On RAW, the crowd made the difference for the show to be a winner, ultimately, which I suspect and hope will remain a tradition as the so-called “hardcore” smarks stick around for it. Will that many of them stick around for Smackdown? I’d like to think so… but this “thing” is still a new “thing.” Only one way to find out, and you know what that means. Into the back of the closet and into Narnia, kiddo, we’re hunting wabbits. Hopping time! (a.k.a. Beer will make this better).
SIN CARA/REY MYSTERIO VS RHODES SCHOLARS – Right off the bat, we get into the action. As Rey makes his way out, we’re told by Michael Cole that RAW GM AJ Lee has been called to an emergency meeting at WWE HQ. Sandow and Rhodes win when Sandow blocks the ref from a three count. Sandow and Cara spill outside while Cody hits the crossroads for the three.
It could just be me, but Cara looked like he was having an off night. The double teams from the masked men seemed awkward, and not as quick or crisp as you’d expect.
After the match, Team Hell No (Kane and Bryan) cut a promo on their new no. 1 contenders and Kane pulled Bryan behind him, grabbing him by the face, followed up by a pyro spot
We come back from break with a “Tout” by Zack Ryder about working the first ever WWE Egyptian tour. We get a look at pics and videos.
INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPION KOFI KINGSTON VS MICHAEL MIGILLICUTTY – The Miz joins the commentary team to scout Kofi; however Cole and J.R. put the focus on his match later tonight with Ryback, and the Egyptian tour. Kofi wins it with “Trouble in Paradise.”
We go to a recap of last Monday’s contract signing when Cena gave Ryback the title-shot at Hell in the Cell, and Ryback gave Punk the “shell-shock.”
Back from break and we get a shot of Super Bowl Champions the New York Giants before Cena comes out to “really NOT pro-Cena,” crowd. Cole reminds us to go to WWE.com and help the Susan G. Komen foundation fight breast cancer by buying special John Cena merchandise. (100 % goes to the charity.) He cuts a promo about Ryback and Punk at HitC, putting over Ryback as a no-nonsense ass-kicker, promising a Ryback win.
C.M. Punk comes out w/Paul Heyman. Punk calls Cena on his predictable pandering to the Giants, saying he prefers the San Francisco brand. Punk says he’s the best in the world and promises he will win at HitC. He compliments Cena on his new role as “cheerleader” for Ryback and credits Cena for realizing he can’t beat him. Cena responds by saying he’s clear to wrestle and challenges Punk to step up/in the ring. Punk walks all the way to the edge of the apron, Heyman begging him not to do it every step, and backs out with the belt.
We go to break with another mention of AJ Lee tweeting about her emergency meeting with WWE HQ.
U.S. CHAMPION ANTONIO CESARO VS JUSTIN GABRIEL – Cole mentions how Cesaro said no American can beat him, and how last week he disrespected the Sun Records building, Elvis, and Jerry Lee Lewis. End of the match is Gabriel and Cesaro on the top rope, trading hits until Cesaro falls, and Gabriel hits the 450 splash FOR THE WIN! Cole and J.R. sell this as a huge upset and suggest Gabriel might be getting a shot at the U.S. title.
Backstage; a limo rolls in and Vince McMahon himself gets out w/RAW GM A.J. Lee in tow. (It looks like a kidnapping.)
Back from break, Vince has AJ in the ring. Vince tells us about AJ being called in by the Board of Directors, and gives the mike to AJ. AJ officially resigns as GM based on false allegations of “fraternizing” with a WWE superstar. AJ gives an awesome speech about how grateful she is to the WWE for giving a poor girl who grew up with nothing a chance, and how she went from having nothing to being the boss. Vince gives her a hug.
Out comes Paul Heyman, ragging on AJ for being a “Jersey Girl,” and complimenting her back-handedly for overcoming he faults. He nominates himself as new GM and gets shot down by Vince. We are introduced to new WWE “managing supervisor,” Vicki Guerro.
What the hell is a “managing supervisor?”
