Written by: Bob Colling
Absolute Intense Wrestling presents Absolution VII
Date: 7/1/2012
From: Cleveland, OH
Opening Contest: Rickey Shane Page vs. John Thorne in a no ropes barbed wire match: It’s all about Thorne wanting to make sure Page reaches his fullest of potential. They go right at each other trading right hands in the middle of the ring. Thorne avoids being sent into the barbed wire and bails to the floor. Page uses a chair on Thorne on the outside. Page takes Thorne over with a snap suplex on the floor onto a steel chair. Thorne shoves Page’s arm into the barbed wire while on the floor. Thorne whacks Page over the head with a chair. Page prevents his face from going into the barbed wire and avoids being sent into the barbed wire back first. Page sidesteps a charging Thorne, who goes back first into the barbed wire. Page misses a running spear and hits the barbed wire. Both men are bleeding from the arm and hands at this point. Thorne uses the barbed wire to scratch the already bleeding arm of Page. Page is trapped over the bottom wire and gets wire driven into his chest getting Thorne a near fall. Page catapults Thorne chest and neck first into the barbed wire. Page has a spike to get revenge on Thorne, who used the spike on Page a few months prior. Thorne is busted wide open and Page misses a running spike shot. Thorne had a spike of his own, but Page avoids it but they both end up hitting each other with spikes. They both stumble to their feet and trade forearm shots until Thorne knee lifts Page into the barbed wire.
Page returns the knee lift to send Thorne into the barbed wire. They continue to be knocked into the barbed wire after forearms. Page tosses Thorne into the barbed wire with an overhead belly to belly suplex! Page goes for the cover but Thorne kicked out at two. Page plants Thorne with a Death Valley Driver. Page cuts barbed wire off as Thorne gets his wrist taped after it was cut. Thorne manages to wrap barbed wire around Rickey’s face! Rickey uses the spike to jab Thorne and breaks free. Page uses the spike a few times and digs it into Thorne’s head. Page misses a roaring elbow with barbed elbow, but the second attempt hits. Page wraps Thorne up in barbed wire before locking in a Boston Crab and pulls on the barbed wire to get a submission victory. (**1/2. Anytime you have a barbed wire match it’s going to be bloody. The barbed wire spots were fairly basic and it was a decent barbed wire match. I’ve seen better, but this fit with the story of Page becoming a stronger competitor.) After the match, Page asked if this is what Thorne wanted. Thorne said he wanted Page to realize what he is capable of doing. Page thanks Thorne for helping him realize who he is.
Second Contest: The Submission Squad vs. Da Latin Crime Syndicate: As they are taking care of the barbed wire in the ring, these two teams are brawling in the crowd in a match that wasn’t advertised. The brawling is mostly just strikes and chair shots in the crowd. It’s kind of humorous that the crowd doesn’t seem to care about this, so much so that a couple of fans just remain in their seats knowing nothing is going to happen to them. One of the wrestlers is sent into a trash can via a death valley driver. A ladder is brought out and two guys climb the ladder trading right hands. That leads to a power bomb off the ladder through a pile of chairs. There isn’t a finish to the match as the Latin team just walk off, I guess they won the fight. This was fine for killing time and providing some action instead of just having the fans stand around for several minutes.
Third Contest: Drake Younger vs. Ethan Page vs. Davey Vega vs. Arik Cannon vs. Facade vs. Eddie Kingston: Page attacks Cannon for looking at his woman at ringside. Younger is sent to the floor by Vega and Page is dumped out to the floor as well. Facade takes everyone out on the floor with a springboard 450 dive! Eddie Kingston comes out at this point, and is the first one of the group to get a reaction on his entrance. Younger took Eddie out with a somersault dive off the top rope. Kingston takes Younger over with an overhead suplex onto the ramp. In the ring, Vega and Cannon are trading head scissors with neither man getting a clear advantage. Cannon has control but this leads to a head scissors train. Younger gets to the top rope hitting a double stomp on Kingston to breakup the train. Facade nearly pins Drake with a springboard moonsault. Kingston tosses Facade with a release German suplex. Page plants Kingston with a slingshot ace crusher. Cannon catches Vega on a hurricanrana attempt and tosses Davey into the corner followed by a vicious clothesline. Younger strikes Cannon with forearms but can’t hit the Drake’s Landing. Younger hits a fisherman driver on Cannon for a near fall. The other guys are brawling on the floor. Vega puts Younger on the top rope but Page stops Vega from behind having him on his shoulders. Drake hits a cross body on Vega off of Page’s shoulders and Vega is met with a DDT at the same time by Page!
