Monday AIW: Matches from AIW Bobblehead Night 9/20/19

ER: Phil wrote this show up several months ago, so I figured I would swoop in and watch the matches I wanted to watch from it, and add any worthy matches to our 2019 MOTY List!


Bitcoin Boys (Mikey Montgomery/Eric Taylor) vs. Aeroform (Louis Lyndon/Flip Kendrick) vs. The Production (Danhausen/Derek Director) vs. 40 Acres (AJ Gray/Tre Lamar)

PAS: AIW four team scrambles are maybe my favorite thing in current wrestling. This match was missing some of the regular standouts (WHERE ARE THE FUCK-ITS?!?!), but was still a blast. This match was really high flyer heavy and we got some really nifty dives by the Bitcoin Boys, Aeroform and Tre Lamar. There was also some nasty double teams, including a spot where Derek Director takes Tre Lamar on his back and smushes a Bitcoin Boy with a cannonball in the corner. The Bitcoin Boys had some moments of questionable offense, but took huge uncalled for beatings in this match, and that is always fun to watch. I didn't love the finish, and this wasn't at the level of the best AIW 4 way tags, but that is a super high bar to clear.

ER: This one didn't hit me the same as the best AIW multi man tags, but as Phil mentioned they have established a high bar for these types of matches. I think the only real dips in action centered around Danhausen working as Danhausen, and everyone kind of needing to hit pause while he Danhausens. I've really been digging the Bitcoin Boyz on these shows, they're real brats who have no problem leaning into enziguiris and getting tossed around, and I love how they'll also cheapshot and jump Aeroform and continually write checks they can't cash. The dives were fun, with Aeroform hitting stereo Asai moonsaults to the floor and Eric Taylor hitting a tope con giro through Mikey's legs. AJ Gray was wrecking people left and right, loved his big lariat. Derek Director was a big standout for me, and the backpack cannonball is a fantastic move. The saves kept things moving nicely, and I was left wanting more (in good ways and bad ways!) after a surprise Bitcoin roll up. I liked this and these AIW matches always scratch an itch, sometimes the scratch is more satisfying and lasting.


41. Philly Marino Experience (Philly Collins/Marino Tenaglia) vs. To Infinity and Beyond (Cheech/Colin Delaney)

PAS: Another absolute banger from these two teams, I can't remember the last time a tag rivalry has been this consistently excellent (maybe Usos vs. New Day although that got worn out after a while.) The storytelling of this match was a bit different, your previous matches have been all about PME trying to climb the mountain and unseat the champs, here they have knocked TIAB off that mountain and are trying to keep them down. Cheech and Colin are a bit less sure of themselves, a little more desperate and PME are on a roll. Philly takes a huge backdrop onto the ramp and sells a bad back for the finishing run really well, that little bit of tentativeness costs him a couple of times. We get good heat sections on both PMErs and a cool hot run, with Infinity trying all of their dirty tricks. I loved the couple of big near falls after the hot tag, and the super Sunset Dreams is a great escalation finish.  I also appreciate how both team work towards real heel and face reactions, there is no "Fight Forever" or "Both These Guys" chants in their matches, just beloved babyfaces fighting against dastardly heels.

ER: This was great, and I too appreciate the different structures that their tag matches have taken on. I never feel like I'm watching the same things done somewhat differently, as they really feel like they try to bring a different approach to each match. I like how they've matched up (at least) half a dozen times and don't necessarily do callbacks to prior matches, but their motivations change match to match. That's a fun, sustainable way to have a bunch of matches with the same guys and have it still feel fresh. It also helps when both teams are really great, which is what this is. These teams know each other and that history is implied throughout. Marino had a great undersized babyface performance here, loved that moment where Cheech is blocking him from breaking up a pin, so Marino just flies in with a springboard blockbuster, sacrificing his body to send everyone into a dogpile; later he punts Cheech from the apron, get his second attempt caught by Delaney, handsprings off the apron and superkicks Cheech past Delaney's ear, and then gets lit by a Delaney roaring elbow. There are always so many moving parts to these matches, and they're always new, never revealing where they're going until we get there. I really liked Philly's back selling, from taking a gnarly hip toss from the ring to the entrance ramp. Phil was right, he's not out here hamming it up, but it did slow him down and did cost him; rubbing out his hip while getting Irish whipped felt like he took something great out of Eddie Kingston's notebook. I love the efficiency of these tags, as we don't ever get bogged down in shock faced kickouts and chant milking. Here, when PME unexpectedly kicked out of a potential finish, Delaney just sat on the mat shaking his head laughing, like "These guys are gonna make me hurt them" before getting right back to just that. Marino and Delaney both take great bumps off DDTs, and I loved the early fun of "cutting Marino off, then cutting off Philly's cut off, oh and now Delaney is gonna hit a quick tope on Marino to cut him off again." These teams are just great at telling a new story in several interesting ways.


103. Tom Lawlor vs. KTB

PAS: This was good stuff, one of the better Lawlor title defense for sure. KTB brings this fun sprint intensity to all of his matches, and these guys go right at each other reckless from the start. They wing punches and chops and don't pause to stare and make faces at each other. KTB has really fun power spots, including just powering Lawlor over the top rope when Lawlor was stomping on his chest, and Lawlor does some cool MMA counters, like catching KTB mid spear in a guillotine choke, and snatching him out of the air into triangle chokes. Never lets up and ends cool and clean. Really a house show title match, and the post match Bishop angle sets up the next big title defense perfectly.

ER: This went a little long for me, but it's the first time they've met up in a singles and it's a big main event title match, and I dug how they had a straight match without weapons. Now a straight match for these two still means some bodies were going to crash hard, but an AIW main event without weapons or plunder feels novel. AIW guys are really good at working and appealing to the crowd in ways that don't detract from the match, as Phil points out you don't need to make silly faces and jackoff hand gestures to get people excited about two guys exchanging strikes. Just hit each other and people will cheer! That's how it starts, and it keeps up a damn impressive pace for the duration. I expected this to be more power vs. striking, but Lawlor is crazy so he throws in just as much power game as KTB. There's a great spot where KTB leaps in with an avalanche, Lawlor sidesteps and catches him off the ground, and Lawlor walks him toward the center of the ring in a go behind before dumping him with a suplex. KTB hit a nice spear early which set up a great moment down the home stretch where Lawlor grabs a guillotine off the spear. KTB is a fearless flyer for a guy his size, and his dives land well without putting his opponent in a dangerous position. I've never seen him just barrel through a guy, he just manages to wrestle heavy while landing light (sometimes I can do with a little more heavy, but safety first kids). The finish is inventive and mostly works, with KTB flying off the top for a diving headbutt but getting caught in a triangle (I think Lawlor was good at waiting to the last minute to shift his hips into it) and we get great moments of KTB powering Lawlor up but falling back to his knees, before powering him up again to finish off the powerbomb and break the triangle. The initial struggle before collapsing back to his knees was a strong visual, really put over just how difficult that would be this deep in a match. KTB immediately goes for a Beast-sault and immediately  lands right back in the triangle. They started at a quick pace that made it feel like this was going under 10, and the fact they kept it up well past that mark felt big.


2019 MOTY MASTER LIST

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Monday AIW: Hell on Earth 15 11/29/19

40 Acres vs. Aeroform/Wheeler YUTA

PAS: 40 Acres are a really fun stable, three guys who wrestle pretty differently and meld it well together. Aeroform and YUTA are perfectly fine dance partners, but this was an Acres match. I really liked his Kingston match but Tre Lamar is perfect in this kind of match, he had some really good looking spots and great cocky taunts, and he can sprinkle them in amongst PB Smooth's power stuff and AJ Gray's potatoes. I also am really enjoying slightly past his prime Flip Kendrick, he still has great athleticism, but he always has a bit of a grimace on his face, like he is pissed he is still here after all these years.

Allie Cat vs. Veda Scott

PAS: This had a bunch of dipshitty "I'm a cat" comedy spots at the beginning, but that was better then their epic indy wrestling run at the end. Veda Scott has a lot of ideas, a very 2006 IWA-MS moveset, but all of it is executed at half speed and half impact. There was some timing issues with Allie Cat's offense, but at least it was really violent when it landed. I watched this so you don't have to.

Erick Stevens vs. Alex Shelley

PAS: This is exactly what it looks like on paper. These two guys doing a 2005 Indy nostalgia match. There is even a pre-match promo from both guys where they nostalgically look back and compliment each other, including Shelley talking about Stevens working town while being married with kids, Stevens responding "Well you know" and Shelley wistful saying "I'm divorced" (Shelley's current workrate run has a a very divorced energy).  This is a nostalgia match for a time I am not particularly nostalgic for, but I will admit this was better then I expected to be. Stevens has good intensity and there are moments where he is throwing really reckless violent moves, which is welcome in a match style that is often overly smooth. I especially loved him just throwing Shelley over his head into a powerbomb into the corner, it really looked like Stevens had no idea where Shelley was going to land, and didn't really give a fuck where he landed. Felt like Stevens should have won and the finish run by Shelley was a bit mechanical, but I enjoyed this and wasn't expecting to.

Big Twan Tucker vs. Dominic Garrini vs. VSK vs. CPA

PAS: Much like one would guess, the Twan and Dom parts of this match were great, and CPA and VSK were TFS (Total Fucking Shit). CPA actually looked like he might have been concussed as he didn't seem able to pull off any of his spots and seems confused. VSK isn't doing his lotion stuff anymore which I am happy about, but is a super boring workrate guy without it. He threw one of the daintiest topes I can remember seeing. Twan and Dom are great though, and there sections against each other ruled, Twan threw two incredible looking spears including smashing CPA into the guardrail. I would love to see a Dom vs. Twan singles match, they have really good chemistry (although maybe what we need is Dom/Twan vs. Fuck Its, a Twan Spear vs. T Money Pounce battle would be incredible)

To Infinity and Beyond vs. The Production (Derek Director/Eddy Only)

PAS: Sometimes when I am reviewing AIW tag I fell like one of those insane New Japan fanboys who rate Okada matches seven stars. I mean it seems insane to call TIAB the 21st century MX or Philly Marino the R+Rs, but it really feels true. Both Production guys are still really new to the business, but TIAB made them look amazing. Colin Delaney especially is just a master at heel tag wrestling. I loved the opening sections with Infinity being a little ahead of the game in the chain wrestling only to get their taunts cut off with big chops. Delaney doing assholish kip ups only to get ripped up and do a little pain dance was just perfect wrestling. We have some great clever and violent heat on Only, a big hot tag and a super fun finish run. This was great and it so cool they have so many fun teams to work different tag match variations.

ER: AIW tags just do it for me, and To Infinity is my favorite tag team in wrestling (Jollyville has a shot at regaining that crown once they come back and wreck things again). They are so good at setting up improbable moments and spots and double teams that should come off convoluted and rehearsed, but instead come off like they have a bottomless back of tricks at their wrestling disposal. They set up long chains of offense without getting crossed off, and seem to work in spots that play to their opponents' strengths, mixing the routine up from tag to tag without forcing guys through all of their regular moments. My favorite spots are their little moments of meanness, like Delaney kicking Only in the head and stomach after tagging out, or Cheech stomping on Only's head while turning him in a crab. Derek Director has added some pounds and lost none of the things that make him fun, throwing cool director's clapboard hand thrusts to the throat, and trying wild things like a guillotine legdrop off the apron, and I loved the dance that sets up him eventually sending the back of Delaney's head into the turnbuckle with a sunset flip. Only hits a great blindside tope through the bottom rope and takes some good punishment, and I thought he was really going to be crazy enough to go for a coast to coast dropkick ACROSS the ring (he later hit one down the length of the ring). To Infinity and Beyond are about as sure thing as it gets on AIW cards, I can't imagine there being a match I wouldn't want to see them in.

