-Taped from Marion, Illinois
-Your hosts are Kevin Hunsperger and Chris Hagstrom
-Truk Thompson vs. Benjamin Boone
Match in Five Words or Less: Opening Squash
Match Highlights: Thompson has been on a bit of a winning streak on television, so this is AAPW’s way of showing off one of their potential stars on a big show. Boone is making his AAPW debut. Boone uses his quickness and savvy early to get the advantage. Dropkick sends Thompson down. He gets a one count. Thompson hits a spinebuster. Thompson cranks the neck. Boone tossed through the middle rope to the concrete floor. Boone sort of sent into the steps and medal rail. Blows to the back by Thompson. Thompson continues absolutely nailing Boone in the ring. Bodyslam. He walks right over Boone’s chest. Fishermen’s suplex eventually hit on Boone. Now to the chinlock. Elbows from Boone. Off the ropes with a shoulder tackle. Big clothesline. Thompson press slams Boone and gets the victory.
Match Analysis: There appeared to be some miscommunication in this match and some awkward moments. Thompson is an all right power guy who needs some seasoning. I’d say he has potential but needs work. Boone is a guy I’ve heard and seen very little of, and I almost wonder if Thompson was the best possible match-up for him.
Winner (s)/Time Rating: Truk Thompson/4:04/*
-Cheyenne refers to the fans as cretins and puny humans, thus establishing herself as a fine Saturday morning cartoon villain. She says Stacy O’Brien got lucky and says there is no absolution for Serenity. Well, thank God for that because AIW has a perfectly fine women’s division and there were no women’s matches booked for that show. Cheyenne hates Serenity and says her butt belongs to her. Good evil cackle ends the promo.
-Matt Cross talks about being glad to be in AAPW. He wasn’t able to pull out a victory and refers to his time on “Tough Enough.” With no Gregory Iron, Cross and Sykes will have a mystery partner assigned to them. Sykes says he can be someone and go around the world just like Matt Cross.
-The Great Cheyenne vs. Serenity
Match in Five Words or Less: Good Versus Evil
Match Highlights: Hey, at least Serenity isn’t in a match where Billy Corgan’s brother is involved. I’d consider this progress. This is the very definition of a heel versus babyface match as Cheyenne is wearing all black and Serenity’s gear is very colorful. Shove into the corner. Serenity with strikes in the corner. Big elbow. Clothesline. Cross body gets two. Boot to the midsection. Serenity transitions into a headlock. Back suplex sends Serenity down hard. Into the two count. Double axehandles to the back. Double axe again to the back. Side suplex gets two. Cheyenne stomps right on top of Serenity. Cheyenne stretches Serenity out in a camel clutch. Another stomp to the head. Running double axehandle to the vagina of Serenity. She does it again. Now she stomps on Serenity’s private area. That’s just mean. Cheyenne picks up and drops Serenity. Serenity comes back with chops and right hands. Running dropkick. Cheyenne takes a walk. Cheyenne trips Serenity up and rubs her face in the mat. Whip in the corner. Running clothesline. Another whip and clothesline follow-up. A third whip but Serenity gets her boot up. Solid double axehandle and blow to the back. Forearms. Poke to the eye by Cheyenne. Scoop slam into a chinlock. Back elbow by Cheyenne. Boston crab by Cheyenne. Serenity grabs the bottom rope. Headbutt. Serenity hits a clothesline and boot. Serenity mounts Cheyenne and hits a series of right hands. Cheyenne reverses a whip. Clothesline blocked. Cheyenne catches Serenity. Into a cradle for two. Clubbering blows by Cheyenne. Samoan drop. Cheyenne hits a cannonball and gets the victory.
Match Analysis: Not the most technically sound match at times, but this was an easy story to tell considering the competitors. Cheyenne has a great gimmick and appeared to be the stronger of the two wrestlers. Would like to see her matched up with a better girl in the future to really see what she’s all about.
Winner (s)/Time/ Rating: The Great Cheyenne/10:01/**
-Team Overkill starts out by cutting a promo with their backs to the camera. Matt Cage admires himself in the title. Some fun stuff. Christian Rose literally kicks the bucket. Someone throws Christian Rose a ball as Matt Cage talks about stereotypes. LOL at his comments on a certain group of people running. Cage threatens to pull a Jeff Jarrett. He says Ace Hawkins and Brandon Espinosa are indeed a minor threat. I’m a sucker for props in promos so this was all good to me.
