Post by Ross Report on Jun 17, 2019 23:16:25 GMT
With another exciting edition of SLAM! in the books, it seems as if the card for this year's Red, White & Bruised is starting to come together in a major way! Let's break down all the action!
Things kicked off with a word from our brand new National Champion and the rest of the "Flamingo Family" as they prepared to celebrate last week's title victory with something known as "Bubb's Bacon Wonderland." That turned out to be exactly what you'd expect it to be, essentially Buh Buh eating a whole lot of bacon! It also meant getting some snazzy new overalls too, as the Dudleyville native begins the search for his next challenger!
Rhea Ripley picked up her first EWA win with an impressive display against Dani Luna that was a great showcase for the attributes she brings to the ring. Not only is "The Full Metal Maniac" a hell of an athlete, but she's strong as an ox too! Still, it wasn't all fun and games as Ripley was sent a chilling message after the match! Following on from Tom Lawlor being left a bloody mess last Sunday, it looked like Ripley might be Ilja Dragunov's next victim when his face flashed on the EWA-Tron right before the arena lights went out! Thankfully that didn't turn out to be the case, but just like her fellow "Singularity" member, she was left an ominous tarot card that suggests Dragunov is far from done! It's hard to say how they've earned the ire of the "Russian Nightmare," but I dare say it's only a matter of time before they respond in kind!
The scuttlebutt backstage was that Brian Pillman Jr hadn't fully recovered from the tag team match on last week's SLAM!, yet to the second generation superstar's credit, he refused to balk on his match against the returning Shinsuke Nakamura! We've not seen "The King of Strong Style" in an EWA ring since 2016, but he looked just as deadly as ever, taking advantage of Pillman's weakened state to pick up a damn impressive victory in his re-debut. Nakamura is a talent who has the potential to go far if he can just stay the course and get some momentum going, but whether or not he succeeds is entirely on him. And as for Brian Pillman Jr? Well, this was no doubt a tough loss for the youngster, but perhaps an important learning curve as well. While I'm sure he's disappointed and feeling down over the result, there's no need to do anything too drastic. He'll back to winning ways again in no time, I'm sure.
"The Reaper" getting caught enjoying a moment with Marty Scurll's World Heavyweight Championship might suggest that despite his protests, he really does harbor greater ambitions than "The Horde" can currently offer. It certainly didn't seem to dampen Ember Moon's suspicions about the man formerly known as Gabriel, that's for sure. Still, while "The Reaper's" loyalties might be up for debate, there's no disputing his talent between the ropes, as evident by the barnstorming match that he had with Roman Reigns! And that's not to take anything away from "The Juggernaut" either, who came out of the starting blocks like he'd been shot out of a cannon! This would have been a huge feather in the cap for Reigns had he put away a former "King of the Ring" finalist, but despite an amazing effort, it wasn't to be on this night. "The Reaper" rallied from Roman's onslaught, finally putting the big burly Samoan away with the Descension. That makes it two wins in a row for "The Reaper" now, indicating he might finally be starting to get over the slump that's plagued him over the first half of this year.
John Cena had been MIA for a couple of weeks when he hit up the ring to seemingly make a special Father's Day presentation to his dear ol' dad. This may shock you to hear, folks, but I'm not entirely sure there actually is an "American Dad Association Father of the Year" recipient, let alone a trophy! It all seemed like an elaborate set-up for "The Maniacal Marine" to viciously assault the man who brought him into this world, further making his point that Cena is now all alone in the EWA and he prefers it that way!
So how about that Orange Cassidy, huh? Seems like a laid back kinda guy.
The quandary over who gets to lead the "bWo" continues, with the "Blue Meanie" having decided to throw his name into the ring alongside Santino Marella and Colt Cabana! As per the suggestion of JoJo, that's not just a metaphor either...these three teammates will be doing battle next week for the right for one of them to call themselves leader in what promises to be a wild triple threat match! And after Santino and Colt's last battle, the wise choice has been made to ban the use of headlocks this time around as well!
It's safe to say that Harry Smith's "AMA" on Friday was a rousing success, with questions coming in from all over the world and a whole lot of interesting answers! Looking to piggyback off that, "Long John Silvers" arranged for the Bagwells to partake in their own "AMA" live during SLAM!, only, well...I'm not entirely sure it was quite as successful. At least as far as "Buff Daddy" was concerned anyway, since all the questions seemed to be for his mom. Better luck next time, Buff!
I guess it doesn't hurt to have a personal assistant like Dana Brooke looking after your best interests, with Ms Brooke laying down the law before Todd Grisham's big interview with Nick Aldis! It turned out that "The National Treasure" was looking forward to the number one contenders match between "Mustache Mountain" and the Briscoes just as eagerly as the rest of us. Perhaps more interestingly though, Aldis didn't seem to care much about the fact that Angelico is on the shelf after his botched attack on Pete Dunne a few weeks ago, or even know which of his supposed teammates "The South African Sensation" was until Dana reminded him. To say Aldis isn't exactly on the same page as the rest of "The Kings of Wrestling" would be a huge understatement at this point, which is a situation that surely can't last forever!
