Post by EWA.com on Jan 9, 2022 22:12:29 GMT
After the video finishes buffering and the ad for Liberty Mutual allows you to hit the “skip ad” button, the cameras open up on a studio set somewhere in the Chase Center overlooking the ring as EWA fans begin leaving in droves. The camera zooms in on a smartly dressed Renee Young seated at the center of the desk with a big smile on her face.
RENEE YOUNG: Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the SuperBrawl Recap Show! I’m your host Renee Young and tonight we’re going to run through everything that happened on tonight’s historic show and how it’s going to impact the EWA moving into 2022! SuperBrawl is already considered the biggest event of the year for the EWA and I believe it lived up to the hype! Joining me tonight is one of the most controversial figures in EWA history, a former EWA General Manager and the man who set the pace for the 1990s with his forward thinking style and willingness to rock the boat… Eric Bischoff.
The camera pans over to the former EWA General Manager and mind behind wrestling’s boom period Eric Bischoff in a black suit. Bischoff is sporting the same smug smirk that made him loathed throughout the wrestling business.
ERIC BISCHOFF: Hello, Renee. It feels good to be home again.
RENEE YOUNG: Also joining us tonight is legendary announcer and writer of the Ross Report Jim Ross.
The camera pans away from Renee to the elder statesman of commentary Jim Ross. While his suit isn’t as nice as Bischoff’s, the Oklahoma native gives the camera tip of his cowboy hat.
JIM ROSS: Thank you for the kind words, Renee. It’s a pleasure to be here on camera and happy to bring the Ross Report live to all of the viewers at home.
RENEE YOUNG: You’re absolutely welcome, JR. I’m incredibly honored to be joined by two of the greatest minds in the wrestling business! This, viewers, is a brand new show here on the EWA.com beginning right here and right now! Before every edition of Sunday Night Slam, I’ll be joined here in the studios at the E-Arena by Eric and JR as we breakdown and analyze upcoming shows, discuss potential news and rumors, and provide you with a chance to see the EWA from a different perspective than you’re currently used to seeing. We hope that you’ll come on the ride with us. So, guys, I don’t know about you, but I’m excited to talk about SuperBrawl!
JIM ROSS: It was one heck of a show, Renee, and I think we’re going to be feeling the reverberations of this one for a long time to come!
ERIC BISCHOFF: It certainly had enough twists and turns to set up the next year for our roster - for better or worse.
RENEE YOUNG: Well, without further adieu… let’s get down to business!
RENEE YOUNG: This was only a three match card but you know SuperBrawl itself is always going to go the distance. That being said, there was something on the card for everyone and, if you like blood and violence, our opening contest was right up your alley. In a six-person, triple dog collar match… we saw the Dungeon Dynasty face off against Team Bliss. Now the first thing that came to mind for me was just how quickly this escalated…
JIM ROSS: Absolutely, Renee. Not just this match but this whole rivalry got bowling shoe ugly real quick. I’ve called my fair share of violent matches over the years but it didn’t take much time for all that bad blood to start spilling in the ring.
ERIC BISCHOFF: Well, Jim, they were swinging around steel chains. Have you ever felt just how heavy those things are? Each one had to weigh around 25 lbs and there were three of them in the ring. People were swinging them like whips, choking each other out with them, and wrapping them around their fists like crude brass knuckles. If someone hadn’t made it out of that match without spilling some blood I’d be surprised!
JIM ROSS: Obviously, Eric, but what I’m saying is that it surprises me how fast this escalated. Alexa Bliss has had a problem with the Dungeon Dynasty’s mentor for months now and with Nattie Neidhart’s absence she decided to carry it over to her students. I don’t know what that little jezebel’s problem is but she’s meaner than a rattlesnake when she doesn’t like you!
ERIC BISCHOFF: Of course she is. She wants to be at the top of this company. You don’t get to be a champion around her by being passive and shaking hands. That’s what makes Team Bliss so formidable and why they were able to pick up the win tonight. Tomko is all power, Shelley is the technically gifted grappler, and Alexa pulls the strings that keeps that unit operating. Josh Briggs is strong and Matt Hart is a technician in his own right, but they’re missing the strategic mind that gets the job done. Without their teacher, the Dungeon Dynasty were just a pack of sheep being led to the slaughterhouse.
