Big Andy Mac’s Big Andy DVD Review: FIP’s First Annual Eddie Graham Memorial Battle of the Belts; 3-10-2007
I know that this is kind of an old show, but with Roderick Strong’s and Erick Stevens’ feud ending this Saturday in Philadelphia for RoH’s next Pay per View taping, I thought it would be fitting to see the start of their rivalry in RoH’s sister promotion Full Impact Pro. I also mark big time for tournaments, so bully for that as well.
The show begins with Mike Graham dressed to the nines representing his father and bringing out the Florida Heritage Title which is the main prize of tonight’s tournament. Allow me to take a moment to comment on the attire of one Mike Graham. The dude is for all intents and purposes the guest of honor and he shows up in a polo shirt with the sleeves cut off, nut hugging cut off khakis, and a pair of flip flops…God blesses you, Mike Graham. Own that Snowbird chic outfit, Mr. Graham. Own it.
Graham talks about his father’s legacy who was truly one of the major icons of Florida wrestling. Mike puts over the tournament and how the Florida Heritage title is a great way to honor his father’s legacy, but his parade gets rained on by DP associates of Dave Prazak and his charges: Jimmy Rave, Delirious (sporting a Los Ice Creams T), Mile Beasley, a homeless man in a wheelchair, and Shingo. Prazak informs Graham that it is anything goes in FIP and instead of this tourney we will be having a Battle Royale. The babyfaces, namely Erick Stevens, Roderick Strong and the Briscoes come to the aid of Mike Graham and we segue directly into our first match-up.
Florida Heritage Tournament First Round Match: FIP World Champion Roderick Strong vs. Jimmy Rave of DP Associates with Dave Prazak, Milo Beasley, Shingo and Delirious
Lenny Leonard is alone on commentary for this since his normal partner Dave Prazak is busy managing. Lenny is pretty solid on his own. The match itself is good. Jimmy Rave plays the coward to Roderick’s aggressive babyface. The DP crew gets ejected from ringside save Prazak and Beasley, but even their repeated interference is not enough to steal a win for Jimmy Rave. Roderick’s high impact offense proved too much and a nasty boot to the face put Jimmy down for the three count. In a nice touch Rave was wheeled to the back on Milo’s wheelchair. This set the bar pretty high for the first round, and since I would probably call this the best of the four matches.
Winner: Roderick Strong via pinfall; ***
Florida Heritage Tournament First Round Match: FIP Tag Team Champion Jay Briscoe vs. “Sweet and Sour†Larry Sweeney
I really dig Larry Sweeney’s shtick and he turns it on full force here. Jay is his usual solid self. They beat on each other for a while with Jay getting the advantage most of the time and Sweeney making him look like a million bucks. The real story in this match and the rest of the show is Dave Prazak and his excellent job as the heel commentator. He shrugs off all of his charges’ losses. He also spends a good portion of the show complaining that if there were a Battle Royal instead of a tournament none of his men would be eliminated. Ring of Honor in some respects suffers from a lack of distinction between Prazak and Leonard. One does not necessarily deserve to go full on heel, but two play by play men is a bit overkill. Incidentally, Jay won with the Jay Driller.
Winner: Jay Briscoe vie pinfall; **
Florida Heritage Tournament First Round Match: Erick Stevens vs. RoH Tag Team Champion Shingo
This match took place during that cup of coffee where Shingo and Naruki Doi held the RoH tag straps. This is the only contest that gives the opener a run for its money in terms of quality in the first round. This is just a tale of two beasts pounding on each other with guns blazing. Shingo is made to look like a beast, as Erick Stevens may be the best big man on the indies at drawing sympathy. I honestly don’t know how he does it. Stevens is able to steal a win with a crucifix effectively putting Shingo over while he gets the win.
