EWF 21st Anniversary Show (5/5/17)
Knights of Columbus Hall, Covina
Despite Cinco De Mayo festivities, and WWE bringing another weekend of NXT house shows to So Cal, the EWF still drew a large crowd for their anniversary show. Perhaps the big surprise at the start, was the return of Ben Tomas to handle the ring announcing duties. The rebuilt EWF ring appears to be holding up well, but Jesse Hernandez can use more donations to help complete the rebuild.
1 – Dicky Maier v. Misterioso Jr.
Strong opener that Dicky capped with a German Suplex for the pin, despite being busted open, which would prevent him from taking the last spot in the Great Goliath Rumble.
2 – American Championship: Anthony Idol (c) (w/ The Wise One) v. Super Beetle
Very strong match, where Walt picked his spots to interfere, without being caught by Referee Micky Moreno. However, he did it a little too much, and that would prove costly for him & Idol. Super Beetle was able to shove Idol onto Walt, then roll him up for the title clinching pin.
NEW EWF AMERICAN CHAMPION: SUPER BEETLE
3 – Tag Team Championship: H.A.T.E. (Rico Dynamite & Che Cabrera, w/ Damien Aresnik) v. Jake Atlas & Ty Ray
The match was pretty even, until Rico dug into his bag of dirty tricks. While Referee Justin Borden was distracted, Rico used a set of brass knuckles on Jake, then snuck it inside of Jake’s trunks. This would later come into play, when Jake & Ty thought they had won the title. Damien got Justin’s attention about the brass knuckles inside of Jake’s trunks, and got an overturned decision. A dirty DQ win for H.A.T.E.
4 – Awesome Kong v. Ruby Raze
Before the match could even get started, Friar Juan Roman & Maritza Jannett came out, and cut a promo. Maritza inserted herself into the match, preparing to work with Raze against Kong, only for Zayda to even the playing field.
4A – Awesome Kong & Zayda v. Ruby Raze & Maritza Jannett
Even with the two SOHK trainees being added to the match, this was still a very good EWF women’s match. Maritza & Zayda did most of the work, keeping Kong as fresh as possible. Zayda kept Raze busy for as much as she could outside the ring, allowing Kong to hit the Implant Buster on Maritza for the pin.
5 – The Great Goliath Rumble (21 wrestlers, 45-sec. intervals)
Ty Ray just can’t seem to catch a break, when it comes to doing battle with H.A.T.E., as those guys were responsible for eliminating him from the match. There was also one unknown person, who tried to interfere in the match, while masquerading as Radical Ross. To everyone’s surprise, the replacement in spot 21 turned out to be Ironman Mike Maze. He didn’t last too long, although he got to the Final 6. Jorel Nelson thought he had thrown the last wrestler out, but Friar Juan Roman “played The Miz card” by sneaking in at the right time, and threw Jorel out, winning the rumble.
SM – Roman Gladiator Deathmatch: Fidel Bravo (w/ El Chucho) v. Adrian Quest
Plenty of chairs were used in this match, as well as a golf club, and a table. It was back-and-forth throughout the match, but El Chucho proved to be the X-Factor. He stopped Adrian from doing a chair-assisted leg drop on Fidel, threw him off the top ropes, onto the table, then strangled him with some ropes, while Fidel touched all 4 corners in succession to win the match, and the feud.
M – Heavyweight Championship: Uptown Andy Brown (c) v. Scorpio Sky
This main event was also a back-and-forth affair, with both wrestlers trading big moves. Andy had to overcome eating an Ace of Spades finisher, and a series of submission moves, to hit his Small Package Piledriver for the pin, extending his title run past a full year.
Overall, a very good EWF show. Given all that came out of the show, it would not be a surprise to see Friar Juan Roman, and his Congregation of Pain stable to move into the heavyweight title picture again, as Juan will be looking to become a 2-time Heavyweight Champion. With his win in the feud-ending Roman Gladiator Deathmatch, Fidel could soon be eyeing Super Beetle and the American title, if not Andy Brown & the Heavyweight title. Fidel certainly earned a title shot after winning his war with Adrian Quest.
MOTN
1. Andy Brown / Scorpio Sky
2. Roman Gladiator Deathmatch
3. Anthony Idol / Super Beetle
