Post by Ross Report on Sept 26, 2020 13:01:59 GMT
Good ol' JR here, welcoming you to another Ross Report! And this month, we'll be breaking down another barnburner of a card as the EWA presents Final Four, live from Chattanooga, Tennessee! This one has all the potential to be the biggest sleeper hit of 2020, so how about we get right to it?
When Kenny Omega was invited to return to the EWA earlier this year, it was initially meant as a one-off opportunity. Well, "The Cleaner" embraced that chance with open arms, putting together a streak of wins that saw him not only offered a new full-time contract, but also earning a National Championship match with "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan back at 8 Miles To Graceland as well! After coming up just short in that one, Omega took a few weeks to lick his wounds before returning to SLAM! and declaring unfinished business with Duggan...only to find himself interrupted by the surprising appearance of Finn Bálor! It's been just over two years since "The Prince" was last in an EWA ring, and given both Bálor and Omega's connection to a certain "Club" that originated in Japan, I think many fans assumed that Finn might be there to strike up some kind of alliance. Alas, Bálor shockingly assaulted the Winnipeg native instead, setting up an eagerly-anticipated match on the following week's show! And boy, did it deliver! Omega was clearly hungry for revenge in that one, leading to a fast-paced back-and-forth battle for supremacy, yet it was a match not without controversy! Indeed, Bálor tried bringing a steel chair into the ring during the closing moments, only to have the Referee snatch it away before he could use it. However, while the official then looked to get rid of the weapon, "The Prince" managed to surprise Omega with a low blow before rolling him up for the three count! Needless to say, "The Cleaner" was none too happy about that result, immediately throwing down the gauntlet for a return match at this Sunday's Final Four, a bout that Finn Bálor was only too happy to accept! And if last week's contest was anything to go by, you're not gonna want to miss a single second of this second go around!
"The Boujee Brand" obviously took a bit of a hit at last month's Summer Stampede when Aliyah lost the Women's Championship, but Robert Stone has been looking to turn things around in a major way by adding the beautiful and talented Chelsea Green to the ranks! In the meantime, we haven't seen much of Kelly Klein since her dominant win over Lacey Von Erich back at 8 Miles To Graceland, but when "The Final Girl" heard that Aliyah and Chelsea had thrown out an open challenge to any tag team willing to face them, Klein showed no hesitation in accepting the offer, looking to regain some momentum! The only trouble being, Kelly didn't actually have a partner at the time! In fact, it's fair to say she hasn't really had the best track record when it comes to striking up friendships in the workplace over the last year or so, which is why it was all the more surprising when she turned to a former enemy instead of a friend to back her up in the shape of Toni Storm! The Gold Coast native not only has plenty of history with Klein, but obviously with Aliyah as well considering their epic battles earlier this year, including the controversial match at Red, White & Bruised which saw Toni's title win overturned and scrubbed from the record books, while landing her an indefinite suspension at the same time! However, after Klein begged Harry Smith on Storm's behalf, she was granted the opportunity to return for what promised to be a blockbuster tag team bout on last week's SLAM!...only for "someone" to attack Toni Storm backstage before the match could take place, rendering her in no fit condition to compete! Kelly Klein refused to back down though, demanding the match go ahead under handicap rules, looking to gain a measure of payback! She nearly got it too, once again impressing as she took everything Aliyah and Chelsea Green threw at her before dishing out more of the same in return! Despite that valiant effort though, the numbers game eventually became too much as "The Boujee Brand" emerged with the victory, but now that Toni Storm has had a chance to recover, it looks like we're all set to get that tag match we were originally supposed to see after all! And something tells me both Klein and Storm aren't going to hold back one bit when they finally get their hands on Aliyah and Green on an even playing field!
"Suicide" puts his body, his mask, and perhaps even his career on the line against Pete Dunne at Final Four!
