Views from the Hawke’s Nest: AAW Scars & Stripes 2012

Merrionette Park, Il
July 21, 2012

Commentators: Phil Colvin & Dave Prazak

Mr. Miller vs. Isaias Velasquez vs. Lamar Titan vs. Tweek Phoenix
Everyone took turns to run through their offense in the early goings. Titan and Velasquez fell to the floor and Tweek wiped them out with a frog splash plancha. Darin Corbin then ran out and brawled with Phoenix to the back. Velasquez hit Titan with a Regal-plex variation and a kneeling superkick. Miller then hit a couple of a kicks and a ghetto stomp to the back of Velasquez’s neck: 1…2…3!

This was a solid opener. Mr. Miller continues to get a push in AAW, which I most definitely approve of. He definitely needs to be getting higher profile opportunities, sooner rather than later though. Velasquez and Titan didn’t do much to stand out in their AAW debuts, but they didn’t drop the ball either.
Match Rating: **

Truth Martini and Danny Daniels are in the back. Martini says women don’t know their place in this world, and that Daniels is going to put MsChif back in her place tonight. Daniels says he feels bad about what he’s gonna do to MsChif. MsChif shows up later and knocks the camera guy down. She says she will carve Daniels up.

BJ Whitmer vs. Mason Beck
If Beck wins, I riot. Seriously though, Beck is so cold in AAW right now that it would be such a waste of Whitmer to feed him to Beck.

Beck cut Whitmer off fairly early and worked him over for a while. This seems like as good of a time as any to mention that Whitmer looks exactly like a young Undertaker, but an old Kevin Durand, aka Keamy on Lost. Beck got a nearfall with a fallaway slam. Whitmer finally halted Beck’s momentum with a Russian Legsweep. Whitmer made a comeback. He got a nearfall with a bridging Northern Lights Suplex. Beck came back with spinebuster for a nearfall of his own. Whitmer hit a Fisherman neckbreaker and then a Fisherman suplex: 1…2…NO! Beck came back with a big boot for a nearfall. Beck then hit a spinebuster out of a Fireman’s Carry position: 1…2…NO! Whitmer came back with a Mic Check, and he then immediately locked in the Peruvian Necktie! Beck taps out! Yay!

This match was OK, but Beck continues to just suck the energy out of my soul. He needs to be repackaged in the worst way. Whitmer getting a push in AAW is great, and I would love to see him get another title shot in the near future.
Match Rating: **1/2

Cameron Skyy & Austin Mannix attacked Mr. Miller backstage. I guess Miller is no longer a part of The CLASH stable.

The CLASH (Austin Mannix & Cameron Skyy) vs. Dan Lawrence & Gregory Iron
The CLASH have been losing a lot, and the Lawrence/Iron team has been having a lot of communications problems lately.

Lawrence quickly took down Skyy with a discus lariat. CLASH and Lawrence went for some comedy spot early that either failed massively or Iron forgot to do something and it failed as a result of that. Iron then botched a springboard move on Mannix. This match is not going well. The CLASH managed to cut off Lawrence eventually, and they worked him over for a while. Lawrence was eventually able to tag out to Iron, who made a big comeback on the rudos. Iron then hit a Double Steamer (You’re welcome Phil) for a nearfall. Iron hit Skyy with a Gimp Slap and a Paydirt for a nearfall. Mannix pushed Iron into Lawrence, which was the final straw for Lawrence who promptly shoved Iron out of the ring. The CLASH then hit Lawrence with The Cleanser: 1…2…3.

Lawrence slapped Iron in the face after the match. Iron seemed bemused by this.

The CLASH finally win a match, and even the commentators point out that this victory was much more about Lawrence and Iron fighting. This match did not work well. Also, it’s worth noting that the Bourbon Street crowd is shitting the bed again. AAW needs to stop running here.
Match Rating: *3/4

Colt Cabana cut a promo that was only notable because the @AAWWeAreComing group managed to play a viral video in the middle of the promo.

Louis Lyndon vs. Shane Hollister (w/ Scarlett & Markus Crane)
These two have had very strong matches in the past.

