Post by Ross Report on Aug 28, 2018 20:37:50 GMT
Some 11,000 fans packed themselves into the Silver Spurs Arena last night for the EWA's seventh annual Summer Stampede, and I can't imagine there's too many feeling short-changed by the action we saw! It was certainly a night of big changes and new blood stepping up, so let's dive right in and take a look at what went down.
Things kicked off with more bWo antics, as Al Snow looked to prove why Zeb Colter wasn't going to fire them, setting up a stage in the back from which the Blue Meanie could croon his heart out. Alas, this being the bWo, things didn't go exactly to plan. Indeed, the Meanie would fall off the stage and knock himself unconscious before our "esteemed" GM for August showed up, ignoring the bizarre goings on to officially offer the bWo their contracts back. However, before they could head to his office and do so, Zeb slipped on a banana peel that Cabana had discarded moments before. That moment of embarrassment caused Colter to turn his fury on the EWA veterans, declaring they'll never work in the EWA (or any other promotion in the States) again! Looks like it's back to the drawing board for the bWo!
As for our first match of the night, it was the eagerly anticipated showdown between Matt Morgan and Chris Sabin for the National Championship. Love him or hate him, Morgan has been a dominant champion over these last several months, while "Detroit's Finest" was coming into this one with a bum ankle after Jack Swagger attempted to wrench it off twice in the previous two weeks. As if things weren't stacked against Sabin enough already, he also had to deal with the Briscoe Brothers attempting to interfere throughout the contest on behalf of their "Steel Horsemen of Doom" leader as well. Perhaps unsurprisingly then, Morgan would control large portions of this match, with Sabin trying desperately to get back into the fight only to inevitably find himself quickly shot down. Still, if there's one thing we've learned about "The Motor City Machine Gun" since he arrived in the EWA, it's that he won't ever give up, no matter how dire the situation, even surviving a Carbon Footprint that threatened to get him counted out. Eventually, the challenger would manage to take down both Jay and Mark Briscoe and then mount a comeback, only for his bad ankle to give at the crucial moment. That looked like the beginning of the end for the challenger, yet in a moment of madness from Matt Morgan, he allowed himself to get distracted by his old rival Big Show, who had bought a ticket to watch the show from the crowd. That distraction gave Sabin crucial seconds to regain his bearings, allowing him to counter an attempt at a figure four leg lock by Morgan into a roll up that secured him the victory, as well as his first EWA championship! As far as yours truly is concerned, this has been a long time coming for "Detroit's Finest," and while I'm sure Matt Morgan will be eager to invoke his rematch clause as soon as possible, Sabin surely won't be backing down from any challenge that lies ahead.
While Sabin is going from strength to strength, it's fair to say that his former tag partner Kenny Omega has found himself searching for a new direction following the disappointment of 2 Minutes To Midnight. "The Cleaner" finally seems to have found something to focus on by officially declaring himself for the King of the Ring tournament, despite it still being several months away. However, his announcement would soon be interrupted by Dolph Ziggler. It seems as if "The Show-Off" has a bone to pick with Omega, feeling aggrieved at being left off the Summer Stampede card while the man he beat a couple of weeks ago on SLAM! is given time to make declarations on his future. Well, this quickly turned into an exchange that led to Omega officially challenging Ziggler to a rematch on next month's Pay Per View, even offering to let the EWA Universe to vote on what kind of battle they have. With both men looking to find their footing and start moving up the card, no doubt that'll be an extremely important match for the pair of them.
