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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Monday AIW: 200th Show 11/2/19

CPA vs. Wes Barkley

PAS: Not sure what the point of CPA is. He doesn't seem to be doing the clip-on tie gimmick anymore, and now his gimmick seems to be middler at a local comedy club. There was some OK stuff with a knee injury, and I like Wes, but undercard singles match isn't what he does well. CPA goes over with a facebreaker on his bad knee, and I am perplexed.

Danhausen vs. VSK

PAS: What is it with crappy three initial wrestlers going over cool AIW regulars on this show. Danhausen is a great tag guy, but as a singles wrestler he is a little too concerned with trying to get over his memes. Still his actual work was pretty good, while VSK seemed to over enunciate every action, and his offense seemed to be all complicated ways to drop a guy on his own knee. They do some thing at the end where Danhausen drinks a White Claw, and spits at Derek Director, and yadda yadda. Tik Tok wrestling stinks.

Zach Thomas vs. Wheeler YUTA

PAS: Thomas is pretty fun to watch, he is a big kid who bangs away. YUTA is pretty dancy and the dancy YUTA parts of this match aren't great, although Thomas looks pretty good throwing fast armdrags. When the match settles down to Thomas throwing bombs and YUTA avoiding him and using his speed it gets fun. I really liked the couple of times Thomas just hurls his body into Yuta like a fullback trying to open up a hole.

Lee Moriarty vs. Alex Shelley

PAS: I was absolutely dreading this when I saw it on the match list. Moriarty is a guy with a tendency towards swing dancery and Shelley is the all time maestro of that style. While this match certainly had more than it's fair share of somersaults and dipsy dos, it had some other stuff which made it watchable. Shelley actually worked pretty stiff, and did a nice job as a pissed off veteran against a young guy, and Moriarty did some nice arm work leading to some big Fujiwara near falls after some pretty La Mistica's. I still don't think I would recommend this match, but I liked it way more then I thought I would, and it is Shelley's best match since coming back to AIW.

65. Bitcoin Boyz vs. Bear Country vs. To Infinity and Beyond vs. 40 Acres

PAS: This is what I came here for. The AIW four way tag match is pretty much a guaranteed blast every time. This is almost all new teams for this format, so it cements my belief that To Infinity and Beyond are the glue of this match structure. Fun structure here with two teams of beasts (Bear Country and 40 Acres) and two bumping heel teams (TIAB and Bitcoin). There is a fun spot early where Colin Delaney stumbles in between a face off between Bear Country and 40 Acres and ends up getting smashed by all four dudes. AJ Gray has really leaned into fucking people up and I am here for it, when I first watched him he was more of a thick highflyer and now he wrestles more like shorter Stan Hansen. Bear Country are a fun indy version of the War Raiders, perfect for this kind of match as they can hit their big dude spots and not have to put a full match together. Bitcoin Boys are neat, two tiny opportunistic little jerks who absolutely get obliterated.

ER: Love this. At this point I'm going to be shocked whenever AIW runs a 4 way tag match that doesn't wind up on our MOTY list. And this one has Eddie Kingston on commentary, which is such a beautiful combination of the very best things that it would be like In N Out also becoming a dispensary. Kingston talks about how he thinks Cheech is an ugly dude, compares him to Giant Baba, drops gems like "What is Delaney gonna get powerbombed for the fifth time?" or "He probably learned that from Quackenbush. So did I. Doesn't mean I use it though." Kingston loves this kind of chaos and the glee in his voice while the chaos is happening just makes me enjoy my favorite match structure even more. We get some great sequences and set ups all throughout, too many to mention. Bitcoin Boyz are super new, and they fit in nicely by bumping big (Taylor takes maybe the bump of the match when he gets tossed over the top, tries to hang on, and basically falls down the ring steps and winds up 15 feet away from the ring; at the same time Mikey was taking a cutter from Delaney into a Cheech German suplex that landed him on his neck and shoulders), Delaney and Cheech continue to run everything - my favorite team in 2019 - and here's Delaney getting crushed by everyone bigger than him, then coming back and working nutty spots on Cheech's shoulders (ducking  a Smooth clothesline that sends Smooth to the floor on a low bridge), then flipping over (baaaaarely) when Mikey hits a crossbody off the top while he is still on Cheech's shoulders. AJ Gray was out here murdering folks with lariats, PB punched Boulder right in the face, Boulder hits his cool powerslam/powerbomb combo on TIAB, the dive train lands big, it all rules. And The Duke is out there, you know he's gotta take a shot that allows him to sell better than anyone else in the match. He eats a punch on the floor and then sprawls perfectly into the guardrail to hold himself up. After the match he even gets into it with Ted Dibiase, and AARP Dibiase throws a great punch and then a shockingly gorgeous Russian legsweep while holding Duke in the million dollar dream. Another AIW show, another great 4 way tag.

