Live Report of Tyler Black’s Last Indy Appearance

[Credit: JP Nichols and PWInsider]

On September 24th, 2010, I had the opportunity to attend this show from AAW, on a very big weekend in the midwest seeing as Dragon Gate USA is also taping two shows this weekend. It has been over a year since I attended one of their shows (I attended AAW Defining Moment 2009, a fantastic show that also featured one of Bryan Danielson’s last independent matches at the time.) The main focus on this show going into it was that it would be the very last independent wrestling appearance of Tyler Black before he goes to WWE. However, as big as that is, that should not take credit away from some wrestlers who did very well for themselves on this show.

The Berwyn Eagles Club (their main venue, a venue that Shimmer also runs as well) was completely filled up in terms of attendance. Wrestlers such as MsChif, Larry Sweeney, Jimmy Jacobs, and Tyler Black were all selling merchandise (Tyler did during intermission and all were very friendly to the fans. )

They had two pre-show matches before the show started.

– Patrick O’Sheay & Matt Knicks defeated Dutch Doyle & Matu with Ryland Foxx

– Keith Kreed & Eric Ryan defeated Austin Mannix & Bobby Beverly

Both of these were OK, but I personally was not too crazy about them. I blame this simply because I had a long day with flying to Illinois and whatnot and was just hyped for the main show.

One thing that AAW does that to my knowledge no other indy does, is they actually air backstage promos during the live events. It is a really nice touch and helps distinguish their live events from other companies. The main show opened with an opening video highlighting AAW before going into a promo from Jimmy Jacobs and Tyler Black discussing how they are ready for House of Truth tonight and how when they win, Jacobs already has a partner in mind to take Tyler’s place when he has to leave.

– Chris “Madness” Hall defeating Juice Robinson via Last Rites/Rolling Dice/Crossrhodes.

A solid opener with Juice playing the loud obnoxious heel. Like many people on this show, this was my first time seeing Chris Hall and he had a look similar to that of Bam Bam Bigelow (minus the tattoos) only he was wearing a singlet.

We get another promo from a new group in AAW known as “CLASH” backstage. Their leader’s name is Cameron Skyyappeared as the leader of the group dressed all in black suits. Other members of the group included J. Miller, Tommy Treznik and Mena Libra. They claimed that they were here to cleanse AAW and its fans of their “sins”. They then made their way to their ringside seats near the entranceway.

– Aeroform (Louis Lyndon/Flip Kendrick) defeated The Chan Clan (Knight Wagner/Jordan McEntyre) w/ Ms. Eryn

I always enjoy watching Aeroform perform. Louis Lyndon especially is a great character to watch. Knight Wagner (another one of the “first time seeings”) had a great look and both he and his partner did well for themselves. This was a solid match.

We go to a promo with Shane Hollister backstage, who claims that the rehab that he had for his broken leg is done and he will be ready to go at the next AAW show.

They do a promo in the ring with Kevin Harvey interviewing AAW Heavyweight Champion Silas Young. Kevin brings up the fact that Silas was originally supposed to face Bryan Danielson on this show prior to WWE pulling him from the show. Silas called Bryan Danielson a “pussy” for not coming to Berwyn to wrestle him. He also said it was convenient that Jerry Lynn got hurt and backed out of the show as well. Kevin informed Silas that he would defend the title later in the night against Ricochet. Jimmy Jacobs came down to ringside and said he wanted a shot at Silas but tonight was all about Tyler Black’s last AAW match. He proposed a truce so that Silas would not interfere in their tag title match later but next month all bets were off. Silas agreed.

– Larry Sweeney defeated. Matt “Krotch” Mayday w/ Scarlett to retain the ICW/ICWA Texarkana Television Title via a roll-up with his feet on the ropes.

Prior to the match, we got the traditional “Is Larry Sweeney looking good tonight or what promo?” Sweeney was a lot more brutal towards fans than I remember from him in the past prior to the match. This was the first time I have seen Sweeney wrestle since he left ROH at the beginning of last year, and he still did really well for himself. Krotch is very over with the AAW fanbase and they were fully behind him and completely against Sweeney.

