Full Report From AAW Take No Prisoners (5.06.16)

Thanks to Qumar Zaman for sending this along…

More than 600 fans packed into an expanded 115 Bourbon Street in Merrionette Park, Illinois for AAW’s “Take No Prisoners”. The sellout crowd came to witness two long-awaited encounters as Lucha Underground stars Fenix and Pentagon Jr. went head-to-head, and the AAW Heavyweight Champion Sami Callihan met the challenge from Tommaso Ciampa.

Before the event began, former AAW wrestler Josh Raymond went to the ring to speak to the crowd about the passing of his former tag team partner, Christian Able, who passed away at the age of 31. Raymond and Able were part of the House of Truth faction in AAW for many years, as they were one of only three teams to win the AAW Tag Team Championships on multiple occasions. After Raymond’s speech, the 10-bell salute was performed.

1.) The opening match of Take No Prisoners was a women’s match as Heidi Lovelace opposed Kimber Lee. Both ladies tried for quick roll-up pin attempts to no avail, but Kimber showed off her agility when she did the splits to avoid an attack from Heidi. Heidi delivered a side kick to Kimber’s head to send her lying flat on the mat. Kimber and Heidi traded attempts to suplex one another, and when Kimber won out on that mini-battle, she stood Heidi up for about 20 seconds before dropping her with the suplex. As the match got more physical, Heidi appeared to be busted open by her nose, allowing Heidi to enough time to climb the ropes and hit a senton splash to put away her opponent at 6:50. Despite winning, Heidi wanted to check on the status of Kimber Lee before she left the ring in victory.

2.) Before the second match of the night could take place, one of the participants in that match came to the ring with a special announcement. Alongside his friend Eddie Machete, Conor Braxton rode his hoverboard in the ring and revealed to the crowd that AAW had informed him that he would have a surprise when he arrived at the building. That surprise was revealed to the crowd that Braxton would have a manager in the form of Scarlett Bordeaux.

Braxton was involved in a six-man scramble match with one fall to the finish. The other participants were Zero Gravity member CJ Esparza, Markus Crane, Dave Crist, Alex Daniels, and debut participant Dezmond Xavier. Braxton tried once again to introduce his hoverboard in the match when he tried to deliver a running shoulder block to Crist. Crist didn’t budge from the move and instructed Braxton to try again. On the second attempt, Crist knocked Braxton off the hoverboard by tripping him.

Later on, following diving attempts to the outside by both Esparza and Xavier, Braxton got back on the hoverboard to assist him on his run to the ropes. However, by the time he got to the ropes and was ready to jump over them to the outside, all the opponents on the outside evaded him. More insanity continued at ringside when Crist and Daniels both attempted dives to the outside, and it was capped off by a doomsday dive off the top rope by Crane.

Back inside the ring, Xavier hit a jumping hurricanrana while Crist was sitting on the top rope. Right after that, at another corner, Daniels superplexed Braxton and had Braxton land on the knees of Crist. But, it was Crist who had the final word when he hit a quick DDT on Markus Crane to earn the victory in the six-man scramble at 8:45.

After the match, Crist’s manager JT Davidson got on the mic to brag about their friend, AAW Heavyweight Champion Sami Callihan. Davidson introduced Callihan to the ring, allowing the champion to reveal the brand new belt to the crowd, which he has dubbed the “Bigger Belt”. Callihan bragged about being the reason why AAW has had sellout crowds since his return to the company. However, Eddie Kingston ran in through the crowd to break up the party.

3.) In another women’s match, Candice LeRae did battle against Jessicka Havok. It was a heady battle for the relatively petite LeRae going up against a much more physically imposing Havok. LeRae used some aerial maneuvers to get an attack going against Havok, but they would prove to be fruitless. When they did battle on the outside, Havok regained the offensive momentum and tossed LeRae around like a rag doll. Credit to LeRae for fighting back, as she shockingly reversed an attack by Havok into a Black Widow submission attempt. Then, in the corner, LeRae hit her Ballsplex move on Havok, when both women were both on the ropes. Despite her best efforts, LeRae ended up falling victim to an Air Raid Crash by Havok to end the match at 8:26.

After the match, a video was shown of the Tommaso Ciampa, who was challenging Sami Callihan for the AAW Heavyweight Championship in the main event. Ciampa ran down Callihan for talking too much about himself and saying that tonight he would prove tonight is about Ciampa.

4.) In his AAW debut, Ring of Honor wrestler Donovan Dijak opposed AAW mainstay Silas Young. Silas got on the mic and showed his disgust with the crowd by cheering for him but also stooping to the low of cheering for the previous match featuring women’s wrestling. Silas even took a shot at his hometown of Milwaukee when prompted why he wouldn’t stay home tonight, and then turned his attention to his opponent by practically telling Dijak to man up.

Dijak had a slight scare during the match when he took a nasty fall on the concrete floor when trying to attack Silas, but he would be okay. Silas would maintain control of the match, bragging about how easy it was, but Dijak fought back and denied Silas opportunities to win. And in the end, despite Dijak executing a great springboard elbow drop, Silas kicked out after a two count and quickly rolled up Dijak to earn the pinfall win at 8:31. Even though he lost, the fans still demanded that Dijak return to AAW soon.