After Vicki thanks the WWE for the opportunity, Heyman tries to work his charm on her, and tries to get Punk out of his match with Ryback. Vicki shoots him down and makes tonight’s Main Event a champion vs. champion, lumberjack match with Sheamus against C.M. Punk. Heyman walks off having a conniption while Vicki cuts a promo on AJ, calling her too “immature,” for a position of authority. Vicki tells the crowd she was accused of having an “affair” with a WWE superstar. Vicki tries to dismiss her, but after a few steps, AJ decides to go after her. After a quick cat-fight, Vicki bails, and we go to break.
So for the record, dating WWE talent is a no-no.
Marriage, that’s a whole different thing.
Back from break; with Ryback in the ring, followed by The Miz.
RYBACK VS THE MIZ – Do you expect me to end this in ANY OTHER WAY than clothesline, followed by Shellshock, Ryback gets the pin?
After the match, we get a promo of the WWE talking to kids about bullying as part of the “Be a Star” campaign AND I’M THE ONLY ONE WHOS GOING TO POINT OUT THE IRONY OF EVE TORRESS DOING THIS AIN’T I?
We come back from break with Eve backstage dogging AJ on her phone, implying AJ hooked up with Zack Ryder and Primo. Kaitlyn confronts her with a picture taken off her I-pad, and it breaks down into a brawl with Layla getting into it.
If I knew how, I’d post video of Peter Griffin going “WHO THE HELL CARES?” on constant loop.
After that, we go to a interview backstage with Josh Mathews and Sheamus, playing with a WWE brawling buddy. Big Show comes in, knocks it away, and warns Sheamus to get serious.
Daniel Bryan comes out to the ring as we go to break.
When we come back, we get a pop for WWE.com and a story about Cena getting a special award from the “Make a Wish,” foundation.
DOLPH ZIGGLER VS WWE TAG TEAM CHAMPION(S) DANIEL BRYAN – J.R. and Cole speculate about Vicki dropping Dolph and the future of RAW management while Ziggler and Bryan wrestle one of the best matches I’ve seen this year. There’s a LOT of high-spots and big-impact maneuvers, and a scary spot with Ziggler hitting the ring-post head first. Match ends with Kane (Bryan’s partner) distracting Bryan with a “YES!” chant and Ziggler hitting the Zig-Zag.
Side Note: CAN WE PLEASE JUST GET TO THE PART WHERE THEY LOSE THE TITLES AND FUED FOR A MONTH ALREADY?
After the match, Team Hell No argues until Matt Stryker comes out to announce that Kane and Bryan have been ordered by Vicki Guerro to compete in a “therapeutic game show,” against Rhodes Scholars.
They ain’t thrilled about it either.
After the break, we get a recap of AJ resigning, Vicki being made “managing supervisor,” and AJ going off on her ass.
Bryan and Kane are seated for “the Newly Tag” game, and act like they plan to play along. Damien Sandow and Cody Rhodes come out, crap all over the segment, and walk. Stryker declares them the winners by forfeit as Bryan has a win-gasim. Bryan and Kane look at Stryker with murderous intent. Stryker bails and from the safety of the stage, smiles villainously and makes it clear he can’t wish them luck in their match on Sunday. Big Show walks up behind him and tosses him across the stage like a bowling ball.
So anybody gonna explain to me what Stryker did to deserve this bitch-booking? Or whatever happened to that whole “no touching announcers,” rule?
Back from break, Kane and Big Show have a match in progress.
BIG SHOW VS WWE TAG TEAM CHAMPION(S) KANE – Slow back and forth brawl; with lots of punching and choking with a few high spots. Show wins with the big right hand after Rhodes Scholars comes out with the distraction and double team Bryan into unconsciousness.
Backstage; Santino tries to comfort AJ. Cena enters the picture and Santino walks. Cena tries to get AJ fight this, AJ reveals Cena was the one they accused her of “fraternizing” with, and she took the hit to protect him. Cena hugs AJ and promises to take care of this.