Facade works over Kingston with strikes but is met with a back elbow. Facade nails Kingston with a springboard kick. Facade attempts a springboard moonsault but Kingston gets his knees up and tosses Facade with a suplex. Kingston decks Page with a forearm and Sparx gets on the apron to distract Eddie. Kingston has her and they horribly mistime a spot. Kingston backlists Sparx off the apron and they both go down following a double clothesline spot. Facade kicks Cannon several times in the corner but gets dumped to the apron. Younger has Facade on the apron hitting a Death Valley Driver! Drake gets a chair dropkicked into his face by Page off the apron. Vega nails Page with a running boot in the corner. Kingston hits a backdrop driver on Vega. Cannon and Kingston trade back suplexs. Kingston wins that exchange and now they decide to trade shots on their knees. They both get to their feet where Cannon slaps Kingston followed by a super kick and vertical suplex. Cannon plants Kingston with a slingshot twisting suplex for a near fall. Kingston hits a couple of back fists and pins Cannon. (**3/4. Some solid action involving these guys, but that finish was rather deflating and not very exciting. Despite that, it was a fine match that highlighted everyone involved at one point.) After the match, Drake Younger puts over everyone involved in AIW.
Footage of Marion Fontaine getting inspired by someone to find his edge and get to the next level. They do a montage for Fontaine getting ready for battle. Recently, Delaney and Fontaine had a match where Delaney shoved Marion on the floor to get into the ring to win by count-out. After the match, Fontaine attacked Delaney.
Fourth Contest: Colin Delaney vs. Marion Fontaine in a bare knuckle brawl match: Archibald Peck is the special referee for the match. There will be three, three minute rounds for this fight. This is nonsense as it’s slow and just a bare knuckle fight that doesn’t interest me at all. In the second round, Delaney scoop slams Fontaine and gets in trouble for doing so. They knock each other out as they both went for right hands. Before round three, Delaney smashes Fontaine with a steel chair. Delaney drops Marion with a right hand, but Fontaine is getting up rather quickly. Fontaine battles back with strikes to drop Delaney. Fontaine knocks Delaney out with a left hand and wins the match by knockout.
Fifth Contest: AIW Tag Team Champions Youthanazia (Matt Cross & Josh Prohibition) vs. The Batiri (Kodama & Obariyon) vs. Aeroform (Flip Kendrick & Louis Lyndon): Aeroform attack the champs in the ring but miss moonsaults onto the Batiri on the floor. Batiri try to double team Prohibition in the ring but fail at doing that. Prohibition dropkicks Obariyon for a two count early on. Prohibition drives Obariyon down with a vertical suplex for a two count. Obariyon nearly pins Prohibition following a forearm shot. Josh gets double teamed by Batiri for a few moments. Cross gets a tag and clotheslines Kodama a few times but misses a handspring in the corner and is kicked into the corner by Batiri who hit a sequence of moves. Aeroform get in on the action working over Cross in the corner with stomps. Lyndon strikes Cross several times before sending Matt into the corner. Cross gets his leg dropkicked across the middle rope but refuses to stay down on pin attempts. Cross tags in Prohibition who cleans house on Aeroform dropping Lyndon with a reverse DDT and a wheelbarrow suplex on Kendrick. Lyndon accidentally kicks Chest Flexor off the apron. Lyndon sends Josh to the floor with a hurricanrana. Flip hits a springboard twisting splash onto Obariyon but only manages a two count. Cross and Prohibition hit a double stomp/TKO combo on Kendrick. Lyndon has a leg lock on Cross but can’t get a submission. Prohibition decks Lyndon with a clothesline. The Batiri try to double team Josh but they fail at accomplishing that. Cross and Josh hit a Doomsday but Josh is met with a reverse hurricanrana and the Batiri manage to pin Prohibition. (**. Well, it was a solid finish to the match, but the action felt rather flat and uninspiring to me prior to that. The fans liked the Batiri winning. I didn’t really care for anything here.)
Sixth Contest: Jock Samson vs. The Duke in a Texas bullrope match: They go to the floor where Duke chokes Samson over the railing. Duke crotches Jock onto the railing and delivers a cowbell shot to the head. Duke grabs a table from under the ring and Jock has been busted wide open. The table has been laid across the apron and railing as they return to the ring and brawl. Duke low blows Jock with the rope and uses the cowbell. Duke plants Jock with a choke slam and heads to the middle rope hitting a splash. They go back to the floor where Duke tosses Samson into the guard railing but misses a splash against the railing. Jock yanks Duke face first into the ring post. Jock whacks Duke over the head with a steel chair and Duke is busted open as well. Jock touches three corners and is close to the fourth corner but Duke prevents it from happening. Duke looks to have done a nasty blade job. They brawl over by the bar and into the crowd. They get back into the ring and Jock has a sleeper on Duke, which is working on me, too. Duke fights back with a spear but can’t touch all four corners. Jock plants Duke with a DDT onto a steel chair. They go to the table but Duke stops Jock with a chair shot on the middle rope. Duke messes up a tombstone attempt through the table and Jock lays on the table. Duke leaps off the middle rope but the table doesn’t break. Duke puts Jock through the table with the Duke Driver! Duke manages to touch all four corners to win the match. (*1/2. The finish was cool, but everything leading up to that was subpar.) After the match, Duke wants a handshake to show some respect. Jock shakes his hand and they embrace.
