Post by Ross Report on Apr 13, 2020 15:36:53 GMT
I'm sure I say this every year, but Civil War is genuinely my favorite night on the EWA calendar! And thanks to last night's blockbuster SLAM!, it's safe to say I'm more hyped for this year's event than ever!
Let's start things off by talking about the huge announcement made by "MJF!" The current reigning EWA World Heavyweight Champion made it clear he has zero intention of defending the gold at next Sunday's Pay-Per-View, declaring there aren't any worthy contenders out there! While I'd suggest that statement is up for debate, the real shock came when "The Salt of the Earth" proclaimed he'd instead be partaking in the Men's Civil War Match itself! That's right..."MJF" has entered himself into Civil War, joining Sean Waltman and Jack Gallagher as only the third World Champion to do so! As ever with young Maxwell though, there seems to be ulterior motives at play here, with victory in the match seemingly erasing the threat of someone carrying around that elusive "Anytime, Anyplace" title opportunity, thereby making his reign a little safer. Like him or loathe him, that's actually a damn smart tactic on behalf of "The Top 1%er," yet can he do what no other World Champion has done before him and walk out with the win? I guess we'll find out next Sunday!
For the second time in two weeks, SLAM! witnessed some high-octane intergender tag team action. Could this be a more permanent fixture on EWA cards going forwards, I wonder? If the action we've witnessed recently is anything to go by, I certainly wouldn't be averse to it! This week's encounter saw Adam Rose and Emma of "The Lucavi" taking on the odd-couple pairing of Goldberg and Kelly Klein. While Klein and Goldberg might be similar in style, they clearly lack the history or chemistry of their opponents, with "The Lucavi" duo instantly taking control of the match. That's not all either, as Rose and Emma would consistently look to bend the rules behind the Referee's back to try and gain any advantage they could muster! Despite their best efforts though, Goldberg and Kelly Klein would eventually turn things around, with Emma's interference bringing in "KK" to even the score, resulting in Goldberg putting Rose away with a Spear and Jackhammer while Klein kept Emma trapped in an STF! One has to wonder how "The Zodiac" will respond to this loss from two of his chief lieutenants ahead of Civil War, but there's little doubt it'll do both Klein and Goldberg the world of good heading into beautiful Oklahoma City next weekend!
Ever since "Rhino's" return at Insurgency, every arena we've visited has felt like a powder keg waiting to go off. Time after time, "Rhino" and Jacob Fatu have engaged in wild brawls that have ended up looking like a twister tearing through the EWA, so I was certainly glad to see a heightened security presence at last night's show to stop the same from happening again. But what of a potential do-over Television Championship match after last week's effort ended in a disqualification? Well, judging by comments from both "Rhino" and Fatu's manager Rikishi during last night's broadcast, it would appear that both sides are eager to make a rematch happen at the earliest opportunity! However, we're still waiting to hear from EWA management regarding when that might take place and in what fashion. All I know for sure is, if it doesn't happen sooner rather than later, there's a damn good chance that "Rhino" and Jacob Fatu won't wait around for someone to make it official!
What a creepy debut showing from Bray Wyatt last night, a man who certainly marches to the beat of his own drum! I've no shame in admitting that he gave me the willies watching him laughing and stalking Jamie Noble like it was all just a sick game, not to mention that violent streak of his! It's to Jamie Noble's credit though that "The Peckerwood Jesus" was able to take some hard hits and keep on coming. In fact, Noble showed the kind of "will to win" in the face of adversity which really helps set him apart from the rest of the pack. And in doing so, he managed to surprise Wyatt with a roll-up victory to give himself a big time boost heading into Civil War! It's hard not to be impressed with the way Noble has reacclimated himself to the world of professional wrestling so quickly, and judging by these last couple of showings, he's got all the potential to go far! As for Wyatt, I dare say a loss like this won't hurt him too much in the long run as he continues his mission to "Redeem" or "Absolve" the EWA roster!
