The project has been worked on in secrecy for months and I heard clues and hints about it at the last FIP show I attended, but as usual they worked me. Bastards. Seriously though, this partially explains the union between Dragon Gate and FIP as now Sal plans to expand into the Northeast market.

The company is beginning the tease with an online viral campaign, starting with this YouTube video, teasing the birth of the company.

The company’s homepage is already in effect over at www.EVOLVEwrestling.com. There is no word as to whether or not they will feature Dragon Gate talent, but I have a feeling that they will. Will they compete against Ring of Honor? Well considering DGUSA is running in Arizona the same day that ROH is for Wrestlemania weekend, that seems to be the case. I don’t know if competing for the same 2000 or so fans is that great of an idea, but whatever.

I’m excited to see what this trio can come up with!

Johnathan Gold welcomed us as usual and put over the double cage main event.

Match #1: Caleb Konley defeated QC Marshall. This was the first time that I’d ever seen either of these two (keep in mind, I have not attended an FIP show since February and have only read results since). Caleb Konnely is your basic undercard babyface and kind of reminds me of a 2005 Chris Sabin. QC Marshall plays a borderline-gay gimmick where he dresses in all pink, wears a boa, and calls himself “the man with the sexiest face”. A decent opener. Caleb won with a unique move where he half-applied a cobra clutch, then dropped QC’s head over his knee. (*1/2)

Johnathan Gold put over the 2009 Jeff Peterson Memorial Cup Tournament show in November, an annual Florida event that is usually very good and features a good crop of indy talent.

Match #2: Bruce Santee defeated Slyck Sweezy. Bruce Santee is a very popular indy worker in Florida, but I’d never seen Slyck Sweezy before. Slyck came out with some of the most unusual ring gear I’d ever seen; lime green tights, a green jacket, and a green hat. Green was the appropriate word to describe Slyck *rimshot*. No, but seriously, he did fine. Santee got the advantage early and then started to do a series of crazy exercise themed poses, allowing Slyck to get the heat. He beat on him for a bit until Santee hulked up and won with a variation of a side slam. Decent match designed to give Santee some wins. (*3/4)

Match #3: The Shane Twins (w/ Ron Neimi) wrestled The Dark City Fight Club (w/ Leva) to a no contest. The Shane Twins were formerly the Gymini in the WWE (Simon Dean’s bodyguards back in 2005/2006) and were still wearing the Gymini gear. I never understood why these guys got released considering that cosmetically; they’re monsters. So they fought DCFC in a brawl-type match with a few shenanigans outside the ring with the managers. They brawled to the outside and the referee lost control and threw the match out. Huge boos for the finish, but I think we’ll see rematches (*1/4).

At this point, we took an early intermission because there was an issue with one of the planks on the ring that needed to be fixed (it was sticking up and out – dangerous!)

Match #4: TJ Perkins defeated Sal Rinauro (w/ Mister Saint Laurent) to quality for the 2009 Jeff Peterson Cup. TJ Perkins is also known as Puma and has done numerous spots for TNA (including I believe a match with Colt Cabana at the last taping). I am surprised that the fans are still doing the “Sal is a chicken” gimmick, something Delirious started TWO YEARS AGO~!~! This was a good high-flying technical match with a good set of talents. MSL’s banter with the ringside fans was almost as entertaining as the match (he also cut a prematch promo). TJ won via submission with the Rings of Uranus. (**1/2)

Match #5: Chris “Bones” Jones defeated Chasyn “Not Cocky” Rance (w/ Mister Saint Laurent) to qualify for the 2009 Jeff Peterson Cup. This was a pretty good match even though it treaded into spotfest territory once in a while. Lots of cool moves and reversals early on. They did a spot where MSL bodyslammed Chris Jones on the outside behind the ref’s back and they teased a count-out. They started to hit some nice near-falls near the end that fooled me once or twice. Chris Jones won with a Sliced Bread #2 followed by a moonsault. (**1/2)

Johnathan Gold introduced Outlaw Ron Bass, who came out and cut a promo on wrestling Ric Flair, Dusty Rhodes and other legends in Championship Wrestling from Florida and put over the talent at the FIP show tonight. Sean and Phil Davis from Heartbreak Enterprises came out to interrupt. Bass was not pleased. Sean Davis bring out Rhett Titus and introduce a new valet for him, who’s name I believe was Amy Vitale. Bass and Davis teased brawling until Attitude came out. He said he would’ve won the title if it weren’t for the interfierence from HBE. Attitude asked Bass to be in his corner to even the odds and Bass agreed.