Back from break, Miz is Touting about Cairo Egypt, being awesome as part of the world tour.
Backstage: Cena confronts Vince about the decision to replace AJ with Vick – sort of. Apparently Vince has no say in how his own company is run.
ALBERTO DEL RIO VS ZACK RYDER – Okay, what is J.R.’s problem tonight? First he and Cole gripe about Roberto Rodriguez introducing Del Rio, then he says something about hearing people complaining about losing their “spot” for years, then he dumps on Ryder’s “internet champion” gimmick. Del Rio wins with the Arm-breaker, and then cuts a promo on Ryder as if he were Randy Orton while continuing to brutalize him. Del Rio mocks Orton’s posing.
Backstage; Vicki Guerro is cleaning out AJ’s office when Cena gets all up in her face, Vicki points out Cena asked her out on TV, and they were seen having dinner together. He claims it was a business dinner as friends. Vicki says it doesn’t matter; Cena is still the one who cost her, her job.
Back from break, we have an interview with Dolph Ziggler. He blames John Cena for the whole mess, and implies AJ should’ve had “better taste.”
We get a Ryback Video Package showing him destroy people and how much the crowd loves him.
Someone WILL have to explain this to me.
Backstage; Heyman tries to comfort C.M. Punk who’s upset about the lumberjack match with Sheamus. Heyman tries to keep his spirits up; reassuring him he will be Champion after this Sunday.
Back from break; we have a TON of WWE superstars around the ring and C.M. Punk in the ring. Sheamus is out next, and you can hear a faint C.M. Punk chant.
WWE CHAMPION C.M. PUNK VS WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION SHEAMUS – As Sheamus makes his way to the ring, Cole quotes a tweet from “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, wishing him luck. Early in the match, Sheamus is tossed out and the lumberjacks give him a huge berth. When Punk is tossed out a minute later, the “jacks” swarm him. We get a solid, if basic match that builds its pace slowly but gets the crowd into it. Two of the lumberjacks run into the ring and each eats a big boot from Sheamus. Sheamus goes for Punk but takes a chokeslam from Big Show allowing Punk to get the pin.
And no; I don’t know why Punk wasn’t DQ’d when the two guys ran in.
After the match, Ryback comes out to get a piece of Punk. Whenever Punk tries to run, the face lumberjacks toss him back to Ryback. Ryback tosses punk like a pizza and drops him on a bunch of heels. Punk whimpers in pain as Ryback stands tall.
We open with a recap of last Monday when AJ gave John Cena and Big Show both the title shot at C.M. Punk at Summerslam.
RAW GM AJ Lee is out first to give us a rundown of big matches she’s lined up tonight, including Randy Orton vs. The Big Show, and John Cena vs. Daniel Brian.
C.M. Punk comes out to apologize for yelling at her last week, saying everybody makes mistakes, like AJ did last week making the Summerslam match a three-way. Punk tries to weasel out of the match. When AJ refuses to change the card, Punk accuses her of trying to get back at him for turning down her marriage proposal.
John Cena comes out. He talks about how Punk has become one of those guys that demand respect instead of earning it. He mentions that he’s won 11 world titles and still has to fight for respect, and mentions how the odds are against him in a three way.
Side Note: Crowd could be 60% Cena.
Big Show heads for the ring. AJ puts the kibosh on the proceedings and suggests everyone save their aggression for their respective matches tonight. Punk demands that he get a match tonight as well. AJ agrees, but she’ll let the WWE universe pick Punk’s opponent via twitter vote.
#Mysterio
#Kane
#TheMiz
Later tonight, Triple H confronts Brock Lesnar
We come back from a commercial break; and Jerry Lawler announces Rey Mysterio as the winner on twitter.
WWE CHAMPION VS C.M. PUNK
It’s a relatively slow-paced, high-spot trade-off. It ends when Mysterio hits the 619 but lands a splash attempt on Punk’s knees. Punk hits the GTS.