Winner: Erick Stevens via pinfall; ***
Florida Heritage Tournament First Round Match: FIP Tag Team Champion Mark Briscoe vs. Delirious
Let me just start off by saying that Delirious is an awful heel. In a fed that has a lot of family appeal like FIP a character like Delirious would be better served as a good guy. They bill him from the Florida swamps, for goodness sakes. That being said, this match was also bad. It was just a bunch of stuff with no real flow and Delirious stole a quick submission victory with the Cobra Stretch. I will say this of FIP, is that they do a decent job of protecting finishers.
Winner: Delirious via submission; *
We are next treated to the Young, Rich and Ready for Action, or YRR for short accompanied by some jail bait. These three men Chasyn Rance, Sal Rinauro and Kenny King are a bunch of youthful, cocky heels. They come out to talk about how awesome they are. Their love-in is interrupted by Cory Chavis, Jerelle Clark, and Seth Delay setting up for the obligatory break after the semis match later on.
Florida Heritage Tournament Semifinal Match: FIP World Heavyweight Champion Roderick Strong vs. FIP Tag Champion Jay Briscoe
These guys have a pretty good chemistry from their tag matches in RoH, but this is a decidedly average affair. The best part of the match is Dave Prazak on commentary. He keeps hoping for the two of the two injure one another, and talks about Delirious beating Erick Stevens as a foregone conclusion. It was great to listen to. Roderick ends up winning this one with the Gibson Driver.
Winner: Roderick Strong
Florida Heritage Tournament Semifinal Match: Delirious vs. Erick Stevens
Delirious is just not an effective heel. He tries the Memphis stall and the crowd just doesn’t care. Stevens beats up on Delirious and the interference of Dave Prazak and Milo Beasley is not enough to get in the mohawked marauder’s way. Stevens delivers a violent Doctor Bomb and nets a berth in the finals.
Winner: Erick Stevens; **
Six Man Throwaway match to kill time before the Finals: The YRR of Chasyn Rance, Sal Rinauro, and Kenny King vs. Cory Chavis, Jerelle Clark, and Seth Delay
This match sucked. It had no flow. Cory Chavis is really green, and in this instance, by green I mean awful. Delay and Clark are solid, but unremarkable. The YRR are in a different class than these three with Kenny King probably being the brightest spot.. The YRR get a win to end this mess.
Winners: YRR
Main Event for the Florida Heritage Title: FIP World Champion vs. Erick Stevens
It is only fitting that two Floridians are in the finals. This is the highest profile match Stevens has been in to this point in FIP as well. These two know each other well, though, and it shows in this match. Their chemistry is great. There is an excellent blend of striking, mat work, submission wrestling, and some shoot style stuff. Surprisingly FIP’s major face Roderick Strong works more closely to his RoH heel mode than his babyface self. He is all around a dick to Stevens throughout the match. The basic story is Stevens coming back to everything Strong can throw at him. This forces Strong to stop underestimating the less experienced Stevens and going at him harder. Stevens responds in kind and they beat the holy hell out of each other. There are a lot of great and inventive spots in the match that I will not spoil as this match makes the DVD worthwhile. My only gripe is that the kick outs at the end got a little unbelievable, but this is still a great match and more than worth a gander. Stevens wins the match and the title with the Doctor Bomb to put a great end on an otherwise mediocre show.
Winner and first Florida Heritage Champion: Erick Stevens via pinfall; ****
After the match DP associates interferes and tries to beat up Stevens, Strong, and Mike Graham who tried to award the belt to Stevens. The babyfaces ends up clearing the ring and Stevens cuts a promo that is difficult to hear because of the poor audio quality.
Big Andy Mac’s Big Andy Final Thoughts: This show was average at best with one really good match. The main event is certainly worth seeing, the rest is wholly missable. One caveat for Ring of Honor fans that have not before watched FIP: the audio and video is far worse than the admittedly not high standard set by most RoH home releases. FIP production has improved in the past year, but they are still a step below RoH. That not withstanding, find the main event elsewhere, if you can, but the rest of the show is not worth breaking the bank for. If you can see this match before Saturday, I think it is worthwhile though.
Stay tuned to the Pulse for more news about this Saturday’s show and the best RoH coverage on the net.
I’ll see you next time…
