Ross Report - 10/29/21

Welcome to the Ross Report, where after one of the most tumultuous months in EWA history that saw multiple surprise titles changes, we'll be taking a look at the card for the 7th annual All Hallow's Evil! There's some fiendishly wicked matches to look forward to this Sunday, so let's cut straight to the chase and break them down!

Kicking things off is a contest that looks somewhat thrown together on the surface of things as Danhausen makes his first Television Title defense when he puts the gold on the line against Nattie Neidhart! I'm not sure many would have pegged "The Queen of Harts" to step up as the new champ's first challenger, but it's to Nattie's credit that she put her name forward before anyone else had the chance to do the same. Of course, this isn't the first time Nattie's clashed with male superstars this year, having almost taken Chris Jericho by surprise in an impromptu World Championship Match a couple of months ago in her native Calgary, and then putting in a strong showing during last week's Open Invitational Battle Royal to determine the final participant in the Chamber of Horrors. Likewise, it's not the first time a woman has challenged for the TV Title either, with "La Hiedra" having taken her shot against "One-Eye" Lorcan last August, only to fall just short, though it would be history making if Neidhart can emerge victorious! That may be easier said than done however as Nattie finds herself in there against a superstar who's proven to be completely bizarre and unpredictable in the shape of Danhausen! "The Dancing Demon" has put together an impressive run in recent months, capped off by that big win over Tyler Breeze that saw him capture the title three weeks ago. While he may seem like somewhat of a spooky harlequin, Danhausen has proven he's not one you want to take lightly! Not that I imagine someone with the wrestling pedigree of Nattie Neidhart intends to do so!


Moving on and we've got what promises to be an exciting clash between Chris Sabin and Ricky Starks! These two met at Summer Stampede back in early September in a match that saw "The Gambler" pick up the win thanks in large part to the distraction of the debuting Don Callis. Since then, bygones certainly haven't been bygones between these two highly talented competitors, with Sabin making it clear he wasn't about to give Starks any peace or quiet as long as he was around! This led to a wild tag match where Starks teamed up with Pete Dunne to take on Chris Sabin and Drew McIntyre, with plenty of animosity between the two makeshift teams that quickly spilled over in a major way. But just as Sabin looked like he might be about to get a measure of payback over "The Gambler" by putting him down with the Cradle Shock, Don Callis stuck his nose in proceedings once again, throwing one of his loafers to cause a distraction, thus allowing Starks to slip free and roll "The Motor City Machine Gun" up, right along with a handful of tights! That's twice now that Callis has helped deny Sabin, but one has to believe that he won't have the opportunity to do the same thing this Sunday when he's handcuffed to the ring post! It was a similar scenario involving Braun Strowman that worked against Ricky Starks earlier this year during his rivalry with Santino Marella, but perhaps not the only thing that might stack the odds against the New Orleans native! Indeed, Sabin laid out the challenge to make this an I Quit Match, a stipulation he's obviously got a bit of history with. In fact, the last I Quit Match to take place in an EWA ring involved Sabin, way back at King of the Ring 2018, where "Detroit's Finest" defended the National Title against Jack Swagger in a slobberknocker that eventually saw Zeb Colter throw in the towel for his man when he passed out to the pain of a modified STF! Needless to say then, Sabin has the experience edge and arguably more motivation on his side after the way Starks has punked him out over the past couple of months, but Ricky has proven himself time and time again to be the kind of plucky competitor that will get the job done no matter what! And that means we could be in for one hell of a match when these two finally settle the score live on Pay-Per-View!

Up next, the World Tag Team Championships are on the line as "The Honky Tonk Man" and my old pal Jerry "The King" Lawler defend against Joey Janela and (hopefully) a partner of his choosing! "Honky" and "The King" spent much of the summer claiming to travel the globe and beat the best teams in every country they supposedly visited, before finally returning to the States and setting their sights on Draper & Fowler. That culminated in a match on SLAM! just three weeks ago, where the two veterans of Memphis wrestling used their typically shady tactics to pick up the duke and claim the gold for the first time since SuperBrawl XIX! In the meantime, it's been a rollercoaster of a year for Joey Janela, having had many run-ins with Bo Dallas that saw his New Freebird team-mates picked off one-by-one before "The Bad Boy" was then forced to join Dallas' bizarre menagerie. However, something incredible seemed to happen along the way as the duo forged a bond against all odds, and arguably against Janela's better judgment, leading to them starting to team more and more regularly. It seemed like they were building some serious momentum...yet Bo Dallas suddenly vanished, leaving Joey Janela in the lurch. However, that didn't stop "The Bad Boy" from continuing on with their plans of challenging for the Tag Titles, even though he currently doesn't have anyone to team with. It's a precarious position to put himself in, but I for one think Joey deserves a ton of credit for showing so much guts against two of the craftiest superstars on the roster. The question remains though, can he find anyone willing to be his partner this Sunday...or will Janela have to go it alone against the self-styled "greatest tag team in the WORLD"? I guess we'll find out one way or another at All Hallow's Evil!


