-Taped from Marion, Illinois
-Your hosts are Kevin Hunsperger and Adam Testa
–AAPW No Limits Championship Tournament Final: KC Jackson vs. Joey O’Riley
Match in Five Words or Less: The Right Choice
Match Summary: Similar to the cruiserweight championship and the X-Division title, this is AAPW’s answer to those titles. Hey, at least the smaller guys don’t have to job to Ax Allwardt anymore. O’Riley teases throwing a pink t-shirt to the crowd. He appears to at least have a better arm than me. They start out basic. Clothesline misses once for O’Riley. A second attempt works. Series of strikes. Running kick to the face and a two count. O’Riley lifts Jackson for a samoan drop. Running shooting star press gets two. Jackson fires back with forearms. Dropkick by O’Riley. Clothesline and elbow by Jackson. Running leg lariat for two. Middle rope elbow drop, which is the equivalent of a high spot. O’Riley counters out of a heel hook but gets clotheslined. Vertical suplex by Jackson. Forearms. O’Riley with right hands. To the heel hook goes Jackson. O’Riley gets to the bottom rope. Leg lariat. Shoulder tackle. Leaping forearm. O’Riley then goes and connects on a backbreaker. O’Riley dumped to the apron. Slingshot DDT hits. 1-2-NO! Rolling kick blocked. Drunk slam by Jackson. 1-2-NO! O’Riley ducks a charge. Spinning pump kick. Phoenix Splash.
Match Analysis: Great first choice as champion if you ask me. I like the idea of emphasizing high flyers in a separate division. More time and more excitement from the announcers would have made this into an even more special match. This was okay but when a new title is introduced, it really should be a bigger deal than this. I hope O’Riley can be shifted into relevant feuds and be allowed to showcase what he can do as a high flyer.
Winner (s)/Time/Rating: NEW No Limits Champion-Joey O’Riley/7:44/**1/2
-J. Wellington Beauregard has been trained by one of the best in Gaylord Stevens. Now he’s going to be a manager. Stephen Davis is going to be his first client. His voice… is… so… annoying. I think it works. This is very similar to Jim Cornette when he was first introduced to Memphis. Gaylord Stevens would be the Jimmy Hart equivalent. Hopefully Beauregard doesn’t burn his bridges with every national promotion in the United States and threaten any bad bookers’ lives.
-Kyle Sykes vs. Alex Castle (w/Angelus Layne)
Match in Five Words or Less: The Set-up
Match Summary: Layne and Castle are in matching pink, always a fine choice. Arm work from both men. Drop toe hold to a charging Castle. Headlock by Sykes. Castle goes back to the arm. Forearm by Castle to end the stalemate. Elbow by Sykes. Layne grabs his leg. Castle comes from behind. Solid shot to the back. He wrenches on the neck of Sykes. Forearm. Layne chokes Sykes. Choking by Castle along the bottom rope. Springboard forearm and leg lariat by Sykes. Running senton. He heads to the top rope. Castle distracts the referee. Layne shakes the ropes. Here’s the Great Cheyenne. Layne sent into the guard rail. Layne tossed into the ring. Fans woke up big time for that. Cheyenne continues working Layne over. Bell rings.
Match Analysis: Just a set-up for what’s to come. Nothing to really say here bad or good since they never got going.
Winner (s)/Time/Rating: No-contest/4:18/N/R
-The Great Cheyenne checks on Sykes. Cheyenne gets on the microphone and paces around. She screams about being angry. She calls Layne a hussy (Athena anyone?) and isn’t happy about being attacked by Layne and Castle. She challenges Layne to a match and says it’s her day of reckoning. Referee sanctions a mixed tag match since Sean Laurin… Chambers only does main events.
