AIW Keep The Change, You Filthy Animal 12/18/2015

Written by: Bob Colling

Absolute Intense Wrestling presents Keep The Change, You Filthy Animal
Date: 12/18/2015
From: Cleveland, OH

The event starts with Ethan Carter III cutting a promo backstage about being a conquering hero but not being received with the ovation he thought he’d get. The last time he was in AIW he was a victim of sucking it. However, time heals all wounds. Tonight, he will not be sucking it. His path for redemption starts tonight against Chuck Taylor. He’ll beat Chuck tonight and then be champion everywhere again.

Backstage Jock Samson is with Bunkhouse Buck and Col. Robert Parker. Samson made one phone call and he found himself some friends. Samson says after they win tonight they’ll find some women in Ohio to mess around with. Buck chimes in and says he’s going to make their opponents squeal.

Backstage, Sana Claus is with Johnny Gargano and Candice LeRae and they try to solicit Santa to be on their respective teams tonight. Gargano thinks they will reign supreme over Team Candice.

Backstage, Davey Vega cuts a promo on Gregory Iron mocking himself and everyone else that has held the championship in the past. Vega defends his title reign and he was a fighting champion. He doesn’t think Iron deserves to be champion.

Backstage, Flip Kendrick and Facade cut a promo about being partners. They are pretty confident they’ll win.

Backstage, Beaver Boys cut a promo being in a four way match. They are back in AIW and they’re going to get a victory. They can’t be stopped.

Backstage, Frankie Flynn says nothing is going to stop him from being the next leader of AIW. However, Santa Claus comes into the scene with Tracy Williams and Tyson Dux. They don’t know what Flynn is all about. They give Flynn some pointers on how to be more entertaining.

Backstage, Dr. Daniel C. Rockingham is promising to prove that he’s not Mr. Irrelevant.

Backstage, AIW Absolute Champion Ethan Page hopes that Tim Donst can make it to the show despite a car accident. He’s going to end Donst’s rise to the top and end the lovely story of Donst overcoming cancer and regaining the AIW Absolute Championship. Page doesn’t care that Donst beat cancer and doesn’t care that everyone loves Donst. Friends, fans and hope get you nowhere in wrestling. The devil exists and it’s Ethan Page.

Backstage, AIW Tag Team Champions Colin Delaney and Cheech cut a promo about having the most title defenses as champions. If they win tonight they will be the longest reigning tag champions. Cheech knows that the second time isn’t easy but they are confident they will win the match.

Backstage, Amazing Red knows the tricks that Louis Lyndon has and says expect the unexpected.

Backstage, Eddie Kingston cuts a promo on his Three Stages of Hell match saying that Josh Prohibition should be on his knees praying that he can see his family tonight. Kingston wants Prohibition to pray that they don’t make it that far. He has nothing to lose tonight.

Backstage. AIW Intense Champion Gregory Iron is cutting a promo about his title defense but insults his stablemates saying they don’t deserve to be in the Iron Curtain. Iron reveals that Jerry has been pulling his weight and he’ll be in the scramble match tonight with him. Iron is confident he’ll win because there is two of them in the scramble match.

Backstage, Tim Donst cuts a promo about the AIW Absolute Championship and how he had to vacate the championship. He almost gave up on himself when he had to vacate the championship. Donst thinks Ethan Page is a prick and nobody likes him and that’s why Page isn’t a bigger star. Donst is at the arena despite a car accident two hours ago. All he cares about is wrestling.

Well, that was literally 23-minutes worth of promos that I wasn’t expecting. But, at least there is some context behind these matches that I otherwise wouldn’t really be aware of. So, I appreciate that!

Opening Contest: The Beaver Boys (Alex Reynolds & John Silver) vs. Dudes on TV (DJ Z & Matt Cross) vs. Facade & Flip Kendrick vs. The Nation of Intoxication (Danny Havoc & Lucky 13): Silver and Cross kick off the opener deciding to have a pose off. They have a test of strength but neither man can get the advantage. Cross gets Silver on his shoulders and did a few squats. Cross gets a two count with a rollup and Silver comes back with a backslide. They shove each other several times until Cross works over Silver with a boot and strikes. Cross hits a handspring splash in the corner. Silver decks Z on the apron and eventually hits Z and Cross with a double Samoan Drop. Havoc and Lucky take out Silver with a kick and suplex. Reynolds hits a top rope cross body. Reynolds avoids Lucky in the corner to hit a tilt a whirl backbreaker. Kendrick takes Reynolds down with a hurricanrana and dropkick. Z trips Kendrick while on the floor but Facade hits a dropkick on both Z and Cross. Facade tries to fight both men off, and hit a springboard moonsault. Lucky stops Facade with a knee to the face and hits a suplex into the corner for a near fall. This leads to everyone putting sleeper holds on. Silver delivers a jaw breaker and everyone sells a domino effect jaw breaker. That was pretty good.

