From Scott Hensley: I doubt many of you will make it all the way through this. It was 5 pages in Microsoft Word for an event that wa...
I doubt many of you will make it all the way through this. It was 5 pages in Microsoft Word for an event that was over 5 hours long. There was a lot of great talent and a lot of guys who shouldn't ever be in a ring again and plenty of guys who just need more work and know it.
The AIWF brought their “showcase” event to the TWE arena in Red Bank, TN(just outside of Chattanooga) and so I figured I would check it out. There were a few area guys I've seen before, several guys I've seen at other AIWF shows, and a whole host of guys I've never seen. AIWF owner (and not Colt Cabana's masked gimmick) Matt Classic presented a local Pizza Hut sponsor and TWE owner Bud Higdon with plaques of appreciation for their sponsorship and for TWE letting them use their arena, a converted shopping center building that probably seats around 100. The crowd was primarily friends and family of many of the wrestlers but there may have been 30-40 paid fans with maybe 30 friends and family. There were 15-20 fans left at the very end.
Posters advertised that the show would be from 3pm until 6pm. I knew better.
Let me make a huge disclaimer that I did not catch every name of every guy, as I'm not sure even the announcer knew. Often times tag teams were just called their tag name and there was quite a bit of booking changes. Please email me at ScottCHensley@Yahoo.com or message me on Facebook with any additions or corrections.
Our first match started at 3:22 PM(Bell to begin the match)
1) Jaden Newman d. 24 men in a crusierweight scramble in 36 minutes
Jaden Newman was out first with his full entrance and out next was James Anthony w/ Victor Andrews, Justin Michaels, and a girl who was never introduced and didn't do much. Michaels is fantastic at what he does and really adds personality to Anthony and Andrews. Michaels is a really tall guy though so he dwarves his clients, which is probably the only bad thing you can say about him at ringside. He has great reactions to what is going on and really keeps a crowd in a match when given the chance. A new person was added to the match every minute I believe. A cluster of people doing crazy things everywhere ensued. Here's the order of entry and eliminations as best as I could tell. Not every elimination was announced.
Austin Knight
Dante HP
Jacob Bryan
Josh Storm
- Jacob Bryan eliminated
Alex Kai
Jeremy Hadley
"Wolfman" Scott Johnson
Thomas Cage
-Jeremy Hadley eliminated
Hairband
Sol de oro
Rob Killjoy
Zane Stevens
Corey Dye
Ryan Ray Rivera
-Alex Kai eliminated
-Dante eliminated
-Austin Knight eliminated
Hayne
Spike Lopez
-Wolfman eliminated
-Hairband eliminated
-Sol elimnated
Kid Crazy
Encore
Ryan The Thriller Miller
-Ryan Rivera eliminated
Mikey G
- Corey Dye eliminated
-Encore eliminated
"Black Rose" Sephiroth
-Miller eliminated
Kid Holiday
-Kid Crazy eliminated
-Kid Holiday eliminated
-Killjoy eliminated
-Mikey G eliminated after a 450 by Thonas Cage
-Black Rose eliminated after tapping to a crossface applied by Cage
-Cage eliminated after Zane Stevens hit him with a Brainbuster
-Stevens distracted by Justin Michaels and was then eliminated by Anthony
-Anthony eliminated by Newman with a sitout rock bottom from 2nd rope
Some of these guys clearly had a lot of ability and others were just in there peppering sloppy and meaningless spots in that may or may not have been seen by the cameras or people in attendance. At one point the small Corey Dye dove to the outside and hit no one. Sol De Oro really stood out as a star here. Zane Stevens came in and showed lots of impressive power moves. He had a very legitimate feel among a bunch of guys trying to set up spots or that had no idea what they were doing. There just wasn't enough time or space for anyone to really show much of anything here unfortunately.
After the match, the current AIWF Crusierweight Champion Kobra King came into the ring and shook Jaden's shake hand but then nailed him with the belt. King's opponent for later(much later...) in the night Drew Game makes save.
2) “Southern Belle from Hell” Roni Nicole d. Cali Wylde in 10 minutes
The lone women's match on the show failed to hold people's attention after the cruiserweight scramble. Nicole has tons of personality but this match was just too slow paced.
