Absolute Intense Wrestling presents Cold As Ice
Date: 9/15/2017
From: Cleveland, OH
Backstage, Young Studs (Bobby Beverly and Eric Ryan) talk about being on a roll and above the competition. Beverly has a singles match against Shawn Schultz because Ryan has been drinking too much. Ryan thinks it’s an easy match for Beverly and defend the eye poke.
Outside, Colt Cabana and Grado cut a promo about their tag title match tonight. Grado talks about reading on social media that he’s wrestling Colin Delaney and Cheech. Cabana is translating even though Grado is speaking English, which is a funny bit.
Backstage, Dominic Garrini talks about bringing Tom Lawlor to AIW and he’s going to take him out.
Backstage, Faye Jackson cuts a promo about wrestling Britt Baker and she’s going to kick her butt.
Outside, AIW Tag Team Champions Cheech & Colin Delaney cut a promo. Cheech says they are going to keep the titles as they have a streak going on. Delaney notes that Cabana has already failed to beat them. They are going to retain the title.
Backstage, Louis Lyndon cuts a promo about what happened in July. Lyndon likes the odds of a three way dance. Lyndon says his crew wants decorations for the ship.
Backstage, PB Smooth talks about dealing with Frankie Flynn and thinks he should be advancing his career, but is stuck with Flynn. Smooth believes he’s going to stand tall.
Outside, the Production cut a promo about being the biggest stars. Frankie Flynn thinks it is only a weird world when Smooth beat him. Flynn tells his understudy to read their scripts and stay in their role. Flynn says there’s a part for everyone in the production.
Outside, Tom Lawlor cuts a promo about bringing the big hits and strikes in AIW. Lawlor has been busting his ass in the UFC for many years. Lawlor agrees that Dominic Garrini needs a beating tonight.
MATCH #1: SHAWN SHULTZ VS. BOBBY BEVERLY
FINISH: Beverly picks up the win following a rollup.
Bob’s Take: Shultz stalled a little bit at the start of the match, but once the action got going this turned into a solid battle. The crowd is supportive of Beverly, but I feel like I left this match being more impressed by Shultz both from his ability and heel tactics. It didn’t feel like it got past first gear, but it was a decent bout to start the show regardless. Also, after looking it up, Shultz had quite the run in South working for USWO and similar promotions.
Match Rating: **1/4
MATCH #2: FAYE JACKSON VS. BRITT BAKER
FINISH: Baker delivers a shining wizard and locks in the Lock Jaw submission to pickup the submission victory.
Bob’s Take: It didn’t take long to see that Baker is one of the top female independent wrestlers on the scene in 2017. Baker seems to be the prototypical WWE women’s wrestler and it’s a bit of a surprise that she wasn’t signed to the company prior to AEW’s formation. Faye showed some good offense and the crowd responded well to her attack on Baker. It’s an enjoyable women’s match that had good pacing and it didn’t drag along.
Match Rating: **1/2
MATCH #3: FRANKIE FLYNN VS. PB SMOOTH
NOTE: Before the match starts, the Production is banned from ringside to make sure there’s a fair fight tonight.
FINISH: Late in the match, there’s a referee bump causing the Production to come out, but another wrestler comes out of the crowd and is a fellow giant to slam Smooth. Flynn takes advantage and pins Smooth for the win.
Bob’s Take: Frankie Flynn is a unique character as he thinks he’s the star of his own production, which is the name of his group. Smooth is a 7ft wrestler, but he doesn’t move around like your typical 7ft wrestler. Smooth is built like a basketball player and has the agility of one, too. I think Flynn is more of a character type of wrestler rather than in-ring, but I’ve literally not seen much of his work at all. I’m not sure who the other wrestler was to join the Production. I wouldn’t say this was a good match by any means, but I like PB Smooth.
Match Rating: *1/2
MATCH #4: DJ Z, ETHAN CARTER III, ETHAN PAGE, GRINGO LOCO, & LAREDO KID VS. AJ GRAY, GARRISON KING, JOSHUA BISHOP, MALCOLM MONROE III & TRE LAMAR
FINISH: Ethan Page pins AJ Gray following a top rope swanton bomb.
Bob’s Take: Okay, so Joshua Bishop in 2017 AIW is drastically different looking than how I know him to look. Talk about improving your wrestling look by a million. Bishop doesn’t look like Sid here, but for those who know, that’s much more of his look by 2026 standards. ECIII is a surprise partner to even the match five vs. five, and the fans erupted for him. Of course, context is important as ECIII started his career in AIW ten years ago. As you’d expect in this kind of match, there’s a ton of action and its a bit of chaos, but not in a hardcore sense. Tre Lamar had a great segment of offense, but everyone gets some substance of action throughout the match. There is zero structure to this match in the sense of tags or anything of that nature for a good portion of the bout. There is one point where are several dives to the floor, which pops the crowd and was great. I honestly enjoyed everyone in this match and thought it was a terrific ten man tag match.
