Just 24 hours after writing an article lambasting a promotion for not serving their fans well and one week after seeing what another local promotion had to offer in the way of booking, I sort of knew what I was in for at Defining Moment. This event has a history of delivering in a big way. In 2009, Silas Young and Bryan Danielson tore the house down in a great match while Jimmy Jacobs became the AAW heavyweight champion. 2010 saw Tyler Black’s last match on the independent scene as he lost the tag team titles to Josh Raymond and Christian Able. Think about it. AAW lost their top star at that event, and they have not only recovered, but thrived in a tough independent wrestling environment. I saw tweets from people all over the country talking about AAW, something that I didn’t start seeing until this year. One person even bought the whole bloody 2010 collection at Friday night’s show. When I think about Defining Moment 2012, I will think of Silas Young taking a back drop through a ladder.
Yes, Mike Elgin is the new champion, and he deserves it. ACH picked up his first victory in AAW over Shane Hollister and could be someone for them to build around. Even Zero Gravity has come back better and fresher than they were six months ago. But Silas Young has been the workhorse of this promotion. While so many indies have passed on the chance to make him a full-time roster member, Young has been the man in AAW. He’s had an incredible amount of title defenses. Take away three months in 2011, and Young has been champion since Windy City Classic V in November 2009. In one moment at a show called Defining Moment, Young made his last sacrifice as AAW champion. No one said he had to it. Maybe the match didn’t need it. But Silas Young did it. It was an incredible bump, and if nothing else, fans got a chance to see the literal physical toll of his match with Elgin.
The main event of Defining Moment is also a match that happened at Path of Redemption, Point of No Return, and Ring of Honor’s Brew City Beatdown. What has made their feud so special is that each match has been different. Path of Redemption was a solid match marred by interference. Point of no Return was an epic encounter with so many twists and turns in a matter of 60 minutes. These two went back and forth and kept everyone’s attention for all 60 of those minutes. Brew City Beatdown came off to me as getting Silas Young a job. They worked extremely hard and focused on action. The final match in the series was about escalation.
There was a violence party in AAW last night, and the hosts were Silas Young and Mike Elgin. It is ironic that Val Malone was wearing an Aaron Rodgers jersey because if Roger Goodell had witnessed this violence in his league, Elgin and Young would have been tossed. Although the match went 39 minutes, it seriously felt like 20-25, even given the fact that Mike Elgin had trouble loosening the top turnbuckle. I think about 15 of those minutes were dedicated to Elgin taking the ring apart. But hey, at least we know everything was nice and tight right? Safety first. Anyway, these two guys tore the place up. They went to the men’s bathroom, took chances using a ladder, wore each other out with chairs, and even introduced a wrench into the proceedings. When Elgin won, it felt like the end of a great trilogy. It was exhilarating in that someone deserving won and came off as a conquering hero, but it was sad in that these two may never again get a chance to wrestle each other under these circumstances.
When people talk about the best feuds of the year, Silas Young and Mike Elgin absolutely has to be considered based on the match quality alone. They battled for the championship in main events and even extended their battles into another company. When I look at my year end ballot, I will seriously consider them for best feud. These two guys have a lot of respect from yours truly, and I can only hope other companies will see what these two have done and give them similar opportunities to showcase themselves as main event level competitors.
It’s so tough for me to write about this show because there were a lot of really solid matches on the undercard. As much as I talk about Elgin and Young in the main event, the undercard and midcard are also getting stronger with every show. Mr. Miller picked up a win over Cameron Skyy. Miller is definitely someone to watch out for on the final three shows and moving into 2013. He’s an underexposed guy who could be someone in the Low Ki minus the attitude. I hope Skyy can be shifted into a better position given that the Clash angle is sputtering out. Irish Airborne won a brisk match against Zero Gravity. Very action packed contest that packed a lot in eight minutes. Colt Cabana beat Jesse Emerson in a solid wrestling match, but similar to Skyy, Emerson needs to be put in a position to where he’s got something to do and can highlight his interview skills. Danny Daniels beat Lil’ Waylan in a nothing match. The leftovers were put in a six way match in the second half of the show. MsChif defeated Marcus Crane in a rather sloppy match. I was shaking my head during a lot of it, but it was at least chaotic fun.
I glossed over the match before intermission, not because I forgot about it, but because I wanted to highlight how incredible it was. When we talk about BJ Whitmer not having bad matches, well he was a part of a legitimate match of the night contender. I hesitate to say of the year only because I don’t want to put those levels of expectations on you the viewers. Whitmer and Sami Callihan wrestled Davey Richards and Kyle O’Reilly in a wild match as you might expect. Things were so good that they got a standing ovation in the middle of the match. This match was so good that the crowd really had trouble getting into the second half of the show. Regardless the match was great. People can say whatever they want about Richards and O’Reilly, much of it is deserved, but when they want to, they can have as good a match as any two people in the world. Callihan went over and will be the first challenger for Elgin’s AAW title. PWG may have done this already, but in a main event atmosphere, I expect these two top themselves. One final note. I desperately want to see Callihan and O’Reilly in a match one-on-one. Either PWG or AAW needs to make this happen asap.
One thing I remain somewhat dubious about is the “We are Coming” angle led by Kevin Harvey. I’m not convinced it will get over nor am I sure about the level of talent. Lamar Titan and Tweek Phoenix are fine supporting players, but I can’t see them being the centerpiecew of a great heel faction. Titan did his best to convince me otherwise in a fairly impressive match with Isaias Velazquez. Titan is to the heel part of the roster as Miller is to the babyface part. Phoenix had a perfectly fine match with Marion Fontaine, and at least AAW had them go 2-0 on the night. Kevin Harvey being the manager who doesn’t interfere and plays with fire has potential. Could be something different. Regardless, the group needs something… more.
I tweeted during the show about ACH being awesome. I should not have left Shane Hollister out because he’s far better than his 499 ranking in the PWI 500. It would not surprise me to see these two battle again. This was a showcase of two of the best in the company, which should say a lot considering the numerous other matches that took place on this night. Also, Marcus Crane is not a great wrestler per se, but a great stooge and lackey. He plays his role to perfection, and he’s a great person to have around for tag matches and warm-ups for Hollister.
Defining Moment 2012 is an easy recommendation for DVD, MP4, or streaming. It’s a contender for show of the year on the indies. Familiar faces put their working boots on. New faces are starting to break out. And to think, next month is the start of a triple shot with SHIMMER and November is AAW’s return to Bourbon Street.