411’s AAW War is Coming 2011 Report

Before you read the report, be sure to check out the interview I did with the AAW Champion, Silas Young to hype up this show.

Dan Lawrence, Samuray Del Sol & Zero Gravity (Brett Gakiya & CJ Esparaza) vs. The CLASH (Austin Mannox, Jay Miller. Cameron Sky, & Tommy Treznik)
The CLASH are a heel stable who are debuting two new members (Miller & Mannox)…this match seems designed to get some regulars on the show who will have a fun opener

The faces had the advantage early. The CLASH eventually were able to work over Del Sol after Miller cut him off…Del Sol made his own comeback and wiped out two CLASHmen with a Fosbury Flop. Del Soy made a tag and bodies started flying everywhere; I couldn’t keep up with the action. A parade of finishers from everybody followed that. Everyone (but Miller) ended up on the outside, which allowed Esperanza to hit a Shooting Star to the floor. Lawrence ran in the ring and hit a top rope hurricanranna on Miller for the winner.

Fast and furious opener that the crowd enjoyed…there was some sloppiness at a couple of points though…also, the heels never really had a prolonged heat segment, so the fans never really seemed invested in the good guys winning…still though, the match had a lot of fun stuff
Match Rating: **1/2

Mena Libra ran down and attacked Lawrence, but MsChiff made the save, which started…

Mena Libra vs. MsChif
Libra is a member of The CLASH

The two women started brawling around the ring to start the match. MsChiff had the advantage early, but Libra cut her off, and brought her back to the ring to work her over. MsChiff came back quickly though with a couple of nearfalls. Tommy Treznik ran down but MsChiff knocked him out. Treznik distracted MsChiff again, which allowed to Libra roll her up, while Treznik held MsChiff’s legs down from the outside for the three count

This match was not very heated, and the finish did not do much to help it. I guess this got heat on The CLASH but it seemed like a finish where no one left the match more over than when they entered the match
Match Rating: *3/4

Michael Elgin cut a promo in the back, where he compared himself to an unstoppable natural disaster that Mason Beck will not be able to stop in their Heritage Champion match.

The Awesome Threesome (Jordon McIntyre & Matt Wagner) vs. Gregory Iron & Christian Faith
The Awesome Threesome come out to “Bad Romance,” which made me laugh. Colt Cabana was supposedly supposed to be Iron’s partner (aacording to the Threesome), but Faith joined Iron instead. The Threesome did not seem happy about this development. In case you live in under a rock, Gregory Iron has cerebral palsy and his right hand does not have the full mobility of a typical hand.

Iron ran wild to start the match on McIntyre, and then Faith did the same to Wagner. The Threesome’s valet (never caught her name) distracted Iron, which allowed the rudos to get some heat on Iron. If you have never seen him before, Iron is a very good baby face in peril. The Threesome showed some good athleticism in working over Iron; they seemed to be channeling MNM. McIntyre missed a big top rope splash, which allowed Iron to make a hot tag to Faith. Faith ran wild on Wagner and McIntyre. Iron then hit a top rope Elbow, and Faith hit a Swanton bomb. Wagner sent Faith to the outside with a kick, which allowed McIntyre to hit a corkscrew body press to Faith. Faith came back and hit a discus punch to McIntyre, who rolled to the outside only to be hit by suicide dive by Iron. Faith with the Death Valley Driver to Wagner: 1…2…3!

This was definitely my favorite match so far on the show. Iron and Faith make a good little guy/big guy tag team. As I said in the recap, the Threesome seem to be trying to channel MNM, which is not exactly a bad thing; the key for their future is to make their characters their own so they don’t come across as knockoffs.
Match Rating: **3/4

Christian Able and Josh Raymond cut a promo in the back about being refreshed, and that they are a new team. They are ready to take back their tag titles, after not being in wrestling for a year.

Silas Young, Mason Beck and some other guys came out for the Heritage Title match…then they just cut away to Raymond and Able coming out for the tag title match. I emailed an AAW official to find out what happened to the Heritage Title match and he said, “That would be a technical issue with Go Fight Live. The only match that was cut was the street fight because Steiner couldn’t appear because of his TNA contract and Truth Martini because of his ROH deal. Everything else should be there.” I have contacted GoFightLive twice about the issue, but I have not been contacted back. This should not be happening in 2011.

The Irish Airborne (David & Jake Crist)© vs. Josh Raymond and Christian Able [AAW Tag Titles]
Irish Airborne had a run in ROH once upon a time. Raymond and Able hadn’t been in AAW in a year after one of them had a (reportedly) career ending injury. They are two-time AAW tag champions.