Tessa Blanchard shocked the world when she won that fatal fiveway match last month to capture the Women's Championship. Meanwhile, Dominatrix shocked the world in a whole other way with the lengths she was willing to go to beat Carmella in that wild I Quit Match. It all resulted in "The Masked Mistress of the Santanic Clown Posse" becoming the de facto number one contender, leading to what turned out to be a hell of a spirited match last night. Dominatrix brought that aggressive side to the fore once more, but "The Queen of the Carolinas" proved once again why the apple didn't fall too far from the tree, fighting back into the match and coming damn close to victory on numerous occasions. In the end though, Dominatrix was finally able to hit Total Domination on the second attempt, putting Tessa away and seeing the Women's Title change hands for the second time in a month! While I'm sure Blanchard will bounce back from this loss in no time, you've really got to hand it to Dominatrix. She's been riding a wave of momentum for the past couple of months, ever since costing Carmella the chance to defeat Nia Jax at Red, White & Bruised, and it's taken her all the way to the gold! I'm sure her fellow Santanic Clown's are over the moon right now.
The ultra-talented Renee Young attempted to conduct an interview with "The Vaudevillains" ahead of the big TLC Match, yet her attempts were scuppered when Summer Stampede was transported back to the silent movie era. Renee would soon be replaced by Blue Pantaloons, not exactly asking the hard-hitting questions but nonetheless giving the duo of English and Gotch a chance to make their point. Namely, wishing their opponents the best of luck, because they were going to need it against "The Vaudevillains!" And likewise, Blue Pantaloons would then have a message for Dominatrix and Tessa Blanchard as well, making it clear she was coming for the Women's Championship sooner rather than later.
Elsewhere backstage, we saw the trio of Richard Henry Blood, David Flair and Lindsay Hayward pay a visit to Zeb Colter's door, where "RHB" wanted to remind the GM for August that Hayward was still very much part of the women's division. Perhaps more so than that though, the former World Champion also wanted to make it known that he was willing to get involved in the main event later on in the show if he sensed any foul play from Zeb Colter. I don't need to remind you of the history between these two stemming from early 2015, where Blood blames Colter and Swagger for the loss of the biggest prize in the game in a match also involving Kevin Nash. To his credit though, our temporary General Manager promised to call the main event right down the middle. Whether or not that would indeed be the case, we'd have to wait to find out.
In the meanwhile, it was time for the big fourway TLC Match to name the number one contenders to the Tag Team Titles. To the shock of probably no one, it quickly broke down into two brawls between rival teams, with Strowman and Marella duking it out with Cena and "The Midnight Rider," while the Young Bucks and Vaudevillains also slugged it out. It was only a matter of time before the "plunder" was brought into proceedings, as my old friend Dusty used to say, with tables soon being broken, moves being hit on steel chairs, superstars being toppled from ladders, and even kendo sticks getting brought into the mix as well, as this descended into all-out chaos. It was the kind of match where the action came thick and fast and you couldn't take your eyes off the action for even a second, leaving the competitors looking as if they'd been in a car wreck by the end. In fact, Braun Strowman may have needed the jaws of life to free himself from one particular ladder he found twisted all around him at the conclusion of the match, allowing Aiden English to clamber over the top of the big man and secure the contract, thus guaranting "The Vaudevillains" their shot at the titles. Considering this was only their second match together in the EWA, English and Gotch deserve a ton of credit for the way they pulled this out of the bag, especially considering the seasoned veterans they found themselves in the ring against. These two have been turning heads from the moment they arrived, and while I'm sure they were feeling the effects of this match this morning (and likely a few more after that too), they are now just one step away from becoming Tag Team Champions!
Speaking of which, "The Kings of Wrestling" would pay a visit to Zeb Colter right before their championship match against OVE, adding an ammendment to the stipulation they chose last week on SLAM! Namely, that OVE would lose the titles if they got disqualified, as well as through normal means, trying to put the odds even more in their favor.
As the show rumbled on, Renee Young had slightly more luck interviewing Brock Lesnar than she did "The Vaudevillains" earlier on, although that interview would also be cut short. Rather than due to some old-timey shenanigans though, this was because of Jack Swagger. "The All-American American" jumped Lesnar from behind, focusing on the leg and bringing down the steel structure of the interview area right on top of it. No points for guessing his goal there, trying to soften up "The Beast" in time for the main event. Would it work though? We'd find out a little later.