WINNER: C.M. PUNK
Backstage: Alberto Del Rio and Roberto Rodriguez pull up in a Ferrari. Del Rio barks at RR to pull a table out of his way so he can park. ADR and RR leave the car unattended.
COMMERCIAL
Promo: Wade Barret is coming back.
Backstage: Alberto Del Rio and Ricardo Rodriguez kiss up to AJ. She agrees to give Alberto the night off; until he digs on Ricardo for saying she might do something crazy. The “c” word gets her riled up and she books Alberto in a match up next. Alberto yells at RR to get his gear.
Later tonight, HBK-the heartbreak kid-Shawn Michaels will make a special guest appearance tonight!
Christian is in the ring as RR introduces ADR; who is still dressing on his way to the ring. We recap the Sheamus/Del Rio feud, going back to Del Rio slamming a car hood on Sheamus’ head.
CHRISTIAN VS ALBERTO DEL RIO
Christian comes on strong and the match becomes a quick exchange of holds/escapes, and hard hits. Christian goes up top but the distraction from RR leaves him open to a shot to the head with a boot by Del Rio, who locks in the arm-breaker for the submission.
WINNER: ALBERTO DEL RIO
Up on the Titantron, Sheamus is with Del Rio’s super-expensive Ferrari. He says Alberto’s right about how Sheamus needs some class, so he’s going to class himself up, starting with his ride – actually Del Rio’s ride. It seems RR left the keys in the car after scrambling for Del Rio’s gear. Sheamus “borrows” the car and drives off while ADR loses his mind in the ring.
Big Show will face Randy Orton next.
BIG SHOW VS RANDY ORTON
The match falls into a simple pattern. Orton comes on strong but gets shut down by Show’s power. Show tries to ground Orton but Randy slips out. The match ends on the arena floor when Show spears Orton on the outside.
DOUBLE COUNT OUT: NO CONTEST
After the match, Orton sidesteps a WMD and scores an RKO on the Show.
COMMERCIAL
SUMMERSLAM PROMO
Tyler Recks and Curt Hawkins are in the ring. Ryback is introduced. As he comes to the ring, we get a picture-in-picture of Ryback referring to the WWE as his food supply.
TYLER RECKS/CURT HAWKINS VS RYBACK
Recks carries the match and actually has an impressive showing against Ryback, with Hawkins doing little more at first that providing distractions. Hawkins and Recks get in some nice looking double teaming, but the match ends with Ryback crushing Hawkins in the cradle-drop.
WINNER: RYBACK
COMMERCIAL
PRIME TIME PLAYERS VS PRIMO/EPICO
We come back w/both teams already in the ring. AW hypes up his team and they do the “millions of dollars” routine as the match starts. Epico drop-kicks Darien Young out of the ring, but Titus O’Neil takes over on Primo and the PTP double team him. Primo gets in some high-offense, but gets beat down some more. He finally tags in Epico, who comes in with high energy, and unloads on both PTP members. AW pulls his men out of this fight and tries to take a powder. Tag team champions R-Truth and Kofi Kingston cut them off. Mo/Co take the fight back in the ring and Primo hits the backstabber for the three count.
WINNERS: PRIMO/EPICO
We recap Damian Sandow getting martyred by DX and brutalizing Brodus Clay the following week.
Backstage: Josh Mathews interviews Sandow. Sandow is obligated to remove all foolishness from the WWE. He calls dancing wasteful and has chosen to take out Brodus Clay tonight.
We are welcome.
COMMERCIAL
Brodus comes out with the girls, but Sandow cuts the show short by clipping Clay’s leg from behind. The brawl spills to the floor, and Sandow continues to stomp the leg. Clay is hurt.
NO CONTEST
Backstage: AJ and Bryan are conversing. Bryan says when he beats Cena tonight AJ will have to make the main event at Summerslam a fatal-four way. AJ informs Bryan he’ll be facing Kane at Summerslam. This becomes a duel of chants. Brian says “NO!” AJ says “YES!” After a few fake outs, AJ wins and Brian storms off.
