The show opens with your hosts and commentators Tyler Volz and Marty DeRosa, who briefly run down the card including special guest Tenille Dashwood, who will later be appearing in a six-woman tag team match. This is brief and sets the table nicely for what’s to come.
1. Paco d. Pat Monix in 2:29
The first match of the evening sees the debut of Midwest standout Pat Monix, who’s made a name for himself in promotions like Freelance Wrestling and IWA: Mid-South. Monix has changed up his look and attitude as of late and has finally made it to the big stage of AAW. His first opponent is Paco Gonzalez, who is celebrating a birthday. He’s had an up and down 2018 filled with big moments and big disappointments. Up: Going toe-to-toe with ACH at the Logan Square Auditorium in the match of the night; down: getting squashed by MJF in three minutes a month or two later; Up: Winning the Heritage Rumble in LaSalle, earning him a championship opportunity against Trevor Lee. Paco looks to continue that momentum heading into his title shot with a win over Monix.
This match is brief but for an opener, it does what it was meant to do as it gets the crowd hot and sets the table for the rest of the show. I’ve been waiting patiently on AAW to pull the trigger on Paco, who gets in some nice-looking offense, including opening with a little Lucha, while Monix gets to shine in front of a new audience. Monix seems to be working heel here, and he jaws at the fans a couple times, mocking them. Paco wins with a Cradle Shock. I think these two easily could have gone twice what they were given, and as such, it never really gets out of the gate. **
Following the match, Sarah Shockey comes out for an interview with Paco, asking him about his forthcoming opportunity against Trevor Lee on May 5 in LaSalle, before they are interrupted by WRSTLING. David Starr sings Paco “Happy Birthday,” which gets the crowd behind Paco before running him out of the ring. Starr puts over Trevor Lee and then begins running down Eddie Kingston. The crowd wants Eddie to “fuck him up,” but he refrains and instead puts on a WRSTLING T-shirt at Starr’s request.
2. WRSTLING (David Starr, Eddie Kingston & Jeff Cobb) d. Dezmond Xavier, Keith Lee & Zachary Wentz in 16:30
Heritage Champion Lee is out with an illness, so tonight WRSTLING is comprised of David Starr, Jeff Cobb and Eddie Kingston, who for months has been under the thumb of the group, and Starr specifically. They are challenged by the team of Scarlet & Graves… or is it The Rascalz… Dezmond Xavier and Zachary Wentz, with big brother Keith Lee as their heavy. This match is contested under WRSTLING rules, which means count outs and disqualifications are applicable.
The match-up starts hot with Xavier and Starr getting in some fast-paced action, and this one rarely lets up the whole way through. A quick but fun Lucha segment between Lee and Cobb shows off both men’s athleticism, while Wentz and Xavier get in some solid tandem offense. They are one of the top tag teams on the indie circuit today, and that is evidenced by how cohesive they are as a collective. Wentz does a face-in-peril segment where he gets to show off his superior bumping ability, and he takes several throws from Cobb that leave him looking a mess. For two guys who work together just once a month, Cobb and Starr have already shown fantastic chemistry, including a nifty-looking side suplex/superkick combination.
Lee’s hot tag is tremendous, and the crowd is up for it. The match eventually breaks down into dives from Wentz, Xavier and Lee, who crashes atop WRSTLING with a huge tope con hilo. The match comes to a close when Cobb hits Tour of the Islands on Lee, who’d just taken a pounding from Starr and Eddie. If this was to be Keith Lee’s final match in an AAW ring, he not only looked good here, but he went out on his back, putting over Cobb and making the rest of the team look good. A fun contest that got plenty of time to kick it up and build necessary momentum. ***3/4
Lee gets on the mic post-match and puts over his partners as the future of pro-wrestling. This is the typical send off promo we’ve gotten used to seeing the last three years in AAW, but Lee sells it with heart and conviction. I wish the big man nothing but good things in his future.
Sarah Shockey interviews the Besties in the World and ACH backstage. ACH lays the sarcasm on real thick, saying he and Trevor Lee’s one-minute match was grueling and stole the entire WrestleMania weekend. Fitchett continues the bit, but Davey Vega is not fucking around and guarantees he and Fitchett will hold their championships for a long time to come.
