Post by Ross Report on Jan 30, 2019 15:24:20 GMT
SLAM! kicked off this week with the newly expanded ranks of "Revelation" looking to celebrate Daffney retaining the Women's Title seven days prior. Of course, what they failed to mention was that "The Zombie Goddess" only did so after intentionally getting herself disqualified against Lacey Evans by spraying poison mist in her eyes, but I digress. It all led to Becky reiterating her controversial accusations about Ric Flair, which in turn led to some shocking footage of "The Nature Boy" being seduced by Daffney. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Charlotte Flair didn't take too kindly to this "revelation," heading out to confront the EWA Women's Champion! She would be joined by her new teammate in Schyster Inc, Lacey Evans, someone with a bone to pick with Daffney and co herself. After even more attempts by Becky and Winter to goad Charlotte with disgusting accusations, it was decided that we'd see a match next week with Charlotte and Lacey teaming up to take on Daffney and Winter, before we got a sneak preview of that battle as all six women went to war. Despite the odds being against them though, Lacey and Charlotte managed to clear the ring and gather themselves, with "The Classy Lady" declaring she also wants a rematch for the gold in a Falls Count Anywhere Match...yet instead, she was confronted by her opponent on the night, Scarlett Bordeaux. And what a match that was to kick off the in-ring action, with "The Perfect Ten" proving she's a whole lot more than a pretty face! Granted, she spent much of the contest bending the rules almost to breaking point, but Lacey showed great fighting spirit to keep battling back. One has to wonder if Ms Evans should even have been competing given the effects of that "red mist" from the week prior, but she certainly didn't let that dastardly attack handicap her. However, in the end, Scarlett managed to pull a dirty move out of her bag of tricks and pick up the debut victory, while also landing Lacey her first official loss. I'm sure I'm not alone in thinking that the women's division is really heating up right now!
It's nice to see that the bWo are making the most of being back under EWA contract by, er...sitting on lawn chairs and smoking dubious cigarettes. I'd probably wager that this particular PSA wasn't FCC approved though.
A big question coming into this week's SLAM! was just who would Gabriel find to partner him against Marty Scurll and Brady Pierce? Well, despite being on the lookout for new allies to form a group, it seems "The Reaper" decided he DIDN'T actually need a partner after all. Yet, just to play by the rules, he surprisingly picked none other than Ken Raper! With all due respect to the veteran superstar, I'm not sure he'd have been many people's first-choice, and as it turned out, it was one that ended up backfiring on Gabriel, as he wasn't able to start the match as intended after getting knocked off the apron by Brady Pierce. As such, the combination of Scurll and Pierce made short work of Raper, before then laying out Gabriel for the second week running for good measure. Needless to say, this wasn't the way Gabriel had hoped this night would go.
Samoe Joe has proven to be just as vicious with his words as he has been with his actions lately, and his actions have been downright deadly. After verbally cutting Jake "The Snake" Roberts down during the broadcast, Joe then had the opportunity to do so physically as well in Jake's much anticipated return to the ring. I'll be honest, folks...I got goosebumps watching my old friend from Stone Mountain, Georgia back in action. He may be 63 years young and fighting against arguably the most dangerous superstar on the EWA roster right now, but he gave one hell of a showing for himself this week, putting on a real barnburner performance! Indeed, there was a couple of moments during this one where I thought we were due to see a huge upset by "The Snake." However, Joe is as cerebral as they come, eventually hitting a wicked yakuza-style kick to Jake while his head was against the ring stairs, and there was no coming back from that. One Muscle Buster later and that's all she wrote, but boy, what an effort by Roberts.
As we've seen over the past few weeks though, "The Samoan Submission Machine" doesn't necessarily seem content with just winning matches, but hurting opponents too. And after putting Jake down, he tried to do the same by tying Jake up in the ropes and then looking to set alight the burlap sack containing his pet python, Damien! Before Joe could do so though, John Cena came gunning for revenge, putting Joe down with an AA, before Jake followed up with a wicked DDT, as they then dumped Damien on top of their mutual enemy! "The Kings of Wrestling" tried to swing things back in the favor of Samoa Joe, only for the Big Show to block their efforts, even shrugging off a chair shot from Shayna Baszler in the process! While "The Kings" were able to escape with Joe and Shayna, it was obvious how shaken up they were after getting their own way over the previous few weeks. Keep an eye on this one, folks, because this rivalry is far from over!
Meanwhile, our 2018 "Rookie of the Year" stoppped by Harry Smith's office looking for an opportunity. While it admittedly seems strange to call a man with over 40 year's of wrestling experience a "rookie," it's hard to argue that any newcomer made as big an impact last year as Fit Finlay. Still, "The Fighting Irishman" continues to live up to his moniker by convincing Smith to give him a challenge to prove he deserves a shot at the National Title. As such, next week he'll be taking on Lucas Calhoun, and then if victorious, he'll take on Brady Pierce as well! And if Finlay wins both matches, then he gets Frank Shamrock for the gold at Collision Course! Well, Finlay would run in to the self-styled "King" a little later, with the veteran knocking Calhoun on his keister after a tense verbal exchange. Could this be a sign of things to come next week? Considering how poor Lucas has yet to pick up a single victory in an EWA ring yet, I'd say the Vegas odds aren't necessarily in his favor.