49. Manders vs. Big Twan Tucker

PAS: This was the rubber match of my favorite indy series of the year. The first match is still the best, as it was totally out of nowhere, but this ruled too and these guys have some real chemistry. Tucker has an awesome intensity which is hard to teach, when he comes out it feels like some shit is about to pop the fuck off, and Manders is a perfect foil for that as he is unwilling to do anything but charge into the abyss.  Both guys only have one speed. There is a hilarious moment on commentary when Eddie Kingston mentions that Twan was trained by Johnny Gargano and Manders was trained by Tyler Black and I just imagine how horrible that battle of the trainers would be. Loved Manders breaking out Twan's elbow combos early, only for Twan to fire back and smash him right back. There is another great moment where Tucker has Manders in the corner and he unloads with a 10 punch combo to the body, working his kidneys like a heavy bag. Twan also has some awesome strength spots,  including snatching Manders mid air during a three point stance clothesline spot attempt. I did think Twan's rana out of the corner may have been a bit too cute for this match, but it was a big pop.  I think this may have gone a couple minutes long, as it is hard not to get a bit gassed working their pace. Still what an awesome collision, I love both of these guys unconditionally.

ER: Yeah these are two guys I seek out at this point, but I've yet to see them look quite as good against others as they do against each other. They have real chemistry and really bring out that something from beyond. Manders throws the Twan elbows and that is a mistake as Twan lays them right back in, then tenderized his torso with a punch of great corner punches all fired at the body. The chops land hard, shoulderblocks look like they would put most cars up on two wheels at least for a bit, Twan hits a boss Thesz press, there are a few huge slams and suplexes, and I actually like the Twan rana. These two were both just eating every nasty slam and strike and then getting up for more, and I liked how the rana shifted things from just another big slam into something that distracted and sort of threw off Manders. The Twan spear is iconic, and these two really can't do wrong against each other.

PME vs. Dr. Dan/Parker Pierce

PAS: PME has really mastered the art of the old school southern tag, and while Dr. Dan and Parker Pierce aren't close to the top heel team in AIW (no diss as AIW has an amazing tag division), but this is great stuff. Really reminds me of a Rock and Rolls tag against a fun random heel team like Jake Roberts and the Barbarian. You can just plug and play. Pierce is a blast in this, some real hard shots, a great spinebuster and even a hook kick. Dr. Dan has some fun stooging and takes his one horrific bump per match (dropping off the top rope through a table). PME had some fun wrinkles in their formula including some nifty stuff with the legal man and how that effected their near falls. I hope PME keeps these titles for a long time because there is a seemingly endless batch of fun teams to match them up with.

Erick Stevens vs. Matthew Justice

PAS: Meathead ECW brawl which is something Justice is adept at. Goes way into overkill as you would expect, but we do have some big stunts, including a spear through a door, an avalanche death valley driver through a table, tons of head drop suplexes and a spot where Fonzie lays a half a dozen chairs and pieces of doors in front of Stevens face for a coast to coast dropkick. There were 10+ times this match probably should have ended, and it eventually lost me a bit. Still a fun spectacle, and Stevens gets to cross this kind of match off his bucket list.

58. Eddie Kingston vs. Tre Lamar

PAS: This is Eddie as old man Tenryu which is a really great Eddie look. He works over Lamar and makes the kid earn his stripes. He does all of the parts of the Tenryu shtick well, the contempt, the grudging respect, the panic when things aren't working out, and finally the determination to finish the kid off. I liked Lamar in this a bunch too, he hit and run well, and really timed the big moves well. I especially loved the double stomp near falls, with Kingston rolling around the ring in pain and Lamar shocked in disbelief.

