AFC1986
11-23-2006, 05:37 PM
source: wrestlemag.com
1PW present Fight Club IV this Sunday afternoon at The Dome in Doncaster, England, with the show headlined by a 20-man “Rumble” match to crown the first ever 1PW ‘Openweight’ Champion. Announced entrants into the Rumble match are Steve Corino (in what is possibly his last 1PW appearance - more on that later in this post), Sterling James Keenan, Chris the Bambi Killer, Ulf Herman, Colt Cabana, Darren Burridge, Jonny Storm, Jody Fleisch, Pac, Martin Stone, Iceman, Jay Phoenix, Darkside, El Ligero, Majik, Dragon Aisu, Jack Storm, Dave Moralez, Mad Man Manson and The Chavs.
There will also be a ‘Golden Gamble’ match that gives, according to 1PW, “two of those wrestlers unhappy with their numbers the chance to face off against each other, with the winner entering the Rumble at number 20, and the loser starting out at number 1″. The two wrestlers involved in the Golden Gamble match will be announced during Sunday’s show.
The rest of the announced card to date sees Steve Corino take on Chris The Bambi Killer (making his 1PW debut), Team SHAG (Cabana & Burridge) vs Damned Nation (Majik & Dragon Aisu) for the 1PW Tag Team titles, Pac vs Jonny Storm vs Jody Fleisch in a triple threat match that is being billed as a “UK High Flyers Challenge", Iceman vs Martin Stone in a Falls Count Anywhere match, plus Sterling James Keenan & Ulf Herman vs Team Supreme and Sloan & Burns vs Kid Richie & Chris Whitton vs The Chavs vs Pain Inc in a 4-way elimination tag team match.
Spud is off Sunday’s show through injury.
Although Corino is no longer booking 1PW shows, I’m interested to see if there’s any major change in direction this Sunday with Dean Ayass now fronting the creative side of the company alongside promoter Steven Gauntley, or whether Corino’s ideas for Sunday’s show will still remain in place. On paper, the card is (in my opinion anyway) the weakest to date from 1PW, but a lot of the focus internally is on January’s ‘No Turning Back’ show, which is headlined by The Great Muta vs Sterling James Keenan. Although 1PW will still be keen to treat Sunday as a big deal as they a) have no television deal to worry about (with the recent cancellation of the deal with The Wrestling Channel), and b) will be in front of a smaller attendance than usual for a show at The Dome, giving them a great opportunity to experiment a little. With this being the final show of the year, Ayass and Gauntley have the chance to use Sunday as a platform to start making stars of some of the homegrown talent who have either been given a brief push without any real long-term build, or overlooked completely in favour of the bigger names coming in from overseas.
With WWE running a PPV on Sunday evening, WrestleMag.com’s focus this Sunday will be with Survivor Series, meaning that we won’t be live in Doncaster for live coverage of the 1PW show. That said, judging by the amount of emails and messages I’ve received over the past week or two, interest from fans for Fight Club IV seems to be lower than usual for a 1PW show, even though 1PW are claiming that the show is close to being a sellout, with around 500 or so tickets sold.
On the subject of Corino, for those who have asked (and over the past day or so I’ve got a dozen or so emails about it), Steve Corino will be at Sunday’s show. I’ve no idea where a rumour of him no-showing has come from, but Corino will definitely be in Doncaster this weekend, and is scheduled to host a seminar at The Dome early on Sunday afternoon. Looking ahead to next year, my understanding is that while 1PW are keen for Corino to remain involved with the company as a wrestler, he may not be involved in the announced shows for January or March. Corino himself recently said that he’d make an announcement regarding his 1PW future after this Sunday’s show, but according to sources I’ve spoken to, the former 1PW Champion could be heading back to Japan in the near future to work more dates.
Pac will likely be working more dates in the States in 2007. As well as being confirmed for the next round of Wrestling Society X TV tapings for MTV in the New Year, WrestleMag.com understands that Pac will be heading back to work dates for Pro Wrestling Guerrilla after impressing during last weekend’s All-Star Weekend IV shows.
