On your mark; get set; GO!
It’s gonna be a good show when MARC FLIPPIN’ SOMMERS opens things up. It’s appropriate though; the show is named after the Nickelodeon game show he hosted for years. This show was AIW’s third iPPV offering and focused on an eight team tournament (hence the show being called “Double Dare.”) Sprinkle in some really intriguing non-tournament matches and the card looked very solid going in.
The “Team UK” participants, Mark Andrews and Pete Dunne, impressed at “Gleaming the Cube” when they squared off against one another. This time around they would be partners taking on the Jollyville Fuck-Its, who have quickly ascended the AIW ranks since becoming regulars in the company earlier this year. T-Money was by far the largest competitor in the match which served to be useful in slowing down the more agile and high flying opponents. Dunne and Andrews smartly attempted to keep “Nasty” Russ Myers in the ring whenever possible, utilizing the same innovative offense they presented at their last AIW appearance. On the other hand, the Boys from Jollyville seemed to be the more well-oiled machine when they had the upper hand. The moment of the match was T-Money catching Andrews mid spring board and drilling him with a spinebuster. Myers capitalized on this by hitting his signature cannonball splash onto both Dunne and Andrews to pick up the win for his team. It was a fun opener and that spinebuster is a moment that will stick with me for awhile.
Youthanazia vs. The Submission Squad was a solid tag match. Nothing particularly memorable, but fine. The crowd wasn’t particularly invested in the action, maybe because Youthanazia winning (which they did) was such a foregone conclusion. The finish was really cool, with Matt Cross double stomping Evan Gelestico off of Josh Prohibition’s back into a Death Valley Driver.
A show called Double Dare has to have some slime right? Hope & Change must have had the same thought, as former tag team champions Veda Scott and Greg Iron brought a bucket of green slime with them as they were set to take on The Hooligans. Iron made it all about him from the start, showboating during his entrance and stealing Scott’s spotlight during her ring introduction. However, he did allow Veda to get bullied by the large Hooligans for the majority of the first part of the match until finally dragging her out to the floor to help her evade a cannonball senton in the corner. It didn’t do much, as moments later The Hooligans were back on offense and pinned Scott as one Cutter held her in a wheelbarrow position and the other came off the top rope with a Flying DDT. Iron gave Scott some words of discouragement after the match and reminded her that he is the one who carries the team. He lets her off lightly by NOT sliming her. That may have been a mistake, as Scott ended up sliming Iron when Iron was caught up trash talking a fan. Hope & Change’s title reign may not have been my favorite thing but their split could be something interesting. This didn’t go very long but it told a nice story.
We close out the first round with the Sex Bob-Ombs taking on Rickey Shane Page and Bobby Beverly of #NIXON. While NIXON jumped the Bob-Ombs at the bell, Davey Vega and Mat Fitchett were able to quickly turn the tide with their cohesive,high flying offense which gave them a steady advantage. It’s easy to argue that it was the best they have looked in AIW to date. They had the crowd excited for a potential pin (superkick into a brainbuster) when The Duke broke up the pin. Page and Beverly used their signature Burning Hammer into a superkick to get the win. This ended up being short, but they packed in a lot of action and the Bob-Ombs really got to shine.
Although she had defended her Women’s Championship on the Girls Night Out shows this year, this is the first time in 2013 that Allysin Kay would defend her title on a regular AIW show. Her opponent was MsChif, who Kay tried to ambush, but that backfired when MsChif’s scream caught her off guard. Despite that, Kay was dominant for the majority of the match. Even when MsChif looked to be making a comeback, Kay wisely would utilize a Hot Shot or an eye rake to stop that. While this did make her look like a really strong champion, it didn’t make for a terribly interesting bout. While MsChif did end up getting in some offense, at that point the writing was on the wall and it was tough for the crowd to get invested in the near falls. This isn’t to say the wrestling wasn’t good (it was, despite a couple sloppy moments) but when a match isn’t structured to be competitive, it’s tough to suspend disbelief. Worst of all, the match ended when the referee called for the bell at what appeared to be a nearfall which caught everyone off guard. On this night, this match was just not coming together.
We’re now in the semi-finals of the tag team tournament. Youthanazia and The Jollyville Fuck-It’s delivered the goods. Dives a plenty to kick things off. The veterans Youthanazia ended up keeping T-Money trapped in their half of the ring, unlike Team UK who decided that the smaller Russ Myers was a wiser target. Each team had each others offense scouted, as proven when T-Money avoided Cross’ shooting star press and Cross evaded Myers’ cannonball splash. Even further proof was Myers picking up the victory when he countered Prohibition’s Drunken Driver into a huracanrana. This was really exciting and fun and the Fuck-It’s proved once more that they have “it.” This left The Hooligans and #NIXON to fight it out for the other spot in the final round. Again #NIXON jumped their opponents before the bell. I can’t possibly put over the agility of the Hooligans enough. Two bigger bald guys with beards and Sons of Anarchy logos on their gear doing Asai moonsaults, headscissors, and super Frankensteiners? I could watch that all day. The Hooligans were able to withstand some interference from the other members of #NIXON. When it came time for the Hooligan Driver (the same combo that put Hope & Change away) Page was there to save Beverly and utilize the torture rack slam/superkick combo to advance.
