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-Taped from Marion, Illinois
-Your hosts are Kevin Hunsperger, Chris Hagstrom, and Shane Rich
-Greg Anthony vs. Heath Hatton
Match in Five Words or Less: Not As Good As Gold
Match Summary: Anthony makes veiled threats at Hatton in a pre-match promo. Very cool to have motorcycles in the background of this show. It should be noted that “Main Event” did in fact take place in a motorcycle warehouse. Anthony took Hatton out with an international object (Hey, this is southern wrasslin’) on an episode of “Collision” weeks prior to cost Hatton the AAPW tag team titles. Feeling out process. Hatton hits a pair of dropkicks. Anthony chop blocks Hatton and continues focusing on the left knee. Anthony builds up to a figure four leglock. Hatton reaches the bottom rope. Series of jabs. Sleeper by Hatton. Into the buckle. Right hand by Hatton. Pair of clotheslines. Snap suplex. Hatton climbs up to the top but Anthony meets him. Anthony sent down chin first into the buckle. Dropkick off the top rope misses. Hatton rolls Anthony up in a small package.
Match Analysis: This was a perfectly acceptable opener to get things started. Hatton looks to be one of AAPW’s more solid competitors and someone with a future in indy wrestling. Anthony isn’t likely going to be in AAPW after this show, but he put together a solid contest against a younger competitor.
Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Heath Hatton/7:21/**
-We get a slow motion instant replay of the finish. Yes, the company that has never produced a DVD before is able to give us instant replays and execute it well.
-Stacy O’Brien is helping to bring back women’s wrestling to AAPW. She calls out Rebecca Reyes and is ready for her later tonight.
-Matt Cross vs. Pokerface
Match in Five Words or Less: On The Edge
Match Summary: There are people literally hanging from the rafters. Gorilla Monsoon… oh my God. Hunsperger makes the joke before I can type that. The rafters and hanging. Pokerface is undefeated in AAPW. Announcers say this match will test whether Pokerface is tough enough. I get jokes. Basic start between these two. If nothing else, the heel/babyface roles are so defined the matches are at least interesting on the most basic level. Cross out quicks Pokerface. Pokerface ends up outside. Sliding dropkick. Right hand on the outside by Pokerface. Cross reverses a whip back in the ring. Handspring elbow. Running kick. Kicks to the ribs as well. Another whip sends Pokerface down. Pokerface puts the referee in front of him and gets the advantage with a poke to the eyes. Series of right hands and knees. Cross comes back with kicks. Dropkick to the left leg. Big knee. Kimura. Cross grabs the bottom rope. Cross atomic drops Pokerface. Kneebar. Kick to the side of the head. Dropkick by Pokerface. Chinlock. Cross gets his boots up. 450 splash misses but he lands on his feet and hits a leg lariat. Pokerface removes the elbow pad. Clothesline by Cross. Forearm. Leg sweep and standing moonsault gets two. Cross taken up and over. Enziguri. Springboard double stomp. Chops in the corner. Pokerface eventually counters into a DDT. Pokerface misses a running leaping enziguri. Cross hits an elbow. Enziguri (actually called the Ghetto Blaster) by Pokerface gets the victory.
Match Analysis: This match is a thumbs up for no other reason than the Ghetto Blaster being brought out of mothballs. In all seriousness, Cross did a great job making Pokerface look like a viable threat in this match. Good back and forth action for the most part. Not much more to say.
Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Pokerface/10:51/**1/2
-PAC and El Generico interview. Generico actually speaks some English! Those Rosetta Stone tapes must be working! They’re both ready for a friendly contest.
