8/26/16 AWS “For The Fans” (14th Anniversary Show), American Legion Post #335, South Gate
The return of the much-anticipated promotion, aided by the “Go Fund Me” page that was set up by Cap. Comic Con, brought in a capacity crowd to the legion hall. The brass at The Wrestling Guy Store even paid tribute to Bart in their usual way.
1 – Cincinnati Red Tribute Match: Espiritu v. Ryan Taylor
Good opener where Ryan seemed to have the upper hand, only to see Espiritu reverse a hold into a Crucifix Rollup for the pin.
2 – Legacy v. Eli Everfly (w/ Cap. Comic Con)
Great battle between the smaller wrestlers. Eli took advantage of outside distraction from fellow Revelation member, Terex, hitting a move from the top rope, and rolled it into an Armbar submission for the tapout win.
3 – Twisted Sisterz (Thunder Rosa & Holidead) v. Fatal Attraction (Ruby Raze & Sage Sin)
A very fun ladies tag team match, featuring a see-saw battle, and plenty of high spots. Sage went for a move off of the shoulders of Raze, but had it countered by Thunder Rosa. Holidead threw Raze out of the ring, and kept her occupied, while TR hit her Top Rope Stomp to Sage’s back for the pin.
4 – Lightweightt Championship: Scorpio Sky v. SoCal Crazy
Another great back-and-forth match. SoCal Crazy was able to reverse a move by Scorpio, forcing a title change with the pin.
5 – Gauntlet Match, with the winner to face off with the Heavyweight Champion at a later date.
Jacob Diez & Mariachi Loco got things started, trading moves and holds, until Mariachi was able to do a Headscissors Rollup for the pin. Rico Dynamite was next, and the growing animosity between Mariachi Loco & H.A.T.E. was apparent during this part of the match. Mariachi was able to do another Headscissors Rollup for the pin, but then had to square off with another member of H.A.T.E. in Tito Escondido. This part of the match was as stiff as it could be, with Bad Dude Tito rolling in 2 Powerbombs, then a Gutbuster for the pin. Lil Cholo was next, where he & Tito brawled outside the ring early on. Cholo was able to do a reversal rollup for the pin, but then had to deal with the last man in the gautlet, and another member of H.A.T.E.–Ray Rosas. At first, it looked like Cholo was going to seal the deal, but then Rico came out to distract Referee Justin Borden, allowing Che Cabrera to sneak in from behind, and smack a metal rod across Cholo’s gut. That allowed Ray to hit his version of the Twist of Fate, suitably called the Twist of H.A.T.E., for the final pin.
6 – Women’s Championship: “Tattooed Monster”/”Future of Women’s Wrestling” Hudson Envy v. “Queen of Spades” Shayna Baszler
There were plenty of uncertainties about how well Hudson’s ailing knee and shoulder would hold up, especially since the shoulder was a body part that Shayna went for. Otherwise, the match was pretty even, with some outside brawling, and some very decent storytelling. Hudson found her 2nd wind, taunting Shayna, then countered a move by Shayna, into an Air Raid Crash for the pin.
SM – Lucha Libre Match: Piloto Suicida & Shamu Jr. v. Superboy Jr. & Indu Jr.
No big surprise, that these luchadors really went at it, both inside and outside the ring. Two of them nearly crashed into the industrial-strength fan during one outside brawl, and plenty of beer buckets were dumped onto the heads of a couple of them. In the end, it was Superboy Jr. who pinned Piloto, ending a wild lucha match, that was a lot of fun to watch.
M – Heavyweight Championship: Willie Mack v. Tyler Bateman v. Brian Cage
A very even match, with plenty of stuff that got the crowd into it. In the end, it was Tyler who hit an Elbow Strike on Cage, then hit a finishing Suplex on Willie for the title-clinching pin.
TITLE CHANGES
New Heavyweight Champion: Tyler Bateman
New Lightweight Champion: SoCal Crazy
#1 Contender for the Heavyweight title: Ray Rosas
Overall, it was great to see AWS return. B-Boy may not have been on the card, but he provided one of the big highlights of the night. Not only did he accepted SCU’s “Cincinnati Red Legends Award”–the first to do it–but his marriage proposal to his girlfriend was a success. It’ll be interesting to see where a future Heavyweight Title match between H.A.T.E. members Tyler Bateman & Ray Rosas will go, although no date for an AWS show after next month’s “Ladies Night” event. Speaking of the ladies, Hudson will have her hands full, when she faces off with Heart of Shimmer Champ Nicole Savoy next month. The Twisted Sisterz showed something that will help them be serious contenders, when they go to Japan for Stardom’s Annual Goddess Tag Team League. Finally, it’ll be interesting to see who makes up the ladies team, led by Raze & Shayna, when they take on H.A.T.E. in the 5 men v. 5 women match.
MOTN
1 – Heavyweight Championship
2 – Twisted Sisterz / Fatal Attraction
3 – Lucha Libre Match
Next wrestling event: SBWA on 9/17, after a day at the Long Beach Comic Con
Photos: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.540245056167654.1073741864.436289569896537&type=3
Ray Rosas is the number one contender for light weight belt not the heavyweight belt.
Pretty sure they said heavyweight at the show.
Also why would Tito and Rico be going for lightweight belt.
That’s a good point lol