Silver attempts a vertical suplex, but this leads to a multi-man suplex spot. Kendrick, Cross and Z are the guys who end up taking the suplex. Facade and Lucky trade forearm strikes until Facade gets the better of the exchange. Facade springboards off the ropes to kick Lucky. Facade nails Lucky with a leg lariat after avoiding a spinning heel kick. Facade boots Lucky in the corner and hits a springboard bulldog for a two count. Lucky splashes Facade in the corner followed by a forearm shot. Kendrick heel kicks Havoc into a corner. Kendrick hits a nice twisting cross body for a two count on Havoc. Reynolds nails Kendrick with an elevated Codebreaker for a two count. Z and Cross splash Reynolds in the corner before hitting a double stomp/Death Valley Driver combo for a two count. Silver stops Z and Cross on the top rope managing to hit a double superplex! Facade nails Silver with a boot coming off the top rope. Reynolds gets dumped to the floor by Havoc. Cross hits a suicide dive to the floor and Z nearly wins with a rollup. Lucky kicks Z on the apron and takes everyone out with a twisting dive to the floor. Facade head scissors Z out of the corner and sends him to the floor. Facade goes for a dive but Z cuts him off on the apron and delivers a stomp. Z springboards off the back of Facade to dive to the floor. Facade climbs to the top rope and proceeds to hit a ridiculous somersault dive on the floor. Kendrick goes to the top and he also does an insane double moonsault onto everyone. Kendrick misses a twisting 450 on Z. Z hits a slingshot DDT and Cross hits a shooting star press to pin Kendrick. (***1/4. This was an effective way to open the show. It started a little slow, but they picked up the pace and delivered a high energy opener that got the crowd riled up. An ideal way to kick off the show.)

Second Contest: AIW Intense Champion Gregory Iron vs. Jerry vs. Cloudy vs. Davey Vega vs. Rex Brody vs. Shinnya Ishida: Vega and Ishida double team Cloudy leading to Iron and Jerry attacking them. Jerry tried to let Iron pin him to retain the title, but that was prevented by Brody. Brody hits a Codebreaker on Iron and grabs a spider from a cup. He puts the spider on Iron, which is clearly a fake spider. Iron isn’t moving and Jerry tells Iron he’s going to kill the spider with a chair. The spider is on Iron’s chest. Jerry jabs Iron a few times with a chair. Brody backdrops Iron over the top to take out Iron’s stable members. Brody goes to the top and takes everyone out with a somersault dive on the floor. Jerry and Iron hit a spike piledriver on Brody driving him head first onto the floor. Brody is carried to the backstage area. Ishida takes Iron and Jerry out with a cross body to the floor. Cloudy hits a suicide dive to the floor. Vega takes everyone out with a somersault dive. Cloudy nearly pins Vega after a side Russian leg sweep and a back senton splash. Ishida kicks Cloudy followed by a few forearm strikes. Ishida nails Cloudy with a clothesline to a seated Cloudy. Iron nearly pins Ishida but gets stopped by Vega. Vega hits a vertical suplex turned backbreaker. Jerry breaks up the cover. Vega gets pulled to the floor and is attacked by Iron’s buddies. Vega brawls to the backstage area to take him out of the match. Jerry and Iron are in the ring and Jerry shoves the leader. Iron does the finger poke of doom and covers Jerry, but Jerry counters with a crucifix and wins the match! (**1/2. They did the usual expected high spot match and it was rather enjoyable. Ishida is a guy I’d like to see more of as he was a lot of fun in there with his style. The finish was not expected with Jerry turning on Iron to win the title instead of allowing Iron to get a cheap win. These multi-man matches are usually a chore to sit through, but I liked this one.)

Prior to the next match, Johnny Gargano reveals that Alex Daniels is unable to compete and thus needed to get a new member for his team. They are using only AIW students. He reveals that his new pick had signed a one day contract with the wrestling school. It’s revealed that Tommaso Ciampa is the newest member of Team Gargano.

