The IGA closed out thier 2004 International Tour with a big Pay-Per-View event in St. Petersburg, Russia. It was the first foray into the former Soviet Union hardliner capital and what a surprise it was! The turnout was phenominal but the fan favorites came as a shock and surprise to most in the organization! Below is just a summary of the events and matches that took place!
London Matthews became the women's champion here in the IGA when she upset Lara Leigh Love in a back and forth match. With Love dominating the middle part of the match, London used a mistimed leap that sent Love to the arena floors as her spot to turn the match around. Love stayed valiant however and score with an Impact DDT but both ladies were out of steam. Matthews had the presence of mind to drape an arm over Love, but it was Dalbello Rage, who popped up out of nowhere, that seemed to make the difference. Unseen by Matthews, Love or the referee, Rage held onto Love's foot while the referee made the count!
The next match had been in the making for weeks as Vic Jackson would finally get his shot at Cyril Lesley and the Euro-Asian title! Going back a month or so ago, Lesley and Jackson seemed, at first, to be looking like an alliance of sorts against FU. But an ill timed chair shot was the instigation to the back and forth war of words between these to and it all came to a head with the title on the line at International Incident 3.0. The champion had things going his way, even with Lenny (Cyril's former partner) outside looking on. But Lenny hopped to the apron when Cyril was ready to close the deal and the distraction allowed Jackson to nail the Ace in the Deck! Three mat slaps later and there was a new Euro-Asian champion!
When Incident came back live from a promo, Buddy Drifter was standing with Kimberly Baldwin. Kimberly had the scoop on the STD's and seemed poised for a big story when Buddy told the world a new member of the STD's was going to be announced. However the fans and Baldwin were denied when Buddy said that would happen at the next Combat Zone.
Code Red, obviously the hometown favorite here in St. Petersburg for this PPV, would put the titles on the line against soon to be retired Kyle Backwood and back from the dead Hallowe'en Jack! It was an uneasy alliance between Backwood and Jack as they both had issue and scores to settle. They worked well together and came close on several occasions to becoming new tag team champions, but it was the strength of the Siberian monster and the mysterious leader of Code Reds timing that turned the tide in this match. Despite the fact that Rob Magnum came out with Backwood and Jack, the numbers game proved difficult. Magnum and Double X battled up the ramp towards the end of the match and Ramius went after Lazlow. That left a dazed Backwood at the mercy of Code Reds Gulag and the Russians retained the titles. In a display of salt in the wounds, Code Red left both Jack and Backwood under the Russian flag, much to the delight of the pro Code Red fans!
Danny Streamline, one half of the announcing team, seemed more than ready for the next match up that pitted Tawny Blake against Nikita Sabine. Sabine and Blake had teamed together on several occasions in battles with Triple L and a few others through out last year, but towards the end of last year Sabine turned on Blake! That led to this ladies grudge match between the former world champion and The Queen Bee, who was looking to take the next step here in the IGA. Blake had Sabine in several pinning combinations, but the Queen Bee was resilent each time, kicking out at near count out! Sabine counted by working over the neck of Blake and eventually she got the Hive llocked on Blake and in pain already, Blake had no choice and she tapped out! An upset win for the Queen Bee should move her right into a spot for a title shot but she would not let go of the hold. Blake was in terrible pain, even with the match ended and the bell ringing and JPV came to her aid and pulled Sabine off. But suddenly Andy Madison (yes, he is releated folks!) came out and SuperKicked JPV!
0nce the smoked had cleared from the previous match, the International title and the TV title were suddenly seen being lowered from the ceiling. Each hung on hooks, separated from each other as the official prepared for an innovative, dual title, 4 man ladder match! Steve Greedy would defend that TV title as Mark Davenport would defend his International title against each other and Ryan Williams and Maxime St, Jean. Now weeks earlier, Maxime failed to win the title back from Greedy as he tried to break Greedy's TV title reign record and keep his own in tact. Williams, who had also been unsuccessful in that bid, had his attention turned to Davenport recently and the International Title. It all came down to one match to settle it all! The match was filled with wild moments and several can't miss spots that you just have to see, but in the end, Ryan Williams took home the International title and Steve Greedy (as the match continued) walked out still the IGA Television Champion!
It was a battle between two former world champions that took place next as Devante Anderson, tired of living in the shadow of his opponent, took on Tommy Danger, a man facing odds that seem insurmountable lately. Though Anderson had aligned himself with the Dynasty V2, he took on Danger in his own game of mat based, technical wrestling. Danger kept Anderson unbalanced in the beginning of the match by working over his arm. Anderson returned the favor and worked over Danger's wrist later on in the match. Danger shocked the 255 pounder at one point in the match by locking on the little used Inverted Indian Deathlock Bridging Chinlock but Anderson's weight proved too much to hold up and the hold was broken. Anderson came close with an LT about mid way through the mat, but Tommy's ring presence proved to be a match saver with a foot on the ropes. The end came ominously as Anderson had Danger poised for the D-Day. Danger slipped out and nail a second Tomakazi on the New Yorker but the referee Erik Rockwell had been knocked down! The crowd had gotten all bent out of shape and started to throw trash in the ring at Danger but his attention was quickly averted to Jeff Keenan! Keenan came to the ring and scored with the Sure Thing and then followed it up with a devastating Russian leg sweep called the QuickStryke! Danger was left an easy target for as Jazz Madison came down with Mike Voltage, a suspect referee and dragged Anderson on top of Danger for the one, two, three!
One of the highlights that many IGA fans look forward to at Incident each year is not only the exotic locales the IGA goes to, but the Two Minute Drill as well! The TMD is the THE battle royal of the year and this year proved no different. 30 men all vying for a shot at the world champion and a place in the main event at GrappleFest, the biggest show of the year! There was way too much action to put here but this year it proved to be a strength in numbers as STD member Lazz Sterling, oft aided by his stablemates, walked out the new number one contender and finally...he has his shot at becoming world champion in April!
Speaking of world champions and big events, the main event of the evening came right on the heels of the TMD 2004. Tommy Rowlands, looking for revenge against the atrocities committed by The Jester Chad Allen and looking to cement himself as a true IGA superstar, came in with nothing to lose. Allen, with the power of the Dynasty behind him seemed poised to become one of the kings in E-Wrestling with this huge main event... A Heavens Burning match! A scaffold suspended in mid air above the ring. Tables stacked high and a ring of fire! Unheard of here in the IGA until Tommy Rowlands called out Chad Allen and the two came to one mutual decision. Tommy would do battle in yet another Joker's Wild match and try and beat Allen at his own game! In the end, Tommy Rowlands sucked it up, put his career on the line and the dividends paid off as he walked out, the new IGA World champion!
The celebration of Rowlands later on had to be a raucous one as the tide shifted in the IGA, but the show ended on an ominous note. Tommy Danger, having been dragged out back from his match by the Dynasty and tossed outside into the snow, was confronted by the 6-8 monster, the iron masked Siberian Experiment. It was an eerie sequence that took place and it only leads to speculation of things to come.
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