3) Team YBW (Thomas Cage, Young & Reckless, Marc Slayton, Jay Anthony) d. Zane Stevens, Jacob Bryan, Queen City Killers, and Big Scott Jackson in a Survivor Series elimination style match in 18 minutes
It was just too many guys in a match that was too long. I heard a lot of “We've already seen this guy” from the people around me also since some of these guys were in the first match. I'm going to throw the lack of crowd reaction blame back on the 36 minute opener that started the show 22 minutes late. It was match 3 and people realized that the show was not going to be over by 6 pm. They were shown guys they had already seen and this match featured a guy with no gear who fell over at multiple points in the match and lost his tennis shoes in the process(Jackson), along with guys with no physiques wearing “trashbag” pants(Anthony and Slayton). Thomas Cage was eliminated by Zane Stevens, Big Scott Jackson who was huge... just a guy in tennis shoes and camo shorts... got into it with his own team and Wylde of the Queen City Killers laid him out, Brandon Young, who took a lot of punishment in this match, picked up the pin on Jackson. Jacob Bryan was eliminated by Young and Reckless with their Superkick/Olympic Slam doubleteam. Brandon Young was eliminated by Anderson of the Queen City Killers. Freddy Reckless was eliminated by Wylde. Slayton eliminated Anderson.”The Hawk” Jay Anthony eliminated Wylde.
Zane Stevens eliminated Marc Slayton. Jay Anthony eliminated Stevens to win the match for Team YBW(which hosted the last AIWF event in the area)
The ring announcer asked that we stand to honor our military and encouraged them keep kicking “towel head butt”.
4) Rudy Boy Gonzalez d. Stumpy in a No DQ match in 9 minutes
This was originally Tank vs Eric Michaels, then Tank vs Lee Byford, then Rudy Boy Gonzalez vs Lee Byford... so what we got was the very experienced Gonzalez trying to get a match out of a hillbilly gimmick guy in overalls that was announced as “Bubba” but corrected the ring announcer that his name was Stumpy. Stumpy did nothing. Rudy threw him around and beat on him for 9 minutes. I guess he was afraid of Rudy but it really resulted in a match that the crowd just couldn't get into due to Stumpy's lack of fire. Rudy tried to turn the crowd against him but since he was the only one doing anything, people cheered his efforts. He threw Stumpy around outside the ring, into chairs, and slammed him on chairs. The crowd was already dying here because by the time this ended, we were two hours in and no one was impressed.
5) House of Pain d. Certified Sexy in a 6 man tag in 9 minutes
I didn't catch the individual names here but this was a decently entertaining 6 man tag match featuring three pretty big guys(House of Pain) vs three lean athletic guys(Certified Sexy). They worked much faster than some of the previous matches and the much smaller Certified Sexy guys ate some stiff offense but battled it with some high flying. They worked hard and it was a fun dynamic to watch.
6) Jeff Justice & (didn't catch his partner's name) d. Andrew Boyd & Hairband in 10 minutes
Justice and his partner presented themselves as a tag team while Boyd and Hairband didn't seem to be on the same page. They didn't bring the fast action and spots like the previous match did and so I don't think the crowd ever really got behind this one either.
7) Toby Farley, Eric Michaels, Corey Dye, and Timmy Lou Retton d. Shane Daniels, Ty Tyson, Jacoby Boykins and Xile in an 8 man tag match in 10 minutes
This match finally got some people back into the action. They paced with some quick action and stiff spots. Farley and Daniels started, which was probably the best pairing thus far into the evening. This was my first time seeing Timmy Lou Retton, who is sorta like a small Big E Langston but very athletic and fun to watch. Ty Tyson is a stiff working guy that I would have loved to have seen in a singles match. I had seen him before at Anarchy and was glad to see him here. Boykins has improved LEAGUES since I last saw him at Anarchy probably in 2009. He really leverages his size now and comes off as someone much more imposing than he ever did years ago.
8) The Normals d. 14 other teams to win a shot at the AIWF Tag Team Titles in 45 minutes
Another match that was just way too long with way too many people. If the Normals had not been in this match then I may have left here. The event was already at 3 hours by the time this match started. 4 teams at a time were out, with 2 men at a time in the ring. The first 4 teams were Sinister, Shovelface Chuck & Wolfman(not the same “Wolfman” from the cruiserweight scramble....Chuck was a midget wrestler and Wolfman was a scary looking George the Animal Steele type guy covered in tattoos, including on his head and face),
High Risk Impact, and The Normals(very talented and athletic guys doing a dark carnival gimmick). High Risk Impact was eliminated after about 9 minutes. Beauty & the Beast was next featuring Georgia big man Logan Creed and another guy that was neither Beauty nor Beast. I'm not sure who he was. Shovelface Chuck was in and sized up against the almost 7ft Logan Creed. Creed shook his hand and tried to tag in his partner. His partner was disrespectful so Creed laid him out and Chuck jumped off his back for the pin to eliminate Beauty & the Beast at about the 11 minute mark. Party Boys were out next. Wolfman and Chuck both ended up in the ring so Wolfman picked up Chuck to slam him saying he didn't care if he was his partner. Chuck fell backwards onto Wolfman, pinning him and eliminating their team at the 18 minute mark. WAY too much time between eliminations. Next to the ring were the Knights of Abomination(two athletic looking tough guys that got a few chances to show their abilities). The Party Boys were eliminated at the 20 minute mark. The Lost Boys(not Azrael and Gabriel) were next to enter. They were eliminated at the 28 minute mark. Next out was the Phat Foundation. The Normals were frustrated that the match was taking so long so they began really kicking it into high gear to eliminate teams at this point. Knights were eliminated at 29 minutes. HGH in next. Sinister eliminated at 31 minute mark. Sinsations in next. Sinsations eliminated at the 33 minute mark.