Eddie Kingston vs. KTB

PAS: This was slugfest Eddie, it doesn't really have the sort of layered selling and drama of his best matches, just two guys throwing bombs. KTB is a fine opponent for bomb throwing Eddie as he can both dish out and take a big beating. I love how Eddie winces his way through a fight, even when he is dishing out stuff it takes a toll on him too, a chop is going to hurt your hand, applying a suplex is still a concussive impact on your body. I do hate to criticize a US Indy match for not having a big ending, but Kingston winning on a side suplex did feel a little abrupt. I figure these two have a great match against each other in them, this was more of a tease then anything else.

ER: I liked this more than Phil, but he has a pretty high standard for Kingston matches, and that's a fair standard. If you don't hold the very best to a standard, then who will you hold? I liked the bomb throwing sprint approach, a tight 9 minute blast that had Kingston throwing some of the hardest shots I saw him throw last year. His chops where hitting with his full weight behind them, and no matter where it comes in a match I'll always be fine with two nasty backfists setting up a suplex finishing things. The announcers make me laugh talking about how this isn't shirt and shorts Kingston, this is *gear* Kingston. We get some little things, like the way Kingston kind of desperately gets some of his hands up during a KTB flurry, hoping to take the damage from 100 down to maybe 85. And we get big things, like KTB hitting a tope after smashing Kingston in the face on his attempt, and a top rope damn superplex from King. Top rope superplexes are special flowers. That's when you see guys out beyond, legs shaking in microburst. Kingston hits a top rope superplex and, as Phil mentioned, shows off how important it is to have a guy who can sell moves that he gives. I think Lawler and Finlay have the best understanding of how to sell specific moves, how to take specific moves, and Kingston isn't a far shout behind. Kingston's sell of performing and delivering the superplex is as satisfying as the classic move itself, another example of the kind of thorough performance he gives even in sprints.

Nick Gage vs. Mance Warner

PAS: I enjoyed the early part of this match with both guys brawling through the crowd and winging beer cans off each others heads. When it gets back into the ring we get a bunch of construction projects with chairs and tables, and I really start to lose interest. The Gage/Bishop/Warner sections of these AIW shows are tough hangs for me, all of those guys are better then Tommy Dreamer, but I am pretty tired of Tommy Dreamer style matches in 2020. This is a style that appeals to some people, and this was fine version of it, it wasn't my thing.

80. Zach Thomas vs. Matthew Justice

PAS: This was a similar style to the match right before it (they really need to spreads these weapon shot matches out a bit), but I enjoyed it a bunch more. Had a lot of energy, and Thomas is a really dynamic offensive wrestler. I thought the spirit bomb on the stood up garbage can was a nasty a bump as you are going to see in this kind of match. Fonzie really adds to Justice's shtick, it really helps having someone at ringside to do the prop set up, so the match can keep moving. The finish was pretty fun with Fonzie putting on a Myles Garrett jersey and breaking out a Steelers helmet for Justice to brain Thomas with. A babyface Myles Garrett spot really works in a garbage wrestling match in Cleveland.

ER: I thought this was great, and have a feeling that Phil may have been too numbed by Gage/Mancer  (I skipped that one and went straight here after the Kingston match). On a show and in a fed filled with guys who hit hard, I thought these two beat the shit out of each other. I don't know what the Intense Title is supposed to be, but I thought this stood out as a big asskicking from a fed where I already expect asskicking to be taking place. Thomas has really great meathead energy and Justice really projects as a champ to me. Justice always comes off with the relatability and confidence that Seth Rollins should have. I love the way he connects to the crowd, and the punishment he puts himself and opponent through really does make him feel like the highest ceiling Tommy Dreamer, as a good thing. His right elbows hit hard enough that it looked like they moved Thomas's whole body, and Justice threw a shoulderblock while Thomas leaned into that shoulderblock like neither wanted to have shoulders any longer. Everything they threw at each other lead to hard landings and tough meetings. I love how hard their stomach kicks or dropkicks land, or moments like Justice sitting on the top turnbuckle throwing a hard punch to the charging Thomas's head with the side of his fist. There were parts where I thought I accidentally had it on 1.5 speed, and something about hitting hard at high speeds can really put a match over the top for me.

Fonzie is a real nice story, a guy still putting in actual great manager work in his early 60s. So many ECW guys are gone, and who would have predicted Fonzie being one of the few still finding ways to contribute quality to matches this much later? The energy he brings to a match like this is big, and we get little moments like when he casually grabbed at Thomas's trunks on an Irish whip. I thought the weapon stuff was set up and pulled off impressively quick, Thomas wasting no time at grabbing doors to set up; and the props stuff came off violent and painful, not gimmicky. Justice flew off the top and just landed his weight through Thomas to put him through a door. No silly moment of Thomas getting into position and waiting, only Justice knowing that his weight would send him through. The powerbomb that Thomas gives Justice, on the bottom edge of a stood on end trash can, is one of the most brutal spots I saw in 2019. Justice's body goes through so much, and his selling gives you the sense he's going to be feeling that in his left hip and back of ribs for the next two weeks. I loved the human moment we got, and part of that connection I can feel between Justice and his crowd, when he couldn't put Thomas away and the fans all start pointing up to the very high second story of the venue, while Justice shakes them off with his hands. "No no, fans, no life shortening balcony spill from me tonight. I'm just going to brain him with a football helmet."

86. Bitcoin Boyz vs. PME

PAS: We have seen so many great PME vs. To Infinity and Beyond tags, I was looking forward to see how they matched up against a different tag team, and this was really impressive. Bitcoin Boyz are basically six months into their careers at this point, and this was a hell of a tag match. BB are a really fun cheapshot shtick heel tag team, kind of like a 2020s PG-13.  They built a couple of fun heat sections, one on Marino and one on Philly, and when it came time for the comebacks they bumped like maniacs. There is a point where Marino powerbombs Taylor right on the top of his head, it really felt like he wasn't going to make it to the one year mark of his career. Duke is fun as usual and eats a tope with the back of his head banging against the guardrail. PME has such a great total act, I just love watching them from Susudio to their great finish, just makes me smile.

ER: Also place me firmly into the PME fan club. They're a really great babyface act, a really fun regional act to root for. They feel like the kind of 80s territory team that had a specific connection to their town. Bitcoin Boyz are still really new but already showing a polished goofball banana heel act. There are a lot of slapstick moments here, but both teams have the confidence to do slapstick and not feel the need to wink into the camera. There are a lot of "Aren't I funny?" teams on the indies, and I hate the majority of them. But Bitcoin Boyz sometimes tap into that John Tatum level of flounce, and it slays me. Mikey Montgomery and Eric Taylor have good timing with cutoff spots (there was a superkick that was used to effectively as a mood changer to show an overused move can still be a highlight), and are good at things you wouldn't necessarily expect them to be good at, like stomps to the chest. PME are a nicely complementary team: Marino is small but comes off tough and unafraid, the small mouthy guy who can back it up, and Philly has charisma for days and knows how to use his size well. Taylor eats a crazy beating, and one match after Justice takes the craziest powerbomb of the year onto the edge of a trashcan, here's Eric Taylor taking the craziest powerbomb of the year getting dumped on his ear by a Philly Doctor Bomb. Mikey Montgomery has some good physical comedy instincts and I get the feeling that once he starts hitting harder he's going to get really good. He's already good enough to be one of the few guys who can actually do a funny and seamless version of the "bounce chair off ropes and back into my own face" spot. The Duke is the best, a total loud mouth pee wee league coach, and he always takes at least one Too Big bump in any match he's managing. Here he takes a cool dad spill off the apron and then eats an awesome dive from Marino. Great pairing, can't wait to see it more.

Joshua Bishop vs. Tom Lawlor

PAS: I really liked the first 3/4 of this match, great hard hitting heavyweight wrestling. I love Lawlor's jab and low kick combo, and Bishop throws good looking winding Windham like right hands. There was a couple of great big move near falls, including Lawlor dumping Bishop on his head with a Michinoku Driver type tombstone, and Bishop having to roll to the floor. If this match ended when Bishop reversed the knee strike into an awesome spinning sidewalk slam, this would have been really high on our MOTY list. They add a bunch of superfluous stuff after that with chairs and handcuffs and ref bumps and we just didn't need any of it. I also hate the Money in the Bank stip, and if they were going to run Bishop vs. Justice as the main event title match of the Mania show anyway, there was no reason to have a cheap title switch here.

ER: This one really didn't connect with me as a war in the same way that other matches on this show did, and I actually resented them going too far with gimmicks when they should know to just rely on their own violence by now. Both guys were showing wear and still slugging it out, still landing hard shots, that all the handcuff and distraction BS really took away from things for me. And the post match title match cash in from Justice is not how I view the Justice character, and seemed like a huge waste of what should have been a way bigger moment. I liked a lot of the Bishop/Lawlor exchanges, like the way these two fight, and it felt like we were really about to get to the good parts of that when we got waylaid by an entirely different match. Lawlor was throwing some really great clinch knees, and the throws from both were landing hard. A sensible ending with a 12 minute runtime would have been justified, as both men were working hard and sweating from go. Throwing in the extra gimmicks just undersold how hard hitting the first part of the match was.


2019 MOTY MASTER LIST

COMPLETE AND ACCURATE EDDIE KINGSTON

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Matches from Beyond All Hands on Deck 9/22/19

KTB vs. Erick Stevens

ER: Real nice 7 minute sprint, both guys felt like they were really pushing pace. It's like when a starting pitcher throws one inning in the All Star game, and suddenly he's added 4 MPH to his fastball because he knows he's not going to be throwing 110 pitches. This was a great showing for KTB, with Stevens taking plenty of tough bumps of his own, but really shining a light on KTB. I didn't realize this would be worked so quickly, but they started fast with hard shoulderblocks and never really slowed down. KTB had a couple of big slams but also wound up in the sand, and Stevens took zero seconds of hesitation to nail him with a great bullet tope. I'm sure the guys and gals on this show will be finding sand in their gear for the next several gigs, but I bet doing a crazy tope is made that much easier knowing that sand is there to catch you if your opponent doesn't. We even get some sand thrown in the eyes, which feels like something Finlay would have done had he worked any of the early Bash at the Beach shows. And one of the commentators makes me laugh with an Actual Good "shades of", as he drops a "Shades of Paul Orndorff vs. The Renegade from Bash at the Beach '95. I was there, you were there," to which the other commentator replies, "...I wasn't there." Loved it. KTB hits a picture perfect Asai moonsault, Stevens hits a German when KTB goes up top for another (I like when guys establish offense early, leading to openings for their opponents later when they go back to the well), and I kept digging all of KTB's running attacks. It felt like he would run into the ropes and feel like he wouldn't necessarily know what he was going to do when he hit Stevens, but in a good way. I loved the way he caught Stevens on the top rope, hit a running elbow into him, and then just shrugged him over his shoulders. Stevens' comeback was fiery, really I dug all of this.