Raymond and Able were in complete control early, making the tag champs look like fools. They even locked in an abominable stretch on a Crist with the help of the fans. At the pace they were working, you would think they were setting themselves up for a 30-minute match. The Crists used a blind tag to cut off Raymond, and then the champs proceeded to work him over. Raymond made a tag to Able, but Airborne had the ref distracted, so the ref ruled the tag to Able to be illegal. Raymond finally escaped the Airborne long enough to make a hot tag to Able who ran absolutely wild on the Airborne. Raymond hit a lionsault for a nearfall. The Airborne sent Raymond to the outside and got some nearfalls of their own on Able. Able Hulked up though and made a one-man comeback on Airborne. Able powerbombed Raymond onto Jake: 1…2…NO! Middle Rope Back Staber from Raymond on Jake: 1…2…DAVID MAKES THE SAVE! The Airborne did a double roll-up on Able and got the three count out of nowhere.

Hmm. Able and Raymond seemed to have lost a few steps in the last year. It wasn’t really clear if it was ring rust or maybe they’re just slowed down by the injuries. That being said, both teams played their roles real well and the crowd was into the match.
Match Rating: ***

Shane Hollister cuts a promo where he apologizes for hooking the tights to get the win over Alex Shelley at the last AAW show.

Shane Hollister vs. “M-Dogg 20” Matt Cross
This is the first time I have seen Cross since he was the second elimination on the 2011 season of Tough Enough. Hollister has gotten some buzz for some strong matches in AAW in the last year. I really enjoyed his match with Davey Richards.

Hollister got sent to the outside early, and Cross did his typical fake-out dive sequence. Cross went for a suicide dive, but Hollister caught him with a forearm. Cross came right back with a hurricanranna. Cross went for a springboard move, but Hollister kicked his legs out, and Cross crashed and burned on the outside. Hollister took over the match after that. Cross came back with some strikes, a leg trip and a standing moonsault for a nearfall. Cross followed that up with a tornado DDT and then hit a suicide dive into the crowd. Back in the ring, Hollister hit a discus forearm, but Cross came right back with Fireman’s Carry Neck Breaker on his knee. Cross went for the shooting star, but landed on his feet after Hollister rolled out of the way. Hollister hit Shotgun Knees and then went for a double stomp, but Cross rolled out of the way. Hollister hit a suplex ace crusher (yes): 1…2…NO! Hollister went for a superplex, but Cross escaped after raining down some forearms. SHOOTING STAR PRESS: 1…2…3!

This was a good exhibition match. Both guys are fairly polished and crisp in the ring, but they’re facials were not really there to back the in-ring stuff up (or maybe the camera just didn’t pick them up well enough). Cross seems to be a part of the plans going forward, so this was a good way to reintroduce him to the AAW fans.
Match Rating: ***1/4

Hollister was really pissed after the match, and he only reluctantly shook/slapped M-Dogg’s hand after the match. Hollister seems to be turning heel soon.

Jimmy Jacobs vs. Arik Cannon (w/ Dave Prazak) [Dog Collar Match]
They showed a good video package before the match to establish that these two do not like each other. These two had a real good match at DGUSA Freedom Fight 2010, and Jacobs always steps up his game in these types of brawls. Jacobs came out to Buffalo Bill’s music in The Silence of the Lambs. If Jimmy followed that up by doing the Buffalo Bill dance, I would automatically give this match 5 stars.

Cannon tried to walk out early, but Jacobs pulled him back and hit a slingshot plancha. Jacobs hurt his surgically repaired knee on the landing. Jacobs grabbed a beer bottle from a fan and broke off the bottle on the ring post. Jacobs then took the broken bottle and dug it into Cannon’s forehead. That was different. Cannon cut him off with a lariat. Cannon rubbed the chain on Jacobs’s eyes, which was probably uncomfortable. Jacobs got busted open shortly after that. Jacobs came back for a short time, but he ran into a T-Bone Suplex. They are working this match at a much more deliberate pace than I expected. Cannon drove the chain into Jacobs’s head with his knee. Cannon missed a middle-rope moonsault, and then Jacobs came back with some chain related offense. Cannon cut him off again with a brainbuster: 1…2…NO! Cannon went to the middle rope, but Jacobs pulled him off and hit an ace crusher: 1…2…NO! Jacobs threw Cannon outside the ring, and Jacobs pulled on the chain to “hang” him. Prazak unlocked the collar. Jacobs grabbed Prazak and punched him in the face. Cannon, unchained, came back in the ring, but Jacobs hit a spike headscissors move and locked in END TIME…CANNON TAPS OUT!

