ACW Survival
Date: 1/28/2024
From: Scott Depot, WV
MATCH #1: DDTRASH (BRUCE GREY & RON MATHIS) VS. AWESOME ODYSSEY (CHRIS COPELAND & JACK ANDREWS)
FINISH: Mathis locks in a Crossface and Grey puts a figure four on to force a double submission for the win.
Bob’s Take: DDTrash are a popular team, which shouldn’t be a surprise since Mathis is one of their top babyfacs. Awesome Odyssey are a team I’ve yet to see in ACW, but they are smaller guys working as heels, which may be wrong placement. Odyssey worked fairly well as a team once they were able to get some offense in on the faces. I thought they put forth a good effort and Odyssey showed some good potential when the match broke down and they hit their high impact moves. Probably the best tag match I’ve seen in ACW to this point in my reviewing.
Match Rating: **1/4
MATCH #2: COWPOKE PAUL, SAM HOLLOWAY, TOMMY RICH, & ZAIDEN KAYNE ) VS. CHRIS CANNON, NICK HAMRICK, RIDDICK & SHANE DOUGLAS — ELIMINATION MATCH
FINISH: Cowpoke Paul pins Cannon with a rollup to win the match for his team.
Bob’s Take: While it’s kind of funny that Shane Douglas is still competing, it’s probably past funny that Tommy Rich is still competing in the squared circle. The crowd gave a good pop for Tommy when he entered the ring, and I dare say it was one of the biggest pops I’ve seen on an ACW show thus far. Zaiden’s elimination was first and it was a bit abrupt and weak, but commentary played it off as if Riddick used a weapon to his throat. Rich and Riddick got counted out soon thereafter, so Rich only did punches, but what would anyone truly expect from him at this point. Nick Hamrick got eliminated next by Holloway, leaving it to be Cannon & Douglas against Holloway & Cowpoke. Honestly, once Rich got eliminated the sequence got a bit better, but Douglas wasn’t involved in any of it. Cowpoke manages to get a rollup on Douglas coming out of the corner to eliminate him. I’ve yet to see Douglas perform an actual move at all in ACW. Cowpoke almost manages to rollup Cannon for the win. They could have done the eliminations a lot better, but this felt like a push for Cowpoke in ACW. Cannon is someone I’m most interested in the Franchise Players, but I’ve yet to see him in a match to truly shine.
Match Rating: *1/2
Joshua Bishop issues an open challenge to anyone for his Interim ACW Heavyweight Championship. Bishop calls out a fan, as well. The challenge is answered by Gorgeous Gregory, which gets a moan from the crowd. The crowd calls him barney and suddenly Bishop is a babyface now.
MATCH #3: INTERIM ACW HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION JOSHUA BISHOP VS. GORGEOUS GREGORY
FINISH: Bishop hits the Exit 187 (release powerbomb) to retain the title.
Bob’s Take: It’s quite the turn of events to see Bishop getting heel heat, but then on the switch of a dime, the crowd turns their hatred to Gregory because he’s far more annoying. Gregory stalled quite a bit because it felt like he knew that Bishop was superior to him and stalling was one way to constantly stop his momentum. Once the stalling ended, the match became a decent encounter. However, I think both men being positioned as heel made it a bit odd. Bishop is a stud, and a clear star. Gregory has potential to be a great heel. I’d rather Bishop be a babyface and I think this would have flowed much better.
Match Rating: **1/4
Prior to the next match, Jason Hendrix declares that the poster boy is dead and a storm is coming. The audience points out that Hendrix said Mario Tenaglia’s name wrong, but he doesn’t feel the need to say it correctly.
ACW Super H Champion Marino Tenaglia also cuts a promo before the match. Tengalia talks about respect and pronounces his name for Hendrix. Tenaglia wants to see if Hendrix can beat him for the title tonight.
MAIN EVENT: ACW SUPER H CHAMPION MARINO TENAGLIA VS. JASON HENDRIX
FINISH: Marino counters a superkick attempt and hits a spinning kick to pin Hendrix to retain the title.
Bob’s Take: Hendrix was greeted with a Joe Dirt chant, and it fits great. I liked the pacing of this match as it was faster and held my interest a lot more than most of the ACW action I’ve seen. It’s a competitive back and forth battle and the crowd seemed to be invested in the action. Marino had a nice spot hitting a DDT on the apron and a frog splash toward the end of the match. A solid main event with the action coming across a lot better than most ACW action. Hendrix may be someone to keep an eye on in ACW. Marino did fairly well, as well. He had better offense here than I saw in his previous outings.
Match Rating: **1/2
Final Thoughts:
There wasn’t one singular standout match, but there was more balanced action with a couple of matches being entertaining. Bishop, Hendrix, Cannon, and Awesome Odyssey came across well on the show. It’s probably at best an average show, but there are redeeming qualities to these shows. Next show is ACW Payback, which will feature the return of ACW Heavyweight Champion Bobby Beverly.
Thanks for reading.