By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
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Immortal Championship Wrestling “Immortal Things 5”
Replay available via IndependentWrestling.TV
June 13, 2024 in Utica, New York at Utica University Nexus Center
Utica is located just east of Syracuse, and it is a four-hour drive north of New York City. I know almost none of the wrestlers on this show, but I tuned in simply because of Minoru Suzuki in the main event. I somewhat recognize a few of the names from a recent show I watched from Buffalo, N.Y.
* The show opened by watching Mike Skyros arrive at the building and the commentators said it is the biggest night of his life. We then saw Suzuki arrive.
* To the arena! This is a hockey arena and a crowd of maybe 200-250 feels really small in a space this big.
1. Matt McCoy defeated Price Purgold, Keenan Moore, and Trevor Terry in a four-way to win the Rising Star Tournament at 5:08. McCoy is undersized and wore blue pants. Keenan is young and wore a black jacket and light blue trunks. Terry is young and blond and high-fived all the fans at ringside. Price is clearly much, much older with a receding hairline (think NXT-era Baron Corbin), and it’s unclear why he’s in a ‘rising star’ match. Purgold and Moore traded hard chops at 2:30. Trevor Terry hit a nice springboard stunner. They did a tower spot out of the corner; McCoy immediately got a rollup with his feet on the ropes for the cheap victory. Decent.
2. Adam Stone and “Black & Yellow” Corey Jackson and Ting Shi defeated “Edge of Hope” Cerin Rahne, Darren Crowe, and Mattick at 12:44. I saw the “B&Y” team on that Buffalo show. Ting Shi is Asian, Corey is Black, and they worked over a scrawny guy in Edge of Hope early on. The heels began working over Adam Stone, who is apparently an Utica native. The heels then began working over Ting. A few sloppy spots here and there. Ting hit a Michinoku Driver and they were both down at 9:30. A local deejay threw a beer onto Mattick, so Mattick yanked the scrawny deejay over the guardrail and repeatedly stomped on him! In the ring, Ting hit a spin kick to the head of a heel. Mattick hit a Blue Thunder Bomb. Stone hit a uranage for the pin. Very green but they all worked hard.
3. Christina Marie defeated Ava Everett to retain the Women’s Title at 11:31. Ava is the ‘cosmic cuties’ and I’m fairly familiar with her, and she wore a white-and blue one-piece. I know Christina was among the wrestlers I saw on that recent show I reviewed from Buffalo; she wore a pink top and black pants, and her title belt has too much pink on it. They are both of average height and overall size. Ava stalled on the floor early on. Christina finally dove onto Ava at 2:00. In the ring, Christina got a rollup for a nearfall, and Ava rolled right back to the floor and started to head to the back. Christina went and got her and dragged her back to ringside.
In the ring, Christina hit a suplex at 7:30 and they were both down. She hit some dropkicks, and she sold pain in her knee. Ava nailed a superkick for a believable nearfall. She hit a stunner for a nearfall. Christina nailed a Spider German Suplex out of the corner, then a spear for the pin. That was far better than the first two matches.
4. Steve Maclin defeated Jora Johl at 11:40. I was always impressed with Johl’s AEW matches, but he never quite caught on. Maclin has the size advantage; he stalled in the ropes and jawed at the crowd. An intense lockup on the mat. They traded chops at 2:00, and Jora hit a picture-perfect dropkick to Steve’s jaw, then a powerslam for a nearfall. Steve dropped Jora throat-first on the top rope at 4:00 and took over, stomping Johl and keeping him grounded. Maclin hit a uranage for a nearfall. He slammed Jora back-first on the ring apron at 6:00 and remained in charge.
In the ring, they hit simultaneous clotheslines and were both down. Johl hit a backbreaker over his knee at 8:00. Maclin applied a crossface. Johl hit a second-rope flying double knees for a nearfall. Jora hit a modified Death Valley Driver. Maclin went to put Jora in the Tree of Woe, but Jora awkwardly fell to the mat; usually, Maclin would hit a spear on the upside-down opponent there. Maclin nailed a double-arm DDT for the pin; they recovered nicely from that slip.
