Tommy Dreamer celebrated its 50th birthday. His gift was to compete against Rich Swann for the Impact World Championship in the main event of No surrenderWin or lose, Dreamer’s goal was to give fans one last great moment to remember him. That mission was accomplished.
Dreamer was full of tears. His mind was still sharp, but he knew his body didn’t have much left to give.
During the introductions, Dreamer solemnly immersed himself in the magnitude of possibly his last shot at a world title. Swann offered a handshake out of respect before they fought tooth and nail for 15 minutes.
Dreamer opened by muscling Swann in the corner. Legend backed out for a clean break. The two competitors exchanged their grip on the mat, and Dreamer had to grab the ropes for a break. The next step was the dance of well-scouted maneuvers. Both men struggled to deliver a hefty blow early on.
Dreamer was the first to take the lead when he caught a jumping Swann for a fallacy. Swann rolled out of the ring, so Dreamer followed with a sliding drop kick. Dreamer tried to take a cannonball off the platform, but landed flat on his back after Swann escaped. The champion stole that move to land right on Dreamer.
Dreamer was kicked to counter with a DVD on the floor. The blow caused Dreamer to dislocate his finger.
Dreamer swept the doctor past ringside from ending all championship ambitions. Dreamer took it upon himself to drop his finger back into place and continue the fight. He was in it to win it.
At first, I couldn’t tell if the finger injury was legit or not. As the drama played it, I suspect it was all part of the plan. It was effective in demonstrating Dreamer’s heart and intestinal strength.
Swann focused his attack on stomping Dreamer’s hand to get a head start, while Dreamer aimed at Swann’s knee to slow the speedster down. The dreamer hit a reverse DDT and then applied a Texas Cloverleaf. After exchanging heavy forearm blows, Dreamer took on Swann to tumble through the ropes and fall to the ground.
Dreamer lifted Swann up on concrete for a piledriver, but Swann swung his feet to kick Dreamer in the eye. Swann escaped to bounce back for a handcutter.
Back in the ring, Dreamer catapulted Swann into the turnbuckles. Swann landed safely and jumped back for a flying attack. The dreamer anticipated the movement and had a knife at the ready.
Whenever Swann thought Dreamer was toast, the veteran had even more gas in the tank to pull out a surprise counter. Swann was able to lock Saturn’s rings, but Dreamer got up to hit a DVD.
Swann showed his champion spirit to continue the fight. He squeezed Dreamer’s fingers like an opening to set up several flights of stairs. Low to the knee, high to the head and straight to the face. Swann even did a back kick. Swann completed Dreamer with a Phoenix splash for the 1, 2, 3.
Swann showed respect by helping Dreamer off the mat. Dreamer presented the Impact belt to the champion with credit. It was an appropriate time given the battle they have just been through. Too bad it was promptly screwed up by Moose.
Impact management ensured that the main event would not be destroyed by threatening Moose with a suspension if he interfered. That policy did not apply to Moose who attacked after the bell. And he did. Moose hit both men with uranage slams. He also struck Dreamer with a spear and hit Swann’s knee with a chair.
Those cases with Moose will have to be dealt with on a different day. For now, we can celebrate Dreamer’s amazing performance on its 50th birthday. The match went well for him to star in one last shot at glory. This was a performance that Dreamer fans will enjoy.
It wouldn’t be right to celebrate Dreamer without a few words from his rival Raven in a funny post.
Did this fight live up to your expectations for Tommy Dreamer? What would you like to see next in his career?