Post by Ross Report on Sept 30, 2019 23:02:31 GMT
Talk about a wild time in The Valley of the Sun last night! With three huge title matches and plenty of action to keep you on the edge of your seat, High Tension certainly lived up to its name! Let's dive right into this week's Ross Report and talk about what happened!
The night officially kicked off with some words from the "Guerrillas of Destiny," fresh off their victory over the "Young Bucks" last week! Rather than feeling particularly happy over their winning start, Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa seemed to have a chip on their shoulders after being overlooked for a Tag Team Title shot in favor of the recently arrived "Glorious Bs." Their complaints didn't go unnoticed though, as "Pastor" Bobby Roode arrived on the scene and perhaps made things worse by claiming it was "the lord's will" that his team got the title opportunity ahead of the Tongan brawlers. With the way this "war of words" ended, I wouldn't be surprised if we see a match between Roode's team and the "G.O.D." somewhere down the road.
It's a sad state of affairs that has brought us to the point where Chris Hero and Cesaro are now positioned as foes. While they were a team who didn't really care what the EWA Universe thought of them, there's no doubt they've been a huge part of the tag division for the past year, so I'm not sure anyone wanted to see it come to this. However, thanks to the influence of "UltraMantis Black" and the abandonment issues brought about by the collapse of "The Kings of Wrestling," Cesaro and Chris Hero's 15 year friendship looks to be well and truly over. Especially if their hard-hitting match is anything to go by, with neither man holding anything back! Maybe it's because they know each other so well that they went all out in this one, but with "UltraMantis" lurking in the background, one could argue it wasn't exactly a fair fight. Indeed, a timely distraction stopped what looked like a sure-fire pin attempt by "The Knockout Artist," allowing the "Broadsword" to capitalize with a huge pop-up European uppercut to score the victory. There's surely no way back for Hero and Cesaro after this result, but at the same, I can't help but wonder, will Hero accept this result and walk away from his former best friend/partner or will he come back and try to reunite with Cesaro one more time? Judging by the conversation he had with Samoa Joe a little later in the show, maybe it could be the former option, as Joe tried to convince Hero that they were the only "Kings of Wrestling" that mattered anymore, vowing to finish what the group started way back at the beginning of the year. Still, given how much that friendship meant to him, it might be easier said than done for Chris Hero to let it go completely.
We've not seen Brian Kendrick since Summer Stampede, when he lured Brock Lesnar into a trap and earned himself a suspension by EWA officials. Well, "The Man With A Plan" made his return last night as he hit the ring to finally offer an explanation for his actions. OK, so maybe it wasn't quite as much of an explanation as it was an exercise in gloating, which I guess you could say is understandable. No one has hurt "The Beast" quite like Kendrick did, which is no doubt why he's feeling so proud of himself and so confident about his chances of becoming the 2019 King of the Ring, officially becoming the first superstar to enter this year's tournament. Given just how dementedly determined he is right now too, there's a good chance that Brian Kendrick might just go all the way!
The "Santanic Clown Posse" may have used some extreme tactics to force this match against "The Honky Tonk Man" and my old pal Jerry "The King" Lawler, but that's just a testament to how hard-done by Rick "The Model" Martel felt after his singles match with "Honky" two weeks ago. He and R-Truth wanted to prove that they had the number of the two Memphis legends, and this time made sure the entire "S.C.P." was present to try and stop any more monkey business from Jimmy "Mouth of the South" Hart. Perhaps unsurprisingly though, Hart still tried to get involved in this one, only to suddenly find himself surrounded by the likes of Bobby Lashley, Rikishi, Papa Shango and "Dominatrix"...yet before they could get their hands on him, "Honky" and "The King" grabbed their manager and beat a retreat, hopping in a waiting Cadillac to escape into the Phoenix night! Needless to say though, their beef is looking far from over, and I'm sure it won't be long before business picks up between these two teams once again!
Talk about an interesting dynamic in the highly-anticipated match between JoJo and Sasha Banks! The Women's Championship may not have been on the line, but that didn't mean this was a match over nothing, with both superstars fighting over the custody over Bradley, who'd been hoisted high in a shark cage for the duration of the bout! With so much speculation regarding this whole Bradley/Bayley controversy, the tension was high in this one, as both competitors looked to give it their all. Eventually, "The Boss" managed to cinch in the Bank Statement, but JoJo being the plucky fighter she is managed to make it to the ropes and force the break! That clearly frustrated Sasha, something that the Women's Champion used her experience to take advantage of, rolling up her opponent when least expected to hand Sasha her first loss of the year, while also meaning Bradley doesn't have to worry about anyone messing with his mustache! Still, considering the strength of Sasha's convictions, I highly doubt she's going to let this issue drop quite so easily!