-Kyle Sykes and The Great Cheyenne vs. Alex Castle and Angelus Layne
Match in Five Words or Less:
Match Summary: The men battle on the outside. The women battle on the inside. Okay, so it’s more like Cheyenne beating Layne up for a bit and choking her against the ropes. Forearm. Layne whipped in the corner. Follow-up clothesline. Layne rakes the eyes. Castle goes after Cheyenne. Series of blows to the back. He calls for a right hand but Cheyenne thumbs him in the eye. Boots and a forearm. Scoop slam. Sykes tags in. Cheyenne scoops Sykes up and slams him on top of Castle. Spin kick to the midsection. Forearms and a leaping neckbreaker. Whip in the corner and elbow. Rolling snapmare and spin kick to the back of the head. To the corner. Sykes whips Castle but eats double boots. Head to the knee. Running kick by Castle gets two. Sykes gets kicked. Running double knees from Layne. Layne with a modified t-bone suplex. Cheynne breaks the count. Kick and knees. Double suplex. Sykes kicks Castle. Enziguri connects to Layne. She rolls outside. Cheyenne enters. Shoulder tackle, back elbow, clothesline. All on Castle. Chokeslam gets two. Layne has to break the count. Rake of the eyes and forearm. Cheyenne fires back. Back and forth they go. Layne takes Cheyenne in the corner. Boot by Layne. Canadian Destroyer. Apparently, Sykes isn’t legal. Cheyenne comes in. Running clothesline in the corner. Whip. Layne to the top. Boot. Forearms by Cheyenne. Powerslam. Castle takes Sykes out and hits a running acecrusher. Layne covers and gets three.
Match Analysis: About the same level as the previous level. I’d love to see Sykes transitioned into a feud with O’Riley for the No Limits championship. That would be a perfect way to showcase both guys and would do wonders for Sykes. Layne and Cheyenne play off each other really well with their personalities and could have some entertaining singles matches down the road. It was nice to see Castle by himself, away from Matt Cage, since I think he got to stand out a little bit more.
Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Alex Castle and Angelus Layne/6:52/**1/2
-Time for an awesome Team Overkill promo. Cage says they’re the tag team champions. They’re over and they kill it. Everywhere. Cage says they kill it in the bedroom too. Well, that’s not PG. Cage turns their attention to the challengers. They will hold onto the belts longer than everyone. They mock Espinosa and Hawkins for wanting another shot. Seriously independent wrestling, get a clue and book these guys more.
-10 Man Anniversary Battle Royal
Match in Five Words or Less: A Royal Battle Royal
Match Summary: Stephen Davis is entrant number one. JT Calhoun comes in. These are two AAPW originals. Every 30 seconds, a new man will enter the ring. Really, this is really more of a Royal Rumble than anything else. But AAPW doesn’t want to get sued so it’s called a battle royal. Chocolate Thunder comes out to help Calhoun eliminate Davis. Roscoe Dwayne Harris goes after Thunder as the fourth person in the ring. Jimmy Wayne Faygo, Harris’s partner, joins the fray. Billy Hills enters. We have two tag teams in the ring. Hills and Thunder being the other team. Zak Sawyer, the wanna be Team Overkill member, comes in and doesn’t make much of a difference. Harris and Faygo eliminate Thunder. Justice comes in as Harris and Faygo get tossed by Hills. Brawl continues on the outside. Hills eliminates himself to help Thunder. Truk Thompson fights his way to the ring. Calhoun gets dropkicked out of the ring by Davis. Sawyer gets eliminated and lands awkwardly on his neck. That looked baaaaad. Thompson and Justice get into a shoving match. Paul Rose comes in and exits out just as quickly as he enters. Justice gets eliminated next. Beauregard comes in the ring and has a proposal for Thompson. He asks the crowd to be silent. They don’t listen. Beauregard wants Thompson to join his stable. He proposes a handshake. Davis wants Thompson to shake his hand. Thompson tosses Beauregard out of the ring. Right hands on Davis. Boot by Davis out of the corner. Clothesline by Thompson. Low bridge but Thompson saves himself. Spear back in the ring. Jaw to the knee. Boot by Davis. Thompson wins.
Match Analysis: I don’t rate battle royals, but there are two points worth emphasizing. One if that this was really too short to ultimately mean anything and process everyone who was coming in. However, two feuds were essentially started in one match. If nothing else, this match served a purpose.
Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Truk Thomspon/8:13/N/R
-Brandon Espinosa says the belts are just 15 feet away. No more decking. It’s about retribution. They vow to walk out with the tag team titles.