3. Sami Callihan d. Joey Janela and DJZ in 10:08
Janela is freshly removed from a wild WrestleMania weekend where he main evented his own show against the legendary Great Sasuke, while both Callihan and DJZ have been working overtime to further establish themselves. DJZ worked an insane schedule down in New Orleans, and there is absolutely nobody more genuinely hated on the indies than Sami. Throwing three highly motivated guys into one match sounded like a great idea on paper, but did the match-up deliver accordingly?
The match starts hot, as all three men look to establish themselves early, before the action spills into the crowd. DJZ throws both Callihan and Janela over the guard rails before jumping over said rails onto them. Back in the ring, Janela grabs DJZ and tosses him off the top rope and onto a group of fans seated on the stage. Sami sets up a chair in the center of the ring and delivers a Falcon Arrow to Janela for a near fall. In a moment of genius and excellent execution, DJZ hits a combination neckbreaker/DDT to Callihan and Janela at the same time. There is a great near fall on a ZDT from DJZ to Callihan, who barely gets his shoulder up, to DJZ’s utter dismay. DJZ leapfrogs from the stage, over the ring post and into a DDT on Janela in perhaps the spot of the match. Callihan finishes things off with a double-arm shoulder breaker to DJZ for the three in what was a firestorm of a match from beginning to end, lacking in the tropes that usually plague three-way dances (specifically “two men in, one man out”). ***1/2
Sarah Shockey is backstage to interview Paco (again) about his match with Trevor Lee on May 5. Paco says that the Heritage Championship is everything he has been working toward while displaying the necessary confidence to get the job done.
4. AAW Tag Team Champions Besties in the World(c) (Davey Vega & Mat Fitchett) d. OI4K (Dave & Jake Crist) in 7:18
The Besties in 2018 have gone great lengths to establish themselves as one of the top tag teams on the entire independent scene, winning championship title after championship title, and drawing national buzz by incorporating former WCW Champion David Arquette into their act at Pancakes & Piledrivers down in New Orleans. This is a team that keeps getting better and better, but OI4K has been making moves of its own in IMPACT Wrestling as Ohio Versus Everything, or OVE. Check out their match from IMPACT’s “Redemption” pay-per-view if you haven’t already, as it proves these two guys, along with Callihan, are each on top of their game.
Scarlett Bourdeaux is out with the Besties and she’s looking like a million bucks. Mat Fitchett apparently is ill but still able to compete. The match starts off hot with Dave landing a forearm on Fitchett, and before you know it, things spill to the outside. Jake and Dave hit some suicide dives onto the Besties before the action moves onto the stage. Dave nails Vega with what appears to be a tall boy beer can, and I really hope that fan had gotten his money’s worth out of it. Vega executes a sweet-looking flipping dive off the stage, over the ring post and onto his opponents. Back in the ring, the Besties begin working over the boys from Ohio, including hitting a tandem running knee/Air Raid Crash combination. The Killers come back with some double teams of their own, including a tremendously crisp superplex/powerbomb combo onto Fitchett. OI4K hits its tombstone/double stomp on Fitchett and Jake covers him for the pin, but Vega is there to roll up Dave for the three count as the commentators explain that they were, in fact, the legal men. A fun match that had a slightly confusing ending, and I can only imagine this came off even more confusing to the live audience. **1/2
Sarah Shockey is backstage with the Lucha Brothers, Penta and Rey Fenix, who talks up his title match with ACH. Penta calls out Teddy Hart prior to his match with him later in the evening.
5. AAW Tag Team Championship #1 Contender Ladder Warfare: AR Fox & Myron Reed d. Curt Stallion & Jake Something and Stephen Wolf & Trey Miguel in 17:58
All three teams have equal claim to the Number One contenders spot for AAW’s Tag Team Championships and have been putting in extra work to get there. Fox and Reed train together and have proven most impressive as a unit, while the “Air Buds” tandem of Wolf and Miguel have added striking to their already overstocked arsenal of flips, making them a much more evenly balanced team. Then there is the pairing of Curt “Lone Star” Stallion, who always draws a heat-heavy reaction from the audience, and his beefy partner, Jake Something. These six men will all factor into the company’s future going forward, so this match already has a lot going for it in that regard.
