Views from the Hawke’s Nest: AAW The Chaos Theory 2013

January 25, 2013
Berwyn, Illinois

Commentators: Phil Colvin & Daryck St. Holmes

AAW Heritage Title Tournament First Round
Able vs. Mat Fitchett
This is my first Fitchett match since he returned from his awful quad injury in early 2012. Fitchett is awesome. Able used to be known as Christian Able. Apparently he lost his faith. You’re welcome.

Able is looking much rounder around the middle compared to when I last saw him. Fitchett sent him to the floor and hit a tope con hello. Fitchett crashed hard on a guardrail. Fitchett then went for a springboard move, but Able caught him with a spinebuster for a nearfall. Able was in control for a bit until Fitchett hit a standing shooting star on Able’s back: 1…2…no. Fitchett went for a flying knee, but Able blocked it. Able hit a sloppy Alabama Slam and a big lariat: 1…2…no. Able got another nearfall with a pumphandle bomb. Fitchett came back with a running knee and a superkick. Able came back with a powerbomb and a STF variation. Fitchett escaped and hit a Pele kick and a satellite DDT: 1…2…no. Able came back with a lariat: 1…2…no. That nearfall actually got somewhat of a reaction. Fitchett came back with a thrust kick and a beautiful shooting star press: 1…2…3!

When re-reading the recap, I realize this match was put together well in theory. Unfortunately, the execution was lacking, and the crowd never seemed to get truly emotionally invested in the action. At the very least, I am glad Fitchett is back and getting pushed. The sky is the limit for Mat Fitchett in independent wrestling.
Match Rating: **1/2

MsChif vs. Scarlett (w/ Markus Crane)
I don’t want to watch this match. Thankfully, Scarlett agreed and called an audible.

MsChif vs. Markus Crane (w/ Scarlett)
I don’t really want to see this either, but beggars can’t be choosers. Crane cut her off early and worked her over. After a nearly year-long feud with Danny Daniels, this is MsChif’s reward. Crane got a nearfalls with a nasty backslide and a Bubba Bomb. MsChif avoided a diving splash. Scarlett tried to interfere. MsChif then hit Crane with the mist and the Desecrater: 1…2…3.

Mason Beck attacked MsChif after the match.

This was nothing. At least the right person won.
Match Rating: *

AAW Heritage Title Tournament First Round
Davey Vega vs. Vic Capri
Vega didn’t get much of reaction when he came out. This shouldn’t be surprising considering how poorly he was booked in 2012 after Fitchett got injured. Capri looks like a great athlete. He has a Tony Nese body. Capri was in control early. He got a cross armbreaker and a big boot. Vega made a standard comeback, which caused Capri to roll to the floor. Vega went for a slingshot hurricanrana to the floor, but it didn’t go perfectly. Back in the ring, Capri hit a blue thunder bomb. Capri didn’t go for a cover, which Colvin chastised him for. Capri hit a STO and a modified Anaconda Vice. Vega made the ropes. They got to their feet and traded strikes. Vega hit a snap Paydirt for a nearfall. Capri came back with an exploder into the corner. Capri then hit a running knee to the back of Vega’s head for a nearfall. Vega came back with a missile drokick. Vega then avoided a Sliced Bread and hit an Air Raid Crash: 1…2…3.

Much like the Able/Fitchett match, the recap of the match makes it seem like a really well put-together match. Unfortunately, this match never really came together in the way that I was expecting it to. Vic Capri has a great look, but I’m not sure if he has the skills to match it. Much like the opener, I am thankful that the right man went over.
Match Rating: **1/4

AAW Heritage Title Tournament First Round
TD Thomas vs. Kyle O’Reilly
They did some good sequences to start the match. O’Reilly got control for a bit and worked Thomas over. They traded some kicks. O’Reilly got a nearfall with a running knee to the gut. O’Reilly got a fishhook! I love fishhooks. They traded more kicks. Thomas hit a couple of amazing cartwheel kicks. Thomas hit a Sling Blade for a nearfall. More fancy kicks from Thomas. Thomas then hit a twisting fisherman buster: 1…2…NO! Thomas went for a splash, but Kyle got his knees up. Kyle got a nearfall with a saito suplex. Thomas came back with a tiger suplex: 1…2…NO! Kyle then hit a super back suplex: 1…2…NO! Kyle then hit the bridging Regalplex: 1…2…NO! Triangle from Kyle, but Thomas escaped! They traded more kicks until Kyle hit a yakuza, a swinging DDT and a brainbuster: 1…2…3!

