AAW Jawbreaker Review

New Tag Team Champions are crowned!

AAW Jawbreaker

Berwyn, Illinois 10/17/14

For the third show in a row, AAW has been affected by talent not being able to make the show. Tony Rican says Shane Hollister was unable to make the show tonight, and needs to find someone to face Eddie Kingston for the AAW Heavyweight Title. Ethan Page comes out. He has issues with being in a tournament for the AAW Tag Team Titles, which he never lost. He also has issues with AAW telling him to pick a partner when everyone knew Josh Alexander wasn’t physically ready to compete in the tournament. He throws out The Rock, God, and Ethan Gabriel Owens as potential partners (that got a good laugh out of me), but Page says that he realized he doesn’t need a partner. That, however, was before Shane Hollister couldn’t make it. Page says he’ll challenge Eddie Kingston, but then Michael Elgin (who, at the time, was in the middle of his controversy with ROH) comes out. He says he wanted in the tournament so he could get his hands on Ethan Page, but since Page is no longer in the tournament, he wants to face him right now! Rican makes a compromise, and makes a Triple Threat Match for the AAW Heavyweight Title. Elgin then goes after Page, and they need to be separated.

After Page retreats, Elgin takes the mic. He says a lot has happened to him recently, but he'll always appreciate AAW, because they saw something in him before anyone else did. He says he would beat Ethan Page all over the building tonight.

1.) Davey Vega vs. Brent Banks: **1/4

Vega had recently declared that he would leave AAW if he lost before the end of the year. These two had a really solid opener back at All Hail. It went about four (4) minutes before Vega used brass knuckles on Banks to score the win. Definitely not as good as their previous match. It was, honestly, a disappointment.

2.) AAW Tag Team Title Tournament – First Round – The Hooligans (with Bucky Collins) vs. Juntai Miller & Marion Fontaine: **1/2

Bucky Collins (aka Buck Nasty) is actually wearing clothes this time around. A pretty decent match here with some solid action. Miller & Fontaine got in some offense, but The Hooligans would pull out the victory. They're the first team to advance to the next round.

3.) AAW Tag Team Title Tournament - First Round – The Iron Curtain (Benjamin Boone & Joey Vincent Martini with Dick Justice) vs. Zero Gravity: *1/4

The Iron Curtain have two teams in the tournament. Benjamin Boone & Joey Vincent Martini jump Zero Gravity before the bell. Dick Justice prevents a Zero Gravity dive by pointing a finger gun at them. It worked once, but then when tried again, it backfired, as Zero Gravity ducked an attack from Boone, who inadvertently hit Dick Justice. This leads to Zero Gravity getting the win, and advancing to the next round. The match was under three minutes. It was quick, and it wasn't that good. 

4.) AAW Tag Team Title Tournament - First Round – Dan Lawrence & Markus Crane vs. Kimber Lee & Heather Patera: **1/2

So since this show is taking place on the same weekend as SHIMMER, AAW has access to a lot of female talent. Kimber Lee & Heather Patera are the first of two female teams in this tournament. Early on in the match, Kimber Lee & Markus Crane have a catfight….and they roll over the referee. They also spank him. All of this actually happened. In all seriousness though, the match was fine for what it was. Lawrence & Crane would get the win to advance to the next round.

After the match, Crane spanks Kimber Lee and he & Lawrence scram before she can get at them.

5.) AAW Tag Team Title Tournament - First Round – The Iron Curtain (Gregory Iron & Christian Faith with Benjamin Boone & Joey Vincent Martini vs. Athena & AAW Heritage Champion Heidi Lovelace: **3/4

Gregory Iron cuts a promo before the match, saying how he & Faith will defeat Athena & Heidi Lovelace, but he also says that he has a history of picking up women. He says that they (referring to Athena & Heidi) can bow out if they “get together”. They can make it “Facebook Official”, but if they turn him down, Iron will “F’ them until you love me”. Weird promo…

This was a pretty solid match. Probably the best in the first round. Of course, we did get interference from The Iron Curtain. Towards the end of the match, Marek Brave (who had a match with Christian Faith and was attacked by The Iron Curtain at the last show) comes out to distract Iron, which allows Athena & Lovelace to take advantage & get the win! They advance to the next round.

6.) Matt Cage vs. Chris Sabin: ***1/2

Last month, Matt Cage defeated Jimmy Jacobs, but tonight, he has Chris Sabin. I thought this was a really good match. Lots of solid action throughout this one. Cage continues to impress, while Sabin definitely looked good in here as well. The match comes down to Cage capitalizing on the injured knee of Chris Sabin to score the win. Another match in the win column for "The Money".