Match #6: Brad Attitude (w/ Ron Bass) defeated FIP Florida Heritage Champion “Addicted to Love” Rhett Titus (w/ Heartbreak Enterprises) to win the title. Rhett Titus has an awesome gimmick and with a valet it can only help. Brad Attitude was formerly in WWE’s FCW developmental as “Campus Legend” Brad Allen, a gimmick which I was more fond of than the generic “Brad Attitude”. I was not too high on this match. Sean Davis antics on the outside of the ring were far more entertaining than the in-ring stuff. Sean Davis is without a doubt one of the most charismatic and entertaining performers in wrestling. Promoters – BOOK THIS GUY! There was a vertebreaker spot that was only a 2 count (huh?). There was a lot of humping and crotch grabbing here – which really wasn’t pleasant. Attitude made his comeback with a powerslam and got a 2 while Ron Bass continued to chase Phil and Sean Davis on the outside. Bass chased Phil to the back, which allowed HBE to toss Rhett the title belt, which wound up in the hands of Attitude. Attitude hits Rhett with the title and scores the pin. (*1/4)

After the match, Brad was getting beaten up by the heels until Bass made the save. Bass really can’t move well. Attitude and Ron Bass celebrated. Bass challenged Sean Davis to a Bullrope Match next month. Davis said, even though he was retired, he’d be happy to kick his 80 year old ass. I’m not sure how that match will be considering Ron can’t do much. Still, it’s booked.

Now comes the next intermission for them to put the cage up.

Match #7: The British Lions defeated FIP Tag Team Champions Erick Stevens and Roderick Strong to win the titles in a Steel Cage Match. The Lions (Tommy Taylor and Chris Gray) debuted for FIP last year and were the “young scrappy babyfaces” before selling out to the Heartbreak Express earlier this year. Stevens and Strong had the best indy feud of 2008 and became partners this year. This match started early as Stevens and Strong jumped the Lions on the outside. They brawled for a long time on the outside with the faces demolishing the Lions with chops and kicks. The Lions took the advantage and managed to keep Strong in the cage and Stevens outside, who was bleeding buckets. The story was that Stevens kept trying to fight inside to save his partner but kept getting booted out while Strong fought off two men. Why do all wrestlers from Europe do European Uppercuts? Is that a mandatory move? But I digress. Stevens fought his way back in and then the story became the fact that Strong and Stevens kept botching double team moves and hitting each other. We saw some sick top rope spots including a crazy release German suplex from the top. Faces make a big come back and they set up a move but Stevens turns on Roderick with a clothesline. He then hits Roderick with the Doctorbomb, smiles, and walks out. The crowd was SILENT, probably due to shock (these fans actually care, specially about Stevens). Chris Gray is confused then rushes in and covers Roddy for the pin and win. Great match! (***1/2)

After the match it got even stranger. The HBE came out and got in the ring to celebrate and started to beat on Roderick, all but Tommy Taylor. Tommy Taylor watched the beatdown while the crowd told him to stop it. He teased helping them, but attacked Sean and Phil Davis, saving Roderick. Chris Gray got into Tommy’s face and they argued about whether or not it was right to attack a beaten man. Sean Davis left the cage and told Chris to come with them and to forget Tommy. Roderick gets up and thanks Tommy for being a man and saving his ass and says when he finds Erick Stevens, he’s going to kick his ass. Tommy wants to give Roderick the belt back, feeling that Roddy was screwed. Roddy says no, he was pinned, regardless of the circumstances, and Tommy is the champion.

This situation is unique to say the least. Stevens turns heel on Roderick, thereby setting up another Stevens/Strong feud, which I have mixed feelings about. These guys had a Last Man Standing Match, a Dog Collar Match, and a Fight Without Honor in 2008 in their feud. They have done it all. This time, Stevens plays the heel and Strong the face, so it’s a bit different, but what else can they do? All I can think of is perhaps they do one final match in FIP’s signature feud-ending match, the Cage of Pain (A Cage Match with weapons). But do they want to do another Cage Match so soon after a show with two? This also sets up a possible Chris vs. Tommy match, but they are also the tag champs. Will Chris turn face and join Tommy or vise-versa, or will they be reluctant tag team partners? This is nothing new in wrestling, but I have to admit it is going to be interesting to see where it goes.