I'd like to take this time to welcome one of our new sponsors, "The Simon System." Yeah, yeah, I know...maybe I could stand to lose a few pounds by joining the program, as has been pointed out on social media since the announcement was made, but I'd argue that I'm at the age where it's too late for me anyway. And even though it's not exactly "toeing the company line" to say this, I've got to say, I found Mr Dean's presentation left a lot to be desired. In particular the cheapshots aimed at several EWA superstars, which didn't seem particularly necessary. Then again, maybe that's just me being a little overly-sensitive.
It's been a while since we last saw Tom Lawlor, way back at Summer Stampede and his impressive win over Bobby Lashley inside the steel cage. Well, the MMA veteran made his return last night, following Brian Kendrick's example by throwing his name into the hat for this year's King of the Ring. I'm sure most will agree that given Lawlor's run over the majority of this past summer, he's more than deserving for an opportunity too!
The build-up to the National Championship match between Buh Buh Ray Dudley and "MJF" was certainly an interesting one. While things initially seemed focused on Friedman's Burberry scarf and "Show E.'s" desire to wear it, things took a serious turn this past week as the rest of the "Flamingo Family" decided not to be their usual supportive selves, instead looking to inspire Bubbs with some tough love. Those tactics almost looked like they'd backfired though in the early goings, with "MJF" taking control through his usual flagrant ignoring of the rules. However, "The Salt of the Earth" has a tendency to let his cockiness get the better of him, and one could argue it opened the door for a Buh Buh Ray comeback the longer this match went on. A huge superplex swung the ball firmly in the National Champion's favor as he looked to retain the title, but Friedman would eventually turn things back around, even applying his trademark Fujiwara armbar! After a near collision between "MJF" and the Referee, "The Top 1%er" would utilize a low blow to take the advantage and go back to the FAS hold, only for "Show E." to pick that moment to come down to ringside and go for the scarf! Putting it on and parading about soon caused "MJF" to release the submission and try to reclaim his property, only for "Show E." to respond with a huge WMD punch, leaving the Referee with no choice but to call for the bell! I'm sure this isn't how either Maxwell Jacob Friedman or Buh Buh Ray Dudley wanted this match to end, yet it seems clear to me that this is far from over! Especially as "Show E." took the Burberry scarf with him as they left "MJF" to come to his senses back in the ring!
It's been several weeks now and Kelly Klein is still chasing that rubber match with Toni Storm. However, the Gold Coast native (and EWA producer Dean Malenko) seem hell-bent on denying her. I can certainly understand "The Final Girl's" frustrations, especially with the way Storm is seemingly being afforded the kind of spotlight and opportunities that most EWA superstars would kill for. Is this just professional jealousy though? Or could it be there's some truth to Kelly's accusations? The only thing I know for sure is, I want to see Klein and Storm go at it one more time to finally settle things once and for all, and judging by comments I receive on a daily basis from the EWA Universe, I'm pretty certain I'm not the only one!
Following on from "Pastor" Bobby's confrontation with the "G.O.D." earlier in the show, the "Glorious Bs" took their shot at the Tag Team Champions of Jay and Mark Briscoe. Bo Dallas and Baron Corbin already hold a non-title win over "Dem Boys From Delaware," which is how they earned this match in the first place, but the Briscoes were determined to make sure that lightning didn't strike twice. Interestingly, after being snatched by Jay and Mark after "The Revival" met their untimely fate at Summer Stampede, Tammy Sytch has seemingly decided to offer her services to the champs. I don't know if this is a case of Stockholm (or should that be Sandy Fork?) Syndrome, but either way, having someone of Sytch's caliber in your corner isn't a bad thing. Just ask the "Vegas Connection!" Still, there were some major league question marks over whether Sytch's loyalties were genuine or not, while no such doubt exists about the "Glorious Bs," who seem committed to doing the "lord's work" under the guidance of Bobby Roode. Well, most of them do anyway, although the jury is still out on the wilful Baron Corbin. Nonetheless, we saw some good ol' fashioned tag team continuity from Corbin and Dallas here, with Bo obviously being a former Tag Champion in his own right and having plenty of experience in the field. They did a hell of a job isolating Mark and going after the same leg "The Revival" had injured last month, yet give all the credit in the world to the younger Briscoe brother, he refused to quit! After gutting out the pain, he finally tagged in Jay, who came in like the proverbial "house on fire" to briefly turn things around, only to have the "Glorious Bs" put a sudden stop to that! Just as they were aiming to finish things off though, Mark fought through the pain to take out Corbin, while Tammy Sytch proved her new-found allegiance was indeed the real deal by shoving Bo Dallas off the top rope, leading to a Jay Driller and the three count to put this one to bed! Talk about a hard-fought win for the Briscoes, but despite their challengers best efforts, "Dem Boys" continue to rock and roll as champions!
