Night 1 of Full Impact Pro’s Six Man Showcase was one of the most enjoyable wrestling shows of the year. Sixteen teams traveled to Ybor City in hopes of attaining glory but now eight survived the opening rounds. Which team would find a way to win three matches in one night to become the champions? Read below to find out!

Full Impact Pro
Fallout Night 2: Crowning a Victor
October 24, 2015
Crossfit Country
Oviedo, Florida
Watch: WWNLive

Team Tier 1 vs. Team FIP

The second round started off with a twerking battle between Sunny Kiss and Evan Gelistico, then Rudeboy Riley and Gary Jay knocked each other. All of that occurred within the first two minutes of the match. From that point on if you blinked then missed something.

I’m convinced that all six participants met before the match and decided to attempt to break the indoor record for dives and near falls. The sheer amount of action in this match would turn Lucha Underground fans turn green with envy. Unlike, the previous night where Sunny Kiss stole the show for his team, all of the Tier 1 participants had the chance to shine. The Submission Squad (Team FIP) wrestled their usual solid match.

With the fast paced nature of the match it was guaranteed that this match would end abruptly, which was the case when Sunny Kiss scored a flash pin victory for Tier 1. ***1/2

Team MCW vs. Team Proving Ground Pro

The night’s second match was wrestled at a much more deliberate pace than the opener, which was good because my eyes were still moving faster than the speed of light. Both teams took their turn cutting the ring in half until their victim made the hot tag. Normally, that spot kills a match but this time I think it was used effectively to emphasize the team work demonstrated by both trios.

So far, the story around Team Proving Ground Pro is that their ace in the hold is Jake Dirden’s Asiatic Spike finisher, which got his team the win during this match. That’s a fantastic way to ensure that the team stand out and also gives whoever faces them a built in obstacle to overcome. ***

Team Trans-South vs. Team Freelance Pro

I was stoked for this match. Maybe, a little too stoked.

It wouldn’t be fair to say that this match underwhelmed because it did not. It was mainly a collection of high spots, glorious high spots to be exact. Peter Kassa of Team Trans-South hit a twisting senton to the outside and later in the match hit a trifecta of 630s. After his last two weekends, Kassa is a made-man in the WWN Live family of companies. FWP’s Chris Castro created his own memorable moment with a diving senton not usually performed by a man with his girth. Piledrivers, not flips, proved to be the edge that Team FWP needed for the victory.

Ultimately, this match was the victim of being a tournament bout. The winning team had to conserve their energy for the later rounds so there was no way either team wrestle at the speed necessary for spot heavy match. Again, there was nothing wrong with this match, I just felt like it had the potential to be much better. ***

Team IWA: Mid-South vs. the Viking War Party

Neither Team IWA nor the Vikings have any business wrestling a regular match. This one needed to be as wild as the old west to be any good. Instead, it turned out to be a slow, grappling heavy match. Ugh.

The Vikings got the win with their double choke slam/double stomp combination. *1/4

Opportunity Knocks Flash Fray

Outside of the Royal Rumble I don’t give star ratings to battle royals or their kin. The winner of this match would be rewarded with a shot at the FIP Florida Heritage Championship. Only pins, submissions or a knockout could eliminate a competitor. Stick Osiris won the match by pinning Black Baron.

I recommend skipping this because it is hard to follow and boring.  NR

Team Freelance Pro vs. Team Proving Ground Pro

I felt really conflicted about how this match played out. Team Proving Ground Pro’s wake of destruction through the tournament was brilliantly booked and it made sense for them to keep steam rolling other teams on their way to the finals. I wish they hadn’t destroyed my favorite team in the tournament for personal and practical reasons.

Chris Castro, Matt Knicks & Isaias Velazquez are three of the most talented wrestlers on the Chicago indie scene that most wrestling fans have not discovered yet. I’d like to have seen them get in one more quality showing before they bowed out just so they could strut their stuff like I know they can. For pragmatic reasons I think that if the match was more competitive it would have helped the overall booking of the tournament. An evenly fought contest would have demonstrated a chink in Team PGP armor and made the fans think their opponents would have a chance in the finals.

Fantasy booking aside, this match served its purpose well. Jake Dirden and Team IOU came across as even bigger monsters by simply mauling Velazquez for large portions of the match. FWP’s champion sold the effects of the attack beautifully. Knicks and Castro got in a few hope spots but in the end Knicks went down for the three count and the tournament’s resident monsters moved on. **1/2

The Viking War Party vs. Team Tier 1

The perfect formula for this match would have been a wild brawl where Team Tier 1 beat the Vikings in their element to establish themselves as a threat to Team PGV. It started out that way with the boys from Tier 1 diving to the outside to get the jump on the Vikings during their entrance, but after a short brawling sequence the match went into the ring and promptly started to lose star ratings at an unprecedented clip.

Like their second round match, the Vikings decided to grind down their foes with an extended beat down sequence and rest holds, and just like the earlier match it completely sucked the juice out of the second semifinal. The Vikings can be a fun act in small doses but their outing on night two illustrates that they have no business working long matches or more than once a card.

Sunny Kiss got the win for his team with a roll up on Alexander Rudolph. Not the best finish to set up the other half of the finals because it makes them look like fluke underdogs. *1/2

After the match the Vikings beat down Team Tier 1 to set them up as even bigger underdogs. That was a booking move that reeked of Vincent K. McMahon.

FIP Florida Heritage Championship Match
Stitch Osiris vs. Maxwell Chicago ©

I’ll admit that in small doses Maxwell Chicago will make me chuckle. In title matches that go over two minutes I wish someone would hit him over the head with a shovel and leave him in a broom closet until the end of the show.

The problem with Mr. Chicago is that he forces his opponents to wrestle his style, whatever that may be, and it takes them out of their comfort zone. That is never a recipe for a good match. In the few moments Stich Osiris had to be himself he made this match watchable, which to me means that the man deserves a medal.

Chicago eventually retained his title by pin courtesy of a sit out power bomb. DUD

Team Tier 1 vs. Team Proving Ground Pro

After a long strange trip throughout the card, the tournament finally arrived at its terminus. The upstarts of Team Tier 1 had clawed their way to the finals. Team Proving Ground Pro had barely broken a sweat to get to the last match of the competition. Regardless of how both teams got there the final match promised to be a real doozy.

Team PGP’s recipe for success during the tournament was too isolate one member of the opposing team and pound them into oblivion. Their victim during this time around was Sunny Kiss. Folks, the eccentric Kiss proved he was a great athlete in previous matches but during the finals he proved is quite the worker. Kiss legitimately look dead during most of the time he was playing rag doll and in the process clinched tournament MVP.

After the hot tag, the match picked up in intensity and excitement. It was nothing revolutionary but after an hour or so of mediocre wrestling I was starved for some quality action. I don’t want to spoil anything that happened but there are some jaw dropping spots that took place.

Even though Team PGP was tested for the very first time during the tournament they were still able to win thanks to Jake Dirden’s Asiatic Spike. I still have no idea why the trio was booked so strong but it worked because I was heartbroken when Team Tier 1 did not pull off the upset in what turned out to be an excellent main event. ***1/2

Final Thoughts: The second night of FIP Fallout was nowhere near the same quality as its predecessor. Each of the non-tournament matches managed to drag the show into a hole. Only the finals and a handful of second round matches prevented it from being total garbage. I do think that the finalist’s road to the finale were both well booked which is something that is hard to do during a tournament.

With that said, as a whole the tournament did its job and showcased some of the best up and coming independent wrestlers in the United States.