-No Limits Fatal Four Way: KC Jackson vs. Sean Vincent vs. Joey O’Riley vs. Jay Spade
Match in Five Words or Less: X Vincent Out?
Match Highlights: All four of these men won quarterfinal bouts to advance into the semifinals of the No Limits tournament. It’s like the X Division. That’s the simplest way for me to put it. I’m glad the smaller guys can now do their own thing for AAPW as it was getting tiresome seeing them get squashed on television by bigger guys. This is a preview of the semifinals and not an actual part of the tournament. Vincent takes some punishment early and gets clotheslined over the top rope. Vincent tosses Spade into the rail before delivering a hard chop. O’Riley and Jackson battle in the ring. Spade hits headscissors on Vincent. Jackson with a shoulder tackle back in the ring. Hip toss by O’Riley. Code of honor between O’Riley and Jackson. Leapfrog and a series of armdrags by Jackson. Spade hits a cross body on his partner. Jackson rolls Spade up for a two count. Vincent rams O’Riley into the post and then tosses him into the stairs. Chinlock by Spade on Jackson. Chop into the post. Jackson hits a back elbow on Spade. Elbow drop. Off the ropes with a leg drop. O’Riley sent into the ring post. Vincent rolls Jackson up and gets two while holding the tights. Monkey flip out of the corner. Springboard moonsault misses. Clotheslines by Jackson on Vincent. Punches in the corner. Spade rolls Jackson up for two. Dropkick on Vincent. Right hands. Vincent low bridges Spade. Jackson sends O’Riley into the stairs. Vincent hits a springboard leg drop across Jackson’s back. 1-2-NO! Snap suplex by Vincent. O’Riley placed into the tree of woe. Dropkick misses and he crotches himself across the post. O’Riley grabs a headlock. Stomp by Spade on Vincent. Right hand and dropkick sends Vincent in the corner. Jackson kicks O’Riley out of the ring. Spade hits a DDT off the middle rope. Some conflict between Triple X leads to Spade being rolled up by Vincent. Rana by O’Riley on his own partner. Vincent with a boot. Spinning heel kick and a series of shoulder blocks. Snake eyes. Jackson enters. Face plant and kick to the head by O’Riley. Phoenix splash on Vincent. Spade pulls him out. Now the partners are arguing again. Jackson hooks in an ankle lock and Vincent has no choice but to tap out.
Match Analysis: The stories in this match were very well executed and were probably the best stuff of the whole show. Vincent’s injury would lead to him being taken out of the tournament. O’Riley and Spade could not get along throughout the match and had some screw-ups (within storyline) between the two of them. Jackson was able to take advantage and pick up some momentum for himself. Solid work from all four here.
Winner (s)/Time/ Rating: KC Jackson/9:02/**3/4
-Spade and O’Reily argue in the back. There needed to be a better microphone as I could barely hear what they were saying.
-Short promo from the challengers for the tag team titles. Espinosa relates their winning the titles to the St. Louis Cardinals winning the World Series as Espinosa is wearing the appropriate hat. Sometimes short isn’t always bad.
-Matt Cross, Kyle Sykes, and Billy Hills vs. Mark Sterling, Bradley Charles, and Chase King
Match in Five Words or Less: Showcase
Match Highlights: No real issue here. Jeremy Wyatt and Gregory Iron were supposed to be involved in this match, but injuries took them out. Charles starts out with Hills. High ten in the corner by Hills on Charles. Test of strength controlled by Hills and he stomps on Charles’s hands. Charles grabs a waistlock. This goes nowhere as Hills sends him into the corner. Dropkick out of the other corner by Hills. Clothesline sends Charles out. Cross and Sterling come in. Cross quickly exits with a dive on Charles. Sykes rolls up Sterling for two. Sykes holds a headlock on Sterling. One foot dropkick. Cross body. Back to the headlock by Sykes. Cross with a stomp. Double team hip toss. They kip up and hit double elbow drops. Cross taken into the corner. Series of strikes and knees by King. Stomps by Charles. Double teaming behind the official’s back. Heat segment on Cross continues. Sykes hits a clothesline and forearm as he enters. Dropkick on Sterling. Running chop to the head. Big leaping knee strike leads to a two count. Charles distracts the referee as Sykes preps for a move in the corner. He goes shoulder first into the steel post. Stomps by King and now we have a heat segment on Sykes. Sykes fights his out of the corner but Charles drives him back. Not a creative spot but well done. Sykes ducks a punch and tags Cross. Shoulder tackle and handspring elbow on Charles. Twisting DDT on Sterling. He lifts King in an airplane spin and takes the partners out. Neckbreaker out of the death valley driver position. Sykes hits an asai moonsault on King and Sterling. Charles had gotten out of the way, but Hills throws him in the ring. Double team with Cross and Hills. LARIAT by Hills. Cross hits a shooting star press for the win.