As far as I'm concerned, Pete Dunne is fortunate to still have a job after his actions this year. The so-called "Career Killer" has more than lived up to that name, using a sledgehammer to put the likes of "Mustache Mountain," The Undertaker, John Cena, and his old rival Samoa Joe on the shelf indefinitely! It's only thanks to the services of Clarence Mason that he's been able to skirt the fines and suspensions the EWA have tried levying in his direction, yet Dunne's actions have also drawn the attention of the EWA's resident vigilante as well! Make no mistake, folks...this isn't Kurt Angle or Oscar Diaz under the mask of "Suicide!" This is someone else altogether, and the masked man has become a major thorn in Dunne's side over the past couple of months, stopping him from ending any more careers and even destroying Dunne's prized sledgehammer along the way! Of course, "The Bruiserweight" wasn't about to take that lying down, disappearing from the EWA for several weeks while someone dressed as "Suicide" showed up and starting causing carnage. For legal reasons, I dare not say it was Dunne trying to frame the real deal, but I'm sure you can draw your own conclusions there. Nevertheless, we do know that the true "Suicide" managed to unmask Dunne at last month's Summer Stampede, right as the former World Heavyweight Champion was about to attack Hornswoggle and Santino Marella! And since then, Dunne's fury over the hidden identity of "Suicide" has led to ever-increasing stakes, as "The Career Killer" challenged "Suicide" to a match on SLAM! only to send some masked goons after him, nearly succeeding in exposing "The Vigilante's" secret! However, "Suicide" survived that attempt before calling Dunne out on last week's show, looking to settle this beef once and for all! Alas, Dunne would only agree to a match on two conditions...the first being that it gets held under No Disqualification Rules...and the second being that should Dunne win, "Suicide" must unmask! It's to "Suicide's" great credit that he accepted that challenge, but at the same time, could he have just played right into the hands of Pete Dunne? "The Career Killer" has proven himself to be as vicious and relentless as anyone in EWA history, while also going undefeated so far in 2020. And at the same time, it's worth remembering this will be "Suicide's" official debut match in the company! That's a lot of pressure for one man to bear, even before you add in the fact that anything goes or that his secret could be exposed! One thing's for sure...I expect this one to be right up there as one of the most chaotic matches of the night when it's all said and done!
Asuka made a huge statement when she brought Aliyah's lengthy championship reign to an end at last month's Summer Stampede! "The Empress of Tomorrow" has been a force to be reckoned with ever since forcibly taking Kylie Rae's spot in the Women's Civil War Match back in April, and it looks as if she's showing no signs of stopping either! Still, Sasha Banks has been on her own journey this year, suffering a knee injury at the hands of Charlotte Flair which forced her to relinquish the title and sit on the sidelines for four long months. After finally being cleared to return to the ring, "The Boss" quickly found herself mixed up with Alicia Fox in a rivalry that culminated with Sasha picking up a somewhat controversial win back at Summer Stampede when Jimmy Golden assisted her in attaining the victory. I must admit, I've been surprised by just how unrepentant she's been about that scenario as well, even agreeing to take Jimmy on as her full-time manager after the fact. Well, with Sasha riding high, now seemed as good a time as any to go after the championship that she was never beaten for, with Banks issuing the challenge and Asuka quickly agreeing to this dream match. Only, in a surprising turn on last week's SLAM!, Asuka seemed to have a change of heart as she implied that her associate Kairi Sane was a more deserving challenger. This led to a showcase match against a local talent, where Kairi made short work of her opposition thanks in large part to sucker punching her before the opening bell. But when it looked like Asuka might offer the title shot to "The Pirate Princess" instead, that then brought "The Boss" out as well, looking to prove anything Sane could do, she could do better! That led to another impromptu match with the same local talent, yet the match barely got started before Kairi attacked Sasha's opponent, causing Banks to get disqualified! And now that Sasha has been shown up, we find ourselves with this triple threat match for the Women's Championship that seems very reminiscent of the situation Jamie Noble found himself in against "The Honky Tonk Man" and my old pal Jerry "The King" Lawler last month! Could this end up becoming a virtual handicap match as Asuka and Sane join forces against Banks? Or could Kairi's eye for the gold make this more of a straight-up three way contest? I guess we'll have to wait until this Sunday to find out for sure!
