AAW EPIC: The 13th Anniversary Show 4.08.17

Credit: wrestlezone.com

1. The Besties in the World (Davey Vega & Matt Fitchett) def. Trey Miguel & Stephen Wolf. It was great to see Fitchett after one half of the Besties wasn’t able to make it out to Orlando. Trey Miguel is a 22-year-old local guy out of Ohio that is a mainstay with Rockstar Pro. I haven’t seen a lot of Wolf, but I know he worked out of DREAMWAVE quite a bit in 2016 and made his AAW debut back in January. Solid tag team match to kick off the show, and I liked what I saw from the two newcomers; hopefully we’ll see more of them in the future. [9:26]

2. ACH def. Shane Strickland. These guys have similar styles in the ring, but they’re two of the best in the world at what they do. To the best of my knowledge this was the first time these two have faced off in a singles match, and they nailed it. I can’t even say how impressed I am by these two, who I saw work half a dozen matches each at this level of intensity or more; their bodies have to be broken to hell, but they didn’t hold back a bit for the Chicago crowd. [12:43]

3. Trevor Lee def. Chuck Taylor. Several of us at the show decided that their new tag team name is going to be “Sexy Trucky Lee” going forward. There were some scattered “f— that owl” chants directed at Lee, who really doesn’t care. Another really good back and forth match. I could honestly watch Trevor and Dustin wrestle for three hours and it’d be well worth the price of admission. [9:45]

4. OI4K (Jake & Dave Crist) def. Angelico & Jack Evans. What a collection of talent in the same ring. I didn’t get to see a lot of this one because I was running around taking pictures, checking out the new venue, but the crowd was hot for all four guys. The “Iron Manager” JT Davidson got involved a few times for the cheap heat, as per usual, and from what I could tell they worked a great match. I’ll be sure to check this out when the VOD comes out. [12:24]

5. Michael Elgin def. Matt Riddle. Sweet mother of Moses, this was a great match. I saw their classic at the Glory Pro debut earlier this year, and this was either as good, or better. Easily the match of the night, and quite possibly better than anything I saw at the insane amount of shows I went to in Orlando. Riddle said he was disappointed because they botched a powerbomb spot at one point, but the majority of people didn’t even notice and for those that did, they recovered immediately and made it work. After the match Elgin cut a short promo and basically said that working Matt was like having the night off, and he’d do it again every night if he could. [14:49]

6. Fenix def. John Morrison. I’m starting to sound like a broken record here, but… another great match. Fenix was another guy that I saw a ton of times in Orlando, and it doesn’t matter if he’s in singles action, tag team action, or a part of a big multi-man match; he puts 110% of himself into every single match. Morrison came out to his old WWE music, and put on a hell of a performance. Always great seeing John in Chicago – AAW always puts together great shows with crazy amounts of talent, but he brings star power with him wherever he goes. [13:32]

7. The Killer Cult (Sami Callihan & Abyss) def. Low Ki & Kongo Kong. Eddie Kingston was originally supposed to be in this match, but as we noted this weekend, he was injured at a show during WrestleMania weekend and opted to take the week off. Low Ki cut a promo after the OI4K match about getting revenge on Callihan, and said he brought a massive surprise with him to even the odds; that ended up being Kong, who we hadn’t seen since February when he lost to Callihan. This was less of a match and more of a brawl, with them fighting around ringside, up into the risers, into the fans, and pretty much everywhere they could get to with ease. As much heat as Sami gets for being one of the best heels in the business today, Chicago HATES Abyss. People were chanting explicits and throwing up middle fingers all over the place. I’m not gonna call this a great wrestling match, but it was a hell of a fight that got an awesome reaction. [9:42]

8. Penta El Zero M (c) def. AR Fox to retain the AAW Heritage Championship. I was a bit surprised to see Fox in the main event as he had indicated that he was taking time off after WrestleMania, but I suppose he could just be finishing up dates. A fantastic main event to cap off a night of great matches, top to bottom. Penta did the Lucha Underground spot where he tried to break Fox’s arm mid-match, and the crowd actually chanted “break his arm”. This was awesome, on par with all the matches I saw them work in Orlando, outside of maybe the AR Fox Scramble Ladder Match at Wrestling Revolver. [10:11]