-Ladder Match-AAPW Tag Team Championship: Team Overkill (Matt Cage and Christian Rose w/Zal Sawyer)(champions) vs. Ace Hawkins and Brandon Espinosa
Match in Five Words or Less: Not Quite Threemendous
Match Summary: Espinosa walks under the ladder. Well, that’s testing faith. Cage and Rose come through the crowd. Hawkins and Rose battle outside. Cage and Espinosa battle inside. Gonna be tough to call this one. Rose almost hits a suplex on the stairs. Drop toe hold sends Rose into the steps. They go to the back. Right hands by Espinosa on Cage. Cage grabs his leg. Chop. Rose and Hawkins go up a level to the place where motorcycles go. Hawkins tries punching Rose off. Rose reverses and tries tossing him over. Cage brings a ladder in the ring. Espinosa slams the ladder in his ribs. Espinosa brings the ladder over. Hawkins wraps Rose’s knee around the balcony. Hawkins climbs down the ladder. Rose is stuck on the balcony, selling his knee. The champions send the ladder inside. Zak Sawyer uses a mini-ladder… and fails. LOL. Dropkick into the reverse Russian legsweep. Sawyer is gone. Boot by Rose on Hawkins. Solid strike by Espinosa. Acecrusher by Rose as comes back in the ring. They position the ladder in the middle rope. Choking under the bottom rope. Espinosa slides under the ladder and takes out the champions. Frog splash on Cage off the ladder. Rose flapjacks Espinosa into the ladder. Double hip toss send Hawkins into the ladder. Dropkick by Cage sends Espinosa to the floor. Rose introduces a second, rather large, ladder. Champions climb. Challengers send them flailing with the original ladder. Hawkins and Espinosa climb the giant ladder. Cage powerbombs Espinosa. Rana connects off the ladder by Hawkins on Cage. Rose brings in a part of a table. He moves the big ladder away. Table part put in the corner. He taps his left boot. Espinosa hits a release German suplex through the table part. Cage with a spin kick on Espinosa. Espinosa counters and hits a uranagi. Swanton by Hawkins as Cage is prone on the ladder. Ladder brought in the ring. Hawkins and Espinosa climb. Rose sends it down. Rose and Cage take apart the ringside table. They set it up. Cage threatens to nail the official with a chair. Rose chokes Hawkins with a part of the table as Cage uses another. Uppercut by Cage and a right hand. Right hands by Hawkins. Superkick by Cage. Slingshot sends Hawkins into the ladder. Cage climbs the ladder. Hawkins rips him off. Rose chops the ladder. Knee by Cage on Espinosa. They tie Hawkins and send him into the smaller ladder, which is in the corner. Choking by Rose. Table shot. Cage with a running knee to the back. Zig zag connects. All four men climb the two ladders. Back and forth they go. Cage and Espinosa have a nasty landing. Rose lands on top of Hawkins. All four men are down. Enziguri misses by Hawkins. Kick and powerbomb by Cage. He calls for the end. Hawkins crotches him. Rose with a back suplex on Espinosa. Hawkins and Cage battle on the middle turnbuckle. Hawkins tossed in the ring. Enziguri and Cage falls through the table. The table basically doesn’t even break but explodes. Espinosa whipped into the rail. Mini-ladder tossed at Espinosa. Hawkins climbs as Sawyer pulls reenters. Forearm. Hawkins placed in a ladder sandwich. Rose and Sawyer stand him in the corner even as he’s still stuck. Rose ascends. Espinosa brings Rose down. Sawyer exits the ring quickly. Right hand by Espinosa. Cage taken down as well. Espinosa duct tapes Sawyer to the entrance beam. Rose is almost at the top. Espinosa battles Rose. Belt shot to the head. A second one takes Rose down. Cage kicked away. Espinosa grabs both titles and we have new AAPW tag team champions.
Match Analysis: What an unbelievable. Take away PAC and Generico and you have the AAPW match of the year. Great battle by these two teams. Some innovative spots plus some rather dangerous moves equals a tremendous contest, one well worth checking out through DVD or digital download. Both of these teams deserve mad amounts of respect. I can think of a certain Midwest promotion that could rebuild their division using these four gentlemen. This was awesome and a pure pleasure to watch.
Winner (s)/Time/Rating: NEW AAPW Tag Team Champions- Brandon Espinosa and Ace Hawkins/19:05/***3/4
-Time for “Old School with Gaylord Stevens.” His guest? Colt Cabana. A podcaster. A Chicago native. A man of the people. Most importantly, a professional wrestler. Cabana immediately mocks his name and Stevens’s way of interviewing. Their interaction cannot be described in words, but I’ll try. Stevens says he’s going to kill Cabana basically. Cabana doesn’t want murder to be the end game. Stevens admits to murder, and Cabana calls him out on it. Things get absurd as they talk about the December holidays. Stevens wants to know what he has to do to get Cabana out of the match. Stevens asks Cabana about his acting career. Cabana mentions the parts he’s in. Stevens claims to be making a film and offers Cabana a nude scene with other men. “Gaylord for Paylord.” My new favorite line EVER. Stevens quotes Huey Lewis. Cabana recites lyrics back to him. Cabana says Stevens is shady, one of the shadiest ever. That says a lot. Cabana says he’s going to tag up with Heath Hatton. Stevens breaks out THE TRAPPER KEEPER OF DOOM! It is implied Stevens does cocaine based on a white powdery substance located in it. A contract is offered. Cabana teases signing but thinks better. Cabana releases himself from any of his actions. He slaps Stevens off camera. Cabana breaks out the powder. That was just fantastic. Five million stars.
