AIW JT Lightning Invitational Tournament 2019 Night 1 Results: MJF, Marko Stunt, Nick Gage, More

– Absolute Intense Wrestling held the first night of their eighth annual JT Lightning Invitational Tournament on Saturday night in Cleveland, Ohio. The results were, per PWInsider:

* Lee Moriarty vs Colin Delaney

Delaney, one-half of the AIW Tag Team Champions, is the substitute for the injured Colt Cabana. Wadsworth mentioned that Delaney is the only person to compete in every JLIT. Lee Moriarty is a recent addition to the AIW roster after participating in the New Talent Tryout a few months back. Moriarty wins it with an absolutely beautiful and clever pinning combination.

* Pat Buck vs Swoggle

Swoggle came out with a bit of AJ Styles flair, with Steve Guy referring to him as The Phenomenal One Point Five. Swoggle continues with the AJ Styles shtick, but Buck has a counter for everything. Most of Swoggle’s offense ended up being chops, kicks to the leg, and headbutts to the midsection, but Pat Buck wins with a spear. (Fun for me: on commentary, Eddie Kingston made fun of the referee, Dave “the Potato” Dawson, the entire match.)

* Tre Lamar vs. Joshua Bishop (with Maserati Wes Barkley)

Josh Bishop is the current Intense Champion, winning a feud with Dom Garrini after threatening to set him on fire Wrestlemania weekend and going viral being thrown off the balcony the last time AIW was in the Odeon. Tre Lamar recently joined with AJ Gray and PB Smooth in a stable called 40 Acres. Wes Barkley was able to distract Lamar, allowing Bishop to hit a super Razor’s Edge to get the win and advance.

* MJF (with Twan Tucker) vs Savio Vega

Before the match, MJF took the mic and was met with N-X-Twan chants. MJF had some fun heel stuff about his best friend Cody Rhodes killing the Attitude Era and Savio apparently smelling, but Savio Vega had enough and punched MJF. The referee Jake Clemons went down, and MJF told Twan to help him out. Twan sent a chair into the ring, but Savio intercepted it. Twan tried to attack, but ended up splashing MJF. Vega hit a enzugiri to get the win. MJF started to berate Twan, then went for the hug. While in the hug, MJF kneed Twan low and left.

* Relaxed Rules: Dr. Daniel C. Rockingham vs Mance Warner (with The Duke)

DCR grabbed a chair and tried to get a jumpstart on Warner with kicking low. DCR took one of his pamphlets and gave Warner a paper cut on his tongue. Warner finally regained control and declared it wasn’t Relaxed Rules, it was Mancer Rules. Duke introduced the Golden Boot, which had a staple gun hidden in it. Mance stapled one of DCR’s pamphlets and three dollars to DCR. A lariat gives Warner the win.

* Flip Kendrick vs KTB

A classic size vs. speed match. KTB gets the win with an elevated TKO.

We go to intermission and watch the footage from Matt Justice vs. Joshua Bishop for the Intense Championship from last month where Justice and Bishop came off the balcony through stacked tables.

Back from intermission, we see Tom Lawler dancing atop the Odeon, so it looks like we needed a little ring repair.

* Marko Stunt vs Tim Donst

Marko gets into it with a fan ringside, which delays the start of the match, but it quickly goes to the floor. Marko is never able to string together enough moves to keep the advantage as Donst uses plenty of suplexes and throws to continue his size advantage. Stunt is able to lock on a small package out of nowhere to get the pin and advance.

* Kid Kash vs Louis Lyndon

Lyndon is one of the longtime stalwarts and gatekeepers of AIW. Kash got the advantage early, focusing on Lyndon’s legs to neutralize Lyndon’s signature aerial and kick-based offense. An interesting moment that people will call a botch, Kash was able to duck a cross-body attempt, but Lyndon had the wherewithal to hit Kash with a double axe handle on the way through. Kash was able to escape the dragon sleeper and hit a brainbuster to get the pinfall.

* Relaxed Rules: Danhausen (with Eddy Only and Derek Director) vs Matthew Justice

Justice came to the ring wearing a CAPW shirt, honoring his trainer and the namesake of the tournament. Danhausen used his weirdness and the other members of The Production to gain an early advantage, but Justice tossed Danhausen to the floor and took out the other two members of The Production. Danhausen took every bit of punishment from Justice, and fought back with the help of The Production, but a Death Valley Driver through a chair finally got the pinfall for Matt Justice.

* Zach Thomas vs Eddie Kingston

Zach Thomas is completing his rookie year with this match with the King of Diamonds. Kingston won this year’s Gauntlet for the Gold, so he already has a Absolute Title match scheduled for Absolution. (And if you listen to the AIW podcast, we got Gear Eddie, not Basketball Shorts Eddie.) Kingston dominated the match, but couldn’t put Thomas away. The straps came down, but Thomas was able to block the Backfist and land a roaring elbow and powerbomb to score the upset of the tournament. After the match, Absolute Champion Tom Lawlor taunted Kingston from the commentary position in the balcony, and Kingston had to be told not to try to throw a chair up into the balcony.

* Relaxed Rules: AJ Gray vs Nick Gage

AJ Gray dove on Gage before the intros were finished and pulled a chain from his tights. Brutal and barbaric at times, two unprotected chair shots to the head, a chokebreaker, and a piledriver onto a cinder block (why was there a cinder block under the ring?) finally gave Gage the win.

* Dominic Garrini vs Erick Stevens

A show of respect, as Stevens gets one of the opponents on his wishlist. Stevens has added a number of moves like the Heat Seeking Missile, Gibson Driver, and Ripcord Lariat, seemingly as nods to past partners and opponents. Both men leaned on their jujitsu training, trading submission attempts whenever possible. Stevens kicked out of a Muscle Buster at 1, but finally succumbed to a rear naked choke as Garrini kicked him in the kidney. Garrini advances, and another show of respect as Stevens gets a ‘Please Come Back’ chant.

Notes:

AIW President Matt Wadsworth took the lead on commentary with Eddie Kingston, Tom Lawlor, Brian Carson, MJF, The Duke, and Marko Stunt rotating as color.

The Matchups for the Next Round (four corner matches, one fall to a finish):

Lee Moriarty vs Pat Buck vs Savio Vega vs Mance Warner

Josh Bishop vs Zach Thomas vs Nick Gage vs Dom Garrini

KTB vs Marko Stunt vs Kid Kash vs Matthew Justice