JIM ROSS: Well, pardon my pun, but the Dungeon Dynasty are also a bunch of good kids with a lot of heart. I’ll give you credit for pointing out how they don’t have experience but Julia Hart did a great job out there leading her team. I, personally, don’t believe this rivalry is over in a longshot. The Dungeon Dynasty are going to learn from this loss and they’re only going to come back stronger for it - even more so if and when Nattie Neidhart is ready to rejoin them.
RENEE YOUNG: Let’s move on to our first championship match of the night, Aliyah versus Su Yung for the EWA Women’s Championship. What was interesting for me in this match was just how high the stakes were in such a short period of time. By winning this match, Aliyah broke new ground for herself in a lot of different avenues. First of all, Su Yung hadn’t been pinned or submitted since she debuted for the EWA back in March of this past year which is a massive feather in Aliyah’s cap. Additionally, Aliyah has now joined a pretty prestigious group of women’s competitors who have held the EWA Women’s Championship three times! Add that to being the 2020 Queen of the Ring, the 2020 Civil War winner, and the 2020 EWA Women’s Superstar of the year… Aliyah is perhaps the most decorated woman in the EWA in a long, long time.
ERIC BISCHOFF: It’s impressive when you mention all of her accolades in a row like that, Renee, but Aliyah also had been in the EWA since the early summer when she lost the EWA Women’s title to Ember Moon. After that she picked up a win over Taya Valkyrie who claims it was a “tainted” victory which I’m willing to agree with and now she’s in a title match. That’s a lot of rest leading up into a match against a competitor who was defending her title against Jade Cargill, Liv Morgan, and had been unbeaten for almost an entire year without taking much if any time off. Like I said, it sounds impressive when you lay out all of Aliyah’s accomplishments… but that’s like bragging that you feel better on a full night’s sleep than someone who just got done working the night shift. It’s hollow.
JIM ROSS: Now hold on, Eric! Renee just listed everything that Aliyah had accomplished and you seem to suggest that she didn’t “earn” that match against Su Yung?
ERIC BISCHOFF: All I’m saying, Jim, is that when I was the General Manager of the EWA, I wouldn’t have awarded a title match to someone who took a leave of absence and won her first match back thanks to the exposed steel of the corner turnbuckle. Maybe that’s how Harry Smith likes to do things here, but when I was running the show my competitors had to EARN their title shots.
JIM ROSS: Well it’s a good thing that you don’t run things here anymore, Eric, because Aliyah has been busting her butt for years now for the EWA and the women’s division. She’s been here through all the highs and lows and has always been one of the most gifted competitors as all of those accomplishments that you call “hollow” would suggest. The one criticism that has been lodged against Aliyah is that she took too many shortcuts thanks to Deonna Purrazzo and Robert Stone. Well, no one has seen hide nor hair from them since Aliyah came back. She won that title all on her own and redeemed herself in the eyes of the EWA fans!
RENEE YOUNG: If I may interject there are a lot of new faces in the EWA Women’s division that weren’t around when Aliyah was champion earlier this year. With the likes of former champion Jade Cargill, 2021 Queen of the Ring Taya Valkyrie, Alexa Bliss, Julia Hart, Liv Morgan, Ruby Soho, Lindsay Snow, Thunder Rosa, and more… Aliyah has her work cut out for her moving forward!
RENEE YOUNG: So that leads us to the main event and culmination of the year - SuperBrawl! In a long, grueling battle for the ages, Chris Jericho led his team to victory over the teams put together by Al Snow, Santino Marella, and Drew McIntyre. This was Chris Jericho’s unprecedented 3rd SuperBrawl victory as well as putting in him and teammate Shannon Moore into exclusive company as champions who entered and left SuperBrawl with their reigns intact. Now I’m not going to ask you to break down the captains or their teams since enough people have been doing that all week, but I would like your insight into the match itself. Starting with you, JR. What stood out to you this year?
