Full Recap from AAW Killers Among Us 6.17.16

Credit Qumar Zaman:

Attendance 600

AAW Pro Wrestling Redefined kicked off the summer in style with “Killers Among Us”. Before the show began, AAW play-by-play announcer Phil Colvin revealed that he was assigned a commentator to call the action. That commentator was none other than the leader of the Iron Curtain, Gregory Iron.

1.) The opening match of “Killers Among Us” was a fatal four way tag team match contested to one fall. The tag team match pit the team of Eddie Machete & Conor Braxton (with Scarlett Bordeaux) against the team of Candice LeRae & Heidi Lovelace, the team of Kongo Kong and Xavier Desmond, and the War Rig of Shane Hollister and Markus Crane. Kong had initially removed Desmond’s tag partner and inserted himself into the match.

Kong started the match eyeing Machete and Braxton, but the two brash youngsters turned their back on him and sneak attacked LeRae and Lovelace. The cowardice of Machete and Braxton continued, as they departed the ring. The crazy Markus Crane elected to go after Kong, but that proved to be a big mistake. Xavier Desmond tagged in wanting to contribute, but after taking Hollister out of the ring, Machete came in and took him out. LeRae then righted an earlier wrong as she attacked Machete. Lovelace and Braxton then dueled before Braxton brought out his infamous hoverboard. Braxton imitated the Cesaro swing while riding the hoverboard, as the crowd enjoyed the entertainment.

While Kong surveyed the action that was taking place inside, he decided to help out LeRae and Lovelace by helping them hit reverse hurricanranas. Crane tried taking exception to it, but Kong hit a spike tombstone. Then, LeRae and Lovelace hit simultaneous Ballsplexes on Braxton and Machete. The two youngsters were able to return the favor, but Kong would have none of it. Braxton tried to use the hoverboard when going head to head with Kong, but Kong got out of the way and laid him out. Kong then climbed to the top rope to splash Machete and earn the pinfall victory for he and Xavier Desmond. Kong even knocked out his partner when trying to take credit for the win.

After the match, an irate Scarlett got on the mic to berate Machete and Braxton for losing the fatal four way tag match. She said that girls like her don’t work with losers, and also blamed the fans for their poor effort. She issues an open challenge to anyone who wants to face Machete and Braxton.

Answering the call was none other than the Sicilian Psychopath, Tommaso Ciampa. With the crowd chanting “Psycho Killer”, Ciampa berated Machete, Braxton, and even Scarlett. Braxton was wondering why Ciampa came out alone to answer the challenge. The cocky duo then warmed up for the match in the ring while Ciampa looked on. Ciampa then destroyed both men, capping it off with a Project Ciampa to Machete, forcing them all to retreat.

Ciampa got on the mic and mentioned his loss last month to Sami Callihan at “Take No Prisoners”. Ciampa wondered who would accept his open challenge, naming various names before requesting a referee to begin the open challenge.

2.) Answering the challenge and shocking the crowd was the returning “Walking Weapon” Josh Alexander. The one-time AAW Heavyweight Champion was forced to retire from wrestling, but his doctor’s prognosis about a neck injury turned out to be a lot worse than reality. He answered Ciampa’s challenge and the two men showed good sportsmanship before the bell rang.

The two men worked methodically to try and gain an upper hand in the match, answering the call from one another at various points of the match. With Alexander’s neck being the target, Ciampa took control and continued with a barrage of attacks to the neck. However, Alexander showed the same resiliency that led him to a title reign, fighting back against the Psycho Killer. Alexander was able to hit a devastating elbow to the face of Ciampa to knock him down to a two count before Ciampa reached out for the bottom rope.

Trading chops on the apron, Ciampa was able to turn the tables and deliver a shoulder breaker to the returning star. The battle continued on the outside as Ciampa whipped Alexander into the guardrail and then laid him over another guardrail before hitting a running knee lift. Alexander was able to recover and suplexed Ciampa onto the apron. Back inside the ring, Ciampa was able to reverse out of a spinning tombstone by Alexander into an armbar. Alexander was able to crawl to the ropes. Alexander then tried a sitdown powerbomb, which got a count of two, and put Ciampa into an ankle lock. Ciampa got out of it, sending Alexander to the apron, and then kneed him off the apron and onto the wooden post. Ciampa got Alexander back in the ring, but only got a one count. An enraged Alexander then tossed his headgear at Ciampa, who delivered a violent running kick to the face. That knocked Alexander out and allowed Ciampa to get the pinfall victory.

