AAW The Chaos Theory 2/3/2018

AAW Heavyweight Champion Rey Fenix defends against ACH. Penta El Zero M battles Eddie Kingston. Matt Riddle squares off against Sami Callihan. Plus much more!

AAW presents The Chaos Theory
Date: 2/3/2018
From: LaSalle, IL

Tyler Volz and AAW Tag Team Champion Davey Vega are in the ring to hype up the crowd. Vega takes the microphone and admits that he’s a little banged up right now. Vega says that it wouldn’t be a show without him and says he will be on commentary team.

Opening Contest: Trey Miguel vs. Myron Reed: Miguel takes Reed down a few times with a kick and a slingblade. They go to the floor where Reed drops Miguel onto the apron face first. Miguel drops Reed onto the apron with a brainbuster. Miguel head scissors Reed and then twists his neck for a near fall. Miguel drives Reed down with a reverse brainbuster and then rolls through but Reed counters a brainbuster with a twisting stunner. Miguel gets back into the ring and looks for a suicide dive but misses Reed and crashes into several chairs. Reed comes off the ropes and takes Miguel out with a crossbody in the crowd! Reed goes to the apron attempting a springboard but Miguel avoids the offense and they have a stare down. They collide with crossbody blocks, double kicks and Reed wins with a standing Spanish Fly for the win. (**. This match literally went five minutes and they did a bunch of spots that probably didn’t need to happen. A fast start to the show and a good way to get the crowd pumped up for the remainder of the show.) After the match, they embrace to show respect for each other.

Second Contest: OI4K (Dave & Jake Crist) vs. Zero Gravity (Brett Gakiya & CJ Esparza): Gakiya misses a clothesline on Dave and is met with a boot from Jake. Jake nails CJ with a boot as well. That opening start seemed like they didn’t know how to start the match and came across weird. They go to the floor and they brawl for a few moments. CJ gets chopped over the railing while Brett splashed Dave against the railing. Jake drops Brett with a suplex back first onto the apron. CJ is placed on the railing and acting like he’s trapped while just sitting there. Dave waits several minutes before delivering a running boot to the groin. They finally get into the ring where Zero Gravity deliver dropkicks and they both deliver suicide dives. They also hit stereo somersault dives onto the Crist Brothers. Crist Brothers stop a third dive attempt with forearm shots. Jake plants CJ with a Death Valley Driver on the apron.

The match is actually finally in the ring as Jake works over CJ with forearm shots in the corner. Dave takes CJ over with a snap suplex and has a modified ankle lock locked in until CJ reaches the ropes. Crist cuts off CJ with a forearm shot and tags in Dave. Dave boots CJ followed by a double knee strike off the top onto Jake for a near fall. CJ boots Jake and knocks Dave off the apron. CJ plants Jake with a slingshot DDT back into the ring. CJ tags in Brett and he dropkicks Jake upon entry. Gaikya nails Jake with a spinning heel kick for a near fall. Gaikya gets the crowd behind him and drives Jake face first into the middle turnbuckle. Gaikya hits a Code Red but Jake powers out at two. CJ tags in after Brett takes Jake down with a double knee and CJ hits a top rope crossbody on a seated Jake for a near fall. Zero Gravity hits Flippy Cup for a near fall. Jake kicks both CJ and Brett a few times. Jake splashes CJ from the top but can’t get a three count. Dave heads to the top rope as Jake has a tombstone and Dave delivered a double stomp at the same time to earn the win. (**1/4. A solid enough tag team match and the work on the floor actually made the match go by quicker than I was expecting.)

Trevor Lee is actually kind of funny when he forces the announcer to mention that he’s an Impact Wrestling television star. Lee cuts a promo after Strickland’s entrance saying that tonight was supposed to be his night. He’s upset that he’s not wrestling for the AAW Heritage Championship. Lee says the only reason he made the drive to LaSalle was because he thought he was having a Heritage Championship match. Lee thinks that the fans don’t see him as the star that he is. Lee says that when he’s in the ring that there are rules. Thus, there will be rules in his match against Strickland. He points at Strickland when saying there will not be any knives or guns. The fans chant “that was racist.” Strickland goes into the crowd and has a few fans check him for weapons.