Match Analysis: The best part about six and eight man tags is the way they get to showcase multiple people in one match. People don’t get exposed and the fans can easily get into things. I hope AAPW considers booking these sorts of matches for every big show to use some of the veterans wise and can take a look at some potential new roster members. Because they only run three to four “DVD tapings,” I’d argue this is more feasible.
Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Matt Cross, Kyle Sykes, and Billy Hills/13:51/***1/4
-Ax Allwardt has harsh words for Heath Hatton. He talks about liking to hurt people and contrasts this with Hatton’s recent match for WWE as well as his overall body type. Ax’s promos are very strong and he did a fine job building up the match.
-Bull Bronson vs. Justice
Match in Five Words or Less: Big Man Battle
Match Highlights: Bull Bronson is undefeated in AAPW, and this is his literal biggest challenge to date. Shoving match to start. Clothesline by Bronson misses. Justice hits a shoulder tackle to knock his opponent down right away. Lock-up goes to the corner. Shove by Bronson. Justice ducks and hits a series of left hand punches. Bronson whips Justice but misses a clothesline. Shoulder tackle by Justice sends Bronson in the corner. Shove by Bronson and a clothesline. Choking along the bottom rope. Elbows by Justice. Clothesline hits. Bronson with right hands on the floor. Justice rammed into the post. He rakes the face and delivers a blow to the back. Right hand in the face and an elbow. Knee strike. Running boot as fans run away. Bronson rammed into the guard rail. Justice sends him inside. Boot by Bronson. Kick and a shot to the midsection. Back elbows. Left hands by Justice. Clothesline by Bronson. Bronson hits a huge bodyslam. Leg drop connects. Bronson fires back with more punches. Shot to the throat. Whip across. Running splash in the corner. Bronson hits a vertical suplex. Justice hits a Bossman slam. Both men are down. Bronson comes out of the corner with a clothesline. Big splash and that’s enough to get the victory
Match Analysis: A bit slow but solid. Bronson established himself as a giant killer yet again. An okay match to come out of intermission with.
Bronson calls for the microphone and again talks about being the biggest and baddest of AAPW. No one can touch him. Then the Mississippi Madmen comes out. If Bennett and Mondo are the semi main event, and if Tommy Dreamer versus The Sheik is the main event match of my nightmares, Bronson and Madmen would certainly be on the undercard. Bronson backs down and walks out.
Winner (s)/Time/ Rating: Bull Bronson/8:44/**
-Heath Hatton talks about the pageantry of the event taking place tonight. He talks about being ready and excited for tonight. It’s not a joke, bash, or party. It’s a butt kickin’! Hatton buries Allwardt six feet under for whatever reason.
