Ross Report - 1/29/21

It's been almost two and a half years since the EWA last graced "the world's most famous arena," but that all changes this Sunday! Make no mistake, folks, there's no ground more hallowed in professional wrestling than Madison Square Garden, and at Resolutions, we're going to prove it all over again! In the meantime though, welcome to The Ross Report, where I'll do my damnedest to rundown what to expect from our first Pay-Per-View event of the year and explain how we got here!

Let's kick things off though with a brief mention of Chris Jericho, who shocked the world after returning as an active competitor at SuperBrawl XX! The five-time former World Champion had originally been invited to the event as a guest given that he was the winning Captain of the first two SuperBrawls, but the cocky Winnipeg native would then enter the match as a surprise entrant alongside the rest of Team Cole, putting in a hell of a showing! Since then though, Jericho appears to have taken umbrage over the recent EWA End of Year Awards! He's not the only one either, as both "The Honky Tonk Man" and my old pal Jerry "The King" Lawler also kicked up a fuss over not winning more accolades, despite the fact "Honky" was voted "Male Superstar of the Year." I guess you really can't please some people! Still, getting back to Jericho, "The Ayatollah of Rock and Rolla" has vowed to hold alternative awards on this Sunday's Pay-Per-View, where we can expect stars, surprises, and the best of the best! What exactly that means, I can't say for certain, but if Jericho is involved, I think it's a safe bet it'll have something to do with him blowing his own trumpet. And no, that's not a euphemism. At least I hope not, anyway.


Moving on to our first match of the night, AJ Lee has made quite the impression since arriving in the EWA! It's quickly become apparent that the New Jersey native marches to the beat of her own drum, which considering her unpredictable nature could be compared to some kind of jazz odyssey where you really don't know where it'll take you next. This led to AJ approaching Shotzi Blackheart a couple of weeks ago on SLAM!, who has understandably been feeling somewhat blue after the "Battle Battalion" fell short against "The Boujee Brand" at SuperBrawl. It seems AJ didn't offer much comfort to "The Ballsy Badass" though, with hostilities ramping up even more during the memorial service for poor Rocket when Lee showed up to attack Blackheart, perhaps looking to vent her frustrations over a tough loss to Dana Brooke earlier in the show! Still, while that certainly added some extra fuel to the fire, this isn't simply the grudge match the card might advertise, but an opportunity for both "The Geeky Goddess" and Shotzi herself to bounce back from their recent struggles. And with two highly motivated and highly talented superstars like this, you can bet your bottom dollar that we're going to be in for another amazing advertisement for the women's division when it's all said and done!

I know I'm not the only one thrilled to see Adam Cole back in an EWA ring again. The former World Champion walked away from professional wrestling suddenly in early 2018, but I always felt he had so much more to offer, as proven by the impressive performance he put in at SuperBrawl XX! At the same time, Adam Page has quickly become a "must see" talent over the last few months, with that brief run as TV Champion making clear he's got all the potential to become a HUGE star if this young blue chipper can keep his head on straight! And then you have Ricky Starks, who may well be his own biggest fan. Granted, "The Gambler" has seen mixed success so far after twice challenging and failing to defeat Santos Escobar in the run-up to SuperBrawl, yet that didn't stop Ricky from volunteering his services to Jeremy Wyatt a couple of weeks ago, looking to become "The Monarch's" representative in a match to determine who would name the stipulation of Wyatt's impending battle with Buff Bagwell. We'll talk more about that scenario in a bit, but in the meantime, it it was "Hangman" Page who likewise stepped up to be "Buff Daddy's" surrogate, resulting in a thrilling showdown on last week's SLAM! These two already had issues of their own after Starks loudly proclaimed other superstars were afraid to face him, something that neither Adam Page nor Adam Cole necessarily agreed with. Indeed, Starks and Cole would have somewhat of a run-in on last week's SLAM! as well, with "The Gambler" interrupting an interview segment to mock the leader of "The Elite" for not taking a match since SuperBrawl. Well, Adam Cole wouldn't take that criticism too kindly, coming out during Starks' match with Page while a brawl between Buff Bagwell and Michael Strider distracted everyone's attention! As he and Starks exchanged words, "Hangman" looked to catapult himself into the ring with the Buckshot Lariat, only to have the New Orleans native somehow avoid the move! That caused Page to accidentally nail Cole instead before getting rolled up by his opponent in the confusion! Needless to say, tensions were high between the two Adams after the match was over, with "Hangman" Page blaming Cole for his loss and Cole himself none too happy about getting caught in the crossfire! As things looked set to explode, Starks took the newly created opportunity to goad the pair of them into accepting a triple threat challenge for Resolutions, as he looks to continue his winning ways! With three highly combustible elements at play then, we've got ourselves a potential barnburner on our hands this Sunday, as Adam Cole, Adam Page and Ricky Starks all look to set their stalls out for the rest of 2021!


