Post by Ross Report on Feb 5, 2019 0:45:45 GMT
Welcome to another Ross Report, as we take a look back at all the major goings on from this week's SLAM! And what a jaw-dropping way to start the show as "OVE" made their long awaited return after a four month suspension! Don't let the heroes welcome fool you though, folks...while their fellow "Buckeyes" might have loved seeing Sami Callihan and the Crist Brothers back in an EWA ring, something tells me they likely won't receive quite as warm a reception in many arenas outside their home state. Not after some of their antics last year, that's for sure. One thing that is certain though is that this dastardly trio have not just put the tag division on notice, but the entire roster! More on that in a bit.
Our first match of the night saw a contest between Al Snow and the Big Show, two firm fan favorites. "The World's Largest Athlete" has obviously had his hands full in recent weeks thanks to the new alliance between Samoa Joe and "The Kings of Wrestling," but he didn't have anything to worry about in that department this week as Joe, Hero and Cesaro all stayed away from SLAM! to presumably lick their wounds after what went down the week prior. Nonetheless, Al Snow proved yet again why you can never underestimate "The Snowman," putting Show down for the count to get a first win of 2019 under his belt.
Speaking of Big Show, it seems Buh Buh Ray Dudley has got some beef with the giant, as he looked to send a message by painting a flamingo on the wall of Show's locker room. Who knew Buh Buh had that kind of artistic flare? Not me! However, one thing he doesn't seem to have is a good grasp on the layout of the Schottenstein Center, as it turned out the former Tag Team Champion had painted the stunning mural in the temporary office of Harry Smith instead. Better luck next time, Bubbs! As for our esteemed GM, he found the image somewhat mesmerizing when he encountered it later in the show, but not enough to distract him from making a couple of big announcements. Namely that we'll see a huge Six Man Tag Match at Collision Course that'll pit the Samoa Joe/"Kings of Wrestling" alliance against John Cena, Big Show and Jake "The Snake" Roberts! Not only that, but "The British Bulldog" also made it clear that the EWA doesn't recognize WALTER as the 2019 King of the Ring, no matter what the terrifying Austrian may think otherwise. Needless to say, the so-called "Clown With The Crown" didn't take too kindly to that, physically harassing my broadcast colleague Scott Stanford in despicable fashion later in the show. Once again, I feel compelled to remind talent that there is no reason whatsoever for them to lay a finger on any non-wrestler contracted to the EWA. We're all here just trying to do our jobs after all. Shockingly though, WALTER's ranting and raving would then pave the way for the return of none other than the "Demon King" himself, Finn Bálor! It's been a helluva long time since we last saw the leader of the "Bálor Club," almost a year in fact, and he appears to have set his sights on WALTER! What exactly this means is anyone's guess though!
One of the aspects I was most looking forward to on this week's show was the debut of Bayley and Dakota Kai, two extremely talented new additions to the women's roster! And boy, they didn't disappoint either, putting on an impressive showing against the legendary Jumping Bomb Angels before picking up the duke. Trust me when I say these two are gonna be some big time players in the women's scene as the year progresses! And is it just me or does Bayley strike an uncanny resemblance to one of last year's surprise packages, Bradley? Then again, I think I'm long overdue another visit to the opticians.
Frank Shamrock seemed torn over whether or not to interfere in the search for a new number one contender by going to Harry Smith directly, while also taking great offence to a question posed to his brother Ken regarding who was the "better champion." It seems as if he's no intention of fighting the World Heavyweight Champion anytime soon, even if that is a match I'm sure would do some major league box office down the road. Either way, this wouldn't be the last we'd see of the MMA veteran this week, as I'll talk about a little later.
We also saw the return of "The World Service" as Aiden English and Simon Gotch hosted the Tag Team Champions. Or, at least, we thought they were going to host the Tag Team Champions. Instead, it was quite clearly Blue Pantaloons and Jervis Cottonbelly in some pretty hokey disguises, eventually resulting in the real Santino Marella to come on out, searching for his seemingly missing tag team partner. As it would turn out, Braun Strowman had somehow managed to be subdued by "The Vaudevillains" backstage and handcuffed to some arena piping so as to allow them to play out their little farce. However, we've seen before that "The Monster Among Men" is a tough man to keep trapped, somehow freeing himself before stomping down to ringside just as his partner was about to engage in a fight with their closest rivals. As such, "The Vaudevillains" wisely decided that discretion was the better part of valor, hightailing it out of the ring before Braun could lay a hand on them. Yet one thing we now know for sure is that Strowman and Marella have had enough of English and Gotch's antics, making official a Tag Team Championship Match at Collision Course that promises to be a barnburner of a fight if these last few weeks are anything to go by!
Speaking of tag team action, we also got a chance to see the eagerly-anticipated battle that put Charlotte Flair and Lacey Evans against Daffney and Winter after being set up the week prior. What a showcase this was for all four women, delivering a great commercial for just what the EWA women's division is all about. Truly, this was tag team wrestling at it's absolute best, and made even greater by the mutual loathing between each team. Of course, things don't tend to stay on an even keel whenever "Revelation" are around, and lo and behold, who should make her way down to ringside but Becky Lynch! "The Queenslayer" is still recovering from injuries suffered at Super Brawl, but that didn't stop Lynch from interjecting herself in the match at a crucial moment, denying Lacey a clean pinfall over the Women's Champion and then BASHING Charlotte with one of her crutches to force the disqualification. I have no idea where this is heading, but it seems clear to me that the issues between these two groups don't look like they're going to get resolved anytime soon, that's for damn sure.
