From Larry Goodman: Here’s the down and dirty report from Atlanta Wrestling Entertainment’s first iPPV and their first live even...
Here’s the down and dirty report from Atlanta Wrestling Entertainment’s first iPPV and their first live event at the Marietta Event Center, the first half of a doubleheader with EVOLVE 89.
This was a fine show from AWE that was very well received by a surprisingly large crowd of 230 including comps. It was walk up sales that did the trick as the presale was nothing special.
The crowd partied hard for a Sunday afternoon. One fan got so shit-faced he collapsed on the sidewak after the show.
The crowd partied hard for a Sunday afternoon. One fan got so shit-faced he collapsed on the sidewak after the show.
Left Eye Burns The House was nicely paced and one of the shortest major AWE events on record, clocking in at a brisk 2 hours and 30 minutes.
AWE kept their smarty pants fans off balance with a lot of the finishes and outcomes.
Chip Day's quest to win the big prize stayed on track with a win over Aaron Epic. In so doing, Day became the number one contender for the Georgia Wrestling Crown Championship currently held by Martin Stone.
Murder One went down to defeat against Homicide to conclude a feud that was over 15 years in the making and got AWE banned from their previous home arena.
AWE kept their smarty pants fans off balance with a lot of the finishes and outcomes.
Chip Day's quest to win the big prize stayed on track with a win over Aaron Epic. In so doing, Day became the number one contender for the Georgia Wrestling Crown Championship currently held by Martin Stone.
Murder One went down to defeat against Homicide to conclude a feud that was over 15 years in the making and got AWE banned from their previous home arena.
(1) Caleb Konley defeated Owen Knight in 15:00. A terrific way to open the show. Crowd was on fire and 100% behind Knight. Knight drove Konley into the second row with a tope scaring the heck of a little kid. Konley worked on Knight’s knee for the body of the match. Konley pinned Knight an O’Connor roll with a fistful of tights.
Postmatch, Konley demanded a positive review. No problem there.
Team Priscilla Kelly (Kelly, Kiera Hogan and Kamilla Kane) came to the ring to iron out the trust issues between Kelly and Hogan. Hesitation abounded. Kane said we’re good and that was that.
(2) Billy Brash & Ethan Case defeated Adrian Armour & Slade Porter in 4:05. Supposedly Brash vs. Case but morphed to a tag when Armour, with Hierarchy “Graduate” Porter in tow, dissed them before the bell. Case pinned Porter with a springboard stunner as Brash took Armour out with an Asai moonsault. Good action while it lasted.
(3) Anthony Henry defeated William Huckaby in 6:17. Announced as a grudge match stemming from what I’m not aware. The AWE faithful were totally behind Huckaby, who did a slow burn as he absorbed Henry’s offense before killing him with a suplex on the floor. Huckaby tried to powerrbomb his way out of a triangle but Henry tenaciously held on. Finish was out nowhere as Henry caught Huckaby with a roll through reversal.
(4) Ugly Ducklings (Rob Killjoy & Lance Lude with Coach Mikey Gulino) defeated Gymnasty Boys (Timmy Lou Retton & White Mike) in 14:01. Crowd seemed unsure which team to pull for and ended up liking both. Match had a boatload of indescribably cool spots. Killjoy was the standout performer. Gulino halted a Duckling dive because his 300+ pound ass wanted to dive. Thank God that didn’t happen. Mike got a “that was awesome chant” for a giant swing DDT on Lude. Killjoy pinned Mike after Doomsday Device double knees by Lude.
AWE promoter/ring announcer Josh Wheeler announced that Iceberg and Tank had been stripped of the tag titles due to Iceberg’s illness. The tag titles will be decided in a four way dance on July 30 when AWE return to the Marietta Event Center.
(5) Chase Owens defeated Sylar Cross and Chris Mayne in a three-way at 12:10. Owens pinned Mayne with a package piledriver. Joe Black was scheduled to face Owens in a match I was looking forward to. Black didn’t make it due to car trouble. This hastily put together substitute was the least successful match of the afternoon. Crowd was losing interest along the way. I thought Owens vs. Cross in a singles could have been a positive for Cross. Owens got involved in extracurricular BS with the AWE cult. Owens grabbed Corey’s hat and destroyed it in the ring. Mayne performed CPR on the hat which was amusing.
Owens did the jumping “too sweet” with Mayne after the match. Cross wanted no part of it.
6) Team Su Yung (Yung & Aria Blake & Isla Dawn) defeated Team PK (Priscilla Kelly & Kiera Hogan & Camilla Kane) in 7:52. Kane is a blonde Amazon, obviously quite athletic but inexperienced. Kelly had some great looking new gear. Wonder who made it. They did a six way suplex and a six way submission capped off by Yung’s mandible claw on Kelly. Finish saw Kelly slip out of Yung’s airplane spin only to get blindsided by Blake’s roll up. Entertaining match with another finish out of nowhere.
Kelly and Hogan hugged it out after the match. Kane then clotheslined the hell out of them.
(7) Chip Day defeated Aaron Epic to become the number one contender for the Georgia Wrestling Crown Championship in 10:03. My favorite match of the show. They sold big and changed speeds. Day appeared to hurt his ankle on an early tope and sold the injury flawlessly for the rest of the match. Epic worked on the ankle throughout. Killer exchange with a shining wizard by Day only to get turned inside out by Epic’s clothesline. Day kicked out of a uranage knee to the back and a piledriver. Day pinned Epic with a jumping knee strike the base of the neck. It is one of Day’s signature moves but I had never seen him win a match with it.
Day and Epic shook hands afterward.
(8) Homicide (with Julius Smokes) defeated Murder One in 14:01. Match was billed as a traditional wrestling match because AWE was banned from the Opera Club as a result of the wild brawl these two had there involving the venue owner’s car. Crowd favored Murder. It started as wrestling match but it didn’t stay that way as the ring steps and steel chair were brought into play. Smokes was extremely active at ringside. They played off the first match with a huge superplex by Murder. Homicide kicked out of Murder’s first Ether (RKO). Smokes pulled the ref out after the second one. Armour came to ringside to confront Smokes and got his ass absolutely handed to him by a manager. Smokes joined Homicide for a double flying shoulder tackle. Murder kicked out so they set up a stuff piledriver. Armour broke that up. Murder hit a Michinoku Driver on Homicide for a close near fall. Smokes jumped on the apron. Murder clocked Smokes. Homicide then kicked Murder on the groin behind the ref’s back and pinned him. Good match but weird to see Armour punked out by Smokes.