Match #8: FIP World Champion Davey Richards defeated Kenny King in a Steel Cage Match to retain the title. These are two guys who have the potential to be future players in the big league. Kenny King’s has the athleticism that Shelton Benjamin posseses and the charisma that he doesn’t. Now that Danielson and Nigel have been signed to the WWE, Davey Richards is the official MVP of the independents. This match kicked all kinds of ass. They had a back and forth war. Davey is awesome at playing a chickenshit heel despite coming off like a bad ass; at one point kissing Kenny King’s feet as he begged for mercy. Kenny King ran wild early and took advantage for a while until Davey cut him off. Davey worked on him for a bit and then teased escaping the cage and running away (you can only win a cage match in FIP via pin or submission). Kenny followed him and they brawled outside the ring over to the merchandise table. Kenny King smashed Davey through the merch table, something FIP has teased for oh, about three years, and finally did. Crowd ate it up. They fought back to the ring and Kenny throws Davey in and grabs about four chairs a small table. He sets the table in the corner and they tease a few spots before Kenny finally hits a spinebuster through it for another near fall. Kenny hits a TKO variant and gets another near fall. Kenny applies the Texas Cloverleaf to Davey and they tease a tapout for a long time. He actually did tap out, but referee Frank Gastineau was distracted by HBE. Kenny King attacked Phil, allowing Davey to come behind him, but Davey missed and hit Phil and Kenny rolled him up for another near-fall that I thought was the finish. Kenny hits a spin kick and a burning hammer for another close 2. Kenny starts to set up 4 chairs and teases a burning hammer through the chairs but Davey fights back. Davey grabs a chain and ties it around his foot and proceeds to kick Kenny in the face repeatedly, then hits a DR Driver through the four chairs for the win. Great match! (****)

Davey cuts a promo stating he can’t be stopped. John Gold thanks us for coming and invites us to next month’s Peterson cup.

Overall a fun show! It started slow and built up to two big clashes. I can’t ever fail to mention that FIP ALWAYS delivers with it’s main events and I believe they provide one of the best top to bottom shows on the independents, specially with main events that always give you your money’s worth.

Exclusive: One source close to the situation which chose to have their name omitted claimed that somebody within Full Impact Pro described it as, and I quote, “I saw the iceberg”, an obvious indication that the World Wrestling Network believes what a lot people believe about the future of ROH – that there is no future. Another source also informed me that it has been talked about internally that several talents from DG USA would work FIP shows in the near-future. Whether this is influence from current DG USA/former FIP booker Gabe Sapolski or Lenny Leonard, I simply cannot say, but as a fan of FIP I can tell you that I loved when they brought in Dragon Gate stars in the past and will love it once they bring them back.

Hamaoui opened Full Impact Pro in 2003 and ran various spot shows in the Florida area. At the time, the booking was primarily done by pro wrestler Jaison Moore and the majority of the talents used were top FL independent names such as Ralph Mosca and former ECW main eventers such as Mike Awesome and New Jack.

In late 2003, ROH and the WWN came to a mutual agreement. Hamaoui seeked to grow FIP and insert the fresh faces of the independents at the time (CM Punk, Homicide, etc) into the company while ROH simultaneously needed a more focused effort to quicker release DVDs; the company’s primary revenue source. Gabe Sapolski, the then-booker of ROH, was appointed booker of FIP and maintained that spot until late 2008 when he was fired from ROH.

In 2004, a lot of fans saw FIP as a sort of “ROH developmental”, which it halfway was, and did not give it the proper respect. Around 2006, FIP’s storyline booking and ability to bring in major names increased tenfold and the product became one of the hottest indies around, even surpassing Ring of Honor once or twice in terms of creativity.

Hamaoui was one of ROH’s unsung heroes. He was one of the hardest working agents behind the scenes in getting the DVDs edited, produced, and manufactured from his studio here in Largo, Florida. The turnaround on ROH releases increased drastically, even at the sacrifice of Sal’s own FIP DVDs. Hamaoui also helped to promote the Florida ROH shows, including the WrestleMania weekend shows from 2008 which many people (including our own Alan4L) believe may be the best shows in company history.

Since September of 2004, ROH and FIP have swapped talent back and forth. Gabe used FIP as a proving ground for stars like Erick Stevens, Kenny King, and Shingo, who are now ROH regulars. They also co-promoted and were seen as sister promotions. I am unsure of the future between the companies at this point but one can assume that they won’t work together again. Regardless, even contracted ROH wrestlers are allowed to work independents as long as it isn’t television, so fear not, Roderick Strong, Rhett Titus, and FIP Champ Davey Richards will still be around most likely.

According to Mike Johnson, ROH has stated that they will be doing the editing process from an “in-house” studio in the northeast as opposed to Largo. As for the announce team, I am unsure of how this will work, as Dave Prazak has a vested interest in Shimmer, who still works with WWN for DVD distribution, and Lenny Leonard works for ROH, DG USA, AND FIP (and is respected in all three). Plus, neither live in the northeast.

Is this another piece of the crumbling pie that is ROH or is this a good sign for the company to make itself independent?

As with all things – time will tell.