Jonathan Gresham is someone who I saw plenty of years ago, specifically in CHIKARA as Hieracon. I had not seen much of him once he left that company but had heard nothing but incredible things about his progress, especially overseas. When I learned he was coming to AIW to face Johnny Gargano (who successfully defended the Open the Freedom Gate Championship against Gresham in the Summer of 2012) I was excited to be able to see the hype for myself. After the fast and furious action many of the tag matches provided, I really appreciated these guys having a more methodical approach to their match. Gresham has to be one of the best mat wrestlers today. His transitions and counters are so smooth and really unique. He incorporates a little bit of every style so you never know what direction he will be going in next. I don’t think many people associate Gargano with this type of wrestling. but he has to be given credit for hanging in there and doing just as well on the mat as Gresham. I also give referee Jake Clemons credit for being able to keep up with all the nearfalls. There was a moment where they were rolling around and Jake was there to count every time someone’s shoulders were down. The match did end fairly abruptly with Gargano slapping on the Garga-No Escape and submitting Gresham. These types of finished that catch you off guard does add a sense of reality to the match and keeps it from falling into the rhythm most matches on the Indies typically follow, but I personally thought they were just getting things going when the match came to an end. I enjoyed it quite a bit but was left wanting more. Good? Bad? I guess that’s up for debate, but considering Gresham isn’t around as much as other wrestlers are, I would have liked to have seen AIW take full advantage while they had him and made the most of this bout.
The Jollyville Fuck-It’s won the tag team tournament, defeating #NIXON in the final round. Wisely, the Fuck-It’s were ready for #NIXON and managed to thwart their pre-bell ambush. After some fighting out on the floor, #NIXON ganged up on Russ Myers. The best part of this was T-Money’s comeback. The guy dominated Beverly and Page with impressive strength. The Duke got himself involved, but it backfired as Page mistakenly dove onto him and Beverly. Myers furthered the incident by moonsaulting onto everyone. Page doesn’t bust it out often, but when he does use the top rope powerbomb, it’s always impressive. So is T-Money murking him with a Pounce afterwards and Beverly suplexing Money neck first into the corner. Beverly then introduced a ladder into the match. Page and Myers ascended it, but Money was able to powerbomb Page off of it. Myers then cinched the tournament with his cannonball splash off the top of the ladder. It was poetic justice; The Fuck-It’s won with Myers’ signature finisher while #NIXON got their comeuppance after sliming (pun intended) their way into the Finals. While some of the earlier matches may have been short, the stories told led to a very fun and satisfying final match. By winning this match, The Fuck-It’s get to challenge The Batiri for the AIW Tag Team titles at “Hell on Earth 9” on Black Friday, a match I am looking forward to.
Speaking of titles, shortly after the tournament’s conclusion, Absolute Champion Ethan Page interrupts the Fuck-It’s celebration. Page says he has the greatest tournament win of all time (referring to him winning the 2013 JLIT, and imitating Kanye West when he interrupted Taylor Swift) and instructed the Fuck-It’s to leave. As Page ran his mouth about how great of a champion he is, UltraMantis Black of all people crashed his one man party. Not satisfied with coming to Cleveland only to do commentary, he challenged Page to a title match. Page originally declined but Matt Wadsworth shot him down and makes the match official. And wouldn’t you know it? MANTIS WON THE TITLE. It’s becoming more and more difficult for wrestling to create genuine moments of surprise, but I can safely say very few (if any) folks expected this to occur. Even though it was Mantis’ first night in the company, he and Page had a great back-and-forth match that felt like a title fight thanks in part to some fun nearfalls and LFC’s commentary. Mantis had a visual nearfall after Page accidentally knocked the referee out of the ring. Page clocked Mantis with the title but even with a new referee coming out it only resulted in a two count. Mantis countered the Spinning Dwayne with a prawn hold, then put down Page with the Praying Manti Bomb for the win. There was crowd adulation and shock after the count was made making for a great moment to end the iPPV, and giving Mantis his first title victory ever.