Awesome match. This kind of felt like a PWG style midcard match where two guys just go out and have the best match they can in the time allotted. The only way this would have been better was if this match took place in Reseda, California. AAW needs to put their talented midcarders in more situations like this.
Match Rating: ***1/2

We Are Here (Lamar Titan and Tweek Phoenix) vs. Zero Gravity (Bret Gakiya and CJ Esparza) vs. Louis Lyndon and Darin Corbin vs. Jordan McEntyre

Recap by Alex Torres: (This match was posted to my website, FreeProWrestling.com. Torres, a writer for my site, did the recap for it, and I saw no reason to do another recap of it. Suck it readers. The rest of the review is of course written by me.)
This match is to determine the number one contenders to the AAW tag titles. McEntyre comes out and cuts a promo about how he became a classy man in his time away. The commentary wonders if he’s gay. McEntyre says he’s the only partner pretty enough to be his partner. Okay. The three teams attack McEntyre, knocking him out the ring, and then Lyndon/Corbin and Zero Gravity attack the We Are Coming Duo. Zero Gravity isolate Phoenix. Esparza hits a twisting senton. Corbin tags in, attacking Phoenix in the corner. Corbin tags in Esparza, but Phoenix gets a big boot, letting him tag Titan. Titan tosses Esparza into the corner, before goading Lyndon in. Lyndon hits a few elbows, before getting a two count off a sunset flip. Athleticism from Lyndon, before he knocks the big man down with kicks. Phoenix attempts to interfere, but Lyndon throws him out. McEntyre reenters, hitting Lyndon with a back suplex. Corbin gets caught by a Spinebuster. Running sexton on Corbin’s back, before taking out Zero Gravity and We are Coming. Lyndon and Zero Gravity kick McEntyre in the face, and everyone takes a turn attacking McEntyre. Corbin and Lyndon eliminate McEntyre.

Esparza jumps in, who is caught in an airplane spin. Gakiya makes Corbin dizzy with the spin, leading to a leaping kick from Gakiya. Enziguiri on Lyndon. We are Coming attacks Zero Gravity, and then Corbin/Lyndon brawl with We are Coming. Nikki jumps on Corbin. Lyndon puts Titan in an armbar on the barricade. Corbin hits Phoenix with a double axehandle. Titan catches Corbin with a spin kick. Lyndon back in the ring, eventually overcome by the numbers game. Lyndon hits Phoenix with a big knee, knocking him out the ring, and then manipulates Titan’s body into attacking Phoenix. Lyndon gets caught off a suicide dive, but then turns it into a double DDT. Corbin goes to run off the ropes, but Keith Walker catches him and then chokeslams him. He lays him out with a clothesline. Nikki drags Phoenix in for the pin, eliminating Lyndon and Corbin.

Esparza rolls up Phoenix for two, and then tries the same with a crucifix pin. Gakiya hits a sunset flip, also trying to pin him quickly. Titan breaks up the pin. He throws Zero Gravity into the corner, but misses an attack. Titan goes to the second rope just to have his feet knocked out from under him. Esparza holds Titan down for Gakiya to hit double knees. Zero Gravity attack Phoenix, but get tripped up by Nikki. Phoenix hits a discus clothesline on Esparza. Ryan Boz runs out and hits a Boz Driver on Phoenix. A flippy cup 2.0 gets Zero Gravity the title shot.

There was a lot going on here. I still don’t believe there’s bad blood between the Northstace Express/Lyndon and We Are Coming- they don’t seem like they hate each other. McEntyre was unnecessary, and this wasn’t the match to reintroduce him to the audience. The right team won, the feuds causing Corbin/Lyndon and We Are Coming to be eliminated, but there were a lot of run ins leading up to it. Which brings me to another thing- if there are no DQs in AAW, why does it matter if the ref sees anything? Why does the ref have to be distracted if he doesn’t have the power to DQ? While Zero Gravity and Louis Lyndon both shone in the match, the match as a whole was cluttered, and the large feud there doesn’t seem to warrant a cage match.

Thoughts from TJ Hawke:
This match had some good action, and it was never boring. However, the stories at work are really just not interesting at all. We Are Here are just not being put in a position to succeed. The storyline has unintentionally become some bizarre meta story about AAW booking midcarders poorly. Zero Gravity isn’t the greatest tag team, but they are usually fun (thus, I’m fine that they got the win). I’m sure the tag title match with Irish Airborne will be solid. Corbin and Lyndon are not doing We Are Here any favors with how they have been performing in this feud. They don’t seem angry. They’re acting like it’s just another angle whereas We Are Here are desperately trying to be different. As for Jordan McEntyre, his character is theoretically interesting. However, if he’s just going to be a stereotype that gets beat up by “real men,” then I would rather AAW not use him going forward.
Match Rating: **3/4

Dan Lawrence came out and put himself over. He complained about not having a match. Buffalo Bill’s music hit…

Jimmy Jacobs vs. Dan Lawrence
Both men are AAW Triple Crown Winners.

Lawrence jumped Jacobs before the bell. They ended up on the floor, and Jacobs got a little kid to chop Lawrence. Back in the ring, Jacobs went to the top rope, but Lawrence managed to crotch him. Lawrence worked him over after that. Jacobs eventually came back with a tope suicida. Lawrence blocked the Contra Code and hit a neckbreaker. Jacobs came back with the Thugbait: 1…2…NO! Lawrence tossed a chair in the ring. Jacobs grabbed it. The referee admonished Jacobs. Jacobs tossed Lawrence the chair and then speared Lawrence. Togo Senton from Jacobs: 1…2…3

This match was solid. Jacobs clearly has so much to offer in 2013 (check out his 2013 match with Adam Cole if you don’t believe me), but Lawrence is not the opponent to highlight that with.
Match Rating: **1/4

Knight Wagner harassed Tony Rican backstage because he was only on the pre-show. Rican sent him to the ring for a match.

Keith Walker (w/ Kevin Harvey & Nikki) vs. Knight Wagner
Knight Wagner walked out on the match.

All of We Are Here came to the ring. Harvey challenged the whole roster. Louis Lyndon, Ryan Boz, & Darin Corbin came out. Also, some geeks and referees. The fight was broken up. We Are Here mostly got the better of the fight, but they eventually left the ring. Corbin then challenged them to a steel cage match.

AAW Heritage Title Tournament First Round
ACH vs. Prince Ali
Ali’s entrance revealed some xenophobic fans in the crowd. Super. ACH was winning most of the early exchanges. Ali managed to drop ACH face first on the turnbuckle. Ali proceeded to work over ACH. Ali locked in a STF at one point, but ACH made the ropes. ACH was close to coming back a couple of times, but Ali was always able to recover and keep the advantage. On the apron, ACH was finally able to wound Ali when he hit a tilt-a-whirl headscissors to the floor. ACH then hit the Air Jordan. Back in the ring, ACH hit a Gibson Driver: 1…2…NO! Ali hit a punt to the chest. Ali was seeming going for a moonsault, but ACH dropkicked him to the floor. Back in the ring, Ali hit a springboard 450 on ACH’s arm! Ali then locked in a crossface on the injured arm! ACH made the ropes. Ali went for the inverted 450, but ACH avoided it. ACH then hit the Cram for the Exam: 1…2…3!

This match was slightly overhyped by those at the show, but this was a very good match. ACH is a star, and Prince Ali really impressed me. Ali needs to be getting more opportunities, and he should absolutely be booked by AAW on every show. The first round of AAW’s Heritage Title Tournament definitely finished strong.
Match Rating: ***1/2

Michael Elgin & Davey Richards vs. Silas Young (w/ Val Malone) & Shane Hollister (w/ Scarlett)
Silas has an AWFUL haircut. It’s clearly one of those Billy Kidman situations where I fear that all of his charisma was stored in his hair. This is one of those DVD main events that seems designed to just set up a future main event for Elgin’s title. If I were AAW, I would want to have a big tag title match to main event a show where the heavyweight title scene is doing something like this.

The “teams” went back and forth for a long time. Not much of note happened, but the action was all well worked. Eventually, Young and Hollister were able to isolate Elgin, and they worked him over. Elgin was eventually able to give Silas the Oklahoma Stampede. Davey then tagged in. Davey got Hollister in a Drunk Lock, but Silas saved him. Hollister took out Elgin with a tope suicida. Silas and Hollister were able to isolate Davey, and they worked him over for a while. Davey managed to cause Silas to DDT Hollister. Elgin tagged in and hit a diving shoulder tackle on Silas. Elgin ran wild for a bit. Elgin hit a deadlift hellevator on Young: 1…2…NO! Scarlet and Val ran into the ring. The referee didn’t kick them out. They distracted Elgin and Davey by making out. To say that is a problematic portrayal of women is…you know, too obvious to even bother writing. The four men hit moves until they went down. Scarlett and Val stopped making out and then lariated each other. The women fell to the floor. Davey got Hollister in the drunk lock, but Silas shoved Elgin into Davey. Davey got mad. Elgin then accidentally backfisted Davey. Silas hit Elgin with a Finlay Roll. Hollister hit a superkick. Silas hit a Jaydriller. Kneeling superkick from Hollister: 1…2…NO! Silas hit the Pee Jee Waja Plunge, and Hollister hit a double stomp: 1…2…NO-Davey makes the save! Davey then decided to buzzsaw kick Elgin: 1…2…3.

This main event was entertaining, but the story was exactly what I feared. In 2013, I strongly believe you cannot be booking your DVDs to end this way. It’s not 2006 anymore. You can’t expect people to buy every DVD just because you made a DVD. You have to truly earn it. If this match happened in the middle of the show or was even the semi-main, I would have no problem. However, this is supposed to be the main match that makes me want to buy this DVD. Instead, it felt like a Raw main event intended to sell a future DVD.

With that out of the way, I want to assess how well they try to sell said future DVD. The finish of this match creates two future main events for AAW. Silas Young earns a heavyweight title match because he pinned the current champion (in a tag team match). Davey Richards, who only lost one match in AAW in 2012 (Elgin pinned him in November to successfully defend the heavyweight title), now has created an issue between himself and Elgin. Personally, I’d rather just see Davey and Silas win excellent singles matches on this show. Then they can confront Elgin after whatever match he was in (perhaps a non-title match with Hollister, which Hollister could perhaps win by cheating?). In this scenario, Davey, Silas, and Hollister all have legitimate claims at demanding a title shot. Davey and Silas have two of the best records in the promotion, and they have history with Elgin. Hollister would have pinned the current champion, and thus, he has pretty much automatically earned a heavyweight title match. Considering Hollister has the weakest pedigree of everyone in this situation, he could use the big victory over the current champion most of all.

Anyway, I’m not saying my scenario is automatically better or more makes more financial sense, but I just think it’s a more logical way of doing things, and (most importantly), it would probably make for a better DVD. Regardless, this was an entertaining main event, but AAW has had much better main events in the last twelve months.
Match Rating: ***

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The 411: AAW certainly didn't start off 2013 with their best DVD ever. My general expectations for AAW DVD are a great main event, a great midcard match, 1-2 more solid undercard matches, and then a bunch of storyline matches that don't interest me. This DVD was not that at all. There were two midcard matches (ACH vs. Ali and O'Reilly vs. Thomas) that were great, and showcase the future of independent wrestling (hopefully). However, there is really nothing else on this DVD that you really need to see. The main event is pretty much just about a storyline finish designed to set up future DVDs. The AAW tag title scene is exposed for its lack of interesting teams. I don't know. AAW has just produced much better DVDs than this. Support AAW by buying 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.

Final Score:  6.8   [ Average ]