Third Contest: Trevor Lee vs. Shane Strickland: They shake hands but Strickland takes Lee down to the mat twisting his fingers in the process. Lee breaks free from the hold and works over Strickland with strikes in the corner. Strickland uppercuts Lee and follows up with a kick to the head. Lee rolls to the floor and Strickland attempts a dive but lands on his feet when Lee moves. Strickland nails Lee with a superkick. Strickland drives Lee face first into the apron. Strickland works over Lee with strikes against the railing. Strickland connects with a running boot against the railing as Lee was sitting on the floor. Strickland delivers a running knee strike to send Lee over the railing into the crowd. Lee staggers to his feet and tosses a few chairs to the ringside area until Strickland rolls Lee into the ring. Lee holds the referee while Strickland is on the apron. Lee is able to kick Strickland to the floor and delivers a running kick from the apron. Lee fakes the crowd out and doesn’t send Strickland into the crowd instead settling for a near fall in the ring. Lee tosses Strickland out of the corner.

Lee works over Strickland with forearm shots to the back. Strickland takes Lee down with a hip toss and locks in a cross arm breaker. Lee tries to get free but Shane switches to a triangle choke. Lee doesn’t let his arm drop three times and catapults Strickland throat first under the top rope to break the hold. Lee bites Strickland’s hand. Lee sends Strickland hard back first into the corner. Strickland hits a slingshot Flatliner for a near fall. Strickland plants Lee with a rolling cutter for a near fall. Lee kicks Strickland from the apron and attempts a German suplex but Strickland elbows free. Lee kicks Strickland and connects with a German suplex for a near fall. Strickland and Lee trade a few strikes. Lee turns Strickland inside out with a clothesline but Shane comes back with a kick. Lee nearly wins the match with a twisting slam. Lee is talking to the referee and nearly rolled up by Strickland. Shane hits a butterfly suplex and has a key lock on Lee, but Lee doesn’t give in. Strickland controls Lee on the mat and stomps on Lee’s arm after twisting making a snap sound. They sell it like Lee has broken his arm. Strickland moves the referee out of the way and Lee delivers a low blow followed by a rollup with a handful of tights for the win. (**1/2. It’s not a surprise for Lee to win the match considering he’s supposed to be feuding with Zema Ion for the Heritage Championship. The finish is actually fine considering his character and it protects Strickland. Some of the lack of selling hurt the match, but it was an enjoyable match.)

MJF comes out prior to the next match, which is a six person match and all six men are already in the ring. MJF talks about AAW wanting him to wrestle Paco but he doesn’t wrestle Paco. He will wrestle half a dozen jobbers. So, I guess MJF is in the match now too.

Fourth Contest: Dante Leon vs. Donovan Danhausen vs. Gringo Loco vs. Ace Romero vs. Sage Cainan vs. Space Monkey vs. MJF: MJF is taunting the crowd and doesn’t realize all the other guys waiting for him. MJF bails to the floor to try and get away from the group. Romero is behind MJF on the floor and MJF tries to talk his way out of it but is worked over anyway. These matches are always difficult to cover since there is so many guys and constant action. Leon gets his moment to shot to shine hitting a German suplex. Space Monkey head scissors Gringo followed by a springboard tornado DDT. Danhausen takes Monkey out with a missile dropkick. MJF hits the Complete Shot on Danhausen. Romero enters the ring and MJF begs off. MJF lands on his feet as Romero flipped him but gets slapped anyway. Romero dropkicks MJF to the floor. Gringo slaps Romero and tries for a slam but that doesn’t work very well. Space Monkey takes Loco over with a hurricanrana. Monkey and Cainan take guys out with stereo dives to the floor. Loco takes several guys out with a five to the floor. Leon comes off the top rope hitting a twisting dive onto the group of guys on the floor. MJF fakes out a dive and says he doesn’t need to flip to get over. Danhausen knee strikes MJF to the floor. Danhausen takes everyone out on the floor. Romero takes everyone out with a somersault dive to the floor.

Tower of Doom spot takes place out of the corner, which seems to be the norm for these matches. MJF is taken out by the Tower of Doom as Romero powerbombed everyone leading into a superplex. Danhausen eye rakes Romero and gets dropkicked by Leon. This leads to everyone hitting strikes in the middle of the ring. This leads to a six way sleeper hold. Space Monkey hits a stunner on Romero and then everyone else gets a jawbreaker. Gringo hits a top rope moonsault on Monkey and Danhausen. Danhausen plants Leon with a DDT. MJF double stomps Sage’s left arm. Monkey superkicks MJF and then kicks Gringo on the middle rope. Monkey hits a hurricanrana on Gringo, but MJF breaks up the cover. Romero powerbombs Leon in midair and wins the match. (***. As usual, these matches have good action and they did well with the spot. Romero winning makes the most logical sense. For ten minutes or so, it didn’t last too long and I was entertained.) After the match, MJF attacks Romero and stomps away on Ace. MJF spits on Romero and delivers a few right hands before getting escorted out of the ring by officials.

