AAW Path Of Redemption 2014
Berwyn, Illinois 2/28/14
We kick of the night with the AAW Commentary Team, Phil Colvin & Derrick St. Holmes, in the ring to hype up the show. They are rudely interrupted by AAW Heritage Champion "Money" Matt Cage. He's upset with what happened at the last show between him & Junthai Miller, and he wants his match with him right now! Miller quickly responds & here we go!
1.) AAW Heritage Title - Matt Cage vs. Juntai Miller: ***1/4
This was a really good match to start the show. Lots of back & forth action between Cage & Miller. Both the champion & the challenger looked good in this one. I wouldn't call it quite as good as Cage's match with ACH at The Chaos Theory, but this was still a very good opener. Cage gets the win in a extremely competitive Heritage Title Match.
2.) Los Ben Dejos vs. OI4K (Dave Crist & Jake Crist): ***1/2
Irish Airborne have been mainstays in AAW, but I believe this is the first time in AAW that they have been referred to by their OI4K (Ohio Is For Killers) name. Los Ben Dejos, meanwhile, are making their AAW debuts. This was a really good tag team match. OI4K looked good, but Los Ben Dejos really impressed the AAW Fans. Just great tag team wrestling from both sides. OI4K eventually get the win, and Los Ben Dejos made a lasting impression.
3.) Silas Young vs. Markus Crane (with Dan Lawrence): DUD
During Young's Entrance (which is "Don't Stop Believing" by Journey. Just Epic!), Crane makes Snow Angels....Hilarious. Nothing much to speak of here. It went about a minute or two. Crane just taunted Silas a bit and actually got a few moves in on him before Young destroyed him.
After that short affair, Young tries to call out Eddie Kingston, but is attacked by Dan Lawrence, and we have another match!
4.) Silas Young vs. Dan Lawrence (with Markus Crane): *1/4
Both of these men are former AAW Heavyweight Champions. This one was not that long either, but it was a little longer and a bit more competitive than the Markus Crane match. Young picks up the victory with not much difficulty.
5.) #1 Contender's Fatal Four-Way - Ty Colton vs. CJ Esparza vs. Knight Wagner vs. Marek Brave: ***
This is pretty much the same Fatal Four-Way Match from The Chaos Theory, except we now have CJ Esparza of Zero Gravity in there instead of DC Dynamite. The winner of this match gets a future Heritage Title Shot against Matt Cage. While not quite as good as the last Fatal Four-Way, this was still pretty entertaining. Lots of action that saw everyone get their stuff in, as you would expect. Marek Brave gets the win and earns himself a future title shot against Matt Cage.
6.) AAW Tag Team Titles - Men Of The Year ("Unbreakable" Michael Elgin & #ALLEGO) vs. Kung Fu Manchu (Louis Lyndon & Marion Fontaine): ***1/2
This is Kung Fu Manchu's obligatory rematch after losing the titles in a Three-Way at One Twisted Christmas that also featured Zero Gravity. This was another pretty good match, although it wasn't quite as good as you might think, especially when you consider the fact that Elgin was involved. Despite that, the match was still very entertaining. #ALLEGO is especially great. That dude is hilarious! Men Of The Year eventually score the win and retain the AAW Tag Team Titles.
After the match, OI4K run out and attack Michael Elgin! #ALLEGO attempts to make the save, but the damage was already done.
7.) ACH vs. Rich Swann: ****
Hard to believe that AAW actually beat PWG to the punch with this match. ACH & Rich Swann are two of the best high flyers in the world, and they showed it in this one. Fantastic action from both guys. They're both so entertaining. It's hard for anyone not to enjoy them in the ring. Definitely the Match of the Night.
8.) Lince Dorado vs. Eddie Kingston (with Jordynne Grace): ***
These two have a history with each other in CHIKARA. Much like his rivalry with Tim Donst, it mostly involved Kingston delivering brutal beatings on Lince Dorado. Kingston has his new valet Jordynne Grace with him once again. This was a good match. Dorado got his offense in (which was exciting), but on several occasions he was able to get on offense, it was because Kingston was distracted by the crowd. Kingston, after several attempts, is finally able to put Dorado away and wins the match.
Afterwords, Silas Young comes out, and immediately security and some other wrestlers come out to separate them. Young looks surprisingly restrained as he cuts a promo on Kingston instead of attacking him. Silas says that what Kingston did to Val Malone at One Twisted Christmas crossed the line (Kingston meanwhile is using Val Malone as a human shield during all of this). He says that he will follow Kingston wherever he goes, and that he will break him. Kingston tries to respond but is rendered speechless.
Up next, We Are Here come out to the ring. They are without Nikki Mayday on this night. Kevin Harvey says the crowd is here because of them and talks about what they did to Tony Rican at The Chaos Theory. He then says We Are Here has an open contract for any tag team in the locker room that wants to face them. It ends up being answers by the L.O.S.E.R.S. of Moondog Bernard & The Sea Man!
9.) We Are Here (Keith Walker & Tweek Phoenix with Kevin Harvey) vs. L.O.S.E.R.S. (Moondog Bernard & Sea Man): *
Pretty short match. Actually got a bit of back & forth in this one before We Are Here regroups and destroys L.O.S.E.R.S. to win the match.
Afterwords, Harvey asks if that's the bed they can get and says they want more. Tony Rican comes out with a chair and gains an upper hand for a short time before getting beat down. Eventually Ryan Boz makes the save and I guess we have another match?
10.) We Are Here (Keith Walker & Tweek Phoenix with Kevin Harvey) vs. Tony Rican & Ryan Boz: DUD
I don't recall hearing a bell for this, but it didn't really have an official end as Walker & Phoenix just beat up Rican & Boz. At one point, AAW Owner Jim Lynam comes out and tries to put a stop to this, but he to is laid out by Walker & Phoenix. We Are Here leave triumphant.
11.) AAW Heavyweight Title - Shane Hollister (with Scarlett Bordeaux) vs. Colt Cabana: ***1/4
This match was (I'm guessing) set up after Cabana saved Jimmy Jacobs from a beating by Hollister & his crew at The Chaos Theory. The match itself was actually pretty solid, though I feel like it under-delivered as a Main Event in a few ways. Firstly, this suffered the same problem as Hollister's Title Defense against Jimmy Jacobs at The Chaos Theory, in that the match went longer than it needed to. I understand this was the Main Event, but given the competitors, this could have been accomplished in a little less time. Then there was the finish. It was a really overbooked situations with tons of interference from Scarlett Bordeaux, Dan Lawrence & Markus Crane. The interference definitely hurt this match. Hollister eventually retains in a match that was good, but could have been better.
Overall: 7.75/10
I'm a little torn on this show. You had several really good matches on this show. ACH/Rich Swann was easily the Match of the Night and well worth the purchase. You also had some really solid matches with OI4K/Los Ben Dejos, the AAW Tag Team Title Match & the AAW Heritage Title Match. Then you have some of the rougher patches. Eddie Kingston/Lince Dorado & the AAW Heavyweight Title Match both had the potential to be really good matches but ultimately fell short of expectations for their own respective matches. You then had the multiple matches involving Silas Young & We Are Here that were meant to be angles that advances their respective stories, but ultimately had an effect on the show as a whole. A solid show from AAW, but not exactly their best outing compared to the last few shows.
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