AIW Charge It To The Underhills Review

AIW closes out 2014 with their first show in their new home!

AIW Charge It To The Underhills

Cleveland, Ohio 12/26/14

After having their final show in Turner’s Hall, AIW were fortunately able to find a new venue in the Cleveland area: Our Lady of Mt. Carmel High School. This would be the new home for AIW.

1.) Brian Myers vs. Tyson Dux: **1/2

Tyson Dux was part of the Four-Way Main Event for the AIW Absolute Title back at Hell On Earth X, but he came up short in that match, and now, he’s taking on Brian Myers in the opening match of this show. This was a decent opener. I was expecting this match to be a tad better, but then again, this was the opening match, so it doesn’t really matter that much. There was some fine action in this match, and in the end, Tyson Dux picked up the win.

2.) Team Barley Legal (Alexia Nicole & Jasmin) & Veda Scott vs. The Social Network (Annie Social & Heidi Lovelace) & Tessa Blanchard: *1/4

The story behind the Team Barely Legal name (if it wasn’t obvious) is that Alexia Nicole & Jasmin are both under the age of 21, and because of this, Veda Scott is their “legal council”. Before the match starts, Blanchard & The Social Network get into some verbal spats with fans at ringside. To say that this match was a trainwreck would be an understatement. This match was awful, which was a little surprising, considering some of the talent involved. It had a few bright spots, but this was mostly bad. The less said about this match, the better. Team Barely Legal & Veda Scott would score the victory here.

After the match, Tessa Blanchard was incensed that her team lost, and tries to go after Veda Scott, but she needs to be held back by The Social Network. Scott defeated Blanchard at an AIW Girls Night Out event a month or two prior, so it looks like they were building towards a rematch.

3.) Colt Cabana vs. Louis Lyndon: ***1/4

Lyndon starts this match off wearing a Grinch hat. I thought this was a solid match. It wasn’t spectacular by any means, but both guys seemed to work well together, and they produced some entertaining action. Eventually, Louis Lyndon was able to defeat Colt Cabana via submission. Obviously this was a pretty significant win for Lyndon. He is someone who deserves to get more bookings outside of his usual promotions.

4.) The Beaver Boys (Alex Reynolds & John Silver) vs. To Infinity & Beyond (Cheech & Colin Delaney with Bobby Beverly): ***1/4

Speaking of people who need to be booked in more places, The Beaver Boys are making their AIW debuts here against Cheech & Colin Delaney, who are part of The League of Justice. This was a pretty entertaining tag team affair. All four guys are very solid wrestlers, so it should be no surprise that this was a good match. It wasn’t spectacular, but for its spot on the card, it worked. After some good back & forth action, The Beaver Boys were able to get the win in their AIW debut. The two teams shook hands after the match.

5.) AIW Intense Title - Davey Vega vs. Chris Sabin: ***

Davey Vega won the AIW Intense Title back at Absolution IX, and he’s already racked up several successful defenses since. Here, he’s defending his title against Chris Sabin. Before the match starts, Sabin cuts a promo where he puts down Cleveland Sports teams, saying that teams from Detroit are better. In response, the fans chant “Bankrupt”, which was actually a very good and very witty retort. This was a good match, but honestly, I was expecting more, considering who was involved. The action was relatively solid throughout the match, but again, I was left wanting more. Sabin tried a variety of heel tactics and shortcuts, but it doesn’t work out for him, and in the end, Vega wins after a sunset flip. Again, this match was fine, but as far as expectations go, it might be the biggest disappointment of the show.

6.) Six-Pack Scramble - Candice LeRae vs. Dick Justice (with Bobby Beverly) vs. Eric Ryan vs. Flip Kendrick vs. Joshua Singh vs. Rickey Shane Page: ***1/4

These matches have become a commonplace in AIW, so it should come as no surprise that we’re getting one here on AIW’s first show in their new venue. In an interesting side note, Candice LeRae is sporting purple hair instead of her usual blond hair here. Meanwhile, before the match began, Dick Justice questions Joshua Singh as a potential illegal, which was very odd, to say the least. This was a crazy spotfest, as you might have guessed, and it was pretty entertaining throughout. All six participants had the chance to shine here. At one point, Rickey Shane Page avoids a number of reverse-rana attempts, but eventually gets hit by one from Dick Justice. That was easily the highlight of the match. Despite that setback, Rickey Shane Page did come back to win the match, as he gained some momentum heading into 2015.