The surprising return of Pete Dunne shocked everyone last week, not least of all his old nemesis Samoa Joe! Well, Joe wanted some answers on last night's SLAM!, calling out "The Bruiserweight" to try and get them. Before the former World Champion could reveal his motivations though, Nick Aldis and "The Standard" interrupted proceedings, vowing to make Dunne pay for his mistake alongside "The Samoan Submission Machine." Shockingly though, Dunne would offer an entirely different proposition altogether, challenging "The Standard" to a three-on-two handicap match against him and Samoa Joe at Civil War! Needless to say, "The Destroyer" had no intention of accepting anyone's help against Aldis and co, let alone help from his old enemy...but with Aldis readily agreeing to the match, it seems Joe has no choice in the matter! I genuinely never thought I'd live to see the day when Joe and Dunne might actually team together, but considering all of that bad blood and the numbers advantage being firmly in "The Standard's" favor, one has to question how wise of a decision this was. I guess we'll find out next Sunday!
Kylie Rae made it two wins in two weeks as she defeated Sadie Gibbs in impressive fashion to continue building momentum ahead of the Women's Civil War Match, albeit with a bit of an assist by Bo Dallas along the way. Of course, "The Inspirational One" didn't need any help as he defeated the veteran from Stone Mountain, Vern Henderson, later on in the show. Indeed, Dallas is on quite the hot streak right now, and judging by his backstage interaction with Braun Strowman after his match, it seems as if that could even lead him to Civil War glory after officially paying off "The Monster Among Men" to give him Braun's spot as the final entrant in the match! Alas, it would appear that Bo wasn't particularly pleased to realize he'd paid Strowman off directly rather than giving that $20,000 to a charity of Braun's choosing, causing Dallas to vow his revenge on the former Tag Team and Television Champion!
The lovely Renee Young caught up with "The Mighty Don't Kneel" to discuss the controversial ending to Kellyanne's match with Io Shirai last week. It goes without saying that the fiery-haired Aussie was far from happy with the role Hana Kimura played in the closing moments of that contest. She's not the only member of the group fed up with "Tokyo Vice" either, as Shane Haste and Buddy Silva issued a challenge for a tag team match between them and "El Desperado" and Shibata at Civil War! They didn't have to wait long for a response either, as both factions soon found themselves going at it once again, with security struggling to keep them apart! Still, with that match made official, this could be a huge opportunity for both teams to move up the tag ranks again, not to mention take a step closer to ending this war in their favor!
Speaking of the tag division, one half of the Tag Champions Santino Marella found himself joined by "Best Friends" in catering, quickly resulting in "The Honky Tonk Man" and my old pal Jerry "The King" Lawler crashing the party. It seems "Honky" took offense to "Best Friends" supposedly trying to steal his spotlight after their involvement in the disappointing conclusion to the Tag Title Match against "The Shining Colons" last week. However, I don't think "Honky" intended that offense to turn into their next championship defense, yet that's exactly what happened after Jimmy "Mouth of the South" Hart worked himself up while standing up for "The Honky Tonk Man." As such, the champs now find themselves having to defend their gold against "Trent?" and Chuck Taylor on the next edition of SLAM! in just under two weeks! Could we see new champions crowned? Or will "Honky" and Santino somehow find a way to survive once again? There's only way to find out!
Elsewhere in the tag team scene, and "The Butcher" and "The Blade" looked to follow-up on their impressive debut last month by taking on the former number one contenders, "Demolition." I was expecting this to be a fairly evenly-balanced contest considering the run "Demolition" have had this year, but it's a credit to their opponents that that certainly wasn't the case! In fact, this was a rare case of "Ax" and "Smash" being the ones to get demolished, as "The Butcher" and "The Blade" made short work of the veterans! Talk about making a huge impact! And one has to wonder how long it'll be before "The Butcher" and "The Blade" are coming after whoever wins that big time Tag Team Championship clash on the next SLAM!
Aliyah and "La Hiedra" are two women who have been making a lot of waves recently, which is why their one-on-one match was so fascinating to watch unfold. Like I've said before, "The Boujee Bratz" is certainly not short on confidence, while "La Hiedra" has shown some serious growth under Sasha Banks' tutelage over the last couple of months, both as a person and a wrestler. These two went at it at breakneck speed, each looking to gain that all-important final win heading into Civil War. Despite Aliyah using some questionable tactics to take control of this one in the early goings, her luchadora opponent managed to rally in a major way, seemingly setting Aliyah up for a Swanton Bomb to finish things off. Alas, before "La Hiedra" could do so, Aliyah "accidentally" knocked the Referee into the ropes and caused the second generation superstar to lose her balance! With "Hiedra" stunned, Aliyah was then able to score a nasty looking top rope hung DDT to pick up the three count, meaning the Toronto native has to be right up there along with the likes of Kelly Klein as one of the top contenders to walk out with the Women's Championship next Sunday! However, being among the favorites doesn't necessarily guarantee victory, and who knows what will happen in the second-ever Women's Civil War Match when it's all said and done!