Bayley hasn't had much to smile about recently, but that won't stop her from fighting for her best friend, Daizee Haze!
I'm going to throw my hands up and admit I made a mistake. In last month's Ross Report, I suggested that it might not be "The Coven" who were seemingly spying on Daizee Haze back in August, but it sure seems that way now! Indeed, the dastardly trio of Daffney, Rosemary and Shelly Martinez had a huge coming-out party of sorts at Summer Stampede after "The Haze" dug deep to defeat Daffney only to be attacked by "The Demon Assassin" after the fact! With plenty of unfinished business between them, Daizee Haze would then ignore the warnings of her best friend Bayley by running in to save a local talent on the following week's SLAM! all by her lonesome, creating an opportunity for Rosemary to unleash her dreaded yellow mist! And unlike the typical green mist or the rare red mist we've seen in the past, this yellow version had an entirely different effect, putting poor Daizee in a trance-like state for the past several weeks, much to the obvious concern of Bayley and her friend, Shotzi Blackheart! Nothing they've tried has been able to undo the damage done by "The Coven," who seem assured that they'll soon be bringing Haze into their ranks! Well, Bayley has had enough, demanding "The Coven" break their wicked spell on Daizee or else...but it seems as if Daffney Unger and Rosemary are more than happy to go with the latter option, setting up this mega-sized tag team match as "The Coven" face off with the duo of Bayley and Blackheart! Can they get revenge for Daizee and force "The Coven" to undo their black magic? Or could Daizee Haze be trapped in this living coma for the rest of her days? For poor Daizee's sake, here's hoping it's the former rather than the latter!
The braggadocious "Monarch" has made enemies of both Keith Lee and "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan this month!
What a match "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan and Keith Lee had at Summer Stampede for the National Championship! The two of them gave it their all, yet in the end, Duggan's reign continued! However, his celebrations were soon cut short that night when Jeremy Wyatt made his first appearance since losing the TV Title, coming out of the crowd to attack both "Hacksaw" and Lee after the match before posing with the gold! Well, that soon led to a match between "The Monarch" and "The Limitless One" on the following SLAM!, with Keith Lee understandably looking for a measure of payback! However, the sheer intensity of both superstars soon saw the action spill into ringside where Lee and Wyatt eventually got counted out in the heat of the battle! Shockingly, "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan would then offer an alliance of sorts with Keith Lee, suggesting they join forces to strike back at Wyatt, something that Lee almost reluctantly agreed to as part of the greater good. Of course, one could argue that the National Champion was just trying to use the Wichita Falls native as a weapon, much like he likes to wield that deadly 2x4, but that's neither here nor there right now. Soon enough though, we'd see a big time tag team match on last week's SLAM! where Duggan and Lee teamed up to take on "The Monarch" and his long-time friend Michael Strider, where it's safe to say the National Champion and his partner weren't quite on the same page! Still, they rallied against their opponents, leading to a wild finish as "Hacksaw" proceeded to grab his 2x4 and clobber Michael Strider with it, resulting in a disqualification! The dysfunction didn't end there either, as Duggan and Lee argued about the champ's actions before "Hacksaw" looked to take a cheap shot! However, Lee avoided it and instead laid out Duggan with the Big Bang Catastrophe, effectively ending this short-lived alliance once and for all! Still, that just adds more fuel to the fire for this gigantic triple threat match, as all three superstars have plenty of beef with one another, not to mention a strong desire to walk out of Chattanooga with the National Championship within their possession! All I know for sure is, this one has got slobberknocker written all over it!
