This was the first AAW show I attended. I had a great time and enjoyed almost all the matches live, but I wasn't sitting there and thinking "this is a three-star match" while in the moment. Now I'll watch with a more attentive eye to see how things stacked up.
Ethan Page and Ricochet vs. Zero Gravity
Ricochet filled in for Page's usual Monster Mafia partner, Josh Alexander. This is a semi-final of the AAW allegiance tag tournament. Page and Ricochet opted to make a new name: The New Age Nation of Domination. Prepare yourself for a lot of Nation of Domination mimicry when you watch this. I mean that in the best way.
The biggest takeaway from this match is Ricochet. He stands out from the other three. This isn't a slight on Page and ZG, it's that Ricochet is so talented and charismatic. ZG are good flyers, Ricochet is great. No one looked bad, nor did Ricochet outshine everyone, he's simply the best of the four.
The match itself was an excellent opener. It had a few sloppier moments, but it entertained and got a very packed building to get their energy level up.
Match rating: **1/2
Silas Young and Jimmy Jacobs vs. Irish Airborne
Our second semi-final of the night has no one stands out on another level, unlike the previous match. Young is really impressing me in AAW and Jacobs seems like a star in Berwyn, while the Irish Airborne come across as viable opponents both in person and on the rewatch.
The extended heat section was Irish Airborne keeping Jimmy far away from Silas while they take turns beating on him. They tag in and out more than about anyone I've seen and they club, stomp, and slam Jacobs for a good while. There's a good spot in the middle where Jimmy finally gets away to tag in Silas, who is nowhere to be found. Dave Crist, the man on the outside for Irish Airborne, goaded Silas into leaving the corner and almost fighting at ringside. Silas plays up being the pissed-as-hell bad ass, so getting frustrated with the opponent's taunts fit the role.
The hot tag hurt the match's flow. Silas is surprised to get the tag form Jacobs and Irish Airborne aren't sure how to handle Silas. There's an awkward delay before he actually goes at them, but Silas looks good once he starts.
Irish Airborne spike Jacobs with a double stomp and tombstone piledriver combination later on. He kicks out and Silas comes to the rescue before Irish Airborne can do any more damage. Silas lays out Dave Crist. Jimmy, still dazed from that tombstone, manages to gather the wherewithal to rise to the top rope and senton Dave before getting pin. Jacobs is in bad shape after the match, coughing and looking like he's about to vomit before he collapses outside the ring. Jacobs has to get assistance to the back, he looks in bad shape at this point, though truth be told it came across better live than on tape with a camera right in his face.
Match rating: **1/2 - not as fun as the opener, but it makes up for that with Jacob's selling and the match's storytelling.
Heather Patera vs. Heidi Lovelace
Patera aligns with Truth Martini in a promo before the match, meaning he's at ringside with her. Patera's in control from the start and it looks like she's going to dominate Heidi. Patera looks like she could break Heidi in half so Heidi has to be the faster one to have a chance.
Probably the biggest problem with the match is Heidi's lack of believable offense. Patera doesn't have this: her stuff looks like it hurts. She's got a powerful build and knows how to use it. Heidi can land some hard shots that look fine, but sometimes it doesn't seem believable that she can even hurt Patera with some of the chops. She's fine when she's moving and flying, not so much if she's trying to trade blows. Heidi uses that flying to finish off Patera with a frog splash in a short match.
Match rating: *. It's a short match, not bad for what it is, and it helped set up a match for next month when Knight Wagner attacks Heidi and MsChif and Tony Rican have to make the save.
Louis Lyndon vs. Kyle O'Reilly
I'll say up front that I have a hard time rating O'Reilly and wrestlers like him. I think he's very good at what he does, but the thing is that I really don't like what he does. I can absolutely do without the faux-MMA style, but at the same time I think O'Reilly is adept and could adjust fine to a style I much prefer. Why aren't you basing your style on my preferences, Mr. O'Reilly?