Fifth Contest: Jeff Cobb vs. AR Fox: Cobb avoids a kick at the start and hits a German suplex. Fox comes back with a kick in the corner and a knee strike. Fox plants Cobb with a springboard wheelbarrow bulldog causing Cobb to bail to the floor. Cobb catches Fox on a suicide dive attempt but Fox sends him into the post face first. Cobb yanks Fox off the apron and slams him back first onto the apron. Cobb tosses Fox out of the corner with a hip toss. Cobb keeps control sending Fox hard back first into the corner. Cobb has a bear hug on Fox but isn’t able to get a submission. Cobb works over Fox in the corner with strikes. Cobb dropkicks Fox on the top turnbuckle to keep momentum on his side. Fox head scissors Cobb to counter a press slam and Cobb is sent to the floor. Fox connects with a baseball slide and a kick flip moonsault off the apron. Fox goes to the top rope hitting a swanton for a near fall. Fox heads to the top rope again but Cobb avoids a 450 splash. Cobb counters a head scissors and hits a swinging back suplex for a near fall. Fox kicks Cobb while he’s on the apron and Fox hits a slingshot cutter back into the ring. Fox heads to the top hitting a 450 splash for a near fall.

Fox heads to the top rope a second time but Cobb rolls away from the corner. Fox misses a kick and dropkicks Cobb to the corner. Fox forearms Cobb from the apron and attempts a springboard but Cobb catches Fox and hits the Tour of the Island (swinging powerslam) for the win. (**1/2. A rather quick but effective match between these two. I must credit AAW for having short matches, but enjoyable ones.)

Backstage, ACH cuts a promo about his main event match with AAW Heavyweight Champion Rey Fenix. He doesn’t have to say he worked his ass off for the title opportunity because he’s shown it. He’s not going to let the opportunity go.

Sixth Contest: Sami Callihan vs. Matt Riddle: Sami charges towards Riddle but is met with a knee strike and Riddle attempts the Bro To Sleep. Sami counters into the Stretch Muffler, but Riddle breaks free and Sami bails to the floor. They begin to trade forearm strikes in the middle of the ring. Callihan kicks Riddle, but Riddle comes back with a Pele kick. Riddle forearms Sami in the corner a few times. Riddle tosses Sami with an overhead suplex followed by a senton splash for a near fall. Riddle grabs Sami hitting a gut wrench suplex two times. Riddle kicks Sami on the chest a few times. Sami shows his appreciation with a double middle finger and is kicked several more times. Sami blocks a stomp and bites Riddle’s right foot. Sami twists Riddle’s toes looking for a submission but Riddle doesn’t give in to the pain. Callihan then licks his fingers that were just on Riddle’s toes. Sami delivers a springboard clothesline to knock Riddle off the apron. Sami takes Riddle out on the floor with a suicide dive. Sami spits on his hand and then lets the spit drop into his mouth before chopping Riddle. Riddle fights back with a series of strikes against the ring post. Riddle goes for a kick but misses Sami and hits the post. That was an obvious spot coming. Sami grabs a steel chair and tosses it into the ring.

Sami works over Riddle with a few chair shots to keep Riddle on the floor. Callihan drops Riddle with a series of headbutts. Back in the ring, Riddle has a chair and Sami grabs one as well. Sami decides to sit in the chair and wants Riddle to do the same. Riddle instead tosses the chair at Sami and knee strikes the chair into Sami. Riddle hits a Bro To Sleep and a German suplex for a near fall. Riddle pummels Sami with stomps in the corner. Riddle has Sami on the top turnbuckle looking for a fisherman suplex. Sami bites Riddle to break free from the hold and chops Riddle a few times. Sami eye rakes Riddle and goes for a sunset flip powerbomb but Riddle holds onto the ropes. Sami hits Riddle with a chair on the knee and stomps the chair onto Riddle’s feet. Callihan twists Riddle’s big toe and ankle. Riddle is able to kick his way free. Sami drops down into a choke and Riddle nails Sami with a series of elbow strikes. Sami blocks an elbow but Riddle continues to deliver strikes before spiking Sami with a tombstone for a near fall. Riddle powerbombs Sami but misses a knee strike. Sami nearly wins with a rollup. Sami delivers a double under hook shoulder breaker and then goes back to the leg getting a grapevine locked in. Riddle tries to reach the ropes but is forced to tap. (**3/4. I’m not usually a big Sami fan these days, but the action was pretty good and they actually told a story. Some of the selling bothered me, but the overall action was good enough to hold my interest throughout.) After the match, Sami grabs a microphone and puts over Riddle for kicking his ass. He says that he gives the fans everything he has and has done that since day one. He talks about three guys who jump him and the Cris Brothers. He’s talking about Jeff Cobb, David Starr, Trevor Lee and Eddie Kingston. That would be four people. Lee, Cobb and Kingston appear from the curtain to answer the challenge. Kingston doesn’t get in the ring as we see the Crist Brothers behind Lee and Cobb and that leads to a beating.

