Post by Ross Report on Jan 24, 2019 18:07:30 GMT
This week's SLAM! got off to an explosive start before the show even began, with Santino Marella and Braun Strowman heading to ringside to answer the challenge of The Kings of Wrestling, as seen in an EWA.com exclusive! However, rather than come face-to-face with their old enemies, the Tag Team Champions found themselves interrupted by a couple of "old-timey" enemies instead. "The Vaudevillains" aren't willing to allow anyone to jump ahead of them for a title shot, resulting in Aiden English and Simon Gotch attempting a surprise attack on Strowman and Marella. However, the Tag Champs would rebuff those efforts and wind up standing tall, though it's a safe bet that "The Vaudevillains" aren't likely to give up on their golden aspirations quite so easily!
As for what kept "The Kings of Wrestling" too busy to accept Marella and Strowman's offer of a fight, it turned out they were preparing to viciously lay out the Big Show ahead of his showdown with Samoa Joe! Last week we saw the start of this shocking new alliance between Joe, Hero and Cesaro, and this week it was in full effect once again as "The Kings" softened up "The World's Largest Athlete" for their new ally. Still, you've got to give Show a heap of credit here. Even though he was obviously shaken up and in no condition to compete, he refused to walk away from the match. Indeed, at one point he even almost put Joe away with a well-timed chokeslam from out of nowhere. However, "The Samoan Submission Machine" once again proved how deadly a competitor he can be, cutting short every attempt by his opponent to get some momentum going and showing not even a slither of mercy along the way. That puts Samoa Joe at 2-0 already in 2019, as he quickly seeks to establish himself as the one to watch this year. If I were the rest of the roster, I'd consider keeping my back to the wall whenever Joe or his "Kings of Wrestling" buddies are around. After all, as Joe himself so eloquently put it later in the broadcast, he sees this run as his "last chance" to make an impact in the EWA after all those stops and starts over the years. And having that finite amount of time to finally live up to his potential has seemingly set him on a path of destruction like never before!
Throughout the night, we saw a mix of Gabriel scouting new allies and those potential partners offering their services to the not-so solitary "Reaper" as well. You can't really fault Gabriel's logic there either, as many of all the all-time greats have had a support network behind them to help them reach the heady heights of the EWA, such as Masato Tanaka and "Zaibatsu," Paulton Burchill and "The Empire," or Cody Rhodes and "The House of H." For Gabriel, his search saw him encounter the likes of Jervis Cottonbelly, Ken Raper and "King" WALTER, with the big Austrian having apparently already declared himself the once and future 2019 King of the Ring. On a side note, is it just me or does the EWA have more royal claims than an episode of "Game of Thrones" these days, with the 2018 "King of the Ring" PCO, "The Kings of Wrestling," the "The King" Lucas Calhoun, "King" Taven, "The Demon King" Finn Balor, "The Queen" Charlotte Flair, "The Queen of Spades" Shayna Baszler, "The Bullet Queen" Mandy Leon, "The Queen of Chaos" Winter, and I'll even throw a "Princess of Staten Island" in there too! Let's hope the war to sit atop the thrones of the respective men and women's division is a lot less bloody than HBO's hit TV show anyway! Getting back to Gabriel, it looked as if all his efforts were for nought until finally finding himself opposite Ember Moon and Marty Scurll. "The Villain" has also been searching for like-minded individuals to surround himself with recently, yet it seems as if Gabriel hasn't forgiven or forgot Scurll's efforts to steal his spot on Team Good Boi's in the weeks leading up to Super Brawl XVIII. As such, he turned down his fellow Brit's offer, only to then be caught off guard by none other than Brady Pierce, who has seemingly aligned his interests with Scurll's! Before he was spinebustered through a table, Gabriel had managed to challenge Scurll to find a partner for a tag match on next week's show, and it doesn't take a genius to guess who Marty has in mind. Yet who can Gabriel call on to even the odds after his efforts to strike up some new alliances were a bust? I guess we'll find out next Sunday!
Fresh off of his part in the assault on Big Show to kick off the show, Cesaro found himself in action against the man he helped take out on last week's SLAM!, John Cena. It's safe to say that "The Doctor of Thuganomics" was looking for a measure of revenge here, both for what that unholy alliance did to him last week, and what they did to his good friend and occasional tag team partner earlier in this week's show. Cena's thirst for retribution was evident right from the outset, yet it almost appeared to this old Okie that perhaps he was looking to jump back into action a little too soon after the beating he'd taken seven days prior. Despite a hell of a showing, Cena couldn't quite maintain a foothold in the match, leading to Cesaro busting out an altogether unique move from his extensive arsenal to put the former Super Brawl Captain away. "The Kings" continue to pile on the misery for poor John Cena and his closest ally, begging the question what do "The Doctor of Thuganomics" and Big Show need to do to turn things around?
