Post by Ross Report on Mar 7, 2019 9:16:58 GMT
It was a cold weekend in Minneapolis but I'm sure you'll agree that the action on the latest edition of SLAM! was red HOT! Let's break it all down!
The show kicked off with a pre-recorded interview from an undisclosed location, as Renee Young grilled "Father" James Mitchell over the whereabouts of Tonya Shamrock. However, "The Sinister Minister" wasn't quite ready to lay out all his cards on the table just yet. What he did reveal though is that this entire war with Ken Shamrock isn't so much about the EWA World Championship as it is a mysterious onyx stone that he seems to believe will grant him some kind of unholy power. While I can't speak much on that, I'm more than qualified to talk about "The World's Most Dangerous Man" infiltrating the interview disguised as one of the cameramen, looking to beat the location of his wife out of Mitchell if need be. With "Satan's Favorite Sinner" keeping his lips sealed though, Shamrock seized on a bargaining chip of his own by taking Mitchell's precious onyx stone! Could this be the key to Ken reuniting with his wife? We'll have to wait and see!
The in-ring action soon got underway with a singles contest between "Desperado" Joe Gomez and Ding Dong#2. It was a spirited affair between two veterans of the squared circle, resulting in Gomez picking up a rare victory. Could this be the start of a run to unlikely Civil War glory for the "Gunslinger?" We won't have to wait too long to find out, as the EWA's annual "war for it all" is less than four weeks away!
Speaking of Civil War, Jerry Lynn was due to wrestle a mystery opponent with Jimmy Hart as the "Special Guest Referee," all to earn the opportunity to face "Honky Tonk Man" at our next Pay-Per-View event! Before Lynn could jump through those hoops however, "The New F'N Show" was shockingly attacked by Jake Roberts backstage! Having seemingly been paid off by "The Mouth of The South", Roberts incapacitated Lynn with a devastating DDT on the concrete floor, laying him out for something like the fourth straight week! To the surprise of many, yours truly included, "Honky" would then reveal that he'd now give Jerry his match at Civil War without having to earn it first! You've got to feel for poor Jerry Lynn at this point, who can't seem to catch a break when it comes to "Mr Shake, Rattle And Roll," but at least now he'll get his chance for revenge in a few weeks!
It's no secret that Samoa Joe has been on quite the roll so far in 2019, aligning himself with "The Kings of Wrestling" and going undefeated against some stiff competition to boot! Kenny Omega's recent fortunes stand in stark contrast to Joe's though, with "The Cleaner's" failure to win a match since last July well-documented. However, I can't help but feel as if Omega really turned a corner this week with his performance against "The Samoan Submission Machine." It's never been a question about the Winnipeg native's talent but more so whether he can start putting all those tools together in a "big match" environment. While he may have ultimately fallen short against Joe on this occasion, Omega can certainly hold his head high. As for Samoa Joe himself, he continues to impress with just how vicious and ruthless he can be, something we'd see another example of a little later in the show. More on that in a bit.
Elsewhere, I thought I might have accidentally sat on my remote and changed over to "Animal Planet" when we saw a unique video package for a new EWA signing in PUMA. I can't profess to know much about this mystery superstar, but it seems we can expect to find out more on March 31st at this year's Civil War!
In tag team competition, the EWA's faction wars continued as "The Flamingo Family" faced off against "The Horde." We got a taster of this one last week when Bryan Danielson defeated Johnny Flamingo in a hell of a contest, but the action was no less exciting with both Jack Evans and Scotty Flamingo also thrown into the mix! It was a particular good showcase for Evans, who might arguably be his own biggest fan judging by this performance here. At the end of the day though, the duo of Danielson and Evans were able to get off to a winning start as a team, with Marty Scurll's "Horde" racking up yet another victory! I tell you, folks, with a group this big and dominant supporting him, "The Villain" has every chance of walking out as your 2019 Civil War, just like he promised last week!
