-Taped from Berwyn, Illinois
-Your hosts are Phil Colvin and Derek St. Holmes
-Silas Young comes out with Val Malone. Malone has an injured left arm, but she’s healthy enough to talk. AAW has written Malone’s real injury into the storyline as it’s said Elgin is the one who caused her to get screws put in her arm. Young doesn’t see any real men in the crowd or in the locker room. Young is the last real man in professional wrestling. Feel like I’ve heard that before. Arik Cannon walks out with a lot of beer. I’m talking a nearly full case. Cannon talks about Young beating everyone… except him. Beer can in the face to the champion. Young comes back. Cannon clotheslines him. Short suplex and reigning right hands. Knee to the midsection and Cannon sent into the top turnbuckle. Belt shot misses. Cannon yells Young with the case of beers. Brainbuster. Cannon talks about the battle royal and then beating Young tonight. Mason Beck hits the ring and tackles Cannon And here come the other competitors.
-20 Man Battle Royal-Winner gets an AAW Heavyweight title match
Match in Five Words or Less: Nice To Know You
Match Highlights: Well, everyone is in the ring now. Even Joey Eastman is in the battle royal! Not much play-to-play to be done here. Beck clears the rings of some jobbers before then dumping a lot of other roster guys. Eastman dances around the ringside area. Somehow Bobby Beverly and Eric Ryan survive the first half. Eastman elimimnates Danny Daniels in a clear highlight. Tweek Phoenix is not happy. Eastman works Beck’s body. Then he eliminates himself. Johnny Gargano takes Gregory Iron up and over. Cannon fires away at Beck in the corner. Silas Young trips Arik Cannon. Beck dumps Cannon. Cannon chases the champion. Gargano, Ryan, Beverly, and Beck go after Whitmer. Beck turns on Gargano. Running splash misses. Whitmer eliminates Ryan and Beverly at the same time. Whitmer chops Gargano. Rake of the face by Gargano. Whitmer finally gets Gargano out. Running boot by Beck. Young yells at him from the apron. Beck vows to win and challenge for the belt. Strikes out of the corner by Whitmer. Spinebuster by Beck. Beck Mountain blocked. Whitmer lifts him out of the ring and wins the battle royal.
Match Analysis: Fairly simple story here with Beck looking dominate throughout the match only to lose to someone like Whitmer. Whitmer has never faced Young in AAW for the heavyweight title. I can never rate battle royals, but this one told a pretty decent story and at least didn’t waste too much of our time.
Winner (s)/Time/ Rating: BJ Whitmer/7:36/N/R
-Samuray Del Sol talks about travelling around the world and says his name will never be forgotten… I think. We see Louis Lyndon warming up. Lyndon says it’s his time.
-Jordan McEntyre (w/Ryland Foxx and Eryn) vs. MsChif
Match in Five Words or Less: Poor Jordan
Match Highlights: MsChif slaps McEntyre in the face and applies an Indian deathlock. McEntyre grabs the bottom rope. Abominal stretch. He threatens to use a thumb but gets poked in the eye. MsChif drops McEntyre in three atomic drops. Foxx trips her up. Camel clutch and he has a bit of a sexy party. Into the Boston crab. More gyrating. Whip to the corner. MsChif rolls him up and gets two. Firemen’s carry and he dumps her. Springboard elbow gets two. Off comes the belt. MsChif nails him a little low. Now she wants the belt. Hard shots to the back. Foxx almost gets hit, but McEntyre takes another one in the side. Yoshi Tonic gets two. McEntyre hits a superkick. Tiger driver blocked. Headscissors. McEntyre on top…sort of. Oof. MsChif locks in a headscissors with an armbar. Eryn pulls her off and gets misted. McEntyre holds MsChif. Cane shot to the head. Desecrator gets three.
Match Analysis: There were a couple of awkward moments, but this was an overall okay match for its position. It got MsChif back on track and builds her back up for a rematch with Danny Daniels down the road.