After the match, Ciampa rose the arm of Alexander and returned his headgear before leaving the ring to allow Alexander another opportunity to soak in the crowd’s approval.

3.) It was time for a women’s match. Jessicka Havok, along with JT Davidson representing the Killer Cult, was in singles action against Kimber Lee. Being the smaller of the two, Kimber quickly went to attack the much bigger Havok. That strategy worked in the short term, as it forced Havok to the outside. But, while on the outside, Havok was able to turn the tables on Kimber by gaining the upper hand in the match.

Back inside the ring, Havok used her size to her advantage by taking apart Kimber at every opportunity she could. Havok went into backbreaker mode, but Kimber was able to eventually reverse out of it and put Havok into a cross armbreaker. Havok used her size to rise up and get out of the submission move.

Trying her best to stay in the match, Kimber surprised Havok with a German suplex that earned her a two count. However, Havok was able to get back up and hit an Air Raid Crash to get the victory.
After the match, Havok continued attacking Kimber Lee until Heidi Lovelace entered. Heidi was quickly subdued and got an Air Raid Crash of her own. Havok and Davidson celebrated the destruction that lay within the ring.

4.) In singles competition, Drew Gulak went one-on-one with Silas Young. But before the match could begin, Silas berated the crowd and then turned his attention to his opponent. Silas called himself “the measuring stick” when referencing Gulak’s mat skills. Silas then offered a thinly veiled attack at Gulak’s manhood.

Once the bell rung, Gulak took Silas to task the only way a mat technician could do. The two men continued their match with a mix of grappling and violent attacks. Gulak then sought out the target of the brace on Silas’ left knee, ripping it off. However, Silas used it as a weapon against Gulak. Gulak was able to turn the tables and sent Silas to the outside. Gulak then dove through the ropes to Silas on the outside.

After a contentious battle at ringside, the two men returned inside the ring. Silas used his knee brace as part of a submission maneuver, choking Gulak out while stretching his back. Gulak was able to reverse out of the move and applied it Silas himself. Gulak then targeted the bare left knee of Silas and applied an ankle lock. Silas tried to hit the backbreaker-clothesline combo, but Gulak got out of it. Silas remained steadfast in his attack, but Gulak stayed with him at every turn.

Gulak then tried to use the knee brace one more time on Silas, trying it out with a figure four leglock. Silas read it the entire way, reversing the attempt into a small package pin attempt. It worked out this time for the “Last Real Man” as he earned the three count and delivered on his guarantee that he would win.

5.) The AAW Tag Team Championships were on the line as The Hooligans along with their manager, Buck Nasty, looked to regain the titles against the reigning champs, The Besties in the World, Davey Vega and Mat Fitchett. The Cutter brothers immediately jumped the titleholders before the bell rang. Fitchett took the immediate brunt of the two-man attack, but was able to kick out of an early pin attempt. Bucky then dished out further punishment to Fitchett on the outside as the Hooligans centered their attention on Vega.

After several minutes contending with both Devin and Mason Cutter, Vega was able to break free and tag in Mat Fitchett. Fitchett then went on a roll against the Hooligans, showing off his high-risk maneuvers delighting the crowd. While Fitchett was on top, Bucky got involved and attacked Fitchett. Vega was able to save his partner from another two-on-one attack, and try to isolate one of the Cutter brothers.

The Hooligans thought they had the match won when they hit their combo finisher on Vega, but the referee said the wrong brother who attempted the pinfall was not the legal man. In the ensuing argument, Fitchett ran in and hit a spike hurricanrana, while Vega had the other Cutter brother in an ankle lock. Fitchett was able to successfully earn the pinfall and retain the tag titles for he and Vega.

6.) It was time for a dream match, as Chris Hero went head-to-head with luchador Drago. Donning a #23 Duke basketball jersey and Duke-inspired ring gear, Hero was ready to bring the fight of a Blue Devil to the lucha star. The crowd was vocal at the onset, taking in what both men were about to present.

Hero had a major size advantage over Drago, but it was Hero’s versatility that gave him the early edge. Drago tried to take down the bigger Hero by attacking Hero’s legs and focusing submission attempts on them. Drago used his quickness and agility to regain control in the match, but Hero was abrasive in his manner of attacking a tiring Drago. He would come across as arrogant and cocky when overpowering the smaller opponent, Drago.

However, Drago was able to strike back and attack Hero, sending him out of the ring. With a dazed Hero at ringside, Drago was able to deliver devastating kicks to Hero’s torso and capped it off with a headscissors off the apron. With Hero tossed back inside, Drago went to the top rope, but Hero cut him off with a boot to the face. Drago was able to kick out at two following an elbow to the back of the head from Hero.