ER: This feels like the kind of tough match that Kingston can have in his sleep at this point. I love domineering Kingston, because few guys are better at being domineering in a ring in 2019, and I don't know if anyone is as good as Kingston at being the domineering guy who starts to lose control. I love him stalking the ring, knowing Lamar's moves before Lamar is throwing them, always there waiting with a big chop. And I love once Lamar starts getting a couple over on him that Kingston's big mouth keeps getting him in trouble, like when Lamar comes up a little light on a running knee and Kingston calls him out on it, only to then eat a much harder running knee. Kingston sells that kind of stuff like a god, going loopy and grabbing a muscle memory double leg from the ground, even selling a nerve twitch in his neck from yelling. I did think Lamar came up a little tentative in spots, unnecessarily physically moving a standing Kingston into a spot to take something from the apron, and he was a beat behind hitting the enziguiri after a Kingston backfist (I was already not going to like him hitting immediate offense after taking a backfist, so it really should have looked devastating). But Kingston must have sensed my dismay as he decided to just throw backfists until Lamar stays down, and I am fine with that.

Nick Gage vs. Joshua Bishop

PAS: I thought this was a fun performance by everyone in this match although the match itself was a little disappointing. I don't think Gage is a great wrestler, but he really has a presence and means something in way few wrestlers in the the world mean something. Bishop getting the win over Gage feels like big moment in his career. It is tough to work a big stunt show like this after Stevens and Justice pushed it to 11; no chair shot or table bump is going to mean much after that explosion. Wes Barkley was great on the outside, he took the two biggest bumps in the match, and was Jimmy Hart level annoying.


2019 MOTY MASTER LIST

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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 (Sort Of) - UXWA 25/8 1/12/19

UXWA is another Cleveland fed which uses a bunch of our AIW favorites and puts up matches on Youtube. Their January show is online and has a bunch of fun matches, so this is sort of AIW Monday digression.

PME vs. Weird World vs. Razor City Shooters

PAS: Oddball set up for this match, with Weird World apparently being heels in this fed, and Bishop and Barkley coming in as babyfaces. It is just odd to watch Wes Barkley doing babyface mirror sections with Mario T. Weird World are fun heels, good at taunting the crowd and turning their babyface spots into asshole heel spots, but this was overall a little disappointing. The timing seemed off in spots, and it is hard to work two babyfaces versus one heel team psychology. There were a couple of spots which were flat out missed, and these are guys who usually having their steps down pat. Shooters turn heel post match setting up a more sensible heel Shooters vs. face PME match at the next show.

Culmination vs. Production

PAS: This was a battle of Industrial kids verses Theatre Goths. Culmination didn't do much for me, very superkicky. This Production line up was Danhausen and Frankie Flynn, and they had some fun combos, and I liked Danhausen's reckless topes. Still, sort of a forgettable tag.

Zach Thomas vs. Brian Carson

PAS: I have enjoyed Carson as sort of a lower card crowbar in the past, but this was more weak sister New Japan then crowbar. Lots of not great elbow exchanges. Also, Carson wrestled the entire match with plumber's butt. I do like Thomas's cannonball in the corner, and he put some steam on his stuff later in the match. Thomas had a great match with Eddie Kingston in AIW later in the year and has a lot of promise. This wasn't much though.

PB Smooth vs. Big Twan Tucker

PAS: The parts of this that were big dudes pounding on each other was pretty good. I especially liked all of the early shoulder blocks and shit talking. They lose a little momentum when they set up a spot which involved running all around the arena to shoulder block each other. At one point Twan gets stuck behind a guardrail and has to extricate himself to keep running. For a match built on intensity it really gets hurt by killing intensity like that. They pick it up some at the end and Big Twan is able to hit his huge spear to win. Overall fun stuff, and I imagine this match-up will be great with a bit more seasoning from both.

ER: I am...kinda surprised at how little I cared for this. This match on paper was the first to really jump out at me when I scanned the card, but a lot of this just landed flat for me. The running was silly, and they really didn't do a ton with it. I assume they were trying to add some flavor to "tired" shoulderblock exchanges, but I hate when guys try to fix something that worked perfectly fine. Back in the ring things felt real sluggish. Obviously, I'm not talking about the speed the guys move - they're big boys - the whole thing just had a tired 75% feel to it. Even PB's big boots were missing past Twan the whole time. There were elements I liked, the energy at the very beginning, the spear finish, but this one really let me down.

Tre Lamar vs. Chase Winters vs. TKD vs. Paul Pierce vs. Dr. Daniel C. Rockingham

PAS: This was really not good, lots of do-si-do arm whips and complex attempts that didn't land. TKD had some amusing martial arts spots, and I liked Lamar's dives, but most of this match was a real mess. I think these kinds of matches need a veteran to work out the kinks and direct traffic. Louis Lyndon might have been able to salvage it, but he wasn't there.