Ebony & Ivory in next. The “Ebony” guy here was apparently named Porkchop Cash. This was not Porkchop Cash from $5 Wrestling infamy. This guy was larger but very athletic. He didn't land anything but if he did... it would have been nice. Phat Foundation out at the 36 minute mark.
Queen City Killers in next. They do a gimmick very similar to Georgia's Hate Junkies. Ebony and Ivory eliminated at the 39 minute mark. EBC in next (I've been told it does not stand for Eggs, Bacon, and Cheese but instead is El Buenos Chicos - the team of "Barely Legal: Will Balderas and Robert Crowder). Queen City Killers eliminated at the 41 minute mark. The Air Tide Rockers were in next. These guys were two of the slimmest guys I've ever seen. I bet their combined weight was 250lbs....maybe. They were eliminated at the 43 minute mark. Finally, The Normals eliminated EBC after 45 minutes to win.
9) Daniel Eads, Shank Barzini, and Scott Parker d. JP Lightning, Matt Maverick, Frank Wyatt in a 6 man tag in 12 minutes
The last time I saw Shank Barzini was probably 2006? in Nashville so it was a nice surprise to see him in this match. It's my understanding these guys were from IWAU in Indiana. A lot of talented guys here and some really entertaining work. Daniel Eads has a phenomenal physique and looked great in the ring. I think he is a guy that could get some big opportunities.
10) Logan Creed d. Jacoby Boykins in 6 minutes
This was originally supposed to be a battle of monsters with Logan Creed vs Geter but unfortunately Geter did not make it to the show. This was my first time seeing Creed. He has great size, moves well, and looks like he genuinely enjoys wrestling. Creed is in good shape but with some more conditioning could probably also find himself on much bigger radars. Creed issued an open challenge and Boykins answered. It wasn't bad but once again was just a situation of much of the crowd having left at this point.. We were nearing the 4 hour mark here.
Jacoby laid out the referee after the match. Creed pulled the referee out and carried him to the back.
11) The Texas Tornados d. First Generation, The Kansas City Wolves, and The Normals in 15 minutes to retain the AIWF World Tag Team Championship in a 4 way elimination tag match
Four legitimate teams that all looked good but not many people stuck around to see them. There was some good action in this match and these teams are all very entertaining. The Normals were eliminated by the Wolves after about 4 minutes. The Wolves, who looked really good and more like a team than ever, were eliminated by James Anthony & Victor Andrews(First Generation) after about 9 minutes. The Tornados are athletic, thick body guys who worked well together and showed why they're the champions. They made First Generation tap at the 15 minute mark.
12) Kobra King d. Drew Game in 10 minutes to retain the AIWF Cruiserweight Championship
These two worked well together and showed a lot of athleticism. The crowd of faithfuls that remained were into it, some for King and some for Game. I'm sure I could give a lot more praise and details if I hadn't already sat through over 4.5 hours of wrestling.
13) Josef Von Schmidt vs Jason Erra ended in a double count out after 15 minutes.
Von Schmidt is a big, muscular guy with an eye patch who does an evil German gimmick, even calling one of his holds the “Concentration Clamp”. He was extremely entertaining and really worked hard to work what was left of the crowd. Erra his a younger guy who has a decent build and appears to be a work in progress. They worked hard and once again, I would have a lot more to say if this main evented a 2-3 hour show.
Other Notes:
Former NWA Wildside and current Empire commentator“The Reverend” Dan Wilson was on commentary for the event. Many of the match times were cut with announcements being made “10 minutes past” after only about 6 minutes. I was told the event would have gone all night if it wasn't for Drew Game taking control and cutting a battle royal, among some other booking changes. The backstage area was said to have been peaceful with guys getting along and “95% of guys being easy to deal with”.
Congratulations if you made it all the way through that....I started to not write a report but I realize that if someone doesn't write a report then it's as if this event didn't even happen. Guys worked hard through a cluster of guys being crammed into almost every match; and many guys drove hours and hours to have the opportunity to come work this event. A big thank you to all the guys who came and worked. I could have done without about 60 guys being on the card but I appreciate the passion and effort regardless of a booker who apparently can't turn people away.