5.) The next match was a 6-man tag match as The Hooligans and Buck Nasty teamed up to take on the Officer and a Gentleman, Dan Barry and Chuck Taylor, and their partner, celebrating his birthday, Colt Cabana. It was Taylor and Bucky to start, but after experiencing the pain of Taylor’s armbar, Bucky quickly got to the ropes. Taylor later stomped a mudhole into Bucky in one corner before tagging in Barry. However, that allowed Bucky to crawl over and tag in one of the Cutter brothers.

The trio of Barry, Taylor, and Cabana showed off a combination of agility and humor during the match. Whether it was flipping off of the ropes in style or timing a diving attack to the outside against their opponents, the crowd enjoyed what Barry, Taylor, and Cabana provided. However, it was the slick, underhanded Buck Nasty who stole the win from the trio. Buck pulled out the referee from a sure three-count pinfall, which allowed Devin and Mason Cutter to pick up Dan Barry and hit their spike tombstone combo finisher on him and steal the win 12:29.

Despite the loss, Cabana shortened the victors’ celebration by clearing house and capped it off by hitting a Stone Cold Stunner on Buck Nasty to leave the winners with a bad taste in their mouths.

After the match, a video was shown of the AAW Tag Team Champions Davey Vega and Mat Fitchett. They joked that they were going to go hunting for “Foxes and Moose”, in reference to their opponents, AR Fox and Moose. Those two men then interrupted the champs’ discussion and requested that their match should be for the titles.

6.) At their first appearance at the Windy City Classic XI back in November, Lucha stars Fenix and Pentagon, Jr. amazed the fans at the Logan Square Auditorium. After Pentagon Jr.’s loss to Chris Hero that night, he and Fenix promised AAW fans that the next time they returned to Chicago, they would face off. Nearly six months after that encounter, the moment arrived. Fans eagerly anticipated the match once both men were in the ring, offering chants of “Cero Miedo” for Pentagon, Jr. and “Both These Guys!” and “Lucha!” for their overall joy of what was to come.

Once the bell rang, the match lived up to the buildup, hype, and anticipation. Fenix and Pentagon, Jr. had an early, aggressive battle. Fenix capped off that action with an awesome corkscrew plancha to the outside onto Pentagon, Jr. However, the tables turned when both men were on the outside, as Pentagon, Jr. brought the fight to Fenix and kept up the offense when they went back inside the ring.

As the match continued, Fenix had Pentagon, Jr. stunned while sitting on the top rope. Fenix then took to standing on the ring post and jumped off of it, hitting a diving stomp by pushing Pentagon, Jr. off the ropes and down to the mat. Regardless of what either man tried, they could not get a three count. Pentagon, Jr. tried on two separate occasions to hit a pop-up powerbomb to no avail, and Fenix executed a spike hurricanrana that wasn’t enough to get the pinfall. But, Pentagon, Jr. pulled out a package piledriver on Fenix that put him down for the count and earned the 1-2-3 after 12:52.

Fans were overjoyed at what they just witnessed. Some even tossed in money of all different kinds and different currencies in the ring to further show their appreciation. Pentagon, Jr. went on the mic and asked the crowd to chant for Fenix, as he thanked him and hugged before raising each other’s arms. Pentagon, Jr. then spoke in Spanish before ending his speech in English by thanking the fans and offering respect to his opponent. Fenix then spoke by saying “This is Lucha Libre! This is AAW!” and said that Pentagon, Jr. is the #1 wrestler in the world before leaving the ring and allowing Pentagon, Jr. to soak in the crowd chants.

7.) Following intermission, we saw the return of former AAW Heavyweight Champion Michael Elgin as he took on Juice Robinson. Both men tried to test their strength in the early moments of the match, but it was the “Unbreakable” Elgin who won out in that battle when he stood up Robinson for 30 seconds before hitting a suplex. Robinson tried to spur on a comeback and kept fighting back in the match despite a powerful attack by Elgin, which included a lariat, a sit-down powerbomb, and even a splash from the top rope. However, Robinson could not withstand it for too long. Elgin reversed Robinson’s cannonball splash attempt by lifting him up and hitting a powerbomb. Elgin then followed it up with a spinning sit-down powerbomb to get the pinfall at 15:25.

After the match, Elgin expressed to the fans how he was happy to be back in the U.S. after a long tour in Japan, but ragged on the fans who “sat on their hands” during his match with Robinson.

A video was then shown of Eddie Kingston who was being forcibly restrained. Kingston said that he was gonna leave because he talked to “the booker man” and got what he wanted. What Kingston wanted was to have his friend, The Notorious 187 Homicide, in his corner next month at “Killers Among Us”.

