A Decision Overturned Causes a Tremendous Ladder Match for the Heavyweight Championship

 

 

 After the biggest win of his career at Evolution against Johnny Z in the steel cage, Double D followed it with what was possibly an even bigger win at Redemption, pinning Jermaine Johnson for the Heavyweight Championship. A week after Redemption, Johnny Z attempted to begin the show with an announcement that he had promised. He came out to invite Double D to the ring, to congratulate him on his Championship win and to announce his first title defense. But he was then interrupted by his brother Jeff Wolfenbarger and Jermaine Johnson. Jeff, a lawyer, had done his homework regarding Double D’s victory over Jermaine Johnson. Jeff presented paperwork stating that because Johnny Z interfered in the match by booting Johnson in the face, Double D’s victory never occurred and he was never Heavyweight Champion. The disappointed crowd looked on as Johnson grabbed the Championship belt from Double D, officially never having stopped being the Champion. Double D, though still the Impact Division Champion, looked devastated. Johnny said that there was nothing he could do about the decision but he could make a rematch for the main event – a ladder match for the Heavyweight Championship.

 

 The first match of the evening was a triple threat for number one contendership to the Impact Division Championship, featuring Dustin Heritage, the “Oklahoma Anaconda” Jordan Jacobs and the “Awesome One” Kevin Morgan. The tension between Morgan and Jacobs was still present but Heritage was not to be overlooked. All three men battled it out – the end came when Jacobs hit Heritage with the bicycle kick before Morgan grabbed Jacobs and threw him out. Morgan then hit Heritage with the one-handed spinebuster for the win. In an interview later on, the “Awesome One” said that he would surely be the next Impact Division Champion. As number one contender, he will definitely be hard to stop.

 

The next match was for the IZW Tag Team Championships as the Big Guns (Bernie D and Gary Tool) had their first defense against “Mr. Money” Randy Price and “Mr. Saturday Night” Michael Barry. Price was able to defeat Aaron Neil at Redemption by underhanded means to become 2011 Impact Player of the Year and he was obviously still excited. The Big Guns were able to defeat the Impact, Inc. pair, but Price seemed to not even notice. After the match, Barry was venting in the back to Jermaine Johnson and Jeff Wolfenbarger about the loss when Price walked up with a bottle of champaign. He was excited and wanted to celebrate, which prompted Impact, Inc. to remind him about the loss that he had already forgotten. The group walked off frustrated while Price wondered why they didn’t want to celebrate, walking off to celebrate himself. After Aaron Neil lost to Price at Redemption, he also lost the guaranteed Championship shot he had won at Coronation. He came out and took out his frustrations on John O’Malley, defeating him. Later, Randy Price came out with his bottle of champaign to celebrate becoming the 2011 Impact Player of the Year. As he poured the champaign on himself, it got into his eyes and blinded him, which allowed Aaron Neil to come out while he couldn’t see. He hit the powerbomb/boston crab combo, then took a drink of the champaign and spit it into Price’s face. He then struck him in the head with the Impact Player trophy in retaliation for Price doing the same to him last week.

 

In the semi-main event, “The Widowmaker” Angel Williams faced off against “The Vulture” Kenny Campbell. Williams was able to get the victory and after the match he warned Wage that he was coming for him. Williams was not satisfied with Wage getting himself disqualified at Redemption and Williams wants to settle the score with Wage. The main event arrived with a buzz in the crowd as the Heavyweight Championship was hung above the ring. Double D and Jermaine Johnson went all out in their match, both fighting hungrily for the Heavyweight Championship. Both men disregarded their own safety with moves like Double D hitting a hurricanrana from the ladder to the ring, or Johnson hitting a sunset flip powerbomb off of the ladder. In the end, Double D was climbing the ladder with Johnson on the floor, almost to victory. But Johnson grabbed Erica prompting Double D to jump down and confront him. Johnson then threw Erica onto Double D. He caught her, but Johnson dropkicked them to the floor, allowing Johnson to climb the ladder and retain his Championship. Double D had gone to great lengths to try to walk away as the IZW Champion, but Johnson’s determination kept it from happening. What will happen for Double D now that he had a brief taste of Heavyweight gold? What direction will IZW take as it continues to near its first iPPV at the Danny Hodge Invitational?

 

 

 

-Jonathan B. Scott