Ryder Reid vs. Derek Director

PAS: This was an entertaining indy wrestling match. Director is a bunch of fun in this, adding a bunch of seasoning to the indy move exchanges. I really liked how he manipulated Reid's fingers so he would flip off a little kid in the crowd. He really came off hateable in this. Move of the match was probably Director fireman's carry flipping Reid over the top rope. Director also missed a leg drop and landed right on his tailbone. Nothing I'll remember at the end of the year, but the best match on the show so far.

Chase Oliver vs. Dominic Garrini 

PAS: This was the best match on the show, and a really fun bully Garrini performance. I liked him using big takedowns early to control Oliver, and he wasn't afraid to lay in some big shots, including some nice knees to the midsection. Oliver is a hell of an athlete (his kip up is one of the most explosive this side of Ricochet) , and while he is certainly built for crazy AIW multiman matches, I thought he was fun here. Liked his pair of topes, and the running death valley bomb in the corner was nasty. I thought the shooting star press which Garrini catches in a triangle was a really cool spot and probably should have been the finish, although the piledriver Dom hits is pretty nasty too.

ER: Oliver is a guy I have loved in AIW multimans, but if this match was my first shot of him I don't think I would ever go out of my way for more. He's always looked like a generic kickpads indy guy, but in unhinged AIW tags he would always stand out as a guy with expert timing and cool offense, here he looks exactly as uninteresting as every other generic indy kickpads guy. He had a match long run checking many of my "least favorite things in indy wrestling" boxes. We had an overshot moonsault, a half speed legsweep that looked like it wouldn't knock anyone off their feet, a Spanish Fly variation where you couldn't tell who took the move or why it caused them to bump, a crucifix bomb that saw Dom land on him full weight so it looked like he was pinning Dom after getting crushed by him (amusingly Dom did a senton not long after this - a good one - and didn't appear to land as hard on Oliver as he did on this move Oliver was supposedly doing), timed offense that felt out of time (including three straight awkward armdrags), lazy looking kick from the apron, just a real treasure trove of things that make me skip matches. His two topes looked nice, and the shooting star press into a triangle looked incredible and really should have been the finish. The landing was hard and his face looked like he had KO'd himself, was genuinely surprised when he got up out of it so quickly. And then that annoyed me, because the best part of the match was immediately moved on from. I did like Dom here, thought he was overly generous and a real pro, and if that triangle wasn't going to finish then that short piledriver is a suitable replacement. This might be my first Chase singles match, and he was like a night and day guy from his AIW multiman work I've seen. Watching one of those No Consequences matches right before this one would be like running a Coppola double feature of The Conversation and Jack.


PAS: I was hoping to discover some under the radar gems from AIW dudes on this show. It didn't deliver that, but I dug the main event, and everything was kept at around 10 minutes. Makes it a pretty easy watch, and at some point I will check out the other 2019 show they have on youtube (also they ran Manders vs Big Twan 2, and they need to let me watch it)

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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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Eric Reviews Great Matches from AIW Absolution 2019, One Week After Phil Reviewed Them

46. The Production (Derek Director/Danhausen/Eddy Only) vs. 40 Acres (PB Smooth/Tre Lamar/AJ Gray)

ER: I was bummed by the non-match we got last time, and this gave me just what I wanted. It's no surprise that giving these guys time to do their thing was going to be fun as hell, and this was probably even better than I thought it would be. This was the first time I've seen The Production as babyfaces, and it kind of works because they have so many fun spots. 40 Acres work as a great heel stable, real showoffs with talent worth showing off. This was predictably all action, and the action was cool. Danhausen had this slick slingshot German, Derek was hitting cannonballs and sunset flip bombs, Only was throwing hard elbows and punches (and then getting hiptossed from the apron to the floor because my god), and we built up to a dynamite moment where PB hits the slam dunk onto Danhausen on the top rope while Lamar is hitting a huge tope con giro over him and into the obstructed view Director. I loved Danhausen scrambling onto PB, dug PB's big punch, and dug the plausible way they gave The Production the win.

