AAW's final show of 2013 packed the house again, much like the month before. It was standing room only in the Eagles Club.
Marcus Edwards vs. Moondog Bernard (/w Arnold Presley)
Marcus and Moondog only get a few seconds of action before Keith Walker comes out with Nikki and Kevin. Walker spears Moondog and lariats Marcus, forcing the ref to stop the match at 1:15.
Match rating: N/A
Kevin Harvey gets a microphone to ask about the injustice of Keith Walker's first AAW loss. How can a man lose a match on a two-count by a referee who has never come back? Walker wants Elgin. Elgin shows up without delay.
Michael Elgin vs. Keith Walker (/w Nikki Mayday and Kevin Harvey)
It's the battle of the behemoths. Walker and Elgin whip each other around from the start. Walker's big enough to choke slam Elgin on the apron when they're standing outside. Elgin clotheslines Walker in the corner six or seven times, running to the opposite corner before sprinting back to crush Walker each time. He burns a lot of energy doing it, but Walker gets the worse for wear.
Walker's got impressive strength to throw Elgin around the ring like he does. Elgin's normally the big powerhouse of a match. Elgin and Walker trade german suplexes later in the match. It's an impressive sight to see them tossed around. Unfortunately, both eat a german and immediately get up to hit a german of their own, foregoing any selling in between.
Tweek Phoenix makes his return to AAW by trying to interfere and attack Elgin. Elgin dispatches with him and gets back to work on Walker. Elgin shows how strong he is with a deadlift powerbomb on a very big man, then Elgin-bombs Walker for the win.
Match rating: **1/4. Good opener. It's fast-paced and get the crowd warm. It's a big man battle rather than a high flying bout to do that, which I really like.
AAW Heritage Title - Matt Cage (c) vs. Mallaki Matthews
Cage headbutts Matthews instead of shaking the poor guy's hand. He's ruthless, stomping away at the stunned Matthews. Cage has a mean leg lariat. Matthews makes the most of his limited chances. Colvin and St. Holmes do a really good job on commentary in this one. They're picking on Matthews a bit, but he's the inexperienced youngster making some mistakes in there. Rather than trying to cover it up, they point out how Cage will make him pay. Cage stops Matthews with his version of the code breaker.
Match rating: *1/2. It's a short match, but it's perfectly acceptable wrestling. Cage gets to heel it up, Matthews gets a shot on the main show. Nothing wrong here.
Fan's Bring the Weapons Match - Knight Wagner & Heather Patera (/w Truth Martini) vs. Tony Rican & Heidi Lovelace
Rican's got a weapon I've never seen before: the jug from a water cooler on top of a long stick. He's walloping Wagner's back with it and it makes a hell of a sound. Lovelace has a plastic guitar that she hits Patera with and Patera comes back at her with a solid roll of wrapping paper from the looks of it. It's carnage in there. Wagner's beating on Rican with a crutch and the only question is what weapons will they grab next? Guitars. The answer is guitars. AAW fans had a lot of extra guitars for some reason.
Wagner puts Rican through an ironing board outside. Patera spits on Rican and taunts him, but Rican refuses to strike her. Lovelace has no problem with hitting Patera, so she domes her with a cookie sheet. Patera lifts Lovelace up for a fisherman's buster, delays it, and plants her on a trash can. Patera gets between Rican and Wagner to save the latter. Rican refuses to hit a woman, but some hard shots from Patera change his mind and he finally forearms her.
Rican grabs a bag of thumbtacks and splays them out across the ring. He's got Wagner up in the corner and looks like he's about to superplex him, but Truth Martini hits Rican with the Book of Truth. Wagner michinoku drivers Rican off the top and into the thumbtacks, which both of them sell like death. Wagner pins Rican to wrap this one up.
Match rating: **. Another fun match. It's not a super serious affair, but it's plenty entertaining.
Tweek Phoenix (w/ Nikki and Kevin) vs. Colt Cabana
Kevin's got a mic before the start of this one. I'm a big, big Kevin Harvey fan, so I've got no complaints with this. Colt's one of the most over guys in AAW and the crowd's chanting his name before the match starts. This one's exactly that you'd expect from Colt: a lot of his British-influenced grappling and comedy spots. Kevin's advising Tweek to slow the match down and wrestle at his own pace.
Colt's too clever for Tweek for the majority of the match. Tweek gains the upperhand when Cabana doesn't take him seriously or turns his attention elsewhere. Tweek hits Cabana with a loaded boot and a discus lariat, but neither is enough to put Cabana down. Cabana clocks Tweek down with that same boot and taps Tweek out with the Billy Goat's Curse.
Match rating: *1/2. The finish came out of nowhere.