5. Garett Holidayand Father Derek defeated Shayne Stetson and Chip Stetson at 9:29. Yes, Father Derek wore a priest’s collar and he’s a bit older as his hair is turning silver. Chip is heavyset and bald; Shayne is younger, blond, with a good physique. The Stetsons worked over Holiday. Father Derek hit a second-rope superplex on Chip at 9:00. He then hit a stunner for the pin. Meh. This should have just been Garett vs. Shayne.
6. Pat Sawyer defeated Jeremiah Richter at 10:17. Sawyer has a belt; he’s tall but a bit puffy. I’ve seen Richter before; he’s tall with long blond hair and a long beard. Sawyer hit a superkick at 2:00 that sent Richter to the floor to regroup. Sawyer hit a Mafia Kick and an enzuigiri at 6:00. Sawyer hit a running boot for the pin. This admittedly didn’t do much for me.
7. Vince Valor defeated Sebastian Braun and Bobby Ocean in a three-way for the vacant ICW title at 7:38. Valor has a big, bushy beard and numerous tattoos, and he’s bald. Ocean is a Black man with a good physique and shaved head and he’s a babyface. Sebastian is a bit heavyset with long black hair. Braun hit a Mafia Kick on Ocean for a nearfall. Valor stalled on the floor. Braun and Valor started stomping on babyface Ocean. Of course, they started arguing, and Ocean punched them both at 5:00. Ocean hit a sliding clothesline on Valor for a nearfall. Braun chokeslammed Ocean, then he hit a discus clothesline. However, Valor shoved Braun to the floor and stole the pin on Ocean. Decent but too short for a title match.
8. Minoru Suzuki defeated Mike Skyros at 17:40. I’ve seen Skyros a few times and he has a good physique. Suzuki got his traditional entrance; at MLW a night earlier, he came out to the Contra Unit theme instead. We got a “this is awesome!” chant before they even locked up, and the commentators said this is the biggest match in ICW history. Standing reversals to open. Skyros hit a forearm at 3:00; Suzuzki returned a much harder one, and they began trading forearm strikes. A commentator said this is just Suzuki’s 10th match in the state of New York in a 35-year career. Suzuki dropped Skyros with a forearm, but Mike got up and they kept trading strikes. Skyros hit a shoulder tackle at 6:00 that dropped Minoru.
Minoru applied a crossarm breaker in the ropes. He grabbed a flag and choked Skyros with it as they fought on the floor along the guardrail. They switched to loud chops at ringside. They walked around ringside so fans around the ring could hear the chop exchange. Suzuki hit the cameraman at 10:00! They got back in the ring, and Minoru hit a stiff kick to the spine for a nearfall. Minoru hit a running penalty kick for a nearfall at 13:30. Skyros locked his hands behind his back and the crowd chanted “you f—ed up!” at him for doing this. Minoru nailed a forearm that dropped Skyros. Mike rose to his feet and the crowd popped. Skyros put Minoru on his shoulders and dropped him face-first, and he locked in a Sharpshooter, but Minoru reached the ropes at 17:00. Suzuki applied a sleeper, then hit the Gotch-style Piledriver for the pin. That was fun.
* Suzuki teased hitting the piledriver on the ref, but he let go and the ref scampered to the floor. He kicked Skyros and tossed him to the floor, too.
Final Thoughts: Suzuki-Skyros was easily the best of the night, with Maclin-Johl second and the women’s match third. Suzuki had some type of concussion-related health scare in Japan just days ago, so I’m so happy he was healthy and good to compete in MLW and here. He undoubtedly was the draw that brought many of these fans in. As for the rest of the show… I saw some decent talent in the undercard, but to be blunt, nothing between Maclin’s match and the main event had anything that really impressed me, either. As I noted, I would have liked to see Shayne Stetson vs. Garett Holiday in a singles match. I would tell someone short on time to check out the three matches I noted.
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