Winner (s)/Time/ Rating: MsChif/6:22/*1/2
-Shane Hollister and his circus talk. I got nothin.
-Louis Lyndon vs. Tweek Phoenix
Match in Five Words or Less: Lyndon’s March Begins
Match Highlights: Lyndon controls Phoenix on the mat. Series of ducks and misses. Stalemate. Lyndon gets a roll-up before applying a full nelson. Kick by Phoenix. Forearm by Lyndon. Moonsault misses and then he hits a rana. Phoenix back drops Lyndon way over the top and to the floor. Yeesh. Lyndon sent into the top turnbuckle. Lyndon gets boots up. Abdominal stretch into the octopus hold while on the top rope. Phoenix kicks the rope out, thus crotching Lyndon. Running back suplex. Clubbering blow by Phoenix. Roll-up by Lyndon gets two. Double sledge by Phoenix. Boot misses. Lyndon recovers and springboard forearms Phoenix. Phoenix rolls outside. Lyndon kicks him. Rana down to the floor. Lyndon hits a dragon suplex for two. Lyndon misses a springboard moonsault. Phoenix hits a discus lariat for two. Headbutts from Phoenix. Roll-up for two. Lyndon whips him across. Guillotine choke into a roll-up for three.
Match Analysis: This didn’t get a lot of time, but Lyndon looked solid in getting the victory here. Tweek Phoenix is in a weird position. His work as a tag team was outstanding, but he seems to be struggling with the adjustment. Maybe after what happens later, Phoenix can sort of break out and change both his gimmick and moveset a bit.
Winner (s)/Time/ Rating: Louis Lyndon/7:16/**
-Samuray Del Sol vs. Marco Cordova vs. TD Thomas vs. Knight Wagner (w/Ryland Foxx)
Match in Five Words or Less: An Odd Combination
Match Highlights: When you’ve got four guys without a match, just do a four way. Del Sol has certainly been making a name for himself in Evolve and DG USA recently. Del Sol and Thomas begin. Short exchange of holds. Shoulder tackles by Del Sol go nowhere. Leapfrog. Del Sol cartwheels. Thomas lands on his feet. Wagner tags himself in. Kick and a clubbering blow. Elbow. Thomas gets a belly-to-belly suplex. Exchange of front facelocks. Vertical suplex followed by an elbow drop by Thomas. Shot to the chest by Wagner. Tag to Cordova. In with a right hand to the back. He shoves Wagner. Forearm exchange. Clothesline off the ropes. Bodyslam followed by a running stomp on Del Sol. Thomas begins no selling Cordova’s offense and hits some kicks. Forearms. Kicks by Thomas. Snapmare. Into the corner for a shoulder tackle. Cordova sent head first into the buckle. Shoulder tackle. Snapmare and a dropkick to the back by Del Sol. Springboard dropkick. Clothesline ducked and a superkick. Cordova hits a clothesline. Overhead throw. Hard tag to Wagner. Forearm exchange. Chinlock and a crossface by Wagner. Knee o the midsection. Russian legsweep. Time to drop the legs. Cordova with kicks. Hard front first whip and a series of strikes in the corner. Choke in the corner. Forearm by Cordova. Roundhouse kicks and slaps from Del Sol. Cordova catches Del Sol and drives him into his knees. Shoving match between the heels. Thomas becomes legal and battles off both men. Spin kick. Wagner hits a kick of his own. He jumps and goes groin first into his foot. Ouch. All four men are down. Wagner forearms Del Sol. Whip and knees in the corner. Big kick by Del Sol. Right hands. Wagner crotches Del Sol on the top rope. Dropkick and they both crash to the floor. Cordova beels him by the hair in the ring. Dropkick to the corner. Package DDT. Thomas with slaps and an enziguri. Del Sol gets a shoulder tackle. Thomas catches him with a powerslam. Kick to the chest by Thomas. Big right hand. Whip reversed. Side kick. Thomas catches Del Sol. REVERSE RANA! Cover for two. Right hands by Cordova. Spike rana by Del Sol on Cordova gets three!