KELLY KELLY VS EVE
Apparently, this match is a penalty for Eve “touting” negatively about AJ. Eve tries to blow the match off, but KK goes right after her with an unusually vicious onslaught. KK unloads a flurry on Eve who bails outside for a breather, but KK goes right after her and pours it on. Eventually, Eve gets an opening by Pulling Kelly off the top rope and dropping her hard. Eve takes over with choking and chin locks, but Kelly rallies and gets the three count with a head scissors/roll up combo.
WINNER: KELLY KELLY
We recap Sheamus stealing Del Rio’s car before The Heartbreak Kid, Shawn Michaels makes his big guest spot. Shawn thanks the WWE universe for giving him a chance to be part of history with the 1000th show two weeks ago. Before Shawn can continue, Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman come out to interrupt. Heyman lectures on the differences between “entertaining” and “fighting.” Shawn tells Lesnar he made a mistake bringing Hunters’ family into it. Lesnar mentions how Shawn never fought him, and makes a move towards HBK. Triple H runs out and joins HBK in the ring. Lesnar backs off, promising to see Hunter at Summerslam, and HBK sooner than that.
We get ANOTHER recap of Sheamus swiping ADR’s car; followed by Sheamus sending a “Tout” from the car.
Chris Jericho is on commentary with the King and Cole. Vicki comes out to introduce Dolph Ziggler.
We get a recap of Ziggler and Jericho one upping each other over the past few weeks.
DOLPH ZIGGLER VS ALEX RILEY
Pretty basic match dominated by Ziggler. The story here is Ziggler is focusing more on Jericho than Riley. Jericho distracts Ziggler by getting up on the table and putting him on “Tout.” This gives Riley a chance to roll Ziggler up for three.
WINNER: ALEX RILEY
Sheamus gives us a “Tout” of him eating Mexican food in Del Rio’s car.
INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPION THE MIZ VS KANE
Match falls into a pattern pretty quickly. Kane pummels Miz, and Miz kicks Kane’s legs out from under him. In the end, Kane is too much for Miz. Choke-slam = three count.
WINNER: KANE
Backstage: Sheamus brings back the car covered in garbage/filth, and asks a crew member to park it.
Daniel Bryan makes his way down, going ape in response to the “YES!” chant, demanding people stop.
Backstage: Del Rio makes RR clean up the car.
COMMERCIAL
MAIN EVENT: JOHN CENA VS DANIEL BRIAN
The crowd gets going with “let’s go Cena/C.M. Punk,” chant. Bryan insists this is about him. He stalls for time by going out and yelling at the fans.
Back in the ring, Cena takes control quickly, but Bryan counters out. Most of the match is Bryan working the arm and hitting high-impact kicks. Cena is down and Bryan is all up in a fan’s face at the break.
COMMERCIAL
Bryan is still in control when we come back. Cena makes the Superman comeback and hits the five knuckle shuffle. Cena tries for an STF but Bryan counters. Bryan gets the face-lock/body scissors combo on Cena, but Cena powers out. The match ends after an exchange of holds leads to Cena hoisting Bryan up in the AA, for three.
WINNER: JOHN CENA
After the match, C.M. Punk gets out in Cenas’ face. Cena shoves him away when he sees Big Show coming. Show and Cena go at it till Punk knocks them down from behind. Punk gets a head set on commentary and goes on a diatribe about not allowing people to disrespect him anymore. He gets back in the ring to Kick Show in the head, but Show catches the leg and clocks Punk w/the WMD, followed by one for Cena.
RAW ends with the Big Show hoisting the WWE title on his shoulder; and his Summerslam opponents down on the mat.
What’s up, fellow Bored Wrestling Fans, it is I, the Vince McMahon to BWF’s WWE, the one and only ThinkSoJoE! And I’m here at work watching RAW and providing you with a review of this week’s RAW, because, well, I haven’t found anybody to cover this show since Justin Ruff stepped down last week. If you’re interested, the comments section is your friend! Oh well, let’s roll!