Drago delivered one last burst of offense against Hero featuring a tornado DDT that only earned him a two count. Hero recovered and pulled out a piledriver on Drago, but the luchador kicked out at two. Frustrated by his inability to put down Drago, Hero tried once more to hit elbows to the face of Drago, but he would not stay down for the three count. In the end, it was the tombstone piledriver that allowed Hero to finally put away Drago for the pinfall victory.
After Hero celebrated his win, he fell to his knees in front of Drago and extended his hand to the luchador. They shook hands, rising together, as Hero rose the arm of Drago before departing the ring. Fans displayed their affection to Drago by tossing money into the ring.

Following intermission, we see a video of Eddie Kingston and The Notorious 187, Homicide. Both men discuss their plan of attack for their match against Sami Callihan and Dave Crist. The men reprised their Outlaw Inc. moniker and promised plenty of violence in their match later in the show.

7.) The AAW Heritage Championship was on the line as lucha star Aerostar challenged the champion, AR Fox. Aerostar had an impressive entrance to the ring with fire pyrotechnics that he brought with him. Fox needed no such glamour to hit the ring, as he brought with him the championship belt.

The contest opened with a flurry of quick moves that dazzled the throng of fans in attendance. Fox maintained an advantage over the visitor from Mexico’s AAA promotion, but Aerostar fought back with an array of acrobatic moves hit both inside and outside of the ring. On the outside, Fox was able to recover and use the ringpost to catapult himself onto Aerostar.

Back inside the ring, Aerostar and Fox challenged each other to hit one impressive move after another. Fox was able to fully hit one, nailing a perfect 450 splash onto a downed Aerostar to retain his title.

After the match, Fox shook hand and hugged Aerostar. However, Mat Fitchett interrupted the party. Fitchett assured that he meant no ill will to Aerostar, shaking his hand. His beef was with Fox, reminding the champ that he was pinned last month. Fitchett issued a challenge to AR Fox for the Heritage title at “United We Stand” next month. Quickly, Davey Vega hit the ring to interject himself in Fitchett’s affairs. Vega reminded Fitchett about their tag team title reign. Fox and Vega got into an argument of their own. After Fox shoved Vega, he granted Fitchett a shot at the title next month.

8.) The next match was a fatal four way match consisting of Andrew Everett, Cedric Alexander, Moose, and Trevor Lee. The crowd was excited to see all four participants in the fatal four way, and it was difficult to determine who had the collective rooting interest. Before the match would begin, all four participants had a little dance competition that even had the referee get involved.

Once the bell rang, all four wrestlers departed the ring to give the notion that they were done. They would all return to the ring to start the match properly. It began as a group attack on Moose, but the former NFL lineman was able to break loose and dish out some punishment. Cedric Alexander and Moose traded blows until Trevor Lee and Andrew Everett returned to the ring. Then, the match turned into a dive fest as Cedric Alexander, Trevor Lee, and Everett, who springboarded himself off the top rope and flipped to the outside, all took turns going out of the ring.

There were not only aerial attacks from off the top rope by Everett and Alexander, but Moose even jumped from off the stage and into the ring on all three opponents. The carnage continued on the outside when Moose powerbombed Everett on the apron and then onto the wooden post. The ante was upped when Trevor Lee climbed to the balcony and dove onto both Moose and Alexander.

Andrew Everett went on a spike rana spree and then Moose would reappear to spear two men. When he tried to deliver a third spear to Trevor Lee, Lee reversed it into fall away slam to pin Moose and take the victory in the fatal four way match. After Lee departed to celebrate the win, the three losing participants received their approval from the AAW fans.

9.) The penultimate match of the night saw the return of Zack Sabre, Jr. to AAW, as he went one-on-one with Johnny Gargano. AAW put together this featured attraction which includes two participants in WWE’s Cruiserweight Classic tournament to be held this summer. The fans eagerly anticipated this match between “Johnny Wrestling” and ZSJ.

There was a long feeling out process between the two men, as they tried to test the mental and physical acuity of each other. Sabre relied on a mat-based attack with submission attempts, while Gargano used counters to apply submissions of his own. Each submission or attack was either reversed or countered with excellence. Before long, the two men drew their fight to ringside. It was there that Gargano took advantage over the British star. Once regaining control, Gargano tossed Sabre back into the ring, but that was not a smart move. Sabre readied for Gargano and nearly had Gargano tapping out with an impressive stretch submission.