For the past couple of months, Jack Gallagher has done his utmost to avoid defending the National Championship, even using the current global pandemic as an excuse to refuse to come to work! Well, EWA management forced his hand this week, and with both Eric Young and Sammy Guevara having called "The Extraordinary Gentleman" out, we got ourselves a somewhat "unique" triple threat match in our main event! Gallagher was still nowhere to be found as the match got underway, with Young and Guevara instead left to duke it out between themselves in a clash between "EY's" hard-hitting "ground-n-pound"-style and "The Spanish God's" amazing natural athletic ability. It looked to be going Young's way as he planted Guevara with a Death Valley driver and almost picked up the three count, yet the EWA Universe was soon stunned to see Jack Gallagher finally make his entrance, albeit in a full-blown spacesuit! The National Champion was apparently taking no chances of catching any infectious diseases from his opponents, knocking Young out of the ring and then hitting an orbital strike on Guevara with a missile dropkick! Not only did the spacesuit offer protection from germs, but also from physical attacks as well, as Young hurt himself while trying to punch "The Extraordinary Gentleman" before being knocked down with a helmet-assisted headbutt! However, while the suit may have had some advantages, it also proved fairly cumbersome as well, limiting Gallagher's usual speed and agility. That allowed his two opponents to soon turn the tables and then remove that protective helmet, exposing Gallagher to the elements! Indeed, despite their own problems as of late, Guevara and Young would find themselves on the same page as they took the fight to the dastardly Brit, eventually stripping him of the spacesuit entirely! Things soon descended into more of a traditional match from that point with all three superstars coming close to victory on various occasions! Ultimately though, it finally broke down as Young managed to score with the piledriver on Gallagher only to eat a superkick from Sammy Guevara, who then collapsed on the champion to pick up the three count and the title! What a stunning conclusion to SLAM! and what a way for "The Spanish God" to live up to the hype as well, capturing championship gold in just his second EWA match! I've been trying to rack my brains over the last 24 hours to think of any other superstar that's come in and won the National Title in that short of a turnaround, but I think I'm correct in saying that Guevara is in a category all on his own! Something I've no doubt he'll be quick to brag about too!
Well, that result closed out a hell of a show in the Alamodome and set us up for some intriguing prospects heading into Civil War, so now seems as good a time as any to break down my top three movers and shakers for the week:
1. Sammy Guevara
2. Aliyah
3. Bo Dallas
Top spot seems like a no-brainer, as Guevara made history with his National Championship victory in an enthralling main event! Coming in at number two, Aliyah continues to improve her reputation by handing "La Hiedra" her first pinfall loss! And last but by no means least, Bo Dallas was all over last night's SLAM!, whether assisting Kylie Rae, picking up a win of his own, or making certain that he's got that crucial final entry spot in the Men's Civil War Rumble! Could "The Inspirational One" "Bo-Lieve" his way to victory next Sunday? Only time will tell!
And quite frankly, the next six days can't pass quickly enough as far as I'm concerned! After all, Civil War is wide open for whoever wants to take the opportunities presented and make it their own, be they man or woman! Who will step up to the plate and walk out with that "Anytime, Anyplace" World Championship contract? Can "MJF" go the distance and claim it for himself, repeating his success from SuperBrawl "Free-For-All?" Who'll win only the second-ever Women's Civil War Match and capture the vacant Women's Championship to etch their name in the history books? And perhaps most intriguing of all, will we see any surprise entrants in either Civil War Rumble to throw the cat amongst the proverbial pigeons? There's so many unknowns right now, but one thing I do know for certain is that Civil War promises to be absolutely unmissable! So make sure to join us in my home state of Oklahoma this coming Sunday! Until then,
BOOMER SOONER!
