Intro to the project

Funny turn of events that we don’t have access to the very first 2CW show. Maybe it is on a hard drive somewhere. Maybe it is lost to time. Truly don’t care. This show takes place in Syracuse, NY on May 6th, 2006.

6. All Money Is Legal vs. Killer Steves

This is probably the most notable rivalry from 2CW’s early years. They get a viral moment out of a table that doesn’t break. If this project doesn’t break me I’m sure I’ll cover it.

Wish this match was any good. Do not watch this, I’m sure you have better things to do with your time. The one spot that got me going was AMIL doing a hiptop 450. If they hit it clean, maybe it would be something, but they don’t. The heat from the Steves made me age several years. Duller than dirt sadly.

5. Jason Axe vs. Johnny Law

At one point in this match Johnny Law, a cop gimmick, armdrags himself from an armwringer. What the hell are we doing? You don’t watch this match and think Jason Axe becomes one of the faces of the promotion but here we are. It is only like 5 minutes long and half of that is Law tossing Axe to the outside. It ends with Law “macing” Axe. DQ baby.

4. Matt Hyson aka Spike Dudley aka Little Runt vs. Zachary Springate III

ZS3 was trained by Killer Kowlski, that is his whole “thing”. Eventually he would be the trainer for a number of future 2CW folks. Does a whole promo before the match reffering to Matt as a “Little Runt”. Just wild “I’m not saying anything illegal” type promo.

This match is not a whole lot. 2CW is ran by ECW fans and Spike would be a massive part of the promotion’s history. What better way to respect ECW than a walk and brawl around the venue. There are no cameras in the crowd. There is zero way to tell what is going on.

The biggest moment of the match is something we don’t get to see much of. Spike goes for a Sliced Bread #2 but gets dumped over the top instead, Holy Shit chants ensue. It happens opposite of the hard cam so we don’t see any of the bump. From the angle, is looks like it MIGHT be bananas. But impossible to know! You hope 2CW gets better at capturing the potent

They finish a match for the second time this evening after a table is set-up but before the table is broken. I think that is bold! Match is pretty tight once the bell actually rings, about 7 minutes. One of those things where, I don’t think I would say it is good but manages to not be a colossal waste of time. Do with that what you will.

I am not going to make this part of the ranking, but the amount of times Spike gets drilled on the table without it breaking is absurd. It looks like he gets his ribs broken like three times before he actually goes through. Crowd is going ape-shit…..for the heels who just murdered the…hero? I don’t know folks.

3. Loca Vida vs. Ajax8020

Loca Vida has a very El Generico type gimmick. I don’t know if you would consider it more or less problematic than that, as his selling point is he is from Mexico…New York! Crowd says it along every time.

Anyway, match is your traditional WCW cruiserweight featured contest of the night. Unfortunately not clean enough to sink its teeth in. You have seen this sort of match 1000x times and the onlthy moment that sort of pops me is Loca Vida countering a tornado DDT out of the corner with a Northern Lights Suplex. But even there, it comes off like the least impressive version that spot can be based on the description. This feels like the type of match I would keep running in TEW hoping the chemistry increases and I eventually get a winner out of it.

2. JD Love vs. Gordy Wallace

Gordy Wallace is 2CW’s resident trailer park gimmick. Maybe more truck driver if you want to go that direction. Now, I assume JD Love has always been 2CW’s booker, he wears a pink tube top and satin pants. I’m unsure if it is fully problematic. Clearly it is at least a little bit as signature bits of his offense involve pressing his cock near his opponent’s face.

Tbh, better than I expected going in. Remember seeing JD Love when I was going to 2CW shows…almost 20 years ago. Sorry, having an existential crisis currently. The first 2CW show I went to was February 2008, 18 full years ago. I might throw before I even start this project. I haven’t come full circle on this until I started writing. And this is the opener of the show so despite where you are reading this, this is the first thing I’m writing. God damn it.

Somehow need to get back to JD Love, who I remember disliking as a worker. Part of that is I’m not sure I could get past the male flamboyant stripper gimmick, that was always a heel. Hot damn though, unfortunately JD Love’s got moves! He’s fat, and potentially it is his opponent, but his inspirations don’t seem to be the hoss type wrestlers. There are a number of times JD’s hitting the ropes almost literally working circles around Gordy. Little flourishes of athleticism, has no bounce but even the huge spot where he armdrags Gordy off the top rope makes your eyes pop a little.

2CW is extremely a live show promotion, which historically feels like it was crutch against criticism in the company’s history, but there is clear pandering here. First you have a goofy spot where both folks start kicking and stomping each other in the shins and feet. Crowd erupts in laughter. Then Gordy teases a flaming table. A pointless gesture but again, crowd went hot for it. It ending with a Gordy reversing a schoolboy during this moment with a pin that is far fancier than he is.

1. Isys Ephex vs. Dan Dynasty

Not sure I will say Isys becomes one of the faces of the promotion, but certainly one of the more stable acts in the history of the promotion. Dan Dynasty is the first wrestler on this show I have never seen in my life.

In one match Isys plants his flag as the best wrestler in 2CW. On this first show we have access to, that isn’t some sort of magically high bar. The standard is clearly set here regardless of that. And this goes down as the first good match we have on tape from 2CW, and as of now, officially the best match in 2CW history.

Isys comes off as clearly a “student of the game”. Seems like a bit of a nerd ball for this stuff. Every other wrestler on the show feels like a big fan of of late 90s wrestling, and Isys is the only one that reads like someone who has an ROH DVD at home. Going through his Cagematch, impossible to really tell where his experience comes from before 2CW. The database gives him a 3 year layoff which doesn’t feel correct.

The actual match though has the best/fastest pace of the show. Dan is a real spitfire. Explodes with some shocking athleticism. He’s a US indie wrestler though so he does have a truly detestable tope. God awful. The fact that he goes up Dragonrana style into a La Mistica-type slam is one of those “I was not familiar with your game” type moments. Now, it is a coin flip if that is entirely what he meant to do, but that is beside the point.

This really is the Isys show though. Sure, Dan gets to have some of the highlight reel moments, but Isys makes this thing sing. A lot of it comes down to his countering which took me by surprise. There a couple moments where he seems to slip in during a moment of Dan’s offense like a sword finding a gap in the armor. That is not at all what I would expect from someone who is doing wacky suplexes and slams. Part of me also things him throwing in a headlock in the middle of this feels pandering to folks who enjoy saying someone is a real Worker. A real “grab a hold, kid” type idea. But god damn it if it didn’t work here. You see Dynasty can blast off offense from a bunch of different directions. A headlock is the perfect way for the heel to keep things under control. Works narratively and I think Isys has it on pretty snug.

Hard to tell from one match if the cobra clutch is Isys’s finisher or if he’s doing a Danielson like thing where he has a whole bag of moves he can throw out to kill his opponent. It is certainly effective. Aka pops me.