-Heath Hatton talks about Shane Rich possibly coming back soon enough. He puts Rich and McGuire over. Rich enters the ring and talks about everything that’s already happened tonight. He’s been a wrestler for 12 years. That’s crazy. He talks about change and teases retirement. However, Rich talks about living his dream and challenging the winner of the steel cage match. He thanks the crowd for their support.
-Mississippi Madman vs. Bull Bronson
Match in Five Words or Less: *Bangs Head Against Wall*
Match Summary: Madmen takes Bronson in the corner. Shove by Bronson. Shoulder tackles go nowhere. Clothesline by Bronson sends Madman down. Clothesline by Bronson misses. Madman hits one of his own. Madman “chases” Bronson on the outside. Back and forth with punches. Madman gets sent into the stairs. Madman sent head first into the apron. Bronson yells at the announcers. “Running” splash by Bronson. He stretches Madman out in an arm submission. Elbow to the chest. Neck crank. Leg drop connects. Knee placed in the back. This is like a Hall of Fame for rest holds and non-effective submissions. Madman with right hands. Russian legsweep. Two count. Adam Testa says Madman might break out the moonsault. Okay dude. Belly-to-belly suplex by Bronson. Madman kicks out to elongate my pain. Leg drop comes nowhere close to Madman. Elbow to the neck. Headbutt. Chop. More right hands. Madman blocks a right hands. Double chops. Bodyslam blocked. Madman blocks one of his own. One of the worst spears in the history of wrestling hits. They charge into each other. Bronson ends up in the corner. Madman hits a splash. Charge misses. Bronson hits a charge. Vader bomb. Done.
Match Analysis: I could have watched this match in fast forward, and it would still have been slow paced. If I made this match sound interesting or good in any way, I apologize. Seriously one of the worst matches I’ve seen this year. This getting more time than the opener and even the mixed tag is a borderline embarrassment. Slow. Plodding. Bad. This gets what it deserves.
Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Bull Bronson/11:44/DUD
-Mike Masters promo. He says it’s down to he and McGuire in a cage. Once again, lives are threatened. Pretty dark tone to this show I’d say.
-Heath Hatton and Colt Cabana vs. Ax Allwardt and Gaylord Stevens (w/J. Wellington Beauregard)
Match in Five Words or Less: Present and Future Star Wins
Match Summary: Hatton with right hands on Allwardt. He continues going after him and then nails Stevens. Allwardt powders. Commiseration on the outside. Boot and right hands by Allwardt. Into the corner with more shots. Reverse of the whip. Back drop by Hatton. He works the arm and tags in Cabana. To the top for an elbow across the arm. Allwardt misses a dropkick. Great roll-up by Cabana for two. Stevens calls for a timeout. His outfit is tremendous. Crowd wants to see Stevens match up with Cabana. Stevens puts on protective head gear. He runs into Cabana’s shoulder and ends up eating the mat. Crowd chants “You can’t wrestle.” You know. This wasn’t the only time in October you could have made that same chant toward an opponent of a wrestler who lives in Chicago. Stevens decides not to feed his shoulder anymore to Cabana. Headbutt fails. The foam gear doesn’t help. Cabana appears to go low. Off comes the head gear. Cabana puts it on. Allwardt sent into his head. Cabana and Hatton should have done the Steiner pose. Cabana drop toe holds Allwardt. Double axehandle to the arm by Hatton. Armdrag into the armbar. Leg drop across the arm. Double punches from the faces. Hatton hits a leg drop and gets two. Elbow to the shoulder. Allwardt grabs a headlock. Criss cross. Cabana tells him to stop. Allwardt looks up and gets slapped. Another criss cross. Allwardt tells Cabana to look up. Hatton punch. Cabana slap. Double dropkicks by Hatton. Clothesline sends Allwardt to the floor. Distractions by the heels led to Allwardt and Stevens finally getting the advantage. I believe I also heard Beauregard saying something about being funny not equaling money. Like how I brought the Jim Cornette reference full circle? Heat segment. Hatton shoves Allwardt down. Ugly looking missile dropkick by Hatton. Hot tag. Cabana with right hands. One big punch sends Allwardt down. Series of double chops. Jabs and the bionic elbow. Allwardt whipped. Cabana with a flying backslide. Running kick to Allwardt. Billy Goat’s Curse. Stevens nails Cabana in the groin with an umbrella as Beauregard pulls the referee out. Stevens accidentally throws powder in Allwardt’s face. Hatton punches away. Roll-up gets two. Boot on Stevens. Allwardt is blind and piledrives his own manager. Allwardt pins. Hatton counts three. Cabana raises his hand. Leaping DDT by Hatton gets his team the victory.
