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Looking at Cage of Pain 3: Stevens versus Strong
Cage of Pain 3 will feature the first singles match in Cage of Pain history, but this is a feud that has defined wrestling in the state of Florida and has spread all over the country. It is a battle of former FIP World Heavyweight Champions and former FIP Tag Team Champions, Erick Stevens and Roderick Strong.
Between November 2006, when Roderick Strong won the FIP Heavyweight Title from Bryan Danielson until Erick Stevens lost the FIP World Heavyweight Title to Go Shiozaki in August 2008; Strong and Stevens were the only people to hold the FIP World Heavyweight Title with each man holding the title twice.
In December 2008, Strong and Stevens decided to put their problems aside and combine their energies to win the FIP Tag Titles. Despite having their issues in the past, Strong and Stevens were able to defeat Kenny King and Jason Blade and successfully defend the titles until last October when they faced the British Lions in a Steel Cage Match. While it appeared that the team of Tommy Taylor and Chris Gray was on shaky ground, it was Strong and Stevens who would see their team disintegrate due to the jealousy of one man. That man ended up being Erick Stevens, who gave Strong a Doctor Bomb after Strong accidentally hit Stevens. Stevens left the cage to allow the British Lions to get the pin on Stevens.
Things escalated earlier this year when the FIP World Title was vacated and the Florida Rumble style match returned at Southern Stampede 2010. The final two men in the match would meet for the vacated title. Erick Stevens and Jon Moxley were in the ring waiting for Roderick Strong to enter the match as the final participant, but Stevens decided to eliminate himself before becoming Strong’s target. During the title match later that evening, Erick Stevens came out to distract Strong long enough to allow Moxley to win the FIP World Heavyweight Title.
They were supposed to be part of a Triple Threat Match for the title at last month’s show, but it was turned into a tag match where Strong teamed with Egotistico Fantastico to face Stevens and Moxley. After Moxley got pinned by Fantastico, Roderick Strong got on the mic and made the challenge to Erick Stevens to meet him in the Cage of Pain.
In addition to being a battle of former tag team partners, it is also a battle of former friends and between teacher and student. Roderick Strong is one of Erick Stevens’ trainers and has been around Stevens throughout his rise through the ranks of companies in Florida as well as national companies.
One of the first times that I saw these two men together in the ring was in a non-tournament match at the Jeff Peterson Memorial Cup in 2005 when Strong teamed with Sedrick Strong to face Stevens and Steve Madison (this match is available on Full Throttle Volume 2) in one of the best matches of entire Jeff Peterson Memorial Cup show that year.
The first time that Strong and Stevens met in an FIP ring was in March 2006 at Unstoppable 2006 when they were part of a Four Way Fray that also included Kory Chavis and the Canadian Cougar. They met for the first time in a singles match the following month at Unfinished Business 2006 with Strong getting the victory. Strong and Stevens were tag team partners with Seth Delay against the YRR on the first night of the Second Year Spectacular. They teamed again at Evening the Odds 2006 in the ten man elimination tag match. At the first Cage of Pain show, Stevens helped Strong to retain the FIP World Heavyweight Title by holding off the YRR from interfering in the match.
The only time that Strong and Stevens met in the ring in FIP in the year 2007, Erick Stevens beat Roderick Strong in the finals of the Battle of the Belts. At the end of the year, Stevens would get another victory over Strong, but this time it would mark the first time that Stevens won the FIP World Heavyweight Title. The first time that they would meet in an FIP ring in 2008, Strong would win back the FIP World Title at Redefined. At Dangerous Intentions, Strong retained the title in a Last Man Standing Match. At Hot Summer Nights 2008, Strong and Stevens would meet in a dog collar match that saw Stevens become a two time FIP World Heavyweight Champion. Also in 2008, Strong attacked Stevens and shaved off Stevens’ trademark mohawk at Supercard of Honor III.