AAW Tag Team Champion Davey Vega is in the ring to conduct an interview with his best friend Mat Fitchett. Vega says that everyone on Twitter wants to know why he’s Mat’s role model. Fitchett says he’s not his role model. The interview gets cutoff rather quickly as Brubacker, Conor Braxton, Curt Stallion and Jake Something come out. I’m kind of confused how Jake is a heel when the fans love his name. Something is mad about how tonight was their night to win the tag titles but Vega has a bum knee for the 10th time this year. They attack Mat until Mat’s partners for the next match come out.

Seventh Contest: Brubaker, Conor Braxton, Curt Stallion & Jake Something vs. Kody Rice, Mat Fitchett, Mike Hartenbower & Paco: They all brawl around ringside and this leads to Rice hitting a dive to the floor. Something press slams Paco over the to the floor onto everyone. Everyone is on the floor brawling. Paco takes Something out with a springboard dropkick off the apron. Paco plants Stallion with a tornado DDT out of the corner. Brubaker uses a chair on Paco. Braxton gets kicked by Paco and Fitchett. Hartenbower spears Braxton and Something followed by a spine buster on Stallion onto a chair. Rice nearly wins the match following a splash on Stallion in the corner. Paco is on Kody’s shoulders and plants Braxton with a DDT. Something plants Paco with a sit down powerbomb. Rice delivers a Sick Kick on Something and hits a standing moonsault. Something hits a German suplex and double stomp on Rice. Fitchett kicks a chair into Something’s face. Braxton counters a tornado DDT attempt and plants Fitchett with an ace crusher. Hartenbower spears Braxton and Brubaker delivers a step up kick for a near fall. Brubaker gets a kendo stick but Rice grabs it and accidentally whacks his own tag partner Hartenbower. Rice is met with a super smash headbutt from Braxton and Something hits a Black Hole Slam for the win. (***. As expected, this was just non-stop action and pretty enjoyable stuff. I was really impressed with Kody Rice and what he did in the ring. Jake Something is likely going to be a major player for AAW over the next few years.)

Backstage, AAW Women’s Champion Jessicka Havoc cuts a promo on Rosemary. They have wrestled before and it was a war. She knows that Rosemary isn’t a pushover. She will drop Rosemary on her head and remind everyone why she is the champion.

Eighth Contest: Eddie Kingston vs. Penta El Zero M: This is a first time ever match, apparently. Kingston pie faces Penta when he gets in his face. Kingston bites Penta’s fingers before the action gets going. Penta arm drags Kingston a few times but Kingston avoids it with a dropkick. Penta kicks Kingston off the apron and goes for a dive but is met with a right hand. Penta kicks Kingston off the apron and connects with a somersault dive off the apron to the floor. They trade chops on the floor. Kingston dropkicks Penta off the apron back to the floor and connects with a suicide dive. Kingston continues to work over Penta in the ring delivering a double stomp for a near fall. Kingston delivers a few chops in the corner to drop Penta to his knees. Penta fights back with a couple of Sling Blades for a near fall. Moments later, Penta delivers a backstabber to drop Kingston to the mat. Kingston slams Penta to the mat followed by a clothesline for a near fall. They begin to trade chops in the middle of the ring. Kingston delivers an STO managing to get a two count. Kingston rips Penta’s mask and the referee pulls him off. Kingston ties Penta’s mask to the middle rope and delivers a few stomps, though the knot wasn’t very tight and frees Penta. Penta superkicks Kingston a couple of times for a near fall. They begin to trade strikes while on their knees. Penta superkicks Kingston again but Kingston reaches the ropes on the cover attempt.

Penta kicks Kingston’s leg over the middle rope. Kingston nails Penta with a running kick in the corner and sits Penta on the top turnbuckle. Penta leaps off but Kingston delivers a spinning back fist and nearly wins the match. Penta avoids another back fist managing to hit a Canadian Destroyer for a near fall. Penta comes off the middle rope to deliver another Destroyer. Penta plants Kingston with a package piledriver for the win. (**. I didn’t think the match needed to go nearly fifteen minutes, but I’d say this was one of the better Kingston matches that I’ve watched. I would have been shocked if Penta loss his match, honestly. Penta is a star and is really fun to watch.)

