The emotions ran high in the Impact Arena as it has been two weeks since anyone has seen former IZW Champion “The Natural Born Leader” Johnny Z. This seems to be more than Kevin Morgan can handle. The normally formidable “Image of Fear”, made his way to the ring and pleaded for his savior to return to him. He begged, apologized and even sang verses from The Beatles’ “Yesterday” before his prayers were answered and the unmistakable music of Johnny Z rang through the Impact Arena. As Morgan bowed toward the entrance way, ready to embrace the return of the leader of Impact Elite, his moment of joy was cut short as Damon Windsor stepped through the curtain laughing hysterically. Windsor had played a bit of an early April Fools joke on Morgan and went on to make fun of Morgan’s emotional state, which did not set well with The Image of Fear. Morgan challenged Windsor to a match which “Big Business” quickly accepted and our impromptu opening contest was underway.

 

  Morgan’s emotion poured out of him in the form of hammering blows as he wailed away at a cornered Windsor. Big Business fired back, landing some haymakers of his own before forcing Morgan over the top rope to the arena floor. The intensity of this fight went up another notch as the two men used every part of the ring of the ring and surrounding area as weapons against one another. Morgan was able to gain the advantage bouncing Windsor’s skull off of the steel ring steps. He then took the fight back into the ring where Morgan delivered more and more punishment to the man who made light of his pain. Even while in control however, Morgan still seemed a bit lost in his actions without the focused leadership of the Johnny Z. Windsor battled back, using Morgan’s lack of focus and his own moment against him. Windsor got The Image of Fear rocking and reeling and scored with a Big Time Slam but only got a two-count. Windsor scaled the ropes, looking to put an end to this grueling fight. But Morgan shoved Windsor’s legs out from under him, sending Big Business crashing down onto the rope. As Windsor tried again to reach his feet, Morgan was waiting with The Moment of Fear which put Windsor down for the three count. Windsor’s actions may have turned Morgan’s anguish into anger which spells trouble for anyone near The image of Fear.

 

IZW Co-Commissioner Shawn McHale felt like seeing a preview of the Impact Player of the Year Tournament and decided that he would showcase the talents of some of the men in that tournament in singles matches. The first of those matches would be CopyCat, considered by many to be the favorite in the Impact Player of the Year Tournament, taking on a man who felt slighted that he wasn’t included in the tournament, Roberto Camacho.

 

After mocking the dance moves of the Sexy Camachos, Copycat used his speed and technical prowess to gain an early advantage on Roberto.  However, a little bit of interference from Roberto’s cousin Vinny was enough for Roberto to swing things into his favor. Camacho used his size to keep the pressure on the smaller Copycat, despite repeat flurries from “The Forgotten Champion”.  Copycat was far from done though as he fired back with right hands and, in an unbelievable showing of strength, lifted the massive Camacho up on his shoulders and hit a huge steam roller. But Copycat used so much energy executing the move he was unable to make a timely cover and Camacho kicked out at two. Copy continued the onslaught until Roberto put the brakes on Copycat’s momentum and hit a giant belly-to-belly suplex. Feeling that the end was close at hand, Roberto climbed to the second rope and proceeded to put on a show, pulling down his singlet straps and gyrating before jumping off to squash his victim below. Copycat’s quickness was his salvation though as he rolled out of the way. Seeing his opening,  Copycat turned up the pace on the larger Camacho, dropping both Roberto and Vinny with an explosion of offense before hitting Roberto with the Face-Mob Knee Drop and his patented Doppelganger to secure the victory. Roberto was certainly not any happier after this match but Copycat left with enormous momentum heading into the first round of the Impact Player of the Year Tournament.

 

On the latest episode of Jordan Jacobs’ “Lights Out Lounge” Jacobs brought out his 2013 Impact Player of the Year trophy. The very trophy he used to gain an IZW Tag Team Championship match last year. He was successful in that effort and the single moment of winning the Impact Player of the Year Tournament changed his entire momentum and propelled him into the spotlight for the majority of the year. Jacobs reminded everyone that, as good as 2013 was, we were now in Two-Thousand-and-Jordan Jacobs. This would an even better year than the previous as he would become the very first ever back-to-back Impact Player of the Year. Many could speculate that, even though he held the tag team titles for a large part of the last calendar year that, in a win-loss capacity, it was one of the most lack-luster years of Jacobs’ career. Whether the Impact Player of the Year Tournament really is Jordan’s signature event or it’s over-confidence to compensate for recent short-comings, one thing is for sure: his performance in this tournament could be make-or-break for Jordan Jacobs.