Louis uses his own martial arts-influenced style, but he takes it a lot less seriously, doing it much more for laughs in comparison. His own strikes stand up to O'Reilly's. They look better much of the time at that. This isn't a match with a lot of bumping or wrestling. It's mostly the two trading strikes back and forth, each gaining an advantage from time to time.
It takes a long way into the match for it to gain any focus. O'Reilly starts to break down Lyndon's back. The problem is he gives up going after it and Lyndon doesn't really act like it bothered him. Lyndon starts to become more of a flyer as the match goes on, and it works against O'Reilly for the time being.
O'Reilly brainbusters Lyndon, goes for the pin, but only gets a two count. He grabs Lyndon's arm and slaps on a cross arm breaker, which gets Lyndon to tap in a few seconds.
Match rating: **. Hate the ending. No arm work makes Lyndon tap to a cross armbreaker out of nowhere? I can do without it. Yes, I know that the arm bar is a very legitimate submission, but this would be like a guy tapping to a sleeper in three seconds because a rear naked choke is a legitimate submission too.
Moondog Bernard and Seaman vs. Keith Walker
Walker's got a pretty great bad ass aura to him. He beats these two poor souls like they stole something. The only thing I really dislike here is that Walker does the Kobashi corner chest slap spot, a spot I really don't care for, but given that he's beating on two bums in a squash I think it's fine.
Match rating: *. Walker looked strong, but he also looks like he's going to break someone's shoulder when he tosses guys around. This was a bit long for a squash too.
AAW Heritage Title Match - Matt Cage vs. ACH
Both guys have charisma to burn but the fun part is that they're on the opposite end of the spectrum. Cage is a dickhead heel that you want to punch in the face. ACH has a likable energy that makes him easy to cheer for.
It's a slow paced start to the match even after Cage corners ACH, slaps him in the face, and flips him off. ACH is in control for much the beginning and Cage only takes the control by hiding behind the ref, cheap shots, and whatever else he can do to play dirty.
Both of them really start to lay into each other as the match goes on. It doesn't look or sound like they're working light as they slap and chop each other over and over. Cage ends up outside the ring after some confusion between the two. It really breaks up the match when it happens. ACH reaches through the ropes to grab him, giving Cage the chance to wallop ACH with the heritage title. That's enough for Cage to get back in the ring and finish this one seconds later. Cage is leaving Berwyn as the new AAW Heritage Champion.
Match rating: **3/4. Some apparent miscommunication or mistiming at the end really slows down what could have been a hot finish.
Markus Crane, Dan Lawrence, and Knight Wagner vs. Marion Fontaine, Tony Rican, and MsChif
Crane and Lawrence really don't do anything for me as characters. Luckily for me, Fontaine is here to balance them out. Rican throws a hell of a punch. I don't know if he's stiffing everyone in there or knows how to make it work. Either way, he's doing a fine job. Wagner will get the pin on MsChif after interference from Heather Patera.
Match rating: 1/2*.
Christian Rose vs. Marek Brave - Loser Leaves Berwyn
A punishment every man dreads. Who could go without returning to the fine suburb of Berwyn? Trash talk at a perfectly fine city aside, this is the first match of the night that plays up AAW's "no disqualification" rules. As well it should, given the stipulation.
Rose and Brave use a kendo stick and then a cane to try to beat each other into submission. Rose had a nice drop toe hold to put Brave out, though it wasn't enough for a win. Rose later got that chair superkicked into his head, which was already bad, but Brave absolutely reared back and hit him with a vicious head shot. It was uncomfortable live, not much better now, but at least it was a definitive end to a match.
Match rating: *1/2. It's actually pretty damn short for a match like this. The booking of the end works. Unprotected chair shots aren't going to see much love around these parts.