Match Analysis: Very fun four way with good action all around. Marco Cordova is a former AAW wrestler on the comeback trail, yet he may have been the most impressive of the four competitors. Some nice power moves. Thomas, Wagner, and Del Sol continue to show their month to month improvement as well.
Winner (s)/Time/ Rating: Samuray Del Sol/13:57/***1/4
-Danny Daniels and Jesse Emerson discuss what happened in February. Neither man is particularly happy about it of course. However, tonight they can get a measure of revenge against Darin Corbin and Marion Fontaine. Daniels even threatens their lives
-Shane Hollister (w/Marcus Crane) vs. Dan Lawrence
Match in Five Words or Less: Shane’s Rise Begins
Match Highlights: Marcus Crane is becoming the skater version of Jakob Hammermeier. Dan Lawrence says nasty things about the Cubs on the way out, thus earning my respect right away. Lawrence sends Hollister right to the corner. Series of strikes. Right hands. Atomic drop ducked. Lawrence gets a clothesline. Chop and cobra clutch Russian legsweep. Hollister takes Lawrence into the corner. Boot out of the corner and a face wash. Tope suicida on Hollister and Crane. He takes a drink and nails Crane with a cup. Hollister throws Lawrence face first into the rail. Back in the ring. European uppercut gets two. Knee to the midsection. Paint brushes and a kick to the head. Hollister Thrust on the middle rope. Stomps on the hand of Lawrence. Strikes in the corner. Boot by Hollister and back in the corner. Slingshot on Lawrence. More thrusting. Single leg kick right to the head. Snapmare into a stretching submission. Lawrence hits a knee strike. Back elbow to a charging Hollister. Boot up. Rana. Tornado DDT. Another whip. Lawrence takes him up and over. Enziguri. Lawrence drop toeholds Hollister into the middle rope. Face wash all the way outside. Springboard splash gets two. Hollister catches Lawrence with a superkick on the way down. Counter of the brainbuster. Knee strikes and a clubbering blow. Stunner and kick to the head. Nearfall. Chinbreaker by Lawrence. Final cut gets two. Lawrence placed on the top rope. Palm strike. Clubbering blows by Lawrence. Top rope rana. 1-2-NO! Crane gets on the apron as Lawrence climbs to the top rope. He gets caught and powerbombed. Brainbuster. Hollister picks up the win.
Match Analysis: Both of these guys are solid members of the roster at this point, so you almost know what you’re going to get. Lawrence isn’t the smoothest wrestler at times, but he gets the job done in AAW and has a lot of goodwill with the fans. Hollister is at the cusp of main event status. I’m talking right there on the borderline. He really needs that one match or moment to take him over the edge.
Winner (s)/Time/ Rating: Shane Hollister/11:43/***1/4
-Danny Daniels and Jesse Emerson (w/Truth Martini) vs. Darin Corbin and Marion Fontaine (w/Joey Eastman)
Match in Five Words or Less: Tweek Snaps
Match Highlights: House of Truth starts the match before the bell rings. Battle goes up and all around ringside. Fontaine sent into the crowd. Daniels tossed in the rail. Emerson and Fontaine take their fight into the crowd. Fontaine kicks Emerson back in the ring. Tea Bag misses. Flying elbow and a shoulder block. Tea Bag connects. Corbin and Fontaine get a hip toss. Double fist drop. Left hands from Corbin. Daniels with a knee to the back. DDT by Emerson. Heat segment on Corbin. Corbin gets out of a spike piledriver. Emerson suplexes him in the corner. Eastman gets on the apron and tosses his glitter hat. Emerson and Daniels send him back in the ring. Double low blows. Kick and stunner on Daniels. Tag to Fontaine. Missile dropkick and double knees. Low kick. Superkick. Emerson gets kicked in the arm. Springboard neckbreaker. Daniels chops Fontaine. Blind tag. Fontaine gets a springboard. Corbin hits a suplex and shoulder block. Corbin holds the ropes. Fontaine hits a tope suicida. Daniels rolls Corbin over. Flying acecrusher. 1-2-NO! Emerson tosses Fontaine into the post. Eastman brings two chairs in the ring. Daniels kicks one back in Corbin’s face. Facebuster into the chair but Emerson breaks the count. Eastman brings two more chairs to ringside. That makes the total four. Punches by Corbin. Shot to the throat and face wash by Daniels. Corbin knocks him back in the chairs. Tweek Phoenix comes out and tosses Corbin into the chairs. Daniels piledrives Corbin and gets the win.
