Post by Ross Report on Mar 9, 2020 16:55:58 GMT
With two huge championship matches, they KeyBank Center was rocking last night when SLAM! took over Buffalo! Let's take a closer look at all the exciting action!
We kicked things off with "MJF" returning to the ring for the first time since St. Valentine's Day Massacre. Young Maxwell Jacob Friedman has made no bones about the fact that he should be the next challenger for the World Championship, and let's not forget, he has an opportunity in his back pocket after winning the SuperBrawl Free-For-All Match two months ago. Of course, Harper has had a few more pressing issues to deal with as of late, something we'll discuss in due time. In the meanwhile, "The Salt of the Earth" used his trademark shady tactics to defeat 40 year veteran of the sport, George South, forcing him to tap out to the Friedman Armbar Special as he continues to rack up the victories.
To my mind, Eric Young and "Killer Kross" are two men cut from a similar cloth. Both have chips on their shoulder, both care little for the fans (or anyone else), and both are willing to do whatever it takes to hurt opponents and win matches. As such, this made for an interesting contest when the two clashed last night, with Young and Kross really amping up the aggression in a major way. After going back-and-forth for several minutes, the action would spill out into ringside where "The Devil of Sin City" looked to powerbomb his opponent onto the exposed concrete floor. However, Young used every bit of his veteran wiles to avoid that fate before spiking Kross with a jumping piledriver on the concrete instead! Despite Kross' incredible efforts to make it back inside the ring, he couldn't beat the ten count, handing "The World Class Maniac" a huge win in his EWA debut! And one which just announced the arrival of Eric Young with a bang!
Last week saw Momo Watanabe and Kelly Klein strike up a burgeoning friendship of sorts when the two bumped into one another backstage. However, there's no escaping the fact that this is still a dog-eat-dog business, and with the EWA Women's Championship still vacant after Sasha Banks was forced to relinquish the gold due to injury, that means these friends might become enemies somewhere down the line! In the meantime, Alexa Bliss is none too happy about her loss against Momo last Sunday, with her rants over that perceived travesty drawing the attention of Klein, setting up a match between the two on next week's SLAM! And after "Little Miss Bliss" tipped a bowl of chilli over "The Final Girl," the heat is most definitely gonna be on when we hit up Philadelphia next Sunday!
We move on to tag team competition now, where "Tokyo Vice" looked to get a first win under their belt as they stepped up against the mysterious duo of Chuck Palumbo and Shannon Moore of "The Lucavi." Things got off to an explosive start as the two WCW veterans tried to get the jump on their opponents, only for "El Desperado" and Katsuyori Shibata to turn things around. Some double team maneuvers almost led to a quick win for the Japanese superstars, yet under the watchful eye of "The Zodiac" himself, Moore and Palumbo were able to rally. "The Lucavi" would go on to isolate "El Desperado" before finally finishing him off with a Doomsday Blockbuster to secure the victory! We saw how good Emma looked as part of this group last week, and one could argue that Palumbo and Moore looked more focused and motivated last night than they have in 20 years as well. Maybe there's something to be said about "The Zodiac's" Kool Aid after all!
Speaking of inspirational leaders of men, last night's broadcast also featured the latest vignette from Bo Dallas. For weeks now, we've seen various examples of how "Bo-Lieving" can supposedly help improve our lives, and next Sunday we're finally going to see Dallas live and in the flesh, which should be highly intriguing.
For the second week running, "The Honky Tonk Man" has made a mockery of the Tag Team Championships. Last week saw him call out "Demolition," only to be answered by the Mulkey brothers dressed as "Ax" and "Smash." The Mulkeys were at it again this week when they came out dressed as Tyler Bate and Trent Seven. Only, Bill and Randy obviously weren't overly familiar with the British duo, mistaking them for "Mustache Mounties" rather than "Mustache Mountain." Anyway, this led to another joke of a "match" which saw Honky tap Bill out with a figure four leglock. Not that this was official or anything, when you've got Jimmy Hart acting as a Referee and my old pal Jerry Lawler as the timekeeper. Still, the point is, "Honky" seems intent on ignoring actual competition in lieu of putting on these "showcases" against the Mulkeys, but one has to wonder just how long he can get away with this. Particularly when even "Honky's" tag team partner doesn't seem very happy about being dragged into this nonsense. Indeed, it seems poor Santino just wants to be a champion he can be proud of, but that's not really possible as long as these charades continue.