After failing to find a qualified tag partner and falling to Marty Scurll and Brady Pierce the week before, Gabriel was aiming to bounce back against Marty Jannetty this past week. "The Reaper" had his working boots on though, showing some impressive intensity to put "The Rocker" away. However, the real story here is arguably what occurred after the match had concluded, with Scurll and Pierce looking to get the jump on Gabriel once again. After finding an opening though, Gabriel fought back, yet while he was beating on "The Villain," Brady Pierce refused to get involved. Rather than this be a sign of Scurll and Pierce's alliance falling apart however, it seems to have been part of their master plan, with Marty willingly allowing himself to be bloodied and beaten to try and bring the very worst out of Gabriel and thus make him realize he belongs with them. Instead, Gabriel seemed shocked by the depths of depravity he was capable of, walking away from the ring as he has to figure out exactly who he is and who he wants to be. Clearly Scurll and Pierce think they can turn Gabriel to their side, but will that be the case when all is said and done? I guess we'll have to wait and find out.
I've said it before but I'll say it again...I don't think anyone quite likes the sound of their own voice as much as "Father" James Mitchell. "The Sinister Minister" is a manipulative master of mind games, and here he tried to get in Shamrock's head after his go-to maneuver failed to elicit any kind of response on PCO the week prior. Of course, then Mitchell had to go and up the ante by making overt threats towards the World Champion's wife, which probably wasn't the smartest move to make. It evidently had the desired effect though, causing "The World's Most Dangerous Man" to seemingly snap and go after Mitchell, as PCO then used that distraction to go in for the kill. However, Shamrock somehow kept his wits about him enough not to fall into another of James Mitchell's traps, even getting in a number of hard-hitting strikes, yet they seemed to have just as much joy of slowing "The French-Canadian Frankenstein" down as the ankle lock did the week before. Indeed, as much as I rate Ken Shamrock and the incredible comeback he made, I can't help but wonder just how he can possibly retain his championship against a monster as unfeeling and unstoppable as PCO at Collision Course? And that's no disrespect meant towards Ken whatsoever, but more a testament to the kind of unholy abomination that Pierre Carle Oulette has become.
At 61 years of age, the rejuvenation of Fit Finlay's career has been phenomenal to see. And you couldn't ask for a better example of the amazing condition he's in than by seeing him compete in two gruelling matches in one night to try and earn an opportunity at the National Championship! As you folks will no doubt recall, this was all set up on last week's show by Finlay himself, resulting in him first taking on Lucas Calhoun. "The King" will be the first to tell you he's not exactly set the world alight in an EWA ring thus far into his career, but from what we witnessed on EWA.com this week, winning wasn't the goal here. Rather, he struck a deal with Brady Pierce to try and soften "The Fighting Irishman" up so that Pierce could put the hurting on Finlay in the second match of the night. No doubt that losing effort took its toll on Finlay too, meaning "The Belfast Bruiser" had to dig extra deep against his second opponent in a contest that spilled out of the ring and into the crowd! That second match had "slobberknocker" written all over it, with Pierce putting on one of his best ever showing's in an EWA ring. And yet, Fit Finlay refuses to quit no matter how much punishment he takes or how high the odds are stacked against him. It's to the veteran's credit that even after everything that first Lucas Calhoun and then Brady Pierce offered, he still found a way to emerge victorious and cement his status as Frank Shamrock's next challenger for the National Championship. Indeed, even Frank himself seemed impressed as he hit the ring after that second match and help Finlay to his feet in a sign of respect...only for that moment to get ruined as "OVE" made their presence felt in brutal fashion! Sami Callihan and Dave and Jake Crist wasted little time in reminding the entire world just what they're capable of, wiping out both Frank Shamrock and Fit Finlay with steel chairs in a move that would quickly result in Harry Smith booking next week's main event...a tag match featuring the National Champion and his number one contender against the 2018 Tag Team Of The Year! Hold onto your hats, folks! This is one battle you're not gonna want to miss!
With episode 399 of SLAM! in the books, let's take a look at my top three movers and shakers:
1. Fit Finlay
2. OVE
3. Charlotte Flair/Lacey Evans
There's only one option for top spot as far as I'm concerned, with Fit Finlay having won two tough matches against some game opponents to book his shot at the National Title. In second though, "OVE" took the opportunity of SLAM! being in their home state to make a huge return to action, not just threatening the entire roster but then brutally assaulting both Finlay and Frank Shamrock at the conclusion of the show. And coming in at number three, it may have been just a DQ win rather than something more substantial, but it's still a sign that maybe, just maybe, this new-found alliance between Charlotte Flair and Lacey Evans can overcome the seemingly overwhelming might of "Revelation."
For now though, we look ahead towards SLAM! #400 and the final stop on the road to Collision Course! With the Pay-Per-View card coming more into focus after the events of this past week, it'll be pretty darn interesting to see how everything shapes up next time around! Join me this Sunday to find out! Until then though,
BOOMER SOONER!