It's fair to say we've seen some truly monstrous acts in the EWA over the years. Paulton Burchill's brainwashing of poor Colby Corino, Harry Smith blasting Gail Kim with a steel chair, Sable blinding Ken Shamrock with the point of her heel...but Bayley murdering Rocket the racoon might just be the most deplorable of the bunch. It all speaks to the change we've witnessed in the San Jose native over the last several months, leaving behind both the fans and her friends in the selfish pursuit of her own egomaniacal goals. And while that may have taken her all the way to the Women's Championship, it's also led to this untenable situation where Bayley has blamed Daizee Haze for her loss of the title. I guess in her own mind, that's why she sought to take something just as precious away from Daizee, burying her pet critter alive in Haze's own front yard! As if that wasn't bad enough, Bayley would then crash the memorial service on last week's SLAM!, with "The Haze" too distraught to even try and stop her. That left it to Sara Del Rey to step in instead, someone who has her own problems with Bayley after she viciously attacked "The American Angel" on the morning of SuperBrawl XX, just to get inside Daizee's head before that slobberknocker of a triple threat match also involving Sasha Banks! Still, I can't help but wonder if Bayley has bitten off more than she can chew here by earning the ire of "Death Rey." As talented as she might be in the ring, something that's never been up for debate, Bayley's actions of late have pushed things way too far. And with Daizee Haze in no fit condition to do so herself, I can guarantee you that someone as skilled, as driven, and as emotionally invested as Sara Del Rey will stop at nothing to get a measure of payback for her long-time friend!

It feels like this rivalry between Buff Bagwell and Jeremy Wyatt has been building for months now, but it all comes to a head this Sunday! The issue might have begun due to "The Monarch's" quest to win the World Championship, but this has developed into something so much more personal since then! Indeed, first Wyatt drafted in "The Glorious B's" to help take Bagwell out, before soon after getting himself DQ'd in that wild six man tag at King of the Ring when he tried destroying Buff's knee. Then he looked to take the gold in a singles match, only to have Santos Escobar stick his nose in during the closing moments to deny us an out-and-out winner. And then at SuperBrawl itself, while Wyatt may have led "Team Monarch" to victory, he was still unable to get that elusive pin over Bagwell and walk away with the World Championship! At the same time though, Buff Bagwell has had enough of being hounded by Wyatt over these last several months as well, not to mention all the insults Jeremy has thrown in the direction of momma Judy! That led to "Rude Jude" issuing the aforementioned challenge, whereby Buff and Jeremy would each pick representatives to square off to determine who'd choose what kind of match they'd have at Resolutions! Well, as already detailed, Ricky Starks would emerge victorious in that one to hand the opportunity to Wyatt, only for "The Monarch" to shock the world when he demanded this be a match for Buff Bagwell's career! Yes, you read that right, folks! The former World Heavyweight Champion is fighting for literal survival in Madison Square Garden, with victory the only way to guarantee he remains an active wrestler on the EWA roster! And against a competitor like Jeremy Wyatt, someone who's clearly got no compunction whatsoever when it comes to taking shortcuts, it's impossible to overstate just how precarious a position Bagwell is in right now! Indeed, we just saw "One-Eye Lorcan" put his career on the line this past week on SLAM! only for that to backfire against him, and one has to wonder if Buff Bagwell is perhaps setting himself up for similar disappointment! For Buff's sake, I truly hope that isn't the case...but with Jeremy Wyatt involved, I can't help but fear the worst! One thing's for sure though, this has all the makings for an instant classic and is damn near worth the price of admission alone!