Eventually Strong and Stevens decided that it would be best that they join forces and they started to work as a team and their first match together was at Melbourne Meltdown II at the end of 2008 when they defeated Sal Rinauro and Jason Blade to become the new FIP Tag Team Champions. They had their first title defense against the YRR in March 2009. They also successfully defended the titles against the British Lions in May and in August at Heatstroke 2009. Strong and Stevens teamed with Chris Jones against the British Lions and Rhett Titus at Hot Summer Nights 2009, but they lost the match. At Fallout 2009, Strong was attacked by Stevens and the team ended as well as their FIP Tag Title reign.
Strong and Stevens definitely has a long history in FIP and even though these men have been involved in Last Man Standing and Dog Collar matches, they have not faced anything like Cage of Pain. On Saturday night, Strong and Stevens cross the threshold into a structure that only eight other men have walked into. None has emerged without physical and psychological damage.
Looking Back at Cage of Pain 1 and 2
Cage of Pain 1: Heartbreak Express versus Black Market [December 15, 2006]
History
In 2005 and 2006, Black Market and the Heartbreak Express battled throughout the state of Florida and had many bloody battles, some of which involved the FIP Tag Titles. At the Second Year Spectacular after Black Market lost the FIP Tag Titles, Joey Machete suggested that the two teams meet in a match that will resolve their issues inside a steel cage with weapons. While the Heartbreak Express had the titles at the time the match was signed, they were not on the line at the time of Cage of Pain 1. The hatred that these two teams had was greater than any title that these two teams held. The crowd was clearly behind Black Market and wanted to see them destroy the Heartbreak Express.
The Match [from my Cage of Pain DVD Report]
Black Market defeats the Heartbreak Express in the Cage of Pain Match
The Heartbreak Express attack Black Market as they enter the cage and the carnage begins early in the match. The first team to feel the cage are the Heartbreak Express as they are sent into the non-wire side of the cage. Sean Davis is the first one to bleed in the match as Murphy and Machete run Sean’s face across the steel. Sean throws powder into Machete’s face to disorient him and then he hits Machete and Murphy with chairs. Phil uses the light tube first as he hits Murphy with it. We see Machete’s head being raked in the cage as he bleeds. Sean uses the barbed wire on Machete’s head. Machete hits Sean with a light tube and then he runs Sean’s head into the barbed wire. Lacey sees the carnage in the ring and she tries to climb the cage to help the Heartbreak Express, but Allison Danger comes out to pull Lacey off the cage and they fight to the back.
Sean hits Machete in the back with a chair while Murphy is tied in the corner with a chain. Murphy hits Sean and Phil repeatedly with a trash can and the Heartbreak Express go down. Phil tries to escape the cage but Machete hits Phil in the back with the light tube. Machete and Phil fight on the top rope while Murphy and Sean fight onto the mat. Murphy uses a piece of the light tube to carve Sean’s forehead. A table is set up in the ring and Machete pours the contents of the bag of thumbtacks onto the table and then Murphy power bombs Sean through the table for the three count.
After the match, we see Black Market celebrate in the ring and with the fans at ringside while the referee checks on the Heartbreak Express. We see Sean laid out on the broken table with the thumbtacks all over his body. We see more of the remnants of the light tubes used in the match.
Cage of Pain 2: Black Market and Heartbreak Express versus YRR [September 29, 2007]
History
After the dust had cleared from Cage of Pain, the Heartbreak Express had a change of heart. In early 2007, the Heartbreak Express wanted to show that they had changed and they wanted to show Black Market that they had earned their respect after Cage of Pain. While the Heartbreak Express were no longer hated by the fans, there was a group that took what the Heartbreak Express did and took it to a different level. That group was the YRR. The YRR was able to do something that many thought was impossible. They got Black Market and the Heartbreak Express to work together. During the rest of 2007 leading up to Cage of Pain 2, there were a number of matches involving combinations of the two groups that did a good job of building to the brutality that you were going to get in Cage of Pain.
