Ross Report - 2/26/22

Taking a break from the SLAM! Post-Show Panel, good ol' JR is back with what brought me to the dance in the first place, The Ross Report! It feels like an age since the last time the EWA was on Pay-Per-View, yet it's been an exciting start to 2022 with a brand new show, lots of new and returning faces, as well as some heated rivalries right across the board! With that in mind then, let's take a closer look at what we can expect come tomorrow night's Collision Course!


This will be the first Collision Course event we've had since 2019, a night where Marty Scurll beat Gabriel to force him to join "The Horde", the late Daffney defended the Women's Title against Lacey Evans in a wild Falls Count Anywhere Match, and we saw new Tag Team and National Champions crowned in "The Vaudevillains" and Fit Finlay respectively! This year's show will be kicking off with the open challenge thrown out by "Team Taz" as HOOK looks to continue his dominant run during the opening months of the year. The son of "The Human Suplex Machine" has already proven to be a chip off the old block, but he could well face his toughest challenge to date when he battles the man who answered the call on the Valentine's edition of SLAM!, "Cowabunga" Colten Gunn! The self-styled "Dynamic Dude" is the son of Billy Gunn, and clearly inherited a lot of his father's innate confidence as well as his natural athletic ability. Colten has already picked up one impressive victory on the last EWA USA, but if he could hand HOOK his first loss here, it would go a long way in propelling him straight up the card! At the same time though, if HOOK can keep his winning streak going, it might not be long before he receives a title opportunity of some kind. Either way, this should be an interesting clash between two second generation superstars who've got all the tools to make it to the top!


Up next, things have quickly become heated between Shark Boy and Chris Masters since their initial clash on the Valentine's edition of SLAM! As I'm sure you'll recall, that match saw Masters get disqualified for bashing his opponent in the skull with a bottle of clam juice after being frustrated in his inability to put "Stone Cold" Shark Boy away. As I told Eric Bischoff on the last SLAM! Post-Show Panel, that sums up why "The Masterpiece" is little more than a bully looking to throw his weight around and pick on those smaller than he is. In fact, he's been proving that since the first moment he stepped in front of an EWA audience during "The Masterlock Challenge", yet Masters may have bitten off more than he can chew when it comes to the masked mariner. Indeed, Shark Boy has proven to be a ferocious competitor already, and one who doesn't back down from a fight. Hell, you could say he almost reminds me of a certain Texas Rattlesnake in that regard, among several other traits. And after what went down on last week's EWA USA, when Masters interrupted a backstage interview with Shark Boy by this time blindsiding him with a steel chair, it's little wonder that Sharky demanded this rematch be held under No Disqualification rules! In that kind of "anything goes" environment, you've got to believe that Masters' size and strength advantage may well be nullified when Shark Boy is free to use whatever weapons are at his disposal to take "The Adonis" out...but let's not forget, those rules also apply to Masters as well, meaning it would be a big mistake for Shark Boy or the EWA Universe to underestimate his ruthlessness. Especially given how embarrassing another loss to Shark Boy might be for someone as narcissistic as the Los Angeles native!


It's been so refreshing to see Aliyah turn over a new leaf since winning the Women's Championship for a third time. "The Boujee Bratz" perhaps fell victim to the vices of the people she surrounded herself with over the last two years, but since her surprise return at last year's King of the Ring, Aliyah has been determined to be better. Someone who's clearly taken offence to that though has been Alexa Bliss, with the self-styled "Goddess" having moved on from her rivalry with Nattie Neidhart's "Dungeon Dynasty" to call her shot at the Women's Title! Indeed, "Team Bliss" would interrupt Aliyah's championship celebration to demand an opportunity for the gold, resulting in a back-and-forth that eventually saw Tyson Tomko shockingly strike Aliyah with a devastating big boot! As a result, the proposed tag team match pitting Alex Shelley and Tomko against "Beer Funny" on the following SLAM! was changed to a six person tag team match after Aliyah begged Harry Smith to insert both herself and Alexa Bliss in the mix! And what a match it was, leading to a heated exchange between the Women's Champion and her number one contender that saw Aliyah gain a small measure of payback, albeit not nearly enough as far as "The Boujee Bratz" was concerned. Regardless, Aliyah's team picked up the victory there, which has surely upset "The Goddess'" preparations for the match but not hurt Bliss' confidence if her promo on last week's EWA USA was anything to go by! The question is though, can Alexa do what few others have done and defeat Aliyah when the championship is on the line? Or will Aliyah continue to be the standard bearer for the women's division, much as she has done since her debut? I guess we'll find out tomorrow night!


