AIW Gauntlet For The Gold 9
Cleveland, Ohio 3/14/14
1.) Dicks & Flips (Ty Colton & Flip Kendrick) vs. Youthanazia (Matt Cross & Josh Prohibition): ***
Colton & Kendrick are teaming up together for the first time, while Cross & Prohibition have been an established team for a long time. This was a pretty solid opener. Youthanazia looked good in here, but I was surprised how well Dicks & Flips did, with it being their first match as a team. The crowd was really into the team of Colton & Kendrick, who ended up getting the surprise victory! Cross & Prohibition discuss what happened that led to their loss as they go to the back.
2.) Fatal Four-Way Match - Davey Vega vs. Shane Hollister vs. Trevor Lee vs. Tyson Dux: ***1/2
Here we have an interesting array of competitors, to say the least. This match was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed it. They went balls to the walls from the opening bell and we got a lot of great action. Dux ends up getting the win in this exciting Fatal Four-Way.
3.) Winner Gets The #30 Spot In Gauntlet For The Gold - #ALLEGO (with Seleziya Sparx) vs. Bobby Beverly: ***
As the match stipulation dictates, whoever wins will be Entrant #30 in the Gauntlet For The Gold Match, so their is a lot on the line in this one. A solid match here. Both #ALLEGO & Bobby Beverly are mainstays in AIW and they put on a good contest here, although I feel both guys are capable of having a much better match. #ALLEGO uses heel shenanigans to score the victory.
4.) AIW Tag Team Titles - The Jollyville Fuck-Its (Russ Myers & T-Money) vs. The Batiri (Obariyon & Kodama with Veronica): ***1/4
The Batiri are getting their rematch for the AIW Tag Team Titles, as they were the team Russ Myers & T-Money beat to win the titles at Hell On Earth 9. In an interesting note, the pairing of Kodama & Kobald lost the titles, as Obariyon was in Japan at the time, meaning the Boys from Jollyville haven't beaten this pairing of The Batiri. Much like the Tag Team Title Match at #TGIF, this one was pretty good. The Batiri have gotten really good as a tag team while Russ Myers & T-Money got to show their stuff. Eventually, The Jollyville Fuck-Its get the win and retain their Tag Team Titles.
5.) AIW Intense Title - Louis Lyndon vs. ACH: ****
This was a matchup that was supposed to happen at some point last year but ACH had an injury and it didn't happen. Now it is, and it's for the AIW Intense Title! This was a great match. For the second AIW Show in a row, Louis Lyndon has a standout match for the Intense Title. Really cool stuff between him & ACH. Even though #ALLEGO interfered towards the end, I think it added a little bit in this case, as ACH was able to fight them off. Lyndon, in the end, was able to put away ACH and retained his title.
6.) Tim Donst vs. Eddie Kingston: ***
These two have a long history (particularly in CHIKARA) which mostly involve Kingston giving Donst brutal beating after brutal beating. It was also noted on commentary that Donst (who called out Kingston at the last show for this match) had yet to score a victory over Kingston, who comes through the crowd and attacks Donst from behind. They brawl through the crowd a little bit before getting in the ring and officially starting the match. This was a solid match, though I think it was just missing something from being truly great. Kingston kept trying to put Donst down but Donst kept fighting back, and eventually wins the match when he gets Kingston to tap out!
After the match, Donst cuts a promo talking about how he shook hands with everyone he's beaten (Chris Hero, Danny Havok), and people he is going to defeat (Alex Shelley at the next show), but he will never shake Eddie Kingston's hand. Kingston then attacks Donst from behind with a chair! He works over Donst with the chair and eventually goes after his knee. Referees and others have to pull Kingston off of Donst. This is concerning for Donst as he will be in the Gauntlet For The Gold Match later in the night. Donst gets up and calls Kingston back to fight him, but Kingston just leaves through the crowd.
7.) AIW Absolute Title - "Unbreakable" Michael Elgin vs. Andrew Everett: ****1/2
Since winning the title at Dead Presidents, Elgin has adopted a "take on all comers" philosophy when it comes to defending the title. He defeated Drake Younger on the previous AIW Show, and this time he's facing Andrew Everett, who is wrestling in only his second match with AIW. I thought this match was amazing!! Any time you get a high flyer vs. a power guy, you usually get a really good match, but when the said power guy is "Unbreakable" Michael Elgin, it's bound to be fantastic. Elgin showed off both power & agility while Everett wow'd the crowd with his arial abilities. Just a great match all around. Elgin is eventually able to put Everett away and retains his title in what will be one of the best matches you'll see in AIW all year.
8.) 30 Man Gauntlet For The Gold Match: ****
So basically this is AIW's version of the Royal Rumble Match. The winner of this match will challenge for the AIW Absolute Title at Absolution IX. I won't go through all of the entrants & elimination person by person, but I can go through some of the highlights. Gregory Iron & Veda Scott were entrants #1 & #2, so an all out brawl broke out quickly. Even though Scott was able to eliminate Iron, the next 3 or 4 Entrants were all members of Gregory Iron's Iron Curtain. They took turns beating up Scott and Iron smashed a glass Pepsi Bottle across Scott's face. She was busted wide open. Other highlights included the returns of Christian Faith & Jimmy Olsen, Seleziya Sparx absolutely dominating for a period, Matt Cross eliminating his tag team partner Josh Prohibition, and many more! This involved a lot of various storylines going on in AIW at the moment (which are a lot easier to understand if you've been following the AIW product). Eventually, the final two came down to #ALLEGO and Tim Donst, and Donst was able to eliminate #ALLEGO to win Gauntlet For The Gold!! He goes to Absolution IX where he will challenge for the AIW Absolute Title!
Overall: 8.75/10
This was a fantastic show from AIW. From top to bottom, this was just a really entertaining show. Every match on here is at or goes over the *** mark for me. You had two solid tag team matches (one of them for the AIW Tag Team Titles), and electric Fatal Four-Way, two great matches for the AIW Absolute Title & AIW Intense Title (the former begin a potential Match Of The Year Candidate), and a very entertaining Gauntlet For The Gold Match. An excellent show on the whole from AIW, and one that is definitely worth checking out!
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