Team Tremendous (Dan Barry/Bill Carr) vs. Bear Country (Bear Bronson/Bear Beefcake)

ER: This show appears to be full of hot sprints, and I am always going to be cool with that. This is tornado rules, so the ring was constantly filled with big dudes crashing into each other. I really like Dan Barry, he's the smallest guy here but hits harder than the others, his offense always focuses on results rather than style (look at his nice impactful dropkick through the ropes), and he's the guy who typically ties things like this together. This had a ton of fun action, with Bronson hitting a tope early and Barry following that up with a slingshot senton to the sand. We get plenty of lariats and avalanches from the real big men, Carr and Beefcake, nice big boy sentons, big ass Bossman Slam from Carr, and cool power spots like Barry getting powerbombed into Carr (with Beefcake impressively deadlifting Barry off the mat), or Bear Country setting up a tandem electric chair spot only for Barry to do a simple inside cradle and topple their bear stack. It would have been easy to see everyone getting in each other's way due to the tornado format, but they did a great job at looking reckless while nicely building things. I'm not sure why I slept so long on Team Tremendous. They have several years of stuff that I skipped past on Evolve shows (I think the whole cop thing came off too Chikara for me and I never gave it a full chance) but I have dug Barry in everything I've seen him in the past couple years. I ain't missing any more.

Chris Dickinson vs. Kenn Doane

ER: Dickinson is an established property at this point, and it's cool seeing a former WWE come in and not be treated as a holy entity because they were on TV a decade prior. So many times a former TV guy will be brought in as a special attraction on indies, and the local guy he's fighting will treat it like the fight of his life and it plays as a showcase to the former TV guy with the local guy narrowly getting a win. Now, Doane is obviously different from someone like D'Lo Brown, he's still a premier athlete and can provide something other than nostalgia, but it's cool that he would come in and work a show like this and Dickinson is the one rightly booked to look like the big deal. Doane is good at wrestling, but also doesn't seem to want to do it full time, and he's a cool opponent for Dickinson. We also get the addition of Christian Casanova and Cam Zagani running interference for Doane, so Dickinson is in there against essentially three guys and comes off even cooler for it. Doane has some nice athletic stuff, real nice dropkick and crazy vertical leap on his flying back elbow, but also throws a mean right hand, and I love his cocky athletic guy persona. If he wants it, he feels like someone who could be a major name on the indies. And it was great that he came in knowing that the best thing for him to do would be to highlight Dickinson's star. And Dickinson looked great. He hit hard and missed big, everything he did looked like he was 100% committed to wrecking Doane. But he really came off like a big deal when he was finally wrecking Doane's lackeys. Hitting a running Pazuzu bomb on Zagani to the floor is a great holy shit spot, as it's not a move that's easy to hit clean, plenty of bad landings possible. But the visual of Dickinson running across the ring with him, wearing the captains hat, tossing him to the masses, was awesome. I loved how Doane put over the finishing leg lock, really reaching desperately for the ropes, getting pulled deeper into the ring with each desperate grasp, before finally tapping. I'm curious to see more of Doane outside of Beyond, and Dickinson just looks like a star at this point.

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Thursday AIW: Bad Boy For Life Live Blog!!

PAS: AIW is my favorite promotion in the world, and while I really don't care about Janela vs. Alex Shelly, the idea of an AIW show with a surprise card intrigues me, so I figured I would check it out live.

Tre Lamar vs. Lee Moriarty

PAS: Fun start with both guys throwing bombs from the start. Moriarty didn't really do any of his goofy WOS I don't care for, and hit coolest spot of the match wasting Lamar with a tope into the guardrail that looked like it broke his back. Lamar is really good at using his leaping and flipping into stuff that looks really painful, his Pele kick is really high and fast and he rolls into nasty suplexes. Not a ton of selling, and Lamar just goes back on offense after getting smashed with nasty kicks for near falls. Still cool opener and this show is 1 for 1.

Zach Thomas vs. KTB

PAS: This is another bit of good match making, the local corn fed powerhouse, against the imported monster. Really fun slugfest, both guys have really fun powerhouse offense. I love Thomas's spinebuster, and he lands some big chops and forearms and a great jumping kick. KTB even breaks out the Mr. Fuji diving headbutt which is a great spot to steal. There is a one count spot which is a little played out, otherwise this was exactly what you want it to be. Old school UWF style slugfest heavyweight wrestling.

Weird World vs. Dr. Daniel C. Rockingham/Parker Pierce

PAS: Weird World matches have a super high floor, you know at a minimum you are going to get some cool Baba chops, and some sick Weird Body bumps, I have never seen a Weird World match I haven't at least enjoyed. This was on the higher end of Weird World stuff, Weird Body really takes a beating from Pierce who is a fun crowbar,  I like how the announcers put over his baseball background as an advantage for his chops and clotheslines. Dr. Dan stretches out Weird Body with a cool torture rack variation too. Then we get a huge Dr. Dan bump, as Weird Body climbs everyone in the match to give Dr. Dan a sunset flip powerbomb right on the stage, totally uncalled for and totally gross.

Joey Janela vs. Alex Shelley

PAS I really didn't like Alex Shelley versus Dom from last week, as it felt like Shelley just ran through his stuff without too much concern for what his opponent was doing. Here Shelley wasn't in exhibition mode, he was in super indy "Fight Forever" mode, which is a little better, but still basically tiring. Janela hung with Shelley's mat stuff early, and I enjoyed Shelley's heel stuff including just grinding his boot into Janela's balls. This had some big stuff, but eventually just turned into a 2019 2.9 near fall match, which I am pretty much done with. I think this is what Janela was hoping to do, and he showed he can hang in this type of PWG match, not my thing though

Danhausen vs. PB Smooth

PAS: I really liked this match with the face and heel orientations reversed, and it was even better with Danhausen as a plucky creeper underdog. Loved how Danhausen used his speed to stick and move and let PB Smooth beat himself, including Smooth chopping the top of the guardrail. When Smooth catches him, he just chucks him around the ring like he was throwing bags of wheat. With Danhausen getting in shots here and there. The spot where Danhausen puts spare teeth in someone's mouth is pretty creepy but for a signature comedy spot (horror spot?) it is pretty rad. Love every version of the 40 Acres vs. Production feud and want it to go on forever

The Duke/Bitcoin Boys vs. PME/Allie Cat

PAS: Starts out with some comedy wrestling varying from pretty funny (Marino stealing Mikey Montgomery's phone) to pretty stupid (Eric Taylor being allergic to cats). It breaks down into a pretty fun tag team, not a big Allie Cat fan,  but she will stiff a Bitcoin Boy, and PME are pretty unassailable at this point. Duke is in a weird position, as he is way bigger and more violent then either of the guys he is managing, pretty weird to do a six man tag match where the manager is the heater. Dug the finish run and the double Sunset Dreams is a cool finish

Manders vs. Big Twan Tucker

PAS: Their first match was one of my favorite matches of the year, just an insane intense fist fight from two giant psychos. This wasn't at that level, but it was still great and had moments which rivaled the best of that match. I think this went a bit longer and they stretched out and did some things that weren't just distilled face punching. The distilled face punching was there though and there was some moments where they were just flinging stiff slaps and forearms right into each others jaws that it jumped up a level, this may have had the only good looking hockey fight spot I can remember seeing in wrestling. I loved how they were slapping the teeth out of each others mouths all match, but they even ramped it up another level for the final exchange. They are 1 and 1 now, so we have to get a rubber match, and I am amped.

Dominic Garrini vs. Joshua Bishop

PAS: We get back to back rematches of my two favorite AIW matches of the year. These guys had a truly harrowing brawl WrestleMania weekend, and they get right back after it. Dom opens up with a tope and they just rip after each other. There are some real old school brain damaging chair shots in this match, some big moves through doors and Bishop getting skewers jammed into his heart. At one point Dom gives Bishop an F5 chest first on a barbed wire law chair. Wes Barkley comes in with a neck brace and I hope he isn't really hurt, because he gets mangled in this match, jerked about by his neck and F5ed on the Necro tops of the chairs. It didn't have the insane ending of the I Quit match, but man this had almost the level of violence, these two boys are crazy.

Eric Ryan vs. Matthew Justice

PAS Man they don't give you a break. AIW follows the crazy violence of the Dom vs. Bishop match, with these two nuts. They open the match with a barfight, with Ryan having his fist wrapped in a chain of forks, and Justice wrapping his fist in bullets. They must have dumped five coffee cups full of thumbtacks on the mat and took some gross bumps into the tack (at one point Ryan just throws a handful of tacks into Fonzie's face and Fonzie seems to be pulling one out of his eye, gross) We get guys tossed through fork doors, and finally Justice giving Ryan a Vertebreaker through a huge light tube bundle. Totally extra, in every way, two of the nuttier death matches guys around doing a nutty deathmatch

PAS: Killer show, this is a roster I love to see mix and matched like this and I enjoyed every match, with a couple of rematches which totally banged.

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Monday AIW - Bobblehead Night 9/20/19

Bitcoin Boys (Mikey Montgomery/Eric Taylor) vs. Aeroform (Louis Lyndon/Flip Kendrick) vs. The Production (Danhausen/Derek Director) vs. 40 Acres (AJ Gray/Tre Lamar)

PAS: AIW four team scrambles are maybe my favorite thing in current wrestling. This match was missing some of the regular standouts (WHERE ARE THE FUCK-ITS?!?!), but was still a blast. This match was really high flyer heavy and we got some really nifty dives by the Bitcoin Boys, Aeroform and Tre Lamar. There was also some nasty double teams, including a spot where Derek Director takes Tre Lamar on his back and smushes a Bitcoin Boy with a cannonball in the corner. The Bitcoin Boys had some moments of questionable offense, but took huge uncalled for beatings in this match, and that is always fun to watch. I didn't love the finish, and this wasn't at the level of the best AIW 4 way tags, but that is a super high bar to clear.

Dominic Garrini vs. Alex Shelley

PAS: There were moments in this I liked, but overall came away disappointed. Dom looked great, and the opening sections where you had Shelley doing his flashy matwork, only to be countered by cool Ju-Jitsu flourishes was a lot of fun. Outside of that though, I thought this was way too much of Garrini being a dance partner to Shelley's do-si-doing. It looked like a dance routine, and Garrini went down way too easily for such a top guy in this promotion. I can't remember the last time I saw Shelley, and I want to forget this time.

D'Lo Brown/Twan Tucker vs. Parker Pierce/Dr. Dan Montgomery

PAS: AIW does a nice job of delivering on their nostalgia acts. D'Lo hit all of his big spots, albeit quite a bit slower then in the 90s (no Low Down, but he did miss a second rope moonsault). Dr. Dan is a nice foil for whoever they bring in, and took an insane Powerbomb neck first on the guardrail from Twan which was uncalled for. Twan brought the intensity to what was otherwise basically a comedy match, and the Parker Pierce feud is fun, if not a bit of a side drain to a guy who was building big momentum. I am ready for Twan to move on to bigger and better things, or at a minimum getting a Manders rematch.