As I said, this was much more deliberate than I expected. They sold the violence well, but they seemed to work the match knowing that they shouldn’t try to overshadow the main event. Or maybe they were just injured.
Match Rating: ***1/4

Silas Young© (w/ Val Malone) vs. Rhyno [AAW Title]
Rhyno pinned Young in a non-title match earlier in the year. Young seems to be universally hated by the crowd, which is a good sign for this match and the booking by AAW.

Young tried to avoid Rhyno early, but Rhyno’s strength was always able to do some damage when he connected. Rhyno hit a big shoulder block, and the two brawled on the floor. Rhyno went for a suplex on the floor, but Malone held Young’s back. Rhyno went after Malone, but Young attacked him from behind. Young grabbed the belt, but the ref took it away. Rhyno took him down and set up for the Gore; Malone grabbed his leg though, and Young hit a neckbreaker from behind. Young started to get the heat after that. The fans were rallying behind Rhyno, and Young promptly missed a lionsault. Rhyno made a great comeback with shoulder blocks and a nice belly-to-belly suplex. Lariat from Young: 1…2…NO! DVD from Rhyno: 1…2…NO! Young went for a Tornado DDT, but Rhyno placed him on the top rope and hit a superplex. Young came back with a Finlay Roll; he tried to follow it up with a headstand press moonsault, but Rhyno rolled out of the way. Rhyno went for a GORE, but he shoulder blocked the ref in the corner by mistake. SPINEBUSTER ON YOUNG: 1…2…MASON BECK PULLED OUT THE NEW REF AND PUNCHED HIM OUT! Rhyno took out Beck, and hit another belly-to-belly on Young. Rhyno sets up for the GORE, and he HITS IT!: 1…2…NO-YOUNG KICKED OUT! Beck is back in the ring and gave Rhyno a big boot. Beck set up a table in the corner of the ring. Beck set up to GORE Rhyno through the table:; Rhyno avoids it and gives Beck a GORE! Fans chanting for Rhyno, but Val Malone runs into the ring. “GORE THAT WHORE!” RUNNING SPINEBUSTER THROUGH THE TABLE ON MALONE! Belt shot from Young, but Rhyno Hulk’s up only to eat another belt shot: 1…2…3. Fans were deflated after that finish.

They had a good match and worked hard, but I’m not a fan of main event title matches having so much shenanigans. However, the fans hated Young and loved that Rhyno was overcoming all of the interference. So, in the short term, the over-booking works to get the desired reaction. Long term, I question AAW having an iPPV end in this fashion. Still though, this was best thing to air on the iPPV.
Match Rating: ***1/2

The 411: This show was a solid 2 hours of wrestling, especially since it only cost $10. However, I can’t imagine any AAW fans would call this iPPV presentation the “best foot forward” for the company. Visually, the show looks bad. Like worse than ROH TV bad. Considering that this show was only an onDemand iPPV that didn’t even go online until 10 days after the show was taped, I don’t understand why the video quality is so poor. I know AAW DVDs look perfectly fine and the DVD for this show is already available. Why didn’t AAW just put up the DVD as an onDemand option on GoFightLive? Was it really worth paying GFL to come out and film the show if you weren’t going to air it live or have good video quality?

[UPDATE] AAW contacted me again and alerted me to the following: “we didn’t pay gfl to come out and film. It was the AAW crew with better cameras. The dvd looks amazing. We cut 1 dvd that is ppv only and send it to gfl . They transcode it and put it online.”

While the video quality issue is baffling, I very much enjoyed most of the wrestling on the show. AAW has a very deep roster of good wrestlers and this show reflects that. AAW is definitely one of the good indies out there that you should check out.

Check out the AAW Website for more information about the Chicago promotion
AAW Facebook Page
Follow AAW on Twitter
You can buy AAW DVDs HERE
Here is a Free iPPV from AAW
My review of that free iPPV is HERE

Thanks everybody for reading! You can send feedback to Twitter or at my email address: [email protected]. If you are a wrestling personality who would like to be interviewed by 411mania, you can also contact me in either of those ways.

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For all of my interviews (like TJ Perkins , Steve Corino , Davey Richards , Jimmy Rave , Joey Ryan , Kyle O’Reilly , AR Fox , etc.) before 411mania, check out my Road to Mania Blog (where I still do stuff like Wrestlemania Build coverage, Wrestling DVD reviews, movie/TV reviews and more).

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