-AAPW Tag Team Championship: Team Overkill (Christian Rose and Matt Cage) (champions) vs. Minor Threat (Brandon Espinosa and Ace Hawkins)
Match in Five Words or Less: The Future Is Here
Match Highlights: Trust me when I tell you this is the match I’m most looking forward to on this show. Champions attack right away, and there is an immediate heat segment on Espinosa. Espinosa sent to the outside. Right hand but Cage hits him. Hawkins saves his partner and sends Espinosa back in the ring. Rose hits a sweet sliding dropkick. The fun continues for the champions. Espinosa hits a shoulder block on Rose. He takes Cage out. Roll over and tag to Hawkins. Flying clothesline and back elbow on Rose. Running bulldog. Tope suicida on Matt Cage. Espinosa hits a dive of his own on Rose. Rose tossed back in the ring. Series of kicks by Hawkins in the corner. Forearms. Off the ropes. Hawkins sends Rose over. Forearm by Rose and a huge springboard acecrusher is hit by Cage. Champions work Hawkins over now. Hawkins hits a jawbreaker but eats a boot in the face. Hawkins lifts his boots in the corner. Roll-up but Rose hits a solid punch to the face. Hawkins selling of that move was beautiful. Hawkins handsprings away and tags Espinosa. Leaping clothesline and double chops on Rose. Uranagi backbreaker on Cage. Backbreaker out of the tiger driver position. Whip reversed on Rose. Rose locks in the Boston crab. Hawkins dropkicks Cage. Hawkins hits an acercrusher off the top rope. Cage sends Hawkins into the rail. Espinosa covers. 1-2-NO! Cage with a save. Gutbuster by Rose leads to the running knee by Cage. Hawkins breaks the count and dropkicks Cage out of the ring. Forearms on Rose. Hawkins with a cross body in the corner. Cage tosses a tag belt in the ring and tosses Hawkins off the top rope. Rose nails Espinosa with the championship belt and picks up the victory for his team. Champions retain.
Match Analysis: Best match of the show even with a screwy finish. At least the ending leads one to believe a rematch will take place, which is what you want out of this scenario. Great work by all four men as these guys are the future of AAPW. Hawkins might be new to the business, but he came across exceedingly well on DVD. His selling and bumping were outstanding. Espinosa definitely wrestles like someone who would fit in with Ring of Honor. Cage and Rose are one of my favorite teams on the indy Midwest scene.
Winner (s)/Time/ Rating: STILL AAPW Tag Team Champions-Team Overkill/12:28/***1/4
-Espinosa and Hawkins make it clear their journey to the belts isn’t over yet. They vow to come back and wrestle Team Overkill in the future.
-Ax Allwardt (w/Gaylord Stevens) vs. Heath Hatton
Match in Five Words or Less: Heath Hatton…Main Eventer?
Match Highlights: Hatton keeps up the trend of tonight and goes to work quickly. Back drop and a dropkick. Hatton clotheslines Allwardt over the top to the floor. Big splash onto both men. Chop in the ring. Sunset flip but Allwardt grabs onto his manager’s umbrella. The referee kicks it away and we get a nearfall. Hatton hits another dropkick. Stevens gets on the apron but Hatten becomes distracted. Allwardt hits Hatton in the back. Allwardt steps on Hatton’s neck. Stalling vertical suplex followed by an elbow drop. Stevens chokes Hatton behind the official’s back. Hatton elbows out of a chinlock. Allwardt comes back with a back elbow. Whip in the corner and a double axehandles. Series of axehandles and then choking. Stevens chokes using the umbrella. Chinlock by Allwardt. Jawbreaker by Hatton. Series of right hands. Whip across but a blind charge misses. Leaping clothesline by Allwardt hits. Fist drop. Stevens puts the boots to Hatton. Kicks and right hands by Hatton. Knee to the midsection by Allwardt. Backbreaker leads to a two count. Whip across and a series of double axehandles to the upper body of Hatton. Whip across and a spinebuster by Allwardt. Cover for two. Hatton ducks and goes for a series of clotheslines. Back elbows off the ropes. Swinging neckbreaker hits. Hatton goes to the top. Stevens tries interfering but gets kicked away. Allwardt joins Hatton on the top rope. Allwardt hits a superplex. 1-2-NO! Right hands by Hatten. Allwardt accidentally clotheslines the referee. Hatton hits a missile dropkick and covers. No ref. Stevens tries using the umbrella but fails. Hatton clotheslines Stevens down hard. Allwardt connects with the umbrella. 1-2-NO! Allwardt goes for the piledriver, but Hatton counters into a face plant DDT. This is good enough to get him the win.
Match Analysis: Hatton is a rising star within AAPW, and this is the sort of match he really needs to get himself into the upper echelon of the promotion. It makes sense for him to get the victory considering what happened in the previous match and what is about to happen. Just a solid professional wrestling match that people who only like workrate might have trouble getting into. Nonetheless, I enjoyed this match a great deal and hope Hatton continues to develop himself.