After the match, Larry Sweeney laid out Krotch with a low blow and went after Scarlett before MsChif came out who spat green mist into Sweeney’s eyes

– Arik Cannon w/ Dave Prazak defeated Samuray Del Sol to retain the AAW Heritage Title with the Glimmering Warlock.

This was a very fun match. Samuray Del Sol is someone who I had heard about but had never gotten the chance to see. He is someone who should be on every Dragon Gate USA show as is his style completely fits with theirs. Arik Cannon did just as well. I’m very happy that because of the acclaim that the four way from Dragon Gate USA’s “Enter The Dragon 2010” that he is getting much more noticed on the independent scene, as I always felt that he was very underappreciated.

After the match, Dave Prazak and Arik Cannon cut a promo claiming that there was no more competition for the Heritage title and that he needed an opponent. This caused Shane Hollister to come out and Cannon said that they would do the match right here.

– Shane Hollister d. Arik Cannon to become the NEW AAW HERITAGE CHAMPION.

In approximately 27 seconds, Hollister rolled up Arik for the victory. The crowd really popped for Hollister winning the title as Prazak through a fit in the ring.

A backstage promo with House of Truth was shown, with them saying that they were ready to spoil Tyler’s going away party and become two-time AAW Tag Team Champions.

– Zero Gravity & Trik Davis defeated Chuck Taylor & Johnny Gargano & Danny Duggan via Shooting Star Elbow by CJ Esparza on Danny Duggan.

As should be expected, this was a very fun 6-man tag. When the match finally broke down, it went all over the place in terms of high flying action. Gargano and Taylor (now stable-mates in Chikara) worked really well together. Danny Duggan was an unknown to me who I thought looked impressive in this match.

At this point they went to intermission

– Dan Lawrence defeated Darrin Corbin with a roll up

After the match Joey Eastman came to the ring to talk to Darin Corbin. He told him he missed him and wanted to work with the Northstar Express once again. Corbin said he was in a bad place currently due to Ryan Cruz deserting him, Nikki Mayday breaking up with him and that he was not ready to reunite with Joey. Corbin then left the ring and Truth Martini came out. Martini and Eastman exchanged a lot of words until Martini kicked Joey in the groin. Josh Raymond and Christian Able ran in and beat down Eastman. They knocked Joey out cold when Truth nailed Joey in the head with his hardcover “Book of Truth”. To my knowledge, this is the second time in a row now that Eastman has been left laying by the H.O.T.

– Mason Beck w/ Val Malone defeated Jeff Brooks with a powerbomb.

-A promo in the back with Dan Lawrence who claimed that the AAW title clearly means more to him than Silas Young and said that he was coming for the title.

– Silas Young defeated Ricochet to retain the AAW Heavyweight Title via submission with End Time.

Very good match here as Ricochet used his unorthodox style to the best that he could while Silas tried to ground the high flyer. Silas hit his finishing headstand into a moonsault in the corner but Ricochet kicked out which led to Silas locking in Jimmy Jacobs’ End-Time submission hold for the victory in about 14:30. There was a big ovation for Ricochet after the match.

– The House of Truth (Josh Raymond/Christian Able) w/ Truth Martini defeated Tyler Black and Jimmy Jacobs to become the NEW AAW TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS.

As expected, Tyler was insanely over (as was Jimmy). I thought this match was completely fantastic. Everyone played their role in excellent fashion. The House of Truth looked really great hitting some fantastic stuff, as did the Age of the Fall. In the closing moments of the match, Silas Young went against his word and came out and took Jacobs to the back, leaving Tyler to fend for himself. He kicked out of the Tower of Truth and the fans went really bonkers. He laid out Truth Martini and Christian Able and was about to hit God’s Last Gift on Josh Raymond who reversed it into an inside cradle for the victory. Personally, I would call this match must-see for a whole multitude of reasons. Obviously the biggest reason is it is Tyler Black’s final independent match. Secondly, the performance by the House of Truth (particularly Josh Raymond) was very good. Thirdly, the match as a whole was a real show-stealer. The crowd was so into it and it was about 23 minutes of fantastic action.

After the match, many guys came to the ring as Tyler cut a promo thanking the everyone and encouraged people to support AAW after he left. Huge chants for Tyler and AAW to close the show, as Tyler went around ringside high fiving the fans.