So this is a really interesting show put on by AIW. It's a show filled with all of male vs. female, or inter-gender, matches. The idea of male vs. female matches has been a pretty heated topic of discussion in the world of independent wrestling in 2014, so there was no way I was going to skip out on seeing this show, so let's see how things went!
AIW Battle of the Sexes
Cleveland, Ohio 7/26/14
1.) Angel Dust vs. Bobby Beverly: **
I really don't know much about Angel Dust. This match was....just ok. The wrestling was fine, but it just wasn't that interesting. Part of me feels like this match shouldn't have opened the show. Bobby Beverly wins and it's 1-0 in favor of the men.
I really don't know much about Angel Dust. This match was....just ok. The wrestling was fine, but it just wasn't that interesting. Part of me feels like this match shouldn't have opened the show. Bobby Beverly wins and it's 1-0 in favor of the men.
2.) Colin Delaney vs. Hania The
Howling Huntress: **3/4
Hania The Howling Huntress is actually someone you might recognize. She used to wrestle under a mask for CHIKARA (I won't say who she was, but you can figure it out). This was a pretty solid match. It's really interesting to see how different Hania is, in the ring, with this persona compared to who she was in CHIKARA. Colin Delaney looked fine in here as well. In the end, Hania would get the win for the women, making it 1-1.
Hania The Howling Huntress is actually someone you might recognize. She used to wrestle under a mask for CHIKARA (I won't say who she was, but you can figure it out). This was a pretty solid match. It's really interesting to see how different Hania is, in the ring, with this persona compared to who she was in CHIKARA. Colin Delaney looked fine in here as well. In the end, Hania would get the win for the women, making it 1-1.
3.) AIW Intense Title - Davey Vega vs. Jasmin: ***
Davey Vega won the AIW Intense Title from Louis Lyndon at Absolution IX, and this is his first defense as champion. I've never seen Jasmin before, but she had a really solid match with Davey Vega. As I've said before, Vega is someone I've really come to like since I started watching AIW. Jasmin really impressed me in this match also. This is the first time I've seen her, and I think she held her own. In the end, Vega would get the win and retained his title, and the men retook the lead 2-1.
Davey Vega won the AIW Intense Title from Louis Lyndon at Absolution IX, and this is his first defense as champion. I've never seen Jasmin before, but she had a really solid match with Davey Vega. As I've said before, Vega is someone I've really come to like since I started watching AIW. Jasmin really impressed me in this match also. This is the first time I've seen her, and I think she held her own. In the end, Vega would get the win and retained his title, and the men retook the lead 2-1.
4.) Jenny Rose vs. Tyson Dux: **3/4
Dux has been a regular in AIW in recent months, while I've seen Jenny Rose make several appearances with Ring of Honor this year, so I'm familiar with both competitors in this match. Another solid match. You can always get a good match with Tyson Dux involved, and Jenny Rose looked good in here also. Rose ended up scoring the win on a crucifix pin, which means that things are tied back up at 2-2.
Dux has been a regular in AIW in recent months, while I've seen Jenny Rose make several appearances with Ring of Honor this year, so I'm familiar with both competitors in this match. Another solid match. You can always get a good match with Tyson Dux involved, and Jenny Rose looked good in here also. Rose ended up scoring the win on a crucifix pin, which means that things are tied back up at 2-2.
5.) Alexia Nicole vs. Rickey Shane
Page: **3/4
Before the match starts, Rickey Shane Page takes the mic and puts over Alexia Nicole, noting that she's only 18 Years Old, and says that he'll treat her like any other wrestler, and won't treat her differently because she's a woman. This was yet another good match on this show. The size different was definitely profound in this match, but it still a fun match to watch. We even saw Alexia Nicole hit a Canadian Destroyer on Rickey Shane Page, which was insane! In the end, Rickey Shane Page would get the win, and the men would retake the lead for the men 3-2.
After the match, Matt Wadsworth (AIW's President) comes out and announces that Alexia Nicole had officially earned a spot on the Girl's Night Out (AIW's Women's Branch) Roster.
6.) Eddie Kingston (with The Duke) vs. #Sparx: **1/4
Now this was a match that I think would grab some people's attention. #Sparx is someone who could hold her own with a guy like Kingston, due to her size & power. This was fine for what it was. It really didn't go that long, and #Sparx won the match with a Sunset Flip, evening things up at 3-3, but she was immediately attacked after the match by The Duke & Eddie Kingston. They were going to hit #Sparx with a screwdriver, but #AllEgo (who recently started a feud with Eddie Kingston back at Absolution IX)
Now this was a match that I think would grab some people's attention. #Sparx is someone who could hold her own with a guy like Kingston, due to her size & power. This was fine for what it was. It really didn't go that long, and #Sparx won the match with a Sunset Flip, evening things up at 3-3, but she was immediately attacked after the match by The Duke & Eddie Kingston. They were going to hit #Sparx with a screwdriver, but #AllEgo (who recently started a feud with Eddie Kingston back at Absolution IX)
7.) AIW Tag Team Champion BJ Whitmer vs. Heidi Lovelace (with Sammy Geodollno): **1/2
Lovelace is someone who has really started to get noticed by a lot more eyes in 2014, and here she's taking one half of the AIW Tag Team Champions, and a Ring of Honor stalwart, in BJ Whitmer. Again, this was another pretty solid match. It only went around 7 Minutes or so, but we saw a fair amount of action in here. The only thing I didn't like too much was that the end of the match seemed to come out of nowhere, but that's my only real complaint. BJ Whitmer wins the match to give the men a 4-3 lead.