7.) AIW Absolute Title - Tim Donst vs. Tommy Mercer: N/R

As a reminder, Tommy Mercer was formerly Crimson in TNA. Before the match starts, Donst calls Mercer a “TNA reject” (via the ring announcer) and Mercer responds by attacking Donst with the microphone. This match only lasts about three minutes or so, as Jimmy Jacobs & BJ Whitmer get involved, which caused an immediate DQ. The Forgotten then start to beat up Tim Donst, until The Jollyville Fuck-Its run out to make the save! Donst then calls for a Six-Man Tag, and it looks like the match is on!

8.) Six-Man Tag – AIW Absolute Champion Tim Donst & The Jollyville Fuck-Its (Russ Myers & T-Money) vs. The Forgotten (Tommy Mercer and AIW Tag Team Champions BJ Whitmer & Jimmy Jacobs): ***

The Jollyville Fuck-Its are wrestling this match in their street clothes. This was a fine Six-Man Tag. The Forgotten isolated Donst for a good part of the match. After the babyface side started to fight back, The Forgotten use a chair, but it wasn’t able to get them the win. Eventually, T-Money pounces Mercer over the guardrail at ringside, and then pounces Jacobs, which allows the faces to get the win after a series of moves on Whitmer. Again, this was a solid Six-Man Tag. Nothing much else to say other than that.

9.) Chris Hero vs. Eddie Kingston (with The Duke): ***3/4

These two have a rivalry that’s spanned several years across multiple promotions, and now they’re bringing this rivalry to AIW. This was a really good match, and takes Match of the Night honors, in my opinion. This match was about as hard-hitting as you would have expected, given who was involved. The action from start to finish was intense, and the crowd was definitely into it. These two never disappoint when they’re matched up against each other. After an onslaught of offense, Kingston was finally able to put Hero away for the victory.

After the match, while Hero was getting helped to the back, The Duke cuts a promo asking who’s going to take on Eddie Kingston next. He brings up how Kingston destroyed Ethan Page in a Dog Collar Match the month prior at Hell On Earth X, which leads to Page coming out with a chair to chase them off. Page said The Duke & Eddie Kingston want to kill AIW, but it’s alive and well in their new home. He vows to hunt Kingston down, and says he won’t rest until he beats Kingston.

10.) Josh Alexander vs. Uhaa Nation: ***1/2

This is an example of a match that I never knew that I wanted to see. I thought this was a really good match. While it wasn’t the best match on this show, it was certainly one of the better ones. There was a good amount of back & forth action here, and as a whole, it was pretty entertaining. The match could have been a little better, but still, this was a very good match. Alexander would pick up the win here, in what ended up being Uhaa Nation’s final match in AIW before he signed with WWE.

11.) Dudes On TV (Matt Cross & Zema Ion with Briley Pierce) vs. Johnny Gargano & Josh Prohibition: ***1/2

Ethan Carter III was supposed to team up with Matt Cross here, but Ryan Nemeth/Briley Pierce/Dolph Ziggler’s brother (whichever you want to use) interrupts the proceedings. He says that he’s the official spokesperson for the Carter Family Estate (including both Dixie Carter & Ethan Carter III, of course), and announced that EC3 wasn’t able to compete to do recent bicep surgery. He then reveals Zema Ion from TNA (a former AIW Absolute Champion) as EC3’s replacement. Gargano & Prohibition go on the attack almost immediately to get things going. This was a very good match. Similar to the match prior, it was probably one of the better matches on the show. There was a ton of action from start to finish, and as a whole, it was very entertaining to match. It might have been up there in contention for Match of the Night if not for the finish, which saw a referee distraction and a low blow lead to a victory for the Dudes On TV.

After the match was over, the Dudes On TV continued the attack on Johnny Gargano & Josh Prohibition. Zema Ion & Briley Pierce then held down Prohibition as Cross cuts off parts of his former tag team partner’s beard. They then try to use the ring bell on Gargano & Prohibition, but Alex Daniels makes the save with a steel chair! After the heels had retreated, Prohibition takes the mic, and cuts a promo calling Cross a narcissist. He says that their twenty-year friendship is over, and adds that he, Gargano, & Daniels are willing to fight the Dudes On TV anytime, anyplace. After the heels leave, the show closes with a group promo from Gargano, Prohibition, & Daniels, where they talk about Christmas and sing “Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer” with a young fan from the front row to send the crowd home happy.

Overall: 7.0/10

This was a relatively decent showing from AIW. While their was only one match that was truly bad, most of the matches on the undercard were solid to good (but not much more) until the final three matches, which really helped this shot out a great deal. Chris Hero vs. Eddie Kingston was easily the best match on the show, with Josh Alexander vs. Uhaa Nation and Dudes On TV vs. Johnny Gargano & Josh Prohibition not that far behind. Those three matches are the only ones that are worth checking out, but again, the rest of the undercard has a lot of solid stuff on it as well.