PAS: These guys teased a match at JLIT, and I was amped we got to see a whole match. This was unsurprisingly great, I talked before about how the face/heel dynamic of this feud seemed off, but I take that back, the Production are great babyfaces and 40 Acres have a real nice heel charisma. Lamar especially comes off like a great super athletic dick, the wide receiver who does a six part dance routine after a six yard catch. He really rips off some awesome highspots in this match, including a crazy flip tope. Smooth threw a good looking KO punch, and threw around Only and Danhausen, and Gray was throwing heat. There was some superfluous stuff with Danhausen making guys eat beads and kicking them in the mouth, but man was this energetic, innovative, stiff, violent tag wrestling done well. All of these guys outside of Gray are AIW students I think, and the fact that they can deliver this is pretty impressive.

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

ER: This is a big blow off tag match, which earns them some of its end run excess, but not all of it. This was rather different from their excellent May showdown, and I dug how this was a lot of TIAB cutting off the ring and preventing tags. Cheech and Delaney were stalking the ring with big confidence, always trying to slow things down and punishing mistakes. TIAB weren't necessarily breaking rules, but they worked like guys who had the answer key to the test and weren't being showy about it. Philly had some big offense (his tope must be like getting hit with a Yugo in a crosswalk) and I like how they kept him cornered and occupied. I love how the tope turned immediately into Delaney hitting the sliding German while Marino was still on the middle rope, one of several cool ways TIAB kept shutting down momentum. Delaney does some complicated things that don't read as complicated, they come off easy, like when he casually climbed up and over the ropes to hit an effortless springboard cutter on Philly. It looks like it should be more difficult, but again, Delaney looks like he has all the answers.

I didn't really love the home stretch, starting with Marino kicking out of an absolutely devastating Delaney tombstone off the middle buckle. I don't think there was much chance of anything else down the homestretch looking any more dangerous than that, and some wind got taken out of my sails on that kickout. From there the match didn't seem as organic to me. It felt like a series of resets and restarts, hitting a big move, taking a breather and then all getting up to try another move. Some of them were pretty nasty (the tag team vertebreaker on Marino looked neck snapping and lead to a nice use of breaking up the ref's sure to be 3), other stuff looked pretty stupid (Philly setting up a tandem "I grab him and you flip my leg and then I hit him" kind of move but really requiring Cheech and Delaney to move to specific spots to do it). PME deserved the big win, and they went out and have a big match, and a bunch of this match was primo. But I think that home stretch seemed too set-up heavy for wrestling with no props.

PAS: This was the climax of this feud with PME being the super over babyfaces getting one last shot at the heel champions.  It is a classic wrestling story and these are a pair of teams who can execute it to a tee. I have talked before about what a great classic heel team To Infinity and Beyond are, and this was a hell of a heel team performance, Colin Delaney is a such a smarmy prick, he had this great smirk on his face on the outside and gets such joy out of cheap shots and cheating.

There is this great spot early when Marino stands on the second ring rope to hold the ropes open for a Philly tope on Cheech, Colin slides into the ring on one side, and slides all the way to the other rope grabbing Philly's legs on the way out and just dumping him on his head. Just awesome stuff. During the heat section on Marino that follows, Marino is able to get loose and hit a springboard blockbuster, and Delaney just grabs his wrist after the impact to slow down the tag. You just don't see that kind of attention to detail much anymore.

I did think this got a bit kickout heavy at the end, and there were a couple of complex things that PME tried which didn't come off cleanly. It drops it a bit below their awesome May match in my mind. Still I loved this, and the big PME victory felt like a huge moment in the fed.

64. Matthew Justice vs. Joshua Bishop

ER: This is one of those matches where my opinion may shift depending on my mood while watching it, but I watched this with the bleary eyes that come after taking a 20 minute after work nap, and I gotta say the 1999 throwback worked for me. These two are crazy and I don't know how someone like Justice functions at a day job. I can only speak through my own body's experience, but there are days where work is a pain because I slept wrong, or I had my neck tilted while watching TV on the couch or something. I can't imagine taking some of the spills these two take and then a couple days later go "Well, time to put in a couple cosmetic body hours at the gym!" The idea of "letting your body heal" makes no sense to me after seeing them take these falls, because while they are doing a tribute to 1999, my body is still recovering from stupid sports things I did in 1999. How are these men able to do THIS!?