Erick Stevens vs. Wheeler Yuta vs. Lee Moriarty vs. Zach 

PAS: This had some moments I liked, and some moments I didn't care for. I enjoyed watching Thomas and Stevens hit each other, and didn't love watching Yuta and Moriarty find athletic ways to miss each other. Thomas is a big boy and wrestles like it. He had some fun power spots and he and Stevens would lace into each other whenever possible. Moriarty is seemingly on every AIW show in a four way and I still don't get it, he and Yuta really feel like they are counting dance steps in their head. I gripe about the guys AIW isn't booking, but there is no reason for Young Studs, Fuck It's and Weird World to be on the sidelines and have a match with these guys spinning each other around like they are on America's Next Great Dance Crew.

Mercedes Martinez vs. Dr. Britt Baker

PAS: This is Baker's swan song in AIW before going to AEW, and it really makes you wonder why she is the one of these two ladies who is signed. Martinez had one of the best matches of last year with Meiko Satomura, and looks like a killer in this match. Baker looks tentative and her stuff looks weak. She does slingblades and slowly rolls Mercedes into submissions, and I just don't see it. I give Baker credit for taking the beating she took, but come on, someone pay Mercedes.

Nick Gage vs. Wes Barkley

PAS: This opens with Josh Bishop clanking Gage with a Kendo stick from the audience, and Barkley and Bishop double team Gage for a bit, busting him open and Wes slams him on thumbtacks and Legos. After that bit of offense, its the violent squash you would expect with Barkley getting tossed around the ring into things and bleeding badly (he tries the mid air Michaels blade job, but does it really obviously, someone needs to do an AIW school seminar on blading secretly). Finish has Gage spearing Bishop through a table, and giving Barkley a chokebreaker on the top of a chair. Props to Wes for taking a pounding, this was basically the worlds most violent Ultimate Warrior vs. Bobby Heenan.

Philly Marino Experience (Philly C/Marino T) vs. To Infinity and Beyond (Cheech/Colin Delaney)

PAS: Another absolute banger from these two teams, I can't remember the last time a tag rivalry has been this consistently excellent (maybe Usos vs. New Day although that got worn out after a while.) The storytelling of this match was a bit different, your previous matches have been all about PME trying to climb the mountain and unseat the champs, here they have knocked TIAB off that mountain and are trying to keep them down. Cheech and Colin are a bit less sure of themselves, a little more desperate and PME are on a roll. Philly takes a huge backdrop onto the ramp and sells a bad back for the finishing run really well, that little bit of tentativeness costs him a couple of times. We get good heat sections on both PMErs and a cool hot run, with Infinity trying all of their dirty tricks. I loved the couple of big near falls after the hot tag, and the super Sunset Dreams is a great escalation finish.  I also appreciate how both team work towards real heel and face reactions, there is no "Fight Forever" or "Both These Guys" chants in their matches, just beloved babyfaces fighting against dastardly heels.

Matthew Justice vs. Mance Warner

PAS: This was a fun ECW nostalgia brawl, lots of unprotected chairs right to the top of the head, and long construction projects leading to hard painful falls. I really like Mancer's facial expression when he gets hit hard in the head, he is one of the better looking bloody faces in wrestling. If Wrestling Eye was still a thing he would make a great cover model. I enjoyed this, even though it was pretty dumb. Justice kicks out of a top rope piledriver through two tables for fucks sake. Sort of a stepson of Sabu versus third cousin of Terry Funk and it is hard not to at least be glad you watched it.

Tom Lawlor vs. KTB

PAS: This was good stuff, one of the better Lawlor title defense for sure. KTB brings this fun sprint intensity to all of his matches, and these guys go right at each other reckless from the start. They wing punches and chops and don't pause to stare and make faces at each other. KTB has really fun power spots, including just powering Lawlor over the top rope when Lawlor was stomping on his chest, and Lawlor does some cool MMA counters, like catching KTB mid spear in a guillotine choke, and snatching him out of the air into triangle chokes. Never lets up and ends cool and clean. Really a house show title match, and the post match Bishop angle sets up the next big title defense perfectly.

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Monday AIW - Escape From Cleveland 9/14/18

The Production (Frankie Flynn/Magnum CK) vs. Twins (PB Smooth/Swoggle)

PAS: One of the downsides of deciding to review entire AIW shows is that I am watching a lot of Swoggle matches. I can totally see how one might appreciate his shtick in a live setting, and he does vary his material some, but you watch a dozen Swoggle matches and you can approach saturation. But Magnum CK is such a glorious ham that he can make Swoggle's stuff seem fresh and hilarious. CK is like watching Christopher Walken chew up scenery in a hacky Tarantino rip off, the material is still the material but you have to appreciate the craft. PB Smooth and the Production were married for two years (still are except with the face/heel alignment flipped), so they work well with each other. Worth watching for CK for sure, I just love that dude.

Flip Kendrick vs. Facade vs. AJ Gray vs. Space Monkey vs. Wheeler YUTA vs. Matt Cross

PAS: A lot of times these scramble matches are focused on guys hitting complicated head drops and combo moves, here this was all high flyers so most of the big spots were crazy dives which I am always going to prefer. No idea why Flip Kendrick got passed over during the big wave of ROH/AEW/205 Live highflyer signings. His in-ring and out of ring dives are always crazy impressive, and he is a better in ring wrestler then most of the guys who have his role in bigger feds. He hits like a standing 720 senton in this match! Facade and AJ Gray are also landing crazy looking stuff, Facade does an out of nowhere dive from the ramp to clear everyone out, and AJ Gray's Alabama Jam finish was really nasty. He is a thick dude and got crazy high before landing that tree trunk leg across Yuta's chest and throat. Fun match.

Dr. Daniel C. Rockingham vs. Joshua Bishop

PAS: This was a Bishop showcase with Dr. Dan replacing Ethan Page and Bishop pounding him out pretty quickly. I did really like Dr. Dan counter a bossman slam into an ab stretch, and there was a great spot where Bishop kept pulling Dr. Dan up by his tie only to forearm him back down. Tidy match which achieved its goal.

ER: Full damn Worldwide point for this one, the best thing I've seen involving Dr. Dan and a cool throwback 4 minute non-squash that we rarely get on the indies. Bishop jumped him and Dr. Dan never responded with silliness, instead responding as a guy fighting hard to get out of the red, and occasionally finding himself in the black because of it. I found myself actually excited for Dr. Dan when he ran off the ropes with a great back elbow and then starts his first of several pushing, mocking little push kicks to Bishop's face. Dr. Dan had 1998 Chris Jericho's attitude with 2019 Chris Jericho's body. I really dug the aggression and fight from Dr. Dan, but also loved how Bishop didn't revert to stooging "I fucked up" heel mode when Dan fought back maybe more than expected. He jumped him, then when it turned on him he just kept up his same aggression. I liked Dan reversing the Bossman Slam into the abdominal stretch, loved how they worked strike exchanges with Dan throwing his whole body into landing one big shot while Bishop would overwhelm him. This was simple, hard fought, competitive wrestling that made Dr. Dan look like more of a threat than ever in only 4 minutes, while also showing Bishop as an efficient asskicker. Loved this. 

Ultimo Dragon vs. Louis Lyndon

PAS: Clearly a thrill for Lyndon and he does a great job working a longish WCW Thunder match with Dragon. Dragon looked pretty great, outside of one slightly blown spot he hit all of his complicated stuff well, and had an awesome looking hammerlock takedown and spinning Indian deathlock. Lyndon toned down some of the more elaborate stuff which can irritate me, and was there to make Ultimo shine, which he did.

50. The Production (Derek Director/Eddy Only) vs. To Infinity And Beyond (Cheech/Colin Delaney) vs. No Consequences (Chase Oliver/Tre Lamar) vs. The Philly Marino Experience (Marino Tenaglia/Philly Collins)

PAS: There are few things in wrestling as guaranteed as a an AIW four way tag. This was great as one might expect. No Consequences were a fun addition to this match formula, both Oliver and Lamar are great athletes and they get crazy bounce on all of their highflying spots. TIAB are masters of this kind of match and seem to be conducting, I loved Colin Delany intercepting Marino mid air during PME's springboard dive attempt. Production were total offense machines, their big run of combos near the end of the match (sunset bombing one Consequencer into another, running corner knees by Director, and a coast to coast flip dropkick) was insane and had the crowd standing. PME getting the win works great, they are one of my favorite babyface tag teams in years, they pretty much have it all.

ER: Big shock, another tremendous AIW tag scramble. This is a big No Consequences nostalgia fest for us, Chase Oliver needs to know we are dying for him to come back. But I love everyone here, every team brought something great to this match, 10 minutes of condensed gold. I could make a case for every tag team in this one being clearly the best in the match. Derek Director and Eddy Only had a couple of incredible runs, starting with Only knocking Delaney out of camera sight down the ramp, then hitting a way above his weight Philly with a lariat that crushes him fast over the top. Later they sunset flip bomb Oliver's head into Lamar's balls in a way that felt like Buster Keaton doing pro wrestling, and follow it up with a great Director cannonball and Only post to post flipping dropkick. Delaney and Cheech are just masters of this style, probably my favorite non-Jollyville team in modern wrestling. They orchestrate some really complicated Rube Goldberg spots and always throw in some unexpected twists. But again, everyone shone. Lamar hits a fantastic tope, we get guys chucked from the ring into the others, No Consequences pull off some perfect timing on some double teams, syncing up so well on strikes and big flying displays. One of my absolute favorite moments of the match is No Consequences sandwiching Delaney's head in between perfectly timed elbows, then setting up something assuredly worse before being interrupted, and a dropped to his knees Delaney taking the opportunity to roll to the floor. PME have a great babyface vibe, and I love how they're a new Rock n Roll Express for Phil to get excited for. There are too many cool moves and great double teams and innovative twists to mention, but this is just more evidence that the AIW tag scene is one of the very best guarantees in pro wrestling today.

Tim Donst vs. Colt Cabana

PAS: This was a Colt Cabana special, no real bumps, all shtick. Lots of comedy spots around Donst fucking with Cabana's merch. I admire Cabana being able to make a living without damaging his body, but I don't think he is particularly funny, so a long match with his jolly stuff isn't going to do it for me.

123. KTB vs. Nick Gage vs. Tom Lawlor vs. Matthew Justice

PAS: Big boy wrestling done really well. All bombs, with guys rolling to the floor after getting rocked. Gage takes some big bumps including getting backdropped into hard plastic chairs and gets piledriven on the apron. Pretty much everyone in this match is nuts, Justice flies through the ropes with little regard for himself or who he was landing on. I loved the finish with KTB going for an Asai moonsault and lands right into a Lawlor triangle choke. KTB does the Matt Hughes lift right into a flying knee by Justice who gets the pin.

ER: This was awesome, these guys are all lunatics and this was a pretty breathless run through some big boy bumps and a lot of body damage. I'm really starting to look forward to Matt Justice matches; you know there will always be a crazy dive that either hits into the 2nd row or misses entirely and crashes him to the floor, uses his body as a weapon, dies on at least one bump per match, and I love that big leaping knee. KTB is another guy who takes risks, throws boots to faces, will take a big bump to the floor, and break out a heavy flying move. Now, taking bumps to the floor is a good skill to have, and this match was filled with guys taking bigger and bigger bumps to the hard floor, sometimes while doing offense and sometimes while just crashing to the floor. Nick Gage gets thrown into a crowd of hard ass empty chairs and eats a sick apron piledriver, but also crashes to the floor with a prison fight tope con giro and rakes his boot across faces. Lawlor brings a cool vibe to things, does crazy dives with the crazy divers, hits hard with the hard hitters, and brings a great finish to a big time match: KTB goes for a big man Asai moonsault and Lawlor catches him lengthwise in a triangle in a very nicely prepped for trap, KTB lifts him up and out of it, and then gets pasted by that Justice flying knee. Another big AIW match stuffed with action and cool moments. 