Match Analysis: The match was going along pretty well until the last couple of minutes. The whole chair thing and some of the overbooking seemed a little needless. I understand the need to get House of Truth a measure of revenge after what’s been happening, but this was just a little too much for my liking.
Winner (s)/Time/ Rating: The House of Truth/11:22/**1/2
-Tweek Phoenix nails Eastman with a microphone and busts him open. He shouts at someone to help him. Apparently, this is AAW’s way of writing Eastman out of AAW. I for one am very sad I didn’t get to witness this live. He was always a personal favorite of mine, not just as personality but as someone to converse with. Heck of a way to go if nothing else. It’s worth pointing out most of the crowd is awfully crowd (in a good way) is quiet for this.
-Corbin and Fontaine are backstage with Joey Eastman, pleading with him to go to the hospital.
-Kevin Harvey comes out, and he’s all depressed. He buries Thunder in one of the greatest moments in AAW history. He rants and raves about all of the things he’s done with AAW and how everyone is so ungrateful. Jim Lynam comes out and announces he never liked Harvey anyway. Lynam says Harvey isn’t about all of the fans. He goes OFF about why he shows up every month. This was quite the promo. He ends his rant by firing Harvey. So that’s that I guess. I give AAW credit for keeping it brief.
-Josh Raymond and Christian Able vs. Eric Ryan and Bobby Beverly
Match in Five Words or Less: Michigan Versus Ohio
Match Highlights: At least Phil Colvin identifies Ryan and Beverly correctly this time. Able and Ryan start with a feeling out process. Some solid amateur and mat based wrestling. Pace picks up and Ryan hits a rana. Running kick misses. Able roll-up. Ryan gets a knee. Beverly tags in. Double low dropkicks. Running kicks. Chops from Beverly. Able belly-to-belly suplex. Beverly tries fighting out of the corner. Able hits a neckbreaker so Raymond can hit a senton splash. Snap suplex. Springboard moonsault. Shove off the ropes. Forearm and enziguri by Beverly. Back suplex into the top rope. Running kick leads to a two count. Raymond blocks a double team, but Ryan and Beverly recover and hit some nice moves. Back to the corner as Raymond sends Ryan there. Dropkick by Able. Able places Ryan on the top rope. Stalling vertical superplex. Stomps. Cheap shot by Beverly on the outside. Ryan low bridges Able outside. Dropkick by Raymond. Ryan hits a tope suicida. Backbreaker but a superkick misses for Beverly. Superkick by Raymond. Beverly hits one. German suplex by Ryan. Beverly gets caught on a dive and tossed into the rail. Able hits an Alabama slam. LARIAT! 1-2-NO! Double team powerbomb. Able covers but Beverly breaks the count. Raymond tosses Beverly and follows him. Ryan placed on the top rope. Chop by Able. Battle on the top rope. Beverly hits a DDT as Ryan double stomps Able. Cover by Beverly. Raymond makes the save. Beverly gets his boots up. Raymond tosses him right into an Able powerslam. Vegematic. Ryan breaks the count. Ryan hits a DVD on Raymond into the corner. Back elbows out of a waistlock. Running kick by Beverly. Series of superkicks. Able actually gets up before eating one more superkick. Cover only gets two. Raymond hits a boot. Slingshot facebuster. Basement dropkick. Able holds Beverly as Raymond skull crushes his head on the side of the ring. Huge boot by Ryan. Able lawn darts Ryan. LARIAT! Crisis Driver hits for Raymond. Big win and a hard fought win for this team.
