FIP Hot Summer Nights 2008 (DVD Review)

*** FIP DVD Reviews by Brad Dykens ***
Date: July 19, 2008 – Crystal River, Florida
FULL IMPACT PRO – HOT SUMMER NIGHTS 2008

IN THE RING: FIP World champion Roderick Strong cut a promo claiming to OWN Full Impact Pro, and hyped his Dog Collar match with Erick Stevens tonight! Strong said it would be Stevens’ last chance at the FIP championship, and that tonight was all about HIM!

TRIPLE THREAT ELIMINATION MATCH
Chasyn Rance of the YRR vs. Shawn Osborne vs. Chris Jones: Chasyn Rance was accompanied to the right by Cat, Amanda, and Mimi – a trio of supreme eye candy. Well, I’d say only one of them qualifies as cute. What? I’m here to “review” all participating talent. The finish saw Osborne hit Jones with his finisher, but Rance rolled up Osborne for the elimination, and then pinned Jones to win the match in true sneaky YRR fashion. After the match, the YRR trio of skin celebrated with Rance, Sal Rinauro, Kenny King, and Jason Blade in the ring. Rinauro took the mic and put over each member of the YRR and once again disrespected his Florida Heritage title. Kenny King said the Age of the Fall would not be avenging their loss from last month.

FIP WOMENS MATCH
Mercedes Martinez vs. Rain of the Age of the Fall (w/Leva & Mr. Milo Beasley): Still in the ring, Sal Rinauro addressed the Age of the Fall’s female member, Rain, and challenged her to come out and face the music. Rain came out with AOTF members Leva, Mr. Milo Beasley, Tyler Black, and Jimmy Jacobs to accept the challenge. The entire Age of the Fall hit the ring, and the entire YRR (including the women) retreated backstage. You have to remember, the Age of the Fall are babyface in the FIP (and heel in ROH). Rain was introduced to her opponent, the Latina Sensation, Mercedes Martinez! Dave Prazak acted like he knew what was going on, saying “I know a little something about women’s wrestling!” This turned into a great showdown between two of SHIMMER’s top women athletes. Mr. Milo Beasley and the Gothic valet Leva remained at ringside to support Rain. Martinez had nobody in her corner, but the commentators speculated that she might be apart of the YRR. Martinez didn’t show any signs of being a heel until after she finished Rain off with her trademark Fishermens-buster for the win! After the match, Martinez continued with an assault until Leva jumped on her back! Martinez dropped Leva and began pounding her, before laying her out with a Fishermens-buster as well! Martinez left the two Age of the Fall girls unconscious in the ring! Mr. Milo Beasley blocked the exit, so Martinez kicked him out of his chair and slapped him silly!

SINGLES GRUDGE MATCH
Shawn Murphy of Black Market vs. Jon Davis of the Dark City Fight Club: I guess they were short on talent for this show, so they took a tag team grudge and split it into two singles matches. The brawl quickly broke down and ended in a disqualification when Kory Chavis interfered. Joey Machete hit the ring and started a no-DQ match with Kory Chavis!

NO-DISQUALIFICATION MATCH
Joey Machete of Black Market vs. Kory Chavis of the Dark City Fight Club: Joey Machete is ten times more charismatic than Shawn Murphy, and Kory Chavis is ten times more menacing than Jon Davis – so this match was ten times more intense than the previous one. It was another quick match, with a bloody Machete scoring the big victory! Machete attempted to murder Chavis after the match with a chair, but Jon Davis returned to ringside to pull Chavis to safety. Shawn Murphy returned also, and chased the Dark City Fight Club away from the ring. Black Market was left standing in the ring, proclaiming that the Fight Club members ran away like a dog between their legs! Machete challenged the Dark City Fight Club to a weapons match on August 23th at Heatstroke 2009..

FIP TAG TEAM TITLE 2/3 FALLS MATCH
The YRR (Kenny King & Jason Blade w/Mimi) (c) vs. The Age of the Fall (Tyler Black & Jimmy Jacobs): This match was a little more serious. I still find it funny how Jimmy Jacobs is the leader of the heel Age of the Fall in ROH, but under Tyler Black’s leadership in FIP, the group is 100% babyface! The YRR used their usual sneaky tactics to score the first pinfall and take a huge advantage over the challengers. The second fall began with some out of control brawling around the ringside area. The war continued for another ten minutes until the Age of the Fall secured the second fall of the match to even the odds. You could say it came down to sudden death, with the FIP Tag Team titles on the line. Mimi ended up getting involved, and Black took her over his knee for your obligatory spanking spot. She actually has a pretty smokin’ butt, even though her pants are gray and ugly. Chasyn Rance showed up with intentions of interfering, but he jumped off the top rope and Tyler Black caught him in mid-air and slammed him down to the mat! King nailed a distracted Black with a Spring-board Blockbuster and pinned him to win the third and final fall – and to retain the FIP Tag Team titles! After the match, Tyler Black challenged Kenny King to a one-on-one wrestling match next month at Heatstroke 2009. King accepted the challenge for August 23rd in Crystal River, FL..

