WWN - FIP: USUAL SUSPECTSW

This is episode 12 of FIP and this show is devoted to crowning the first ever FIP Tag Team Champions. Normally there would be a tournament or something for new champs, but that's not the case here. FIP's tag teams, as well as a bunch of the singles guys randomly teaming up. They say all throughout the show on commentary that it's NOT A TOURNAMENT! Basically all of these tag teams compete in random matches, some teams fighting several matches in one night, and most of them back to back. So it's a little confusing. The main event is a 3-team elimination match with the 3 teams that did not lose a match that night.Carnage Crew vs. Heartbreak Express - 9:53 - 2/5Carnage Crew vs. Dunn/Marcos - 2:03 - 1/5Roderick Strong/Jarelle Clark vs. Homicide/Cordell Walker - 20:41 - 4/5Brian Kendrick/Sal Rinauro vs. Jamie Noble/Steve Madison - 17:48 - 4/5Jimmy Rave/Eddie Vegas vs. Evan Starsmore/Aaron Epic - 2:14 - 1/5Jimmy Rave/Eddie Vegas vs. Dunn/Marcos - 9:43 - 2/5CM Punk/Don Juan vs. Brian Kendrick/Sal Rinauro - 8:46 - 3/5MVP vs. Jared Steel vs. Rainman (3-Way Dance) 7:19 - 1/5CM Punk/Don Juan vs. Roderick Strong/Jarelle Clark vs. Jimmy Rave/Eddie Vegas (3-Way Dance Tag Team Title Match) - 9:59 - 3/5Positives:*If you love tag team wrestling, espescially in FIP than this is for you*2 Great 20-minute tag team matchesNegatives:*Lackluster, quiet crowd*Poor lighting (the rest of the shows are very well lit)*Lack of tournament system, not the best idea.All in all it's not bad, but the rest of the FIP dvds are much better, may wanna try a few others.

This is the first of a few dozen FIP shows that I've watched that I flat out did not enjoy. It made absolutely no sense from beginning to end. The theme of the night was that FIP would somehow crown its first Tag Team champions by the end of the show. A tournament perhaps? No sir. A round robin series? Nope. A gauntlet match? A battle royal? A drinking contest? No, no, and no! There was absolutely no structure at all; random matches with random pairs, sometimes a team would compete twice and then go backstage. Despite the fact that there was several really good tag team matches, the show (in my humble opinion) was a complete disaster. I just got burnt out on tag team wrestling very quickly and by the end I didn't care. The end partially justified the means when my favorite FIP tag team, Jimmy Rave & Fast Eddie Vegas, captured the tag team titles in a 3-WAY elimination match. FIP has some work to do to build up their tag team division after squashing them all in one night.The wrestlers did do a great job with their matches but the booking was totally out of whack. Here's a quick synopsis of the night giving each match a rating out of ten. The Carnage Crew vs The Heartbreak Express ( 4 / 10 ), Ring Crew Express vs The Carnage Crew ( 5 / 10 ), Roderick Strong & Jerrelle Clark vs Homicide & Vordell Walker ( 7 / 10 ), Spanky & Sal Rinauro vs James Gibson & Steve Madison ( 6.5 / 10 ), Jimmy Rave & Fast Eddie vs Evan Starsmore & Aaron Epic ( 3 / 10 ), Jimmy Rave & Fast Eddie vs The Ring Crew Express ( 6 / 10 ), C.M. Punk & Don Juan vs Spanky & Sal Rinauro ( 6.5 / 10 ), Antonio Banks vs Rainman vs Jared Steel ( 7 / 10 ), Jimmy Rave & Fast Eddie vs Roderick Strong & Jerrelle Clark vs C.M. Punk & Don Juan ( 6 / 10 ). The non-tournament triple threat match was a breath of fresh air and surprisingly good. Three of FIP's "big men" went at in a great contest with the better man coming out on top.Final Thoughts: The best part of this DVD was the hype it gave for the show planned the night after involving the showdown between FIP Champion Homicide and the man has possession of the stolen FIP belt, C.M. Punk.There are dozens of FIP DVDs available on ROHwrestling.com and I would recommend every single one of them --- EXCEPT THIS ONE! HAKTUI!