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One of the hallmarks of any good professional wrestling company is the ability to not book yourself into a corner. How does one do such a thing? By putting together two wrestlers who can’t afford to lose against one another. This happened at War is Coming 2013 with Shane Hollister defending the AAW championship against Eddie Kingston. Hollister is a long-term champion, so having him lose wasn’t really an option. Kingston is in the midst of a feud with someone who is arguable the franchise of the whole company in Silas Young. Having him lose wouldn’t make much sense either, so what AAW was essentially stuck doing was a 1995 ECW ending with a big old brawl involving multiple stars and a huge spot (in this case Jimmy Jacobs performing a huge dive off the balcony) to end the show. I understand the need to have a match like this to draw in a crowd, but Kingston’s in-ring work has been a mixed bag, and I’m not sure this match did either man any favors. This match had a lot of things going against it in addition to the no-contest. A heel versus heel main event leaves fans cheering for whomever they like more or a lack of heat. This was  a disappointing end to what was actually otherwise a pretty night.

The Allegiance Tag Team Tournament continued with first and second round matches throughout the night. Zero Gravity won the opener over We Are Here. Continued tension was teased between Lamar Titan and Keith Walker. Walker dominated the much smaller opponents while Titan continually messed up and eventually got pinned in the end. ZG have been having entertaining matches all year long, and this was no exception. Walker beat up Titan and chokeslammed him after the loss in what a very interesting decision. Not sure if this was a final ending to the group or mere punishment. Chuck Taylor and Johnny Gargano made their return to AAW and defeated a regular Ring of Honor team in C&C Wrestlefactory. Gargano and Cedric Alexander recently had a great little match in PWX, and some of that was also seen here. Similar to the first match in length, this made sense and the right team won. Gargano pinned Alexander with the Hurts Doughnut as they advanced. Then in a quarterfinal match, Zero Gravity battled Taylor and Gargano in what could be argued is almost a dream match, at least what could potentially be an outstanding contest. They may not have hit that level here, but I enjoyed the contest. Given they’re a regular team, Gakiya and Esparza makes sense, but I would love to see more regular appearances from Taylor and Gargano.

The other side of the bracket saw three other matches. Junthai Miller and Prince Mustafa Ali defeated Dan Lawrence and Markus Crane. Because the latter are more lackies than anything else, you can almost job them as much as you want and really not lose anything. Crane is sort of a guilty pleasure in that he’s not the best in-ring worker, but I’m entertained by his antics. I’m glad Miller and Ali won since they’re super underrated in the world of wrestling, but I think one of the goals for Miller in particular (given Ali’s no-showing November I doubt we see him in AAW ever again) should be to develop his character and give him greater purpose. Honestly, a tag team partner with more personality, similar to Louis Lyndon and Marion Fontaine, might do him some good. Irish Airborne defeated fellow CZW regular Drew Gulak and Gran Akuma in another solid tournament match where IA maintained control for the most part. No one needs to sell me on Gulak as a top level performer and introducing him in this format makes a ton of sense. Both of these guys can contribute a lot to AAW; it’s just a matter of travel and making sure the timing is right. Irish Airborne continued to rebound in beating Ali and Miller in the second quarterfinal of the evening. Lots of good back and forth. I don’t think there was ever a doubt which two teams were going over, and I’m not convinced this tournament has done as much as the Heritage title did for the mid-card, but I think the Allegiance tournament has given the roster something to shoot for and a logical goal.

There were only two matches which weren’t for a championship or part of the tournament. Silas Young beat Christian Rose in a good but not great match. Rose has a ton of momentum coming in, but that has tapered off a bit since the Marek Brave is still going on eight months later with no signs of stopping and he’s lost two good but pointless matches. I want to see Rose against ACH and Rose against Young, but I’d like for there to be reasons behind them, so when Rose loses, there’s a reason for it. This came across like a mid-card win for Young and not something that holds any great significance for either man.

In a nifty four way match, Matt Cage picked up a big win defeating Knight Wagner. Wagner, when not wrestling Tony Rican in yet another feud that refuses to end, has looked very good and shown improvement. Some people from the roster haven’t cut it this year, but Wagner has stepped up his game in a huge way. Jimmy Jacobs and Louis Lyndon were also involved in the four way. I like four ways that place an emphasis on action instead of turning into more of a tag team format. Cage and Wagner had some great sequences and you can tell they’ve wrestled each other a number of times. I hope this match can happen in AAW some time next year.

I feel similarly about this show as I did Hostile Intentions. The tournament format has been a little wonky, but contractual obligations and running back-to-back weeks things complicated for AAW. The action was very solid for the most part, but nothing was must see. I did like the build-up to Windy City Classic, and the four teams involved in the tournament semifinals make a lot of sense.

Grade: B-

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-Taped from Berwyn, Illinois

-Commentators: Phil Colvin and SLIGHTY INTOXICATED Dave Prazak

Allegiance Tag Team Tournament-First Round: Zero Gravity (Bret Gakiya and CJ Esparza) defeat We Are Here (Keith Walker and Lamar Titan w/Kevin Harvey).  Gakiya pins Titan after Flippy Cup 2.0/10:45/***1/4

-Allegiance Tag Team Tournament-First Round: Johnny Gargano and Chuck Taylor defeat C&C Wrestlefactory (Caprice Coleman and Cedric Alexander by pinfall. Gargano pins Alexander after the Hurts Doughnut/9:46/***1/4

-Allegiance Tag Team Tournament-First Round: Junthai Miller and Prince Mustafa Ali defeat Dan Lawrence and Markus Crane by pinfall. Miller pins Crane after double knees to the head./8:41/**1/2

-Silas Young defeats Christian Rose by pinfall after the Pee Gee Waja Plunge/12:45/***1/4

-Matt Cage defeats Knight Wagner, Jimmy Jacobs, and Louis Lyndon (AAW Tag Team Champion). Cage pins Wagner after a springboard lungblower/11:03/***1/2

-Allegiance Tag Team Tournament-First Round: Irish Airborne (Jake and Dave Crist) defeat Lethal Weapons (Drew Gulak and Gran Akuma) by pinfall. Dave pins Akuma after the double tandem spike piledriver /12:24/***

-Allegiance Tag Team Tournament-Quarterfinal: Zero Gravity (Bret Gakiya and CJ Esparza) defeat Johnny Gargano and Chuck Taylor. Esparza pins Taylor after Flipp Cup 2.0/9:09/***

Allegiance Tag Team Tournament-Quarterfinal: Irish Airborne (Dave and Jake Crist) defeat Prince Mustafa Ali and Junthai Miller. Jake pins Ali after the tandem spike piledriver/11:26/***1/4

AAW Heavyweight Championship: Shane Hollister (w/Scarlett) and Eddie Kingston go to a no-contest/N/R/**1/2

For more information on AAW and their upcoming shows, check out AAW’s Website. To buy this and many otherAAW DVDs, check out Smart Mark Video. Below is a list of contact information for both the website and me.

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