP Florida Heritage Title Match: Erick Stevens (c) Vs. Nigel McGuinness – This is the most one-sided great match I’ve ever seen. Both are very talented in the ring, but it seems as if Stevens really had no problems with McGuiness and could have put him away at any time. But McGuiness hang around and made this a very good match that keeps the trend of the matches getting better as the card goes along.
~ Dragon Gate Challenge: Shingo Vs. Yamato – Talk about your awesome matches. Shingo and Yamato went toe-for-toe for about fifteen minutes, but I could have watched a lot more from then. Apparently this is Shingo’s last match before heading back to Dragon Gate, and he surely made it count.
~ FIP World Heavyweight Title Match: Roderick Strong (c) Vs. Sal Rinauro – Here is yet another match between two wrestlers that I wouldn’t mind seeing repeat viewings of. Strong and Rinauro work absolutely brilliantly together in the ring and are going to be incredible stars someday in the big leagues. Hell, I wish FIP would turn big league so these guys would continue their hard work and actually care about it. There are a lot of near falls in this match and it builds up the excitement all that much more.
~ FIP Tag Team Title Bar Room Brawl: The Briscoe Brothers Vs. Necro Butcher & Mad Man Pondo – Now I’ve seen some brutal matches in my time, but this one just takes the cake. The Briscoes are not new to me by meaning that I’ve heard so much about them. For my first match seeing them in action; I’m not sure that they would have even fit in the old ECW because they are insane. There are quite a few times I couldn’t believe what I was seeing including numerous sick spots with tables. If you’re nauseous already or have a weak stomach, you may want to stop the DVD after the World Title match.
The Video
The event is shown in 1.33:1 Full Screen format and looks as if it was filmed with a big camera on a tripod like I used when I filmed my high school’s football games ten years ago. It doesn’t look bad, but it’s not great either.
The Audio
The event is heard in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and it isn’t very good. The echoing from the mic, crowd, and music sounds like they’re in a gymnasium. And they are.
Special Features
None
The Inside Pulse
Most wrestling DVDs don’t have special features so I’m not going to punish this one too much for having none at all while some bigger companies may only put two short features. If you’re a fan of wrestling, violence, or to sum it all up…old school ECW; then this is a DVD for you. I’m extremely anxious to pick up past DVDs or see some future events because these guys truly know how to put on a show. That bar room brawl was just so damn violent and nuts that it was the perfect way to end the card. Each match got better as the card progressed, but that honestly doesn’t mean you shouldn’t pay as much attention to the Delay/Sweeney match as you do the Strong/Rinauro match for instance. Full Impact Pro has a good roster of some young and talented guys that are going to be huge in this business should they catch on with TNA or especially WWE. Ring Of Honor is another promotion I’ve never seen any of, but from what I’ve heard, a lot of these guys double up there. Well, I can finally see what all the hype is about. International Impact Phase Two is an event that would blow away the minds of a sixteen thousand fan packed arena. FIP gets even more of my respect for putting together this kind of show for maybe two hundred.
