AIW Thread

Guess who's back

https://twitter.com/tdonst/status/602302542668660736

Yeah, that was cool.

Night #2 was really fun. Nick Gage, again, match of the night.

I know right. Ill elaborate on my thoughts later

Gage/Rowe? Because that sounded like a lot of fun.

While I wouldn't call Gage/Rowe match of the night, it was certainly fun. And goddamn am I happy that Tim FUCKING Donst is back.

So, Absolution X, AIW's biggest show of the year, is on July 10th. This was today's announcement...



MOTHER FUCKING VADER!

Oh yeah, and they booked that Samoa Joe guy late last week too before he signed that WWE deal.

If we get Joe v Vader I would consider this drive, considering it anyway just for Vader

Vipes are you and Grant going? If so did you get balcony or floor seating?

We are going, Grant made sure to buy tickets last week after Joe was announced. As to where they are, I'm not sure. Only my bearded viking warlord brother has that information.

Definitely going to that show!

We're on the floor, by the by. It's going to be awesome!

Alright bought my ticket hopefully all goes according to plan and I make it out there!

Nice! WC meetup at Abso10!

Wrestleconnect Con 2015 is a reality!

So two days ago AIW said they only had two more matches to announce, today they announced some 8 man tag... Does that mean it's happening? We're actually getting Joe v Vader?!?!?!?

Not sure. One match I know is announced, but doesn't have a graphic yet on their Facebook page is Dudes on TV Vs. Gargano, J-Pro, Alex Daniels and the Young Bucks, which is possibly a war games match. Now, Dudes on TV only have 4 guys (Rowe, DJZ, EC3 and Cross), so it's possible Joe is their 5th guy.

I only see 8 match graphics thus far, and I think they'd make it an even 10 matches, so I'm going to guess there's another match still to come. Joe Vs. Vader still lives for the next few hours at least.

It's possible you guys are getting Joe vs. Vader's son.

So, with Absolution X a month away, here's how the card shapes up.



AIW Absolute Championship
ⒸJosh Alexander W/ Veda Scott Vs. Rickey Shane Page

Cleveland Street Fight
Dudes on TV (Raymond Rowe, Ethan Carter III, DJ Z, Matt Cross, and Samoa Joe) Vs. Team AIW (Johnny Gargano, Josh Prohibition, Alex Daniels and The Young Bucks)

I Quit Match
Eddie Kingston W/ The Duke Vs. Ethan Page

Anything Goes
Tim Donst Vs. Nick Gage

AIW Intense Championship
ⒸDavey Vega Vs. BJ Whitmer

AIW Tag Team Championship
ⒸTo Infinity and Beyond (Colin Delaney and Cheech) Vs. Hot Sauce Entertainment ("Hot Sauce" Tracy Williams and "Mr. Entertainment" Tyson Dux)

AIW Women's Championship
ⒸVeda Scott Vs. Athena

Six-Way Scramble
Chris Sabin Vs. Candice LeRae Vs. Cedric Alexander Vs. Tyler Thomas Vs. Flip Kendrick Vs. Louis Lyndon

Curtain Vs. Students
The Iron Curtain (Gregory Iron, Ben Boone, Joey Martini and Jerry) Vs. The Singh Warriors (Joshua Singh, Kaplan, Frankie Flynn and Brian Carson)

And an Appearance By The Man They Call Vader!

Was going to do a preview for each match for those not up to date on AIW storylines, but it got accidentally deleted when I got to the scramble match (I blame Louis Lyndon personally.). I'll revisit it when I feel like writing all that again.

Also keep in mind that this card is very much subject to change, as AIW loves booking shitloads of Canadians who seem to often have issues getting across the border.

The street fight looks bananas.

Tonight! Probably the craziest fucking show AIW has ever put together! Consider me pumped!

Just stopped in at Melt for some dinner, gonna grab a quick coma and then heading up to the show

That was far and away the least gay wrestling show Ive ever attended.

I'm half way through my 2nd aiw show in 2 weeks, just wanted to say Davey Vega is the most insufferable wrestler on the indies.

I just finished Absolution X and for a show that looked good on paper i thought it was straight up bad. The only match I would recommend is Gage/Donst. 10 man tag main event was fun, but for a blow off match to a long angle that was billed as a street fight I thought it really under delivered.

Rickey Shane Page/Josh Alexander was pretty terrible too. I know Alexander had already announced his retirement so they probably wanted to do a finish that was still surprising or whatever, but I don't come to the indies for over booked horse shit. Not to mention that Page was pinned clean, restarting the match made no sense. Then on top of all this, page tries to give Veda a top rope powerbomb and does everything he can to drop her on her head and almost kill her.

I know a lot of you guys like AIW so I kind of feel bad for shitting on it, but I just couldn't get into the 3 shows I watched. A lot of the wrestling was sloppy as hell and their booking just doesn't do it for me.

As someone who was there live I can say it was pretty terrible live as well IMO. Don't get me wrong it was great seeing Vipes and Grant and meeting WB, but AIW has some serious drawbacks for me as a fan. First and foremost the show started over an hour late because they couldn't get the fans in on time, and the building was sooooooooo fucking hot, then after starting late they put on a show where everything except the main event felt too long, like the opener was 20+ minutes of trainees followed by a 10-15 minute angle with them, and then I think everything except the women's title match went 10+ minutes as well, and sometimes less is more and I wish AIW would realize that.

However I'm also willing to admit they have a fan base, so maybe what they're doing works for them, it just isn't my cup of tea personally.

As much as I love AIW, I can not defend that awful venue for Abso X. Just terrible on all levels. As for your other criticisms, I can't say they aren't without some validity. They could stand to shorten up their shows a bit, as I often find myself really tired by the time the main event rolls around, with a three hour car ride still ahead of me.

I think part of the appeal is it's a fun atmosphere for those of us who attend regularly. That crowd rabidly adopts certain wrestlers, like Donst, Ethan Page and the ever legendary Jerry, and it's easy to overlook some of the negatives when you get caught up in that and whatever ridiculous moments they try to give you from show to show. And while I can't say I've left every AIW show happy, more often than not I feel like it was worth the trip.

So all in all, it might be that AIW's a better live experience than DVD. Unless you're TBK, then it's still too long and the building is trying to kill you with heat stroke. Fuck that building.

And on a side note, in all the years that Grant & I have been attending AIW shows, one of our regular running punchlines is Missy Hyatt and her *AHEM* less than virtuous morals, which includes me naming one of the tunnels on the I-90 just outside of Cleveland in her honor. And then, AIW had to go and do this...