St. Paul, MN – 10.24.2009

Commentary is provided by Mortimer Plumtree, Mike Quackenbush, Darin Corbin, and Ryan Cruz.

Sweet Sixteen Tournament, Semi-Final Round
Arik Cannon vs. Ryan Cruz

Cruz gets a wristlock which Cannon flips into a reversal. Cruz flips Cannon to the mat holding onto the wristlock. Cannon brings Cruz to the mat with a headlock. Cruz rolls Cannon’s shoulders to the mat for two. Cannon armdrags Cruz into a shoulder lock. Cannon steps on Cruz’s hand and then applies a hammerlock. Cruz gets a side headlock. Cruz transistions to a wristlock. Cannon blocks a suplex, floats over. Cannon O’Conner Rolls Cruz for two and both men reach a stalemate.Cruz twists Cannon’s arm and whips him over. Both men hit the ropes. Cruz blocks a hip toss and throws Cannon to the ropes. Cannon floats over into a hip toss and follows with a deep armdrag. Cannon chops Cruz in the corner and rams his shoulder into Cruz’s mid-section. Cruz hits the corner and Cruz gets his boot up. Cruz comes off the top with a hurricanrana and then a dropkick for two. Cruz uppercuts Cannon. Cannon twists a clothesline attempt into a neckbreaker for two. Cannon suplexes Cruz for two. Cannon chops Cruz and lays an elbow across Cruz’s neck. Cannon cranks Cruz’s arm. Cruz comes back with a lung blocker and a forearm. Cruz hits a spinwheel kick for two. Cruz thrusts Cannon in the chest. Cannon goes up and over in the corner and side-steps a moonsault attempt. Cannon hits Total Anarchy for two. Cruz catches Cannon going up and over in the corner. He hits a Finlay Roll and a moonsault for two. Cannon hits Cruz with a backdrop driver and follows with a brainbuster for the win. Really good opening match, with two guys who know each other well putting on a great show. Cannon is one of the most underrated guys and doesn’t get enough credit. **3/4

Sweet Sixteen Tournament, Semi-Final Round
Pete Huge w/Allison Wonderland vs. Benjamin Sailer

Sailer brings Huge to the corner immediately and is forced to break. They lock up and Sailer brings Huge to the mat with a waist lock. Sailer cranks on Huge’s neck. Sailer grabs a headlock and brings Huge over. Huge turns into a headscissors. Sailer escapes. Huge knees Sailer in the gut and puts on a headlock. Sailer elbows Huge in the stomach and sends him to the ropes. Huge knocks Sailer down with a shoulder block. Sailer monkey flips huge and follows up with a dropkick. Huge throws Sailer to the floor and follows with a pescado to Sailer’s back. Sailer chops and forearms Huge on the floor and then sends Huge in the ring. Sailer slingshots back in with a knee drop. Sailer lands a jumping elbow for two. Allison Wonderland grabs Sailer’s leg, and huge hits a spinwheel kick to the back of Sailer’s head for two. Huge targets and attacks Sailer’s back. Huge lays in the kicks to Sailer before bringing him out of the corner with a slam. Sailer cartwheels out of an Irish Whip and slams Huge to the mat using Huge’s own momentum. Huge hits a back cracker on Sailer after floating out of a slam attempt, getting the two count. Sailer ducks a clothesline and takes Huge over with a suplex. He floats over into another suplex, and then another. Huge kicks out. Huge looks for the G-Spot, but Sailer slams him into the corner. Sailer places Huge up top and follows. Huge shoves Sailer off. Huge looks for a Tornado DDT but gets placed right back up top. Sailer hits a superplex. Allison puts Huge’s foot on the bottom rope to stop the count. Sailer and Wonderland get in an argument on the apron. Huge comes from behind and accidentally knocks Wonderland off the apron. Sailer hits the Chaos Theory on Huge for the pin! Another very good match in the tournament, with Sailer and Huge both having better nights than they did at Face/Off. **3/4

Rob James cuts a Rick Rude copy-cat promo talking about how he’s going to beat Lince Dorado.