Match Analysis: This was a really exciting and innovative tag team match, and I’m not sure where the crowd was for most of it. This is literally as exciting as you can possibly make a midcard tag. There was no formula involved here, just to very good athletic teams having a battle. I hope Ryan and Beverly can get more bookings out of this match because they looked like they belonged with Raymond and Able. A real gem of a match if you ask me.
Winner (s)/Time/ Rating: Josh Raymond and Christian Able/12:43/***1/2
-Gregory Iron vs. Jacob Hollows
Match in Five Words or Less: Hollow Victory.
Match Highlights: Hollows lasts longer than he did against Mason Beck and actually hits a nice backbreaker after some armdrags by Iron. Camel clutch. Hollows drops Iron face first. He sets up for some sort of slam. Go behind but some back elbows. Gimp slap and roll-up gets Iron the victory.
Match Analysis: Just a quick win to get Iron back in the win column. Hollows has a couple impressive moves, and I hope we can see more of him before making a full judgment on his career.
Winner (s)/Time/ Rating: Gregory Iron/2:03/*
-Iron still has a problem with one Shane Hollister. He lays down a challenge, asking him to come down the aisle for a fight. Hollister walks down (wearing sunglasses like any douche heel should) to say he won’t accept Iron’s challenge. But someone will.
-Gregory Iron vs. Markus Crane
Match in Five Words or Less: Two For
Match Highlights: Crane nails Iron from behind. Series of knee strikes. Chops by Hollister. Bubba Bomb. Single leg kick. Boot out of the corner. Sunset flip. Roll-up by Iron. Neckbreaker. Gimp slap misses. Swinging neckbreaker by Crane. Gimp slaps a prone Crane on the apron. O’Connor roll gets two. Leaping flatliner and Iron gets his second victory of the night.
Match Analysis: Iron gets a second victory to keep the issue with Hollister warm after beating the lackey.
Winner (s)/Time/ Rating: Gregory Iron/1:36/*
-Hollister hits a brainbuster on Iron. Dan Lawrence chases him off with a beer bottle. Iron lays down a challenge for he and Lawrence against Hollister and Crane which would take place at the next show. Hollister accepts and makes a joke about Iron’s mother. Not as bad as you would think.
-BJ Whitmer got real lazy in his time off. Now he’s getting a chance at Silas Young and he plans on winning the AAW title.