Seventh Contest: Adam Cole vs. ACH: Early on, they keep a mat wrestling base with ACH working over the arm of Cole but that doesn’t last long and they have a standoff. They trade arm drags and they shove each other. Cole monkey flips ACH as they have a test of strength hold on and they roll to the floor. ACH goes over the railing but neither man breaks until Cole delivers a forearm shot. They continue the test of strength all around the crowd. ACH is monkey flipped and they break the test of strength. ACH comes off the railing to overhand chop Cole on the floor. They return to the ring where ACH gets a few near falls on Cole and puts a body scissors on Adam. They trade a few forearm shots and Cole forearms ACH to avoid a springboard from the apron. ACH hits a scissors kick over the middle rope and Cole falls to the floor. ACH attempts a suicide dive but Cole delivers a kick to stop ACH in his tracks. ACH delivers a springboard forearm shot to get a near fall on Cole. Cole drops ACH neck first across his knee but only manages a near fall. ACH hits a swinging neck breaker and a shining wizard for a near fall. ACH attempts a slingshot from the apron but Cole hits a super kick and hits a brain buster over his knee for another two count. Cole puts ACH on the top rope but gets shoved off. ACH misses a 450 splash from the middle rope and Cole hit a German suplex. ACH stops Cole in the corner with a double boot to the chest. Cole super kicks ACH a couple of times but ACH counters a German supelx with a rollup for the win. (**1/2. Well, that was disappointing. The extended test of strength to start the match wasn’t very entertaining and was rather boring. The action that followed was alright, but I was hoping for something more from these two guys. I realize they were young talents, but it felt like they held back.) After the match, Cole is helped to the backstage area perhaps suffering an injury.
Eighth Contest: AIW Intense Champion Bobby Beverly vs. BJ Whitmer: Beverly wastes no time working over BJ with strikes and they trade blows before they go to the floor. They return to the ring quickly and Beverly works over BJ with chops in the corner. Whitmer returns the chops and knocks Beverly to the floor where they brawl for a few moments. Beverly hits Whitmer with a yakuza kick on the outside. Whitmer tosses Beverly over the railing into the crowd with a t-bone suplex. Whitmer works over Beverly with chops in the crowd but they return to ringside. Chest Flexor distracts BJ on the floor and that allows Beverly to deliver a kick on the apron followed by a running cross body to the outside. Beverly takes BJ over with a snap suplex for a two count. Bobby continues to control BJ with a quick clothesline for another two count. Beverly chokes BJ in the corner and chokes the challenger. Beverly takes Whitmer over with a suplex but only can get a near fall. BJ is chopped but hits an exploder suplex to stop Beverly. BJ gets a second wind and hits a few clothesline and a high knee. BJ gets a two count following a northern lights suplex. Whitmer comes off the ropes to hit a yakuza kick but Bobby won’t stay down. Beverly rolls Whitmer up for a near fall and delivers a kick to BJ’s head. Beverly gets a two count following a super kick to a kneeling Whitmer. Whitmer nearly wins with a northern lights suplex. Beverly arm drags BJ into the corner and hits a side suplex. Beverly drives BJ down with a double arm DDT managing a near fall. Whitmer kicks Beverly but Bobby delivers an STO out of the corner. BJ hit a Flatliner and locks in the necktie submission and Beverly taps out giving Whitmer the victory and championship. (**1/4. It wasn’t anything awful, but it lacked excitement and that intense feeling since it was a feud that had some intensity behind it. It didn’t drag, so that least that was a positive.)
