Post by Ross Report on Apr 29, 2019 12:27:37 GMT
Spring Scramble is in the books, and it may go down as having one of the most shocking endings of the year, if not in all of EWA history! We'll get to that shortly though.
Things seemed to get off to a fairly tame start when Santino--sorry, sALtino SNOWella--looked to begin his career as the new leader of the "bWo." Alas, the rest of the group don't seem particularly keen on the "Italian Stallion" taking over from Al Snow, with Colt Cabana in particular having somewhat of a bone to pick. I'm sure I'm not the only one who's eager to know how their attempt at hand gliding went.
The action really cranked up a notch with our first match of the night, as "British Strong Style" took on "The Kings of Wrestling." However, while the Brits had been expecting to face the trio of Angelico, Cesaro and Chris Hero, it quickly turned out that "The Knockout Artist" wasn't going to pull double duty after all, with Samoa Joe shockingly taking his place! "The Destroyer" was not exactly 100% thanks to the ambush he suffered a couple of weeks prior, but I dare say wild horses couldn't have kept him away from this particular opportunity! That surprise clearly threw "British Strong Style" off their game as well, causing Pete Dunne to find himself isolated in the early goings as "The Kings" brought the fight in a big way. However, momentum soon shifted once the "Bruiserweight" finally tagged out, resulting in a frenetically-paced finish which eventually saw Pete Dunne, Trent Seven and Tyler Bate just about squeeze out the victory over extremely tough competition! I think I'm going to echo the sentiment of the broadcast team however in that "British Strong Style" may have just about won the battle, but the war is far from over! Indeed, I'm not sure there's a match I'm more eager to see right now than Samoa Joe versus Pete Dunne, which seems like an inevitability at this point!
Our second contest of the evening saw Fit Finlay make his first defence of the National Title, doing so against "The Reaper" in a Falls Count Anywhere Match! Tension had been brewing between these two superstars ever since the man formerly known as Gabriel attacked Finlay on the first SLAM! after Civil War, and they wasted little time in going right at it here with some typically hard-hitting exchanges! Sure enough, they started taking advantage of the stipulation to brawl all around Club La Vela, using anything they could get their hands on to do damage to one another. It was almost destiny that the pool would come into play here, with Finlay at one point looking to drown "The Horde" member and then later hitting a Celtic Cross right into the water! For as long and varied as "The Fighting Irishman's" career might be, I'd be surprised if he's ever been in a match quite like this one, that's for damn sure! Finally though, Finlay was able to finish "The Reaper" off with a tombstone piledriver on the stage, seemingly putting this rivalry to bed! It'll be interesting to see where "The Belfast Brawler" goes from here, as I'm sure he'll have no shortage of potential challengers eager to step up to the plate!
Spring Scramble was only the third Pay-Per-View since Sensational Sunday back in 2017 that didn't have a Women's Title Match take place, but at least we heard from Charlotte Flair via satellite, declaring that she would defend the gold against Scarlett Bordeaux on this week's SLAM! Given that "The Perfect Ten" already holds a victory over "The Queen," that promises to be an intriguing contest and one I cannot wait to see!
As far as rivalries that have erupted from out of nowhere go, I don't think there's any finer example than "King" Walter Hahn and "Necro Butcher." From the way Hahn viciously assaulted "The Butcher" after Civil War seemingly just to take out his frustrations on the closest body to him, to the hardcore legend's response of burning down "The Clown With A Crown's" base of operations, this went from 0-100 in the blink of an eye! With a Dog Collar stipulation meaning they were kept bound to one another for the duration, you just knew that this was likely to descend into bloody ultraviolence, especially when "King" Walter jumped his opponent before the match could officially begin! From there, it was an uphill battle for "Necro Butcher" to get back into the contest, with the big Austrian oak was damn near indomitable. Perhaps more importantly, there was no extreme that "King" Walter wasn't willing to go either, utilizing the chain connecting their respective collars to devastating effect, until finally trapping his opponent in a dragon sleeper from which there was no escape! A tough loss for "Necro Butcher," but a downright terrifying showing from "The Clown With A Crown!" Could this win act as a stepping stone towards a shot at championship gold? Perhaps even a National Title showdown with Fit Finlay? I guess we'll have to wait and see, but right now, "King" Walter looks unbeatable!
Speaking of potential National Title contenders, Jay White was none too happy with being kept off the previous week's SLAM! due to medical reasons. As such, he was determined to force his way onto the Spring Scramble card by any means necessary, even if it meant taking out EWA security along the way! Rather than get the championship match he was after however, "Switchblade" instead found himself confronted by "Prince Puma" and Salina de la Renta. Thanks to some back and forth words (and a cheapshot by the "Guerrillas of Destiny"), an impromptu match was quickly set up between the two highly-talented young superstars, providing a welcome addition to the card! As exciting as the match was though, Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa's interference put a bit of a downer on proceedings, although de la Renta would return the favor as the match progressed. Eventually though, the action spilled out into ringside where after refusing to let up, they both found themselves counted out! Needless to say though, this was an absolute barnburner of a battle, and I'm willing to bet that I'm not the only one who wants to see Jay White and "Prince Puma" do it all over again so they might settle the score in the not-too distant future!
