AAW All Hail Review

Heidi Lovelace makes history!

AAW All Hail

Berwyn, Illinois 8/15/14

I should note that there was an Eddie Kingston promo before show, announcing that he would not be at the show, due to his mother being ill. He promised that he would become the AAW Heavyweight Champion.

1.) Davey Vega vs. Brent Banks: ***

These are two guys who I’ve become fans of recently, through there work in AIW & Smash Wrestling, respectively. Really solid opening match. Lots of good action throughout. Vega would end up getting the win.

2.) Dan Lawrence & Markus Crane vs. Juntai Miller & Marion Fontaine: **3/4

While I'm not the biggest fan of Lawrence & Crane, I always enjoy watching guys like Miller & Fontaine. I thought this was a pretty solid tag team match. The action picked up nicely down the stretch. We did get some of the ridiculous heel comedy from Lawrence & Crane, but thankfully it was kept to a minimum. Crane got a rollup on Fontaine to score the win for his team.

3.) Six-Man Tag – The Iron Curtain (Gregory Iron, Benjamin Boone & Joey Vincent Martini with Dick Justice) vs. Zero Gravity & Shane Sabre: **3/4

I believe this was a match that came about as a result of the card being shuffled around. Another solid tag team contest. Everyone got the chance to shine in this one. Dick Justice attempted to interfere, but it goes wrong, allowing Zero Gravity & Shane Sabre to take advantage and score the victory.

After the match, Gregory Iron takes the mic and makes fun of a fan at ringside before calling Dick Justice into the ring. He berates him for costing the Iron Curtain two matches in a row (this match as well as a match at the previous show). He tells Dick Justice that he’s got two strikes against him, and that if he screws up again, he’s out. Iron orders Dick Justice to go to the back and think of a way to make things right.

4.) We Are Here (Keith Walker & Tweek Phoenix) vs. Blake Belakis & “Psycho” Mike Rollins: **3/4

Keith Walker & Tweek Phoenix are without Kevin Harvey & Nikki Mayday. Blake Belakis is someone who has made a number of appearances in the WWNLive Universe (Evolve & FIP), while Mike Rollins is a guys who's been around the indies for a bit. This was actually a pretty solid tag team match. It was better than I was expecting. Even though they lost the match, Belakis & Rollins put forth a really solid showing.

Dick Justice comes out after the match. He says he’s going to prove himself to the Iron Curtain by issuing an open challenge for a match right now. It’s answered by Justice Jones, of all people. They brawl for a bit, but Jones eventually prevails. This brings out his cohorts, Knight Wagner & Alex Bernadino. Wagner complains about Alex Bernadino not holding up his end in a six-man tag at the previous show, and that Justice Jones got thrown out of that match. He says he could complain about the fact that he’s out for awhile with a pretty bad concussion suffered at the last show. All he wants is justice for himself, and berates the fans. Wagner says that while he’s out, he’s going to let Justice Jones do his work for him. He then says they have to cut some dead weight, and Jones attacks Alex Bernadino. The L.O.S.E.R.S. and some other jobbers try to come out and break it up, but Jones just destroys everyone in his path.

Up next, out comes the AAW Heavyweight Champion Shane Hollister. He talks about Eddie Kingston not being there due to family issues, but says he’s really not there because he has no guts to face him. He then lays out an Open Challenge for his AAW Heavyweight Title. I think he also made a comment about him not needing Scarlett Bordeaux (who wasn't at the show) to successfully retain his title. Johnny Gargano answers the call, but then #AllEgo also comes out to accept the challenge. He cuts a promo saying that his Monster Mafia partner, Josh Alexander, isn’t here due to injuries. Gargano then takes the mic and says he’s here to steal the show.  He mentions how his birthday was the previous day, and says he’ll gladly take both titles. Looks like we have a Triple Threat Match on our hands, and apparently, both belts are on the line!

5.) AAW Heavyweight Title & AAW Tag Team Title – Triple Threat Match – Shane Hollister vs. Johnny Gargano vs. #AllEgo: ***3/4

So both Shane Hollister’s AAW Heavyweight Title & #AllEgo’s half of the AAW Tag Team Titles are up for grabs in this match, but the title can only change hands if that respective champion is pinned or submitted. A little weird, but I’ll go with it. A really good match here. All three guys are very good wrestlers, so it's no surprise the match turned out the way it did. Lots of cool action in this one. Hollister would eventually pick up the win, retaining his AAW Heavyweight Title.

6.) Louis Lyndon vs. Ricochet: ****

It's nice to see Ricochet make an appearance in AAW. Here he's taking on Louis Lyndon. This was a great match, definitely the best match of the show for me. Lots of great action throughout this match, as you would expect. Ricochet is just an awesome performer, and Lyndon is a guy who's pretty underrated. After a great closing stretch, Lyndon makes Ricochet pass out to the Dragon Sleeper in an  pretty big upset!

7.) Christian Faith vs. Marek Brave: **1/4

They started off with a lot brawling on the outside, through the crowd and near the bar. It was a decent little match, but eventually, The Iron Curtain pulls the referee and attacks Marek Brave, causing the match to be thrown out. It was a fine match for what it was, before the interference.

8.) AAW Heritage Title – Matt Cage vs. Heidi Lovelace: ***1/2

For Heidi Lovelace, this is her third shot at the Heritage Title. Cage cuts a promo before the match, saying it was his Birthday today, and he says his Birthday Gift (to himself, I guess), would be to send Heidi Lovelace back to the kitchen when she belongs. I know people have a lot of different views on inter-gender matches, but in this case, I thought these two had a really good match. Matt Cage showed a lot of disrespect towards Lovelace (Stuffed money in her mouth, threw verbal insults & vulgar gestures. He even takes mic mid-match, threatening her if she doesn’t stay down), but she keeps fighting back, and the crowd was really into her. There was a lot of really solid action in this match. Lovelace continued to fight back, and eventually, she was able to get Cage down for the count,  capturing the Heritage Title in the process! The crowd goes nuts for this!

Heidi Lovelace takes the mic post-match and says "Happy Birthday Bitch!" to Matt Cage. Louis Lyndon, Zero Gravity & Marion Fontaine come out to celebrate with Lovelace to close the show.

Overall: 7.75/10

I thought this was a pretty solid show. Even with the card having to be switched around with the absence of Eddie Kingston & Josh Alexander, they made the most of it. Heidi Lovelace winning the Heritage Title from Matt Cage was obviously a big moment. The Match of the Night was easily Louis Lyndon vs. Ricochet, with the Triple Threat Match for the AAW Heavyweight Title no that far behind. The rest of the undercard was relatively consistent, with nothing being specifically bad. A good show from AAW.