Paul Rose vs. Billy Hills vs. Jay Spade vs. Bull Bronson vs. Justice
Match in Five Words or Less: Poor Jay
Match Summary: Bronson, Hills, Rose, and Justice are large men. Spade is not. What do you do when you have five men who don’t fit anywhere else on the card? Put them against each other. This is a free for all, which means no tags are necessary. All kinds of chaos that I can’t even begin to call. Spade dives on all four men. Rana on Rose on the floor. Bronson works over Hills on the inside. Hills is the one farmer gimmick in this promotion. Rose and Bronson are heels. They continue controlling the babyface Hills and Spade. Spade does a nice job bumping around for Spade. Rose sends Hills back in the ring. Spade whipped. He eats a hard clothesline. Rose sent into Hills. Running splash by Bronson. Justice comes back in the ring. Big boot on Rose. Running splash on Bronson. Pumphandle slam on Rose. Bronson tosses Justice out. Running splash on Rose gets the victory for Bronson. Glad the guy with the worst hair lost clean.
Match Analysis: These five worked hard, but there’s no way you’re getting a good match under these circumstances. It felt like there was too much going on, and Justice randomly coming back after randomly being knocked out didn’t make sense. The announcers should have done a better job emphasizing what happened to Justice, so his comeback would mean more.
Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Bull Bronson/6:02/*
-Promotional consideration paid for by a number of local Southern Illinois businesses.
-Roscoe Dwayne Harris and Bull Bronson vs. Money Makin Jam Boys (KC Jackson and Mississippi Madman)
Match in Five Words or Less: Not As Bad
Match Summary: Harris’s tag team partner is nowhere to be found, so we get Bronson wrestling a second consecutive contest. Picture the fattest man you’ve ever seen. Add 20 pounds and you’ve got Mississippi Madman. Winner of this becomes the number one contender for the tag team titles. Madman and Bronson start…sort of. Bronson says he needs a break. Harris tags in. Kick and series of clubbering blows. Madman gingerly chops and takes Harris into the corner. Jackson thankfully tags in and hits a running splash. Boot by Madman. Leaping legdrop by Jackson. MMJB are two time tag team champions… I’d like to know how. Madman steps on Harris. Double chops. Right hand. Jackson hits a double axehandle. Off the ropes and a dropkick. Harris gets the advantage and chokes Jackson. Bodyslam. Off the ropes with an elbow drop. 10 punches in the corner by Jackson. Shove and stomps by Harris. Heat segment on Jackson. I’d like to point out the announcers are promoting the website, Facebook, Twitter, and television show like it’s their job. Good on them. Jackson gets his boots up. Cross body but he can’t make the hot tag. Heels continue on Jackson. Bronson lands right on his knees on a Vader bomb. Twisting kick by Jackson. He doesn’t exactly hit it, but the camera movement makes it seems like he actually did hit it. Jackson literally runs into his partner for a tag. Madman goes to work on Harris. Running splash in the corner. Miscommunication by the heels. Jackson hits a kick and stunner. Madman hits a sitdown slam for three.
Match Analysis: I have memories of this match being a dud. Jackson and Harris were good enough to elevate this match above that level. Madman definitely shouldn’t be wrestling… anywhere. Not something you should run out and see but not “five dollar wrestling bad” as I originally had this listed.
Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Money Makin Jam Boys/10:22/1/2*
-Colt Cabana is a happy guy but he also has words for third generation superstar Eric Wayne. Cabana gets himself all fired up. Very good promo from Colt. Seriously, how is this man not signed somewhere?