The match kicks off with Fox and Reed each hitting cutters before the bell, while Fox’s “Space Jam” theme tune is still going. Fox is wearing purple Mardi Gras beads, as he is likely still celebrating WrestleMania weekend. The action continues on the outside, as has been a recurring theme for this show, and the first big moment of the match features Something walloping Stephen Wolf with a massive spear into the rail. The madness then makes its way into the crowd, and quickly Fox and Miguel find their way atop the bar. Miguel hits a giant Spanish Fly to Fox off the bar and through a conveniently placed table.
Back at ringside, Something struggles to put on Stallion’s leather vest in a subdued but hilarious moment. Everybody is hitting hard and with purpose at this point in the match. In the ring, Fox throws a steel chair at Stallion’s head, then hits a coast-to-coast dropkick onto Stallion, who has a chair covering his face. Ouch. Something then throws a ladder at Fox. As everybody gathers on the outside, Something takes a leap of faith and lands a massive Mike Awesome dive onto his opponents in a really cool spot for the big man. Not to be outdone, Wolf hits a spinning torneo onto everybody, while Wolf hits a step-up spinning, flipping dive of his own. Fox follows that up with an over-the-corner dive onto everybody. This is awesome stuff at a fever pitch, and it doesn’t appear to be letting up.
Fox then sets up a ladder between the guard rail and the ring apron, and I’m suddenly afraid of what comes next. Stallion cuts him off, though, and grave danger is avoided, at least for now. Something takes that time to powerbomb the hell out of Wolf onto a ladder set up in the corner of the ring in a brutal moment. Myron rides the ladder like a see-saw from the top rope, crashing down onto Miguel. Stallion hits a lunging headbutt onto a steel chair held by Miguel and hurts himself, which draws a stupefied reaction from Miguel in another amusing spot. Fox sets up a chair and sits Miguel down, then grabs both him and chair and hits a wicked-looking package piledriver. A tower of doom spot is next, featuring all six men, with only Something making it out unscathed. All six men then trade various strikes. Something kills Miguel with a big Black Hole Slam, followed by a headbutt off the top from Curt.
Wolf puts Something on a table and delivers a frog splash to him off the ladder, driving him through the table. Miguel sticks Reed’s head under the turnbuckle and beside a chair, then connects with a 619, which looks killer. The match ends with Fox hitting a 450 splash onto Wolf as he lay draped on a ladder suspended between two chairs. This match is everything you want to see out of superstars of this level, and all six men contribute equally to what turns into a glorified match of the year contender that I would put up there with anything else I’ve seen in all of 2018. Nonstop action, immeasurable brutality, and a whole hell of a lot of chemistry make this one click. Go out of your way to see it, as it’s worth the price of the MP4 or DVD alone. ****1/2
Joey Janela cuts a promo outside 115 Bourbon Street expressing his exhaustion following a fully loaded WrestleMania weekend — this show takes place the Friday immediately after that, remember. He says he puts his body on the line every time he’s in AAW, but he’s seen as a glorified loser by his peers. He says Keith Lee garners tons of praise in the locker room while he’s nothing, but on June 23rd, that’s going to change.
6. Ace Romero d. Maxwell Jacob Friedman in 8:15
These two simply don’t like each other, but then again, is there anybody Maxwell Jacob Friedman does like? Beyond himself, of course. Since his debut in January, MJF has been a lightning rod, a proverbial heat magnet, drawing the ire of every crowd he puts himself in front of, and pissing off one of the biggest guys on all the independents, Ace Romero, who has proven himself much more than a theme song. MJF has flexed his Twitter muscles recently at Acey Baby, rolling off fat jokes and the unfortunate nickname of, ahem, “Turkey Tits,” toward Romero, to his expected chagrin. This unfair treatment of the big man, and what happened during last month’s show, has led to this match.