I'd like to think I made clear my feelings about John Cena's recent attitude change in my last Ross Report. The way he's turned his back on his fans and all those people who believed in him is nothing short of disgusting. "The Doctor of Thuganomics" wasn't at the Target Center this week, but he did have a message for the EWA Universe as he not only announced himself for the Civil War Match, but revealed his intentions to bring a sense of "order" to the chaos enveloping the E-Wrestling Alliance in recent weeks...a "New World Order," to be exact! What exactly this means going forward remains to be seen, but if John Cena is looking to revive the "nWo," I dare say the EWA might never be the same again!
Cena wasn't the only superstar to throw his name into the proverbial Civil War hat either, with IRS doing the same later in the show. I wouldn't be surprised if we see even more superstars following suit over the coming weeks, and possibly even a few surprise entrants when the EWA returns to San Antonio at the end of the month!
The "relationship" between Brady Pierce and Lucas Calhoun, if one can even define it as such, has been extremely unsettling. Pierce has kept Calhoun chained up like some sort of prisoner these past few weeks, finally drawing the attention of Ken Shamrock. That would soon bring Marty Scurll onto the scene, leading to an interesting conversation between "The Villain" and our World Heavyweight Champion. Scurll pointed out that the numbers game hasn't exactly been working in Shamrock's favor, either right there in that confrontation or during his battles with PCO, resulting in Shamrock demanding a match against a member of "The Horde" next week to prove why he's the only back-up he needs. Somewhat surprisingly though, it would be the man formerly known as Gabriel who accepted that challenge! Does this mean that "The Reaper" is starting to buy into whatever it is Scurll is selling? Has he truly sold his soul to the devil to willingly serve "The Horde?" I guess we'll find out for sure this coming Sunday!
On the surface, it looked as if the triple threat match between Daffney, Becky Lynch and Scarlett Bordeaux might turn into more of a handicap match with the two "Revelation" members against "The Perfect Ten," yet it didn't take long for tensions to flare between "The Zombie Goddess" and Becky! I noted last time around that "The Queenslayer" seemed to have eyes for Daffney's Women Championship and that desire to insert herself into the title picture was pretty evident here. If the crowd reaction was anything to go by, it's a match the EWA Universe would love to see as well! However, we can't forget Scarlett Bordeaux in all of this, a competitor who has quickly established herself as a big time threat to Daffney's title reign over the last couple of months. Indeed, Scarlett was almost able to capitalize on the bad turn Daffney and Becky's relationship made this week, only for Lynch to toss her out of the ring and attempt to steal the pin after The Smoke Show...but before the official could count three, Charlotte Flair crashed the scene with a steel chair attack on the "Lass Kicker," resulting in a DQ win for Becky! For a match that was supposed to make clear Daffney's next challenger, it did anything but! I'd suggest you could easily make an argument for Becky Lynch, Scarlett Bordeaux or even Charlotte Flair getting the next shot at the Women's Title, so it'll be interesting to see what General Manager Harry Smith decides in the coming weeks.
Last week we found out that former Tag Team Champions Braun Strowman and Santino Marella were going their separate ways. This week, a lost Santino seemed to find inspiration where to take his EWA career next, as an innocuous conversation with Renee Young gave him the idea that he should look into joining a faction. After all, it seems like everyone else in the EWA is doing the same right now! The question is, which of the many groups we have on the roster would "The Italian Stallion" fit with best?
Chris Hero and Cesaro might not be the most popular of EWA superstars, but they're obviously one hell of a tag team with a ton of pedigree. You could argue that they're also justifiably aggrieved at never receiving a straight-up championship rematch after Marella and Strowman defeated them for the titles last December, hence why they came out and demanded a shot at the current champions. Rather than having their challenge answered by "The Vaudevillains" though, they were instead confronted by Jervis Cottonbelly, who read a prepared statement from Aiden English and Simon Gotch officially denying "The Kings of Wrestling" a title opportunity. Unfortunately for Jervis, neither Hero, Cesaro or their fellow "Kings" Samoa Joe and Angelico would take too kindly to that, with the latter two superstars brutally assaulting the masked gentleman. Cottonbelly ended up suffering a devastating KRS-One from Hero and Cesaro right onto the steel ramp, as "The Kings of Wrestling" sent a clear message that they were coming for the gold whether "The Vaudevillains" like it or not! Considering how incredible their first match was back at last year's Sin City Survival, I'm sure I'm not the only one hoping to see these two teams clash once again as soon as possible!