7.) Six-Way Scramble Match – Veda Scott vs. Dick Justice vs. Paco Gonzalez vs. Marek Brave vs. Louis Lyndon vs. Justice Jones (with Knight Wagner): ***

So this match has an interesting cast of characters. Before the match, Dick Justice checks to see if anyone is intoxicated by shining a flashlight in everyone's face. This was a fun little six way match. We had some really good spots (such as Justice Jones giving a chokeslam to Paco Gonzalez to the outside onto everyone else), and some funnier moments (At one point later, Dick Justice tries to propose to Veda Scott, who uses this to takes advantage and hit a DDT). Through all of the chaos, Lyndon was able to gain the advantage and win the match.

Afterwords, Justice Jones destroys Paco Gonzalez (like he did last month).

8.) AAW Tag Team Title Tournament - Semi-Finals – The Hooligans (with Bucky Collins) vs. Zero Gravity: N/A

So these two teams are having a bit of rivalry, as (I believe) The Hooligans made their debut by attacking Zero Gravity a few months earlier. Zero Gravity go right after The Hooligans from the start. This is mostly a big brawl. Eventually The Hooligans get a chair and try to use it, but the referee stops them. The referee subsequently gets taken out (accidentally). Buck Nasty also gets involved. Both teams shove a second referee. The match gets thrown out (which is odd, since AAW is a promotion that's build on every match being No DQ). I can't really give this a real rating since the match really never got going. The two teams brawl to the back. 

9.) AAW Tag Team Title Tournament – Finals – Dan Lawrence & Markus Crane vs. Athena & AAW Heritage Champion Heidi Lovelace: **3/4

So with the previous match ending in a No Contest, this match is now the finals of the AAW Tag Team Tournament. That means Heidi Lovelace is chasing history as a potential double title holder. Fans were pretty upset at the finish of the last match, and chant “Bullshit” when the teams make their entrance, and when the match begins. It was a fine match. Not really surprised that the two best matches in the tournament involved Athena & Heidi Lovelace. Towards the end of their match Lawrence & Crane botch their finisher. Athena takes advantage and hits the O-Face on Crane, but Lawrence rolls up Athena to capture the AAW Tag Team Titles. Bullshit chants continue after the match.

After the match, The Hooligans & Zero Gravity are back out, and they’re still bawling. Some jobbers try to break it up, but Zero Gravity dive onto everyone. They chase The Hooligans to the back

10.) AAW Heavyweight Title – Three-Way Elimination Match – Eddie Kingston vs. Ethan Page vs. “Unbreakable” Michael Elgin: ***1/2

So this match was announced as a three-way elimination match. It was a really good match, but I was left wanting more. Given the three guys involved, you'd think this match would be better. Perhaps the crowd not being as into it after what went on in the tag team title tournament had something to do it. After some solid in-ring action, Kingston eliminates Ethan Page first with a Backfist to the Future. It comes down to Michael Elgin vs. Eddie Kingston. Elgin closes in on victory, but Ethan Page comes back and pulls Kingston out the ring, preventing Elgin from finishing him off. This distraction allows Kingston to take advantage and hit a flurry of offense for the win, retaining his AAW Heavyweight Title.

After the match, Scarlett Bordeaux comes out and mockingly congratulates Eddie Kingston. She says that Shane Hollister is the true AAW Heavyweight Champion, and that Kingston doesn’t deserve to be champions. She calls him names before Kingston takes the mic, and calls her names back. She tries to slap Kingston, but he catches her, and gives her a (weak looking) clothesline. He then takes the mic and asks why AAW let a “ring rat” in the ring (referring to Scarlett) to close the show.

Overall: 6.0/10

This show was not that good. The AAW Tag Team Title Tournament didn't turn out that well, with the tournament getting changed around due to Shane Hollister not being there, some really short matches, and crappy finishes that upset the crowd (particularly The Hooligans vs. Zero Gravity, though I understand why they did that finish). I liked Dan Lawrence & Markus Crane as the cronies of Shane Hollister, but I'm not sure if I see them as tag team championship material. I guess we'll see over the next few shows. Beside that, we had some decent non-tournament matches (Matt Cage vs. Chris Sabin comes to mind), but the Main Event was a disappointment considering who was involved. I wouldn't call this show a disaster, but it's definitely a show that fans of AAW would like to forget.