Max cuts off Romero with an insulting promo, offering his usual shtick. He calls Romero a “side show circus freak” and throws shade at the crowd, then says Romero is going to die early due to his size. He offers an olive branch to Ace, who shakes his hand and doesn’t let go, and the match is on. Ace opens up by throwing MJF against the ropes, using the ring as a weapon. MJF gains control and starts working on Romero’s limbs, starting with his arms, then struts in the center of the ring like Jeff Jarrett or Ric Flair. Your mileage may vary on that one. MJF begins jawing at the crowd, not focusing on Ace, who makes a comeback and hits a gigantic diving cross-body from the second rope. MJF keeps working the arm, hitting a double stomp to it from the second rope. He then spits on Romero, who fires back with slaps to MJF’s face.
MJF hits a piledriver while Romero is tied up in the ropes. Romero hits a rebound destroyer and then a gigantic suicide dive to the outside, followed by a discus lariat for the three. This was a good setup to the remainder of this feud, which will next feature a dog collar chain match in LaSalle on May 5. Nothing fantastic, and it honestly didn’t need to be, but each man is getting properly over, and that is what ultimately matters, right? **1/2
7. Penta el Zero M d. Teddy Hart in 7:44
This match was originally set up at December’s “Windy City Classic XIII,” which featured a somewhat overlong promo from Hart in which he put everything over, from the fans to the company to the city to Penta himself. Both men factored heavily into “Joey Janela’s Spring Break II” over WrestleMania weekend, so this was an ideal time to run this match. Hart has had an interesting year or so, making a solid comeback before surrendering himself to the state of Texas on an outstanding arrest warrant, all the while refusing to do a job or two along the way. Basically, Teddy being Teddy. Penta, meanwhile, has been on a steady incline, working some high-profile matches with the likes of deathmatch superstar Nick Gage, and winning the IMPACT World Championship a week after this show.
The crowd is well hyped up for this one, even before the bell rings, and that’s a testament to how successful each of these men has been in the squared circle. The match opens with a handshake, “code of honor” style, before devolving into strikes. Penta rips off Teddy’s tank top and chops him down, as only he can. Teddy hits a huge Yoshi Tonic out of the corner on Penta, and then hits a slingshot moonsault to the outside. Teddy nails Penta with a piledriver while Penta is caught up in the ropes, just like MJF did to Ace Romero in the previous match. The match starts hot and the audience is into it. Teddy drops Penta with a top-rope DDT, but his arm appears weakened or injured, as it drapes to his side in a worrying moment, as the referee checks on him. Penta calls off the match, but Teddy persists and Penta hits an enzuguiri, forcing Teddy to the outside. Penta then executes the Fear Factor package piledriver for the victory.
This match started off well enough but it was clear Teddy couldn’t continue, so they wisely finished it up as quickly as they could. In another world, this would have been a Match of the Year Candidate, but it was not meant to be, though a sizable part of me wonders whether Hart played up the injury to give himself an out to lose to Penta rather than losing to him clean. Was this a case of a guy legitimately hurting himself ? Or another tale in the ever-growing story of Teddy being Teddy? **1/2
Penta gets on the mic post-match and takes responsibility for quote-unquote hurting Teddy and asks for a rematch as “tonight had no winner.” The crowd chants “one more match” as Penta promises they will do it again. Teddy takes the mic from Penta and puts over the fans of indie wrestling to a good response and chants of “Teddy.” He then puts over Penta, who he says came from nothing and worked his way up through the ranks to become one of the best luchadors on the planet.
Sarah Shockey is backstage with AR Fox and Myron Reed to ask them about their match against the Besties in the World on May 5. Reed gets much-needed promo time, and Fox hammers home the point that they are going to ball out and take the AAW Tag Team Championships very soon.
8. Hudson Envy, Samantha Heights & Tenille Dashwood d. Jessicka Havok, Kimber Lee & Su Yung in 13:35
All six of these women have history in AAW, in various respects, minus Dashwood, who is making her debut. They compete on this night in a six-woman tag team match, with no apparent stakes, though a winner on the Dashwood’s team would potentially make for a new number one contender to champion Jessicka Havok’s title.