"Desperado" Joe Gomez was obviously feeling underestimated coming into his Over-The-Top-Rope Challenge against Marty Scurll, having earlier vented about an extremely popular podcast he'd listened to during the week even though 50% of the guys on said podcast did pick him to win. Alas, despite a noble effort from the ol' "Gunslinger" in the face of "The Villain's" mind games, it simply wasn't to be, as Scurll used Gomez' own momentum against him to send him tumbling over the ropes and into ringside, retaining his Civil War opportunity. More on that in a bit.
Hard as it is to believe, but we've not seen Nick Aldis in an EWA ring going back to last year's King of the Ring tournament. Although Aldis had made it clear back then that his contract allows him to come and go as he pleases, it was still a major surprise to see him make his return at Spring Scramble, especially so as the surprise tag team partner of Chris Hero! It goes without saying that "The Vaudevillains" were definitely caught off guard by that choice, with Aldis and Hero using that to their advantage to dominate large portions of this tag team encounter. While Aiden English and Simon Gotch looked as if they might be about to rally however, "The National Treasure" and "The Knockout Artist" combined to take them out, capturing the Tag Team Championships in the process! And like my broadcast colleagues mentioned, "The Vaudevillains" really have no one but themselves to blame after setting up this unique scenario in the first place! Still, with the tag division suddenly turned on its head, I can't wait to see how things develop from here!
Our main event had all the makings of an instant classic, with "PCO" defending the World Heavyweight Title against former champion Ken Shamrock and the most dominant champion in EWA history in Brock Lesnar! The name of the game was simple...in this No DQ 30 Minute Scramble Match, it was all about who could score the final pinfall or submission by the end of the time limit! Well, it all kicked off with "PCO" being forcibly ejected from the squared circle so that Shamrock and Lesnar could resume hostilities, with "The Beast" soon sending his opponent to "Suplex City." Then we witnessed a battle between two mastadons, as "The French-Canadian Frankenstein" exchanged bombs with Lesnar until Shamrock re-entered the fray, getting a measure of revenge for all he and his family have been put through this year by forcing the World Champion to tap! Yet James Mitchell's pride and joy soon returned the favor, bouncing back from Shamrock's assault to put him down for the count after a brutal cannonball splash! Still, there was no way you could forget about Brock Lesnar in all of this, as the former two-time champion first pinned "PCO" and then did the same to "The World's Most Dangerous Man" for good measure! Lesnar was like a man possessed, even surviving a late scare when "PCO" cannonballed him right through a table from the top rope! However, despite going to hell and back, "The Beast" put an exclamation point on proceedings by delivering a double stack F-5 to both opponents and then pinning them at the same time to guarantee he'd be walking out with his third World Title victory!
While Lesnar's first two reigns were two of the longest in EWA history however, this third one will go down as one of the shortest, right up there with Jimmy Jacobs relinquishing the gold mere minutes after defeating William Regal for it! Indeed, Brock barely had a chance to get back to his feet and celebrate his hard-fought win before Marty Scurll suddenly appeared, taking advantage of "The Beast's" worn out condition to jab him in the throat with his umbrella and orchestrate a gang attack by "The Horde!" It's to Brock's credit that he refused to go down without a fight, but much like the way Scurll swooped in to pick the bones at Civil War, not even the mighty Lesnar had enough left in the tank to withstand "The Villain's" assault, with a Black Plague directly onto the World Championship causing a seismic shift in the EWA landscape as Marty Scurll ascends to the top of the mountain! Honestly, folks...this has got to be right up there with when "The Rock" surprised Masato Tanaka after he'd defended his championship in an Elimination Chamber as one of the most shocking Civil War cash-ins we've ever witnessed! And while Lesnar might not give an "F" about much these days, I dare say he probably will about the way in which he was robbed last night! Meanwhile though, Scurll's masterplan has come to fruition and whether you agree with his methods or not, it's difficult to argue with the results. "The Villain" is the World Heavyweight Champion and it seems like dark days may be ahead for the E-Wrestling Alliance!
After taking some time to catch my breath following on from that shocking conclusion to Spring Scramble, here are my picks for this week's top three movers and shakers:
1. Marty Scurll
2. Brock Lesnar
3. Chris Hero/Nick Aldis
How could it be anyone else at number one? Scurll not only successfully defended his Civil War contract against Joe Gomez but then pulled off the heist of the century to walk out with the biggest prize in the game by the evening's end! On any other night, Brock Lesnar's dominant performance and title victory would have guaranteed him top spot, yet his moment was stolen from him in dramatic fashion by Scurll. And last but not least, I was tempted to pick "British Strong Style" or perhaps "King" Walter for their impressive wins, but I've instead chosen the makeshift duo of Chris Hero and Nick Aldis after coming out of nowhere to end "The Vaudevillains" hot streak as Tag Team Champions!
All in all though, it's clear that there'll be plenty of aftershocks reverberating out of Spring Scramble that we'll be feeling for months to come. The entire state of the EWA has been turned inside out and upside down, meaning it's a brave new world as we head into this week's SLAM! But as for what the future holds, I guess we'll just have to tune in to find out! Until then,
BOOMER SOONER!
