| International Pro Wrestling - November 27, 1998 - Steelton, PA |
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| Thursday, November 26, 1998 | |||
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International Pro Wrestling
Friday, November 27, 1998 I.W. Abel Steelworkers Hall Steelton, PA Promoter Ed Zohn's International Pro Wrestling returned to the I.W. Abel Steelworkers Hall in Steelton, PA, on November 27, with a lineup that included several former WWF stars. Attendance estimated at 350. Crowd was largely subdued throughout much of the evening for reasons no one can figure out. IPW promoter at ringside: ED ZOHN. Ring announcer: DAN MORELAND. Timekeeper at the bell: BILL MILLER. Overseeing the ringside table and engaging in some ringside photography and general all-around PR person: CARRIE MESSANTONIO. Referees for the evening: MIKE DiMUZIO and PAUL TURNER. Taking pictures aroudn the ring was TIM WALKER. Watching the proceedings from the peanut gallery were indie manager BARRY CASINO and wrestler CHEF D.Z. GILLESPIE. Not there, thankfully, was that strange spectator known to us as "Doberman" (see my report on the previous Steelton show). MATCH #1: TOMMY IDOL vs. MIKE QUACKENBUSH. Match is fast-paced as Idol gains the first advantage by kneeing Quack into the ropes. Quack counters with a hammerlock, then Idol turns him over and gets a 2-count. Tommy and Mike exchange knee drops, and Quack gains the advantage with an arm bar followed by some drop kicks. Idol leaves the ring and is chasesd by Quack. Back in the ring, Idol hides behind the ref after being bodyslammed by Quack. Tommy knees and clotheslines Quackenbush, then gets a 2-count after a tilt-a-whirl body slam. (All right, if I don't know the exact name of a hold, I'll either (a) make up the name; (b) call it a "modified [name of hold]"; or (c) call it a "[name of hold]-like maneuver". I chose (a) for what Idol had just done). Tommy gets another 2-count after delivering a "people's kneedrop". Quack then karate kicks Idol out of the ring, moonsaults onto him on the floor, and brings him back into the ring for a 2-count. Idol's efforts to get Quack to submit first to a Boston crab, then to a headlock, are in vain. Quack mounts the ropes but is dropkicked off them by Idol. Idol then leaps off the top turnbuckle and delivers a flying double-ax-handle to Quack, who is on the floor. Back in the ring, Quack delivers a body slam, back suplex and flying body press before getting a 2-count. Idol gets his own 2-count after a drop kick. Another Idol 2-count after a rompecojones and back suplex. Rapid exchanges of 2-counts from both wrestlers, then Quack throws Idol down on the floor. Quack then hits a running Liger bomb (I know this one because Quack yelled out to the crowd what he was going to do) before finally getting the 3-count. QUACKENBUSH by pin fall in 11:26. INTERLUDE #1: ROB NOXIOUS comes out with his manager HARVEY WIPPLEMAN. Harvey takes the mike and runs down both the crowd and wrestler JOHNNY GRAHAM, whois supposed to wrestle Rob at some point in the future but is unable to be in Steelton due to Marine Corps reserve obligations. Wippleman calls Graham and promoter ED ZOHN "afraid" to book a Noxious-Graham match. Noxious then insults ("Is that a yarmulke on the back of your head, or is that just a bald spot?") Zohn criticizes Harvey and Rob for having created a "circus atmosphere" here; but says he has an opponent for Rob tonight fitting that circus atmosphere. So we have … MATCH #2: ROB NOXIOUS (with HARVEY WIPPLEMAN) vs. YET ANOTHER WRESTLING CLOWN (no, I'm not going to risk lawsuit by saying the "D" word in print). Interestingly and unexplicably, YAWC wrestles the entire match with his blue clown overcoat on. Much of the match involves Wippleman's efforts to taunt the crowd and interfere in the match. The end comes when YAWC moves out of the way of a Noxious leap off the turnbuckle and is able to schoolboy Rob for the pin. YAWC by pin fall 8:41. After the match, Wippleman insists on a rematch on a later card and makes Ed Zohn the offer that if YAWC wins the rematch, Ed will get five minutes with Harvey in the ring. MATCH #3: THE INTIMIDATORS (TROY MEST & MAXX CRIMSON, with MARK MEST) vs. THE CREMATOR & PAUL MITCHELL. The match is a chaotic brawl, with my notes on the match kind of incoherent. After about ten and a half minutes, Mark Mest interferes by headbutting ref MIKE DiMUZIO into unconsciousness. All three bad guys start ganging up on the good guys, until other wrestlers on the card come in to try to break it up. Well, since the next match is going to be a battle royal anyway, and since all the participants in the battle royal have come to ringside to try to break up the chaotic tag match, Ed Zohn signals the start of the battle royal right now. the winner of the battle royal gets to meet DON ROTT, last month's battle royal winner, for the Eastern states belt. MATCH #4: "STEELWORKER" DANA HINKLE, the hometown favorite, wins the battle royal in 5:58, with Rott at ringside to watch the proceedings. The other participants are PAUL MITCHELL, ROB