The One Where Eddie Goes to the Amusement Park: Top of the Card from NEW Six Flags Slamfest 6/19/22

Sammy Guevara/Tay Conti vs. Ashley D’Amboise/Flip Gordon

MD:  This was not the best use of my time on a Sunday morning but I had a whim, and the whim was to watch this show and after the Eddie match, I sort of felt committed, so here we are. Why not write about it. I was expecting Sammy and Tay to go for huge heat, even with the family friendly crowd, but they were slapping hands and smiling big. I have a feeling we're not going to see this Tay for a while, so one more look isn't the worst thing, given that she's about the most natural babyface imaginable. Flip goaded them into putting their AAA titles on the line and they did. Cagematch says Sammy and Flip haven't wrestled each other since 2017 and the story of the match was it being a brofest between the two of them while the women wanted to scrap. To be fair, some of it, mainly both of them managing to land on their feet after 'ranas or headscissors takeovers was pretty impressive and them rushing to hug after the fact fed into what they both currently are, even if it clashed a bit with Flip's goading. Within the context of the match, you get the sense they just couldn't help themselves. The only heat Flip got wasn't anything to do with Sammy but when he tripped Tay on the outside. Tay had one fairly complex exchange with D'Amboise and then the intricate counter-laden tandem finishing stretch and it was fine. What makes Tay interesting to watch isn't her execution but her enthusiasm and exuberance as she really just throws herself into everything. This had a few too many rolls into moves for me, but you also sort of knew what you were going to get. You can't fault the timing or the athleticism between Sammy and Flip. Finishing stretch was cutesy but again, that's part of the charm of the Sammy/Tay act right now. It'll get old sooner than later, especially in settings where they're not trying to get nuclear heat, but for now I'm not so old and jaded that it's not at least a little bit fun to watch them have the time of their lives. 

Eddie Kingston vs Brian Anthony - FUN

MD: Look, if someone wanted to go GREAT on this, I wouldn't argue, but some of that is seeing the novelty of sanitized Eddie. In 2022, we live in a special world where Eddie Kingston can co-main event a family friendly show like this, get probably the best reaction, and be a variation on himself that still feels completely genuine. Who could have predicted this? SC's last reviews with Brian Anthony are from Lawler matches in 09 and he's just been a lifer as top heel in this promotion. Kingston came down slapping hands and the first half of this was him beating Anthony around the ringside area like only he can. But, remember, this is a family friendly theme park show, so as he chopped him and walked around with him in a headlock, he was sure to slap hands with the crowd. The best part was when he tossed him to the back, rushed back to break the count, and went to get him. He tossed him back through the curtain, disappeared himself for a bit as the fans chanted Eddie, and then came back with a salad to toss in his face. The heel manager, Vito, interfered to set up the heat, which was ok. You have to appreciate Anthony, with nothing in his gimmick to call for it, going for the shoulder claw nerve hold as his main wear-down move in 2022, but Eddie sold it like you'd expect. When the time came, he came back with the exploder, ate some powder from Vito, dodged the double team attempt, and threw a blinded backfist for the win. Post match, he cut off his music, played nice with Vito, backfisted him too, and then tossed his shoes into the crowd in theme park Cryme Tyme manner. Sanitized Eddie. What a sight.