Friday June 27, 2003
The Palace - Los Angeles, California
Attendance: 175 (150 paid)

Reported by Jamie Chevelle

Missy Daniels Interview

Everyone's favorite independent wrestling celebrity Missy Daniels came to the ring to start the show. She cut a short promo thanking the fans for coming out to the show and promised that EPIC would "rock the house." She said that they were still ironing out the details, but she was in talks with several indy stars and hoped to have them signed to contracts by the start of the first EPIC tour, which would be starting later this month. She then thanked the fans one more time and plugged the EPIC fansite (~!) before leaving the ring.

Opener

Shea London vs. Kristy Matthews

Both of the women in this match are former fitness models, so many people in attendance, myself included, expected this to be your standard t & a match. You can imagine our surprise when this turned out to be the best match of the night. The match started of with the two women exchanging a series of stiff martial arts kicks and strikes. When that ended in a stalemate, the women went to the mat and put on a technical wrestling clinic. London was in definite control of the match at the 7 minute mark when she went to the top. London was caught with a dropkick to the midsection as she came down that clearly knocked the wind out of her. Matthews scooped her off the mat and planted London with a spinning fisherman's buster to get the win.

Winner: Kristy Matthews by Pinfall at 7:43 (****)

Second Match

Damien Newcastle vs Danger Boy

Despite their differing styles, these two were able to put on a surprisingly enjoyable match. The match started with Newcastle over powering his much smaller opponent with an impressive variety of suplexes and slams. Danger Boy started to mount a comeback around the 3 minute mark, dazzling his opponent and the fans alike with a flurry of insane high risk manuevers. The finish came when Danger Boy attempted a springboard moonsault. Newcastle caught Boy in mid air and spiked him head first with a jumping tombstone piledriver. Both men recieved a standing ovation from the crowd as they made their way to the back.

Winner: Damien Newcastle by Pinfall at 8:47 (***1/2)

Main Event

Rick Stevens vs. Pete "The Sex Pistol" Sheridan

This match was a complete disaster, as Sheridan, who spent much of the night sitting with the fans, was very obviously drunk from all the free beer that was given to him by his adoring public.

At first, Stevens was unsure of how to handle the situation, standing back with a confused look on his face. Sheridan, however, showed no hesitation and lifted Stevens onto his back and began an airplane spin. Sheridan dropped Stevens after the 10th revolution, walked in a straight line to the nearest corner and proceeded to vomit all over one of the ringside photgraphers.

Sheridan wiped his mouth, walked back over to Stevens and whipped him into the corner. He charged in and attempted a monkey flip, but fell from the second turnbuckle, pulling Stevens down on top of him, which resulted in a two count.

Both men got up, but Stevens was promptly kicked in the groin and dropped straight back to the mat. Sheridan fell on top and went for the cover. When asked why he wasn't counting, the ref informed Sheridan that Stevens was lying on his stomach.

Sheridan got up, giggling like a school girl, and wandered aimlessly around the ring, allowing Stevens all the time in the world to recover. And recover he did.

Stevens charged across the ring and hit Sheridan with the meanest looking clothesline I've ever seen. Sheridan is almost literally turned inside out and Stevens wins by legit knock out. Another first for EPIC.

Winner: Rick Stevens by Knock Out at 2:34 (**)

Intermission

The ring announcer came out and said that The Unholy would be taking the stage in thirty minutes. In the meantime, there would be a meet and greet with the wrestlers where you could get autographs or have your picture taken with the EPIC star of your choice. There was also a raffle for free tickets to the next event.

Post Match Concert

The Unholy with special guest Pete Sheridan

Despite his loss a mere 45 minutes earlier in the night, a still slightly inebriated Sheridan made good on his promise and did in fact step on stage to sing with the band, something everyone in attendance would soon regret.

Sheridan mumbled his way through the first two songs and was well on his way to finishing a third when he was distracted by a teenaged crowd surfer. Taking an apparent fancy to her, Sheridan pulled the young girl into the ring, belched in her face, and began kissing her hard on the lips.

Security rushed in and tried to seperate the two, which led to a brawl that Sheridan amazingly came out on top of. Without skipping a beat, Sheridan was right back on his prey. The terrified young girl tried to run, but Sheridan grabbed the back of her shirt as she turned, ripping it clean from her body. This resulted in what was by far the biggest pop of the night.

At this point, something had to be done and Johnny Cesspool stepped in, freeing the soon to be therapy patient from her attacker's clutches. This resulted in a staredown and a brief exchange of words. Sheridan called Cesspool a no hit wonder and slapped him in the face. Another band member hit Sheridan from behind with his bass and before anyone realized what was happening, the building had exploded into a full blown riot.

The locker room emptied. The stands emptied. I think a few people even came in from off the streets to join in the fight. A handful of fans ended up spending the night in jail. A few more spent the night in intensive care with Sheridan and Cesspool.

Controversial ending aside, it was a strong first showing for the new promotion. I'm looking forward to attending the next live event.