Say what you want about Lacey Evans, but there's no question she's made a whole lot of waves in a short amount of time! And it looks as if "Schyster Inc" has grown with the addition of none other than Charlotte Flair to the ranks! I must admit, I was surprised to see Charlotte throw in with anyone else, but it makes a lot of sense when you consider how strong an alliance Daffney and Becky Lynch have formed in recent months, something that's likely to be strengthened even more with the arrival of Winter. Much like Gabriel's search during the rest of the show, it certainly doesn't hurt to have friends watching your back! Alas, having "The Nature Girl" in her corner didn't quite pay off for Lacey Evans when "The Classy Lady" challenged for the Women's Title later in the evening, not that Charlotte can be blamed obviously. In fact, it was another highly impressive performance by Lacey, with her and Daffney giving us a slobberknocker for the ages...that was, until "The Zombie Goddess" resorted to blinding her challenger with some deadly red mist. We've seen other superstars utilize that mysterious poison in the past, most notably Tajiri and Rosemary, and it was no less effective here, leaving the official with little choice but to call for the DQ. Even with Charlotte on her side though, the numbers game cleared still favored "Revelation," with the frightful foursome having Charlotte and Lacey right where they wanted them, yet thanks to IRS, they managed to escape before too much damage could be done.
In other women's competition, JoJo took on Winter in "The Queen of Chaos'" in-ring debut. While JoJo certainly has plenty more experience than just about any other superstar in the EWA women's division, there's a chance she may well have underestimated her opponent this past week, with Winter proving to be as cold and unforgiving as her seasonal namesake. And she wasn't averse to bending a few rules either, with a gauging of JoJo's eyes leading directly to the Ice Breaker and what has to be considered a major upset. If this performance was anything to go by, I dare say that Winter will be a force to be reckoned with over the coming weeks and months!
Ahead of his teaming up with Frank Shamrock to take on the duo of Lucas Calhoun and Brady Pierce, Fit Finlay bared his soul before the EWA Universe as he broke down just why he took up the MMA veteran's open challenge last week and why he was willing to team with him on this week's show. "The Fighting Irishman's" passion for the wrestling business and how it should be conducted is truly inspirational, and an example that other superstars would do well to follow. The match that followed was one made up of "strange bedfellows," with neither teams really getting along all that well as they all seek the National Championship. Or in Frank Shamrock's case, to keep it. In the end though, it was almost a case of which duo could get along long enough to outlast the other, with some miscommunication between Pierce and Calhoun allowing Finlay to capitalize with a roll-up for the three count. One has to think that should put him one step closer to another shot at Shamrock's National Title sometime in the near future.
We also heard directly from Frank's older brother, with the World Heavyweight Champion making some time for an interview this week! It's fair to say that Ken Shamrock had a few choice words about PCO's and his manager "Father" James Mitchell after getting left laying by "The French Canadian Frankenstein" one week prior. One thing's for sure though, no matter what Mitchell and PCO throw at him, Shamrock is a proud World Champion and one that has every intention of making sure everyone knows that his title is the pre-eminent championship in all of professional wrestling.
"The World's Most Dangerous Man" would get a closer look at his first challenger come the main event, joining my broadcast colleagues Scott Stanford and Don West at ringside for the "Battle of the Monsters." And boy, what a hoss battle it was, with those two hard-hitting, thick-necked, rough-and-ready bruisers dishing out all kinds of punishment to one another! Don't be fooled into thinking just because of their size that they're one-trick-ponies however. PCO and WALTER have more than just a power game in their wheelhouse, with both competitors showing off their incredible athleticism on top of their ungodly strength. Just like we saw the week prior, Sable once again came out to offer her support for WALTER, as the self-styled 2019 King of the Ring looked to upset the genuine article from 2018. If there were any concerns that PCO's lack of action since winning that prestigious tournament way back in early November might put him at a disadvantage here, they were quickly allayed. And yet, that's not to sell WALTER short either, as he took everything "The French-Canadian Frankenstein" had to offer and returned it in kind. Ultimately though, this one came down to the finer details, with "Father" James Mitchell attempted to help his undead monster by removing the turnbuckle padding, only to draw the ire of Ken Shamrock. While that was going on however, Sable then removed the turnbuckle in the opposite corner, with WALTER managing to use it to his advantage behind the Referee's back, resulting in a gigantic win for the "Ring General." I hate to speculate what this might mean for the big Austrian, but one has to believe that beating the current number one contender will do his career the world of good. And with Collision Course still several weeks away, could WALTER somehow squeeze his way into PCO's title opportunity? And should that happen, how on earth can Ken Shamrock survive against both Godzilla and King Kong at the same time? I guess we'll have to wait and see how this story develops...
In the meantime, let's take a look at this week's top three movers and shakers:
1. WALTER
2. Schyster Inc
3. The Kings of Wrestling/Samoa Joe
The biggest win of WALTER's burgeoning EWA career is enough to hand him the top spot, as he took advantage of his golden opportunity over PCO. It was a big night for Schyster Inc, with the addition of Charlotte Flair to their ranks and Lacey Evans coming within a whisker of becoming the Women's Champion. And lastly, loathe though I am to encourage their despicable behavior, there's no denying that this new alliance between Samoa Joe and "The Kings of Wrestling" continues to dominate.
All in all though, it was another incredible show, and a shining example of why the EWA is the home for all the best wrestling action! Tune in next week as we find out the fallout from that blockbuster main event, as well as the latest developments in all your favorite rivalries! Until then,
BOOMER SOONER!