Afterwords, BJ Whitmer continued a beatdown on Heidi Lovelace until The Jollyville Fuck-Its (who were on commentary) made the save, and took out BJ Whitmer.
Lovelace is someone who has really started to get noticed by a lot more eyes in 2014, and here she's taking one half of the AIW Tag Team Champions, and a Ring of Honor stalwart, in BJ Whitmer. Again, this was another pretty solid match. It only went around 7 Minutes or so, but we saw a fair amount of action in here. The only thing I didn't like too much was that the end of the match seemed to come out of nowhere, but that's my only real complaint. BJ Whitmer wins the match to give the men a 4-3 lead.
Afterwords, BJ Whitmer continued a beatdown on Heidi Lovelace until The Jollyville Fuck-Its (who were on commentary) made the save, and took out BJ Whitmer.
8.) AIW Women's Champion Athena vs. Louis Lyndon: ***1/4
It's been awhile since I've seen Athena. After suffering an injury in 2013, she's returned in 2014 as "The Fallen Goddess" and quickly won the AIW Women's Title. Louis Lyndon is coming off of losing the AIW Intense Title to Davey Vega at Absolution IX. This was a pretty good match. Definitely one of the better matches of the night. Lyndon is really good, and Athena is one of the best women's wrestlers out there, so it's no surprise that this match was really entertaining. Athena wins after hitting her fantastic finisher, The O-Face, to score the win and even things up at 4-4.
It's been awhile since I've seen Athena. After suffering an injury in 2013, she's returned in 2014 as "The Fallen Goddess" and quickly won the AIW Women's Title. Louis Lyndon is coming off of losing the AIW Intense Title to Davey Vega at Absolution IX. This was a pretty good match. Definitely one of the better matches of the night. Lyndon is really good, and Athena is one of the best women's wrestlers out there, so it's no surprise that this match was really entertaining. Athena wins after hitting her fantastic finisher, The O-Face, to score the win and even things up at 4-4.
9.) Steel Cage Match: Gregory Iron vs. Veda Scott: ***1/4
Now this match is probably the only match on the card that had an actual story behind it, and it's the conclusion of a nearly year long feud between Veda Scott & Gregory Iron. Veda Scott came out dressing in wedding dress themed wrestling attire, possibly to throw Iron off his game. I should also note that The Steel Cage itself is actually pink. This was a pretty entertaining Steel Cage Match. We did get some....weird things in here, like Dick Justice coming out dressed as RoboCop (a throw back of sorts to that RoboCop appearance in WCW back in 1990....and yes, that actually happened). He shook the cage a little bit but got quickly taken out by Veda Scott, and yes....there were Robo-Dick chants. In terms of the actual match, it pretty much went as well as you thought it would. There was blood, and a ton of weapons, such as chairs, tables, and thumbtacks involved. The match ended when Veda Scott hit a big splash off of the top rope, onto Gregory Iron, who was on a table (but the table didn't break) and pinned him to score the win, ending the feud and winning the night for the women 5-4.
Now this match is probably the only match on the card that had an actual story behind it, and it's the conclusion of a nearly year long feud between Veda Scott & Gregory Iron. Veda Scott came out dressing in wedding dress themed wrestling attire, possibly to throw Iron off his game. I should also note that The Steel Cage itself is actually pink. This was a pretty entertaining Steel Cage Match. We did get some....weird things in here, like Dick Justice coming out dressed as RoboCop (a throw back of sorts to that RoboCop appearance in WCW back in 1990....and yes, that actually happened). He shook the cage a little bit but got quickly taken out by Veda Scott, and yes....there were Robo-Dick chants. In terms of the actual match, it pretty much went as well as you thought it would. There was blood, and a ton of weapons, such as chairs, tables, and thumbtacks involved. The match ended when Veda Scott hit a big splash off of the top rope, onto Gregory Iron, who was on a table (but the table didn't break) and pinned him to score the win, ending the feud and winning the night for the women 5-4.
Overall: 6.75/10
If you're not really into inter-gender, men vs. women, wrestling matches, then this show is not for you. However, if you're into it, or at least intrigued by the idea of men vs. women matches, then this show is definitely worth checking out. There were actually a fair amount of really solid matches on this show. I think there were only one or two matches on here that I would say weren't that good. Other than that, the matches were all relatively solid, with the top two matches, Athena vs. Louis Lyndon & Gregory Iron vs. Veda Scott in a Steel Cage, were good. Again, it's a really unique event, that you won't see any other company really do. You're not going to get spectacular matches, but for what it was, it was a perfectly fine wrestling show.
If you're not really into inter-gender, men vs. women, wrestling matches, then this show is not for you. However, if you're into it, or at least intrigued by the idea of men vs. women matches, then this show is definitely worth checking out. There were actually a fair amount of really solid matches on this show. I think there were only one or two matches on here that I would say weren't that good. Other than that, the matches were all relatively solid, with the top two matches, Athena vs. Louis Lyndon & Gregory Iron vs. Veda Scott in a Steel Cage, were good. Again, it's a really unique event, that you won't see any other company really do. You're not going to get spectacular matches, but for what it was, it was a perfectly fine wrestling show.
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