Jan 21, 2007

Cuffed And Caged



Pro Wrestling Unplugged: Cuffed & Caged
ECW Arena - Philadelphia, PA
Pro Wrestling Unplugged is the current project of former ECW owner, Tod Gordon.  They've been having shows at ECW Arena for a few years now, and in an attempt to build off of the success of last year's ROH vs CZW inter-promotional feud, PWU have been in their own war with the Insane Clown Posse led Juggalo Championship Wrestling.  I haven't been to a JCW match since the 2004 Gathering Of The Juggalos so this show was a good opportunity to catch up on what they're up to while at the same time checking out a local indy promotion for the first time.


The show had a good mix of East Coast indy wrestling talent with members of the JCW roster and ECW veterans.  The main event was a 5-on-5 inter-promotional cage match between PWU and JCW, with each team had their leader handcuffed together.  Tod Gordon was leading Team PWU while Shaggy 2 Dope was representing JCW.

The cage match was fought under modified War Games rules.  Nosawa (JCW) and Trent Acid (PWU) started the match, and a new wrestler was introduced every two minutes, starting with a member of JCW because they won the coin toss.  Unlike a traditional War Games match, the main event was held under elimination rules that were similar to a Survivor Series match.  Wrestlers who were pinned or tapped out were eliminated until only one team remained.

The order of entry was:
Hardcore isn't my favorite style of professional wrestling, but this match was pretty damn entertaining.  I was especially impressed with Violent J's performance in the ring.  There have been quite a few celebrities from other entertainment industries to cross over into the world of professional wrestling, but I can't think of anyone who has put the work into it that Violent J has.  He's not going to be mistaken for the Dynamite Kid in the ring, but the dude can work and doesn't look the least bit out of place.

Nosawa, Trent Acid, Johnny Kashmere, Mad Man Pondo, Pete Hunter and Gary Wolfe were each eliminated from the match, which left Corporal Robinson in a 2-on-1 situation against 2 Tuff Tony and Violent J.  At this point in the match, Come Out And Play was played for the second time (Raven's original ECW entrance music) and out he came.  However, instead of giving JCW a 3-on-1 advantage, he attacked his teammates and knocked them both out with an Evenflow DDT.  It looked as if he was siding with PWU, but he then attacked Corporal Robinson as well before grabbing a microphone to declare that he was the biggest star in the building and not a member of either team.  Raven then attempted to walk out, but Shaggy 2 Dope and Tod Gordon put their differences aside to attack him and drag him back to the ring.  The two sides then took turns beating up Raven until he crawled away in defeat to the united PWU and JCW teams. 

It definitely wasn't the finish I was expecting, but I'm guessing that it was done to put an end to the inter-promotional feud without one side having to lose to the other while, at the same time, transitioning to the main event storyline that will follow.  You can never go wrong booking Raven in the main event in Philly, so I'm interested in seeing where it goes from here.


Results: