@TravMoody
Hey kids. Me again. While I’ve got to get ready for ALL IN, here’s a mini-review of last night’s AAW Defining Moments show.
Yeah, not everything this weekend is peaches ‘n cream…
Jake Something & Curt Stallion v Ace Romero & Colt Cabana – Better match for Something & Stallion tonight, but not on-par with the opening tag from yesterday. 2.75/5
Shane Strickland v Darby Allin – A very good contest that seemed way too early on the card, but we’ll see a rematch in Evolve soon I’m sure. You could already tell at this moment that last night’s crowd just wasn’t as hot as Thursday’s. 3.5/5
oVe (Jake and Dave Crist v Ace Austin and Brian Cage – Again, a better outting for oVe 2nite but — while this was fine and Cage was a pleasant surprise — it just didn’t have much heat. This was fine. 2.5/5
AAW Heritage Championship: Trevor Lee v DJZ – Lee’s mic work is some of the best on the indies, and in-ring a solid hand. It’s taken me a whole year and a half of watching his stuff but I can finally appreciate the “shoot bad-ass”. DJZ brought tenacity but he didn’t quite deliver near the finish, working a couple of flat moves before the loss. 3.25/5
AR Fox and Myron Reed v Flamita and Bandido – MOTN; some peeps even liked this better than the main event from Thurs. It def had less bigtime botches and actual more highflying, but felt not as strong in-ring with a mid-match lull that the Lucha Bros match never had. Still pretty damn awesome. 3.75/5
MJF v Marko Stunt – Decently fun gaga stuff again with MJF. His character impressed me this weekend. Crowd was hot for Stunt, a very young guy in need of polish and weight work but great athleticism. It was a weird one I could have done without. 2.25/5
Grudge Match: Sami Callihan v Jimmy Jacobs – Wild as expected. Sami hit Jimmy so hard with a kendo stick that a piece of it splintered off and could have blinded a fan. Glad Sami cares. This guy is 100% kayfabe now, unlike the guy I shared Doritos with a year ago. While this hardcore grudge match had its moments and its backers, it made a lot of the mostly fly-in for All In crowd quite uncomfortable. I dunno. 2.5/5
AAW Tag Team Championship: Eddie Kingston and Jeff Cobb v Besties in the World – Looked like Vega and Fitchett finally had their “Mega Powers” moment. Cobb replaced David Starr with Freebirds rules after another funny Trevor Lee promo. He was a riot tonight. The match was solid but not particularly thrilling. Vega’s chops are horrendous. 2.75/5
AAW Heavyweight Championship: Brody King v ACH – This was not good and way too long. But! We have a new champ. I guess that’s one way to erase a huge disappointment. Brody has looked really good as of late after a lackluster King of Indies show, but this was a step back. ACH worked his ass off and his fans tried hard to get the match going, but it just didn’t click. It was too sloppy and plodding. Brody got the surprise pin though with the Falcon Arrow Driver, making news in the big weekend. 2/5
Overall = 2.75/5 Bibles
This was not a great show, with a main event that reminded me of a 25-minute version of Vince Russo/Hollywood Hogan WCW Nitro. No matter how nice the guys are in real life from our main event, it was just hard to watch. Thankfully, the rest of the show had its share of highlights: Swerve/Allin, Mexibloods/Reed&Fox, and Lee/DJZ were all good.. albeit not better than the majority of yesterday. The crowd seemed spent too, probably from waiting in line at Pro Wrestling Tees and Starrcast; even Dave Meltzer wasn’t paying attention. The AAW braintrust may have had their hands tied with the Lucha Expo show going on in Vegas, or bigger named opting to rest the night before All In instead of taking the spot, yet they definitely didn’t spend the kind of money you think they would after an early sell-out during a big weekend. But, hey, it’s Wrestling and I still had fun.
-Travis Moody