Post by Ross Report on Dec 9, 2019 17:15:50 GMT
You can feel the excitement in the air right now as this year's unique Super Brawl Draft continues to roll out, with more superstars than ever before having a say over who'll participate in the "Showcase of the Immortals" on December 29th! Things'll no doubt get wrapped up within the next few days, so keep checking EWA.com for all the latest twists and turns!
In the meantime, let's look back at last night's SLAM!, which was another slobberknocker of a show! We might have been a little light on matches, but we more than made up for it in interesting developments as battle lines were drawn and intriguing alliances were made!
The action kicked off with the latest attempt at a singles match between Ken Raper and "Desperado" Joe Gomez, two veterans who know one another extremely well at this stage of the game. None of those previous five bouts have seen a definitive result, yet now that Raper and Gomez have put their past enmity behind them, this seemed to be more about respect than wins or losses. Alas, things didn't go according to plan for either competitor as the lights suddenly went out before lightning bolts signaled the arrival of "PCO!" That's right, "The French Canadian Frankenstein" was back, looking re-energized after the disappointment of falling short against Marty Scurll at King of the Ring! It's little surprise then that Ken Raper ended up shoving his best friend/partner into harm's way before running to the hills, leaving "The Undead King" to DESTROY Joe Gomez in brutal fashion! A package piledriver and soul-crushing "PCO-sault" soon followed, showing why Shelly De La Muerte's monster is still very much a force to be reckoned with!
Elsewhere, we saw the surprise appearance of Scott Hall as he introduced us to his son, Cody. I've heard nothing but good things about this young blue chipper, and "The Bad Guy" is clearly feeling confident that his boy will do what he never could during his illustrious career...become World Champion! I've no doubt whatsoever that "The Kliq Kid" has all the talent to live up to that potential!
We haven't seen Becky Lynch in the ring since late July, but she was back at it this week as "The Queenslayer" continued to work her all-encompassing hatred of Charlotte Flair out of her system. This one was another quick and easy win for Lynch, who it has to be said hasn't endured too many tough tests in 2019. The big question though is if Becky is finally finished with Charlotte, could that mean she's setting her sights on Sasha Banks and the Women's Title instead? I guess only time will tell.
Speaking of "The Boss," she was also in action on last night's show, looking to bounce back from that intergender loss the previous week. "The Temptress" (who, is it just me, shares more than a passing resemblance to Becky's best pal, "Winter?") wasn't up to the task against Banks, soon succumbing to the Banks Statement. And that wasn't all from the Women's Champion either, as a mysterious casket was dramatically brought down to ringside later in the broadcast. It didn't take long before Sasha Banks revealed she was responsible for doing so, having felt disrespected by the strange walkout by JoJo and Bradley/Bayley last Sunday. As such, the coffin at ringside represented Sasha's feelings towards the duo, namely that they were well and truly dead to "The Boss" from here on out! And that meant Banks was looking to move on in her career, doing so by issuing any open challenge to anyone that has the guts to face her. A challenge that would seemingly be answered by Rhea Ripley, as Sasha's old friend made it clear she was willing to step up! That's got all the makings of a hell of a match right there, whenever it might take place, but with Becky Lynch looming in the background as well, one can't help but think Banks might soon regret putting the entire women's division on notice!
Throughout the night, Todd Grisham kept trying to get a word with Buh Buh Ray Dudley after the National Champion made the somewhat questionable choice of picking Brian Pillman Jr during the Super Brawl draft, knowing full-well that the second generation superstar was gunning for his title! Bubbs managed to avoid the intrepid interviewer at the water fountain and a hot dog stand before eventually being caught up with in the equipment room after one too many hot dogs slowed him down. In all fairness to Buh Buh though, being asked to draft someone for Super Brawl Free-For-All seems to be a high pressure situation, where there's a lot to take into account. Would it have been smarter to, say, pick "Show E." so Dudley could pin his good friend and retain his title? Absolutely! But the truth is, even if he had gone that route, there's no guarantee "Show E." and Buh Buh Ray would even be in the match at the same time for that to happen! Indeed, there's no easy path for any of our current champions if they hope to retain their titles on the "Grandest Stage of 'Em All," but that's what makes this year's Super Brawl so intriguing!