-El Generico vs. PAC
Match in Five Words or Less: These Guys Have A Future
Match Summary: PAC coming out to his Dragon Gate music in Marion, Illinois has to be one of the more surreal events I’ve ever seen. The ring announcer calls Generico the pride of Tijuana. Someone needs to let him in on the joke. Extended feeling out process as neither man can get the advantage. They progressively get more and more chippy. PAC turns the volume up with a running rana. Kick and asai moonsault to the outside. REPLAY! HOORAY! Tilt a whirl backbreaker by Generico leads to a two count. Shot to the back and a kick. Boot to the head. Shot to the ribs by PAC. Forearms. Boot off the ropes by Generico. Running enziguri by PAC. Snapmare into a bodyscissors. Roll-up. Generico sent into the turnbuckle. Hard whip in the buckle. PAC with a shot to the gut. Generico hits a series of clotheslines. Tope con helo. REPLAY! Crowd gets behind the action. PAC sent back in the ring. Generico hits a cross body for two. PAC meets Generico with a forearm. Up on the shoulders. Snap rana. 1-2-NO! Standing shooting star press gets two. PAC lands on his feet on a dive. Generico hits an exploder into the corner. Connecting of forearms. Generico hits a yakuza kick. Forearm by PAC. Phoenix splash gets three in an excellent match.
Match Analysis: it would have been so easy for these two men to go into an AAPW ring and tank it. They didn’t. In fact, they worked as hard as they would in PWG, Dragon Gate, and Ring of Honor. I think the fans got to see something special. Great to see these two be able to excel in front of a fresh crowd who hasn’t “seen it all.” Good luck to everyone else on the card who has to follow this performance.
Winner (s)/Time/Rating: PAC/16:05/****
–Ax Allwardt is challenging Edmund McGuire for the AAPW title later tonight. He doesn’t like McGuire or Tim Tebow apparently. Gaylord Stevens, Allwardt’s manager, denies hitting McGuire with a car earlier in the day. I don’t about you, but I’m convinced.
-Stacey O’Brien vs. Rebecca Raze
Match in Five Words or Less: Not Shimmer
Match Summary: O’Brien gets an award from a local wrestling website. Thankfully, O’Brien gets a plaque and not a trophy. If it was a trophy, we all know what would have happened there. Raze interrupts O’Brien’s speech. Raze mockingly applauds. Knee to the gut. Hard whip in the corner. Forearm. Shoulder tackles in the corner. Choke on the top rope. Ugly snap suplex. Running clothesline in the corner by O’Brien. Raze hits a series of shots to the gut. Swinging neckbreaker. Leaping leg drop. Camel clutch. Knees by Raze. Clothesline grazes Raze. O’Brien goes low on a dropkick. O’Brien continues focusing on the back. Forearms by Raze. Whip. Raze hits a handspring elbow. Kicks. O’Brien with forearms. Charge misses. Clothesline by O’Brien. Back elbow. Leg lariat to the midsection. Waistlock into a bearhug by Raze. Spinebuster? Snapmare. Shining Wizard misses. O’Connor roll into a bridge for the three count as O’Brien picks up the victory.
Match Analysis: Not sure what to think about this. Considering she got a plaque, it made sense for O’Brien to win. The girls worked hard, but Raze in particular did not look impressive.
Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Stacy O’Brien/7:38/*1/2
-Mike Masters interview. He’s actually going to be wrestling the lead announcer, Kevin Hunsperger, on this show in just a few minutes. Masters has won one match since being hit in the back with a chair courtesy of Hunsperger, a contest against Jay Spade where he earned the right to wrestle against the man who hit him in the back with the steel. Masters vows revenge and is generally just an angry man.
-Eric Wayne vs. Colt Cabana
Match in Five Words or Less: Boo Boo
Match Summary: We get some shenanigans with Wayne’s t-shirt to start. Cabana sexually harasses the official next. Slap to the face by Wayne. Kick and shot to the back. Forearm and more shots to the head. They cross. Cabana tells Wayne to look up. Slap in the face. More criss-crossing off the ropes. Wayne tells Cabana to look up. Cabana smacks him. Wayne taken into two turnbuckles. They take turns working the arm. Cabana bridges over for a cover. Cabana puts the referee between he and Wayne. Another cover for two. Slap by Wayne. Front facelock by Wayne. Running high knee gets two. Forearms make Cabana mad. He comes back with forearms. Running kick. Wayne hits a flapjack. Knee off the second rope. Wayne goes to the top rope. He meets the double boots of Cabana. Right hands. Off the ropes and into a series of jabs. Elbow strike. Whip into the corner. Flying Apple. Lariat leads to a two count. Wayne blocks an elbow and hits an uppercut. Flying ass by Cabana gets two. Wayne drives Cabana into the corner. Cabana takes him up and over. Cabana punches Wayne. To the top they go. Wayne headbutts him down. Wayne hits a flying headbutt to the prone Cabana. 1-2-NO! Cabana applies Billy Goat’s Curse. Referee breaks the hold. Wayne drives Cabana into the middle rope. Death valley driver gets three.
