Post by Ross Report on Oct 30, 2018 23:32:49 GMT
All Hallows' Evil will probably be remembered as one of the most competitive shows that the EWA has ever produced, with all eight matches going right down to the wire! And just to make the broadcast extra special, we also saw the return of "The Mistress of the Dark," and long-time friend of the EWA, Elvira to play guest host, providing plenty of spooky chuckles throughout the night!
It wasn't all fun and games though as the 2018 King of the Ring officially got underway with a rematch from two weeks ago as Fit Finlay went head-to-head WALTER! These two hardened "Ring Generals" picked up where they left off in brutal fashion, with both superstars inspired by their respective children to go for broke. For Finlay, he was continuing to fight for his son Brogan as he battles cancer...for WALTER, he was fighting to save his daughter Klara from the evil clutches of "Them." Those demonic clowns would make their presence felt during the contest, not only ominously showing Brogan sleeping in his hospital room, but also the empty room where Klara had been kept locked up as well. In the end though, their actions allowed "The Fighting Irishman" the opening and arguably the inspiration he needed to pick up the victory and advance to the semi-final! What WALTER's loss means for Klara's well-being, however, remains to be seen.
As usual, the bWo's attempts to earn their jobs back didn't exactly go to plan. First they mistook "The Yeti" for the General Manager after apparently not watching the end of last week's SLAM!, only to bump into Sable, who made it plain they were still fired. Maybe you'll have better luck next month, fellas!
Blue Pantaloons looked to make her first defence of the Women's Championship, putting the gold on the line against two former champions in Dominatrix and Tessa Blanchard. This was just as unpredictable as you'd imagine, with Dominatrix taking advantage of the fact that she couldn't get disqualified by bringing in a Singapore cane and even handcuffing Ms Pantaloons to the bottom rope! It looked for sure that Dominatrix was on her way to victory, especially after all her recent success over Tessa Blanchard, yet "The Queen of the Carolinas" refused to stay down! In the end, despite Blue Pantaloons escaping her cuffs and battling her way back into the contest, she would inadvertently get caught with a red mist from Dominatrix that allowed Tessa to capitalize, rolling her up and picking up her second Women's Championship! While Blanchard would have no doubt preferred to have finally pinned her rival Dominatrix for that honor, the fact that she holds the gold will most likely be plenty of comfort enough, I'm sure!
That wasn't all from the women's division however, as Charlotte and Becky Lynch would settle the score in a wild Submission Match! With all that mutual hatred between them, it's little surprise they were duking it out before the bell sounded, starting as they meant to go on. "The Nature Girl" was obviously out for revenge after that vicious assault two weeks ago, but it would be Becky who used a steel chair to gain the early advantage. Indeed, this one was similar to the Shamrock/Trevor Mann Submission Match from Summer Stampede, with the onus more on beating one another into giving up rather than utilizing wrestling holds to get the job done. Eventually though, even in spite of Becky having worked over the arm throughout this war, Flair was able to bridge up into the Figure Eight and force her opponent to pass out from the pain! However, Charlotte wouldn't get much opportunity to celebrate as who should choose that moment to make their return to the EWA but Daffney! "The Zombie Goddess" shocked the entire world as she annihilated the already battle-worn Charlotte, smashing a Jack O'Lantern over her head and then planting her with the Lobotomy to stand tall! While many had pegged the winner of this Submission Match for a future Women's Title opportunity, I guess you can say that Daffney has other ideas!
This past week saw Skinner signed to an EWA contract, with the hunter offering some words of warning for the rest of the roster. From what I understand, we'll hopefully see Skinner make his in-ring debut next week.
I can't recall a situation where Brock Lesnar was ever really the underdog before, but that was certainly the case last night! With his well-documented shoulder issues as well as his soon-to-be-ex-wife Sable looking to screw him over, "The Beast" found himself with his toughest challenge to date. It was one the Big Show was up to the task for as well, with "The World's Largest Athlete" looking to gain some revenge for Lesnar eliminating him at Civil War to begin his second reign as World Champion, not to mention becoming champion himself. It's a wonder the ring could survive these two behemoths slinging one another around too, as neither superstar held anything back, just as you'd expect in this kind of environment. Alas, after conquering one mountain last week, Big Show would be unable to scale another, eventually falling victim to an incredible F-5 to see Brock retain the gold, albeit an F-5 that damn near broke himself in the process. Even in victory though, Lesnar's night from hell was far from over...
In our second King of the Ring quarter final match, the undefeated Nick Aldis took on a man with something to prove to himself as much as everyone else in Gabriel. This was everything you'd expect from these two supremely talented Brits, with the story of the match being Aldis' attempts to utilize the King's Lynn Cloverleaf, just as he's done to great effect in recent battles against PCO and "The Miz." However, Gabriel's persistance saw him repeatedly escape the move before finally managing to counter Aldis' efforts into a modified small package, surprising "The National Treasure" to score the three count. One can only imagine the bitter disappointment Aldis must be feeling right now, but at the same time, this was just what "The Solitary Reaper" needed to help boost his confidence again after Sable derailed his month. And it now means we're in for what should be a classic battle when Gabriel goes one-on-one with Fit Finlay in the semi-finals! That's got barnburner written all over it, folks!