Davey Richards vs. Jimmy Jacobs
If I was disinterested in Kyle O'Reilly the previous show, then it's that much worse for Davey this time. Early grappling between the two gets some polite applause. It's a slow burn at the open but Jacobs and Davey up the pace a few minutes in.
Davey roughs up Jacobs a lot in the match and is really focusing on Jacobs' knee and ankle. He toys with Jacobs until Jacobs starts to get fired up. Davey tries to cut him off with kicks but Jacobs goes through them and puts Davey down with a neckbreaker. The crowd's pretty split between rooting for Jacobs and rooting for Davey. Jacobs has a guillotine on Richards while they're on the apron, which Richards escapes with an exploder. Jacobs hit the apron hard and rolls outside.
Davey double stomps the hell out of Jacobs's arm and gets an ankle lock on Davey, which he'd been working all night. Jacobs gets thrown into the corner and springs back, landing a jumping ace crusher. He pulls Davey up lands a contra code to follow up. It's over a few seconds later when Jacobs slaps on another guillotine, which was his move of the match.
Match rating: ***. A fine bout between these two. I'm a Jacobs fan and a Davey detractor, but they had good chemistry in there. The post-match talk was heavy handed, especially given that Davey came back just four weeks later for the next show, but the in-ring action was fine.
Markus Crane & Dan Lawrence vs. Arik Cannon & Ryan Boz
Boz looks like a giant in there next to Lawrence and Crane. Cannon's on the shorter side too, but he at least has some size to him. Crane and Lawrence look like they won't have much of a chance. Cannon's in there for most of the match which is a good call. He's the most polished worker of the four. Cannon rolls around the ring, making Lawrence miss and look like an idiot while Cannon grabs a can of PBR. He opens it up, has a sip, and cracks Lawrence over the head with the rest.
Boz gets tagged in and cleans house. Lawrence slips out of a Boz Driver and has control for a minute until he slips on the top rope. Boz finally spikes Crane with a Boz Driver to end this one.
Match rating: 1/2*. Short match. Boz and Cannon share some PBRs afterwards.
Eddie Kingston vs. Silas Young (/w Val Malone)
Silas wastes no time getting at Kingston, sprinting out from back and tackling Kingston to cut out any introductions and niceties. Silas and Kingston battle around the outside of the ring, whipping each other into the railings. Kingston gets a ladder from the back somehow and pushes it into the ring. It's too tall to stand up in the center, so he has to keep it off to the side. It doesn't get much use before Kingston dismantles it and starts to go after Val.
Kingston ends up bringing the steel steps into the ring, but it's Silas who gets to use them first. He does a running slam in a spot that really didn't work because the steps were too tall and it looks like Kingston gently rolled across them. Silas rolls Kingston up for the win a few seconds later in a finish that comes out of nowhere.
Match rating: *. It got off to a strong start and looked like it was going to be a hell of a brawl. Instead it finishes with a weak move and a roll up in what is supposed to be a blood feud. Very anticlimactic.
Kingston ambushes Silas after the match with a chair. He ties Silas to the ropes, immobilizing him and then beating any fight out of Silas with a spinning backfist. Kingston's about to smash Silas' head in with that chair when Val makes a save and pulls the chair out of Kingston's hands. She tries to hit him with it, but Kingston laughs off the weak blows and knocks the chair from her hands. Silas is forced to watch Kingston scoop Val up and brainbuster her on the chair. Refs and prelim guys storm the ring to check on Val and pin Kingston down, but he's smacking them around as they come in. They drag Kingston out of the ring and force him to the back. Val needs a stretcher to leave the ring.
AAW Tag Title Three Way Elimination Match - Kung Fu Manchu (Louis Lyndon & Marion Fontaine) (c) vs. Men of the Year (Michael Elgin & Ethan Page) vs. Zero Gravity (CJ Esparza & Brett Gakiya)
Elgin already had one hard bout to start the show, but Ethan Page proposed a tag team and Elgin took Page up on the offer. Page is trying to prove to Elgin how good he is. At the same time, he can't help but heel it up while the honest Elgin watches with dismay.
Elgin gets to face off with Brett "mini-Alvarez" Gakiya. Elgin works very well as a base here for both members of Zero Gravity. Kung Fu Manchu are on the outside for a long while, about 8 minutes or so, while Men of the Year and Zero Gravity hog all the action. They come in with a slew of double team moves to take out Page and then Elgin. Zero Gravity cut the champions off before they can both dive onto Elgin who had rolled out of the ring.
