IWA Mid-South Simply the Best 6, Highland, IN
A request! This one came in about a month ago from the great Joe Hulbert on my birthday. First of all, thank you. Second of all, the request was “a Samoa Joe match of your choice” and my mind immediately went to digging into his IWA Mid-South run, because I like to take any excuse.
Commentary mentions the night before in Midlothian, Ill., where Joe wrestled Ian Rotten, which was always the greatest honor an indie star could be given in 2003-05 IWA MS, to roll around a little with Ian. And yes, it was a good fucking match.
(Requests open and tips always appreciated!)
Brad Bradley would later be known as Jay Bradley and Ryan Braddock and Aiden O’Shea, and apparently is still working Billy Corgan’s NWA, wow, no foolin’! He was a Steel Dominion trainee who had not gotten moving so quickly as CM Punk or Colt Cabana, but he started to put it together some teaming with Ryan Boz around this time. They were a really good “local tough guys” tag team for a promotion like IWA Mid-South to have.
Boz is injured so Bradley, one-half of the tag champs, gets another big chance against Samoa Joe, among the Gods of the indies at the time. These two had also met a couple months earlier in Valparaiso. I was at both shows and was looking forward to the rematch, because the first one was fun.
Bradley charges Joe as soon as Joey Eastman is done announcing Joe’s name. Bradley’s early offense is cut down with the big uranage-style slam out of the corner from Joe, who then lays in the chops and the kneedrop. Facewash and the running kick!
The big lads trade forearms, and Joe goes down delayed from a big one from Bradley, hitting the ropes to respond but just sort of giving out as he approaches his underdog bruiser opponent. Bradley takes over with some basic power offense, drops a little elbow for two as the crowd tries to get dueling chants going, a real scourge of crowds by this point.
Bradley avoids Joe’s snapping power slam and hits a nice running bulldog. CM Punk now joins commentary with Larry Sweeney and Dave Prazak, this is an all-timer team. Joe hits his forearm suicida. Punk rambles about he and Joe weighing each other at the gym, which he deems to be something that “sounds gay.”
Joe can’t get the power bomb up, Bradley destroys him with a Saito suplay!
In his IWA stint Joe did some really cool short matches where he gave the other guy plenty. We all knew he was generally gonna win, but he’s out here letting Brad Bradley just kinda manhandle him and it rules. He also gets enough trademark Joe stuff in that you never felt cheated at all even when he didn’t work long. He put the other guy over in defeat and made sure he retained his own aura. This one he wins with a clever little sunset roll-up, as he’s out there getting dropped on his skull repeatedly and knows he has to just beat this guy, no time to care if it’s done with pop-the-crowd finishing move panache, it’s all about surviving a guy who came to win big and getting out of there with the W.
Joe puts Bradley over on the mic after the match, talking about Bradley having come out to Joe’s dojo in LA to become a better wrestler, and he busted his ass to do it. “It’s been a long time since I had my ass kicked like that.” Then he puts me over because of how great of a fan I am even though I lost my voice cheering for Chris Hero that one time.
I’m obviously very biased toward this period of IWA Mid-South and this period of indie wrestling in general, but this match is a minor banger, a Hidden Gem, a slugfest that keeps Joe Joe and makes Brad Bradley look better.
Tape Machines Are Rolling 