After throwing out the open challenge last week, Jacob Fatu made his first Television Title defense last night, doing so against "PN News!" "The Samoan Werewolf" has been on quite the tear over the last month and a half, but I think he might have slightly underestimated his opponent here. While "The Rapmaster" might come across as a jovial, fun-loving fella, he's also a fighter! And with the chance to win championship gold, he brought the fight to Jacob Fatu in a big way! There were a couple of moments in this one where it looked like we may even see an upset, but you've gotta give credit to Fatu. As soon as he started focusing on the arm and shoulder of "Grandmaster P," the tide turned in his favor, allowing the Champion to string together a gigantic Samoan drop and double jump moonsault to keep "PN News" down before utilizing the Crossface to make his opponent tap. Yet again, I find myself asking just who can stop this wave of momentum that "The Samoan Werewolf" is currently riding?
In our main event, Harper finally had his chance to go one-on-one with "Prince Albert!" "The Piercing Prince" has been a thorn in Harper's side the last couple of weeks, going through the World Champion's stuffed goat toy "Larry" to get to him. Well, needless to say, "The Goatsman" was well and truly fired up for this one, quickly bringing the thunder to his opponent! While Albert tried to control the pace in the early goings, Harper threw caution to the wind to get his hands on his rival, even hitting a dangerous looking plancha at one point! However, "Prince Albert" was clearly familiar with Harper's history of arm injuries as he targeted that body part and looked to capture the biggest prize in the business! Say what you will about Albert, but he's as adept at inflicting pain as anyone, meaning Harper had to fight the majority of this one with one-arm virtually incapacitated! It's a testament to the World Champion though that he was able to get back into the contest, eventually taking Albert off his feet with a desperation Truckstop Lariat! That opened the door a crack, but it would take an eventual second Truckstop to finally put Albert down for the count, ensuring Harper walked out of Buffalo still the World Heavyweight Champion! And yet, while "The Goatsman" has taken down one enemy, another just stepped out from the shadows! We talked about "MJF's" desire for a title opportunity earlier on, and just to reiterate that point, "The Salt of the Earth" headed to ringside for a tense staredown with Harper as the show went off the air, making it crystal clear that he was next in line! And in two weeks time at Insurgency, Maxwell Jacob Friedman will have that chance when he challenges Harper for the gold in a match that has all the makings of an instant classic!
Well, it's that time once again to break down my picks for this week's top three movers and shakers:
1. Harper
2. Jacob Fatu
3. The Lucavi
Harper was really pushed to the limit by "Prince Albert" this week, both mentally and physically, yet "The Goatsman" has risen to the occasion once again to retain the World Title! Likewise, Jacob Fatu had more of a fight than I think he was expecting against "PN News" but still found a way past "The Rapmaster" to remain undefeated. And last but not least, I've given The Lucavi duo of Chuck Palumbo and Shannon Moore third spot after they proved to be too much for "Tokyo Vice" to handle!
With another slobberknocker of a show in the history books, our attention is turning towards Insurgency in two weeks! We already know that Harper will be defending the World Championship against "MJF" in Morgantown, West Virginia, but who'll challenge for the Tag Team Championships or the National Title? And likewise, what have EWA management got up their sleeve regarding the vacant Women's Championship as well? There's a whole lot of questions right now and not a lot of answers, but I'm sure we'll find out as the EWA heads to one of my favorite cities next week on our final stop before Insurgency! That's right, folks...we're heading to Philly! And that usually means things are about to get extreme! Until next time,
BOOMER SOONER!
