Post by Ross Report on Oct 15, 2018 21:19:26 GMT
For the second week running, Chris Sabin opened up Sunday Night SLAM!, and boy, did he have a hell of an announcement to make! "Detroit's Finest" has made no bones about wanting to raise the prestige of the National Championship, and he's decided the best way to do so is to defend the gold on a weekly basis! On the one hand, you've got to give Sabin credit for having the guts to put himself in this kind of a position. We've always known he's tougher than a two dollar steak, but this still speaks volumes as to just what kind of competitor, and champion, he is. At the same time though, there's no question whatsoever that defending the National Title each and every week will put untold pressure on "The Motor City Machine Gun's" shoulders, which could well lead to his undoing. Especially since the first challenge he faces will be none other than Dolph Ziggler, the man who "earned" an opportunity at the gold via some dubious circumstances at Sin City Survival. Indeed, Dolph (along with his dangerous new ally Nathan Jones) would come out to confront Sabin, where things quickly broke down into a fight that saw the champion left lying once again, just as he was at the end of the previous week's show. And as if that wasn't bad enough, Ziggler then made the heinous move of Zig-Zagging Sabin's girlfriend Ruby Riot as she was checking on the National Champion as well! No doubt about it, our National Title Match next Sunday has just got personal!
Charlotte Flair followed up her hard-fought win over Becky Lynch last week with a somewhat easier victory over Bobcat this time around, but the real story is what happened after the match, as "The Irish Lass-Kicker" made her presence felt about as physically as one could imagine. First she busted her rival open, then damn near crushed "The Nature Girl's" windpipe with a strategically-placed steel chair, and then she almost caved Charlotte's skull in with a disgusting sledgehammer blow for good measure. Any one of those attacks on their own would have been a huge statement, but all three together was almost overkill from Becky, taking this rivalry way too far in my humble opinion. If her goal was to force a rematch with Charlotte, Becky Lynch might want to think again, as I'm not sure what condition the second generation superstar is likely to be in to compete in the foreseeable future after this assault.
I don't begrudge anyone who likes the "finer things" in life, but I must admit, it does grind my gears somewhat when they choose to rub it in everyone else's faces. Nick Aldis is a hell of a talent, nobody's disputing that, and one who's scored an extremely lucrative deal to work in the EWA as well as anywhere else he so chooses, but I find it distasteful that he seemingly perceives the usual EWA crew unworthy of interviewing him or announcing his entrance or commentating on his match. What's next? He brings in his own Referee? His own timekeeper perhaps?
Well, putting those feelings to one side, Aldis faced one hell of a tough opponent in "The French-Canadian Frankenstein" PCO, who debuted the previous week against Lucas Calhoun. As we've already seen, the man formerly known as Pierre Carl Ouellet doesn't mess around inside the squared circle, giving Aldis a run for his money in his first EWA match in going on five years. It would eventually boil down to a moment of outside interference to settle the score between them however, with Aleister Black appearing from out of nowhere to strike PCO square in the jaw with the Black Mass, getting a measure of payback for PCO's own interference during Black's match with WALTER the week prior. As a result, Aldis was able to apply his patented Cloverleaf, and with PCO unable to respond to the Referee after getting his lights turned off, the bell soon sounded! Talk about a big win for "The National Treasure," while you can be sure that things between PCO, Ariel and Aleister Black are only just heating up!
After missing last week's show to pay a visit to famed surgeon Dr James Andrew to get his shoulder checked up, Brock Lesnar was back this week! According to "The Beast," the injury he picked up during Sin City Survival should be 100% by the time of his next title defence (more on that shortly), but one has to wonder how truthful Lesnar was being. After all, you wouldn't expect a competitor like Brock Lesnar to go around advertising any weaknesses that his future opponents might seek to exploit. Only time will tell on that front, I guess!
It's fair to say that Marty Jannetty had a bone to pick with Nathan Jones after the big Australian cost him the fatal fourway at Sin City Survival and again during Jannetty's singles encounter with Dolph Ziggler last week. This was also our first opportunity to see Nathan Jones actually compete in a match rather than interfere with them, and I can honestly say that he is one of the scariest athletes I think I've ever witnessed in my 40+ year career. Still, as frightening as Nathan Jones might be, Marty Jannetty clearly wasn't afraid to take the fight right to his opponent, showing a fire in his belly that eventually saw him forget all about trying to pin the big man and instead try to beat him down with a steel chair! "The Rocker" really laid those shots in, knocking Jones out of the ring before he could really dish out the punishment. Shockingly though, Jones refused to go down, even trying to re-enter the squared circle and resume the fight with Jannetty, only to get pulled back by Dolph Ziggler. I'd wager that this business is far from finished between them however, especially when you factor Chris Sabin into the equation as well.
Tessa Blanchard is gunning to become a two-time Women's Champion following her victory over Nia Jax two weeks ago, while Blue Pantaloons is eager to show why she deserves to wear the gold. Champion and challenger found themselves face-to-face this week, deciding not to wait until All Hallows' Evil for their title encounter as they agreed to do battle right there and then. However, before that could happen, Dominatrix wiped out Blanchard from behind with a vicious sneak attack, setting up for an eagerly anticipated Summer Stampede rematch between "The Masked Mistress of the SCP" and "The Queen of the Carolinas" on next week's show! Dominatrix had Tessa's number last time they faced off, but you can be sure Blanchard will be looking to make amends as she takes one step closer to her title opportunity with the champion! Speaking of whom, it sure seems as if there's a hint of jealousy in "The Vaudevillains" camp after "Ms Pantaloons" secured her championship victory last month, yet Aiden English and Simon Gotch couldn't do the same against "The Kings of Wrestling." Indeed, there'd be more evidence of this during our main event contest, but we'll discuss that later.