CJ Esparza's the first one to successfully land a dive to the outside, taking out Page with his effort. Kung Fu Manchu run to two corners and hit springboard moonsaults to the outside once Page and Esparza got to their feet. Elgin is next on the turnbuckle but Gakiya dashes up the ropes and jumps off of Elgin's back onto the four men outside.
Kung Fu Manchu have a good run where they take out Zero Gravity and start to work over Elgin. It's Page who makes a save and turns the tide. Elgin spinning backfists Fontaine, buckle bombs him, and then hits the Elgin bomb to eliminate the champions and guarantee that the next fall results in new tag champs.
Elgin has Esparza up in a delayed vertical suplex when Page comes in and tries to give him a hand. Elgin wants to do it alone and pinches Page's belly. Page is unflappable though and hugs it out with Elgin, not letting it get between them. Zero Gravity manage a flippy cup 2.0 on Page but Elgin breaks the pin up. Elgin and Page are beating the hell out of Zero Gravity, tossing them all over the ring for a few minutes, but the little flyers keep coming back with sheer determination.
Zero Gravity try and assisted moonsault on Elgin. Elgin gets his knees up just in time and Page dumps CJ Esparza off the top and into the railing for about the tenth time. Elgin prevents Page from using the ring bell on Gakiya, then gives him a stern talking to. Elgin does his backfist followed by a buckle bomb, but Page cuts in front of him to finish Gakiya off with an uranage. MOTY are the new AAW tag champs.
Match rating: ***3/4. Hell of a match, very entertaining. Some really great sports in here and I love Elgin and Page as a team. Elgin wants to win and is a hell of a competitor. However, unlike Page, he's not a cheater and won't take the low road. Elgin even shakes hands with Zero Gravity after the match while Page looks on with disgust.
AAW Heavyweight Title - Kevin Steen(c) vs. Shane Hollister (/w Scarlett and Markus).
It's a rematch of last month's main event. The roles are reversed this time: Steen's got the belt and Shane's the challenger. Markus is outside even though he ate a Boz Driver earlier in the evening. To his credit, he's selling his neck the entire time. Steen gets as big of a pop the month before and the crowd is way behind him again.
Hollister jumps Steen to start the match. He doesn't want to take the beating that he took last month again. Steen's not so easy to boss around. He has Hollister outside early on in the match, just like last month, and he's going to throw him into the railings in every corner that he can. Hollister's cringing bad as Steen chops him across the chest a few times. Seeing how red it became, that's not a shock.
Steen goes for an apron powerbomb when they wind up on the outside again. Hollister knows it all too well and manages to slip out of it and land back on his feet. Scarlett gets involved to help choke Steen out on the middle rope. Steen's chops are his main offense and he's brutalizing Hollister's chest.
Hollister isn't using kicks like he did in the first encounter. His offense isn't based on landing the sporadic big moves either; he traded kicks and dives in for a more methodical break down. Hollister does go up to the top rope and tries to frog splash Steen without success. Steen and Hollister do a very nice job of countering each other when either one tries to pull out a spot that worked last month.
Hollister pulls out a shining wizard that only gets a two count. He's back up to the top rope afterwards. This time it's his double stomp that Steen manages to avoid. Steen goes up top for a senton and does what Hollister can't: land a move from there. Steen has Hollister perched on the top rope and lands a vicious chop across his chest. He can't quite get Hollister up for a superplex and Hollister will double stomp Steen while Steen is in the tree of woe.
Steen lands the sleeper suplex that set up his package piledriver the month before, but he goes for a cover this time around. It only gets a two count and Markus comes in to interfere. He eats a package piledriver for the effort. Hollister is back to his feet and lays Steen out with a side kick, buzz saw kick combo. Hollister gets a steel chair out from under the ring. Steen destroys that chair when he puts Shane through it with a spinebuster a minute later.
The chair is a gnarled piece of metal now and Steen is going to package piledrive Hollister on it. Hollister pulls Steen's legs out from under him though and Steen smacks his head on the chair's remnants. Another buzzsaw kick puts Steen down but is only good enough for a two count. Steen struggles to get to his feet when Hollister curb stomps him back down on the chair. Hollister gets Steen up for Shug's Last Gift, again on the chair, and Hollister wraps up Steen's legs for the pin. Hollister regains the title in a hell of a bout at the 17 minute mark.
Match rating: ****. I knew I liked this one more than the first match up, which I did enjoy, but it's better on closer inspection. Hollister and Steen do a fine job working off the first encounter. They have a match that's more crisp this time around too, making for a fine contest.
Final Thoughts
Another solid show from AAW. Multiple strong matches and almost all of them are entertaining to boot. The crowd wasn't as hot as last month, particularly compared to the pop Steen got when he picked up the title, but the in-ring work makes up for it.
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