Match Analysis: Out of nowhere ending aside, this was an excellent contest. Cabana really showed his professionalism by putting together a good match and ultimately putting Wayne over. Wayne is someone who has a definite future in indy wrestling. Cabana… he shouldn’t even be in indy wrestling. I don’t feel the need to say why.
Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Eric Wayne/11:21/***1/4
–Edmund McGuire interview. He’s the champ and usually has a lot to say. Tonight is not the case. McGuire should consider wearing sunglasses to nullify the fact that he’s not comfortable looking into the camera.
-Excellent video package explains why Hunsperger and Masters are about to have a match. This was a very well done package. Whoever put this entire show deserves major props.
-Mike Masters vs. Kevin Hunsperger
Match in Five Words or Less: Better Than Cole And Lawler
Match Summary: Masters goes after his inexperienced opponent multiple times, but Hunsperger counters. Hard slap to Masters. Boot and a bodyslam response. Series of stomps. Leaping leg drop. Choke in front of the referee. Chinlock. Masters rakes at the eyes. Chops in the corner. Hunsperger ducks one final one and hits some of his own. Knee to the gut and a kick by Masters. Back to the choking. Masters uses the tape to choke Hunsperger. Masters drives Hunsperger into the middle rope. Crowd gets behind Hunsperger. Masters continues delivering punishment. Hunsperger ducks so Masters lands on the middle rope. Clothesline and a bodyslam for two. Crowd wanted that nearfall. Low blow by Masters. Clothesline. Sitdown scoop slam but Masters lifts him up. Masters goes for a chair. Chris Hagstrom wants the match to be stopped. Masters threatens to hit Hunsperger with a chair. Instead, he sits down. Awesome heel move there. Hagstrom distracts the official. Jay Spade nails Mike Masters right in the head with a chair. Hunsperger covers and gets the victory.
Match Analysis: There’s something about this match that worked. I can’t put my finger on it, but these two put together the kind of match that is forgotten in wrestling. They didn’t have to resort to high spots or a lot of insanity. All these two had to do was tell a story. Kevin Hunsperger should probably never step in the ring again, but him valiantly defeating the heel this one time made for a great atmosphere. I’ll give a little context to the match since it might explain why the match didn’t completely fail. Hunsperger is actually a local celebrity in the area because hosts a morning news show on a local ABC affiliate, so it’s possible many of the folks who came to this show, came for this match. Regardless, Masters did a great job carrying Hunsperger. I can’t rate this, not because I hated it, but because I’m not even sure how.
Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Kevin Hunsperger/9:19/N/R
-No Disqualification-AAPW Heavyweight Championship: Edmund McGuire (champion) vs. Axe Allwardt (w/Gaylord Stevens)
Match in Five Words or Less: Kill The Ref!