I think I can speak for most EWA fans when I say we've all been shocked by the change seen in Drew McIntyre over the past two months. "The True King of Scotland" had been a paragon of virtue since arriving in the EWA just prior to last year's Civil War, but it seems as if the disappointments he suffered against Pete Dunne and in his World Championship endeavors finally caused something in McIntyre's mind to snap. As such, he found himself with a new mindset and some new allies in Thom Latimer, Rickey Shane Page, Killer Kelly and Clark Connors! The newly dubbed "Decree" quickly made a huge impact by decimating Dak Draper before his scheduled match with Drew could take place, allowing them to lay claim to the Tag Team Titles solely for themselves. On top of that, "The Decree" were also responsible for laying out Shannon Moore on the very first SLAM! of the year, leaving the National Champion in a pool of his own blood! Ever since that moment, Moore has been hell-bent on revenge, bringing the returning Jeff Hardy along for the ride! Together, they called out McIntyre and his new crew in search of a fight, but cooler heads would prevail as "The Prince of Punk" threw down the challenge for a "Winner Takes All Match" at Collision Course, his National Championship versus "The Decree's" Tag Team Titles! "The True King of Scotland" eagerly accepted the challenge, but with the Pay-Per-View still two weeks away at that point, Jeff Hardy threw down the gauntlet for a preview match to help shake off some ring rust. At the behest of the sinister Thom Latimer, Clark Connors was put forward as the proverbial sacrificial lamb, yet "The Charismatic Enigma" was too much for the youngster to handle! However, that scenario almost seemed to be inconsequential to "The Decree", instantly getting the jump on Jeff Hardy as soon as the match was over! Had Shannon Moore not been on hand with a steel chair to run off McInytre and his cronies, who knows if his long-term friend would have survived that beating to take part in tomorrow night's slobberknocker of a clash! Even still, Moore and Hardy will need to be extremely wary of the numbers advantage "The Decree" have. I'm sure Rickey Shane Page, Killer Kelly and Clark Connors will all be accompanying McIntyre and Latimer to ringside, and their presence could prove costly. Still, I can't remember the last time I've seen Shannon Moore and Jeff Hardy looking as focused as they do this week, and that eagerness to get their own back and capture the Tag Team Championships at "The Decree's" expense might be all the motivation they need! We'll see if it plays out that way, but one thing I can say for certain, this extremely volatile situation could well steal the entire show!


Last but not least, we move to our blockbuster of a main event! Chris Jericho has had his fair share of critics since making his return at SuperBrawl XX, yours truly chief among them, but there's no arguing with the fact that he keeps getting the job done time after time. If anything, it's worth noting that in the last year, "Le Champion" has only been pinned once in an EWA ring, when Kevin Owens beat him for the National Title in that incredible Cage Match at Red, White & Bruised! You can arguably point to the caliber of a lot of his opponents and some of the nefarious tactics he's utilized to help rack up that win record, but it doesn't change the fact that Jericho is a crafty veteran who won't hesitate to do whatever it takes to keep the gold around his waist. Indeed, there's a good reason why Jericho became only the third superstar in EWA history to retain the World Championship at SuperBrawl. And yet, his attempt to celebrate that historic moment was interrupted by the arrival of the 2021 King of the Ring Santino Marella, making the announcement that "The Italian Stallion" would be his first challenger of the year! If Jericho is the most decorated man in EWA history, Santino Marella is a close second, and his success at last year's King of the Ring helped him earn a Captains spot at SuperBrawl, where he ended the match as first runner-up. Of course, the crown also guaranteed him a one-on-one shot at the gold as well, though surprisingly, this is only the fourth time in seven years he's had an opportunity at the biggest prize in the business, with two of those previous matches coming in the aforementioned SuperBrawl and 2018's Civil War Match. With that in mind then, there's something really fascinating about this one. Between Jericho's natural ability to succeed and Santino's doggedness in the face of adversity, I'm expecting a classic battle between the two of them. However, after Jericho made a deal with Dario Cueto for Mil Muertes to soften Marella up on last week's EWA USA, one has to wonder if "The Italian Stallion" will be in any fit state for this championship bout. With his back and ribs injured by "The Man of 1000 Deaths", that obviously leaves Santino extremely susceptible to the dreaded Walls of Jericho...but as we saw at SuperBrawl, he'll also have to be on the lookout for the Judas Effect as well, not to mention any potential interference from "Soul Train" Jones (formerly known as Virgil but now known as "Soul Train" Jones for legal reasons) and Omos. All in all then, it's safe to say that the odds are stacked against Santino, and yet, it's when his back is against the wall that Marella is typically at his best. All I know is, no matter how confident he might be heading into this one, Jericho can't afford to take Santino lightly. There's been far too many superstars over the years who can attest to the folly of that mistake!

So there you have it, folks! There might only be five matches on the card, but each and every one of them promises to pack one hell of a punch! And with so many superstars on a collision course with one another, we're guaranteed of at least one championship changing hands thanks to that "Winner Takes All Match"...the question is, will any others follow suit? I guess we'll find that out tomorrow night, along with a whole lot more! In the meantime though, you can check out this month's additions to the EWA Network as we make a start on the chaotic year that was 2009! There's currently over 670 EWA events available for your viewing pleasure though, so why not take the chance to check out the archives for yourself and see why the E-Wrestling Alliance has been the number one wrestling promotion in the world for the past two decades! I'll see y'all on the next Post-Show Panel along with Renee Young and Eric Bischoff, but for now, this is good ol' JR saying,

BOOMER SOONER!