As the road to WrestleMania continues, tonight John Laurinaitis is taking over control of Smackdown. And with that, we can only expect madness, chaos, and certainly not Drew McIntyre… because he was fired. Or was he? Only time will tell, so let’s hop to it… shall we? (more…)
Tonight marks the return of one of the greatest things to ever happen to RAW. That’s right, ThinkSoJoE is here with a RAW review! Oh, and that dude that makes those movies is on the actual show. You know the guy. He does that eyebrow thing. Anyways, Justin Ruff was having issues with his satellite feed, so I’m here to cover for him. Enjoy!
For some reason Perez Hilton is polluting my Monday Night Raw. I personally think he has no place on our planet or in our species. Last week Kane laid out Zack Ryder because he couldn’t change a flat tire. Maybe Hilton can show Ryder how to change a flat tire. Things could be a lot worse though. We had the Funkasaurus debut last Monday and I’m curious to see where that goes. I’m also curious to see what Jericho does tonight. If you are looking for some great tires check out these Tire Shops for great deals.
We start off with Mick Foley. The great part about Mick Foley is that he can laugh at himself. Foley will be in the Royal Rumble. I will only be happy if he takes Jinder Mahal’s spot. Then he is interrupted by Vickie Guerrero and Dolph Ziggler berating him for taking a wrestler’s spot. And then CM Punk comes out they have a nice face off. And then Johnny Ace comes out. He says he will be impartial. True story. My wife was passed out on the couch. When Johnny Ace came out, she groaned in her sleep.
We get footage of the tag belts changing hands. We had a nice match between the Colons & (6 if you count Rosa Mendes. Some of you may have to think about this a little).
Chris Jericho will be in the main event. He turns out the light and lets his jacket sparkle.
Then we do a recap of Zack Ryder being unable to change a flat tire. Eve will accompany him to ringside. Ryder must have a member the size of Long Island cause I can’t think of any reason for Eve to still be with him after the “unable to change a flat tire” thing. Swagger destroyed Ryder and won the title.
In the back, Johnny Ace apologizes to Zack Ryder because he wasn’t medically cleared. Then Eve gets in his face and Ace tells her to respect authority. Huh?
R-Truth comes out and Wade Barrett interrupts him. Then after Barrett is done with his monologue, R-Truth begins his comments with ” ‘Allo, Govnuh.” Then there was a silly look at R-Truth’s trip to Disney. I hate to admit it, but I liked it. Then Miz came out followed by Sheamus. Teddy made a 4-man Over the Top Battle Royal match. R-Truth won. Nice match.
Then Jack Swagger comes out and he’s going to face John Cena? This was never a match. It was just a beatdown. This John Cena had some fire. Then Kane told Cena he was embracing the hate. Interesting.
We then had Brodus Clay kill JTG. Next to him is the chick whose second favorite match is Clay-Hawkins. I don’t know if this is right, but Funkasaurus is probably the best thing on Raw tonight.
Daniel Bryan cut a nice promo about why Big Show is a horrible person. The great part is that Bryan was a heel who told the truth. I really liked that.
The main event was really good. Jericho got tagged in, soaked up the adoration of the crowd and then walked off. Mark Henry chased Daniel Bryan to the back. And to make up for the missing person, Mick Foley came out. After the faces won, Johnny Ace came out and reversed the decision. Punk laid in to Ace about being pathetic and then walked off. Then Foley had a great face-off with Ace where Ace snapped. I had never seen Ace show that much fire before.
This turned out to be a really good Raw. I need more like these.
Last Monday night, the entire WWE roster (sans CM Punk, John Cena, Randy Orton and Sheamus) held a vote of confidence in HHH as the COO. The result? They all walked out on him, including the referees, announcers, and many of the technical crew. So how will this affect tonight’s episode of Smackdown? Will anyone show up? Or will we just see HHH standing in the middle of the ring shrugging his shoulders for two hours?
