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Path of Redemption took place on February 28th at the Berwyn Eagles Club. Commentary by Phil Colvin and Daryck St. Holmes.

Matt Cage interrupts Colvin and St. Holmes as they attempt to introduce the show. Cage calls out Juntai Miller.

1. Heritage Title Match: Matt Cage (c) vs. Juntai Miller

What a good match, my favorite from Matt Cage in AAW. Miller was a fine opponent for Cage, flashier and maybe more impressive, but Cage was the smarter man. Cage put him away with the Money Shot. I hope Miller doesn’t get lost in the shuffle, he’s one of my favorite talents in the area. Matches like this and the ones with ACH will help Cage’s star continue to rise. I’d keep an eye on him in 2014.

Los Ben Dejos promise they’ll make a splash in their debut. Rich Swann talks about how his match with ACH has been a long time coming, and he promises it will be amazing.

2. Ohio is for Killers (Dave and Jake Crist) vs Los Ben Dejos (Eddie Rios and Jay Cruz)

Dave and Jake were in usual great form, and Los Ben Dejos impressed in their first outing in Berwyn. A slow start to an otherwise fast paced match, this was a great representation of AAW’s tag division. The energy kept this match fun from start to finish, with Cruz eating the Irish Coffee.  I wouldn’t mind seeing more of Los Ben Dejos in AAW.

Knight Wagner, Ty Colton, Marek Brave, and CJ Esparza promo. Brave and Wagner start arguing. Colton is an instigator. Esparza shrugs.

3. Markus Crane w/ Dan Lawrence vs. Silas Young

Crane makes snow angels during Young’s entrance. Never change, Crane. There wasn’t much of a match, Crane riling up Young with Kingston impressions before getting destroyed. Crane was amusing though.

Young gets on the mic to call out Eddie Kingston. Dan Lawrence attacks him from behind.

4. Dan Lawrence w/ Markus Crane vs. Silas Young

Both matches served their purpose: Young is not the man he should be, and Crane and Lawrence are getting more offense in than they should. The Lawrence match was much longer than the Crane one, allowing for a fine if unmemorable match.

Men of the Year (Ethan Page and Michael Elgin) promo. Page rambles. Elgin tells Page they aren’t friends, and he should respect Kung Fu Manchu. Elgin finishes the promo without mentioning Page. These two are my favorite part of AAW right now. I smell money.

5. Ty Colton vs. CJ Esparza vs. Knight Wagner vs. Marek Brave

While not as exciting as the previous month’s four way, there was still a lot to enjoy. All four men showed some energy, but this was definitely Brave’s show. I enjoy a good comeback story. The other three men held their own, but Brave looked great here. The match with Cage (for as long as we get it anyway) should be fun. I did enjoy how Colton and especially Esparza made the most of the other men in the ring. The match also built on the tension between Brave and Wagner. Between Cage, Wagner, and perhaps even Rose, Brave has a lot of interesting matches ahead.

Tony Rican and Jim Lynam announce Alex Shelley will be at the anniversary show. Lynam promises Rican that he and AAW have his back against Kevin Harvey. ACH is irritated with Matt Cage, but he’s focused on Rich Swann. He calls him a friend, but ACH needs to beat Swann to build himself up to the championship.

6.  Tag Title Match: Men of the Year (Ethan Page and Michael Elgin) (c) vs. Kung Fu Manchu (Louis Lyndon and Marion Fontaine)

Men of the Year retained with Elgin hitting an Elgin bomb on Fontaine. It was a fun match, but I feel like something held it back from being as good as I expected it to be. The men did what they were good at, and Lyndon in particular was a good foil for the bigger men, but something was missing. The match felt longer than it’s runtime, a few lagging points in between some good action. I expect better from all four men, some of my favorite competitors.

OI4K attack Elgin. Page makes the save.

Eddie Kingston flirts with Jordynne Grace. Kingston tells Dorado he beat him up so much in PA that it got old, and he’ll make short work of him tonight.

7. Rich Swann vs. ACH

Swann and ACH attempt to dance to the audience’s poor rendition of All Night Long. God bless these men.

ACH put Swann away with the Big Bang Attack. Some of the reversals these men had have to be seen to be believed. ACH and Swann are two of the best highflyers in American wrestling, and everything they did felt like it could appear on a highlight reel. Eighteen minutes of nonstop energy, including an intriguing mean streak from ACH. It started off fun, with some innocent dancing and attempts to one up each other, but ACH always escalated it. I can’t wait to see where this goes, I’ve never seen a darker side of ACH. This match stole the show and it’s not even close.