Getting back to that number one contenders match, I'm sure you'll agree that it more than lived up to expectations! "Mustache Mountain" have been setting the tag scene alight recently, but I must admit to being thoroughly impressed with the Briscoe brothers since they split from John Cena! They bring such a unique energy to the EWA's tag team division, and they aren't afraid to get down and dirty either! That was definitely evident during this slobberknocker of a contest, with Jay at one point taking the timekeeper's hammer and using it to damn near cave in Trent Seven's skull! Of course, this all happened behind the official's back, which allowed "Dem Boys From Delaware" to isolate Tyler Bate and secure the victory that guarantees them a Tag Title opportunity at Red, White & Bruised! While the win might have come under controversial circumstances, I can't help but feel that'll make them the perfect challengers for Aldis and Hero in three weeks time, especially since the Tag Team Champions themselves aren't averse to a bit of rulebreaking! As for "Mustache Mountain," this is a tough loss to take, but they strike me as the types to bounce back from adversity.
Speaking of bouncing back, it was great to see Sasha Banks come back from that sadistic beatdown she received at the hands of Ember Moon when attempting to make her live debut a couple of weeks ago. I'd wager the EWA Universe felt the same way too judging by how loud those "Welcome Back!" chants were, as "The Boss" finally got to experience her moment in the spotlight. Not only that, but Sasha took Ember's explanation from last week's show and turned it around on "The Villainess," offering up her own theory on what motivated Ember's actions. Namely that it's jealousy which has driven Moon to target Sasha, something that I can't help but feel has a ring of truth to it. Regardless, Banks threw down the gauntlet here and it'll be interesting to see if Ember Moon is willing to pick it up again in a fair fight!
Brock Lesnar finally got his hands on Matt Taven in a "blink-and-you'll-miss-it" moment, attacking "The Chaotic Idol" as he tried to enter the arena. I'm not sure how much satisfaction the former NCAA champion will get from this though, as EWA security were quickly on hand to deny "The Beast" doing much more than bouncing Taven's head off the hood of a car. Given how deep this rivalry runs, I'm guessing Lesnar wants to do way worse than that before you can stick a fork in it!
While it might not be quite as intense yet as Lesnar versus Taven, the developing rivalry between Maxwell Jacob Friedman and "The Miz" took a turn this week! You'll remember that the two had a war of words seven days previously which resulted in a sneak attack by "MJF," leading to Mike Mizanin calling the brash young New York native out! Unfortunately for "The A-Lister" however, Friedman decided not to travel to Laredo with the rest of the EWA crew, appearing live via satellite instead to talk about his potential future Hollywood career in an EWA-produced movie. Perhaps more importantly, we also found out that "The Salt Of The Earth" will be back in action next week, apparently against "Luchasaurus," the very same individual he gave the brush off to on the set of his new movie! Something tells me that "MJF" might soon learn that the problem with running your mouth is it can sometimes get you into trouble! We'll see how much trouble Friedman is in when he faces off against the Jurassic grappler next Sunday, which I figure is a match "The Miz" will be watching extremely closely too!
Is it just me or was there something strangely familiar about that Ken Raper/"Desperado" Joe Gomez match? Those two have had a history of not being able to finish matches against one another stretching back to early 2018, and it turned out this contest wasn't any different thanks to the interruption by "The Honky Tonk Man." To be fair to "Honky," he's obviously reeling from that contentious loss to Jerry "The King" Lawler last week which denied him his precious Carl Perkins guitar, so maybe he wasn't in his right mind when he barged into the middle of it. Then again, maybe "Mr Shake, Rattle And Roll" is just a jerk. Either way, "Honky" called out Lawler for a rematch for the guitar, but rather than give him that outright, "The King" offered up a match to then earn a third match at Red, White & Bruised, which would be an EWA first ever Guitar-On-A-Pole Match. However, per the stipulations laid down by "The King," should "Honky Tonk Man" lose next Sunday's second encounter, he'll be forced to retire from professional wrestling! Just when you thought the stakes couldn't get any higher, Jerry Lawler finds a way to up them! Could next week's SLAM! be the final time we get to see "Honky Tonk Man" shake those hips? I guess there's only one way to find out!