Third Contest: Team Gargano (Johnny Gargano, Joshua Singh, Tommaso Ciampa, Dr. Daniel C. Rockingham & Brian Carson) vs. Team Candice (Candice LeRae, Alex Kellar, Evan Adams, Frankie Flynn & Kaplan): At one point they start wrestling in slow motion and the commentary team also talk in slow motion. The crowd doesn’t seem to be enjoying the slow motion portion of the match. It’s kind of comical, but I’d prefer normal wrestling. Gargano prevented Ciampa from putting his thumb in Candice’s bum. Candice hits a double penis suplex on Gargano and Ciampa and now we’re back to normal speed. Everyone hits dive to the floor. Ciampa catches Candice on a hurricanrana attempt and nails her with a powerbomb turned backbreaker. Everyone seems to be a big move in, which is fine but there’s not much storytelling or anything to the match. It’s just a car crash type of match and it’s not a bad match by any means. Candice’s team hits five penis suplexs, which was kind of funny. Rockingham pins Kellar following a pump handle sit out slam. The finish was kind of abrupt. (***. The match felt like it took forever, but there was constant action and is probably one of the better student matches I’ve seen. A lot of credit should go to Johnny, Candice and Tommaso for the entertainment of the match.)

Fourth Contest: Amazing Red vs. Louis Lyndon: Red tries a back suplex but Lyndon sits down and taunts Red. Lyndon avoids a rollup and kicks Red in the corner to keep control of the match. Lyndon head scissors Red but Red quickly gets up and tries an arm drag, but Lyndon counters with one of his own. Lyndon nails Red with a bicycle kick to send Red to the floor after they both kipped up. Lyndon sends Red chest first into the guard railing and but back in the ring Red hits a head scissors and a dropkick to a kneeling Lyndon. Lyndon bails to the floor to regroup and Red follows nailing Lyndon with a forearm strike. Red tosses Lyndon over the railing into the crowd and hit a somersault dive off the railing into the crowd. They continue to brawl on the floor for a few moments. Red goes to the top rope nailing Lyndon with a missile dropkick for a two count. Lyndon misses a kick and is knocked down by Red. Lyndon grabs the referee to prevent a shooting star press. Lyndon cheap shots Red with a high knee lift to get control of the match. Lyndon hits a northern lights suplex for a near fall. Lyndon attempts a submission with an abdominal stretch. Lyndon misses a splash in the corner and Red delivers a kick to the midsection. Lyndon goes back to the abdominal stretch. Lyndon attempts a jackknife but Red counters with a DDT. Red continues with a hurricanrana and a running kick in the corner. Red plants Lyndon with a tornado DDT but Lyndon kicks out at two.

Red waits in the corner looking for a super kick but Lyndon counters with a kick of his own and drops Red over his knee. Lyndon locks in the dragon sleeper with a body scissors. Red is able to turn his body over and reaches the ropes to break the hold. Red elbows Lyndon to break free and delivers a spin kick. Red hits the Red Star Press but Lyndon gets his shoulder up at two. Red heads to the top rope but misses a swanton bomb. Lyndon plants Red with a rolling German suplex for a near fall. Red delivers a super kick but Lyndon catches Red looking for a dragon sleeper but Lyndon counters with a rollup. Lyndon eye rakes Red to counter the Infrared and hits a reverse hurricanrana. Lyndon locks in the dragon sleeper in the middle of the ring and Red submits. (*1/2. The crowd was completely dead for this match. They never got the crowd invested and the match wasn’t anything special to begin with. It was actually rather awkward how uninterested the crowd was for the match.)

The next match is a three stages of hell match. The stages are the following…
– Regular singles match
– No Disqualification
– Last Man Standing (if necessary)

Fifth Contest: Eddie Kingston vs. Josh Prohibition in a Three Stages of Hell match:

First Stage: Well, the first fall lasts less than 90-seconds as Kingston gets a rollup on Prohibition and appears to have a handful of tights. So, Kingston is up 1-0. The second stage starts right afterward.

Second Stage: Prohibition takes out The Duke on the floor with a suicide dive and rams him face first onto a table. Kingston comes over and attacks Prohibition with right hands. Kingston works over Prohibition with right hands in the crowd. Prohibition fights back with chops as they continue to brawl in the crowd. Prohibition puts a chair around Kingston’s head and slams him into the wall. Prohibition does a side Russian leg sweep against the wall. Kingston backdrops Prohibition on the bleachers to get control of the match. They take pictures in the crowd before continuing to brawl in the crowd. Prohibition catapults Kingston into the wall, but Kingston moves in slow motion and still sold it as if it were high speed contact. That was just bad. Prohibition spits a drink into Kingston’s eyes. Kingston low blows Prohibition with the middle rope to get control back in the ring. Duke gets a few chairs in the ring for Kingston and Kingston sets the chairs in front of Prohibition to deliver a dropkick. Prohibition was stuck in a tree of woe and Kingston gets a two count. Prohibition hits a double under hook piledriver onto two chairs to pin Kingston and ties the match at 1.