Match Summary: McGuire is pretty over. These two have been feuding for nearly a year, and this is the blow-off. Stevens helps his man from the get go. It is no DQ. Stevens hits Allwardt with an umbrella. McGuire takes control. Out of the back suplex and a clothesline sends him over. McGuire comes off the top with a swanton to the floor. Well, that was ridiculous. Belt shot to Allwardt. McGuire chokes Allwardt with a shirt. Stevens grabs the champion’s foot. Challenger hits a knee strike. Stevens delivers more kicks, and because he got beaten down earlier, he chooses to stay outside. Good story there. Knee strikes in the back. McGuire hits a running kick to the chest. Clothesline and a DDT. Cover but Allwardt had his foot on the rope. The official didn’t even see it. Powerslam. He whips the champion with his belt. Chinbreaker by McGuire. Off the ropes and a back body drop. Now McGuire uses the belt. Allwardt begs off. Stevens again nails McGuire in the back. Spinebuster leads to a two count. Allwardt knocks the referee down. A second one comes in and counts two. Allwardt punches the second referee down. A third official goes in the ring like an idiot. McGuire small packages Allwardt for two. McGuire superkicks the third official accidentally. Stevens boots McGuire on the outside. Allwardt maintains the advantage on the outside. McGuire uses the umbrella. Bodyslam. McGuire heads up top and hits a leg drop. One of the three referees counts two. Stevens goes on the apron. McGuire becomes distracted. Allwardt hits a piledriver for two. How did he do that? Do you know how close they are to Memphis? He should have been hospitalized. Stevens wants Hagstrom’s chair and even shoves him down. Shane Rich steps in front. Stevens gets the chair and hands it to Allwardt. Allwardt sets the chair up. McGuire back drops him. Superkick. Superkick for Stevens. One more for Allwardt and a three count.
Match Analysis: I feel like these two could have had a perfectly fine brawl without all the referee bumps. I’d be interested to see what McGuire can do in other types of matches.
Winner (s)/Time/Rating: STILL AAPW Heavyweight Champion-Edmund McGuire/14:27/**1/2
Final Thoughts: In lieu of giving a straight thumbs up or down, I want to provide an extended critique on the show. Am I copping out? Yes. But, this is my review. And my website. J
The production on the DVD was top notch, right up there with some of the best independent wrestling companies out there. If I were to put in an AAPW DVD against a DG USA, PWG, ROH, or CHIKARA DVD, AAPW would probably top all of them as far as pure quality of video and audio. The pictures were crystal clear. I noticed multiple cameras being used. It just came across as a top of the class promotion. Even the little things like having backstage interviewers talking to the wrestlers in a well-lit studio make a huge difference. I can’t say all the promos were A-level, but at least everything could be seen and heard clearly.
I watch a lot of indy wrestling, and the fact that this promotion was able to get instant replays incorporated at the end of (and in one match during) gets them bonus points. It really made the endings feel significant and something worth paying attention. Also, if someone missed something the first time, it gave the announcers a chance to make a point or have the ending sink into people’s minds. I hope they continue with the instant replays as it adds a lot of value to the product.
Relating to production, but I also wanted to give props on the actual editing of the matches. There were some clear cases in which wrestlers were covered by quick cuts and moving cameras. Considering the kind of talent in AAPW, I think it’s hugely important to continue editing shows in a very careful manner and with this level of care. I mean no disrespect to the wrestlers, but even the best ones don’t always hit a move flush.
When it comes to announcing, I feel like some work can be done in this area. No one individually did a poor job, but I felt like there needed to be more defined roles. One person should be calling the moves while the other analyzes. Having a three person announce team probably didn’t help. I find it’s best to avoid these situations as often as possible because everyone is trying to talk, and there’s no time for a little silence or to let a point sink in. A two man booth would greatly enhance the announcing in my opinion. I honestly have a hard time thinking of a good three man team in any sport or wrestling.
Finally, there’s the wrestlers. Some of these guys can potentially make a very positive difference for the company while others have no business being brought back. In reading the review, you can clearly tell who’s doing well and who AAPW strongly needs to consider not using anymore. In the overall sense, I walk away from this show with a positive vibe. This was not a perfect show, but I see this company doing a lot of big things in 2012 and beyond.
I would like to take this opportunity to publicly thank AAPW for being a sponsor on Pro Wrestling Ponderings, but just know I wasn’t any easier on them because of this fact.
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