With Brock Lesnar's place in the main event secured, it now came down to the other Double Jeopardy Match to determine who'd join him. This one had been billed as the final encounter between Trevor Mann and Ken Shamrock after an intense rivalry that has spanned several months, and it sure looked as if they thought this might be their last chance to lay hands on one another! It's well-documented just how dangerous Shamrock is on the mat, with few grapplers sharing his ability to tie opponents in knots and contort their bodies in the most painful of ways. At the same time though, I'd argue that there's nobody in the sport right now with the high-flying finesse of Trevor Mann. "The One And Only" does a damn good job of living up to his moniker, pulling off amazing moves that set him apart from everyone else as well as using his phenomenal speed and surprising power game to good effect. And with so much at stake here, this was a fitting contest to finally determine just who would emerge the victor in this feud, as Shamrock followed up on making Mann submit during the Sin City Survival Elimination Match last month by pinning him here at All Hallows' Evil! Both competitors deserve all the plaudits they'll no doubt receive after delivering such a slobberknocker!
"The Kings of Wrestling" came surprisingly close to losing the Tag Titles within the opening minute of their match with Braun Strowman and Santino Marella, after being caught off-guard by their opponents. However, Chris Hero and Cesaro showcased that incredible never-say-die attitude that has seen them rise to the top of the division and become arguably the standout team of 2018, or at least sharing that honor with OVE anyway as some folks might feel. "The Kings" doggedly fought their way back into the match, but that doesn't mean that the odd couple pairing of Marella and Strowman didn't come mighty close to acquiring the gold either, showing how far they've come as a team in a matter of months as well! Not to play "armchair quarterback" here, but it seems to me that the challengers made one mistake which cost them, when "The Italian Stallion" attempted to grab one of the Tag Title belts and smash Chris Hero in the face with it. If he'd relied on his own abilities rather than resorting to cheating and affording "The Knockout Artist" valuable seconds to recover, who knows how this one would have ended up? Instead, "The Kings" continue to reign supreme!
When "The World's Most Dangerous Man" returned to active competition in June, he came to the EWA with a list of individuals he wanted to face. Brock Lesnar's name was very much on that list, with Shamrock finally getting his hands on "The Beast" in the main event of the evening. I find it nothing short of breath-taking that after going through two wars like champion and challenger did earlier in the night, they still had enough left in the tank to compete on the level they did in their first ever singles match together. It tells you everything you need to know about what kind of champion Brock Lesnar is as well, wasting little time in busting Shamrock open and then ragdolling his opponent even though his shoulder was practically hanging by a thread at that point. Then again, how can you not be impressed by the 54 year old MMA veteran, who showed such astonishing tenacity to keep going against arguably the greatest pound-for-pound fighter this business has ever seen. And he wasn't just hanging in there either, as Shamrock had Lesnar on the ropes several times during this war, coming within a whisker of walking out with the World Championship! It's a shame then that it came down to a somewhat controversial finish, where Shamrock had the Champion caught in the ankle lock, only for Sable to crash the party, looking to throw in the towel for her estranged husband. However, "The World's Most Dangerous Man" didn't want to see it go down that way, taking the towel away from Sable and then receiving a nasty slap for his troubles, which in turn allowed Lesnar to connect with the F-5 and pull off yet another huge win on this latest run! But you've got to wonder, at what cost did this victory come after all the warnings of requiring immediate surgery and retiring from the ring as soon as possible?
After all that exciting action, here's my picks for this week's top three movers and shakers:
1. Brock Lesnar
2. Ken Shamrock
3. Tessa Blanchard
What Brock Lesnar accomplished last night was simply inhuman, overcoming more adversity than he's ever faced in the EWA before. At this point, even if his arm fell off tomorrow, I honestly no one can beat him for the gold. Still, coming in at number two, you've got to give Ken Shamrock credit for taking Lesnar to the absolute limit, while also finally laying his rivalry with Trevor Mann to rest. And last but by no means least, Tessa Blanchard pulled off a shock victory to capture the Women's Championship for a second time against two hungry opponents, proving yet again why the women's division is arguably the most competitive in the entire EWA right now!
As always, I'd love to hear your own picks via our Twitter page. In the meanwhile, don't forget to send in your questions for this Friday's edition of JR's Mailbag, which you can do either on Twitter or right here on EWA.com.
With All Hallows' Evil in the books, our attention quickly turns towards the King of The Ring! Fit Finlay and Gabriel have already advanced, but this weekend we'll find out who'll join them in the semi finals as PCO takes on Marty Jannetty, and Big Show does battle with Trevor Mann! And on top of that, we'll have ourselves a brand new Guest GM too! Don't miss out on any of the action when Sunday Night SLAM! returns!
BOOMER SOONER!