94. Tracy Williams vs. Dominic Garrini

PAS: I have talked a lot about how under the radar great Williams AIW Title/Powerbomb Title run was and this was another banger. Really felt like a Catch Point EVOLVE match, built mainly around grappling and limb control. Garrini was really jujitsu in the first part of this match, and the more jujitsu Garrini is the more I dig him. Lots of very cool lifts and hard throws to the mat. They do the triangle choke counter to a dive which they did in the previous match, and probably should have had an agent tell someone to excise it out. Otherwise this was pretty flawless, Williams does slightly flub the counter finish, but makes up for it with two disgusting stuffed piledrivers for the win. I like having the tile matches on AIW show be these more slow burn grappling matches, it contrasts nicely with the wild brawling on much of the rest of the card.

ER: Tracy Williams is one of those guys I really like, who I also consistently underrate. It's like I forget how much I like him every time, and he's never a guy I bring up when talking about current wrestlers I dig. He occupies that same brain space as Roderick Strong, who I think has been consistently great for at least a decade now, yet I still find myself saying "Man Roderick Strong is good." Maybe's it's just lean turkey eating white guys with short cropped Affleck hair. But of course I'm going to like Garrini vs. Hot Sauce, I'm a complete sucker for these years removed from the story and fed "Catch Point Explodes" matches. I love the way these two crack jaws, a full arm behind it forearm shiver from Garrini, a boot in the corner with extra pump from Williams, these guys go hard with every strike and really punish each other...in  away that seems all in good spirits. The early grappling was tough and snug, and then they kept building to kicking each other, or Williams locking on a nasty guillotine, or Garrini going after Williams' taped up arm, and this thing just kept burning more intensely. The ending was violent, but I think a bit much: Garrini hits an incredible spinning tombstone, something that really really looked like a damn finisher. But Williams stumbles on the reversal after the kickout, and it kind of just comes off like he ignored the nastiest move of the match to hit two piledrivers of his own. The piledrivers looked great, but the order of events seemed off. That said, this is the kind of back and forth that does it for me. How about this Tracy Williams guy? 

La Familia de Tijuana (Bestia 666/Damian 666) vs. The Young Studs (Bobby Beverly/Eric Ryan)

PAS: This was Eric Ryan's dream match, and FDT kind of just stayed out of the way as that lunatic flung himself through things. Ryan takes two crazy bumps through pains of glass and gets tied up in barbed wire. They kept talking about his "Ready to Die" tour and he was living up to that designation. I thought the rematch of this Wrestlemania weekend was had more stuff from all four guys, this was pretty much all Ryan dying, and while that was fun, it was less of a full match.


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Monday AIW - Sekimoto Takes Cleveland 7/25/19

Parker Pierce vs. CPA

PAS: CPA is one of the AIW acts that just doesn't connect with me. I appreciate his semitic chest hair, but I am not sure what his gimmick is, or what the point of his whole act is. He keeps throwing dropkicks, but he barely gets above Pierce's waist. I don't think the dropkicks are supposed to comedy spots but that is what they end up being. Pierce is a crowbar, so I enjoyed watching him potato CPA. He chops the hair off of his chest, mule kicks him in the mouth and nearly beheads him with a back lariat. I enjoy Pierce, would have rather seen him beat on a Bitcoin boy or someone else who can bump bigger.

Allie Kat vs. Super Oprah 

PAS: Super Oprah has some pretty questionable comedy spots, lots of forcing people to touch their tits and jamming faces into their crotch, but this was pretty stiff. Oprah was cracking Allie Kat with stiff butt shots and clotheslines, and Kat fought back. If you are going to have a creepy comedy match, it might as well have potatoes. I do kind of want to check out Super Oprah's Nigerian Nightmare style gimmick Papa Dingo.

40 Acres (PB Smooth/Tre Lamar) vs. Weird World 

PAS: These are a pair of super enjoyable wrestlers to watch, and they had a super enjoyable match. I loved Weird Body's offensive rush at the beginning, hitting Lamar with his bony fists and elbows, confusing him with fake dives and the Weird Ball, just being a puzzle that is hard to solve. Weird Body also took a huge thumping in this match, his odd frame makes ever bump he takes look especially violent, and I loved 40 Acres figuring out a counter for the "Terry Funk Ladder spot" by just superkicking Weird Body in the head. Worldwide came in with an injury, so he didn't do much, although I am a fan of the Baba Chop heavy hot tag.

Big Twan Tucker vs. Ethan Page

PAS: Twan Tucker continues to be one of the more entertaining guys on a roster full of super entertaining guys. He is really great at building to big moments, him getting hyped up when Page is punching him only to grab Page's fist and blitz on him was pretty great stuff. He also hit an awesome twisting side slam, and his somersault into a spear was a holy fuck finish. With the indies full of guys wanting to be Chuck Taylor or Davey Richards, I appreciate a guy trying to be Mark Henry. The meat of the match was a little weaker. There was a whole section where Page was trying to place Twan for a superplex and they couldn't really get it together, and Page was slapping his thigh like an especially enthusiastic square dancer. Still this was fun shit, and between the Manders match, MJF match and this one, Twan is on a roll. 

Mikey Montgomery vs. Eric Ryan vs. Eric Taylor vs. Lee Moriarty 

PAS: This was a four way which they have on every card pretty much, and was about in the middle. Your proto-Bitcoin Boys tried a bunch of stuff, some of which hit cool, and some which missed a bit. There were lots of spots where one Bitcoin Boy got thrown on the other which was cool. Moriarity is a guy they clearly are high on, who isn't really my cup of tea. Lots of really intricate "kick one guy so he suplexes a second guy" spots, and I feel like I can still see him working through the dance moves in his head. This is the first Ryan match I can remember seeing where he doesn't take some career shortening bump, he still hits hard and has fun intensity, so I was glad to see him give his body the night off.

Dr. Daniel C. Rockingham vs. Kikutaro 

PAS: I am well into my third decade of being unamused by Kikutaro matches. Comedy in wrestling is fine when it obeys the narrative rules of wrestling. Kikutaro and Dr. Dan exchanging soft chops as some sort of improv game showing how wrestling is stupid, sucks. I don't want to wade into Twitter wrestling drama, but when you take away emotional investment from wrestling it basically doesn't work. Wrestling as a wry wink is doomed.

Youthanazia vs. PME 

PAS: This was face vs face which is always going to be a bit wonkier then a traditional tag, especially because PME's traditional babyface tag team wrestling is their strength, you aren't really going to have a Ricky Morton section in a match with four Ricky Mortons. Still PME are just monumentally entertaining, and I am going to enjoy almost anything they do. Josh Prohibition is a fun pissed off old guy and I dug him getting flustered. A couple of the finishing spots didn't hit cleanly, but I liked the tricky almost heelish finish PME used, not sure if they work as a heel team if the eventually turn, but I am intrigued.

53. KTB vs. Daisuke Sekimoto

PAS: This is a match which totally delivered on what it promised. It is touring Godzilla vs. Backwoods Mothra (Methra?). I haven't always loved Sekimoto, but he has toned down his goofy no-selling and just leaned into being a ball of muscle who clocks people. I haven't seen a load of KTB singles, but he holds his own fine, trying to throw heat as hot as what is flying at him. There was one big German suplex no-sell which we didn't need, but otherwise it was pretty perfect for this kind of match. I loved the absolute violence which Sekimoto unloaded in the final run, nasty headbutt and a  back fist which was no spin all impact and I wouldn't have been shocked if KTB lost a couple of his less solid teeth

ER: I was into this, and then some time around the 8 minute mark it jumped up a level of intensity and never looked back. Once Sekimoto started really swinging for the fences and cutting low on every damn lariat, I was hooked. Every big thing looked big and landed hard. Sekimoto hits a backbreaker that looked like it should have broken either KTB or Sekimoto's own femur. We get big suplexes from both guys, a cool sequence ending in a nice KTB powerbomb, a killer nearfall off a KTB Asai moonsault, awesome KTB crossbody, all of it was great. The home stretch just kept getting hotter and I thought peaked all the way to the finish, even the German that KTB popped up from got paid off shortly after with Sekimoto hitting a delayed German that KTB was not going to get up from.  Sekimoto was a real bruiser here, all those chops and right hands to the forehead and of course those full damn force lariats, my god. This delivered on the on paper promise, and then some.

Rip City Shooters/Tim Donst vs. Matthew Justice/Dominic Garrini/Nick Gage

PAS: I really like this kind of six man tag where you bring a bunch of feuds together and let them battle it out. We get some really stiff in ring work to start this match before they spill to the outside and let loose with the chairs and doors. Loved Masarati Wes in this, total sneaky prick, who when he gets his comeuppance, really gets blasted. Reminds me of AWA Heenan. Lots of really sick chair shots and throws through doors, Garrini's short piledriver through the door to the floor was especially grody. Loved the Justice/Dom/Gage team breaking out Kaientai DX combos. Didn't think we needed a run in finish, although it heated up Gage vs. Zach Thomas and let Barkley steal a win. Good stuff, like a fun ECW main event.

ER: I liked this, felt like a hybrid ECW/NWA Wildside brawl, and it had several moments flirting with greatness while settling in as a fun brawl. Maserati Wes especially feels like a guy who would be a cult legend with a serious pain pill problem had he been an ECW original. I love the vibe he brings to these matches as (Phil said) a scuzzy Heenan, either working great from the floor as a second or throwing in tons of glue moments as an actual match participant. We kept getting background glimpses of Wes vs. Garrini - particularly one shot where Garrini just pops him in the mouth with a right - and the teases were good enough that I just wanted to see that singles match. We got some big dives to the floor and into the crowd, some of them from unexpected sources: You know Justice is going to do a big dive, but Garrini flies in with his "held onto the ropes too long" heavy flip dive that I dig, and Gage hits an awesome Necro style cannonball off the top into the crowd. We get a lot of chairshots (an absurd amount really, for a thing that people had basically been guilted into getting over well on a decade ago, it's an odd thing to nostalgically bring back), and Garrini takes a couple of harsh bumps because that's what he does. Bishop goes for a uranage slam through a chair but misses the chair entirely, which is fine because the slam itself looks painful enough on the mat...but then he picks Garrini right back up and sends him through that set up chair on attempt #2. I dug the Wes/Gage showdown, although with so many other guys in the match I wish they would have had someone standing by so Wes didn't kick out of a nasty snap dragon suplex and spine shortening DDT. I don't love the "we're sitting in chairs punching each other" stuff, and it didn't help that the strikes while sitting in chairs were the weakest strikes of the match. Some of the chair spots also got a little repetitive. I'd much rather have these guys beating each other with fists than a bunch of chairs. Still, I love the personalities involved here, and the night vision on the dives and some of the roving handheld camera really made this come off like a quality Fancam main event.