1PW present Fight Club IV this Sunday afternoon at The Dome in Doncaster, England, with the show headlined by a 20-man “Rumble” match to crown the first ever 1PW ‘Openweight’ Champion. Announced entrants into the Rumble match are Steve Corino (in what is possibly his last 1PW appearance - more on that later in this post), Sterling James Keenan, Chris the Bambi Killer, Ulf Herman, Colt Cabana, Darren Burridge, Jonny Storm, Jody Fleisch, Pac, Martin Stone, Iceman, Jay Phoenix, Darkside, El Ligero, Majik, Dragon Aisu, Jack Storm, Dave Moralez, Mad Man Manson and The Chavs.
There will also be a ‘Golden Gamble’ match that gives, according to 1PW, “two of those wrestlers unhappy with their numbers the chance to face off against each other, with the winner entering the Rumble at number 20, and the loser starting out at number 1″. The two wrestlers involved in the Golden Gamble match will be announced during Sunday’s show.
The rest of the announced card to date sees Steve Corino take on Chris The Bambi Killer (making his 1PW debut), Team SHAG (Cabana & Burridge) vs Damned Nation (Majik & Dragon Aisu) for the 1PW Tag Team titles, Pac vs Jonny Storm vs Jody Fleisch in a triple threat match that is being billed as a “UK High Flyers Challenge", Iceman vs Martin Stone in a Falls Count Anywhere match, plus Sterling James Keenan & Ulf Herman vs Team Supreme and Sloan & Burns vs Kid Richie & Chris Whitton vs The Chavs vs Pain Inc in a 4-way elimination tag team match.
Spud is off Sunday’s show through injury.
Although Corino is no longer booking 1PW shows, I’m interested to see if there’s any major change in direction this Sunday with Dean Ayass now fronting the creative side of the company alongside promoter Steven Gauntley, or whether Corino’s ideas for Sunday’s show will still remain in place. On paper, the card is (in my opinion anyway) the weakest to date from 1PW, but a lot of the focus internally is on January’s ‘No Turning Back’ show, which is headlined by The Great Muta vs Sterling James Keenan. Although 1PW will still be keen to treat Sunday as a big deal as they a) have no television deal to worry about (with the recent cancellation of the deal with The Wrestling Channel), and b) will be in front of a smaller attendance than usual for a show at The Dome, giving them a great opportunity to experiment a little. With this being the final show of the year, Ayass and Gauntley have the chance to use Sunday as a platform to start making stars of some of the homegrown talent who have either been given a brief push without any real long-term build, or overlooked completely in favour of the bigger names coming in from overseas.
With WWE running a PPV on Sunday evening, WrestleMag.com’s focus this Sunday will be with Survivor Series, meaning that we won’t be live in Doncaster for live coverage of the 1PW show. That said, judging by the amount of emails and messages I’ve received over the past week or two, interest from fans for Fight Club IV seems to be lower than usual for a 1PW show, even though 1PW are claiming that the show is close to being a sellout, with around 500 or so tickets sold.
On the subject of Corino, for those who have asked (and over the past day or so I’ve got a dozen or so emails about it), Steve Corino will be at Sunday’s show. I’ve no idea where a rumour of him no-showing has come from, but Corino will definitely be in Doncaster this weekend, and is scheduled to host a seminar at The Dome early on Sunday afternoon. Looking ahead to next year, my understanding is that while 1PW are keen for Corino to remain involved with the company as a wrestler, he may not be involved in the announced shows for January or March. Corino himself recently said that he’d make an announcement regarding his 1PW future after this Sunday’s show, but according to sources I’ve spoken to, the former 1PW Champion could be heading back to Japan in the near future to work more dates.
Pac will likely be working more dates in the States in 2007. As well as being confirmed for the next round of Wrestling Society X TV tapings for MTV in the New Year, WrestleMag.com understands that Pac will be heading back to work dates for Pro Wrestling Guerrilla after impressing during last weekend’s All-Star Weekend IV shows.