AAW Defining Moment 2014 Review

Eddie Kingston looks to capture championship gold!

AAW Defining Moment 2014

Berwyn, Illinois 9/12/14

Jim Lynam, AAW Owner, starts off the show by announcing that Michael Elgin & Ethan Page have been stripped of the Tag Team Titles, due to their inability to defend the titles (for a variety of reasons). He says that a one night tournament will take place at their show next month to crown the new champions. Matt Cage then comes out and complains how he went from the Main Event last month at All Hail to the opening match tonight. He says nobody should ever doubt him. Jim Lynum says that all he does is provide opportunities, which is exactly what he did tonight by putting him against Jimmy Jacobs. Cage responds by telling him to never count out “The Money”.

1.) Matt Cage vs. Jimmy Jacobs: ***1/2

This was a really good match to kick off the show with. Good action throughout this one. Jimmy Jacobs is someone you can always count on to deliver a quality performance, while Matt Cage is someone who continues to impress. After a hard fought match, Matt Cage is able to pick up the victory over Jacobs.

2.) The Hooligans (with Bucky Collins) vs. Mallaki Matthews & Pete Dunne: ***

The Hooligans are Devin & Mason Cutter. Bucky Collins (aka Buck Nasty) is their manager, and he's wearing wrestling attire for some reason. Anyway, they have a pretty solid match here with Mallaki Matthews & Pete Dunne. It was mainly a showcase for The Hooligans (who are surprisingly good athletes for their size), but Matthews & Dunne got in a fair amount of offense of their own. In the end, The Hooligans would pick up the win.

3.) AAW Heritage Title – Heidi Lovelace vs. Davey Vega: ***1/4

Lovelace is making her first defense of the Heritage Title against Davey Vega. I thought this was a pretty good match. These are two performers who have really grown on me ever since I started following the Mid-West Independents. Solid action throughout this match. Eventually, Lovelace would pick up the win, retaining her Heritage Title.

4.) Justice Jones (with Knight Wagner & Ariel) vs. Paco Gonzalez: *1/4

Wagner berates the fans pre-match, and says that there have been some positives to him being unable to compete, including a new suit and his new girl, Ariel. He says Justice Jones is going to be “his revenge”, and will guide his wrecking ball to success.

Paco got in (maybe) a few shots, but Justice Jones basically destroyed him. One particularly (painful) highlight included Jones powerbombing Paco onto the guardrail & steel ring stairs. Nasty stuff. Jones quickly wins the match shortly thereafter.

5.) “Sicilian Psychopath” Tommaso Ciampa vs. Johnny Gargano: ****

This is a pretty exciting dream match. It's noted that this match is the first time these two have met in a singles match in North America, which was pretty cool for AAW. Really great match, as you would expect from two wrestlers of this caliber. Awesome action in this one. These two really put on a show. Very much enjoyed this match. In the end, it would be Johnny Gargano scoring the victory over Tommaso Ciampa in a pretty great match.

6.) Berwyn Street Fight – Christian Faith (with The Iron Curtain) vs. Arik Cannon: **1/2

There was a video promo that aired where Arik Cannon said this would be a Berwyn Street Fight. 

Gregory Iron takes mic before the match. He says Dick Justice isn’t out with The Iron Curtain, because he’s a screw-up and a failure. He challenges anyone to come over the rail and fight him, but made sure they all knew that they would then they would have to deal with The Iron Curtain.

As expected, this broke down quickly. The Iron Curtain kept taking weapons from Arik Cannon when he tries to use them. They beat up Cannon & interfered in the match at will. Chairs, Kendo Sticks, and some barbed wire were used throughout the match. When Cannon did have a chance to beat Christian Faith, the referee got pulled by The Iron Curtain. Towards the end of the match, Marek Brave comes out with a chair and takes out Benjamin Boone & Joey Vincent Martini, and runs them to the back. Cannon teases hitting Gregory Iron with the chair, but this was just a distraction, as Christian Faith takes advantage & wins the match.

7.) Eight Man Tag – Dan Lawrence, Markus Crane, & We Are Here (Tweek Phoenix & Keith Walker with Nikki Mayday) vs. Juntai Miller, Marion Fontaine & Zero Gravity: ***

Nikki Mayday is back with Tweek Phoenix & Keith Walker, and is being very loud, as per usual. This was a pretty solid Eight Man Tag. Everyone look good and had a chance to be showcased. Towards the end of the match, The Hooligans come out to interfere, but Zero Gravity takes them out. Those two teams brawl to the back, but this leaves their teammates in a 4-on-2 situation. Crane gets the win for his team with a rollup where he was holding the ropes.

8.) The Monster Mafia (Ethan Page & Josh Alexander) vs. ACH & Louis Lyndon: ****

Now this should be a really good match. Josh Alexander is back, while we have a very unique team in ACH & Louis Lyndon. As you would expect, this was not just good, but great. All four of these wrestlers are so exciting to watch. The Monster Mafia are a great tag team, and continued to show why in this match, while ACH & Louis Lyndon showed a lot of promise as a duo. Lots of great tag team wrestling in this one. Eventually, Page & Alexander are able to score the victory in this exciting tag team encounter.

9.) AAW Heavyweight Title – Shane Hollister (with Scarlett Bordeaux) vs. Eddie Kingston: ***3/4

So this was the match that was originally scheduled to happen at All Hail, but as documented, Kinston had to miss the show due to a family emergency. I thought that this was a really good Main Event. Kingston does a really good job playing an underdog, and he played that roll well here against Hollister. Really good back & forth action throughout this match. Towards the end of the match, Scarlett Bordeaux tries to get involved, but Kingston dodges a shot from Hollister, who inadvertently kicks Scarlett! This led to Kingston taking advantage, and he puts Hollister away to capture the AAW Heavyweight Title!

Eddie Kingston cuts post-match promo. He says the title win is for his mother. Kingston also says that he took offense to comments made by some people in the industry that the indies were dried up, and puts over all of the athletes in AAW. In turn, he says he’ll beat the shit out of anybody who wants to face him for the title to close the show.

Overall: 8.0/10

I thought this was a pretty good show from AAW. You had two really stand out matches with Johnny Gargano vs. Tommaso Ciampa & The Monster Mafia vs. ACH & Louis Lyndon that are definitely worth seeing. You also had a really good match for the AAW Heavyweight Title, which saw a babyface Eddie Kingston capture the title in tribute to his mother. The undercard was pretty solid (nothing really bad to speak of, aside from a squash match) as well, highlighted by Matt Cage vs. Jimmy Jacobs and the AAW Heritage Title Match. As I said earlier, a really solid show from AAW, as we saw two great matches and an emotional title change.