St. Holmes mediates a meeting between AAW heavyweight champion Shane Hollister and his challenger Colt Cabana. Hollister tells Cabana to back out of the match and tell jokes. Cabana makes fun of his hair and tattoo.

8. Lince Dorado vs. Eddie Kingston w/ Jordynne Grace

Kingston and Grace’s act makes AAW feel like my block. Instant thumbs up. This was truly Kingston vs the crowd. Every time Dorado got in offense, it was because Kingston allowed himself to be distracted by the crowd. Kingston overpowered Dorado at every turn, and Grace made sure Dorado never had extended offense. I never bought Dorado as a threat, but his bursts of offense were fun, and he looked like a survivor.  Decent match.

Silas Young comes out. The trainees attempt to stop him from getting to Kingston. Kingston uses Grace as a shield. Young threatens Kingston for hurting Val Malone. He tells him that he is going to break him. Grace as a negative parallel to Malone can be an incredible story. Kingston doesn’t understand what made Young’s connection with Malone so special, and tries to replicate it with Grace. I talked about this on the AAW podcast, and I have so much hope for this. But it’s wrestling. But I have hope for this.

Men of the Year Promo. Elgin interrupts Page. Elgin wants to get revenge on OI4K. At Epic, Elgin tells Page that they can’t goof around.

We Are Here (Keith Walker, Tweek Phoenix, Kevin Harvey) come to the ring. Harvey says that the crowd is here for them. Harvey says they have an open contract. LOSERS come out.

9. We Are Here (Keith Walker and Tweek Phoenix) w/ Kevin Harvey vs LOSERS (Moondog Bernard and Seaman)

It was what it was. It wasn’t much of a match, there was a bone involved, but who cares? The people loved it up until the LOSERS lost. How can I hate a bunch of grown men chanting for Seaman?

Harvey offers another match. Tony Rican comes out with a chair and attacks both members of We Are Here. Phoenix and Walker lay out Rican. Ryan Boz comes out. Boz takes out Tweek.

10. We Are Here (Keith Walker and Tweek Phoenix) w/ Kevin Harvey vs. Tony Rican and Ryan Boz

We Are Here stand tall after destroying Rican, Boz, and eventually Jim Lynam. I don’t even know if this was an official match. But it was quick and got the point across. I hope this doesn’t lead to any arm wrestling matches between authority figures.

Cage promises to end Brave’s storybook comeback. Cage says that Brave was great in the past, and if he wants to hang with Cage, he has to find that greatness.

11. Heavyweight title match: Shane Hollister w/ Scarlett Bordeaux (c) vs. Colt Cabana

Cabana started off showing Hollister that he can still wrestle, and that was fun. I like Cabana trying to prove he was more than jokes and his failed WWE run. There was some good mat wrestling. And then there was Scarlett. And the rest of the merry gang, Crane and Lawrence all over the match. Scant Scarlett interference would be fine, Grace didn’t take anything away from Kingston/Dorado. It was the cavalcade of the usual suspects that soured the match. Hollister deserves better.

Brave promises to become the fifth triple crown winner. Wagner says he should have the title shot. Wagner challenges Brave for Epic. Wagner tells a random shirtless man with a backpack to be his back up. Colton’s going home to coffee and backrubs. Harvey promises that they’ll take over.

Fontaine, Lyndon, and Miller promo. Cage comes out, saying they’re talking about how they lost. Fontaine challenges him and two friends at Epic. LOSERS celebrate making the (semi) main event. ACH tells Swann that he gave him a five star match and confidence. He promises to be the next Heavyweight Champion. Lawrence scolds Crane on the toilet. Lawrence tells Crane to make it up to him. Crane hugs Lawrence on the toilet. OI4K say it isn’t anything personal, it’s for the titles. They attempt to turn Men of the Year against each other. Young says he’s in Kingston’s head. Kingston can’t hurt him anymore, and he’s going to get him.

***
Path of Redemption was a solid show, a bit less than AAW’s high standard. The highs (Swann/ACH, Ben Dejos/OI4K) were certainly high, some matches underdelivered, and there were some matches which, understandably, only served to build for a future show. And I understand that. To have the A shows, you have to build to them, and a lot of the lesser matches served to build those matches (The Young and We Are Here matches). Most of the show was enjoyable. If nothing else,  there is a lot of solid to great wrestling in this show to consume.

For more information on AAW and future shows, visit their website. To buy Path of Redemption, or any other AAW show, visit Smart Mark Video.

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