Sweet Sixteen Tournament, Semi-Final Round
Rob James vs. Lince Dorado

Lince hops over James and lands a dropkick. He hits another and chops James. James pushes Lince down, and James side-steps a dropkick. James lays in punches to Lince and throws him to the ropes. Lince ducks two clotheslines and takes James down with a hurricanrana. James sends Lince to the corner. Lince boots James, hops off top, and moonsaults into an armdrag. Lince chops James on the ropes. Lince sends James to the floor with a rana. Lince looks to follow with a Lynxsault, but James trips Lince and his face hits the mat. James slaps Lince across the chest while he lays across the mat. James goes to the eyes. Back in the ring, Lince fights back with shots to James’ stomach. James gets popped-up and comes back down with a Thesz Press of sorts. James STO’s Lince and does push-ups while choking him. Lince eats a dropkick from James for two. James lays in some overhand chops to Lince in the corner. James snapmares Lince and follows with a thigh shot to Lince’s head. James nails Lince with a clothesline as Lince comes off the ropes. James steps on Lince’s face, but Lince comes up with a superkick. James and Lince trade forearms. James gives Lince a thumb to the eye. James lands a forearm in the corner, but goes to the floor when he misses a splash. Lince comes over the top with a sky-twister press onto James! Lince pins James in the ring for two. James sends Lince in the corner, and Lince kicks him out with both feet. Lince puts James in the Tree of Woe and lands a running baseball slide for two. Lince comes off the ropes with a springboard plancha. James catches Lince on his shoulders and drills him with a brainbuster on the knee for two. James slams Lince and signals for the buns of steel. Lince escapes, and lands on his feet when James moves out of the Lynxsault. Lince hits the Spanish Fly for two. James hits a backbreaker and then spikes Lince on his head for two. James places Lince up top and follows. Lince headbutts James to the mat. Lince follows with the Shooting Star Press for the three count. A very good match with both guys looking very good. James is good, but I am tired of the muscular work-out gimmick. However, that aside, this was good stuff. ***

Officer Rob Justice vs. Yellow Dog

Justice shoots Dog with a fake gun and pins Dog for two. Dog puts his chew toy in his match. Justice tries to remove it and Dog won’t let go. Justice falls to the mat and Dog gets a headlock when he gets back to his feet. Justice reverses and then frisks Dog on the ropes. A bag of dog food was found on Dog. Justice rolls-up Dog for two, and Dog responds with a dropkick and then pretends to wiz on Justice. Justice brings in some newspaper and lays it in the ring. Justice shows Dog how to do it, and Dog double stomps Justice. Justice goes to the floor and Yellow Dog pescado’s onto him. Dog puts Justice back in the ring and follows. Justice uses the referee to avoid a splash. Justice plants Dog face first into the second turnbuckle. Justice hits a back elbow and a bulldog. Justice chokes Dog with his hand then on the ropes. Justice lays in some punches in the corner. Justice lands a back elbow and then applies a headlock. Dog escapes and hits the ropes. Justice hits the Boss Man slam. Justice winds up his arm. Dog ducks a clothesline and hits a series of forearms. Justice side-steps a crossbody and hits Dog with a clothesline for two. Justice drops a leg for a two. Justice hits a sidewalk slam and drops a knee on Dog’s ribs. Dog floats out of a back suplex and sends Justice chest first to the corner. Dog brings Justice over with an STO. Dog lands a polish hammer and a Dusty elbow. Dog hits a bulldog for two. Dog goes up and gets crotched by Justice. Justice brings Dog off the top rope with a stunner and Dog somehow kicks out. Dog nails Justice with the Pounce and then goes up top. Dog hits a frog splash for the pin. This was fine, even though I didn’t care for a lot of the opening comedy stuff. The stunner from Justice was the highlight and should’ve been the finish, but the fans wanted Dog to win so who am I to say? *1/2

Mike talks about his upcoming match with Claudio, and how Ophidian did a number on his arm last night. Claudio and Quack always have great matches, so I bet this will be the same.