While that was the end of the show for the iPPV audience, the live crowd and those who purchased the show after the fact were treated to an “Absolution VIII” rematch between Michael Elgin and Josh Alexander. At that event they went to a 30 minute draw, so naturally this rematch had no time limit. Simply put, these two beat the heck out of one another. Not without rhyme or reason either. Elgin worked over Alexander’s arm and shoulder while Alexander went for Elgin’s neck and head, typically with boots or moves (like a rolling forearm) from his good arm.. Alexander ended up bleeding somewherearound the 25 minute mark after being shoved off the top rope and to the floor. To be honest, when I checked to see how long the match had gone before Alexander got busted open, I was totally stunned it had gone that long. The best thing about this match is it didn’t feel like it went long for the sake of going long. It actually felt like it took nearly 40 minutes for a decision to be made. They took time to build to things like Alexander giving Elgin a tombstone on the floor, them getting into a heavy striking contest, and becoming more exhausted as time passed. By now most people are familiar with Elgin’s signature combination to put people away; in some order, you get a Backfist, Buckle Bomb, and a Revolution Bomb. Alexander took all of that and still kicked out with roaring approval from the crowd. He seemed to have Elgin positioned for something devastating on the top rope but unfortunately Elgin was able to counter whatever he had planned with a super powerbomb. Elgin locked on a Crossface, which he had applied multiple times earlier in the bout. Alexander kept inching towards the ropes, so Elgin rolled to keep Alexander in the middle of the ring. Alexander ended up stopping Elgin short resulting in Elgin submitting Alexander while at the same time Alexander pinned Elgin’s shoulders to the mat. This led to an argument between two of the referees over who the winner of the match was. It was decided that both happened simultaneously leading to the official decision ruling the match a Draw. While in some fans eyes the result wasn’t ideal, it was a tremendous match to watch and I personally have no issues watching them do it all over again to determine a decisive winner, which is exactly what they planned to do in December. Emphasis on the word “planned”, but we’ll get there soon enough.
Overall: The first half of the show left something to be desired on the wrestling end of things but told some good stories. Those good stories carried over into the second half with the action picking up immensely. We got a shocking title change, a really fun tournament final, and another tremendous match witht Michael Elgin and Josh Alexander. That to me is enough to give this show a recommendation. It takes a little bit of time to get to the really good stuff, but it’s worth the wait.
You can pick up this show on DVD from AIW’s store or Smart Mark Video. For a reduced price, you can also download the show as an mp4 from Smart Mark Video or watch it On Demand from SMVOD.
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Quick Results/Match Times/Star Ratings
1. Tag Team Tournament Quarter-Final Round: The Jollyville Fuck-It’s (Russ Myers & T-Money) defeated Team UK (Mark Andrews & Pete Dunne) after Myers hit both of them with a Cannonball Splash off the top rope in 8:20. **½
2. Tag Team Tournament Quarter-Final Round: Youthanazia (Matt Cross & Josh Prohibition) defeated The Submission Squad (Pierre Abernathy & Evan Gelestico) when Cross double stomps Gelestico on Prohibition’s shoulders and Prohibition dropped him with a Death Valley Driver in 7:20. **
3. Tag Team Tournament Quarter-Final Round: The Hooligans (Devin & Mason Cutter) put away Hope & Change (Greg Iron & Veda Scott) by pinning Scott with a wheelbarrow/Flying DDT combo in 4:04. *
4. Tag Team Tournament Quarter-Final Round: #NIXON (Bobby Beverly & Rickey Shane Page) bested The Sex Bob-Ombs (Davey Vega & Mat Fitchett) in 6:05 when Fitchett ate the torture rack slam/superkick combo. **¾
5. Allysin Kay retains the AIW Women’s Championship against MsChif with a running Samoan Drop in 9:13. *
6. Tag Team Tournament Semi-Final Round: The Jollyville Fuck-It’s (Russ Myers & T-Money) score an upset win over Youthanazia (Matt Cross & Josh Prohibition) when Myers counters Prohibition’s Drunken Driver with a huracanrana in 5:54. **¾
7. Tag Team Tournament Semi-Final Round: #NIXON (Bobby Beverly & Rickey Shane Page) triumph over The Hooligans (Devin & Mason Cutter) with the torture rack slam/superkick combo in 5:18. **¾
8. Johnny Gargano submits Jonathan Gresham to the Garga-No Escape in 11:10. ***
9. Tag Team Tournament Final Round: The Jollyville Fuck-It’s (Russ Myers & T-Money) vanquished #NIXON (Bobby Beverly & Rickey Shane Page) in 8:37 . This victory makes them the #1 Contenders for the AIW Tag Team Championship which they will challenge for at “Hell On Earth 9” later this month. ***¼
10. UltraMantis Black shocks the world by defeating Ethan Page with the Praying Mantis Bomb, becoming the NEW Absolute Champion in 16:12. ***½
11. Michael Elgin and Josh Alexander wrestled to a Draw in 39:58 when Alexander had Elgin’s shoulders pinned while simultaneously tapping out to Elgin’s Crossface. ****