(Promotion: Absolute Intense Wrestling – Location: Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, Cleveland, OH. – Date: September 15, 2017 – Bell: 7:30 PM)

Before the show, Dean Malenko signed autographs and posed for photographs with fans.

Main Card

Shawn Shultz v. “The Bev” Bobby Beverly (w/ Eric Ryan)

Shultz out wearing new gear. He is announced as the “Emperor of the Eye Gouge.” He and Ryan get in a shoving match before the bell.

The Bev and Shultz trade a ton of chops during the body of the match.

Beverly gets the pin after a headbutt.

This was a simple, but effective, opener.

Winner: Bobby Beverly

Britt Baker v. Faye Jackson

Baker hit a leg lariat into a crossface.

Jackson is limited in the ring but has a ton of charisma. She makes the most of her…ahem…”physical attributes.”

Winner: Britt Baker

Frankie Flynn (w/ Derek Direction & Colby Redd) v. Pretty Boy Smooth

AIW President Matt Wadsworth banned “The Production” from ringside.

Flynn kicked out of Smooth’s big chokeslam.

There is a ref bump. The Production is out to distract Smooth. A figure darts through the audience and jumps the barrier. He sidewalk slams Smooth. It’s MAGNUM CK!!

Flynn gets the pin. CK carries him to the back.

Winner: Frankie Flynn

10-Man Tag Team Match

No Consequences (Gary “The King” Baller/Josh Bishop/AJ Gray/Tre LaMar/Malcolm Monroe III v. DJZ/Space Monkey/Laredo Kid/Gringo Loko/Ethan Page/???

Page announces that they have a replacement fifth member. EC3 comes out to chants of “Ethan!”

Page pinned Gray after a swanton.

Really, really fun match that was executed *mostly* safely. There were some awesome dives in this one.

EC3 and crew decide whether they should “put the kids over.” They call No Consequences back out to the ring.

EC3: “From the present and the past, congratulations to the future.”

Intermission

I spoke with Dean Malenko during the intermission. I asked him about his final wrestling match at the 4th Annual Brian Pillman Memorial Show in Cincinnati that I attended in 2001. He revealed to me that he came back to wrestle one final time after that as a favor to a friend.

Maxwell Jacob Friedman v. ???

Maxwell Jacob Friedman (MJF) is out to cut a promo. He insults the fans. He asks for the “best guy” from the back.

Matthew Justice comes out.

MJF: “I don’t have to flip to get over…”

The two start scrapping. Justice drives MJF through a table with an elbow.

Fans: “Tie your shoelace!”

Justice drills Friedman with a jackhammer and scores the pinfall.

Winner: Matthew Justice

AIW Tag Team Championship

To Infinity & Beyond (Cheech & Colin Delaney) v. Grado & Colt Cabana

Grado stuns the crowd by hitting a “Canadian Destroyer” on Delaney…but Cheech rolls up Cabana to retain the title.

Grado is undeniably charming.

AIW Intense Championship

Joey Janella (c) v. Sonjay Dutt

Janella retains after a double-stomp off the top rope.

This was an excellent back-and-forth match filled with…intensity. (I couldn’t resist.) The two pair-off well together. They shake hands after the bell.

Winner: Joey Janella

“Filthy” Tom Lawlor v. Dominic Garini

The former UFC star, Tom Lawlor enters to “Closer” by Nine Inch Nails. He is accompanied by a banner advertising Corn Nuts and the Condom Depot. On his tights, there are advertisements for Durex Condoms, Pampers Diapers and Summer’s Eve feminine hygiene product.

Steve Guy does the intro a la Bruce Buffer, famed UFC ring announcer. Lawlor is announced at 206.69 lbs.

The bell rings.

Garrini shoots for the leg. The two become twisted up on the mat.

Audience: “Fuck him up, Dom!”

Lawlor counters with a wicked Biel throw. He rolls from the ring.

Back inside, the two circle one another.

Lawlor works the ankle.

Garinni gets his opponent’s back, but Lawlor squirms free. He slaps Garrini. The two trade chops.

Lawlor hits a German suplex.

Garrini hits a German suplex.

Each is clenching the other’s head and they trade unprotected shots. Garrini connects with a knee strike just as Lawlor tags him with a punch. Both men are down.

Garrini suplexes Lawlor into a knee strike. He then misses a roundhouse kick.

Lawlor counters with an exploder.

Garrini goes for an armbar.

Lawlor buries Garrini in the corner with an exploder. He goes for the pin but Garrini is out at two. He goes for a punch, which Garrini blocks. He goes for the crossface. He jacks Lawlor with a knee for two.

Lawlor clotheslines him. He is pissed that he hasn’t won yet.

Garrini: sit-out piledriver. Lawlor kicks out at ONE. Garrini is clearly stunned. He locks on a guillotine vice.

Lawlor rattles his opponent with a tombstone piledriver. Garrini is out at ONE. Lawlor rocks him with a wild left hand, followed by a belly-to-back suplex off the top rope. He does a diving “salute” headbutt off the top. Garrini blocks it with a triangle choke.

Garrini has Lawlor in a second triangle. Lawlor slips it and scores the pin.

Garrini is visibly upset as makes his way to the locker room

This is a great, great match. These two guys are just filthy animals who let it all loose in the ring. They match was credible, hard-hitting and incredibly entertaining. Garrini is a beast and Tom Lawlor has stardom in his future.

Main Event

AIW Absolute Championship

Tim Donst (c) v. Louis Lyndon v. “Hot Sauce” Tracy Williams

Audience: “Tim fuckin’ Donst…SUCKS!”

Williams back is covered with bruises from heat cupping therapy.

Lyndon and Williams hook up.

Donst topes the pair.

Williams crushes Lyndon with a piledriver on the floor.

Donst rattles Williams with a stunner.

Donst: “Gotcha, bitch!”

Donst’s elbow is still wrapped up from the gnarly injury he suffered at WrestleRager II: Electric Boogaloo.

Donst bites Lyndon: “You taste like ‘loser.”

Donst connects with chokeslam backbreaker to retain the championship.

Before there is time to celebrate, Nick Gage’s music hits. He jumps the champion and piledrives him. He delivers a second one.

Fans: “M-D-K.” (Murder. Death. Kill.)

Gage buries Donst with a third piledriver.

He calls out Donst demands a match against the champion in November during a profanity-laced promo.

Observations

Great show.

Lawlor-Garrini was off the chart. It is well worth tracking down on DVD or streaming. I like both guys quite a bit.

Gage is over and has a believability in the same vein as Abdullah the Butcher or the original Sheik…but he also feels like a potential liability to the company. He seems like almost too much of a loose cannon. Time will tell.

I’m super-stoked that Magnum CK is now a part of the roster. Dude is tremendously charismatic and talented. He brings something to the table that no one else on the AIW roster currently does.

More Wrestling

Wrestlerager II: Electric Boogaloo (2017)

Get to Know: Appalachian Mountain Wrestling

AIW: No Sleep Till Brooklyn (2015)

Global Force Wrestling LIVE! (July 11, 2015)

Bound For Glory (2018)