8.) The AAW Tag Team Championship was on the line as AR Fox and Moose teamed up to the face the champs, the “Besties in the World”, Davey Vega and Mat Fitchett. The champs, who normally come to the ring to a Taylor Swift song, came out to a song by Savage Garden this time around. Moose and AR Fox provided to be an interesting duo, as Fox provided the aerial force while Moose provided the brute force and physicality. Moose did show off some acrobatics when he springboarded off of the ropes and body pressed himself onto both Vega and Fitchett.

Later in the match, while outside the ring, Moose picked up Vega and powerbombed him onto the wooden post that is in the middle of the room at 115 Bourbon Street. Towards the end of the match, it was Vega who would get the last laugh. Vega pulled the referee out of the ring when Moose had Fitchett pinned for a sure three-count. The distraction allowed for Mat Fitchett to hit a spike headscissors on AR Fox to get the victory at 17:21 to retain the titles.

9.) It was time for the main event of “Take No Prisoners” as Tommaso Ciampa challenged AAW Heavyweight Champion Sami Callihan for the title. Callihan came out first, joined alongside Dave Crist and JT Davidson, and ordered them to bring in some weapons. Crist brought a guardrail into the ring while Davidson pulled out a garbage can filled with various weapons. Callihan thanked both men and ordered them to the back, saying he wants to beat Ciampa on his own.

Ciampa arrived to see the upgrades to the ring and once the bell rang, he suplexed Callihan onto the guardrail that was leaned into one of the corners. Given the immense hatred shared between both men, the ring could not contain the fight. Callihan and Ciampa battled into the crowd then went over by the bar area, and even ended up behind the bar itself. Ciampa and Callihan then stood atop the bar and continued fighting there. Callihan lifted up Ciampa over his shoulders and dropped him onto the bar. Sami then poured out a drink, took a swig, and then spat it out onto Ciampa.

The two men finally returned to the ring, but this time, Sami Callihan pulled out steel chairs. He used one of them on Ciampa. Callihan laid the other chair on Ciampa’s body and used the chair in his hands to further injure Ciampa. Ciampa managed to recover from the attack and even had Callihan down for the count after hitting a Project Ciampa, but Dave Crist ran in from the stage and dove into the ring to break up the pin attempt. However, Eddie Kingston ran in from the crowd and into the ring to separate Crist from the action, as the two men then fought through the crowd.

The interference was far from over however, as Jessicka Havok went into the ring and chokeslammed Ciampa. Callihan went for the pin, but the challenger kicked out after two. Havok remained in the ring and grabbed hold of Ciampa for a 2-on-1 attack, but Callihan indirectly kicked Havok in the face as Ciampa got out of the way. Ciampa would hit a Project Ciampa, but Callihan kicked out at two. As Callihan rolled out of the ring, Ciampa pulled out a table and had it set up in the ring. When Ciampa tried to pull Callihan back in the ring, the champ grabbed the garbage can and hit Ciampa over the head with it. Callihan brought the garbage can in the ring and put it over Ciampa’s head and hit it with a steel chair, eventually lacerating the challenger’s face.

Callihan then laid the bloodied Ciampa onto the table, but he rolled off of it and tried to drive Sami through the table, but it did not give. Ciampa tried for a pin, but was unsuccessful with the two count. Ciampa then pulled out a thumbtack-filled knee brace and put it on. Callihan avoided the challenger’s initial attack of the knee brace by attempting a roll-up pin, but he only got a two count. Eventually, Ciampa was able to utilize that knee brace when Callihan was sitting in the corner facing the opposite direction. Ciampa hit a running knee to Callihan, but that only got him a two count.

Ciampa removed the thumbtack-filled brace and Callihan would later pick it up and used it on Ciampa for a devastating low blow. Sami then picked up Ciampa and hit his underhook tombstone piledriver onto the garbage can. Amazingly, Ciampa kicked out at two. The two men then traded punches and chops until the champ hit three successive kicks to the head followed up by a chair shot. They would once again go back and forth with moves, but this time of the submission variety. Ciampa initially had a Fujiwara armbar locked on, but Callihan reversed out of it and put Ciampa in the Stretch Muffler. The pain was too much for Ciampa to tolerate, as referee Andy Long checked on the challenger by raising his arms three times to no response. Callihan was declared the winner by submission at 28:25.

After the match, Callihan was rejoined by Crist, Havok, and Davidson as the group known as the Killer Cult celebrated their leader’s victory, while the bloodied, defeated Ciampa walked to the back in a losing effort.

AAW Pro Wrestling Redefined returns to 115 Bourbon Street in Merrionette Park, Illinois on Friday, June 17th for “Killers Among Us”. Already announced for this event are two tag team matches. AAW Heavyweight Champion Sami Callihan and Dave Crist will team up to face Eddie Kingston and Homicide, who will make his AAW debut. For the AAW Tag Team Championship, the titleholders Davey Vega and Mat Fitchett will oppose The Hooligans. Also scheduled to appear are Tommaso Ciampa, Johnny Gargano, Chris Hero, Trevor Lee, Andrew Everett, Cedric Alexander, Drew Gulak, Silas Young, AR Fox, Moose, Candice LeRae, and in his AAW debut, from AAA in Mexico, Drago! Tickets are on sale now at AAWrestling.com.