 

In the second of Shawn Mchale’s preview matches, Vinny Camacho would test his hand in the unfamiliar territory of singles action. Equally new to singles competition would be his opponent and fellow Impact Player of the Year Tournament entry and one-half of the KC Wolves Luke Langley.  Langley kiddingly jabbed at his partner Graham Belle backstage before the match that he would one-up Belle in the tournament but he was doing no joking in the ring as he needed to prove himself as a competitor to be taken seriously in the upcoming tournament. Shawn McHale called this match a Litmus test for these two men as they are both, thus far, unproven singles commodities and that this would show us who would be ready mentally and physically for their chance to shine in the Impact Player of the Year Tournament. Langley showed incredible skill and speed in the early going but Vinny Camacho had Langley well scouted and showed great counter-wrestling skills. It became obvious that Vinny, much like his cousins, emphasizes style as much as, if not more than action in the ring as each time Camacho got the upper hand he would take time to show off his unique dancing skills to the IZW World. He quickly realized that Langley was not one to be taken lightly though as the deadly strikes of the KC Wolf found their mark. Camacho turned the tide and was visibly out to make his mark in IZW as he did an incredible job of withstanding the fast-paced offense of Langley and grounding him to retain control of the match-up.  The lack of a partner seemed to be a hindrance for Luke as his lightning quick movements sapped his strength and, without a partner to tag out to, he struggled to get his second wind. Reaching way down, Langley was able to reverse a cross-armbreaker into a powerbomb.  This gave Luke the separation he needed to get his momentum back. He amped up the action and planted Vinny for close two-count. As he hoisted Camacho up on his shoulders, Langley caught sight of Roberto getting on the apron and intercepted him in the form of a boot to the face. Seizing the moment of distraction, Vinny rolled up Langley and scored a big pinfall for his young career.

 

In our main event, IZW Champion Double D took on “The Old School Sucka” Randy Price. Price was in a particularly foul mood in this high-profile match. Price repeated jawed with the crowd, which was in firm support of the “Captain of the Force”.  Double D got the best of Price in some early exchanges which only further infuriated Price.  After evading a plancha to the outside, Price yanked D’s footing from underneath him and D came crashing down ribs-first onto the steel apron. Randy Price had found his point of attack. Price drove repeated fists and elbows into the mid-section of the IZW Champion knowing that if Double D can’t properly breathe, he can’t properly fight.  In harmony with the weakened ribs, Price also launched an attack on the throat of Double D, further incapacitating D’s ability to breathe. While admirable, Double D hasn’t taken any time off after winning the IZW Championship in his hour-long effort in the Impact Chamber and the residual effects were visibly taking their toll on the Captain of the Force.  D’s normal offense was cut off at every pass by the wily Price who had clearly done his homework and was executing a well-laid gameplan. The Force continued to cheer on their captain and D was able to counter Randy’s aggression and land nine vicious knife-edge chops in the corner before looking to deliver his patented “Force Chop”. Randy ducked the Force Chop, though, and crotched Double D on the top rope to buy himself some time. Price drove Double D to the arena floor but D was able to beat the count and make it back in the ring before being counted out. Starting to show some frustration, Price drove his shoulder repeatedly into the ribs and back of the IZW Champion, who looked to be in dire straits at this point. Things went from bad to worse for D as Price locked in an abdominal stretch, a move specifically designed to exploit rib and midsection injuries. Always the resilient warrior, Double D fought back and escaped the submission situation and was able to hit his nine mountain climber knees in the corner and the running tenth knee directly to Price’s face. It looked like Price may have been knocked out but shot his shoulder off the mat just before D could score the three-count. Price wouldn’t be denied though and put D right back into another painful submission hold. The IZW Champion fed off the crowd in the Impact Arena and broke free yet again. D attempted his springboard sidekick but was caught with a stiff kick to the gut as Price lifted D up for Piledriver 1-2-3 but D slipped out and landed a wild desperation knee to Price’s jaw. Seeing what may be his final opportunity at victory, D leaped to the top rope and launched himself off and connected full force with a high cross-body to get the win. This was one of the hardest-fought victories of D’s career. He was absolutely spent when the match was over.  The ramifications of the impact Chamber are still being seen and felt.  And the next would be felt immediately. Just when Double D thought his night was over “The Image of Fear” Kevin Morgan attacked the champion from behind. Screaming at D as he clubbed and kneed D’s already injured ribs, Morgan’s eyes told the story. He had gone from a lost follower to a desperate and crazed lunatic. Morgan lifted D high into the air and drove him into the mat with the Moment of Fear.

 

The loss of Johnny Z’s controlling presence may have unleashed a more frightening side of Kevin Morgan than we’ve ever seen before. A man with the destructive capability of Kevin Morgan pushed to his breaking point is most definitely something any and every one on the IZW roster should fear.