Lyndon was in control early, until Hollister just kicked him in the gut. Lyndon ended up on the apron, and Crane did some damage to Lyndon. Back in the ring, Lyndon hit a bridging northern lights suplex for a neafall. Crane and Scarlett interfered to give Hollister another chance to get the heat. Hollister worked Lyndon over for a while. Hollister hit a nice enzuigiri for a nearfall. Lyndon came back with a series of kicks. Lyndon then hit a brutal knee strike to the face. Hollister came back with a discus punch, but Lyndon then hit a bridging German for a nearfall. They ended up on the stage next to the ring. They traded a bunch of strikes. Lyndon avoided a powerbomb and kicked Hollister to the floor. Lyndon then hit a running senton onto Hollister. Lyndon then jumped into the ring and hit a tope con hello on Crane. Lyndon chased Scarlett into the ring and set up for the “pro wrestling spanking,” but Hollister delivered a brutal kneeling superkick. Hollister then hit a spike hurricanrana, which was cool. Lyndon avoided a brainbuster and hit a palm strike for a nearfall. Lyndon then hit a Jimmy Yang moonsault: 1…2…NO! Lyndon followed that up with a backbreaker. Crane and Scarlett slowed Lyndon as he went to the top rope, and Hollister crotched him. Hollister then hit a discus lariat that sent Lyndon to the mat. Hollister then hit God’s Last Gift: 1…2…3!

These guys are both really talented, and they have really good chemistry so it’s not a surprise that they had another good match. I think they can do better though. Louis Lyndon is woefully underbooked right now. He’s a potential singles star for a mid-level independent promotion. Hollister also needs to be booked in more places. He’s too talented to never get a real shot anywhere else.
Match Rating: ***1/4

Krotch vs. Jeese Emerson (w/ Truth Martini)
Krotch hit a headscissors takedown right away, but Emerson quickly cut him off with a fallaway slam and a lariat. Emerson worked Krotch over after that. Krotch eventually managed to hit a springboard seated senton and a middle rope dropkick. Emerson came back with a diving powerbomb: 1…2…3!

This was practically a squash. As far as filler on AAW shows goes, this was pretty quick and harmless.
Match Rating: *

Danny Daniels comes out, and The House of Truth decides to make an example of Krotch. MsChif comes out and we have our Street Fight…

MsChif vs. Danny Daniels (w/ Truth Martini)
These two have been feuding for a while.

Daniels quickly gave MsChif a scoop slam onto the floor. They brawled throughout the crowd. They eventually made their way back to the ringside area. MsChif set up for a tope suicida, but Martini blocked it. Martini pulled out some powder, but MsChif kicked the powder into Martini’s face. MsChif then locked Daniels in the ropes with a submission. Daniels came back with a superplex. Daniels then repeatedly drove MsChif’s back into the edges of chairs: 1…2…NO! MsChif managed to lock Daniels into another submission, but Martini entered the ring. MsChif then somehow got Martini and Daniels into single leg crabs at the same time. Jesse Emerson came out and broke it up. Dnaiels and Emerson set up for a Spike Piledriver, but Krotch ran out and crotched Emerson. MsChif gave Emerson a super rana. Krotch then wiped out Emerson with a Deadman Suicida. Martini accidentally hit Emerson with the Book of Truth, and Daniels then gave Krotch a piledriver on the floor. MsChif then grabbed with the Freddy Kreuger Claw, and she applied the….CLAW! Martini ran into the ring, and MsChif gave Martini’s dick the CLAW~! Daniels then gave MsChif a Samoan Drop. He’s not even Samoan~! MsChif then got her submission locked in again, but she broke the hold to chase off Martini. MsChif got a chair, but Daniels was able to reverse whatever she was going for into a Rubix Cube: 1…2…3? What?

I’ve seen some negative reactions to this match, and while I understand them, I honestly didn’t have a big problem with the match structure. It’s a Street Fight, so people should feel free to have their friends interfere all they want. The rest of the analysis is based on the idea that this feud is now over. If it’s not over, then I will take back most of it. What I do have a problem with is that this is apparently the blowoff to the feud. Let me make something clear, when two rudos’ (Daniels & Martini) entire gimmick for the feud is that they are sexist pigs, the female tecnico they are facing off against, absolutely, without question, 100% of the time, must go over in the end. The fact that Danny Daniels is the actual booker of AAW makes the decision all the more repulsive. This was DJ Hyde bullshit. I don’t care that Danny Daniels still books himself to wrestle, but he’s got to develop some self-awareness about how he presents himself.
Match Rating: **3/4

The Irish Airborne (Dave Crist & Jake Crist) vs. The Northstache Express (Marion Fontaine & Darin Corbin)
Here’s to hoping that Dave does some flips. This match is a number one contender’s match for the AAW Tag Title titles.

Corbin and Fontaine were mostly in control early on. It wasn’t that interesting. Eventually, the Airborne managed to isolate Corbin briefly, but the Express were able to come back quickly enough. The Airborne then isolated Fontaine by playing the numbers game with the referee’s back turned, which allowed the Airborne to get the heat on Fontaine. Fontaine was eventually able to tag out to Corbin who ran wild on the rudos. The Express hit Jake with an assisted Sliced Bread and Fontaine then hit a Lionsault: 1…2…NO! Tweek Phoenix then ran down and took out Corbin. The Airborne hit Fontaine with the Irish Air-raid: 1…2…NO! Fontaine fought them off by himself for a while, but eventually the Airborne were able to hit the Ghetto Stomp/Tombstone combo: 1…2…3!