In the meantime, just like last week, there was some more creepy goings on to signal the arrival of Them. I don't know who those two clowns are or what their goal might be, but one thing's for certain, they've got WALTER wrapped around their little finger. Following his success over Aleister Black in an absolute slobberknocker last week, the big Austrian found himself up against Fit Finlay this time around, with "The Fighting Irishman" still riding high following his win over Big Show at Sin City Survival. Finlay has been open about his intention to become King of the Ring, and this hard-fought victory over "The Ring General" is exactly the kind of momentum builder which could make that dream a reality. It just goes to show what kind of competitor Fit Finlay is as well, taking an enormous amount of punishment but still coming back to surprise WALTER with a roll-up from out of nowhere, snatching victory from the jaws of defeat. However, while Finlay might be deservedly celebrating, it seems as if WALTER could be in trouble with Them, who seemingly have no qualms when it comes to punishing their man whenever he lets Them down.
Big Show has really impressed me these last couple of weeks, picking up a countout victory over Gabriel and this week finding himself victorious against Lucas Calhoun, albeit courtesy of some "Villainous" interference. "The King" proved once again that he's no pushover, giving another hell of a showing for himself in these early days of his EWA career. I wish I could tell you why Marty Scurll felt compelled to stick his "beak" in Calhoun's business, but whatever the reason, he may soon live to regret it when Lucas gets his hands on him. Still, while the circumstances surrounding this result may have been controversial, clearly this win helped make up the mind of our mystery GM for October, who are still yet to reveal themselves. Indeed, as we'd find out later on, the phantom General Manager has decided that Big Show will take on Brock Lesnar for the gold at All Hallows' Evil...but that's not all! Following Shamrock's comments earlier in the show about wanting a piece of Lesnar, he may well get his chance, as "The World's Most Dangerous Man" will go one-on-one with Trevor Mann one last time, with the winner of that match then facing the winner of the Lesnar/Big Show title match later that night in the main event! That's right, folks...Double Jeopardy is back, giving you TWO World Title matches at our Halloween Pay-Per-View for the price of one!
With the identity of this month's GM still up in the air and his or her her presence yet to be felt, that gave the bWo the opportunity to send in a somewhat threatening warning that they intend to "take over" the EWA. 1996 called, they want their gimmick back. In all seriousness though, I can't begin to imagine what Al Snow and his motley crew have up their sleeves to achieve their goal, but chances are we'll find out next week!
I truly believe Aleister Black is what we in the business like to call a "keeper." He's got tons of potential, carries himself with an enigmatic aura, and is just about as entertaining as anyone to watch compete inside the ring. Alas, he found himself up against someone in Cesaro who has been enjoying plenty of success over the last several months, meaning that while Black was able to put on another "match of the night" worthy performance, he's still yet to find his first win. I'm sure it's only a matter of time before that changes though, as this Dutch superstar is far too good to let this losing streak continue.
Main event time, and we had ourselves a blockbuster of a number one contenders match for the Tag Team Titles as "The Vaudevillains" took on the unlikely duo of Braun Strowman and Santino Marella! Neither team were exactly what you'd call "fan favorites," yet that didn't stop them from tearing the house down with a wild match that showed just how strong the tag division is in the EWA. At times, "The Monster Among Men" looked as if he might have been able to win the battle single-handedly, but let's not discredit the contributions of his partner either, who took a hell of a lickin' but kept on tickin'. In fact, there were times when English and Gotch were in firm control, cutting the ring in half and making good use of quick tags in and out to wear Santino down, yet Marella refused to give in. In the end though, you could say "The Vaudevillains" were their own worst enemies, as they continually found themselves distracted by the positive reception Blue Pantaloons was receiving at ringside. I mentioned before about the jealousy they seem to have for the Women's Champion ever since she won gold and they didn't, and here it arguably cost them, with Gotch ordering "Ms Pantaloons" to the back only to get mowed down by Braun Strowman at ringside, allowing "The Italian Stallion" to surprise Aiden English with a Santino Stunner and pick up the three count. That sets up a mouth-watering encounter at All Hallows' Evil between Strowman and Marella and "The Kings of Wrestling," who were right there at ringside throughout the contest, giving their expert opinions on their two top contenders in their own unique (and often "salty" manner).
As always, I'm going to try and narrow down my picks for this week's top three movers and shakers. Here's what I've got:
1. Big Show
2. Braun Strowman/Santino Marella
3. Fit Finlay
While Show's victory over Lucas Calhoun may have been tainted slightly by the unwanted interference of Marty Scurll, that win along with the announcement that he'll face Brock Lesnar for the World Title at All Hallows' Evil makes him an easy choice for the top spot. Likewise, after months of feuding with John Cena and "The Midnight Rider," Braun Strowman and Santino Marella took one step closer to the Tag Team Titles after becoming number one contenders in a barnburner of a match. And last but by no means least, Fit Finlay continues his impressive run of form lately, defeating WALTER as he looks ahead towards King of the Ring glory.
Feel free to share your own picks over on our Twitter page, or by contacting me right here on EWA.com! Same goes if you have any questions you'd like answered on this Friday's edition of JR's Mailbag, where no subject is out of bounds!
Right now though, the All Hallows' Evil card seems to be slowly but surely coming together, with two huge World Title Matches set and a Tag Team Title showdown that has the potential to steal the show as well! But before we get to that though, we've got Chris Sabin defending the National Title against Dolph Ziggler on next Sunday's SLAM! to look forward to, as well as solving the mystery of just who is running the show this month! Don't you dare miss out! Until then,
BOOMER SOONER!