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AIW Monday - Absolution 7/27/18

Louis Lyndon vs. Derek Director vs. KTB vs. Space Monkey vs. Wheeler Yuta vs. Rex Brody

PAS: One of the better "get everyone on the card" scrambles they have done. Even with Space Monkey and Brody we didn't have anyone grinding the match to a halt with their comedy spots, the action really kept moving. Derek Director had some cool moments, including a nasty running knee to the face and a spot where he monkey flipped Yuta into Brody's crotch. KTB had a couple of amazing moments including a spot where he had two guys fireman carried and caught a third in his arms. Yuta looks like he blew out his knee, but they worked around it OK. Fun all action match,

Mance Warner/Jock Samson/Twan Tucker/Parker Pierce vs. Weird World/Philly Marino Experience

PAS: This started in a very Crockett way, with multiple heels bumping for super over babyfaces. We get a good heel beatdown section on Marino, and a really fun Worldwide hot tag. Finish run is car crash wrestling done well. I really love Philly's fat boy Orihara, and Marino's assisted plancha, just an awesome pair of signature dives. Our boy Weird Body takes sick bumps on a tower of doom superplex, and a Steiner Square Driver from the Duke. Our heroes get screwed out of victory by the dastardly heels, and this was a wholly satisfying bit of business.

48. Young Studs vs. The Production (Danhausen/Eddy Only)

PAS: This was excellent, just awesome stiff 2019 tag wrestling. These are four guys who throw heat and will take huge nasty bumps, and they run a pretty great all action tag with those as a base. Eric Ryan is truly certifiable, he takes 90s Foley bumps in almost every match, here he gets backdropped off the ramp and lands spine first on concrete. These guys were wasting each other in the ring too, Bobby Beverly obliterates Danhausen by intercepting an in-ring plancha with a savate kick, Only threw really nasty elbows and punches, there were some big slams and throws, really a bomb fest. We are Production stans here at Segunda Caida, but this was the best they have looked. Loved this.

ER: Yeah this really delivered. I was excited for it anyway - always gonna be excited for The Production - but The Production jumped the Studs on the entrance ramp and asses got kicked for the next 15 minutes. These guys were all ringing bells, hard elbows all around, nasty throws, nasty bumps, no nonsense just asskicking. AIW always brings asskicking, The Studs always bring asskicking, and it was cool seeing Only and Danhausen ALSO as kickers, not just ass kickees. Everybody in this comes off nuts to a degree, but Ryan is probably the most nuts. He throws such violence behind all of his strikes, and then he's crushing Only and Danhausen into the guardrails over and over with topes through the bottom ropes, and then he's splatting off the entrance ramp with a lunatic backdrop bump. My god man. I think they did a really good job using saves and building the action, as tough strikes eventually turn into amped up risk and fun double teams. I loved all of the quick suplexes from the Studs, they would really snap them over and when they'd be hitting snap verticals and stacking The Production like cordwood. There were a couple hitches when they tried getting a little cute (a DDT your partner spot is much clunkier than it should have been, and an Only cutter to the floor looks like both guys realized what a bad idea it was halfway through), but the answer always came right after those spots when everyone would go back to hitting each other hard. Bless this tag division.

Matthew Justice/Scott Steiner vs. Ethan Page/Dr. Daniel C. Rockingham

PAS: Justice brings out Steiner to even the odds, and it is pretty much just the heels bumping for Steiner and Justice, which is exactly what you want from this match up. Dr. Dan takes a couple of big bumps, and Page eats a big overhead throw from Steiner. Not much to say about this match, it does what it set out to do.

96. No Consequences (Tre Lamar/Garrison King/Chase Oliver/Joshua Bishop/AJ Gray) vs. Josh Prohibition/Jollyville Fuck Its (T-Money/Nasty Russ)/To Infinity and Beyond (Cheech/Colin Delaney)

PAS: 2017 Absolution No Consequences 10 man tag was one of my favorite matches of the year, this didn't live up to that level but was still a bunch of fun and had some big highlight moments. Both Tre Lamar and Chase Oliver are nutty fliers, Oliver hit an incredible springboard moonsault at the same time Lamar hit a great ringpost Santo style tope. The structure of the previous years match had the Consequences take an extended beating before making a comeback, here the match was worked more even, it makes narrative sense, NC are all a year more experienced, but evenish is a less cool structure. We do get some solid asskicking though, especially by the Fuck-Its including an awesome Pounce by T-Money where he ran all the way down the ramp before sending Lamar into the stratosphere. The story of the match was Joshua Bishop trying to earn the respect of Josh Prohibition, which isn't a matchup I cared a ton about. Still I will pretty much enjoy any combos of these guys.

ER: So no, this is not quite as good as the 2017 10 man, but this ruled pretty hard on its own. Everybody got their moments and there were some good by god moments to get. Jollyville are my faves and lived up to that here. Russ comes off like a total badass WCW undercarder that I always hope is going to come out those fake air-powered doors through the Mothership's fog machine, throwing hard punches and elbowdrops with his own body, and an absolutely crunching cannonball off the top. T-Money pounces Tre Lamar from the entrance ramp into the ring, in a spot that was only slightly less impressive than some of Lamar's by-choice flying. Chase Oliver was a real standout here. He and Lamar work a hyped up indy style that I hate when it's worn by most guys, but they really pull it off. Oliver can land played out indy offense like standing shooting star presses and make them actually land, he and Lamar hit a bonkers tandem dive that looked like two prop planes that missed a fatal collision by mere feet, and then there's crazy stuff like his rope walk rana. I loved it all. There were a couple hinky moments (Lamar does land full weight on Oliver with a mistimed missile dropkick that they pretend didn't land like that, and the Bishop/Prohibition stuff wasn't my favorite), but TIAB were pro as hell throughout, AJ Gray had some nice flying into and out of the ring, the double Drunken Drivers by Prohibition were a definitive finish, and I'm just going to need them to keep running this back every year.

Tim Donst vs. Joey Janela

PAS: These are two guys I am normally a low voter on, but man it is hard to deny their willingness to absolutely crash and burn in hideous ways. This is a ladder match, and has some slow climbing and grasping which is endemic in all ladder matches, but it also has some truly holy fuck moments. They mention Donst recovering from kidney cancer and how his doctor told him to not wrestle in ladder matches, and then later have him fall directly off a ladder onto a pile of chairs with the legs sticking up. Janela gets chucked through a ladder on top of a table and the ladder just explodes with the impact. Totally gross stuff, but hard not to appreciate the hell these guys put their body through.

Dominic Garrini vs. Tom Lawlor

PAS: This was a dog collar match, and definitely very different from the other matches between these two. There was a lot I really loved about this: the stuff with the chain and collar was pretty awesome, Lawlor hit a superman punch with the chain, Garrini used the chain to headbutt Lawlor, there was a bunch of cool uses of the chain to make submissions look nastier. And this included an awesome ending where Garrini used a chain assisted Gargano escape to choke Lawlor out, with Lawlor refusing to tap and flipping off Garrini as we watched his finger fall down into unconsciousness.  I think if this had just been a dog collar match it would have ended up really high on the MOTY list, however, they used a bunch more props, like thumbtack bats and a board with bottle caps and a board with poppers. All of that stuff didn't add to the match. A dog collar is a great gimmick, you don't need more stuff. My wife's best friend will never just make chocolate chip cookies, she has to throw in gummy bears, and Twix pieces and candied almonds, until you are overwhelmed. This was a match with too many ingredients. I still liked it, but it kept me from loving it.

Franky Flynn/Magnum CK vs. Swoggle/PB Smooth

PAS: Swoggle isn't an act I really rate. Having him in a tag title match is bound to turn it into a yuks fest. Magnum CK is awesome at comedic matches, he has great facial expressions and if someone has to sell for Swoggle it might as well be him. He was also pretty great at the actual wrestling stuff, there was a spot where he goes for a blind leapfrog and gets caught in PB's arm, and he had an awesome look of terror before he was thrown. Some fun stuff, but I am glad the tag titles have moved back into actual great wrestling matches.

Tracey Williams vs. Nick Gage

PAS: This was Gage working a stiff title match, without any shortcuts. It was pretty entertaining, Gage works stiff and has some big over moves. He really dominated the match, and did it with wrestling. There was some pop ups which I didn't love, but I also really liked some of the big exchanges. The finish was pretty shocking, can't believe Gage would tap out, seems like something he wouldn't let his character do. Williams had some great matches during his title run, the start wasn't a great match, but it was nice example of what was to come.

ER: Another AIW show, another couple matches added to the ongoing MOTY List. The Young Studs/Production tag and the 10 man were the kind of things that keep these AIW loving hearts beating.

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Monday AIW - Keep Their Heads Ringing 5/17/19

Jollyville Fuck-Its vs. Youthanazia (Josh Prohibition/Matt Cross)

ER: This was a lot shorter than I wanted, and much more of a Youthanazia match than I wanted. Jollyville is probably my favorite team on the indies, and every single second this was a Jollyville match the match was really good; most of the time when it was a Youthanazia match, it wasn't. Jollyville jump them to start and Russ is absolutely a must watch guy for me, he can make an opening match punch exchange feel like a good fight and really spill to the floor fast, and both he and T-Money make somewhat soft looking dives look better than they actually are. There's a lot of Jollyville forced to stand around and wait for Youthanazia to hit their complicated offense, and I'd rather just see them kicking asses than painfully waiting around for things. There was one moment where T-Money had to stay still bent at the waist, and Russ had to stay still up on Cross's shoulders, while Prohibition took ages to get to the top and steady himself to hit a double mushroom stomp. I felt for those dudes forced into a time stand still moment. But I also got to see Russ throwing his hard punches and great knee to the stomach, got to see the airplane spin/punch combo (and I always like how Russ takes incidental damage during that spot), and finish is genuinely good: Russ reverses a powerbomb with a really nice rana, send Prohibition flying into the ropes to knock Cross to the floor, and T-Money hits the Pounce. Simple, effective, and really well executed finish.

PAS: This show was supposed to be headlined by Lucha Brothers vs. Fuck-Its, which would have been a really cool opportunity for the Jollyville Boys to get a showcase. Running the first time battle between Ohio Backyard legends Fuck-Its and Youthanazia was a good booking compromise, but I wish it was longer and better. I agree that it was too much elaborate MDogg and Prohibition offense and not enough ass kicking. That pounce finish was killer though, Josh bumps neck first right into the ropes.

Dominic Garrini vs. Tim Donst

PAS: This was really good, my favorite Donst match since that first Kingston match years ago. Garrini is pretty much a must watch at this point, he has had a hell of a 2019. The whole thing was a super stiff brawl, with Garrini doing some really awesome Ju-Jitsu attacks early, including a jumping triangle, he also just wrecks Donst with a stiff lariat on the outside. The turning point of the match comes when Donst catches Garrini coming into the ring with a nasty forearm which catches his knee in the ropes. Then its Donst wrecking the leg with Garrini selling the damage. There is a great spot where he goes for his big jumping knee and just collapses in pain. I really liked the finish too, with Donst snapping and demolishing Dom's knee and leg with chair shots, finishing with one to the head and then just obnoxiously putting an unconscious Garrini in a rear naked choke. Sets up the big Submit and Surrender match at Absolution really well, and sold me on a match I was agnostic on.