AAW Allegiance Tag Tournament Finals - New Age Nation of Domination (Ricochet and Ethan Page) vs. Jimmy Jacobs and Silas Young (/w Val Malone)
Silas announced that Jimmy wasn't going to make it out after his head injury earlier, but that doesn't stop Silas from coming out. He'll take on both of these guys by himself. Val is going to be his replacement partner, at least technically, but there's no way the last real man is going to let Page or Ricochet get their hands on her.
Silas is roughing both guys up for the start, but how long can one man stand up to two? Silas does everything he can to put on a gutsy performance. Ricochet gets the chance to show off some more of his acrobatics while Page can show his power. Silas is all heart and doing his best in there, but he's already wrestled tonight. He won't tag in Val either, who has to stand on the apron the entire time and watch Silas take the punishment.
Just as things look darkest for Silas, we see Jimmy Jacobs trying to force his way out from back. A wall of refs get in the way and won't let him enter. Jimmy walks away, dejected, before he rushes past them. He slides into the ring, charges across it, and dives through the ropes, right into Page. He's a bat out of hell for the next few minutes, bringing a lot of energy that translated to tape better than I remember live. His presence helps Silas get a chance to recover and all four men will lay each other out in a bang-bang sequence.
Ricochet hits a shooting star press on Jacobs that isn't good enough for the win. He goes back up to the top and Silas rushes up behind him then German suplexes Ricochet from up there. The last few minutes are hectic. Jacobs gets the pin on Ricochet after a top rope contra code. Jacobs and Silas are the AAW Allegiance tournament winners and each will get a match of their choice.
Match rating: ***1/4. I enjoyed it live, but I think it showed better on tape for whatever reason. Jacob's really picked this match up when he came out, but it was good before then.
Silas cuts a short promo after. He doesn't want a trophy, he doesn't want a title shot, he doesn't want a match. He wants Eddie Kingston.
Some great New Age Nation of Domination interaction after the match. I can't try to do it justice, so buy the DVD.
AAW Heavyweight Title - Shane Hollister (/w Scarlett and Markus Crane) vs. Kevin Steen
Steen feels like a star tonight. The Eagles Club is jammed pack, they were turning people away at the door, and it looks like a lot of them came here just for Steen. Scarlett is ridiculously attractive. Hollister's an asshole, but that's his job, so kudos to him.
Steen starts the match by rolling out of the ring and forearming the hell out of Markus, which gets a big pop. Hollister dives through the ropes to get back at him, but Steen quickly regains the upper hand. Steen chops the hell out of Hollister and throws him into the railings. Hollister kicks Steen when he has a chance to get some offense in.
Hollister takes a couple fine bumps as Steen tosses him around. He manages to escape the signature apron powerbomb by clutching on to the middle rope. The crowd is hot from the get-go and the wrestlers are working hard to keep it up. Hollister gets a lot less offense in for much of the match so he has to make it count. He goes for more high impact move and throws hard kicks to cut Steen down.
Hollister withstands a top rope senton, so Steen has to go with a pack piledriver. It's too soon for that and Hollister is able to slip out. Hollister blasts Steen with a hard kick to the head while the big guy was kneeling. Steen goes for another package piledriver, but this time it's Scarlett who breaks it up. Hollister saves her with a super kick.
Hollister's offense looks really good. He's kicking the crap out of Steen. Steen dodges a high kick and sleeper suplexes Hollister. Steen pulls him back up, spikes him with a package piledriver, and gets the pin to become the new AAW Heavyweight champion. The crowd absolutely erupts when Steen wins.
Match rating: ***1/2. A better match on close inspection than I first remembered. Hollister's offense looked legit and he did great selling for Steen, who controlled most of the match. The atmosphere takes this one to another level.
Final Thoughts
I loved it live and still enjoyed it on tape. It's not a perfect show. The middle drags a little and has a few matches that are nothing to write home about. Nothing screams "match of the year", but not every show has to have that that. There's plenty of solid wrestling and it's worth a watch.
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