Ninth Contest: AAW Women’s Champion Jessicka Havoc vs. Rosemary: They are wearing similar designed attire. Rosemary tries to mist Havoc but instead misses and mists the referee on accident. Rosemary misses a slap and Havoc gets control in the corner tossing the challenger across the ring. Havoc splashes Rosemary followed by a kick. The referee has recovered from the mist quicker than most wrestlers. Rosemary connects with a kick and a leaping forearm but Havoc doesn’t budge. Rosemary comes off the ropes to drop Havoc to the mat. Havoc has a full nelson on Rosemary and lifts her into the air. Havoc drives Rosemary over her knee. Rosemary goes to the floor to regroup and the referee is checking on her. The fans show support as Rosemary gets back into the ring. Havoc spikes Rosemary with a tombstone and easily wins the match. (NR. I’m not going to rate this because I’m pretty sure Rosemary got legit hurt here and the match was cut rather short. Hopefully they can have a proper rematch.) After the match, Havoc and a few officials check on Rosemary.

Main Event: AAW Heavyweight Champion Rey Fenix vs. ACH: ACH has his right side taped up. Fenix takes ACH down to the mat but there isn’t much going on there. They have a standoff. Rey takes ACH down to the mat and controls the challenger with a full nelson. There is another standoff. They counter wrist locks a few times to keep a slow pace to the beginning of the match. There are a few takedowns and then another standoff. Fenix tries a few running knee strikes but ACH just stands there and they trade strikes. Fenix comes off the ropes with a hurricanrana and dropkick to send ACH to the floor. Fenix comes off the ropes to fake a dive. ACH dropkicks a seated Fenix to get control of the match. ACH takes Fenix down with a swinging neck breaker. ACH delivers a jumping knee drop for a near fall. ACH continues to beat on Fenix with chops. ACH double stomps Fenix on the back followed by a dropkick. ACH clotheslines Fenix in the corner and heads to the top rope. Fenix gets kicked off the middle rope and crashes to the apron and then to the floor. ACH waits on the apron to kick Fenix on the chest. ACH brings the champ back into the ring.

ACH comes off the top to hit a frog splash for a near fall. Fenix nails ACH with a boot to his face and a springboard kick to the jaw. Fenix hits a rolling cutter for a near fall. Fenix and ACH are on the middle rope where Fenix hits a Spanish Fly for a two count. Fenix hits a standing senton for a near fall. Fenix continues to work over ACH with chops but misses a kick. ACH has Fenix on his shoulders and attempts a German but settles for a German to counter a handspring attempt by Fenix for a near fall. Fenix elbows ACH and hits a German suplex out of the corner. Fenix continues with a second German for a near fall. Fenix heads to the top rope but ACH holds onto his boot. Fenix elbows ACH away but ACH delivers a kick to knock Fenix off the top. ACH comes off the top to hit a 450 splash but Fenix pops his shoulder up at two! ACH puts Fenix on the top turnbuckle and elbows Fenix. ACH gets rammed face first onto the turnbuckle and Fenix delivers a jumping strike on the top turnbuckle. Fenix hits a Muscle Buster driver for a near fall. ACH has Fenix on his shoulders and hits an electric chair slam for a near fall. ACH tries for a brain buster but Fenix countered. ACH counters with a double stomp and spikes Fenix with a brain buster for the three count and we have a new champion. (***. It was a fine match and the closing sequence was nicely done. I feel a little disappointed since it was built up as a big match for ACH and it kind of lacked the emotion for such a big title win. It’s a good moment for ACH and it left the crowd happy to end the show.) After the match, Fenix puts the title around ACH as several wrestlers have come out from the locker room area to show their support.

ACH grabs a microphone and cuts a promo talking about how he was younger when he was in the same fashion two years ago. Now, he isn’t letting his insecurity get the best of him. He doesn’t give any fucks now. He puts over the crowd and says what he does is bigger than just wrestling. Himself and Shane Strickland are doing this in inspire African American kids. He also puts over Paco, Mat Fitchett and Davey Vega. He’s fired up for Chicago embracing him. ACH really focused on race on the promo.

Final Thoughts:
I’d say this was another solid show from AAW as they put together a quality overall show this time around. ACH appears to be the next guy to carry ACH and judging by the crowd reaction that could be good thing for business. AAW has some quality homegrown talent which also helps the viewing experience. Recommended show.

Thanks for reading.