This was my first time to watch an AIW show. I started out being very intrigued by all the promos at the beginning. I know some of the wrestlers, but I am not familiar with their characters. This gave me a brief overview. What it reminded me of was the UFC product. Fighter #1 doing an interesting soundbite followed by fighter #2 doing the same. It’s a formula that works. I don’t need the WWE 5-minute video package I just watched last Monday on Raw. Just give me brief promos so I can know I need to care about these wrestlers.
First match: 6 Pack Scramble: Sugar Dunkerston VS. Sabbath VS. AERO! VS. Kobald VS. Maximo Suave VS. Low Rider
I know who Sugar Dunkerton is from his Twitter presence, so I was excited to see him wrestle. Sabbath had no crowd reaction, but had a different look. Suave looked like a died-black-hair Amazing Red. AERO! looks like a skinny white guy wearing a mask. Low Rider looks like a low-rent Perros del Mal wannabe (I did not find his name listed as a Perro del Mal). And Kobald looks like a bad Mortal Kombat character. I was impressed by how Sabbath used his power and the other wrestlers sold it. Sugar Dunkerton did a clothesline that would have impressed Stan Hansen. And Low Rider did a powerslam type move into the turnbuckles I’ve never seen before. Random painted people attacked somebody and Kobald got the win.
Winner: Kobald
Second match: BJ Whitmer VS. Eddie Kingston
This was my first Eddie Kingston match. I’ve followed Whitmer for about 10 years, going back to his IWA-Mid South days. I’m a little cautious about “the first time they’ve ever met” fights because they can be clusters because the guys have no chemistry together. It looked like there was a feeling out period and they let the drama slowly build. They told a story of Whitmer working over Kingston’s leg and Kingston trying to overcome. It got a “This is Awesome” chant. This was a GREAT match that really had the crowd going.
Winner: Whitmer
Whitmer and Kingston had a nice exchange and the crowd received it well.
Third Match: Chad “The Chad” Williams w/Chest Flexor VS. Tursus
There is a guy named Chest Flexor who must have a faction somewhere. The Chad looks like Randy Orton without the tattoos. The crowd chanted “Randy Rip-off” but I really didn’t think he was a rip-off; he just looked like Randy Orton. This is my first time to see Tursus after hearing so much about him, so I was very impressed with him. I’m surprised the WWE has not brought him in yet.
Winner: Chad by DQ
Fourth match: Team Duke VS. Team Dalton
I have no idea who these people are. Dalton Castle has a Puerto Rican faction as his partners. This RBI guy is named Bonds. I couldn’t figure out who I was supposed to cheer for. This reminded me a lot of a Ring of Honor 8-guy match from their early days. Dasher Hatfield was one of the major workers to stand out to me. Ben Fruith was another worker who stood out to me. He looks like he needs to eat, but man, can this guy sell. I was impressed that Izeah Bonds did a standing moonsault. It told a nice story.
Winner: Team Duke
Fifth match: Marion Fontaine VS. Shiima Xion VS. Chuck Taylor
I’ve tried watching some Xion matches on Youtube and stuff before. (I don’t currently watch the TNA/Impact! product.) Fontaine looks like he needs to eat. Xion has all the makings of a star, except for the awful tights. Chuck Taylor interfered in this match and made it into a 3-Way Dance. It just went way too short. I found myself more impressed by Fontaine with his in-ring action.
Winner: Fontaine
Sixth match: Josh Prohibition VS. Gregory Iron
I still have a deep-seated hatred of Josh Prohibition that goes back to him leaving CZW to start wrestling for XPW during the days of the PA Indy Wars. And holy s***, Greg Iron. He is everything Zach Gowen tried to be. He overcomes a huge disability, but he is still believable when he wins in the ring. The two had an unbelievable Street Fight. I knew about Iron from him the night CM Punk about how awesome he was. Regardless of how I felt about Prohibition, he and Gregory Iron were incredible in the ring together.
Winner: Prohibition
The crowd did a Holy s*** chant and rightfully so. Every Greg Iron match deserves a Holy s*** chant. Forgetting that Iron has cerebral palsy, it was probably one of the best matches I’ve seen all year.
