AAW has Phil Colvin and Dave Prazak on commentary. From the looks of it. AAW will reach into the distant past for content, so no worries about the TV show moving past the live events. Colvin and Prazak don't waste much time before sending us to the action, so I won't either. Let's get to it.
Zero Gravity (Brett Gakiya & CJ Esparza) vs. Kung Fu Manchu (Louis Lyndon & Marion Fontaine)
Quick action early on with all four men in the ring, unable to get the best of their opponents. Colvin and Prazak talk up how much Gakiya looks like Bryan Alvarez, adding that it's too bad Esparza doesn't look like Dave Meltzer. Kung Fu Manchu have control, working over Esparza. They double team Esparza again and again, leaving Gakiya on the apron, desperate to tag in. Lyndon and Fontaine work a slower pace to ground Esparza. Esparza flips through a German suplex, lands on his feet and gets the hot tag to Gakiya.
Gakiya springs off the top rope, taking out Lyndon. Gakiya tags back out to Esparza after a moment. Zero Gravity fly free, diving off the ropes, out of the ring, and off of each other. Lyndon stops Zero Gravity with hard strikes. Fontaine joins in, superkicking Esparza. Lyndon puts Esparza down with an upkick, Fontaine lands a springboard moonsault, and three seconds later the match is done. Kung Fu Manchu gets the win.
Match rating: *1/2 It's a fast-paced opener, which is very typical of AAW, but got it gets sloppy at a few points and is short.
Eddie Kingston vs. Francois McIntyre
Kingston debuts in AAW. He establishes his dominance early, shoving Francois around and hits an exploder. Francois lands one spinebuster and gets a big head for it. Kingston blocks a suplex then counters with one of his own, chucking Francois into the turnbuckles. Kingston waits for Francois to get up, smashes him with a spinning backfist, and gets the pin.
Match rating: N/A This was a minute long and just a way to get Kingston in the ring. Kingston gets on the mic afterwards, which is much more eventful. Kingston is one of the better mic workers in the indies, very natural. He rambles at the start before getting to his point. He came all the way to Chicago for a fight, 90 seconds of action isn't enough. After a bit of crowd work, Markus Crane comes out, answering the challenge.
Eddie Kingston vs. Markus Crane
Crane shows a lot of empty bravado to stand up to Kingston. He backs down immediately when Kingston moves towards him at all. Kingston grabs Crane, hits a backdrop driver, and gets the pin. 44 seconds. He's halving his match times.
Match Rating: N/A Haven't seen a company use enhancement matches like this in a long while.
There's an editing transition and all of a sudden Knight Wagner is in the ring with Kingston. Wagner asks if he's supposed to be afraid of Eddie Kingston. Yes, yes he is. Kingston is dumb struck, laughing in Wagner's face. Wagner ducks a backfist, slaps Kingston, and we are on.
Knight Wagner vs. Eddie Kingston
Wagner hits a busaiku knee seconds in but it barely gets two. Kingston hits an exploder and then a big lariat. Wagner dumps Kingston outside. He dives over the top, crashing onto Kingston. Wagner rolls Kingston into the ring then goes up to the top rope. He leaps at Kingston, who spins around and smacks Wagner with a backfist as he's in midair. Kingston covers Wagner and goes to 3-0 on the night.
Match Rating: N/A This one maybe went two minutes. I like the concept of the finish, though I'm not sure if Kingston really connected.
AAW's ads vary it up a whole lot more than the first episode. That's a big plus, they got annoying last time around. Still repetitive, but they tone it down.
Scarlett Bordeaux gets some more camera time. Come see her live some time.
Samuray del Sol vs. Silas Young (w/ Val Malone)
Two great local talents are up. Del Sol traveled all over in the last few years, including a career move down to Orlando now, but he's a Chicago local. Silas hails from Milwaukee, but he is an AAW mainstay. Silas and Del Sol start out with wristlocks, hammerlocks, and your intro chain wrestling. It's smooth and stands out a lot compared to much of AAW's action. Del Sol is crazy fast. I don't think I've seen anyone move around as quickly in a ring. Silas locks hands with Del Sol. Time for a test of strength. Silas probably has thirty pounds on Del Sol, but Del Sol is game.
Silas waistlocks Del Sol, squeezing him hard and refusing to let go. Del Sol flips out of that and uses his lucha stylings to take down Silas. He dodges a dropkick by laying out, grabs Silas' legs, and puts on a knee lock until Silas gets to the ropes. Del Sol wears out Silas with a kick to the back and a back suplex. Del Sol tries to springboard from the apron back into the ring, but Val Malone grabs his foot.
