Notes from Supercard 49: Ultimate Grand Prix IV (April 6): - NovaStarr completely obliterated the record for eliminations in the UGP Battle Royal. She finished with 23 in a match that looked like a gauntlet for a while. Nobody saw it coming. Disappointing that she didnt win the match, but the fact is, her UGP moment was in the bag. The Cult of Crow alternates who double-teamed her out of the battle: Shinnokxz & Zentile, will come out of this with much more intrigue. OF course, Zentile turned on Shinnokxz right at the end, so who knows how long their association will last. While the Annual UGP Battle Royal is considered an accolade unto itself, Rockey316 has come out of it looking like the logical Division 2 #1 contender. He also took the Punch-Out battle royal on the Pre-Show. foahchon & Jason_Voorhees got a big shot in the arm with their performances, as well. Good for foahchon, who had dropped away since splitting with his 2-time Duo Championship partner: Artanix. Hes well in the mix. Jason_Voorhees managed 1 elimination, but really cemented a rivalry with NovaStarr. Some good future match-up potential coming out of this. Of course, NovaStarr ruined a lot of peoples nights - not the least of which was Sekktor. His big return from -1up was kinda soiled. Surprising, as many thought it would be he and SubMan799 who wreaked havoc through double-teaming. - Genku had a nightmare run into UGP, including a +45 impact from The Kraken just days before the event. This left him looking like a sure loser going into the Iron Man Death Match. It should be pretty transparent that DigbyRigbys return and attempted ransom of the biggest show of the year was little more than a power grab for Genku. He hit him for a +MAX. Fair enough. It also echoed Ratts legendary UGP1 double play. This spot couldve gone to Zmoke, but most feel he simply isnt worthy of that level of acknowledgment. - Balancing the history of the ICWW fighters with their connection to The Great Arena is a tricky game. Obviously Rockey316 already tested that threshold. Statix was a slightly awkward return, given the apparent finality of his November loss, but with Shamrock going into the Hall of Fame and probably ready to retire, there was no better person to take him out. Their ICWW feud was stuff of legend. Lets just see how this goes. - With another high profile Cult of Crow/Service Krew match-up happening on the card, SubScorpTile & Onryo couldve been folded in for a 3-on-3. They were given an opportunity to have their moment and lived up to it. Competitive match, solid result. Both guys looked good. SubScorpTile lives up to his Secret Weapon claim. - MKR & blacksaibot had a very simple objective coming in. Along with Jerrod & Killswitch theyve been establishing themselves as the teams of 2014. Amazing how much the Duo Division has turned over since 2013. Competitive match, solid result. Tough to know where the titles are going, but these guys look like the future. - This years KFL has been a real breath of fresh air for some of the stagnant talent. jack4813 has been a project, and Nephrite has made his own luck. The KFL has done well to build these guys up. It was a natural that theyd be showcased at UGP. Looking forward to more fresh names coming out of this. A big return for Nephrite after a major fadeout in 2013. - Kinda sad to see the MKO Regime explode, but it was a nice UGP moment. Scott-Howell, CCShadow & DArqueBishop have a history of blow-ups. Things are quiet these days, so it was sort of a nice throwback to the classics. DAB will return to inactivity, but youve got to think Scott-Howell has the stats to springboard out of this win. - Marz, Violent`J, Oozaru & Banging have all had tremendous success as individuals, but now foursome better represents the ICWW Tag Team era. This was a great tribute and a very worthy UGP scale bout. Marz & Violent`J are both in the Hall of Fame and their undefeated streak of 12-0, with a 2012 Olympic Gold Medal, is a great reason why. Oozaru joined the HOF this year. It will be up to Banging to do something special in 2014. Great throwback match with a real sense of UGP spectacle. - LordSkarlet had a lot of steam when the grudge match with VenoMark was booked, but it feels like hes lost a bit of it. Original plans were that THIS would be the Iron Man Death Match, playing off VenoMarks recent gimmick of challenging fighters near death. (including a -1up to kororra). Good