The Match [from my Cage of Pain 2 DVD Report]
Sal Rinauro was the first man to enter the Cage of Pain for the YRR but he got on the mic before entering. Sal says that twenty years ago on July 4, 1987, a young man was flown first class to Atlanta to see the most brutal, death defying and hardcore match. That kid promised that he would never be involved in a match known as War Games. Black Market and the Heartbreak Express made that young man break his promise. They made him turn his back on his morals. Black Market and the Heartbreak Express have put him, Chasyn Rance, Kenny King, and Jason Blade in this situation. They have been wasting their lives for the last six months and have been burdened with bunkhouse brawls and street fights. Every time the YRR was successful. The Heartbreak Express and Black Market have been brought together by hatred. However, those two teams do not hate the YRR, they hate that they cannot be the YRR.
Match Number Seven: The Heartbreak Express of Sean and Phil Davis and Black Market of Joey Machete and Shawn Murphy defeated the YRR of Jason Blade, Sal Rinauro, Kenny King, and Chasyn Rance in Cage of Pain II
The first two men in the match were Sal Rinauro representing the YRR and Joey Machete of Black Market. Rinauro slaps Machete and then he tries to escape the cage but Machete pulls Sal off the cage. Machete takes a chair from the cage and throws it at Rinauro and Rinauro is bleeding. The next person to enter the Cage of Pain is Kenny King of the YRR. The light tubes get used by Machete when he hits King and Rinauro with them. King and Rinauro work over Machete as the next person enters the match and it is Sean Davis of the Heartbreak Express. Sean attacks King and Rinauro with clotheslines and then with a trash can lid. After King hits them with the trash can lid, Machete and Davis are bleeding. Rinauro uses the barbed wire on Sean’s forehead. The next man to enter the Cage of Pain is Jason Blade of the YRR. Blade is welcomed into the match with a light tube. Kenny King is the next person to use the barbed wire on Sean Davis. The next person to enter the match is Phil Davis of the Heartbreak Express. Phil brings a fire extinguisher into the ring and he sprays everyone in the ring with it. Sean Davis hits King with the fire extinguisher. Rinauro gets hit with another light tube by Machete. The final member of the YRR to enter the match is Chasyn Rance. Blade gets a chain and he chokes Sean Davis with it. King hits a drop kick into a chair held in front of Phil’s head. Rinauro goes to the top of the cage and he hits a double sledge on Machete. The final man to enter the match is Shawn Murphy of Black Market and the War Games begins.
All four members of the YRR go after Murphy but Murphy sends all of them into the cage. Phil grabs a piece of a light tube and he uses it on Rinauro. Machete grabs the trash can lid and hits everyone in the YRR with it. King hits Machete with a light tube. The YRR set up Shawn Murphy for a four man spike piledriver on Murphy but Machete breaks it up. All of the members of the YRR try to escape the cage but they are all hit with light tubes. Blade hangs on to the cage and he gets to the top where he battles with Phil Davis. Davis connects with a head butt and Blade falls off the cage and through a table set up on the floor. A table with light tubes on top is set up and Kenny King is sent through that table and King is pinned.
After the match, the Heartbreak Express and Black Market celebrate in the ring, but the lights go out and there are two flashes in the ring. When the lights go back on, the Heartbreak Express are standing over Black Market. The fans show their appreciation for the Heartbreak Express’ actions by showering the ring with bottles and other debris.
While Cage of Pain was the attraction for the fans on each show, the first two Cage of Pain shows had loaded undercards.
Cage of Pain also features Allison Danger versus Lacey; Delirious and Shingo versus Hallowicked and Gran Akuma; Bryan Danielson versus Davey Richards in a Number One Contenders Match; Austin Aries versus Erick Stevens; and Roderick Strong versus Steve Madison for the FIP Heavyweight Title. This DVD is available in the Store at http://fullimpactpro.com
Cage of Pain 2 also features The Minnesota Home Wrecking Crew (Lacey and Rain) versus Daizee Haze and Sara Del Rey; Erick Stevens versus Necro Butcher in an Anything Goes Match; Jack Evans, BxB Hulk, and Yamato versus Delirious, Hallowicked, and Jigsaw in a Dragon Gate Rules Match; and Roderick Strong versus Larry Sweeney for the FIP World Heavyweight Title. This DVD is available in the Store at http://fullimpactpro.com