Seventh match: Eric Ryan VS. Bobby Beverly
From this point on, the only wrestler I’ve ever seen before is Sabu, so I promise I will stop saying this is my first time to see this guy. Eric Ryan really impressed me. I think Beverly did a good job of making Ryan look good. Something tells me he’ll get over in the future. Eric Ryan wrestled with a lot of passion and definitely got my attention. You can’t book or train for that.
Winner: Ryan
The Olsen Twins VS. The Irish Airborne VS. AEROFORM
(Ok, so I’ve seen Colin Delaney before, but I really wasn’t into the WWECW product that much at the time.) The six worked really well together. I have no idea what I watched here because it was so fast-paced. Irish Airborne & AEROFORM are tag teams that could walk into Impact or AAA/CMLL and be successful. There was just so much going on it was hard to comprehend this match.
Winner: Irish Airborne
This was everything we wanted it to be. Six amazing athletes just doing their thing.
Ninth match: Sabu VS. Facade in a Falls Count Anywhere Match
I was curious why there were was a Street Fight and Falls Count Anywhere Match on the same card. On thing I have to give AIW credit for is distinct-looking wrestlers. It’s not like watching NXT where you see nothing different than the other 10 guys. Facade looks different. He has a distinct look and it differentiates him from “Joe Indy Wrestler.” And of course I worship Sabu and pray to him every night before I go to bed. I am intrigued by how Sabu reinvented himself. As he wasn’t able to keep up in the ring as much, he started using a toolbox like his late uncle (The Shiek) used to do. It added some longevity to his career.
Winner: Sabu
This booking made absolutely no sense by having Sabu go over, but Facade bled. Prohibition/Iron was more of a wild brawl, but the image of Facade wearing the crimson mask was pretty good.
Tenth match: Rickey Shane Page VS. Vincent Nothing
The video package was well-done. I still had no idea about anything, but it looked to be very emotional. Nothing has a really good look. Page is way too young-looking, but I get what they’re trying to do. The commentating was pretty awful. The play-by-play guy was fine, but the color commentator bordered on stupid. Heel does not equal stupid. I loved Nothing’s in-ring style. I love me some MMA, so a fighter who incorporates some of his moves into wrestling makes me pop. Plus, an MMA fighter could be a huge heel. This had a “big match” feel. There were light tubes. That is all you need to know to grasp how intense this fight was. It got a “Match of the Year” chant during the match.
Winner: Page
Wow. I think I missed a lot of the emotion which was probably like tuning in during a Season Finale. WWE, Impact, this is how you put a guy over. Right now, I believe Page could main event this company. I’m still going with Iron/Prohibition for Match of the Night, but Page gets my MVP. There was total commitment and it was kind of like a “coming of age” match.
Main Event: Johnny Gargano VS. Tim Donst
Donst is ridiculously over with this crowd. Donst is great when it comes to mat wrestling. I haven’t seen much in the way of a distinct look or personality to Donst, but he is super-over with this crowd and reminds me of Dean Malenko in-ring. Gargano had a RED chest. Gargano has a good look and I could see him in Impact before too long. The commentary deteriorated to Mark Madden levels. I can’t describe all the highlights of this match. All I know is that Tim Donst is one of my favorite new indy guys.
Winner: Gargano
What a match. As they were signing off, Chest Flexor’s music hit and Shiima Xion started fighting Gargano and the match started.
Real Main Event: Gargano vs. Xion
This went on until Chest Flexor interfered, the referee turned heel and Xion won the belt.
Winner: Xion
So yes, I am in love with my new favorite non-Texas wrestling promotion. I cannot decide match of the night. Iron/Prohibition, Page/Nothing, Donst/Gargano would all be Match of the Year candidates with any promotion. This is a company I will put my money behind. It’s hard to find a certain name that stood out to me the most. Now that I have been introduced, it’s time to start following the stories that are to be told here.