win for The Harbinger VenoMark whos put a lot of time in and hasnt always had an easy path. - The second three-way of the match was a real blockbuster! I think the plan here was to finally get a new Division 2 Champion, but Y2Knickxasawrrrr is simply proving to be a problem too big for any average challenger to solve. Ken & Jammer2Omega may have lost the match, but they got their UGP moment just the same. I hope one or both of them can get some gold. Theyre originals. More power to Y2K, though. The dual KFL & Div.2 Champ will be very strong heading into the upcoming Tower of Power! - Given their history, its kind of amazing DaMo & DeathScepter and Pink_Ranger & Ghostdragon havent had a UGP match before. This was almost a throwback to year one! If Kron & Porygonix had taken the Duo Division titles into UGP, The Service Krew would have been challenging. This turned out to be a bit of a UGP classic any way. D&D have got to get their names on the Duo title record at some point. Theyre primed to do it. Its just a matter of when. The Cult of Crow exit UGP with an opportunity to reset their focus and find a way to break through. - In a match that literally was a throwback to UGP1 -- Mimik got one last win against TonyTheTiger! TTT has been floating in space for the last few months. He probably came into this as the favourite, but Mimik was able to rise to the occasion. This will only fuel the fire that asks whether or not Mimik should retire. Weve never seen a HOF fighter continue their career, but Mimik certainly could! A solid match. Possibly underrated, squeezed between so many major match-ups. - The United sort of felt slightly sidelined by The Barons program that began January 1st. UGP4 showed that it was all worth it. The Barons were stripped of their special powers for the UGP match, but even in those conditions, nobody has beaten them! The United really cannot be undersold for this! It took every member of the team, but in the end, they beat the unbeatable! This is a really big deal and I think it needs to be acknowledged! The United arent just an undefeated unit -- theyre the slayers of The Barons! - Interesting to note m0s entered this match without the Untied moniker. This match kind of got swallowed up in the mix, but had a great build-up with m0s & CTRs on-going feud, and arguably felt like the dawning of the next contenders. CTR has been on fire and just seems to have a knack for performing in this big time matches. m0s was a sentimental favourite. A hard loss for m0s, who just hasnt been able to win the big one. - Another huge win for The Service Krew! The win against Kron & Porygonix last month was seen as a bit of an upset, but Baraka_MK & DECEPTION proved at UGP4 they are the real deal! A huge Duo Division Championship match and a huge win for these guys! Not a lot more you can say. It will be interesting to see who comes for the belts next. With Tower of Power opening things up, I get a sense Kron might try going solo again. Could be wrong. - There was a lot of doubt about Genkus challenge for an Iron Man Death Match. Ratt has set a standard in any match, let alone the enduro format. Genku put in a really good effort, making up a lot of ground two or three times during the match, but in the end, the extra time got him. 20 mins and it wouldve been a time limit draw. Last year, ElJobber effectively missed 6 months after his Iron Man loss to Ratt. The average -1up time is 1 month. Genku will miss an undetermined amount of time anywhere between. This will probably be tough. Genkus biggest weakness is probably wanting it all, having no finesse in his approach. He needs to look at this as a good thing. A comeback is inevitable. He can recharge. - Very big ask for the Undisputed Championship to follow such a huge Iron Man Death Match! The feud between The_Purple_Bunny & ElJobber (formerly the 2-Man Ratt Trap) was always viewed as a UGP4 match-up, but the way it came about really surprised. You almost got the sense this was just an excuse for ElJobber to get the title he lost in 2013 back. Instead, The_Purple_Bunny dominated to retain. Amazing that there were no title changes at UGP, but arguably the best result. If TPBs gonna lose the title, it might be nice to see somebody fresh. Who that will be is anyones guess. TPB has big obstacles ahead, though.
Posted on: Tue, 08 Apr 2014 06:40:10 +0000
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