It takes a warped mind to take such an obvious setback, like PCO losing to WALTER, and to somehow turn it into a victory. Then again, nobody has ever accused "Father" James Mitchell of being the most sane of men, so I guess it wasn't too surprising. Either way, "The Sinister Minister" seemed positively delighted at what Ken Shamrock's involvement in that aforementionmed result seemed to prove, continuing to sow the seeds for our World Championship encounter at Collision Course.
Next up was some more tag team competition, with the champions in non-title action against "The Rockers." I've gotta say, I was thoroughly impressed by Marty Jannetty and Shawn Michaels here, who managed to control a large portion of this contest, showing some of that trademark teamwork which made them so formidable back in the day. However, Braun Strowman and Santino Marella are champions for a reason, with the oddball duo managing to turn things back around after the Italian Stallion took a proverbial bullet for his partner, soon resulting in Marella and Strowman picking up the win. No sooner had they done so though than "The Vaudevillains" decided to crash the party, no doubt looking for revenge after those two teams scuffled the week before. On this occasion, and with the assist of Jervis Cottonbelly and Blue Pantaloons, "The Vaudevillains" managed to isolate Santino Marella and nail him with the Whirling Dervish for good measure. While "The Monster Among Men" may have recovered enough to run English, Gotch and co off, the damage was most certainly done! Yet rather than let sleeping dogs lie, "The Vaudevillains" would then invite Marella and Strowman to meet them next week on the returning "World Service." Considering just how hectic that show turned out to be when they invited "The Kings of Wrestling" on last September, we may need to batten down the hatches next Sunday!
The lovely Renee Young introduced us to one of the latest signings to the EWA roster, with Lio Rush looking to make a big splash. "The Man Of The Hour" might be his own biggest fan, but there's no doubt that this talented young superstar can back it up in the ring when all is said and done, and I for one can't wait to see Rush in action as soon as possible!
After a gigantic win over PCO the previous week, WALTER was back in action against the veteran Flash Funk this time around. If truth be told, the big Austrian grappler barely broke a sweat taking care of his opponent, damn near kicking the former "2 Cold Scorpio"'s head off his shoulders before then addressing the crowd. It seems as if WALTER is still under the illusion that he is the 2019 King of the Ring despite that tournament being many months away, yet I'm not about to tell him any different. On the contrary, the so-called "Clown With The Crown" sent a clear message to Harry Smith about what he believes he deserves after defeating the number one contender to the World Championship seven days prior, and you've got to say he makes a good point. I'm sure we won't have to wait too long to get Harry Smith's response either!
And then we come to our main event! As some of you may have seen on EWA.com this week, Ken Shamrock threw out an open challenge to anyone looking to fight him. Well, to the surprise of many, that challenge was answered by none other than Shamrock's old MMA rival, Tito Ortiz! While Tito may have had the advantage in the Octagon though, it turned out to be a different story in the squared circle, with "The World's Most Dangerous Man" finally forcing Ortiz to tap to the ankle lock after a fun match-up! They even showed some good sportsmanship after the fight, seemingly putting their long and often-bitter rivalry to an end...when all of a sudden, James Mitchell and PCO appeared! "The French-Canadian Frankenstein" first took out Ortiz before then getting caught by Shamrock, yet the big man shook off the World Champion's ankle lock attempt as if it was nothing! Talk about a dire situation for Ken Shamrock, with the deadliest weapon in his arsenal seemingly no use against the undead monster controlled by "The Sinister Minister." And that begs the question, if PCO can't feel pain, then how exactly is Shamrock going to defeat him come Collision Course?
With another show in the bag, let's take a look at this week's top three movers and shakers:
1. The Vaudevillains
2. Scarlett Bordeaux
3. John Cena/Big Show/Jake Roberts
They may not have had a match this week, but "The Vaudevillains" still sent shockwaves throughout the tag team division by laying out the champions! Will that be enough to earn them a title opportunity? We'll see on "The World Service" next week. In second spot, Scarlett Bordeaux celebrated a debut win over Lacey Evans, handing "The Classy Lady" her first EWA loss in the process. And last but by no means least, after weeks of running amok, the alliance of Samoa Joe and "The Kings of Wrestling" finally experienced a taste of their own medicine when John Cena, Big Show and Jake "The Snake" Roberts turned the tables on them. Could we see a six man tag at some point in the near future? I wouldn't bet against it!
Things definitely seem to be amping up as we get closer and closer to Collision Course! And there's no doubt still a whole lot of twists and turns to go before we get there! Until next time,
BOOMER SOONER!