We've seen plenty of "odd couple" teams walk out of SuperBrawl with tag team gold over the years, and the 2020 event was no different! Heading into the Showcase of the Immortals, Kevin Owens was seemingly in line for another shot at the National Championship after defeating Eddie Kingston via countout, while Al Snow was safely locked up behind bars with little hope of ever being set free again. Yet somehow, some way, this unlikely duo walked out of SuperBrawl XX as our new Tag Team Champions! However, it's not exactly been plain sailing for the two of them thus far, with their first match as a team ending in controversial defeat when they faced off against J. Fowler and his mystery partner, Dak Draper! It's no secret that "The Buns of Steel" had got off to a rough start to his EWA career with a series of losses in 2020, but apparently all he needed was "The Mile High Magnum" by his side to start turning things around! Well, that and the ability to dish out repeated low blows behind the Referee's back, resulting in a major league upset in non-title competition! That win was enough to earn Fowler and Draper (now referred to as "The Low Blows," seemingly whether they like it or not) a championship rematch, yet after the shenanigans prevalent during their first encounter, Kevin Owens and Al Snow gleefully announced that this time around it would be held under No Disqualification rules! That potentially evens the playing field right there...but then again, it's a stipulation that could also come back to haunt the champions if Fowler and Draper are able to utilize their underhanded tactics out in the open! I guess we'll have to wait and see how it all pans out, but no matter who walks out with the gold, it's worth noting that there's no shortage of other challengers waiting in the wings! "The New Freebirds" just won the award for "Tag Team of the Year" after not losing a single tag team match last year, while "The Honky Tonk Man" and Jerry Lawler have also returned to the division in a big way, and that's not forgetting teams like "The Colossal Connection," The Von Erichs, or former champions like "The Young Bucks," who've just returned as well! With so much talent out there, perhaps we could be about to see a renaissance in the tag team scene much like we did with the women's division last year! But the question is, who'll be at the forefront of that movement coming out of this title encounter? I guess we'll soon find out!


In our main event, we've got a blockbuster of a clash as Jamie Noble looks to defend his World Championship for the first time against a superstar who's thus far been unbeatable in one-on-one matches, the 2020 King of the Ring, Santos Escobar! I probably don't need to remind you (though I'm sure Noble and Nidia would prefer it if I didn't) that "The Redneck Messiah" lost the biggest prize in the game during his first title defense last time around, something I'm sure is weighing heavily on his mind heading into this one, especially considering Escobar's impressive record! From the moment he arrived in the EWA, "The Emperor of Lucha Libre" has made no bones whatsoever about wanting to become the first Hispanic World Champion in the history of the company, thereby proving why wrestlers south of the border are that much better than everyone else. And what a way it would be if he was able to cap off his meteoric rise by taking home the gold a little under three months since his initial debut! Still, it's almost refreshing that despite the huge stakes at play here, we haven't seen that spill over in an ugly way during the build-up to the encounter. On the contrary, Escobar was nothing but respectful when he offered up a congratulatory gourmet spread to Noble on the first SLAM! of the year, inspiring Jamie to then return the favor a couple of weeks later. Granted, the quality of Noble's spread might not have been at quite as high a standard to that of the one Escobar provided, but that seemed more down to Jamie's lack of experience in such areas rather than an attempt to insult his number one contender. Either way though, the seeming lack of animosity means we have ourselves a straight-up wrestling match for the World Championship between two superstars who instead share high esteem for one another, with no blood boiling over, no outside interference, and no shenanigans like we've witnessed elsewhere. Just two incredible athletes trying to prove not only who the better man is, but who is the best in the business to boot. And if that's not enough to whet your whistle, I don't know what is!

Well, there you have it, folks! What a way to kickstart this brand new year, with a little bit of something for everyone! And what's more, 2021 is only just getting started as well, with the second-ever Queen of the Ring tournament due to take place next month! I know for a fact that there's a lot of buzz behind the scenes for that one, just as I'm sure there is in among the EWA Universe as well, with our talented women's division all battling it out for the right to succeed Carmella as Queen! And from there, it won't be long before Civil War, then Red, White & Bruised, then on to Summer Stampede, before the 20th King of the Ring is crowned, and then it's SuperBrawl all over again! In short, this rollercoaster of a year is just getting started, so strap yourselves in tight and enjoy the ride! Until next time,

BOOMER SOONER!