This was a series of crazy spots leading into more crazy spots, but if you're going to do a series of crazy spots well, these were absolutely crazy. There really is something taboo about unprotected chairshots, performed well after a time where "we all know". In 1999, we had a little plausible deniability. We don't have that now, so it really adds a big hit of crazy to a match modern match when they have multiple unprotected shots. Bishop looks really good even when he's not strewn bleeding on pavement (look how undeniable his lariat is that sends Justice over the top to the floor!), but he's also really impressive at handling weapons, getting good reads on doors, guardrails, chairs, a guy who makes nasty shots look nasty. Justice gets his body put through the ringer, like an early lawn dart into the crowd that just sees him land awfully on a bunch of set up chairs; later in the match he gets powerbombed from the ring onto a propped up guardrail at ringside, and that railing doesn't give a ton as Justice just sticks to it like a spider's web. I thought Barkley and Alfonso were great seconds who added to the match. Barkley was great at teasing a fall from the balcony (I wasn't actually expecting him to do it!), got brained by a thrown chair from Alfonso, and that chairshot set up a big spear through a door from Justice. Alfonso was a good presence, amusing tree of woe'd himself to set up a chair assisted dropkick for Justice, took a big bump getting thrown out of the ring, really was much more active than I expected. Bishop has great heel champ charisma, and Justice is a real diehard babyface, and that powerbomb into barbed wire was a suitable finish for their brand of crazy.

PAS: Justice comes out with Bill Alfonso to even the odds, and Alfonso is still pretty great as a garbage wrestling second. Bishop is clearly a ECW Superfan and was visibly thrilled. It is tough to run another match after flying off a balcony in the match before. You really can't do it again and it would be insane to try to top it. The presence of Alfonso really made this almost a tag match, with a lot of the big spots going to Alfonso and Wes Barkley, including Barkley getting thrown off the balcony and being speared through a door. We also got a lot more construction in this match than in the May match, which outside of the finish kept it pretty propulsive. Here they spent a lot of time setting up the big bumps and spots. They were really big bumps and big spots, but the intensity waned a bit. Still these are two crazy dudes, who are going to do crazy shit on a big show, and the elbow off the entrance ramp by Bishop and the Awesome bomb on the rail by Bishop stand up to any crazy shit you are going to see all year.

17. Eddie Kingston vs. Tom Lawlor

ER: This was a match I probably only could have enjoyed if it involved Eddie Kingston. He has a way of twisting moments that I've long tired of seeing into something at minimum interesting, and at best high drama. This is a great match-long collapse of Kingston, a match about twice as long as I'm used to seeing him in, and it plays out like Bad Lieutenant: King starts out in bad shape, and things only get worse the longer it goes. I like the desperation attacks King goes for at various points, throwing strikes at whatever part of Lawlor is closest to him, and lashing out at whatever part of Lawlor will buy him an extra second of recovery. Lawlor wears him down from go, and we build to our big centerpiece of the match, which is the epically long chop battle. If you told me you had just seen a match with an "epically long chop battle" and I needed to see it, I'd politely tell you to fornicate yourself and then go watch something that wouldn't curse my eyeballs. And this was a long chop battle. Probably too long. But Kingston is that old comedy note of a joke running so long it goes from funny to unfunny and back again. Kingston takes this spot through a real rollercoaster, he and Lawlor milking every minute of it, and the announce crew was great at talking about how neither man wants to punch because that would be admitting they needed an easy way out. Kingston is not ever going to be the guy taking the easy way out, and everyone knows that, and so this becomes a game of outlasting a man who will never do what is best for himself, just a guy who can't quit because of pride. I loved the twists and turns of the chop battle.

I was there live for the Bryan Danielson headlock match (it was both good and bad), and Kingston did more interesting things here with a chop than Danielson did with a headlock. I loved when he dropped down to a knee before throwing one, loved how his arm kept getting more chopped out the longer it went, and I loved Lawlor calling him a pussy which leads to the strap down moment. I cannot think of another person in wrestling who would have made this sequence anywhere near as engaging. The backfists were maybe the meanest I've ever seen Kingston throw, loved how Lawlor timberrrred from them, and love how Kingston's match-long pride kept him from actually capitalizing on his sure wins. Lawlor eating a backfist but managing to fall on the arm, leading to a big sub attempt followed by trapped knees to Kingston's chest until he can't take any more and gives up the arm, was a fantastic finish. Kingston absorbed punishment and hard kicks and knees and called Lawlor a motherfucker like only he could. The nearfalls in this were great as I was standing on my feet thinking Kingston was actually going to get the belt after that first backfist. These two crafted a match that borrowed from other styles and other genres, but was clearly their own thing. And I don't know who else would be able to do this thing as well as they did.