JIM ROSS: I think this was the closest SuperBrawl that we’ve seen in recent history. Due to all four teams only being made up of three competitors, there was very little room for error and each man knew it. Team Santino, Team Snow, Team McIntyre, and Team Jericho were all equals in the match. There are a few things I’d like to call out though as I think they made a huge difference in the match itself. Dak Draper went on a tear early in the match when he secured the first three eliminations of the match before he himself was eliminated. Those are big eliminations too. The first man he eliminated was one half of the EWA Tag Team Champions Johnny Swinger and we saw how that played out. Then he eliminated the then TV Champion Danhausen and, shortly after, the man who walked out of SuperBrawl as the TV Champion Jimmy Havoc. Right there is an argument that Dak Draper is owed a TV title shot somewhere down the line. He is now on his third tag team title reign if my numbers are correct, came damn near close to winning the EWA National Championship a few weeks ago, and almost won the 2021 King of the Ring. When you take ALL of that into consideration - ol’ “Mile High Magnum” has all the markings of a future EWA World Champion. If King of the Ring wasn’t a coming out party for him, then SuperBrawl definitely is!
ERIC BISCHOFF: Okay, Jim, how about a counterpoint? Shannon Moore eliminated Dak Draper from SuperBrawl. Shannon Moore also successfully defended the National Championship against Draper and Ted DiBiase Jr a few weeks ago. Also, I’d go so far as to say that Shannon Moore staying alive in the SuperBrawl match for as long as he did helped seal the victory for Team Jericho. You want to talk about people who made a big impression this year, look at Shannon Moore. He came out of semi-retirement and became a champion and, now, a SuperBrawl winner.
JIM ROSS: I mean no disrespect to Shannon Moore at all, Eric. In fact, the opposite. There is no denying what that man has gone through over the course of the career and his life and the fact that he’s doing so well in the EWA is an inspiration to us all. I will tell you that another athlete that continues to impress me is Vladimir Kozlov. That man is a beast in the ring and had to be pinned by both Glenn Gilbertti and Honky Tonk Man in order to be eliminated. I see big things for Mr. Kozlov in 2022 if he keeps that momentum up! That to me, says so much about how Drew McIntyre drafted his team. Drew is another man who had a big 2021 and he managed to find two other men like him in the draft pool - big, powerful, and had bright futures ahead of them.
ERIC BISCHOFF: I’m glad you brought up McIntyre, Jim, because I want to point out how screwed he was in the closing moments of that match.
JIM ROSS: Screwed?
RENEE YOUNG: Yeah, what do you mean?
ERIC BISCHOFF: Santino should have been eliminated before he pinned Drew. As Drew had pinned Al Snow, Santino was tapping out to the Walls of Jericho. Snow and Santino were eliminated simultaneously and it should have just been down to Drew and Jericho at that point.
RENEE YOUNG: Are you suggesting that the referee should have been checking Santino to see if he tapped out instead of counting the pin for Drew?
ERIC BISCHOFF: No. He should have been doing both.
JIM ROSS: The man only has one pair of eyes, Eric.
ERIC BISCHOFF: The EWA is the biggest wrestling promotion in the world! You’re telling me that we can’t hire referees who are capable of multitasking? Or, hey, why weren’t there more referees out there monitoring a match featuring 12 men? Drew McIntyre has every right to challenge the outcome of this match!
RENEE YOUNG: Well ending the year as one half of the EWA World Tag Team Champions is certainly nothing to sneeze at either! Let’s quickly go over who are the new champions heading into 2022. We already discussed Aliyah, but let’s talk about the new tag team champions - Dak Draper and Drew McIntyre. Historically the two men who leave SuperBrawl as the tag team champions seldom work well together but Drew drafted Dak to be on his team. Do you think these men will be able to work with one another?
JIM ROSS: If you remember last year, Renee, the team of Al Snow and Kevin Owens worked surprisingly well together and I think Drew and Dak will two. I mentioned it earlier, but these two men are cut from the same cloth. Two, big talented hosses who are both on the cusp of being world champions. Plus with Dak’s experience as a multi-time tag team champion, I think these men could stand atop the division for a long time.
ERIC BISCHOFF: I agree. Frankly, anything is an improvement over those morons Swinger and Gilbertti. Drew and Dak will always have the size and power advantages over their opponents whether they are the Worldwide Underground, Honky Tonk Man and Jerry Lawler, or Swinger’s Palace.
RENEE YOUNG: Drew and Dak weren’t our only new champions coming out of SuperBrawl. As a member of Team Jericho, Jimmy Havoc was crowned the new Television Champion. Havoc shined at the beginning of the match as his more unhinged actions as well as being brand new on the EWA roster helped give Team Jericho a psychological factor.