Few would argue that JoJo isn't a worthy contender to the Women's Title...few, that is, except for the champion herself! Indeed, Charlotte Flair is adamant in not wanting to face the "bWo" stalwart, and it's not hard to see why given JoJo's victories over "The Queen" in both singles and tag team competition over the last couple of months! Still, don't let it be said that Charlotte hasn't given as good as she's received, leaving JoJo laying on multiple occasions, particularly with the aid of her "Dominion" partner, Lacey Evans! To settle the dispute, Charlotte called out Bradley to gauge his opinion on whether JoJo was deserving of a shot at the gold, only to get bushwacked by Evans! This was far from a "classy" move as she dragged Bradley into the ring, where Charlotte demanded that JoJo bash her friend in the face with the Women's Championship to prove she had a ruthless streak big enough to deserve her title opportunity! Rather than striking Bradley however, JoJo would instead take out Lacey with the gold, before "The Mustacioed Megaman" surprised Charlotte and threatened to break her arms if she didn't accept JoJo's challenge! As such, it looks as if JoJo finally gets her chance to become a two-time Women's Champion, with that match looking like a lock for our already stacked Red, White & Bruised card! And even though I try not to be bias here on the Ross Report, I've gotta admit it was nice to see Flair get a taste of her own medicine at the same time!
When it was announced that Samoa Joe had chosen Braun Strowman for Pete Dunne's first "Pick Your Poison" opponent, I'll readily admit to being worried for the "Bruiserweight." Strowman has shown time and time again just how dangerous he can be, and while that's not taking anything away from Dunne at all, the wily Brit was clearly at a huge physical disadvantage here that looked damn near impossible to overcome. Indeed, there were times during this one where Pete Dunne almost resembled a ragdoll with the way Braun was tossing him about the ring, yet Dunne never once waivered. Instead, he created a weakness in "The Monster Among Men" and exploited it with the tenacity of a bull terrier, focusing on trying to cut Strowman's leg out from under him. Alas, all looked lost for Dunne after the former Tag Team Champion took him out at ringside and looked set to deliver a chokeslam through the announce table...and yet, Dunne somehow found a way to put Strowman through it with a huge DDT, resulting in a race for both men to make it back into the ring before the Ref's ten count was up! It was arguably only because of the damage done to Braun's knee that he failed to make it in time, handing Dunne a hard-fought win that no doubt rankled Samoa Joe! And if that didn't bother "The Destroyer" enough, I'm sure the fact that Pete Dunne refused to reveal his opponent in next week's "Pick Your Poison Match" will be grinding Joe's gears as well! Who's it gonna be? I wish I knew, but I can't wait to find out!
Marty Scurll is a master manipulator, cerebral in his way of getting into the minds of both enemies and friends alike. As such, you just knew there was an ulterior motive at play when he called out Fit Finlay to celebrate Father's Day with him. While "The Villain" might have dressed it up as if he was just playing nice, he soon revealed that he'd been in touch with Fit's family, inviting them to SLAM! as a special surprise for "The Fighting Irishman." It certainly did the trick, as Fit Finlay looked like he couldn't believe his eyes as Scurll welcomed his wife Melanie and son Brogan into the ring, having seemingly befriended them. However, that was all too much for the number one contender to take, finally snapping and getting the jump on Marty Scurll, busting him open in the process! But in so doing, Fit found himself looking like more of a monster than the World Champion in the eyes of his stunned family, a fact that will no doubt haunt "The Belfast Brawler" in the weeks to come. We know how much it would mean for Finlay to finally capture the World Championship, but is that prize worth degrading himself in the eyes of his family? Only Finlay himself can know the answer to that one.
Here's my picks for this week's top three movers and shakers:
1. The Briscoes
2. Pete Dunne
3. JoJo
Even though the victory might be tainted, Jay and Mark Briscoe's win over "Mustache Mountain" has earned them the right to challenge for the Tag Team Titles at Red, White & Bruised, as well as the top spot here! Coming in at number two, Pete Dunne had to dig deeper than ever before to put away Braun Strowman and win his first "Pick Your Poison Match!" And last but not least, JoJo might not have had a match this past week, but she still managed to outsmart Charlotte Flair and finally get "The Queen" to agree to the Women's Championship match that JoJo has long deserved!
All eyes turn towards our trip to Tacoma, Washington for next week's SLAM!, where the card looks stacked already! We've got some exciting debuts to look forward to as Ace Austin takes on Matt Riddle and "MJF" tackles the "Luchasaurus" too! Then there's the on-going developments in the rivalry between Jerry Lawler and "Honky Tonk Man," as well as the match to (hopefully) determine who'll lead the "bWo" going forward! And that's not even mentioning Samoa Joe taking on a mystery opponent hand-picked by Pete Dunne, or Buh Buh Ray's continued search for a National Title challenger, or how Marty Scurll responds to the beating he suffered at the hands of Fit Finlay last night! All in all then, it looks like it'll be another wild night on EFN when Sunday Night SLAM! returns! Until then,
BOOMER SOONER!