In the rematch we'd all been waiting for, Big Show battled Buh Buh Ray Dudley! And the stakes have never been higher, with Big Show putting his career on the line against the chance to murder "Scott E." With the life of his best friend in his hands, the man from Dudleyville unsurprisingly took the fight straight to his opponent in a big way! "The World's Largest Athlete" found himself on the ropes for most of this one, yet he'd use Bubb's concern for "Scott E." to his advantage, blocking an attempted corner splash with the lawn ornament before using a tug-of-war over it to then catch Buh Buh Ray off guard with the WMD for the three count! As such, Show still has possession of the plastic flamingo, presumably meaning we'll see "Scott E's" murder live on next week's SLAM!
After years of crazy shenanigans, could Al Snow be running into a bit of legal trouble? It certainly seems that way as a private detective by the name of Sam Handwich investigates Al's involvement with the tragic events that took place before his match with Big Show last month. "The Snowman" doesn't tend to take a lot of things in his life very seriously, but I would suggest he may need to seek some legal counsel as the proverbial net closes in around him.
Man, what a main event between Angelico, Pete Dunne and Jay White! All three of these superstars have the potential to become big time players in the EWA over the coming weeks and months, and they proved that here in an absolute slobberknocker of a match! The action didn't let up from the moment it started, with a temporary alliance between Angelico and White soon dissolving as both men sought the victory, and Dunne having to claw his way back into the mix! This was certainly a case of "something for everyone," with some lucha high-flying, some hard-hitting strong style, some excruciating submission work, and even a few double teams for you tag team enthusiasts as well! At the end of the day though, there can be only one winner, and in this case it was Pete Dunne, taking full advantage of the surprising run-in from Fit Finlay! Obviously, the National Champion had a bone to pick with Jay White after "Switchblade" not only interrupted his championship celebration the week prior but left "The Fighting Irishman" lying too! As such, Finlay's efforts to gain a measure of revenge allowed "The Bruiserweight" to roll up White, handing him the first loss of his EWA career, albeit under controversial circumstances. Still, it was an amazing showing from all three competitors and a hell of a way to cap off an incredible show!
That means it's now time for my unenviable task of trying to choose this week's top three movers and shakers. Here's what I've got:
1. Pete Dunne
2. Samoa Joe
3. Ken Shamrock
Top spot goes to "The Bruiserweight" for picking up the victory in his return to the EWA over two extremely talented opponents in Jay White and Angelico. Coming in at number two, Samoa Joe defeated a game Kenny Omega in a barnburner of a match and also helped his fellow "Kings of Wrestling" send a statement of intent to "The Vaudevillains" as well! Here's hoping numbers one and two will soon pick up where they left off last week. And last but not least, I've given the nod to Ken Shamrock, who finally managed to outsmart "Father" James Mitchell and gain some much-needed leverage in their brutal war, while also clashing with "The Horde" later in the show.
Indeed, it's the aftermath of that clash which we're now looking forward to next week, where it'll be Ken Shamrock going one-on-one with "The Reaper!" With the World Champion being in possession of "Father" James Mitchell's precious onyx though, I wouldn't be surprised if we see an appearance by PCO at some point in that one! Elsewhere, it'll be interesting to see how things develop in the Women's Title scene, as well as in the escalating war between Fit Finlay and Jay White, while I'm sure we'll also see more superstars officially enter themselves into the Civil War Match too! Don't you dare miss out on any of the action, as SLAM! returns this weekend, coming at you live from the sold-out EagleBank Arena in beautiful Fairfax! Until then,
BOOMER SOONER!