JIM ROSS: This young man is crazier than a dog in a hubcap factory. He’s violent, sadistic, and willing to go to the deepest, darkest lengths in the ring more so out of fun than anything else. I think there are a lot of young men on the roster who would like a shot at that title though. Josh Briggs and Matt Hart showed a lot of courage tonight in the dog collar match just as Alex Shelley and Tomko showed a mean streak. That being said, Jimmy Havoc is dangerous and you know that fear factor is going to be a big intimidation factor for anyone who wants to challenge him for that title.
ERIC BISCHOFF: That’s why Jericho drafted him, JR. Jimmy Havoc’s reputation preceded him and SuperBrawl legitimized that for anyone who had any doubts. The TV title has always been the most unpredictable title considering the likes of Drew McIntyre, Danhausen, and Pete Dunne all held it in one year. In a lot of ways, an unpredictable sociopath like Jimmy Havoc is perfect for the TV title.
RENEE YOUNG: Now onto the first of two champions who retained their titles tonight. Shannon Moore walked into SuperBrawl with the National title and is now heading back to North Carolina with the National title. Talk about ending this year on a high note!
ERIC BISCHOFF: Shannon has had a lot of good luck this year, hasn’t he? He picked up a countout victory over Chris Jericho that brought him out of retirement, he quite literally found the National title at All Hallow’s Evil, and now he’s had three successful title defenses against competitors that people had given the advantage to. The thing about luck is that it eventually runs out. The question is when and where it will happen.
JIM ROSS: Come on, Eric. Try to give Shannon more credit than that!
ERIC BISCHOFF: I’m giving him a ton of credit, Jim. I’m also acknowledging that Shannon is always going to face an uphill climb. If I’m him, I’m looking out for guys like Dak Draper and Vladimir Kozlov or maybe even a crafty veteran like Honky Tonk Man. The National Title had a period of inactivity this past year and I see it picking up the pace in 2022. The only thing I can’t see is Shannon Moore still holding the title for much longer.
JIM ROSS: Yes, Shannon will face some uphill challenges but so will every other champion on the roster. Shannon has shown a lot of heart each and every time we’ve seen him in an EWA ring this year. He’s gutsy, he’s driven, and he’s finally getting the recognition that he has deserved over the last twenty years.
RENEE YOUNG: Finally we have a man who is no stranger to walking out of EWA pay-per-view main events with his head held high - the EWA World Champion Chris Jericho. Simply put, I can’t think of anyone who had as successful a year as Y2J. After returning out of nowhere at the 2020 SuperBrawl, winning the national title early into 2021, and winning the EWA World title this past August, Jericho has proven that the success he had over twenty years ago in the EWA was not a fluke. We’re entering year two of the Y2J experience, Eric, what are your thoughts on Jericho’s potential 2022?
ERIC BISCHOFF: Chris Jericho is the sort of competitor the EWA has been missing for years. Wily, intelligent, and very capable in the ring. He’s a once in a generation talent. Even when things don’t go his way, he’s quick to rebound. You said it yourself, he turned a SuperBrawl loss into a National title reign and then a National title loss to a World title reign. He’s also faced off with the EWA’s premier talent and walked away with the “W” each and every time. Now to answer your question about his 2022? I think he’s breaking Brock Lesnar’s record for longest title reign.
RENEE YOUNG: That would be one hell of an accomplishment. No one has come close to breaking that record since Samuel Shaw in 2017 and he fell short by 35 days. Do you think anyone could be a threat to that, JR?
JIM ROSS: I’m happy you asked me that question, Renee, because I do. Chris Jericho may have walked out of every world title defense with his head held high but not without controversy. He’s had a lot of help in the form of distractions from Omos and Soul Train Jones and what you call being “crafty” I will simply call being a cheater. Jericho has a lot of men gunning for his head right now. Drew McIntyre still has unfinished business with him. Shannon Moore holds a victory over Jericho via countout still. Then, of course, his most immediate threat is the 2021 King of the Ring Santino Marella. Don’t forget that SuperBrawl came down to Santino Marella and Chris Jericho as the final two competitors. Santino has some in-ring experience now with Jericho and Marella is as cunning as they come. He may have ended the night with a loss, but you know he’s learned a thing or two about Chris Jericho.
RENEE YOUNG: Well we will all just have to see how 2022 will unfold for the EWA. I’m Renee Young and they’re Jim Ross and Eric Bischoff. We’re out of time! See you all next time!