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IWA-MS Payback, Pain & Agony 2007

1. Marcus O’Neal vs. Zack McGuire vs. OMG vs. Jack Thriller vs. Ricochet vs. "Spyder" Nate Webb

Decent match. Nice way to open the show with the returning crowd favorite Nate Webb. Him returning was a good way to help get the crowd fired up. The match itself was decent and pretty fun to watch. However, I was alittle disappointed when it came down to Webb & Ricochet. I was hoping they'd go for 5-7 minutes but they didn't last very long. This match also displayed a few young guys relatively new to IWA-MS and O'Neal impressed me and is someone I'd like to see abck again in IWA-MS. Overall **

2. Vortekz vs. CJ Otis

Solid match. A nice way to build upon the on-going Younger/Otis feud by having Otis face one of Younger's good friend. Another nice touch was Otis calling Vortekz a few times in the match "Drake". Overall the match itself was pretty solid. Some nice strikes exchanged between the men. I liked Otis' working over of Vortekz body and Vortekz's selling. Nothing too flashy about this match. Just two guys trying to strike each other as hard as they could. Finally, I thought this was a great way to show Otis' preparedness for his MMA style match with Younger since he used a good bit of MMA strikes during the match. Overall **3/4

3. Mitch Ryder vs. Billy Roc vs. Jimmy Shalwin

Meh match. Nothing much to say about this match but that it was very unorganized. Hell, it was billed as 2-1 handicap match and it turned it a 3-way dance somehow. Nothing really to say but meh. Overall *

4. Jimmy Jacobs vs. Colt Cabana

Decent match. This was the first match in a series of bounty matches to come in the future. This was kinda a spin-off match from their series of matches in ROH so there was some history between the two. The match itself was decent but the pace was way too slow. Another thing I wasn't crazy about was the fact that this was a bounty match where Cabana's purpose was to cripple Jacobs. He really didn't start trying to cripple him until near the end. I found that kinda odd seeing how I figured he'd be trying to do that the entire match. The match was decent but I found their stuff in ROH to be a lot better. Overall **1/2

5. Tarek the Great vs. Brandon Thomaselli

Good match. A nice mesh of styles in this match. Both men are known to hit hard and they struck each other rather hard in this match with kicks, chops, and forearms. I really enjoyed this match and their exchanging of strikes. The only thing that turned me off was the commentating. I believe Joey Eastman was doing commentary and the entire match all he did was bitch and moan about how he hates Brandon and his brothers. Didn't bother me at first but he just kept going on and on. Other than that this was a very enjoyable match and even after all these years in the business Tarek can still go. Overall ***

6. Low Ki vs. Drake Younger

Very good match. This match was a definate contrast in styles but they meshed together perfectly. Both men were on their A game and really went all out. I was very impressed by Drake's performance and the amount of punishment he took. I can remember several times during the match I thought to myself Ki's gonna knock him out. That's how stiff Ki's strikes were in this match. Overall this was a very stiff contest (more so Ki dishing out the stiffness) and very enjoyable to watch. Another thing I loved about this match was the finish. The finish was absolutely brutal and I actually thought Drake was finally knocked out. Overall ***3/4

7. Chuck Taylor vs. Davey Richards

Good match. Another good defense out of Taylor. However, a downgrade from his previous match against Low Ki. The match itself was pretty good. Some nice action from both men but I was expecting more out of Davey. I felt Davey was alittle off. Also, I thought I was watching any old Davey match. However, Chuck was on his A game and played his heel character brilliantly much like he did against Ki. There was a nice forearm exchange between these two near the end of the match. Other than that nothing else really stands out to me. Just an overall good match from both men. Overall ***1/2

8. 6 Way Death Match Rumble: 2 Tuff Tony vs. Ian Rotten vs. Mickie Knuckles vs. "Diehard" Dustin Lee vs. Mad Man Pondo vs. Drake Younger

Good brawl. Pretty enjoyable match to watch. It's always fun to watch 6 people beat the holy crap out of each other. It really wasn't much of a match but more so a brawl. It was a good and enjoyable brawl. The exchanges between Ian and Mickie were brutal. The headbutts they traded were absolutely hard to watch. They literally made me cringe. All in all a very fun brawl to watch and this is coming from someone who isn't a huge death match fan. I had a fun time watching this match and if you're a death match fan you'll love this. Overall **3/4

Overall thoughts: Overall I thought this was yet another great show from IWA-MS. However, I wouldn't put this on par with their past two shows. Don't get me wrong this was a good show but I was kinda expecting a bit more. One thing I need to mention is how fucking awesome Drake Younger was. He went out there and got the crap beat out of him. Then, he went and wrestled a death match. His toughness amazes me and should have the respect of every Indy fan after seeing this show. Anyways, overall a good show and something definately worth checking out. This gets a recommendation from me and can be purchased at smartmarkvideo.com for $20.

Overall show rating - ***1/2

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