PAS: This is big match, main event Eddie Kingston which is about the best thing in wrestling in 2019. These guys were clearly trying to work a King's Road All Japan match and pulled it off, although it was a bit more '99 AJPW than '94 AJPW which I would have preferred.  The long chop section in the middle achieved its goal for sure, and it was performed about as well as that spot can be. Kingston is amazing at selling a chop, gritting through pain to fire back, and refusing to back down, and Lawlor was right with him. It is a spot I don't like, but it did deliver. Opening feeling out section was really great, I love the little shootstyle beats that Kingston added to his game the last couple of years. Finish run was epic stuff, Kingston obliterating Lawlor with backfist, but being too beat up to jump on the pin, and I loved Lawlor hanging on to the arm after eating a suplex and leading in to those sick knees to the head and the armbar stoppage. It felt like AIW was building to an Eddie win, although losing in a match like this really doesn't damage you. I wonder where they go from here with him, if he is indeed retiring in a couple of months. Kingston and Lawlor as a Walking Tall tag team against Bishop and Barkley will be a lot of fun, but it feels like he needs another big story act to finish up his run.


ER: All of these matches are on our 2019 Ongoing MOTY List. This should not be much of a surprise.

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Monday AIW - Absolution XIV 8/2/19

Big Twan Tucker vs. MJF

PAS: This was pretty much fait accompli when MJF made it an impromptu Loser Leaves Town match to start. Twan brings a lot of energy to his matches which is really his big strength. MJF isn't a guy I am going to miss, he is so OTT with everything he does that he comes off hacky. His pantomiming surprise when Twan fires back is a bit much for the last row of a sold out arena, much less a small show like this. His execution looked fine, and he did put Twan over huge for his big moment. Twan is on quite a roll, and I will be interested to see where he goes from here.

The Production (Derek Director/Danhausen/Eddy Only) vs. 40 Acres (PB Smooth/Tre Lamar/AJ Gray)

PAS: These guys teased a match at JLIT, and I was amped we got to see a whole match. This was unsurprisingly great, I talked before about how the face/heel dynamic of this feud seemed off, but I take that back, the Production are great babyfaces and 40 Acres have a real nice heel charisma. Lamar especially comes off like a great super athletic dick, the wide receiver who does a six part dance routine after a six yard catch. He really rips off some awesome highspots in this match, including a crazy flip tope. Smooth threw a good looking KO punch, and threw around Only and Danhausen, and Gray was throwing heat. There was some superfluous stuff with Danhausen making guys eat beads and kicking them in the mouth, but man was this energetic, innovative, stiff, violent tag wrestling done well. All of these guys outside of Gray are AIW students I think, and the fact that they can deliver this is pretty impressive.

Mance Warner vs. Jock Samson

PAS: This was Bunkhouse match, which was basically worked as a two on one plunder match. I don't get how Warner's Ryan Gosling Drive Satin Bomber jackets work with his hillbilly gimmick. Some fun spots, including Warner throwing students, the referee and a fan into Samson and the Duke. Duke isn't afraid to take sick chair shots, and he took a couple of doozies here. I was amused at them stapling a $100 bill to Warners head, that was probably more then either guys payout for this. Finish was suitably crazy with Warner throwing Samson through two door with the Duke getting smushed in between.

Swoggle vs. John Thorne

PAS: Joey Janela had transpo problems so Thorne put on his old gear and has a pretty violent comedy match with Swoggle. It had a yarder feel but as kind of a compliment. Guys landed awkwardly into things, chairs bounced off heads weird, Thorne top rope double stomps Swoggle which looked like it might shoot his liver out of his asshole. Thorne took a couple of really bad shots in this, he is pretty nuts for working this kind of match last minute. Not sure why you run a weapons brawl between a midget and the retired promoter, in between a bunkhouse match and an I Quit match, but it was weirdly entertaining.

Dominic Garini vs. Tim Donst

PAS: These guys had a great brawl last month, but this veered a little too much into geek show territory for me. This lacked some of the intensity of the Garini vs. Bishop match from Mania weekend, this had a lot of wandering around and setting up gross out spots like Donst trying to rip off one of Dom's toes with pliers, or Dom putting a baseball cap full of thumbtacks on Donst's head. Garrini took a couple of nasty headdrops on a board which wouldn't break, and I kind of liked the callback to the lighter fluid spot from Slumber Party. Donst submitting before he got skewered worked as part of his heel character, but fell a bit flat as a finish. Definitely a spectacle, but the least of the Dom garbage matches I have seen.