-Arik Cannon (AAW Tag Team Champion) vs. Johnny Gargano
Match in Five Words or Less: Open The PBR Gate
Match Highlights: Gargano finally comes out to the Ronin theme in AAW. Gargano goes for one of Cannon’s beers but quickly puts his down since he doesn’t know what to do with it. Drop toehold into an armbar by Gargano. Series of counters. Very good chain wrestling from both men. Gargano applies a hammerlock and bridges over. Armdrag and back elbow by Cannon. Into a reverse figure four leglock. Someone tosses him a beer. Cannon drinks it. Gargano reaches the bottom rope. Cannon drinks again. Beer mist in the face. Low bridge by Gargano. Tope suicida and a cannonball off the apron. Gargano takes a walk around the ring. Dropkick to the back. Gargano pulls out some hairs on Cannon. Snapmare and he asks for some water. Down it goes. Texas cloverleaf. Cannon reaches the ropes. Gargano spits water into Cannon’s face. Elbow to the back of the neck. Straight left hand. Cannon fights back. Chinbreaker. Back elbow out of the corner. Cannon hits a swinging neckbreaker. Bodyslam by Cannon. Second rope moonsault misses. Running forearm. Jumping knee strike followed by a leaping neckbreaker. Gargano twists Cannon in some sort of hold. He’s just got him all tied up. Hold is broken. Scoop slam and a series of stomps. Snap suplex. Gargano climbs to the top. Cannon shoves the referee and that crotches Gargano. Hard chop. Superplex blocked. Headbutt takes Cannon down. Short right hand by Cannon. Superplex. Cannon with a stiff forearm. Hard pair of clotheslines. Leaping back elbow. Cannon cartwheels over. Chop in the corner. Into another corner. Gargano gets his boots up. Cannon holds onto Gargano and bucklebombs. Off the ropes with a lariat. 1-2-NO! Gargano rolls him over and hits a kick. Over the top. Into the diving spear. Garga-No Escape but Cannon reaches the rope right away. Whip reversed. Cannon hits a pair of German suplexes only for Gargano to do the same. Enziguri by Cannon. Slap fight while both men are kneeling down. Forearms from both men. Superkick by Gargano. Big right hand. Off the ropes and Cannon gets another punch. Superkick. Total Anarchy. 1-2-NO! Cannon gives a thumbs down. Brainbuster countered. Hurts Doughnut countered. Glimmering Warlock misses. Hurts Doughnut! 1-2-NO! Running dropkick to the corner. Cannon follows up with the right hand. Brainbuster and Cannon finally picks up the win.
Match Analysis: Maybe this was a little bit slower than what you might be used to out of these two guys, but this was an excellent wrestling match between two Midwest talents. Some great chain wrestling early gave to some great nearfalls at the end. Nothing too outrageous but perfect for a semi-main event. It left just enough for the main event.
Winner (s)/Time/ Rating: Arik Cannon/17:17/***1/2
-AAW Heavyweight Championship: Silas Young (champion) (w/Val Malone) (champion) vs. BJ Whitmer
Match in Five Words or Less: Veteran Battle
Match Highlights: As much as I was looking forward to the previous match, I might be looking forward to this one even more. Extended sequence of mat wrestling to begin. Chop exchange. Young gets a knee to the midsection. Leg lariat by Whitmer. Young drops the left arm across the top rope. O’Connor roll blocked. Whitmer kicks the champion in the ribs. Whitmer’s left shoulder sent into the post. Young goes to work on Whitmer’s left arm. This goes on for several minutes. Whitmer comes back with a series of suplexes ending with a bridge and two count. Waistlock but Young gets some back elbows. Whitmer with a rana! Pin for two. Right hands to the arm by Young. Backbreaker but no clothesline. Fujiwara armbar. Whitmer hits a twisting fishermen’s suplex. A second one into a nearfall. Roll-up exchange. Kick to the shoulder and Young gets two. Nagasaki roll. Pee Gee Waja Plunge. 1-2-NO! Whitmer gets an exploder out of nowhere. Young puts his arm on the rope. Running knee met with boots. Roll-up with his feet on the ropes gets two. Right hands by Young and a running boot. Malone trips him. Pedigree and Young gets three.
Match Analysis: I’m disappointed the left shoulder didn’t play into the ending, but these two had the very definition of a professional wrestling match. These two veterans simply went out there and had a smart contest with minimal amount of stupidity. Whitmer did at least do a great job selling the arm, even after the match (at least I think he was selling). Solid main event to end the night.
Winner (s)/Time/ Rating: STILL AAW Heavyweight Champion-Silas Young/16:33/***1/2
-Silas Young brags some more. He mentions some of the guys
-Arik Cannon says Silas Young is scared of him and calls him out for June.
The Verdict: This wasn’t as good as Point of No Return, but this was another solid entry for AAW in 2012. Solid matches up and down the card. An exciting four way and a unique tag team match really make this feel like a unique card compared to what you might see on other wrestling shows. This was one of the easiest watches I’ve had this year. Thumbs up obviously.
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