I’m officially tired of The Northstache Express, and I’m not looking forward to their feud with Tweek Phoenix. The Airborne continue to be good though, and I would like to see them in some cool matchups going forward.
Match Rating: **1/2

Fit Finlay vs. Davey Richards
I was really excited for this match when it was announced, but it got zero hype after it happened. Finlay had some great matches with Sami Callihan on his independent tour, but he also had some dull ROH matches with Roddy and Elgin (who are two men that it’s hard to have dull matches with). We shall see. Finlay had actually returned to the WWE at this point, and this was one of his last (if not his last) dates.

They traded some hold to start the match. Not much of note happened for a while. Finlay ended up on the floor. Davey went for the soccer punt, but Finlay caught his leg and sent him into the ring apron. Finlay brought him back to the ring and worked him over for a while. Richards eventually caught Finlay with a kick and then connected with a missile dropkick. Davey then hit a series of kicks and a snap suplex. Davey hit a diving headbutt: 1…2…NO! Davey hit a buzzsaw kick for a nearfall. Finlay avoided an ankle lock and then connected with a brutal knee to Davey’s face: 1…2…NO! Finlay went for Tombstone, but Davey escaped and got an ankle lock. Finlay immediately tapped out.

Finlay implied that he would never wrestle in the USA again. He thanked Davey for the match. Davey made sure everyone was standing as Finlay left the ring.

This was a good wrestling match that didn’t aspire to be anything special. Davey seemed to work really hard, but Finlay just didn’t appear to be interested in going above and beyond a “Smackdown” level match. There’s nothing really wrong with the match, but considering it’s a matchup that probably will only happen once, it would have been nice to see something special.
Match Rating: ***1/2

Silas Young© vs. Arik Cannon vs. Jimmy Jacobs [Ladder Match for the AAW Heavyweight Championship]
Cannon and Jacobs don’t get along, but they both hate Young. They also both want to be Heavyweight Champion.

The ladder came into play early. “What would Lou Thesz say? He would say, ‘What the fuck is a ladder doing in the ring?’” One of your better quotes, Phil Colvin. Silas started to climb a ladder, but Cannon gave him a back suplex to the mat. All three men started brawling around the ringside area. Back in the ring, Cannon gave Jacobs an exploder into a ladder. Silas got the advantage for a bit and brought a table into the ring. Cannon was bleeding from the face. Cannon hit Young with a second ladder and bridged the ladder between the ropes and the ladder in the middle of the ring. Young kicked Cannon off the bridged ladder, but Jacobs then popped up and hit Silas with an Ace Crusher through the table. Jacobs sold his knee afterwards like he blew it out. Cannon went to climb the ladder, but he was distracted by Val Malone. Cannon punched out Malone. Jacobs and Cannon both ended up on the ladder and grabbed the belt at the same time. They tried hitting each other with the belt. Eventually, they both fell off and the belt fell into the hands of Silas, who was still knocked out. Silas had no idea what happened, but he woke up with the belt in his hands to win the match. If nothing else, I enjoyed that finish.

This was an OK main event. Unfortunately, there were just too many elements going against this match that prevented us from getting something special. Neither Jacobs or Cannon had much momentum going into this title match (in terms of being someone that could conceivably win the title), the ladder match stipulation was clearly just thrown in for no organic reason whatsoever (and possibly harmed the match more than helped it), and as usual, the Bourbon Street crowd gave the wresters nothing. The match was enjoyable enough for what it was, but this show needed a special main event to become a “Thumbs Up,” and this match did not accomplish that.
Match Rating: ***

Thanks everybody for reading! You can send feedback to my Twitter or to my email address: [email protected]. Also, feel free to check out my own wrestling website, FreeProWrestling.com.

For more information on AAW, check out their:
Facebook
Twitter
DVD Store
Youtube Channel

The 411: While I did enjoy watching this show, I can't give this DVD a strong recommendation. Davey vs. Finlay was cool (even if it was underwhelming), but there's really nothing else that you need to go out of your way to see on this show. Silas Young is normally reliable for a great title defense, but the circumstances of this defense didn't really allow for that. You could definitely spend your money on less worthy shows, but in an extremely competitive independent wrestling DVD market, AAW really needs to do a better job of making everything on their show worthwhile. AAW's Point of No Return and Bound by Hate shows from this year are definitely a far better deal. Buy this DVD for $15 at the AAW store. You can also go to Smart Mark Video and get the show as a $15 DVD, a $11.99 MP4, or as a $9.99 Video on Demand. Also, check out a full/organized list of all the wrestling show reviews I've done at 411mania.

Final Score:  6.5   [ Average ]