Del Sol goes for the same springboard as before but Silas ducks under it. At least Del Sol got to try this time. Silas stops Del Sol with a fireman's carry into a backbreaker. Del Sol is down; Silas puts a hard knee into his back. He kicks Del Sol again, taunting him. Del Sol blocks a suplex, so Silas clubs him in the back. Del Sol blocks it again, so Silas drives him into the corner. The third attempt goes through. Two count. Del Sol fights back for a heartbeat until Silas back body drops him, aggravating Del Sol's already injured back.
Silas continues to wear down Del Sol's back by driving a knee into it. He moves on to a neck crank, twisting Del Sol's head. Del Sol gets back to both feet but Silas immediately throws him down. Silas bends over to taunt Del Sol. Del Sol kicks him in the face, seizing his chance. Del Sol goes on a roll, kicking at Silas and landing a code red that's good for two. He hits a springboard cross body that Silas rolls through. Silas lifts up Del Sol and backbreakers him again.
Silas has Del Sol down with a chinlock and he taunts the crowd. Del Sol struggles to his feet then fights his way out of the lock. Del Sol hits the ropes and looks for a hurricanrana, but Silas stops it, dropping Del Sol across the top rope. Del Sol monkey flips Silas, both men are down.
The pace picks up once both men get to their feet. Del Sol lands an asai DDT that gets a two count. Del Sol drags himself up to the top rope. Silas gets up, Del Sol flips over him. Silas knees Del Sol and hits a killer combo: a backbreaker, kneeling lariat sequence. Del Sol kicks out at two on the pin.
Silas slows it back down. He screams at Del Sol, telling him he means nothing. Del Sol upkicks Silas with both boots as Silas stands on the bottom rope and leans over him. Del Sol struggles with Silas on the top rope until he brings Silas down with a rising sun. Del Sol blasts Silas with hard kicks to the chest. Silas ducks a third attempt, scoops Del Sol onto his shoulders and lands a Finlay roll. Silas springs up, headstands on the top turnbuckle, and goes for his signature springboard moonsault from there. Del Sol moves but Silas lands on his feet. Del Sol spikes Silas on his head with a hurricanrana. Del Sol hits a hard side kick, booting Silas in the face. Only a two count.
Both men move around in agony. Del Sol rises to his feet and gets the crowd amped up. Del Sol charges Silas but Silas evades him. Del Sol lands gracefully on the middle rope and springs back into Silas. Silas catches Del Sol in the electric chair position then drops him face first onto the top turnbuckle. Silas grabs Del Sol, plants him with a snake eyes to compress the spine, rolls into the stock lock, and forces Del Sol to tap.
Match Rating: **1/4 Good but not great. Also got a little sloppy at times which broke up the flow. The chain wrestling to start was probably the crispest part of the showdown and I could have gone for more of that. Silas stopped working over Del Sol's back after a while, but the finish calls back to that earlier work so I give it a thumbs up.
Kingston is back out with a microphone. He compliments Silas, who is still in the ring, saying it was a nice match. Kingston calls out the fans: they make him sick. He's disgusted with how the fans boo Silas, a long time champion, yet cheer him on arrival. He buries AAW fans, saying that they might as well be CZW fans. Low blow, man. Kingston didn't come here to get cheers. He came here to challenge Silas.
Silas says the fans ARE dumb, but they're HIS fans. Kingston might be a big deal elsewhere but in AAW all he did was beat three goofs. Silas gets in Kingston's face and says he hasn't done shit. If Kingston wants a match he has to earn it. But Silas will give him a fight.
Kingston gets the mic back. He loves fighting, but he's not getting paid to fight again tonight. He tries to ambush Silas when Silas turns away. Silas blocks a punch and the two go at it. Silas has the best of it until Kingston low blows him. Kingston gets a chair and is about to lay into Silas when Val jumps in the way. Kingston thinks about smashing Val with it, but drops the chair instead. He won't hit her with a chair, but he will grab Val by the hair and punch her in the face. So he has some standards?
Kingston drags a table over to the side of the ring. He stabs it into Silas' side then brings Silas to the apron. Kingston puts Silas through the table with a sit out powerbomb. Val is out, Silas is out, and Kingston takes a seat in the middle of the ring. AAW is going to change, now they have a king.
Final Thoughts
A strong second show for AAW. We get Kingston's debut where he starts as a babyface that the fans love. Silas is a dickhead heel in his match versus Del Sol. But at the end of the hour, fortunes change and there's a double turn. AAW has a marquee feud to center itself around now.
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