Sweet Sixteen Tournament, Semi-Final Round
Mike Quackenbush vs. Claudio Castagnoli

Claudio pushes Quack on the mat, stomps on his head, then drops a series of elbows for two. Claudio cranks on Quack’s neck. Claudio shoulders Quack in the chest and stomps away on his mid-section in the corner. Claudio elbows Quack in the face. Quack hits the corner and catches Claudio with a boot. Quack dives over Claudio, rolls onto his shoulders, and armdrags him down. Quack sunsets Claudio for two, and Claudio clotheslines Quack for two. Claudio lays his elbow into Quack’s head. Claudio takes Quack down with a gut-wrench suplex for two. Claudio leg drops Quack for two. Quack pops onto Claudio’s shoulders, and escapes a slam with an armdrag. Quack victory rolls Claudio for two. Claudio drills Quack with the Sweet Schwinn Music for two. Claudio applies a headlock with Quack’s own arm across his throat as well. Quack uses a Johnny Saint reversal, but Quack throws Quack head first to the mat. Claudio works on the mid-section and back of Quack. Quack gets to his feet and gets thrown right back down by Claudio. Quack monkey flips onto Claudio’s shoulders and arm drags him again. Claudio is caught in a reverse wheelbarrow, and is popped up. Quack sends Claudio the mat with an armdrag. Quack comes out of the ring and is popped onto the apron. Claudio trips Quack so that his face hits the apron. Claudio brings Quack back in the ring. Claudio throws Quack to the corner. Quack comes out with a cartwheel arm drag. Quack blocks a whip by sitting down. Claudio stomps on Quack’s bad arm. Claudio brings Quack’s arm to the ring post, and slams it against the post. Claudio traps Quack’s arm in the ring skirt and slams a steel chair against it. Claudio pins Quack for two. Claudio continues to target the arm in the ring. Quack fights back with a series of chops. Claudio hits the ropes, and Quack uses his feet to flip Claudio to the floor. Quack uses one arm to get to the apron. He hopes off the corner with a moonsault to the floor. Quack lays in some chops to Claudio in the ring which seem uneffective. Claudio catches Quack in an abdominal stretch. Quack reverses and then backslides Claudio for tow. Quack takes over Claudio with a spike hurricanrana for two. Claudio spins out Quack into a back breaker. Claudio misses a dive, driving his shoulder into the ring post. Quack spins around into an armbar! Claudio escapes and elbows Quack. He springboards into a European uppercut. Claudio climbs the ropes and lands the Sweet Schwinn Music. Claudio lands the Ricola Bomb for the victory. As usual, a great match between these two. The story of Quack’s arm from night one carried over very well into this match, and Claudio called back to his own match from last night as well. Thumbs up to both guys. ***1/2