ER: Dang what a fight this was. I didn't think these two would be a good match for each other, honestly. Donst is a guy with cult popularity who usually does a couple things I like in a match, but also can come off sluggish. Nobody really had time to be sluggish here and the sadistic side of Donst really took this to the next level. I would have been pretty happy if the match never even progressed to knee stuff, as the shots into the guardrail were tough and Garrini looked like he was going to attack Donst like a pitbull the whole match. That would have been cool. But Donst elbows Garrini, Garrini gets his leg tied in the ropes as a bonus, and Donst zeroes in. Donst was a real jerk with the leg work, and Garrini sold it great and really worked at 60%. Donst's outright attacks were good (one of the more convincing ankle locks I've seen, usually it just looks like someone standing there holding a foot like a dingus), and his dickish attacks were even better (at one point he comes up and grabs Garrini by the face...and kicks him in the side of his knee). Garrini's selling was choice, not doing any exaggerated limping or back row drama, but getting up slow and doing little things, like trying to hop into throwing a German suplex and having to bail on it almost midway through, not throwing with the same intensity as he typically will. Donst is so ruthless on this finish, the chairshots were all sick, and the choke to an already downed opponent feels like a Kurisu move. This was a killer fight.

CPA vs. Danhausen vs. KTB vs. Louis Lyndon

PAS: This was a fun multiman match, with our boys the Production running a lot of interference for Danhausen. This is the annual no-rules show, so this was basically a six way with Eddy Only and Derek Director. KTB has some fun strength spots and got a chance to toss a bunch of people around. I am not sure what CPA's deal was, he seemed to be workshopping four or five comedy gimmicks at the same time, he is an accountant who loudly yells out early 2000s WWF finishers, while being clumsy, while being a secret Taylor Swift fan? Pick a lane. Production is always worth watching.

AJ Gray/PB Smooth/Tre Lamar vs. Weird World/Kaplan vs. Young Studs/Swoggle

ER: This was a pretty big waste of 9 guys, and felt like we only got 5 minutes of a potentially worthwhile 15 minute tag. Nearly everyone in this was underutilized. Weird Body is probably my favorite cult indy guy (Brickster? Mecha Mercenary?), and I barely saw him in this one (the match was also in the dark a lot, due to entrances, so his dark singlet could have just been shrouded in darkness), didn't see Worldwide, Eric Ryan disappeared after a minute, just what was the point of this? The Young Studs armdrag into the turnbuckles is really great, and the match gets a couple hot little moments (Kaplan belly bumping the bricks off of Swoggle and then taking a Beverly chairshot to the side of the head was nasty), but this was a rushed non-use of some talented guys.

PAS: This is clearly Eric watching this match on his phone on the toilet at work, as Weird World was in the coolest spot of the match where he gets used as Terry Funk's ladder only to take a sick bump when Worldwide was clotheslined. The match starts with Gray, Lamar and PB Smooth forming 40 Acres and a Mule and doing some pretty solid heel mike work about being overlooked and abused. Swoggle and the Young Studs answer the open challenge, and I don't think the best thing for your new heel stable is having them sell big for Swoggle, but I guess I get it. Kaplan and Weird World come out later to Natural Born Killaz doing a Gangstas gimmick, which is a running gag on the no rules shows. It amused me last year and I thought it was fun here. I did think PB Smooth destroying Bobby Beverly with the chokeslam through the carpet tacks was a nice way of getting their heat back after selling for Kaplan and Swoggle, and thought overall this was a decent way to introduce 40 Acres and get in the yearly Weird World Gangstas tribute.

Philly Marino Experience vs. To Infinity and Beyond

PAS: This was really good stuff. TIAB are a really great heel tag team, they honestly remind me of the Midnight Express, they get a little wacky double team heavy, but shit 2019 MX would totally get wacky double team heavy too. PME are a hell of babyface team, great connection with the crowd, big bumps, fired up offense, they really check all the boxes. This was no DQ like the rest of the show and I loved how they still worked a southern tag formula by having Marino eat the guardrail on a missed assisted plancha. So he was down on the outside while Philly gets double teamed. Marino's eventually comeback is worked just like a hot tag. They have some big near falls including Delany pulling the ref out right before the three. The dickishness of the heels landing multiple low blows while staring at the ref was pretty great. Liked this a lot and I imagine their Absolution match is going to be awesome.

ER: I thought this was tremendous, and don't think the modern Midnight Express label is hyperbolic despite clearly seeming hyperbolic. This tag is just the right amount, has bonkers action, a couple of excellently timed saves (love Cheech rolling over the top of everyone at just the right time and yanking the ref out of the ring was just as well done and unexpected), just a scorching tag match. For the first minute I actually thought I was accidentally playing this in 1.5 speed because that opening fist exchange looked like things were landing way to well to be playing in normal speed, and that vibe kept up through much of the match. Seriously watch Delaney and Philly going at it and tell me those madmen are working at normal speed. Everything here is done with some great force, like Philly's avalanches and the way Marino dives face first right into the guardrail. When Infinity has Philly laid out in the corner, they even do all their chain combos real deliberately, leaping in with hard facewash dropkicks, swinging in with a thud on the 619, and Philly is a great FIP for the boys. I love how he took a back suplex, and loved how Infinity kept sinking in the pinfall attempts deep to really force a kickout. The whole match was hot and really one of my favorite tags of the year. It was put together so tight - on a show that practically begged for overkill - and here they were just making the most out of Marino coming back, snug shots, and nearfalls that all worked. This whole thing ruled.

Joshua Bishop vs. Matt Justice

PAS: This was a hell of a brawl before the crazy spot which went viral. Matt Justice is always worth watching, but this was the best actual match I have seen him in (outside of the awesome 10 man a couple years ago, but he was one of ten). A lot of times his matches kind of fall apart as he sets up stunts, and while the stunt at the end of this match did take a bit to set up, the brawling before the stunt was brutal and solid. Bishop is a guy I would buy stock in. He is getting better every time I see him and has real size and portrays that size well. He is a great looking bleeder with his platinum Barry Windham hair, and isn't afraid to both dish out and take a big beating. There was some really nasty looking stuff with guardrails and chairs, and also some great looking straight punches. The finish of course is the craziest spot of the year with Justice hitting a Death Valley Driver off a balcony through four tables, totally bonkers and certainly a moment to remember. Bishop has been in two of the brawls of the year so far, hell of future if he doesn't cripple himself.

ER: I know we always make the point throughout some of these shows that it has to be hard to stand out on shows like this. AIW cards are absolutely stacked and shows like this with no rules are filled even more so with guys dying on bumps or eating awful weapon shots. So hats off to these two for crafting a match that stood out as its own thing. Bishop won the Intense title from Justice on the prior show and here he's hanging by a thread the whole time. He seemingly comes out already bleeding, and forehead blood soaking through a big white bandage is one of our Great Wrestling Visuals. And once the shots start coming, they really start coming. Both guys eat hard chairshots, and they tear up the ringside area moving guardrails around with their bodies. Justice eats a brutal low angle lawn dart into a guardrail and later takes a nasty hotshot on the rail, looked like he was angry with his teeth and wanted to teach the bottom row of them a lesson. Bishop comes off like peak Raven to me, as he throws himself hard into his opponent's brawling, torches himself on rail bumps, even has similar movements. Justice throws himself into attacks, hits a pretty unhinged dive to the floor and a plancha far over the railing into the crowd, and both guys kept landing in ways that hurt my joints, my knees, my face, everything. Also, I had not seen THEE finish. I am inside of a tiny niche pro wrestling bubble, and yet even within that small bubble I seem to remain somehow aloof to things. Going into this match I had no idea there was a notable finish, and my god what a finish. The set up was indeed lengthy (he needs a guy setting up props for him, bring in a rookie who just sets up destruction derby sets) but my god did it payoff. The camera angle and the hang time made it look like Bishop was taking a death valley driver off a 3rd story balcony. What a freaking crash, one of the all time crazy spots/bumps. Some backyarder needs to recreate this off their stepdad's roof NOW. I love Bishop retaining by being having his lifeless corpse placed on top of Justice's similarly lifeless corpse. No clue how they're going to top this, but brothers, elevate this feud!

Eddie Kingston vs. Nick Gage

PAS: This is minor key Eddie Kingston. It is really tough to do a brawl right after the insanity of Justice vs. Bishop, so both guys lean on their charisma. There was some nice looking brawling and I enjoyed how they did a catch as catch can opening as almost a comedy spot. This really didn't need tacks - especially considering how the main event was going to end - but otherwise this was solid, and Kingston's Saito suplex on the chair was super nasty.

MJF vs. Penta el Cero Miedo

PAS: These are two shtick heavy guys, whose shtick I am super tired of. There was a fair amount of Twan Tucker on the outside and he has a really great intensity, him going nose to nose with Penta felt like a bigger deal then any Penta vs. MJF showdown. Basically Pentagon cashing a check and MJF doing his OTT heel stuff.

Mance Warner vs. Tom Lawlor

PAS: The brawling stuff is pretty cool, but this was mostly a weapons brawl. Lawlor uses a staple guy on Warner's tongue, they go through a mousetrap table, there is a tack bat, etc. Very IWA-MS main event. It was fine outside of the carny freakshow parts. Got to give credit to my man The Duke who always takes a huge bump or two, here he gets accidentally brained with a super violent chair shot. It is tough to main event these no rules shows. By the time they get to your match the crowd is a bit burned out and even an upped ante can't bring them back.


ER: So AIW could have pretty much put whatever they wanted on this card and it would still be the easiest recommendation because THREE matches made top 30 on our 2019 Ongoing MOTY List, with Infinity & Beyond vs. PME landing in our top 20! That's excellent pro wrestling baby, this is why we've been reviewing all this AIW!

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Monday AIW - JT Lightning Invitational Tournament Night 1 6/14/19

Lee Moriarty vs. Colin Delaney

PAS: Fun opener with Delaney being pretty great in the role of the nasty veteran against a flashy young guy. I really liked all of the arm drag stuff at the beginning, Moriarty had a bunch of fun armdrag variations which Delaney took great, and I liked the idea of Delaney trying to hang early, getting frustrated and just bashing the side of Moriarty's head against the ringpost. I did think some of the Johnny Saint stuff by Moriarty felt unnecessarily cutesy, but this was mostly good stuff and I was really impressed by heel Colin.

ER: I really liked this, thought they had some really inventive exchanges, and I liked that they wouldn't end those flowery exchanges with a stand-off or another dumb exchange, it would usually end in a hard elbow show. It's so awesome that Colin Delaney went from being one of the weirder WWE signings, to a guy who is clearly a much better worker than most of the NXT roster. If it's what he wants, I really hope he gets back there, as he's become one of my favorite guys on the indy scene. Delaney can work super quick exchanges with anyone, but it's rooted in a veteran bully persona that always makes the sequences more satisfying than "athletic guys having an athletic match". All of the armdrags from both looked really good, and we had some quick sequences that took some unexpected turns, but the match was made by little cocky Delaney gestures. I loved when he dropped Moriarty with a hard suplex, and Moriarty's body kind of recoiled back up into a seated position, so Delaney just threw a chop to knock him back down flat. The Johnny Saint stuff did feel a little out of place (even Kingston on commentary tossed out a "uhhh guess we're doing Johnny Saint now") but again, I love when a flipper gets cute and gets elbowed for his troubles. Delaney's Diamond Dust-style cutter out of a suplex always looks cool, he really gets the physics of his move, and I actually liked him climbing up to the top rope to hit another cutter while Moriarty was frozen in a silly Mortal Kombat "FINISH HIM!" pose. Would have loved to see Delaney in later rounds, but this opener delivered.

