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