You've gotta give Harry Smith all the credit in the world. Even after all these years of running the EWA, he still manages to come up with exciting concepts to grab the wrestling world's attention! And this month's Final Four Tag Team Tournament has been no exception to that! This unique event has not only seen new Tag Team Champions already crowned, but it will soon determine the number one contenders to the gold as well, currently held by "The New Freebirds" after they won a triple threat match also featuring "Power & Glory" as well as the previous champions, "The Dogs of War!" Both losing teams would get their second chance when they squared off the following week, yet it was the duo of Bobby Lashley and Brian Cage who took full advantage of that opportunity, shockingly running right through James Storm and Jax Dane to book a place in this Sunday's Final Four Match! Elsewhere and "The Butcher" and "The Blade" also had an impressive showing when they defeated the returning Aussie tandem of Buddy Silva and Shane Haste, otherwise known as "TMDK." We were also witness to a big time shock when the controversial "iRoyalty" confidently put their careers on the line against "The Colossal Connection" in their qualifying match, only to have that decision come back to bite them on the backsides when Mark Henry and Marko Stunt pulled off yet another win! And to cap it all off, last week's SLAM! saw "The Shining Colons" face off against a mystery team, which was soon revealed to be the debuting duo of Santana and Ortiz, AKA "LAX." The newcomers really stepped up in a major way, earning their spot at this Sunday's Pay-Per-View while leaving Primo and Epico on the outside looking in! And that now means we've got a huge fatal fourway tag team encounter, which will also feature some "unique stipulations"...though what those stipulations might be, we're going to have to wait to find out! Regardless, the winners of this one will earn themselves a shot at the Tag Team Championships on the October 11th episode of SLAM!, meaning it's all very much to play for! And you can bet "The New Freebirds" will be keeping an extremely close eye on this one!
Now that the Bagwell family is reunited, can Buff Bagwell go all the way to the EWA mountain top?
Buff Bagwell picked up arguably the biggest win of his wrestling career when he defeated "MJF" in that Judy Bagwell/Mandy Rose on a Forklift Match at Summer Stampede! That victory reunited mother and son once again, but if you thought it was all going to be plain sailing now that they'd put Maxwell Jacob Friedman in the rear view mirror, you had another thing coming! Indeed, it didn't take too long before Buff and Judy caught the ire of "The Honky Tonk Man", fresh off his successful title defense against Jamie Noble. It all started when "Honky" and "The King" demanded to cut in front of the Bagwells in the line for catering, taking the last of the cheeseburger corn dogs (which were only missing one thing, if you ask me...JR's good ol' BBQ sauce! Fortunately, I carry a few bottles with me wherever I go). Well, that was followed up the next week with a parking lot confrontation where plenty of insults were thrown in the direction of Judy Bagwell, who neither deserved such shoddy treatment or was willing to sit back and take it without a fight. And a fight is what she would literally get after initially challenging either "Honky" or "King" to face "Buff Daddy" on the last SLAM! before Final Four, only to have Honky volunteer Jimmy "Mouth of the South" Hart to face Judy instead! Needless to say, that match turned into somewhat of a car wreck, with neither competitor trained wrestlers and the two Memphis legends choosing to give a running commentary from inside the ring that saw even more derogatory remarks made towards "Rude Jude." Eventually, Buff Bagwell would have enough of the World Champion's insults, sticking up for his mom and getting into it with "Honky" and Lawler, only for the numbers game to work against him! Just as it looked as if "Buff The Stuff" was about to hear some Shake, Rattle And Roll though, Judy Bagwell's involvement allowed him to fight back and send "Honky" and co into retreat! However, not without Buff Bagwell issuing the challenge for a title match this Sunday! As big as that win over "MJF" was, winning the World Championship would eclipse that moment altogether and send Buff Bagwell to the top of the EWA foodchain...yet, as "The Honky Tonk Man" has proven time and time again, he's not someone you can afford to underestimate! On the contrary, "Mr. Shake, Rattle And Roll" is guaranteed to do whatever he can to walk out with the victory, even if he has to break a few rules to do so! As such, it seems to me that Buff Bagwell is going to need all his wits about him if he wants to capture the biggest prize in the game at Final Four! Will he do it? Well, let's put it this way...stranger things have happened!
I think you'll agree, Final Four is shaping up to be another exciting offering from the E-Wrestling Alliance! With three major title matches, grudge matches galore, and the biggest tag team match of the year, you can't afford to miss out! So if you haven't done so already (and at this point, you'd have to be crazy not to), sign up to the EWA today so you don't miss a single second of the action! Until next time,
BOOMER SOONER!