Pat Buck vs. Swoggle

PAS: It's a Swoggle match, so we are going to get some comedy spots, a improbable suplex or two, and some weird stiff shots from a tiny guy. Buck has been around forever, he was an ex-OVW guy, but a Swoggle match isn't where you are going to show your stuff. I liked some of the AJ Styles comedy spots, Swoggle setting up for a springboard elbow is amusing, and I liked him trying for leapfrogs, but this isn't really for me.

Joshua Bishop vs. Tre Lamar

PAS: No Consequences explodes!! Bishop is really getting good, he is starting to work really stiff, and has great impact on his throws. Lamar is a fun pinball for Bishops big spots, including bumping huge on chokeslam and spinning sidewalk slam. I also liked the story of Bishop getting advantages when he used his speed and hit and run, but getting goaded into throwing hands and getting smashed. I did think the Wes Barkley interference was unnecessary and took some of the steam out of the finish which got a little overbaked. Still this was an impressive performance by two guys pretty new to wrestling.

ER: Phil is right about Bishop and Lamar being maybe the youngest guns experience-wise on this show (other than probably Zach Thomas), and I was super impressed with both here. Lamar is a real risk taker and he isn't just a guy with nice flips, he really makes his kicks count. Bishop really reminds me of Scotty Flamingo in style and confidence, and that's a fun thing to be in 2019 indy wrestling. Lamar takes a couple cool bumps into the crowd, and he could really make some big Bishop moves shine. Towards the end of the match Bishop hits this zillion spin sideslam that landed in such an aesthetically pleasing way, like how a baseball bat can feel almost spring loaded when you make absolute perfect contact on the sweet spot. I liked all of Lamar's kicks, think Bishop is like a cool Baron Corbin, so I dug this. Now, I also think the finish went completely off the rails at one point, and the interference and set up for it was the derailer. The match didn't need that, they were doing really good things on their own. Kept this from being really highly recommended.

Savio Vega vs. MJF

PAS: They seem to have MJF work the nostalgia acts they bring in, and he is a good choice as he can bump around and work shtick around their limitations. This was similar to the Shane Douglas match, although Savio may be a bit less mobile at this point. He still works pretty stiff, so when unloads it looks good. I am a Savio fan, but I didn't get the sense he has a big Dustin or PCO style run in him.

ER: Man I loved this. It's perfectly timed at 7 minutes, it's up there with my favorite MJF performances, and I thought Savio looked really cool on offense and totally nailed his spinning heel kick as well as he nailed it in 1996, only with 50 lb. of additional bulk. This whole match is Savio throwing hard chops, a big headbutt, nice punches, and these great open hand thrusts to MJF's throat. MJF throws a bunch of great downward angle left hands and hard kicks to the stomach as if he was actually working a show in Puerto Rico. I didn't need anything more than kick and punch, because both guys worked some compelling kick and punch. The spinkick was so much better than I expected, and I really liked both guys here. I've enjoyed a ton of Abdullah the Butcher matches where he did less than Savio did here, Savio needs to just embrace being the new Abby and his career has a second life.

Mance Warner vs. Dr. Daniel C. Rockingham

PAS: This was a relaxed rules match with DCR trying to prove how tough he is by jumping Mance. He gets in some big shots, but most of the match is Mance pummeling Dr. Dan, including running him into chairs held by audience members and stapling self help pamphlets to Dr. Dan's forehead. I find staple gun stuff kind of gross, and the match was kind of a waste.

KTB vs. Flip Kendrick

PAS: Fun big guy vs. little guy match with KTB having a bunch of great ways to toss around Kendrick, and Kendrick having a bunch of ways to squirm his way out of trouble. Really good KTB performance, he has good wild energy and keeps on the attack. I loved the powerbomb where he steps on the bottom rope to add torque, and the top rope TKO where he stepped on the middle rope before hurling Kendrick was spot of the show so far. I would have liked a little more flash from Flip, he can be one of the most spectacular wrestlers in the world, and he felt a subdued on offense. Still very nifty match.

Marko Stunt vs. Tim Donst

PAS: Match had some real moments of excitement. Stunt is the size of a third grader, but is an electric bumper and really gets tossed to the celling by Donst on some of these moves. I also really dug some of Stunts dives into the audience. Unfortunately there was also some real stinkers: they do a Malenko/Guerrero roll up sequence which was as bad looking as anything I can remember seeing, some moments where both guys were bumping early for spots, and the finishing roll up looked slow and awkward. In this case, I think the bad outweighed the good and I can't recommend the match.

Kid Kash vs. Louis Lyndon

PAS: Lots of this I liked, although I don’t think it came together as a great match. Kash is really good at eating someone up, it has a very Benoit or Dynamite feel to it, he really works over Lyndon with simple violent offense. Lyndon is a guy I normally like, but he felt a little out of his depth here. There was another awful looking Malenko/Guerrero roll up section here, which should be banned from wrestling for life. Kash’s finishing brainbuster was super violent, and I would love to see him back against Kingston or Lawlor, someone who can give it back to him.

Matthew Justice vs. Danhausen

PAS: This was a no DQ match, and basically was Justice vs. all three members of the Production (RIP Frankie Flynn and Magnum CK). Like you might expect it was a bunch of really crazy bumps by everyone involved. Justice takes a superplex onto the ring apron (which was truly nuts, this was a first round match for fucks sake), Danhausen gets suplexed over the top onto Derek Director and Eddy Only. There was one pretty egregious Justice no-sell of a german suplex, otherwise this was fun garbage stuff. I really love the Production as an act, and they are all really fun crash dummies.

ER: I thought this was great, but I also fully admit that I'm over the moon for The Production at this point. I think they're the best Special K since Special K, and I loved Special K. They attack the same way, like dangerous and mildly ineffective ninjas, but they all have unique repertoires that all complement what the others are doing, and it makes the matches into fun car crash spectacles. This was the biggest Danhausen showcase I've seen, and he has a lot of cool stuff, but really everybody involved breaks out some crazy moments. Justice is really fearless, and I could not believe they went through with that top rope suplex to the apron. Both guys' legs looked wobbly and so much could have gone wrong, but you know this is going to be a production, baby! I loved Justice throwing the Pros into each other, at one point stacking them rudely, wedged into the corner of the guardrail, tossing them all on the pile; later he tossed Danhausen to the floor onto Eddy and Derek (and now I want a Danny & Derek & Eddy shirt). I think they're really good at causing constant problems for opponents, while seeming completely beatable, while not looking like pushovers. It's a real tough balance that I think they nail, and it's part of what makes them so damn appealing. Crazy bumps and neat spots throughout, their match seems like it's regularly the most fun 10 minutes on a card.

36. Eddie Kingston vs. Zach Thomas

PAS: Eddie Kingston continues to be unassailable. Thomas is basically a rookie (he doesn’t even have a Cagematch profile), and Kingston brings him along to a really great match. Kingston beats on the kid early, and Thomas comes off really tough taking Eddie’s chops and punches. Thomas is a thick kid and is able to take over with some big power moves, including a nasty spinebuster. There was maybe a kick out or two too many at the end, but Eddie is so great at portraying frustration that I minded it less then I normally do. I also really liked Thomas’s glassy eyed selling, and his runs of offense were pretty great. I like the idea of Eddie making young guys on his final run, he did it with Thomas Shire, and this match should vault Thomas into someone to watch.

ER: This was really good, a really impressive performance for Thomas and another notch in Kingston's arguable best ever year. Thomas has a nice moveset; he's a big kid, and does a lot of throws that look really heavy, no obvious leaping into any of them, just big throws that lift heavy and land hard. Unfortunately for him, Kingston has that same skillset, and makes sure to try and top him and knock him back into place any chance he gets. Kingston works him into a nice belly to belly, later hits a crazy one off the top that could have gone badly for both (and really, set up with a savage chop to Thomas's neck, the belly to belly was definitely worse for Thomas), and I loved the moment where Thomas tried to set up his unnecessarily complicated powerbomb (can we put an end to moves that need a large man seated on someone's shoulders to complete? Unless someone can actually find a way to make it plausible?) but can't get King on his shoulders, so King turns it to his advantage and folds him in half with a tiger suplex. King threw tons of big chops and hard punches, and the backfist was always a danger; he generously leaned chin first into all of Thomas's pump kicks, and I really dug Thomas's big offense explosion down the stretch, running in with all kinds of kicks and a big cannonball to cap it off. Kingston had so many great reactions throughout, surprise at being hit harder than expected, anger at being hit harder than expected, trash talk before hitting back harder than Thomas expects, there's always so much going on with his body language and facials. At one point he sells a rydeen bomb like it immediately caused a pinched nerve near his shoulder blade to act up, and sells a spinebuster with equal parts annoyance and pain; he sells one punch like it split his finger nail, and I absolutely love that stuff. I think this should have ended on that backfist to follow up the tiger suplex, but I also think that Thomas earned it to wind up standing at the end of this, really hard fight from both guys.

Nick Gage vs. AJ Gray

PAS: Gray is clearly excited to work a Nick Gage match, and brings some real zest to the normal proceedings. He jumps Gage at the bell and works him over with the chain, until he misses a senton off the ring apron and smooshes a chair. Gray takes most of the biggest bumps in this match, including two nasty unprotected chair shots and a piledriver on a cinder block, although Gage eats a brain buster on a chair. Cool Gray performance, and Gage did his thing.

40. Dominic Garrini vs. Erick Stevens

PAS: Hell of a nasty fight. Stevens is coming back after a 10 year retirement, and had a list of guys he wanted to work, which seems tailored to hard hitting quasi shoot guys, and they really lace into each other. A year or so ago, Garrini’s big issue was that his strikes were hit and miss, he has fixed that completely, and now he throws cool different stuff with real pop to it. I loved how he mixed in his Ju-Jitsu in this match, trying for a calf slicer, sinking in a triangle choke, and jumping a rear naked choke. I especially loved the spot with the triangle: Dom locks it on, Stevens tries to slam him out of it, only for Dom to sink it in more, and finally Stevens breaks in by spiking Garrini’s neck on the bottom turnbuckle. Stevens has some stuff which looks slightly dated, but he unloads with cracking chops and thick knees, and a couple of his slams and backbreakers looked great. Great main event, and I am excited to see what Stevens does on his comeback tour.

ER: I dug this, tons of good ideas, though I did think it went on a bit long after Stevens took some pretty major damage. I really liked late 2000s FIP Stevens, until he went nuts and ate nothing but nuts and got down to 0% body fat. I'm glad he's back and seemingly wanting to fight a ton of guys who will hit him really hard. Garrini is a guy I still have some issues with, I think he still needs to get better about not just waiting around to get hit (he does it more obviously than most, but honestly he's still fairly new at this and it will improve), but he's certainly great at hitting hard and that's a much bigger point in his favor. I thought he was almost too effective here, as he laid such a good beating on Stevens that I thought it was fairly unbelievable when Stevens was up doing his own big moves after. It felt like Garrini burned some really awesome stuff like a short piledriver and a sick brainbuster. Those deserved better treatment from Stevens. I loved Garrini's knucklelock turned into a tight triangle, loved all his submission stuff really, but the stuff around the triangle was really cool, and ended with a painful as hell buckle bomb by Stevens. Stevens is lean but he always feels believable slamming Garrini, and Garrini being bigger made it look like he landed harder. There was some fat I wanted trimmed, a fighting from knees exchange and Stevens getting a run of stuff right after Garrini had him convincingly beat, but this was overall a really cool match up that I had no idea I wanted.


2019 MOTY MASTER LIST

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