If you go back and read my predictions for this year, you can have a good laugh at how wrong I’ve been. Seriously, Chikara died, and here I was assuming they’d make it the whole year. Silly me. I also said MsChif would win the AAW Heritage title. Hasn’t wrestled since March 1 in Bourbon Street. Finally, and most importantly for the purposes of this review, I said Shane Hollister wouldn’t win the AAW title based on some of the issues involving his entourage and match quality. Similar to Matt Taven, Hollister has to elevate himself above the fray. Thankfully, he’s elevated his game to the point where he absolutely deserves the AAW Heavyweight championship. Hollister is criminally underrated within independent wrestling, and his lack of a contract is a borderline joke at this point. On this night, it was about the AAW championship though.
Shane Hollister and Michael Elgin had the type of match I can almost start to take granted at this point. AAW just has these kinds of matches now, so you’ll forgive me if I develop a matter of fact attitude about them. They’ve set the bar and now have to meet it every month. Elgin is now that guy who has the best matches on the scene on every show. ROH, AAW, and AIW. Go look back at every 2013 show. I bet Elgin has had the best match on ¾ of those shows. Hollister is a man reborn in the world of professional wrestling since becoming a heel. He’s moving very quickly past Danny Daniels and Tyler Black’s shadow. Some general goofiness ultimately shifted Elgin and Hollister from being a match of the year contender, but this was still an excellent must see match. There was some very good back and forth in a very physical match where both guys looked exhausted by the end. I couldn’t believe the main went 27 minutes. Felt like 15. What a pace these two men kept up as they emptied out their movesets and kicked out of everything. Finally, Hollister took advantage of Elgin being distracted to get his first heavyweight championship in AAW. An incredible battle and a great way to end the show.
Hollister also maintained his heel streak by lowblowing Elgin after a show of respect. Heel to the end.
Sami Callihan and Samuray Del Sol were supposed to have a double farewell match before heading down to Florida to begin working in WWE developmental. Unfortunately, Callihan had problems with his moving truck, and some alternative booking plans needed to be made. Colt Cabana gamefully filled in as a tag team partner for Del Sol as they challenged Irish Airborne for the titles. Cabana had wrestled a fairly innocuous and mildly entertaining match with Dan Lawrence during the first half of the show, so he was able to be a part of this match and not drag it down. The Lawrence match was built as a grudge battle. Lawrence tried to counter Cabana’s comedy but kept failing in ways that were perfect for the story. Lawrence is a perfect Cabana opponent since he’s willing to make an ass out of himself and not take himself too seriously. I guess the grudge still isn’t over since Lawrence took Cabana out of the tag title match, leading to Del Sol getting destroyed after trying to fight back for much of the last five minutes. I’d classify this as a good match that made sense within the context of AAW.
After the match, Airborne tried to continue beating Del Sol down, but Kung Fu Manchu of Marion Fontaine and Louis Lyndon made the save and held the belts up. Out of context, you would have thought they just liked shiny belts or needed something to keep their pants up. In context, it all made sense since Fontaine and Lyndon essentially became number one contenders by defeating We Are Here of Lamar Titan and Tweek Phoenix. Based on a post-show promo, some obvious tension is starting to come through within the group as Titan took the loss in a solid opening match. Fontaine and Lyndon really bring out the best in each other and cover for deficiencies by being a team.
In the best tag team match on the show, Monster Mafia of Ethan Page and Josh Alexander conquered Zero Gravity in what was a great sprint. These two teams should certainly be booked more often against each other. The big man versus little man dynamic is so easy book that it’s almost unfair. Alexander and Page, similar to Kung Fu Manchu, are able to make up for each other’s deficiencies. In this case, it’s more perception since Page is pretty awesome on the microphone and in the ring. There are many things I will do in life. Measuring body fat isn’t one of them. Second best match of the show and you can see these two teams carrying the division for the rest of the year and into 2014.
A key aspect of the show was the gamesmanship between Eddie Kingston and Silas Young. They were kept apart this month to build up the heat. You got two Kingston promos for the price of one. Both were very strong and contributed big time to the DVD. Silas Young defeated Alex Colon in what essentially a re-debut. Colon won a quickie over Marcus Crane and wanted better competition. Young mocked Colon’s CZW a bit by referencing his best of the best tournament victory before they had a solid, engaging one-on-one match. Young knows his position on the card and is going to have an appropriate match. I’m intrigued by what AAW is planning to do with Colon. Kingston and Junthai Miller were having a fine match until Silas Young ran in to brawl with the former. Kingston hit another backfist because he’s a heel and should be getting the advantage over the babyface. I definitely think Kingston should have beaten Miller clean since he’s not nearly as established in AAW as he is in other places. It’s more of a quibble, but Kingston and Young both should have won on their way to a one-on-one match.
In women’s action, Heather Patera won her second consecutive match over Heidi Lovelace, this time thanks to some cheating. Solid match given the time. I like they’re trying to build a woman’s division with these two. Patera is sneaky good, and Lovelace is an outstanding bumper/seller. The idea is Lovelace learned a lot from wrestling Patera the first time, but she still couldn’t overcome a cheating opponent.
Final notes. Matt Cage showed up and talked about challenging ACH for the Heritage title. Two solid promos here. Ryan Boz beat Jordan McEntyre in a pointless match. I don’t see McEntyre cut a promo on every show since he pretty much says a lot of the same stuff…and then loses. Christian Rose defeated Tony Rican in a match where the winner was never in doubt. The most important part of his segment was Marek Brave attacking Rose to set up a non-sanctioned match for Scars and Stripes.
Bound by Hate was another very good show in a series of them for AAW. There’s some really good work being done by everyone throughout the show. AAW is becoming a destiny indie. You can really see the hard work being put in by the roster and behind the scenes folks. Now if only we could insure Sea-Man never cuts a promo again, I’d be a happy guy.
Grade: B
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-Taped from Berwyn, Illinois
-Commentators: Phil Colvin and Derek St. Holmes
-Kung Fu Manchu (Louis Lyndon and Marion Fontaine) defeat We Are Here (Lamar Titan and Tweek Phoenix w/Kevin Harvey and Nikki)by pinfall. Fontaine pins Titan after a springboard moonsault/9:48/**3/4
-Heather Patera defeats Heidi Lovelace by pinfall after a roll-up while holding the tights/7:54/**
-Alex Colon defeats Marcus Crane by pinfall/1:20/N/R
-Silas Young defeats Alex Colon by submission with the stock lock/9:57/***
-Christian Rose defeats Tony Rican by pinfall after Ride the Lightning and forearm/5:04/*
-Colt Cabana defeats Dan Lawrence by submission with the Billy Goat’s Curse/9:06/**3/4
-Eddie Kingston vs. Junthai Miller goes to a no-contest after Silas Young interferes/10:00 approximately/***
-Ryan Boz defeats Jordan McEntyre by pinfall with the Boz Driver/2:44/*1/4
– Monster Mafia (Ethan Page and Josh Alexander defeat Zero Gravity (w/Bret Gakiya and CJ Esparza by pinfall after a double dominator on Esparza/12:23/***1/2
-Irish Airborne (Jake and Dave Crist) successfully defend over Samuray Del Sol and Colt Cabana by pinfall after a tandem spike piledriver on Del Sol/13:28/***
–AAW Championship: Shane Hollister (w/Scarlett and Marcus Crane) wins his first championship by defeating Michael Elgin by pinfall after Shug’s Last Step/27:15/****
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