For my money, the match between Ken Shamrock and Trevor Mann was one of the most hotly anticipated last night. Coming out of that breath-taking triple threat match last month, "The Spoken" has seemingly had Shamrock's number since then, often leaving him laying. They took things a step too far last week though, damn near breaking Shamrock's leg by "Pillmanizing" him in the center of the ring. Rumors had been swirling all week as to the extent of that damage, with some suggesting an ACL tear or dislocated kneecap, but Shamrock was still given medical clearance to compete in the match of his choice, a Submission Match. However, the two competitors seemingly spent much of the early portion of the contest trying to physically beat one another into submission rather than apply traditional holds, such is the bad blood between them. While that would change as the contest rolled on, I was somewhat surprised to see Mann not going for that injured leg more. It was almost as if he was trying to prove that he didn't need to focus on that weakness, but that he could force the MMA veteran to give up any way he wanted. We've seen time and time again though, "The World's Most Dangerous Man" more than lives up to that moniker, at one point seemingly breaking his opponent's nose. Yet the former "Ricochet" is no slouch himself and seeing his own blood seemed to bring him back into the fight again, only for Mann to get cocky and attempt some of his trademark high risk aerial offense, a move which backfired in a bad way. Right before Shamrock could finish him off though, Trevor Mann surprisingly showed off a special something he seemingly picked up during his training session with Dean Malenko earlier in the week, utilizing a Pentagram choke! Shamrock tried to respond with an ankle lock while still in the hold, but when he tried to get back to his feet with Mann on his back, that bad leg gave out and he had to let go, while Mann was able to keep his MMA hold cinched in. At that point, Shamrock couldn't respond to the Referee's attempts to check him, ending that incredible winning run he's been on and handing Trevor Mann easily the biggest win of his burgeoning career. You've got to imagine that the leader of "The Spoken" will use this clean victory over a phenomenal opponent as a springboard to rise through the ranks now, but give credit where it's due, Ken Shamrock never actually gave up here. And even though he may need a bit of time to recover from that leg injury, I'm certain the old warhorse will be back bigger and better than ever before you know it.
After trying to stack the deck against the reigning Tag Team Champions earlier in the show, "The Kings of Wrestling" quickly discovered that OVE were far from easy prey as the Crist brothers and Sami Callihan jumped them on the way to the ring. Using a baseball bat and the Tag Titles themselves, they seemingly put Hero and Cesaro on the back foot before the match had officially begun, almost resulting in a victory within seconds of Callihan ringing the opening bell himself. From there, we saw just how ruthless the Crist brothers can be, working over Chris Hero for a long stretch and even trying to use "The Knockout Artist's" own rules against him by trying to get the "K.O.W" disqualified cheaply. As always seems to be the case in these OVE title defences, we also saw Sami Callihan playing a significant role behind the Referee's back, with even the risk of losing the gold via DQ not enough to deter him. The tide eventually turned when Hero finally managed to take in Cesaro, but thanks to those badly damaged ribs sustained in that early assault, it looked as if the Tag Team Champions would walk out with yet another win. However, "The Kings" are a resilient pair, having survived three gruelling matches to win the Rock N' Wrestling Tag Team Tournament and earn this opportunity, and they refused to stay down regardless of what the former "Irish Airbourne" threw at them. Speaking of which, Cesaro would utilize a giant swing to throw Dave Crist into Sami Callihan towards the end of this war, allowing Hero to officially tag his partner back into the match. With two Neutralizers and a Hero plancha to keep Dave and Sami at bay, "The Kings of Wrestling" finally achieved the seemingly impossible, ending that 126 day reign as champions! Alas, their celebrations would be short-lived when a fuming Callihan and Dave Crist jumped them with yet another vicious assault, as "The Callihan Death Machine" scooped up the championships and made sure OVE still walked out of the Silver Spurs Arena with the gold, even if they were no longer the champions! This obviously stirs up a whole lot of questions, as "The Vaudevillains" were seemingly positioned as next in line for a title shot, but will that still be the case given that OVE have yet to officially relinquish the titles? Not to mention, you've got to believe Hero and Cesaro will be gunning for revenge on the Crist brothers after everything that went down at Summer Stampede as well. Something tells me this rivalry isn't done quite yet.