KTB vs. Louis Lyndon vs. Wheeler Yuta vs. Lee Moriarty

PAS: Solid four way, with KTB being the highlight. He is a guy with several big spots who works stiff so he is perfect for these kind of matches. He breaks out his Samoan Drop two guys while tossing the third spots which is nutso, and he breaks up a dragon sleeper with an Asai moonsault. Moriarity takes some big bumps, but his stuff with Lyndon and Yuta got a little dancey. There are multi-man matches on almost every AIW show and this was pretty in the middle.

PAS: The Duke comes out and intros his new team the Bitcoin Boys, only to be interrupted by Bunkhouse Buck who cleans house with great punches and a swinging belt. Fun surprise, I can imagine how hard I would have marked out if I was in Cleveland.

Zach Thomas vs. Nick Gage

PAS: Thomas is one of the students that they are really pushing, he has a barrel chested build and has some nice power offense. He clearly was amped to work a Nick Gage death match and really sells out. The match opens with Thomas recklessly topeing right into a swung chair. This is a spot we see a lot but rarely this nastily. Much of the match has Gage working over Thomas, with Thomas firing back with big throws and slams, often into contraptions. There was a bit of construction which is always a problem in these matches, and Gage matches aren't really my thing. Still this was a good version of that Gage match, and I am on board to watch more of Thomas

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

PAS: This was the climax of this feud with PME being the super over babyfaces getting one last shot at the heel champions.  It is a classic wrestling story and these are a pair of teams who can execute it to a tee. I have talked before about what a great classic heel team To Infinity and Beyond are, and this was a hell of a heel team performance, Colin Delany is a such a smarmy prick, he this great smirk on his face on the outside and gets such joy out of cheap shots and cheating.

There is this great spot early when Marino stands on the second ring rope to hold the ropes open for a Philly tope on Cheech, Colin slides into the ring on one side, and slides all the way to the other rope grabbing Philly's legs on the way out and just dumping him on his head. Just awesome stuff. During the heat section on Marino that follows, Marino is able to get loose and hit a springboard blockbuster, and Delany just grabs his wrist after the impact to slow down the tag. You just don't see that kind of attention to detail much anymore.

I didn't think this got a bit kick out heavy at the end, and there were a couple of complex things that PME tried which didn't come off cleanly. It drops it a bit below their awesome May match in my mind. Still I loved this, and the big PME victory felt like a huge moment in the fed.

Matthew Justice vs. Joshua Bishop

PAS: Justice comes out with Bill Alphonso to even the odds, and Alphonso is still pretty great as a garbage wrestling second. Bishop is clearly a ECW Superfan and was visibly thrilled. It is tough to run another match after flying off a balcony in the match before. You really can't do it again and it would be insane to try to top it. The presence of Alphonso really made this almost a tag match, with a lot of the big spots going to Alphonso and Wes Barkley, including Barkley getting thrown off the balcony and being speared through a door. We also got a lot more construction in this match, then in the May match which outside of the finish kept it pretty propulsive. Here they spent a lot of time setting up the big bumps and spots. They were really big bumps and big spots, but the intensity wained a bit. Still these are two crazy dudes, who are going to do crazy shit on a big show, and the elbow off the entrance ramp by Bishop, and the Awesome bomb on the rain by Bishop stand up to any crazy shit you are going to see all year.

Eddie Kingston vs. Tom Lawlor

PAS: This is big match, main event Eddie Kingston which is about the best thing in wrestling in 2019. These guys were clearly trying to work a King's Road All Japan match and pulled it off, although it was a bit more '99 AJPW than '94 AJPW which I would have preferred.  The long chop section in the middle achieved its goal for sure, and it was performed about as well as that spot can be. Kingston is amazing at selling a chop, gritting through pain to fire back, and refusing to back down, and Lawlor was right with him. It is a spot I don't like, but it did deliver. Opening feeling out section was really great, I love the little shootstyle beats that Kingston added to his game the last couple of years. Finish run was epic stuff, Kingston obliterating Lawlor with backfist, but being too beat up to jump on the pin, and I loved Lawlor hanging on to the arm after eating a suplex and leading in to those sick knees to the head and the armbar stoppage. It felt like AIW was building to an Eddie win, although losing in a match like this really doesn't damage you. I wonder where they go from here with him, if he is indeed retiring in a couple of months. Kingston and Lawlor as a Walking Tall tag team against Bishop and Barkley will be a lot of fun, but it feels like he needs another big story act to finish up his run.

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