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Jack Reviews AAW End of Innocence

May 5, 2017 | Posted by Jack Stevenson
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Jack Reviews AAW End of Innocence  

Illinois’ AAW has put together some very appealing cards this year, and I thought I’d take a look at a few of them. First of all, February’s End of Innocence, headlined by a Kongo Kong-Sami Callihan match that has received strong reviews from other writers I enjoy. A.R. Fox vs. Penta El Zero M and A.C.H vs. Trevor Lee highlight the undercard! It should be a good time!

1- Marion Fontaine vs. Stephen Wolff vs. Arik Cannon vs. David Starr
A light, fluffy, unremarkable opener here. More thought was put into the comedy spots then any of the actual wrestling, but the match wasn’t as obnoxious as that makes it sound. And the finishing sequence is surprisingly great- Starr dropped Fontaine with Product Placement, Wolff immediately disrupted the cover with a Shooting Star Press, and then Cannon seized him and landed Total Anarchy for the win! It all happened so quickly and smoothly and was genuinely exciting. ** 1/2.

2- Mike Hartenbower vs. Zicky Dice
This only lasted two minutes. It was a fun two minutes! They just slugged each other with power moves until Hartenbower collapsed Dice with a spear for the victory. Both looked to have potential, although Dice’s ‘obnoxious heel magician’ gimmick wasn’t always irritating in the right way. **.

3- Candice LeRae & Samantha Heights vs. Jessicka Havok & Allysin Kay
The big issue with this match is that it only lasted 6 minutes and 5 seconds and yet they still thought a face in peril segment was a good idea. When you’ve got 6 minutes to work with, just do a sprint! Heat segments like that are a necessity in longer matches to provide an ebb and flow, but ideally you’d just beat the heck out of each other the whole time and they absolutely could have done here! Alas. I also would have preferred the David vs. Goliath aspect of this match played on more- Havok and Kay had an obvious strength advantage but it felt like it was only referred to in passing. It was a perfectly competent tag match that wound up being entirely average and forgettable and didn’t need to be. LeRae landed the Genitals-Plex on Allysin Kay for the win. **.

Adam Rose morphed into Krugar in an energetic backstage interview!

4- Ace Perry & PACO vs. Davey Vega & Mat Fitchett
Another six minute tag match with a face in peril segment for no better reason than tradition. It’s really easy to just tune out of these matches when you know such a chunk of it is of no real importance. This was a little better than the previous match, however, because the Besties in the World had more interesting offense than Havok and Kay did, and the underdog story of Ace Perry and Paco Gonzalez against former AAW Tag Team Champions had marginally more room to develop, with at least one near fall where the commentary team really made it feel like a victory for Perry and Paco would be a big deal. They didn’t win in the end though, the Besties taking it with a Superkick/Brainbuster combo. ** 3/4.

5- DJ Z vs. Krugar
I understand why Kruger’s personal conduct, and to a lesser extent his lackluster WWE run as Adam Rose, make people wary of him, but I’ve watched two of his indy matches now (two more than I ever intended to) and he’s impressed in both. This one got off to a super hot start, with both Kruger and the underrated DJ Z taking awesome bumps into the crowd, soaring over the barricades and sailing through about five rows of chairs. The action calmed down from there, and in truth Kruger’s control segment was hardly a thrill a minute, but he did bring lots of genuine intensity and moved with purpose. I’ve seen much worse. The finishing stretch was when the big man/little man dynamic started to shine through strongly, a simple wrestling story I will always enjoy. DJ put Kruger away with a flying spike DDT. A good match and another pleasant surprise from Kruger- his match with Eddie Kingston at the Wrestlemania weekend Pro Wrestling Revolver was even better than this. He’s working his arse off to win people over and it seems to be paying dividends. His entrance was met with indifference from the LaSalle crowd, but his departure was accompanied by a “please come back!” chant. *** 1/4.

6- Scarlet & Graves vs. OI4K
See, now these guys get it. The third five minute tag match of the evening, and the first just to go crazy with fast paced brawling and high flying and NO FACE IN PERIL SEGMENT! The only real issue it had was that, in my opinion, Scarlet and Graves are a much more exciting team than OI4K, and there was a kind of jarring contrast between the hyper cool shit Xavier and Wentz pulled out (I love the spot where Wentz does a standing moonsault and Xavier shoves him halfway across the ring in mid-air so he lands on his opponent) and the more standard fare offered by Oi4K. It stopped the match from feeling as fun and free spirited as it could. Wentz countered the Springboard Ace Crusher of DC with a super fluid roll-up for the three count at…! *** 1/4.

Buck Nasty was upset because Mason Cutter had suffered a broken leg and he didn’t feel that was a sufficient excuse for Cutter not to have his back. Connor Braxton and Kody Rice would be in his corner instead.