After the events of Summer Stampede, where Sasha Banks proved to be a mighty big thorn in Jade Cargill's side, forcing "The Total Package" to hit her opponent with the Women's Championship and intentionally get herself DQ'd, I think most fans expected to see a rematch between the two at All Hallow's Evil. Alas, Su Yung threw a major spanner in the works when her manager, "Father" James Mitchell, challenged Jade to put her title on the line against the undefeated Undead Bride at the start of October. No one would have blamed Jade for refusing the match, but "That Bitch" refused to back down from the fight, only for her bravado to end up backfiring when Sasha Banks showed up during the closing moments! The former "Boss'" presence opened the door for Su Yung and the "Spirit of Vengeance" walked right on through to claim the Women's Championship for herself! Still, you had to know that Cargill wasn't about to take that kind of loss lying down, and after dramatically kicking Fire N' Flava to the curb, she challenged Sasha Banks to face her one more time in a match to determine who'd face Su for the gold at All Hallow's Evil. But before that match could even take place, the self-styled "Artist" got a taste of Jade's wrath first-hand when "The Total Package" decimated both her and her manager on their way to the ring, leaving the pair of them in a pool of their own blood! With Banks out of the way, that then clears the path for Cargill to try and reclaim the top prize in the women's division...though doing so may well be easier said than done! After all, Su Yung hasn't been pinned or submitted all year long, instead defeating a veritable "who's who" of the women's division, including "La Hiedra", Nattie Neidhart, "ODB", Liv Morgan, and even former champion Ember Moon as well! It's safe to say then that we've got a real "immovable object meets unstoppable force" situation brewing, and it's anyone's guess as to how that's all going to shake out! One thing you can bet the house on though is that this is going to be an absolute barnburner!

And so we come to our main event! The Chamber of Horrors is a match so dangerous, it hasn't been seen in 30 years...and yet, Harry Smith decided to bring it back for All Hallow's Evil, where Chris Jericho will now have to defend the World Championship! Needless to say, "Le Champion" was far from happy with that announcement, seeing this as some kind of conspiracy against him, but there's not a whole lot he can do to stop it! Fortunately for Jericho though, you could argue the odds are in his favor here as the only way he can lose the World Title is if he's the one strapped into that electric chair and jolted with 15,000 volts of electricity, which technically means he just needs to avoid that fate somehow! And with five other superstars in there with him, all battling it out for the victory, maybe Jericho's luck might hold out for the umpteenth time this year! Speaking of those five other superstars though, what an eclectic line-up! Luther was the first man announced, having racked up win after win for several months and taking Tyler Breeze to a time limit draw for the TV Title! "The Ringmaster" was soon joined by Drew McIntyre and Pete Dunne, with the General Manager offering them each a spot almost as a bargaining chip to stop the constant wild brawls between the two sworn enemies. Then came the surprise inclusion of Shannon Moore, hand-selected by Chris Jericho for a singles World Championship Match after having not been seen in an EWA ring for over a year. And yet, Moore pulled off a huge upset when he surprised Jericho with how badly he wanted it, forcing "The Demo God" to cut a retreat and get counted out in the process! And finally, the last spot was determined in an epic battle royal on last week's SLAM!, where to the shock of just about everyone (including himself, by the looks of it), Johnny Swinger dumped Clark Connors to earn his place! For Swinger, this is only his second ever match in an EWA ring and it's for the top prize in the game! For Moore, this is his shot to finally etch his name in the history books alongside his good friends Shane Helms and the Hardyz! For McIntyre and Dunne, both are no doubt still reeling from the effects of that knock-down, drag-out Steel Cage Match they had two weeks ago which saw "The Bruiserweight" steal the win from "The True King of Scotland!" And as for Luther? Well, who knows what's going through that whackjob's head at any given moment, though I imagine it can't be good news for the others in this match! All of which leads us back to Chris Jericho himself, who faces undoubtedly the toughest challenge of his long and storied career! Not including SuperBrawl, it's been six years since a World Champion has had to defend his title in a match with this many competitors, going all the way back to Brock Lesnar's Elimination Chamber victory at Metal Mayhem 2015! Can Jericho follow suit? Or will the unique stipulation be his downfall? We'll find out on Sunday, where anything goes for the first ten minutes and there'll be four coffins with either "Tricks" or "Treats" within them available to the competitors, before the shark cage containing the electric chair is lowered into the ring to set the stage for the "shocking" finale! History will be made in the O'Keefe Sports Complex and trust me when I say, you don't want to miss out on a single second of it!

Well, there you have it, folks! All Hallow's Evil is bound to be one of the most violent and unpredictable shows of the year, and with a whole lot of shocks and surprises to go along with it! You can check it out yourself by contacting your local Pay-Per-View provider, or by signing up to the world famous EWA Network today! And speaking of which, two weeks ago we saw the latest drop of classic EWA shows on the Network, covering the start of 2011 all the way up until to the beginning of April, so don't hesitate to check it out for yourselves! We'll have another drop of shows in mid-November as we dip our toes into some content from 2010 as well, but in the meantime, here's hoping you have a safe and happy Halloween! And that All Hallow's Evil provides all the tricks and treats you could ask for! Until next time,

BOOMER SOONER!