The Osirian Portal (Amasis & Ophidian) vs. Nate Bash and Darin Corbin

Ophidian and Bash start. They switch waist locks and Ophidian gets a front chancery. Bash turns it into a hammerlock. They exchange wrist locks. Ophidian grabs Bash’s leg and locks it on the mat. Bash brings it back to their feet with a headlock. Ophidian rams his shoulder into Bash’s mid-section in the corner. Ophidian comes off the ropes and Bash takes Ophidian over with a Japanese armdrag. Amasis and Corbin tag in. “Beat It” by Michael Jackson hits and Amasis and Corbin imitate the knife fight from the Beat It music video with knife-edge chops instead. Bash and Ophidian come in, and all recreate the infamous dance from the video. They all end with quadruple dropkicks and receive a standing ovation from the crowd. The Portal get hip tossed by Cruz and Bash. Ophidian hits the ropes and Bash and Corbin take him down with a double hip toss. Amasis gets the Shell Shock. Bash hits a pescado on Ophidian on the floor. Corbin airplane spins Amasis. Bash comes in and pins Amasis for two. Bash suplexes Amasis for two. Corbin tags in, and Ophidian attacks Bash and cuts off Corbin in the corner. The Portal charm Corbin and take him down from the top with the Pyramid suplex. The Portal isolate Corbin and bully him in their corner. Amasis taunts Bash, and Corbin rolls through the Portal and gets the tag. Bash comes in with double clotheslines to the Portal. He takes on both men, whipping Ophidian to the corner. Ophidian floats over and looks to charm Bash. Corbin comes off the top with a double stomp to Ophidian. Bash hits Amasis with a snapmare driver for two. Bash hits a jawbreaker on Amasis, then Corbin hits an assisted spike DDT on Amasis for two when Ophidian breaks it up. Ophidian sends Corbin to the floor. Ophidian slips out with a headscissors to Corbin to the floor. Ophidian comes off the top rope with double knees to Bash. Amasis follows with a 450 splash, and Corbin breaks the count. The Portal take out Cruz with a Total Elimination variant, and then a double forward roll slam for two. Bash sends Ophidian outside and hits a Michinoku driver on Amasis. Ophidian breaks up the pin and hits a leg-capture urinage on Bash. Ophidian springboards into a cutter from Corbin, and Amasis breaks up the count. Corbin places Amasis on the second rope crotch first. Bash comes off the top with a stomp onto Ophidian while Corbin rolls under him and hits a back cracker on Amasis. Corbin sets up Bash for the Cruz Control. Amasis spears Corbin to stop them. Amasis suplexes Bash. Both members of the Portal climb up top on opposite sides of the ring. They hit the Osirian Sacrament on Bash for the win. Decent tag match, but had way too many sloppy moments. I’ve seen much better from everyone involved. **

STIGMA vs. Horace the Psychopath

The fans chant boring before anything even happens. Horace asks STIGMA to come to the floor, and STIGMA obliges. STIGMA gets clotheslined down. Horace and STIGMA trade strikes. STIGMA gets the upper hand on the strikes, but Horace tosses STIGMA into the wall and follows with a high knee. Horace grabs a steel chair and runs it into STIGMA’s ribs. Horace headbutts STIGMA and hits a high knee with STIGMA lying against the ring post. Horace boots STIGMA in the head and tosses STIGMA back in the ring. Horace comes in and picks his nose, rubbing his finger on the top turnbuckle. Horace and STIGMA trade headbutts and forearms (respectively). STIGMA lands the Control Seven for two. He delivers shots to Horace in the corner. Horace sends him across and hits a high knee. STIGMA sends Horace across and lands a forearm. STIGMA lands the facewash on Horace. Horace and STIGMA go back to the floor. STIGMA beats on Horace around the building, chopping Horace as he is sitting in a chair. STIGMA whips Horace into the wall and hits a knife-edge chop. STIGMA throws Horace back in the ring. STIGMA hits some forearms and then a DDT. STIGMA unloads chops in the corner. He snapmares Horace and lands a chop on his back. STIGMA lays more forearms and Horace fires up. Horace fights back with some punches. STIGMA whips Horace to the ropes, and Horace catches him with a DDT. Horace hits a glancing superkick, and then a rolling lariat. Horace lands a piledriver and STIGMA kicks out. Horace hits a reverse DDT and misses a flipping senton. STIGMA lands a leg drop of sorts for two. STIGMA lands more shots in the corner on Horace. STIGMA gives Horace a german suplex. Horace reverses an Irish whip into a front guillotine choke for the win. The brawling stuff was good, but the rest was just not very interesting. There really isn’t a whole lot to say. *1/2

Claudio cuts an awesome promo before the match. I think he’s awesome on promos, and no one is talking about them.