7- AAW Heritage Championship- ACH vs. Trevor Lee
I would have felt much more irritated by this match had it not followed a first half that had completely breezed by. This was extremely slow and built largely around striking, which is not the strong suit of either man. I can’t imagine anyone looking at this match on paper, witnessing it in the ring, and thinking “that is exactly what I wanted.” It felt like they were trying to restrain themselves due to their relatively lowly position on the card, which is fine, noble even, but they went way too far in the wrong direction with it. It wasn’t double plus bad or anything, but my attention wandered far and wide during it. I did at least like the finish, which was sudden and unexpected in a genuinely spontaneous way, with ACH spinning Trevor Lee into an Inside Cradle for the three count. * 3/4.

Sami Callihan is antsy about his AAW Championship defence against Kongo Kong, and sends his manager JT Davidson off to make sure Kong goes nowhere near him before the main event.

8- Nick Brubaker & Zero Gravity vs. Buck Nasty, Connor Braxton & Kody Rice
I quite liked this. It was the first match post intermission and was a nice way to ease people back into the show, wrestled at a good pace and full of action that was diverting without wearing you out. The only real problem with it were a couple of moderately creepy comedy spots in the early going, the sort that wouldn’t look out of place in a Joey Ryan match. Once they’d got those out the way, there was little not to like. A Moonsault/Shooting Star Press combo from Zero Gravity gave them the win. ***.

9- Penta el 0M vs. A.R. Fox
This was a match in which Penta dropped AR Fox with a Canadian Destroyer on the ring apron and it was only enough for two and then moments later Fox was hitting signature moves as if it hadn’t happened. If that bothers you, then unsurprisingly this wasn’t the match for you. If, like me, you place value on a fast pace and hyper cool moves, then you should be delighted with this! Essentially from the opening bell Penta and Fox just slugged each other with the best stuff in their arsenal. There was no feeling out process, no slow build, they almost hit the finishing stretch from the get go, and I found it a total thrill! The vast majority of their manoeuvres were hit really crisply, and it was so impressive how they managed to keep their energy and that of the crowd up through a physically draining war. The only thing that held it back was that they weren’t quite able to reach a proper crescendo, because they were wrestling almost at full capacity from the get go. The Canadian Destroyer spots sort of came close, but it still lacked that invigorating, inspirational moment when you know a bout has hit a higher gear. Still, this was great. Eventually, it was a Canadian Destroyer from the top rope that gave Penta the win! ****.

Dezmond Xavier and Zachary Wentz were very cheerful after beating OI4K earlier on, and their mood only improved when they learned this had earned them a tag title shot against Jack Evans and Trevor Lee!

10- AAW Heavyweight Championship- Sami Callihan vs. Kongo Kong
Ahh man this was brilliant! It is not hard to have great matches with Kongo Kong because his sheer size, agility, and throwback savage character makes for a really fascinating challenge for any opponent. Sami Callihan, as we all know, is tremendous at wrestling, especially when he’s going all guns blazing in a 10-15 minute sprint, and that’s exactly what happened in this. Callihan approached the task of knocking Kong down with all the ferocity you’d hope for, but because he was playing the heel in this there were also moments of vulnerability where he tried to flee from the giant and looked terrified to be in the same ring as him. When people give such respect to the Kong character, it makes his matches feel that much more important than anything else on the card. This felt like a genuine, crazy spectacle. OI4K tried to interfere to help their pal Sami at one point, but quickly got taken out by Scarlet & Graves. In truth, this wasn’t hugely necessary and disrupted the flow of the bout a bit, but it did allow for an awesome spot where Kongo flung himself over the top rope and wiped out everyone with a tope! Callihan eked out the victory after flinging powder in Kong’s face, disorienting him long enough to hit a Death Valley Driver through a chair. However, Kong kicked out a millisecond after the three count, which I really loved as a finish- Callihan gets the rub of a clean(ish, he cheated but AAW is no DQ so Kong could have no complaints) victory, but Kong still looks, if not unstoppable, then certainly very very very barely stoppable. And just to add to the pervading sense of mayhem and fun, Kong spent the post match mauling trainees and then disappeared into the night, leaving his handler absolutely horrified. Great main event. **** 1/4.

8.0
The final score: review Very Good
The 411
Cramming ten matches into a two and a half hour show was a risky move on AAW's part, but on this occasion it worked very well. Despite lacking any really memorable match the undercard just zoomed by, and then we got two terrific sprints in the main event. Both A.R. Fox-Penta and Kong-Callihan are absolutely worth the meagre time investment they ask of you, particularly the latter which is really compelling. A very, very good show from AAW.
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