The match starts out with Dashwood and Lee, with some good grappling for the first minute or two. Yung has been holding a kendo stick since she passed through the curtain, but the referee does his job and confiscates it, despite the fact that AAW matches are no-count out and no-DQ by default. Whatever. Yung attempts a red mist on Envy, but she misses, and Envy looks scared. Havok then faces Heights, who is half her size as she jumps on her back and tries to pull off a choke that doesn’t really do the job. Dashwood and Kimber Lee are both in the ring, and they have a pretty solid face-off before each tags out. Yung takes the lead and removes a glove from her bra, and then slaps Heights with it before laying in a Mandible Claw. Lee then distracts Havok with the championship belt on the outside before leaving he match, forcing her partners to finish the job for her. All right. Dashwood hits a thrust kick, and Envy ends it with an Air Raid Crash of her own. This wasn’t very good, and it would’ve been better if it was two women’s matches, with Dashwood getting her own singles match. *1/2
Sarah Shockey is backstage with Ace Romero and he talks about his upcoming match with MJF, whom he faces in LaSalle on May 5.
9. AAW Heavyweight Championship: ACH(c) d. Rey Fenix in 8:57
This main event features two men with a little bit of history between them, as ACH was the one to defeat Fenix for the title back in February at “The Chaos Theory” in LaSalle. While this particular match-up features little-to-no build-up, these guys each have enough go-get-um that they could put on an instant classic at any moment, in any venue, at any time. Would they pull that off on this evening?
Fenix jumps the bell with a knee strike as the commentators play up the fact that ACH defeated Trevor Lee in New Orleans in record time, so it’s clear this match wasn’t long for this world. ACH hits a suicide dive to the outside. Some great counter work is displayed by both men. Fenix chops ACH as he goes into a taunt. ACH lands a moonsault kick to Fenix, who is positioned on the top rope for a near fall, following it up with a frog splash. Fenix nails a double stomp off the top to ACH’s shoulder and then hits a twisting Muscle Buster for a two. The crowd is split 50/50 at this point. With Fenix on the top rope, ACH jumps up to grab him, drops him with a superplex and then connects with the Buster Call brainbuster for the win. This was short and could have used another five minutes, at least, as it ends right as the two are finding their footing. These two are capable of much more. **3/4
Post-match, ACH says he has received the worst news in the world last night and that he gave it his all, then chews out a fan before thanking rest of those in attendance before leaving.
In the post-match interviews, Kimber Lee is backstage and cuts promo on Havok, saying she only cares about herself nowadays and that she’s coming for the title. Sami Callihan is in a dark, closed-off room showing off a black eye and says pro wrestling is real, putting over DJZ. He says he wants a one-on-one match with him, as they have never shared a ring in that capacity before reaffirming that he is “the draw” of AAW. Sarah Shockey has vital information for MJF, who says he decimated Ace Romero during their match. Shockey says AAW is disgusted by his actions and that he has a dog collar match with Romero on May 5 in LaSalle. David Starr and Jeff Cobb run down Eddie Kingston for smoking cigarettes, handing him water to refresh himself. They say they’re starting to embrace WRSTLING, making Eddie great again, and scene.
This is in a way a tale of two halves: one great, one subpar. The first half of the show featurs three solid-to-stand out matches culminating with that epic ladder warfare match, while the remaining four matches all leave a little to be desired. This is an issue for AAW shows, where whatever takes place prior to intermission is killer, while the back half of the shows tend to struggle, for whatever reason. Match lengths is one of those reasons. The six-woman tag did not need 13-plus minutes, and it was easily the worst match on the card, while the main event really could have used more time. When matches don’t have enough time to hit that next gear, they suffer because of it.
Overall, this is a good show that is worth the purchase from Smart Mark Video, but far from one that is perfect or even “great.” AAW’s production on these things is where they really shine, as the camera work is outstanding, and the amount of promos and backstage interviews breaks the monotony and makes for a meatier product on the whole. It is nice to see guys like Paco and Myron Reed get some time to talk and develop their characters and their motivations, while standouts like Starr and Callihan always bring the goods whenever a camera is on them.
6.5/10