Third Stage: Duke enters the ring and decks Prohibition with a left hand and follows up with a big splash off the middle rope. Duke has a chain and gives the chain to Kingston to use. Duke holds Prohibition but Kingston accidentally hits Duke instead. Prohibition tosses Kingston into the corner with a t-bone suplex. Prohibition follows up with a side suplex but Kingston won’t stay down for ten-seconds. Kingston stops Prohibition with a knee in the corner and low blows Josh several times. Kingston powerbombs Prohibition onto two chairs and thinks he has won the match. Prohibition gets to his feet and is met with a spinning back fist. Prohibition is able to pull himself up before the count of nine. Kingston plants Prohibition with a DDT and demands the referee not to count. Kingston goes under the ring and slides a table into the ring. Kingston sets the table up in the middle of the ring. Kingston lays Prohibition on the table and heads to the top rope. Kingston gets stopped by Prohibition. Prohibition hits a superplex through the table. Prohibition gets up before the count of ten and wins the match. (*1/4. The match was rather flat and wasn’t all that great. Kingston can’t get up after a superplex through a table but Prohibition survived all that offense. It didn’t help Kingston here. I’ve always had a tough time enjoying Kingston matches and this was no exception. It just wasn’t an entertaining battle.)

Sixth Contest: AIW Tag Team Champions Colin Delaney & Cheech vs. Tracy Williams & Tyson Dux: Williams punches Delaney and the challengers double team Cheech with stomps. Cheech fights the challengers off until Williams delivers a running bulldog. Cheech kicks the challengers away and punches Dux on the apron. Delaney hits a missile dropkick on Williams. Dux stops Delaney with a dragon screw leg whip. Williams drops Cheech with a backbreaker. Delaney counters a suplex attempt by Williams managing to hit a stunner. Delaney kicks Dux and hits a leaping ace crusher followed by a German suplex from Cheech for a two count. Williams sends Delaney shoulder first into the ring post on the apron. Williams spikes Cheech with a piledriver and Dux nearly pins Cheech with a back suplex. Delaney trades strikes with Williams. Cheech and Delaney hit an elevated DDT and a modified GTS for a two count on the challengers. Cheech gets caught by Dux on the floor but sends Dux into the railing. Williams and Cheech trade strikes on the floor. Cheech runs into a DDT from Dux on the floor. Williams uppercuts Delaney to avoid a suicide dive. Williams locks in a choke hold and Delaney submits. (*1/2. Well, there was never an actual tag in the match. This went less than five minutes and the crowd was flat for the entire thing. I don’t know why the crowd isn’t reacting to much on this show. I liked that the match was different with the match not having any rules and was less than five minutes long.)

Seventh Contest: Ethan Carter III vs. Chuck Taylor: Carter makes fun of the guy ringing the bell because the bell doesn’t sound very good. Carter gets the crowd to yell “ding ding” to get the match going. Carter backs Taylor into a corner and backs away cleanly. Taylor backs Carter into a corner and he also backs away. The referee makes a weird noise that cracks Taylor up. They lockup and go to the apron before dropping to the floor. They keep the lockup going around the ringside area and even head backstage with the lockup still attached. The referee is confused as we see Taylor and Carter are still locked up as they are in the crowd now. They climb the bleachers where Taylor puts a wrist lock on Carter. The referee is finally counting now as they are trading wrist locks in the crowd. Carter gets a fan to help with a wrist lock. The referee gets on the microphone and tells them that he’s the “fucking referee” and says that he’s not going to give them a count of ten to get back in the ring. That is one some weird referee. He starts to spell potato and they return to the ring to continue the match. Taylor kicks Carter in the midsection and tosses him to the floor. Taylor slams Carter face first onto the apron and plays to the crowd.