Sweet Sixteen Tournament Finals; Elimination Match
Arik Cannon vs. Benjamin Sailer vs. Lince Dorado vs. Claudio Castagnoli

Claudio blasts Cannon with the Sweet Schwinn Music to start and pins him for two. Claudio works over Cannon’s back then rams him face first in the corner. Claudio runs his knee into Cannon’s gut and chokes him. Claudio tosses Cannon into another corner. Claudio kicks at Cannon’s head on the mat. Cannon looks to fight up with strikes to Claudio’s mid-section. Cannon floats over Claudio, and Sailer blind tags in. Sailer comes off top with a dropkick to Claudio. Sailer lands a leg stunner and tries the Cloverleaf. Castagnoli kicks him away and tags in Lince. Sailer shoots Lince off the ropes, and Lince springboards off with a headbutt. Lince and Sailer go back and forth with some Lucha rolls. Claudio double clotheslines Lince and Sailer. Cannon comes in and trades shots with Claudio. Cannon lands a swinging neck breaker for two. Cannon lands a forearm and chops on Claudio. Cannon cranks Claudio’s arm. Claudio responds with shots to Cannon’s face. Claudio boots Cannon in the face. Cannon hands Claudio on the ropes and dropkicks him in the back. Sailer backdrops Cannon and lands a moonsault. Claudio gut wrenches Sailer with a suplex. Lince cascades up Claudio and takes Claudio to the floor with a rana. Lince comes off with a springboard cancun tornado splash. Sailer and Cannon exchange strikes. Sailer blocks a neck breaker and kicks Cannon in is shoulder blades. Sailer German suplexes Cannon with a bridge. Lince comes off the top rope with a Shooting Star Press to pin and eliminate Benjamin Sailer.

Lince gives Cannon over hand chops in the corner. Cannon rocks Lince with a lariat and then a brainbuster. Lince kicks out. Lince evades the Glimmering Warlock and superkicks Cannon. Claudio comes in and hits the pop-up European uppercut on Lince. Cannon rolls up Claudio for two. Cannon ducks the bicycle kick and looks for the brainbuster. Claudio nails Cannon with an uppercut then hits the Sweet Schwinn Music. Claudio hits Cannon with the Ricola Bomb to eliminate Cannon.

Claudio pins Lince for two. Lince victory rolls Claudio for two. Lince déjà vu’s Claudio, but Claudio slams Lince face first into the mat for two. Claudio lariats Lince for two. Claudio lifts Lince for the U.F.O. and Lince comes off his shoulders. Lince is popped up and flips into a headscissors take down. He lands a reverse Frankensteiner, kicks Claudio in the face, then lands the Lynxsault for two. Lince goes up top. Claudio cuts him off and comes up top. Claudio tosses Lince off top with a gut-wrench suplex for two. Claudio spins Lince in the U.F.O. and drops Lince for two. Claudio whips Lince to the ropes. Lince hops off Claudio’s shoulders, lands a superkick, then a headscissors into a spike DDT. Lince goes up top and hits the Shooting Star Press for two! Claudio hits an elbow as Lince comes in the corner. Claudio roars out of the corner with a European uppercut for two. Claudio tosses Lince with a one-armed powerbomb for two. Lince lands a chin breaker and hits the ropes. Lince hops off Claudio’s shoulder, flips, and Claudio catches him with an uppercut! Lince rolls to the floor, but Claudio places him back in. Claudio pins Lince for two. Claudio heads up top where Lince dropkicks him. Lince goes up top. He tries a rana which Claudio catches. Claudio tries a Super Ricola Bomb, but Lince flips into the rana. Claudio pops right up and hits Sweet Schwinn Music. Claudio looks for the Ricola Bomb, and Lince flips into a Yoshi Tonic for the pin! Lince Dorado is the winner of the first ever F1RST Wrestling Sweet Sixteen Tournament. That was a hell of a finals, even it was only about ten minutes long. Lince and Claudio had an awesome back and forth exchange, and Sailer and Cannon were great as well. The finishing sequence was really cool and added a lot to the match. ***1/2

Overall: This show was a mixed bag. All the tournament matches were good and fun, which is a positive considering the tournament is the reason why you buy this DVD. The bad news is that the non-tournament matches were certainly nothing great and easy to skip. Still, I’d recommend this. It’s certainly worth your time if you’re a CHIKARA fan and you’ve never seen F1RST Wrestling.