Match Analysis: This was good clean fun. Not sure the position on the card was appriopriate as I feel this could have fit in better as the match before intermission, but I understand wanting to separate the two stipulation matches and two of the more serious situations. Cabana could use the comedy and goofiness since all the heat was on Hatton anyway. Great rub for him as he teamed up with and wrestled two different NWA champions. Cabana works out very well for a promotion like this and I hope he can make more appearances.
Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Heath Hatton and Colt Cabana/13:57/***1/4
-Cabana and Hatton assault Beauregard with the umbrella.
-Steel Cage-AAPW Heavyweight Championship: Mike Masters (champion) vs. Edmund McGuire
Match in Five Words or Less: McGuire Is The Master
Match Summary: Immediate kicks and a double axehandle by McGuire. Chop. Shoves him away with a kick. Elbow to the back. Back elbow off the ropes. Suplex sends Masters down. Masters blocks being rammed into the cage. Solid punch sends the challenger into the corner. McGuire with forearms. Snapmare. Series of right hands. Elbow drop misses. Masters covers for two. Kick to the back. Right hands by McGuire. Masters with stomps. Knee to the back. Crowd gets behind McGuire. Masters sent into the cage. Masters goes in again. A third time. Masters is bleeding. McGuire with right hands. Choking along the bottom rope. Forearm. Series of punches by McGuire as he’s perched on the top rope. Sitdown powerbomb by Masters. Low blow kick to McGuire. Dropkick to the back. He holds McGuire’s head against the cage. Running charge with the leg. Bodyslam. McGuire crotches Masters on the top rope. Clothesline hits. Dropkick to the top of the head. A second one sends Masters into the cage. Low blow by Masters. Another one. McGuire counters and sends Masters into the cage. Another low blow by Masters. Death valley driver. Some taunting of the challenger. Sean Chambers comes out. He shoves the referee. Chambers knocks Masters out with brass knuckles. McGuire doesn’t know what’s up but says he doesn’t want to win this way. McGuire punches Masters. Shoving match. Chambers knocks McGuire out. So the owner of the company, who’s a non-wrestler, just knocked both main eventers out with one punch each. Masters covers for two. McGuire sent head first into the cage. Into the cage. Firemen’s carry. McGuire hits a superkick and becomes the champion with a three count.
Match Analysis: This lacked a lot of the magic of Summer Chaos. I’m disappointed the knee work of the previous match wasn’t even addressed. The Sean Chambers stuff will have a lot more meaning for long-time AAPW fans, but there’s something very awkward about having an owner knock out two wrestlers, whether he uses brass knuckles or not. This wasn’t inherently bad but missing…something. Can’t put my finger on it.
Winner (s)/Time/Rating: NEW AAPW Heavyweight Champion-Edmund McGuire/15:01/**3/4
-Shane Rich points at McGuire and implies he wants the title by making the belt around his waist motion. Or he wants State Farm insurance. Probably the former.
The Verdict: For the price of a digital download on IVP videos, this is an easy thumbs up for the ladder match and semi-main event alone. Main event could have been better but it was a solid pay-off to an interesting storyline. At least the babyface conquered all and won, right? The mixed tag was pretty fun, and O’Riley had a solid performance. Just please skip Bronson/Madman to maintain your sanity.
You can purchase this DVD, watch AAPW Collision, watch AAPW All-Access, and listen to From the Rafters Radio on AAPW’s website.
In addition to wrestling podcasts, I am also a proud co-host of a show specifically geared toward Mad Men. Please check out all of our previous podcasts here. You can also download them off of iTunes.
Contact Pro Wrestling Ponderings!
E-mail: prowrestlingponderings@gmail.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ProWrestlingPonderings
Twitter: www.twitter.com/pwponderings
Youtube: www.youtube.com/pwponderings
Contact ME!
E-mail: jcusson07@gmail.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com/jeromepwpeditor