Back in the ring, Taylor stomps away on Carter. Taylor chokes Carter over the middle rope. Taylor scoop slams Carter and goes to the apron hitting a slow motion rolling senton. Taylor keeps Carter on the mat with a chin lock. Carter stops Taylor with a jaw breaker and punches Taylor several times before hitting a forearm strike. Carter lifts Taylor up and drops him to the mat gut first. Carter hits a big splash in the corner and plants Taylor with a TKO for a near fall. Carter is annoyed with the referee and argues with him. Taylor hits a kick in the corner and connects with a blockbuster for a near fall. Taylor shoves the referee but the referee ties Taylor and Carter down with head scissors! The referee is pissed and takes his shirt off. He’s flexing and just looking like a complete fool. Taylor and Carter have gotten up and the referee gets beaten down. Carter nails the referee with a stunner. Taylor wants to get in on the action. Taylor goes for a Rock Bottom, but the referee doesn’t exactly jump for him and it looked awful. Taylor attempts the move again, but the referee continues to be dead weight for Taylor. Carter does the People’s Elbow. The referee gets tossed to the floor. Taylor low blows Carter and wants another referee. Taylor has the cover but Carter kicks out as the second referee made the count. Taylor goes to the top missing a moonsault. Carter plants Taylor with the One Percenter and wins the match. (*1/2. I don’t know why big name guys seem to settle for doing comedy matches on the independents. I’ve never been a big comedy guy and some of this stuff was funny. I’d just prefer straight up wrestling and enjoy that. The referee skits got arguably the biggest reaction from the crowd thus far.)

Eighth Contest: Dick Justice & Marion Fontaine vs. Bunkhouse Buck & Jock Samson: Buck and Fontaine kick off the tag match with Buck backing away cleanly in the corner. Samson tags into the match because he wants a piece of Fontaine. Fontaine covers up in the middle of the ring and Samson can’t get a hold on him. Fontaine hits a middle rope cross body on Samson to keep control of the bout. Samson gets control and gives Buck the left arm of Fontaine so that Buck and wrench on it from the apron. Justice and Buck get tagged in and they work over each others arm. Buck gets worked over by Fontaine as he hit an axe handle. Buck drives Fontaine into his corner and Samson got tagged in. Late in the match, Col. Robert Parker hits Justice and holds his leg down allowing Samson to get the pin. (DUD. This felt like it took forever and nothing happened that was all that good. I shouldn’t be surprised.)

Main Event: AIW Absolute Champion Ethan Page vs. Tim Donst: Donst works over Page with chops and a clothesline coming out of the corner. Page bails to the floor and they brawl where Page sends Donst into the railing a few times. Donst counters and sends Page back first into the railing. Donst comes off the apron with a clothesline as the fans are heavily behind Donst. Donst sends Page face first into a fans boot before returning to the ring. Page works over Donst with shoulder rams in the corner and sends Donst chest first into the corner. Page chokes Donst over the top rope and continues to stomp on the challenger. Page rams Donst into the guard railing several more times. Donst battles back with chops but Page cuts off Donst with strikes before getting back in the ring. Page avoids a suicide dive with a right hand. Donst clotheslines Page to the floor and connects with a suicide dive. Donst drives Page back first into the railing with a side Russian leg sweep. Page sends Donst chest first into the corner a second time. Page keeps control of the match with a knee lift to the midsection of Donst. Page pummels Donst with right hands in the corner. Donst comes out of the corner to clothesline Page. They begin to trade right hands while on their knees in the middle of the ring.

Donst nails Page with a clothesline and an exploder suplex for a two count. Donst has Page on his shoulders but settles for an arm drag. Donst plants Page with an elevated stunner but Page kicks out at two. Page kicks Donst and plants Donst with a DDT for a two count. Page rolls to the apron and proceeds to try for a stunner but Donst counters it. Page connects with a big boot but Donst hits an ace crusher for a near fall. Donst locks in a modified Rings of Saturn. Page is able to reach the ropes to break the hold. Page nails Donst with a spear but only manages a two count on the cover. Page goes to the floor and grabs a couple of chairs from fans. Page nails Donst with an ace cutter onto a steel chair but Donst kicks out at two. Page collides with the referee and Donst hit a swinging neckbreaker. Donst locks in the modified Rings of Saturn and Page taps out but the referee doesn’t see it. Donst tries to tell the referee and takes him out with an STO. Page throws a fireball into Donst’s face! Page drives Donst with a Rock Bottom and wins the match. (**1/4. I mean, it was kind of enjoyable but the fireball finish seems a bit excessive for this match. There wasn’t much crowd heat attached to this, much like everything else on the show. The finish likely means Donst will continue to chase after Page for the title since it was far from a clean defeat. One of the better matches on the show, but it didn’t have much entertainment behind it.)

Final Thoughts:
The show started off rather well and I was hoping this would be a good AIW showing, however it took a nosedive after the third match. The crowd for this show was not reacting to much of what was going on and that always hurts the presentation of a wrestling show no matter how good it may be. I’ll be honest, coming in at 3.5 hours, I can’t possibly recommend this show. It took me a significant amount of time to finish the review.

Thanks for reading.