Speaking of intriguing, this week was our first proper opportunity to hear from the newly reborn Gabriel since waking from his coma last week! You'd think after emerging from the nightmare he's endured over the past 10 months with his body seemingly controlled by another entity calling itself "The Reaper," Gabriel would be a little happier. Instead, he seems to be fueled by bitterness right now, blaming everyone who failed to help bring the real Gabriel back over that time. Well, whether you feel he has just cause or not, Gabriel's mission of revenge meant he turned down the opportunity to participate in Super Brawl Free-For-All, instead choosing four competitors who have been instructed to help Scurll retain the World Championship, so that it might guarantee the one-on-one showdown with his old "Horde" boss. While Gabriel seemingly has it all figured out however, Pete Dunne appears to be lost in the wilderness right now. With the World Title a distant memory and King of the Ring failure still fresh in his mind, Dunne has had to sit back and watch while others have been picked ahead of him for this year's Super Brawl, just to add insult to injury. Perhaps that's why he came down to the ring to challenge Gabriel to a match, looking to seize whatever opportunity he can to build some momentum again. Instead, the opposite happened, as Gabriel turned down the offer and seemingly walked out on the "Bruiserweight"...only to return and attack Dunne when his back was turned. What resulted was a shockingly cowardly display, as "The Archangel" took Dunne down and then repeatedly blasted him with a steel chair, culminating in one final killer blow to the head! After suffering such an assault, it looks like Dunne may well be out of the running for Super Brawl altogether, and you can lay the blame on this all-new, all-different, all-deadly Gabriel! God help whoever the 2019 King of the Ring turns his attention towards next!
After it was announced last week that Marty Scurll intended to defend the World Title against Tim Storm on the final SLAM! of the year, we heard from "The Perfect Storm" this week in an interview with Renee Young. Like the middle school history teacher said himself, this is easily the biggest opportunity of Storm's decades-spanning career, reminding me a lot of when Finlay challenged Scurll for the World Title back at Red, White & Bruised. On that night, "The Fighting Irishman" was unable to get the job done despite a valiant effort, but will Tim Storm have more success where Finlay failed? He certainly seems to believe so, and in all honesty, why wouldn't he? Still, the man who stands in his path would also speak to Renee a little later in the show, making it clear he's up for the challenge of both Storm next week and his 19 opponents at Super Brawl! And after arguably having the most successful year of anyone in the EWA, it's not hard to understand why "The Villain" is feeling confident despite the odds being against him! Still, even if he gets past Tim Storm next Sunday, it's worth remembering that only two World Champions have successfully defended their titles in the traditional Super Brawl match over the years (that being Randy Orton and Samuel Shaw, for those keeping tabs at home), and this year's match looks to be an even tougher prospect without the team aspect! Is Scurll up for the task? We'll soon find out as he enters his toughest test yet as World Champion!
As we saw earlier this week, "MJF" booked his place in this year's Super Brawl Free-For-All courtesy of a deal with my old pal, Jerry "The King" Lawler. We'd get the gist of that deal straight from the horse's mouth as Lawler paid a visit to "The Top 1%er" (who has apparently kept the bloodied crown and scepter he took from "The Reaper" at King of the Ring) and vowed that he and "The Honky Tonk Man" would help Friedman capture the World Championship if he assisted them in retaining the EWA Tag Team Titles! Of course, whether or not the two Memphis legends enter Super Brawl as defending Tag Team Champions still remains to be seen! Indeed, last night saw an electrifying number one contenders match between the two relatively new teams of Tom Lawlor/Brady Pierce and Jon Moxley/Tommaso Ciampa for the right to challenge for the titles next week! The chemistry of both duos was through the roof, with Ciampa and "Mox" seemingly controlling the early stages, at least until Lawlor eventually tagged out to his partner and completely changed the complexion of the fight! Just as things started to break down though, "Honky" and "The King" would appear on the EWA-Tron...except it quickly turned out to be a pre-recorded message, as the real-life Tag Champs suddenly appeared from out of nowhere and attacked both teams, resulting in the Referee having no choice but to throw the contest out! You would have thought after over 40 years in this business, I might have seen that one coming, but "Honky" and "The King" fooled me just as much as they did everyone else! In the end though, perhaps it was a case of "more fool them" as the Champs were soon informed that rather than getting next week off, they now have to put the titles on the line against BOTH Lawlor and Pierce AND Ciampa and Moxley! Talk about shooting yourself in the foot, leaving "Honky Tonk Man" and Jerry Lawler with one hell of a hill to climb before Super Brawl XIX!
With all that said and done then, here's who I've got for my top three movers and shakers this week:
1. Gabriel
2. "PCO"
3. Sasha Banks
After his devastating attack on Pete Dunne, I've reluctantly got to give Gabriel the top spot after he seemingly put the "Bruiserweight" on the shelf indefinitely. Coming in at number two, "PCO" showed there's still plenty of life left in that undead body yet as he decimated "Desperado" Joe Gomez. And last but not least, Sasha Banks picked up yet another victory before seemingly laying her rivalry with JoJo and Bradley to rest (quite literally). However, "The Boss" could soon find herself with some serious challenges on the horizon if this week's show is anything to go by!
So there we have it...the penultimate SLAM! of 2019 is in the books, and now we're less than a week away from what promises to be a huge "season finale," if you will! With two big time title matches to look forward to, not to mention the remaining Super Brawl Draft taking place throughout this week, it's an exciting time to be an EWA fan, that's for damn sure! Until next time,
BOOMER SOONER!