FIP FLORIDA HERITAGE TITLE MATCH
Sal Rinauro of the YRR (c) vs. Joey “Magnum” Ryan: Joey Ryan debuted with FIP and the fans chanted immediately his name loudly, and he proclaimed “man, it’s good to be over!” Ryan claimed that he was a former WCW Cruiserweight champion, and that he spent five years training with Dory Funk Jr. at the Florida Dungeon (I guess he meant the Funkin’ Dojo). You might think that this guy is a heel, but he was a pure babyface – and totally hilarious too! Ryan cuts a great promo and he is clearly “bringing sleazy back.” Florida Heritage champion Sal Rinauro came out with a worthless piece of eye candy named Amanda. Sal said people think Joey Ryan is good looking, but he (Sal) is the best looking guy in all of FIP. Sal suggested they have a gentlemen’s agreement to not hit each other in the face – and we know how that always turns out. Of course, Sal was the first to break the gentlemen’s agreement by punching Ryan in the face! The YRR continued its streak with yet another victory tonight. Sal actually managed to defeat Magnum without any assistance from the YRR – a true rarity!

NON (ROH WORLD) TITLE MATCH
ROH World champion Nigel McGuinness vs. Go Shiozaki: Nigel McGuinness has a long history with Japan’s NOAH promotion, and welcomed Go Shiozaki to Full Impact Pro. McGuinness remained a heel, and warned Shiozaki that the fans are very fat, very smelly, very ignorant and stupid! McGuinness said they like “wrasslin’,” which means they don’t wanna see any chops, punches, or moonsaults off the top rope. Shiozaki grabbed the microphone and said he loves chops, he loves punches, he loves moonsaults, and he loves U.S.A.! This instantly made him a babyface, but were the fans just being set up for a heel turn in the not-too-distant future? Shiozaki fought hard and won the hearts of the FIP audience, showing off the influence he received from training with Kento Kobashi. Shiozaki sealed the deal with a major upset victory over the ROH World champion!!!!!!!!! The fans chanted “Please Come Back!” An FIP star was born in Crystal River.

FIP WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE DOG COLLAR MATCH
Roderick Strong (c) vs. Erick Stevens: This was a Dog Collar match, and just the very thought of these two being connected by the neck by a thick chain makes me feel very afraid for the health and safety of both grapplers. Sal Rinauro replaced Sean Davis on commentary beside Dave Prazak and made it clear that it didn’t matter who won because the YRR will soon be going after the FIP World Heavyweight title, since it’s the only championship they don’t currently possess. About ten minutes into the match, Strong busted open Stevens’ forehead so the blood began to flow! The brutality escalated, as Strong attempted to finish off his feud with his former protégé – and possibly end his career or life in the process! Stevens made a come-back and dished out some vengeful punishment on his former mentor. Stevens dissected Strong with some pretty devastating power-moves, but the champion repeatedly kicked out of all pinfall attempts. Strong mounted a come-back with a flurry of hard-hitting offence, but Stevens wouldn’t give up either. Stevens turned the tables once more and hit a stiff Lariat, before following up with a pair of bone-crunching Doctor-bombs – then pinning Strong to finally end the match and capture the FIP World Heavyweight title for the second time!

IN THE RING: After the match, Phil Davis of Heartbreak Enterprises attacked Erick Stevens! Go Shiozaki hit the ring and everybody thought he was going to save Stevens, but he instead assisted in the assault of the new FIP champion! Sean Davis came out in a goofy uniform, ordering Shiozaki to beat up the “evil American!” Roderick Strong actually tried to help Stevens, but he was too exhausted and was knocked out of the ring. Sean Davis screamed that Shiozaki beat the ROH champion tonight so he deserves an FIP title match next month! Heartbreak Enterprises left the ring, having made their point. Strong got up and presented a groggy Stevens with his FIP championship. Go Shiozaki’s debut with Full Impact Pro was brilliant. They certainly created an instant STAR in one night!

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