Wrestling Review // ICW No Holds Barred Volume 12 - Farewell To The Pawn Shop (IWTV)

https://www.icwnoholdsbarred.com/

To me, it's weird to think about how we had a month or so without any ICW No Holds Barred shows, and then now, we've had three nights in a row of them.  Missing a lot of them in 2020 and then watching them back to the point where I was sometimes watching one every day just makes the time in between shows feel even longer, but not only was this the third and final show for ICW No Holds Barred for the weekend but it was also the end of the shows on IWTV, so it was about to go out with a bang.

This show opened up with Nolan Edward defeating Dan Maff.   Yes, you read that right and that might be the biggest upset of the entire weekend.   Nolan Edward had been through hell and back this entire weekend.   Dan Maff won The Battle Of The Tough Guys.  So you kind of knew Nolan Edward wasn't going to go down without a fight, but I did not expect him to win this one against Dan Maff.

Orin Veidt defeated probably the least known member of 44OH Bobby Beverly.  There was a brief time- during summer- when it felt like 44OH was going to take over ICW NHB.  RSP even showed up for a match.   It felt like we saw those Ohio boys on nearly every show.  Now they just seem to be fading away and not in ICW NHB as much.  Where has Eddy Only been anyway?

This was my first time seeing Tank and the man delivered against Neil Diamond Cutter.  NDC picked up the win and if we should happen to see Tank in ICW NHB again I'd like to see him vs. Dan Maff.   Satu Jinn is here because I hear "Sugar" and he defeated Ruben Steel in a match which went all over the place.   I love that ICW NHB introduced me to Ruben Steel who is also in Heavy Metal Wrestling and now I watch them as well.  It was nice to see Satu Jinn get a win here because it doesn't seem like that happens too often for him in ICW NHB.

Look.  I don't want to be the one to have to say this.  I don't want to waste my words.  But apparently it needs to be said.  So here goes.   The next match saw a debuting Damon Spriggle defeat Alex Ocean with some help from Brandon Kirk.  During this match, The Struggles mentioned that at one point Alex Ocean was loved by the fans but then something in him changed and the fans turned on him.   What The Struggles (and Ron you were silent on the issue) wouldn't point out is that the time when fans (like me) turned on Alex Ocean was when he said "Fuck Eddie Guerrero"  Why that sentiment was so tasteless has been covered better by people who aren't me, but if you want it to be said as blatantly as possible: there are a million pro wrestlers out there.  Finding one to like who doesn't say "Fuck Eddie Guerrero" is easier than liking Alex Ocean.  

But fans didn't turn on Alex Ocean ~because he somehow changed~ and the fact that ICW NHB won't own up to it, won't admit that fans turned on Alex Ocean because of those three words just makes it worse- it makes me dislike him even more.   But it's not even dislike.  I don't *hate* Alex Ocean.  It's indifference. In my mind, in my world of professional wrestling, he just doesn't exist.   There are few wrestlers that I feel this way about, but to me, Alex Ocean just lost all the respect I had for him with three simple words and I don't know what it's going to take to get it back.  

In an odd twist of turns (rant over) Shane Mercer and SHLAK decided to wait to fight until they could use light tubes and I wasn't clear as to why they weren't allowed to break the glass inside of this venue but this was Farewell To The Pawn Shop and due to the weather outside (it was a hurricane because it's Florida) they couldn't even have this show at the Pawn Shop so we're all just lucky it's still even happening at this point.

Co-main event time.   Reed Bentley has one big loss in ICW NHB outside of the Battle Of The Tough Guys and that was to Atticus Cogar, who once again defeats him in this match.  There are some definite Raven-Tommy Dreamer "you can't beat me" vibes here, though I'm not sure Reed Bentley and Atticus Cogar went to summer camp together.   (Someone ask them!)

In the main event, the match between John Wayne Murdoch and Eric Ryan was turned into a title match as the creation of the ICW American Deathmatch Championship was born.  And it is a sweet looking title as well.   I don't want to feel like I'm just glazing over this match which JWM won because it was quite the violent affair, but now, with a championship I'm just thinking of the possibilities for future matches.

On one hand, I would have thought that Reed Bentley could be a contender for the title since he has a win over JWM now and is largely undefeated (He maybe has less losses in ICW NHB than anyone else- but don't quote me on that)  With the loss to Atticus Cogar though, now I'm thinking maybe Atticus Cogar should be in line for a title shot.   And who is going to stop SHLAK from demanding a title shot?  Will AKIRA come back and want a title shot?  What about Justin Kyle? Dan Maff? Nolan Edward?  Will ICW NHB ever book Casanova Valentine again?  Will RSP come for this belt since he lost his?  Can Nick Gage have two titles at once?  The future looks so bright.