To the surprise of absolutely no one, Harper had a bone to pick with Tommaso Ciampa after "The Sicilian Psychopath" brutally went after his arm following Harper's victory in their match last week. Well, "The Goatsman" was thinking of the impressionable children as he issued a challenge to Ciampa, only to be interrupted by the "Psycho Killer's" music. However, as Harper faced the stage ready to greet his enemy, Tommaso Ciampa would appear from out of the crowd and jump the big man from behind, trying to finish what he started last week! Fortunately for Harper though, he managed to fight Tommaso off, only to have Ciampa give him what he wants by agreeing to a rematch! Considering how good the first battle was, I can't wait to see these two go at it all over again!
Speaking of much-hyped rematches, I think it's safe to say that the entire EWA Universe was chomping at the bit to watch Pete Dunne and Marty Scurll follow-up their instant classic World Title encounter from Summer Stampede! Of course, this second go-around wasn't exactly the same though, with Dunne choosing the stipulation following "Mustache Mountain's" victory over "The Horde," picking Harry Smith as the Special Guest Referee. And let's face it, who better to officiate a match of this importance than the ultimate authority in the EWA, right? Well, this one was everything you'd expect and then some, with Scurll looking to frustrate Dunne in the early goings before Dunne fought his way back into things in his typical "never-say-die" style. It quickly evolved into an exciting back-and-forth match as things progressed, with both competitors busting out the big guns to try and put the other away, only to each kick out of one another's trademark finishing maneuvers! That would cause Dunne to eventually snap, as he went out and grabbed the World Title to try and use as a weapon against Scurll, only to be stopped by Harry Smith! After Scurll used that confusion to try and blast Dunne with the title though, he ended up caught in a deadly submission hold as the World Champion went after both the arm and the fingers, only for "The Villain" to somehow survive! Indeed, Marty would again try and use the World Championship to his advantage by trying to deliver a Cradle DDT onto the gold, only for Harry Smith to move it out of the way at the last second! In the ensuing chaos, a fuming Scurll went for the Crossface Chickenwing instead, locking it in and seemingly being moments away from a victory, only to have Dunne flip up and over using the turnbuckle, inadvertently causing Scurll to crash his head into the championship and leave him in a pinning predicament that secured "The Bruiserweight" the three count! However, it's fair to say that rather than clear up any perceived controversy from the first match, Harry Smith's presence may well have added to it, when "The British Bulldog" failed to notice the unfortunate collision between the title and the back of Scurll's head until it was too late! All things considered, it'll be interesting to see what the follow-up is here, as Marty Scurll has a much more concrete gripe than he did after Summer Stampede, and I'm sure Pete Dunne won't be too happy about winning like that either! I guess we'll have to play the waiting game to discover how the fallout settles when SLAM! returns next week!
Time now for our top three movers and shakers this week:
1. Pete Dunne
2. The Briscoes
3. JoJo
Although somewhat tainted, the fact that Pete Dunne was again pushed to the limit by Marty Scurll and survived to tell the tale is enough to earn him the top spot here! Coming in at number two, the Briscoes had to be at their absolute best to defeat the impressive "Glorious Bs" and retain their Tag Team Titles, continuing their hot streak which stretches all the way back to the early summer! And last but not least, it may have been a non-title match, but JoJo deserves a ton of credit for handing the highly talented Sasha Banks her first loss in the EWA! That's a significant feather in the cap for the experienced Women's Champion, no doubt about it!
With all things considered then, High Tension was another extremely entertaining show, albeit one that didn't seem to settle many of the outstanding issues currently going on amongst our EWA superstars! Indeed, between the World Title, National Title and Women's Title situations, as well as rivalries like Harper and Tommaso Ciampa as well as the "S.C.P." and "Honky Tonk Man" and Jerry Lawler, there's plenty to look forward to as SLAM! rolls into Portland, Maine next Sunday! And if that didn't sell you on next week's show enough already, don't forget about the impending announcements regarding this year's King of the Ring tournament as well! We'll see you next week, folks!
BOOMER SOONER!