Sabre targeted the left forearm and wrist of Gargano, twisting, turning, and smashing it in excruciating pain. Gargano was able to fight through the pain and gain some offensive attacks on Sabre. This leveled the playing field so to speak, as both men fought through their own pain to dish it out to one another. Gargano was able to sneak out of another submission attempt to hit a lawn dart on Sabre into the middle turnbuckle. That initiated a burst out of Gargano that saw him dive onto Sabre on the outside and hit a DDT on Sabre that landed a two count.

Gargano was able to put Sabre into the Gargano Stretch, but the Brit was able to sneak out of the submission maneuver. Sabre then put Gargano in a submission move. Sabre added elbows to the ribcage, forcing Gargano to submit.

10.) In the main event, Homicide makes his debut in AAW to reunite with his Outlaw Inc. partner in crime, Eddie Kingston. The duo took on the leader of the Killer Cult, AAW Heavyweight Champion Sami Callihan and Dave Crist, who were joined by JT Davidson.
Matters escalated quickly when Kingston brought an empty beer bottle into the ring. Crist brought one from ringside to even the odds, but referee PJ Drummond cleared the ring of those beer bottles. The four men then went to blows, ending up with Callihan and Homicide inside the ring and Kingston and Crist outside the ring. Crist pulled Homicide under the ropes, but knocked him away in time to avoide a dive from Callihan. Callihan landed onto his partner on the outside. The diving continued when Kingston landed on Crist on one side of the ring, and Homicide landed on Callihan and Davidson at another.
The fight intensified on the outside when Crist springboarded himself over the guardrail and into the crowd. All of the action landed in the crowd, as Homicide battled Crist while Kingston took care of Callihan. Homicide threw a garbage can into Crist and beat him up with it. Kingston and Callihan destroyed several of the seats during their encounter. The action then moved to the bar area.
While Crist and Homicide dueled on top of the bar, Callihan and Kingston beat each other up at another end. Homicide hit a DDT on Crist on the top of the bar. Callihan went after both men, but he took a beating from Outlaw Inc. Callihan and Homicide then made their way over by the merchandise area, while Kingston and Crist remained fighting over by the bar. Crist went on a kicking spree against Kingston. Callihan and Homicide went upstairs to the balcony to continue their fight, as the champ attempted to throw Homicide over the rails. Meanwhile, Kingston used one of the tables to attack Crist.

The action returned inside the ring as Homicide paid tribute to Eddie Guerrero with a series of suplexes to Sami Callihan. At that same time, Crist returned to ringside with Kingston soon chasing after him. After a bloodied Crist stopped Homicide from a top rope attack, Kingston bounced him off of the apron. Kingston and Callihan then took their turns fighting one another, but the champ was soon disposed of by ‘Cide. Crist recovered in time to hit an amazing springboard DDT on Homicide, but he kicked out at two.
Kingston then hit a Frankensteiner on Crist, as Homicide then put him into a Boston Crab. However, Jake Crist surprisingly ran into the ring and broke up the submission attempt. Kingston then chased Jake and Dave Crist to the back, while Homicide and Callihan did battle in the ring.

After hitting an Ace Crusher on Callihan, Homicide thought he had the match won. The champ kicked out at two, forcing Homicide to pull out a fork from his boot. That drew JT Davidson to enter the ring, and he sacrificed himself for the champ. Homicide brutally used the fork to open up the forehead of the Killer Cult’s manager. That opening eventually allowed Callihan to hit his double underhook tombstone on Homicide to get the three count and win the match.
A battered and bloodied JT Davidson rose the arm of the champion, as he stood tall with the AAW Heavyweight Championship over his shoulder. Callihan got on the mic after the match to brag about his successes. Callihan says he backs up his guarantees of winning, brags about his undefeated record in AAW, and brags about his successes in other independent companies. Callihan said the fans would boo him louder when he beats up and bloodies Pentagon, Jr. next month at “United We Stand”.

AAW Pro Wrestling Redefined returns to 115 Bourbon Street in Merrionette Park, Illinois on Saturday, July 23rd for “United We Stand”. Already announced for that event is the AAW Heavyweight Championship match between the titleholder Sami Callihan and Pentagon, Jr. The AAW Heritage Championship will also be on the line when Mat Fitchett challenges the champion, AR Fox. Also scheduled to appear that night are Fenix, Marty Scrull, Tommaso Ciampa, Andrew Everett, Trevor Lee, Zack Sabre, Jr., Johnny Gargano, and much more. More information and tickets can be purchased at AAWrestling.com.