NOXIOUS, MARK MEST, MIKE QUACKENBUSH, MAXX CRIMSON, JULIO SANCHEZ, THE CREMATOR, MOOSE CONNORS, PAUL MITCHELL and TOMMY IDOL. Ed Zohn has this large trophy brought out and announces that he has changed the booking of the Hinkle-Rott affair so that they will be wrestling for the trophy emblematic of the heavyweight championship of Steelton rather than the Eastern states title. So, after intermission, we have … MATCH #5: DON ROTT (with ROB NOXIOUS) vs. "STEELWORKER" DANA HINKLE for the Steelton championship trophy. Rott makes known his displeasure at the change in titles at stake. After insulting both Steelton and CARRIE MESSANTONIO, Rob Noxious is ordered back to the locker room by Ed Zohn. As the match starts, Rott delays as much as he can, exiting the ring for 5- to 9-counts, and then coming back in to pose a bit. Rott dominates much of the match with power moves, including a modified suplex-neckbreaker. A Rott one-shoulder backbreaker leaves Hinkle on the mat; but rather than cover for the pin, Don decides to pose some more for the crowd. Rott gets the pin and the Steelton championship trophy with a 14:18 pin following a modified Samoan drop (I don't know what the hell else to call that move, get used to that, folks) After the match, Rob Noxious returns from the back to help Rott stomp on Hinkle, the hometown hero. On his way to the ring however, he clocks Commissioner Zohn and knocks him to the floor as well. PAUL MITCHELL comes out to help, but he is also pummeled, as Noxious uses Rott's newly-won trophy to clock Paul and Dana. MATCH #6: THE BROOKLYN BRAWLER (with HARVEY WIPPLEMAN) vs. JULIO SANCHEZ. Harvey announces that he used to manage Julio in IPW, but fired him a couple of months ago (even though the crowd vividly remembers it was Sanchez who fired Harvey). and has recruited the Brawler from the WWF to take care of Julio. Julio is announced as from Washington, DC, rather than San Juan (prompting me to recall the fact that I last changed addresses over Thanksgiving weekend 1983) and is not given his usual "Latin Dragon" moniker. Julio gets the crowd going somewhat by pointing to Harvey and starting a "this guy [inhales]" chant. [IRRELEVANT-TO-THIS-SHOW-REPORT-EDITORIAL-COMMENT: As I type this I'm watching the WCWSN I taped and during the Benoit-Iaukea match am hearing Mike Tenay destroy whatever credibility he had remaining by talking about how Hogan will devote all his time now to his Presidential campaign. Ugh! How many more people will cease to be taken seriously as a result of their reporting that the Presidential campaign is the reason why Hogan is retiring? The list, I think, is now up to two. Phtpthtpthtpthtpthtp!!!!! Well, anyway, back to the previously-scheduled description of match. Brawler, who doesn't stop his loud talking during the entire match (taking a page out of the Mike Sharpe manual), taunts Julio; but Julio counters with a body slam and keeps control with a wristlock. Wippleman's interference backfires several times as Sanchez ducks Brawler clothesline attempts. Brooklyn gets an advantage as he slingshots Julio's neck off the ropes, with Harvey getting in some punches of his own. Sanchez re-enters the ring and does the sunset flip and has Brawler pinned; but ref Turner is being distracted by Harvey. Brawler gets a 2-count after a series of headlocks and punches. He tries a sleeper, but Julio breaks it with a head to the chin. Julio follows with clotheslines and a super kick, then tries a back suplex near the ropes. That's a mistake, as Wippleman trips up Julio, and Brawler falls on him for the pin as Harvey holds on to Sanchez's legs to prevent him from kicking out. SANCHEZ by pin fall in 8:40. MATCH #7: For the IPW heavyweight title: challenger KING KONG BUNDY (with HARVEY WIPPLEMAN) vs. champion TOM BRANDI. Brandi comes out to the ring and recruits a group of children from the audience. He puts his championship belt around the waist of one of the kids. When Brandi signals, all the kids around the ring direct a "Suck it!" and crotch chop in the direction of Bundy. As the match begins, Bundy and his manager double team Tom; but Tom answers with a pair of clotheslines. He then takes the timekeeper's clanger, pummels both bad guys with it. Brandi then must suspect Bundy of having some sort of fever as he mistakes the clanger for a rectal thermometer. Bundy is *not* amused. Brandi must have found a fever reading because the tries to cool Bundy off by shaking up a can of cold soda and spraying the contents on his face. King Kong has had enough as he retaliates with stomps and chops, kicking Tom out of the ring where a waiting Harvey kicks him some more. Back in the ring, Tom moves at the last minute to avoid a charging Bundy, and a series of punches floors Bundy. Wippleman then goes to his pocket for some powder and throws it at Brandi. Tom ducks, and the powder winds up getting in ref Mike DiMuzio's eyes instead. When Mike gets enough of his vision back, he signals the end of the match. BRANDI retains his title by beating Bundy by disqualification in 4:55.
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