Hey guys, back again with another edition of the Independent Run Down and this week’s edition puts the spotlight on FIP. This past week was a big week for FIP to say the least. Last weekend they held their big summer event, Heatstroke where a new champion was crowned. Then, early this week there was a big announcement concerning their return to action in October.
As I mentioned above, FIP held Heatstroke ’08 last weekend which featured a title change but before we get to the title change, here’s a brief rundown of the big matches which were featured on the show. Sal Rinuaro retained the Florida Heritage Championship against local star Chris Jones, Austin Aries defeated Jason Blade, Dark City Fight Club ended their feud with Black Market with a win in a weapons match, Roderick Strong defeated Kenny King, Tyler Black defeated Necro Butcher, and Go Shiozaki defeated Erick Stevens to become the new FIP Heavyweight Champion.
The show was described as an overall good event. Blade and King were described as impressive against the likes of Aries and Strong. King was described as the more impressive of the two. Black was sent by Jacobs to take out Necro due to his breaking away from the Age of the Fall. Seems like a good piece of storyline advancement, brawl was described as fun. Finally, the main event is receiving a lot of praise and being hailed as a MOTYC and possible rival to the Strong/Stevens match from FIP’s Redefined event for FIP’s best match of the year.
I’ve got mixed feelings regarding Shiozaki capturing the FIP Championship. I really would have liked to have seen Stevens been given the ball to run with following his hot feud with Strong. However, on the other hand the match didn’t end cleanly so Stevens wasn’t hurt nearly as much as he could have been but some of his momentum was crushed nonetheless. I’m hoping Gabe hasn’t lost faith in Stevens and gives him the chance to carry the company because Strong can’t carry that promotion forever.
Now, onto the announcement regarding the next FIP show in October. Florida is in store of a huge weekend of wrestling in mid-October. On October 10th and 11th, ROH re-invades Florida and then on October 12th FIP returns to action. What does all this mean exactly? It means that there is a high likelihood that there will be a lot of recognizable faces for ROH invading FIP. The event has already been named “Impact of Honor 2” which should tell you that ROH talent will play a big role in this show.
There has already been a big re-match from 2007 announced for the event. The match is Kenny King and Jason Blade defending their FIP Tag Team Titles against the former champions, Jay and Mark Briscoe. Along with that match, FIP Champion Go Shiozaki, Erick Stevens, Roderick Strong, and Tyler Black have been announced for the event. Also, as always, more talent is scheduled to be announced as the event draws closer. I fully expect a plethora of ROH regulars (Danielson, Aries, Nigel, Hero, etc) to be booked for the event.
Finally, right now ROH has a huge Labor Day sale going on where you can save 35% on any order you make. This means you can pick up any recent FIP releases for less than $10 (shipping not included)! This is an absolute steal for events such as Redefined, Dangerous Intentions 2008, Unfinished Business 2008, and of course the best FIP show to date Cage of Pain II. Be sure to take advantage of this sale while it lasts.