Ninth Contest: The Briscoe Brothers vs. The Irish Airborne: Mark and Jake kick off the tag match. They trade arm drags and Mark has a standoff after a headlock takedown. Jay tags in and here comes Dave. Dave dropkicks Jay after an arm drag but doesn’t followup as Jay went to the corner. Jake tags back in and the Airborne double team Jay. Jake hit a springboard moonsault on Jay for a two count. Jay knocks Dave off the apron and hit a vertical suplex on Jake. Briscoe Brothers double team Jake to maintain control of the match. Mark hit a frog splash elbow drop on Jake for a two count. Jake kicks Jay and tags in Dave but Dave gets knocked into the corner. Dave hits a top rope cross body onto Jay for a near fall. Mark saves his brother by kicking Dave to breakup an abdominal stretch. Jay tries to tag in Mark but is unable to. The Airborne continue to work over Jay but they aren’t able to keep him down on the cover attempts. Jake hits a kick in the corner and a northern lights suplex for a two count. Mark gets the hot tag and chops the Airborne to clean house. Mark dropkicks Dave into the corner and puts Jake on the top turnbuckle. Mark slams Jake off the top rope but is stopped by Dave on the apron. Jake super kicks Mark a few times and nearly wins with a bridging suplex. Jay tosses Jake to the floor hitting the railing head first. Jay plants Dave with a spine buster. Dave kicks Jay over the middle rope and hit a springboard elbow drop. Mark runs into a snap power slam into the corner by Jake. Airborne hit a double stomp/death valley driver combo for a two count. Jay saves Mark from a spike tombstone and spikes Dave with the Jay Driller but Dave kicks out. Briscoe’s hit the Doomsday Device and they win the match. (***. A fine match and the Airborne weren’t treated as jobbers, which was nice. They got some stuff in and kept it competitive with the Briscoe Brothers, who were by far the most over act on the show.)
According to the hype video before the main event, the main issue here is apparently between Johnny Gargano and Tim Donst. It’s not known if he is with the heel stable with Chest Flexor. Zema wasn’t originally scheduled for the match, but was inserted after ring announcements.
Main Event: AIW Absolute Champion Eric Ryan vs. Tom Donst vs. Johnny Gargano vs. Zema Ion in an elimination match: Ryan goes right after Ion on the floor to start the match. Ion gets tossed into the ring where Donst and Gargano got a few shots in. Ion ducked a clothesline and knocked Ryan down with a baseball slide. Ion goes to the top and dropkicks Donst and Gargano. Ryan arm drags Ion a few times hitting a clothesline in the corner. Ryan goes to the top but Ion tries to leave only to be rolled back in and Ryan hits a double stomp for a two count. Ion backdrops Donst to the floor and gets drop-kicked by Ryan and Johnny. Gargano kicks Ryan followed by a sit down power bomb for a two count. Johnny kicks Ryan but Ryan puts Johnny on his shoulders only for Donst to hit a spear. Ion leaps off the top to hit a frog splash on Ryan for a two count. Donst grabs Ion locking in a modified Rings of Saturn but Ion doesn’t give in. Gargano spears Donst from the apron into the ring and dropkicks Donst in the corner. Gargano lawn darts Donst but can’t get a three on the cover. Ryan has Johnny hitting a German suplex but Ion hit a 450 splash to pin Ryan and eliminates the champion first!
Ion is playing to the crowd but here comes Johnny but they counter moves until Ion power slammed Gargano and hit a springboard moonsault for a two count. Ion gets crotched on the top by Johnny. Ion is in the tree of woe where Donst tosses Johnny overhead into Ion in the corner! Donst puts Ion on the top rope but gets knocked off. Donst tosses Ion with a suplex. Gargano plants Ion and puts the Gargano Escape locked in causing Ion to tap out!
Donst and Gargano squared off in the middle of the ring trading strikes. Donst drives Gargano down with a bulldog but Johnny comes back with a clothesline after a super kick staggered Donst. Johnny goes to the top but Donst stops Johnny hitting a middle rope Death Valley Driver but Johnny rolls through nearly winning with a rollup. Donst has the modified Rings of Saturn locked in but doesn’t care a submission. They go to the floor where Donst sends Gargano into the railing . Donst caught a slingshot spear back in the ring but Johnny hits a twisting flatliner for a two count. Johnny puts the Gargano Escape on Donst in the middle of the ring but Donst gets to the ropes. Donst leg sweeps Johnny followed by a swinging neck breaker for a near fall. Donst hit a second swinging neck breaker and gets the three count to win the match. After the match, NIXON appears in the ring which is a group of masked men and they attack Donst. Several people try to get in the ring but they all get knocked off the apron. One of the men unmasks and its Chris Dickinson. BJ Whitmer comes into the ring and trades shots with Dickinson until BJ gets attacked. The ring gets flooded with guys brawling with Nixon. Ricky Shane Page, Bobby Beverly and Eric Ryan are the other guys. Dickinson plants BJ with a suplex. Eventually, Nixon decides to leave and knocks down the ramp display. (**1/2. I was anticipating a lengthy match bout this didn’t even last fifteen minutes. The champion going out first always makes for an interesting match, but the rest of the match went very quickly. I’m figuring that was for the final segment debuting the heel stable of Nixon. It’s a solid way to end the show and provides interest for future shows.)
Final Thoughts:
There is some decent wrestling on the show, but considering the lineup and the expectations, this is a disappointing show. The debut of Nixon makes for interest for the future AIW shows, but for a big show that AIW says Absolution is, this didn’t live to that kind of hype. The crowd didn’t help matter, either.
Thanks for reading.