Winner (s)/Time/ Rating: Heath Hatton/11:52/***
-No Disqualification-Title vs. Career-AAPW Heavyweight Championship: Edmund McGuire (champion) vs. Mike Masters
Match in Five Words or Less: Epic
Match Highlights: The video package that airs before does a tremendous job telling the story. Masters was fired for hitting a fan at a previous AAPW taping after losing an AAPW title match to McGuire. Sean Chambers, the owner of the promotion, brought Masters back to get a beating from McGuire in retribution for the fan. If Masters loses, his AAPW career is over. The fans are deeply into this one. Immediate attack by McGuire. Series of right hands out of the mount position. Running punt and a dropkick. Choking by McGuire. Masters with a right hand and clubbering blow to the back. Double axehandle and a knee strike. Choking. Masters rakes the champion’s back. Uppercut by McGuire. Masters sent into the rail. Bodyslam on the concrete. McGuire pulls out three camera cases. Masters sent flailing into the cases. I hope SIU doesn’t need those back. McGuire hits Masters with a case. Choking against the floor. Masters sent into the ring post. Masters hits the champion with a tire. Next, he goes for a trash can. Trash can lid right to the head. He hits the champion in the back. Masters rakes McGuire’s face along the fence that is along the entrance way. Security is all over the place. Big shot to the throat. Masters misses another garbage can shot. McGuire hits Masters in the head. Garbage can to the back. McGuire charges but Masters lifts the garbage can time. Someone in the security force tosses tape to Masters. Masters tapes McGuire’s knee to the bottom rope. Masters goes to work on the injured leg of the champion. McGuire limps up and hits Masters a number of times with the chair. Chops and blows to the back by Masters. Knee driver and again with kicks. Masters stomps on the knee. McGuire hits a superkick but he can’t cover because of the injured left knee. Second superkick blocked. Leg kick by Masters. Into a reverse figure four leglock, the same move he defeated Mike Sydal with weeks earlier. McGuire won’t tap. He can’t reach the bottom rope. Sean Chambers comes out and throws the towel in on behalf of McGuire. Masters is the winner by submission technically and thus the new champion.
Match Analysis: This was outstanding storytelling from start to finish. Workrate wise, this wasn’t exactly the typical independent wrestling main event. This match and company is all about storytelling, particularly in the main event. The heat for this was incredible. People were crying afterward. Great job by Chris Hagstrom selling just how bad of a situation this was. Everyone played their role to perfection. Masters was a great heel with his mannerisms and behavior. McGuire sold his leg tremendously well for the entire second half of the match. A big hearty thumbs up to all of this.
Winner (s)/Time/ Rating: NEW AAPW Heavyweight Champion-Mike Masters/13:39/***1/2
The Verdict: January’s Main Event show felt like a one match show with a mixed bag of okay and bad matches occurring throughout the rest of this show. Summer Chaos was a significant improvement over Main Event in a lot of ways. The individual promos from the wrestlers looked and sounded better. The storylines came across well because of the video packages that aired before many of the matches. There was also a better flow to the show as not every match felt the same with heels getting the advantage using similar chicanery. A lot of the matches started off quickly. This made sense because of the amount of grudge matches that came in the second half of the show. I can honestly give this show a thumbs up and in no way apologize for it. AAPW is not a perfect company. There are still some questionable decisions being made about certain guys, and the audio levels on this show seemed to be a bit off, particularly with the announcers coming across too loudly at times. Nonetheless, this promotion put together one of its best shows ever with Summer Chaos.
You can purchase this DVD, watch AAPW Collision, watch AAPW All-Access, and listen to From the Rafters Radio on AAPW’s website.
In addition to wrestling podcasts, I am also a proud co-host of a show specifically geared toward Mad Men. Please check out all of our previous podcasts here. You can also download them off of iTunes.
Contact Pro Wrestling Ponderings!
E-mail: prowrestlingponderings@gmail.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ProWrestlingPonderings
Twitter: www.twitter.com/pwponderings
Youtube: www.youtube.com/pwponderings
Contact ME!
E-mail: jcusson07@gmail.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com/jeromepwpeditor