After that wild and frenetic battle, we received a small taster of what to expect next week on SLAM! as the highly-touted Velveteen Dream makes his EWA debut. I've heard nothing but great things about this young man who dances to the beat of his own drum, so we'll see what kind of impact he can make next Sunday.
Still, we had ourselves a slobberknocker of a main event yet to go, with Brock Lesnar making his fifth defence of his second reign against Jack Swagger. It's no secret that Swagger was an "out of left field" choice for this one, but given his long-standing relationship with Zeb Colter and the history they have, it really shouldn't have come as much of a surprise in hindsight. And thanks to that backstage assault earlier in the night, "The Beast" obviously wasn't quite 100% coming into this one either. When you then factor in our "esteemed" General Manager for August as the special guest Referee as well, it seemed as if Lesnar was potentially in a lot of trouble here. Needless to say, despite Zeb's promises to Richard Blood earlier in the show, he was hardly impartial in his role, giving Swagger every advantage he could get away with, from phantom rope breaks to fast counts and turning a blind eye to blatant cheating. Even with that in mind though, let's take nothing away from Jack Swagger here. "The All-American American" was able to take it to Brock Lesnar in ways that few others have managed over the years, eventually cinching in that dreaded Ankle Lock! I can count on one hand the amount of times we've seen Brock Lesnar as the underdog in a fight, if not one finger, yet there's no questioning his fortitude or his determination to keep that championship around his waist. Indeed, just like we've seen so many times before, once Brock found an opening and sent his opponent on a trip to "Suplex City," there was no stopping him. Three German suplexes in a row, followed by an F-5 on that dirty Ref, and then another on Swagger as well finally saw Brock use Zeb's limp arm to count the pin and retain the gold. No doubt about it though, this may well go down as the toughest challenge of Brock's reign so far, and possibly even one of the hardest matches he's ever faced in the EWA. Still, for the time being at least, the reign goes on! But who will be next to step up to the plate?
I'm sure we'll find out soon enough, but until then, how about we look at my picks for this week's top three movers and shakers:
1. Kings of Wrestling
2. Brock Lesnar
3. The Vaudevillains
This one was incredibly tough to narrow down, with special shoutouts going to the likes of Trevor Mann for ending Shamrock's undefeated streak, as well as Dominatrix and Chris Sabin for capturing some much-deserved singles gold. However, I had to give Chris Hero and Cesaro the top spot just because of how much they had to work to defeat a team who were seemingly unbeatable in OVE, finally ending their amazing Tag Team Title reign. At number two, Brock Lesnar effectively had to overcome not just a game Jack Swagger but the crooked shenanigans of Zeb Colter to successfully defend the World Title in a wild main event. And last but not least, The Vaudevillains defeated three quality teams in one hell of a TLC Match, securing a future shot at the Tag Titles, all in only their second EWA match!
Feel free to send in your own picks via our Twitter page. By that same token, get in touch on Twitter or by contacting me right here on EWA.com if you've got any questions for this Friday's edition of JR's Mailbag! No topic is taboo!
In the meanwhile though, all eyes turn to the Cajundome in Lafayette as Sunday Night SLAM! returns. And what will next week's show bring? Well, one thing's for sure, it'll feature a brand new General Manager as we head into September! I'm sure rumors are already running rampant as to who will be given the top job and what kind of plans they have in store, while there's bound to be a whole lot of fallout from Summer Stampede as well! Until then,
BOOMER SOONER!