Match Rating: ****
MATCH #5: MATTHEW JUSTICE VS. MJF
NOTE: Before the match, MJF insults the crowd and their appearances.
FINISH: Justice finishes MJF off with a jackhammer.
Bob’s Take: It’s going to be tough to follow the previous match, but MJF is such a good old school heel that he’s able to generate a good crowd reaction and while this may be a cool down match, it still has my interest. MJF focused on Justice’s arm for his attack, and Justice’s hardcore nature was subdued after a slam onto a table at ringside. For having to follow the great match before them, this was a decent undercard match that was in a tough spot.
Match Rating: **1/2
MATCH #6: AIW TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS TO INFINITY & BEYOND (CHEECH & COLIN DELANEY) VS. COLT CABANA & GRADO
FINISH: Cheech rolls Cabana up after Grado hit a Destroyer on Delaney to win the match and retain the titles. Grado was busy celebrating his accomplishment in hitting the move.
Bob’s Take: In recent years, I have always associated Cheech & Colin Delaney with being babyface so seeing them as heels was initially jarring because it seems as if the AIW crowd does dislike them and it’s not a one-off situation. Grado and Cabana are a comedy based tag team, but they are entertaining. I think it is fair to say that the comedy aspect of the match had more entertainment value than the wrestling action. Grado delivers a Canadian Destroyer, which popped the crowd, but it went right into the finish, which is a nice spot. There was some good comedy if that’s your preference.
Match Rating: **
MATCH #7: AIW INTENSE CHAMPION JOEY JANELA VS. SONJAY DUTT
FINISH: Janela pins Dutt following a top rope double stomp.
Bob’s Take: Right off the bat they had a fast pace to the match, and there’s something about Dutt on the indies that makes me want to tune in. That might be a sign of indie respect because it wasn’t always the case in TNA that I felt I should pay attention. Janela gets the label of being a deathmatch wrestler, but he’s more than capable of putting on a quality wrestling match, and that was shown here in 2017. Sonjay had a couple of good near falls during the bout, but I’m not sure if the live crowd bought into him potentially winning the title here. If you find anyone in a debate about Janela being just a hardcore guy, reference this match as an example of where he had a good match without using any weapons.
Match Rating: ***
MATCH #8: TOM LAWLOR VS. DOMINIC GARRINI
NOTE: Lawlor made his entrance wearing a gimp outfit that you’d see in Pulp Fiction, which was an interesting choice.
FINISH: Lawlor breaks out of the triangle choke and hit the Styles Clash to pickup the victory.
Bob’s Take: As expected there’s a focus on mat wrestling between these two. It may have been better suited to take place after the chaotic ten man tag since it is designed to be slower pace. They also have moments of stiff strikes and chops to play into the MMA background of both men. Lawlor kept my interest out of the two, but that’s not to say that Garrini is bad or anything. At one point, Lawlor suplexed Garrini into the corner, which was a good spot. Lawlor hit a nice cradle tombstone, but only got a one count and at that point the crowd interest clearly increased. Honestly, this had a slower start than the rest of the show, but picked up to being quite an enjoyable encounter.
Match Rating: ***1/2
MAIN EVENT: AIW ABSOLUTE CHAMPION TIM DONST VS. LOUIS LYNDON VS. TRACY WILLIAMS
NOTE: Josh Prohibition is on commentary for the match recovering from a knee injury.
FINISH: Donst pins Lyndon following the chokebreaker to retain the title. After the match, Nick Gage enters the ring through the crowd and attacks Donst. Gage delivers a few running boot strikes in the corner and delivered a piledriver. Gage hit another piledriver on the floor. Gage is going to takeover Cleveland and win the title from Donst.
Bob’s Take: Early on they do the three way trope where they all try for rollups and failing to get a quick victory. There’s consistent action throughout the match, but as per usual, it kinda becomes a match where one guy isn’t involved at times. Lyndon tries for a reverse hurricanrana on Williams on the floor at one point, but they’re both taken out by a Donst with a dive, which was a good spot. Lyndon also hit a nice suicide tornado DDT on the floor onto Donst. Williams gets in on the floor attack spiking Lyndon with a piledriver. Lyndon came across as a great underdog as both Donst and Williams focused on trying to beat him to win the match, but Lyndon has great fight and wouldn’t stay down. Of course, as soon as I type that Donst wins with the chokebreaker. I see that the next money match if Donst vs. Gage, but I wouldn’t mind seeing Lyndon in a role of chasing the title. He came across very well in the match and I think they could lean into his underdog heart for a meaningful chase and conquer moment even if its a short-term deal.
Match Rating: ***1/2
Final Thoughts:
It’s a good AIW show this time around. The ten man tag match was a lot of fun, and there’s plenty of quality wrestling to go along with it. The show had good pacing all around and it was an easy watch overall. Thumbs up.
Thanks for reading.