Post by fifthhorseman on May 9, 2014 0:22:38 GMT -5
Joey Styles: Hello wrestling fans – THIS is AWA Wednesday Night Warriors! My name is Joey Styles, and for the next two hours, you will bear witness to the greatest professional wrestling action on the face of the planet! We are live from the Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky, and we have six scheduled matches on tonight’s action-packed card. In our main event, the “Rated-R Superstar” Edge, fresh off the heels of a beatdown on AWA TV champ, the Great Muta, faces the titanic Mike Awesome – in a lumberjack match! And now I’ll turn it over to my broadcast partner, Josh Mathews, and he’ll tell you what else is in store!
Josh Mathews: Thank you, Joey, it’s always a pleasure to call AWA wrestling action with you, and tonight is no exception. AWA Intercontinental champion Nigel McGuinness puts his title on the line tonight against the “All-American American”, Jack Swagger! You’ll also witness a big six-man tag-team match when the HoRsemen – Tully Blanchard, James Storm, and Robert Roode – take on Diamond Dallas Page and Badd Company! Magnum T.A. battles Kazuchika Okada! Bobby Eaton of the Midnight Express meets Charlie Haas, one-half of the World’s Greatest Tag-Team, in solo competition! And starting things off for us, right now – it’s Art Barr, one-on-one, against Adam Cole!
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Art Barr (w/Vickie Guerrero) vs. Adam Cole (w/Ethan Carter III): Cole strolled down the ramp first, with friend Ethan Carter III in tow, followed afterwards by a confident Barr. Roughly the same size and speed, it was a very competitive battle, and neither man was able to hold down the other for very long. On the outside, Guerrero and Carter bickered; on the inside, Cole ultimately took control by working over Barr’s knee. Unable to utilize any of his high-flying tactics, the “American Love Machine” finally submitted to Cole’s figure-four leglock.
After Barr regained his feet, he was immediately double-teamed by Cole and Carter. Several seconds elapsed before Vickie frantically slid into the ring… to slap Barr in the face! She then left with Cole and Carter, the trio laughing all the way to the backstage area.
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Magnum T.A. vs Kazuchika Okada: It was a contrast of styles, pitting the classic old-schooler against the dynamic former IWGP champ. The match started slowly, and they tested each other’s strength with knuckle-locks and shoulder-tackles. Okada used a lightning-quick dropkick to take advantage, and he wore Magnum to the mat with a dragon sleeper. But the former NWA U.S. champion would not quit, and he struggled to his feet, using elbow-smashes to escape the hold. The two men traded punches for the next couple of minutes, and several near-falls, before Magnum won the match with his patented belly-to-belly suplex.
After the match, he borrowed the microphone from ring announcer Christy Hemme and said, “I’ve had a solid run in the AWA so far, but lately, I felt like I’ve been spinning my wheels. The last couple of weeks, though – it’s turning around. I can feel it. A big win at Team Challenge Series, and tonight, a tough win over a really tough opponent like Kazuchika Okada. So, Daniel Bryan, you said that you’d fight whoever the championship committee put in front of you? That’s good news – ‘cause I’m bound and determined to get a shot, really soon.”
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Tully Blanchard and Beer Money (w/JJ Dillon and Missy Hyatt) vs. Diamond Dallas Page and Badd Company (w/Kimberly): As the ring introductions were made, Joey Styles explained that the Great Muta received a medical exemption for the night – the Television title did not have to be defended due to his eye injuries. This six-man tag was fought at a furious pace for almost the full 20 minutes. Badd Company and Beer Money utilized a variety of flawless double-team moves, while Page and Blanchard similarly went hold for hold and punch for punch. Towards the end, when the bout lapsed into predictable chaos, Storm and Roode hit the DWI powerbomb/neckbreaker on Tanaka to steal the victory.
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Nigel McGuinness [C] (w/Layla) vs. Jack Swagger (w/Mike Rotunda): Before the match started, the AWA Intercontinental champ stole the mike from Ms. Hemme and declared that, “From now on, this belt shall be known as the EURO-Continental championship”. This statement seemed to disgust his foe, and he charged at McGuinness, flattening him in the corner. From there, he used his 40-pound weight advantage and his strong amateur background to throw the Brit around the ring. However, he could not pin the champion, and McGuiness rallied back with stiff jabs, clotheslines, and uppercuts. It went back and forth until the end, when the champion took advantage of a Swagger slip on the mat to hit a hammerlock DDT for the clean win. Post-match, McGuinness insisted that he be announced as “still, the AWA Eurocontinental champion.”
After the commercial break, Lance Russell was backstage with A.J. Styles, who called his shot: “I’m not gonna use this Money in the Bank briefcase like a lot of other guys have – I have too much respect for the man that holds the TV title right now, the Great Muta. He’s a legend. If you said that he was the very best wrestler in the AWA today, I don’t think you’d get too many arguments. So when I wrestle him for that title, I want him at his best. I want him ready for me… and I want to make sure I’m ready for him. So, Muta, I’m really, really hopin’ you’re still the champ at WrestleRock 2014, on July 20. ‘Cause I’m telling you and the rest of the world right now – that’s when I’m cashing this briefcase in.”
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Bobby Eaton (w/Stan Lane) vs. Charlie Haas (w/Shelton Benjamin): Textbook wrestling by two very skilled and underrated singles talents. Haas tried to keep Eaton grounded, and while initially successful, “Beautiful Bobby” was often able to squirm free. Once on his feet, Eaton used quick punches and hip-tosses to put Haas down. Back and forth it went, until Eaton went to the top rope, eager to land a big legdrop. Before he could, though, Lane and Benjamin began fighting on the floor, and it spilled into the ring. The four men began brawling, and the referee had no choice but to call for the no-contest. It took several officials to separate the teams, who argued all the way back to the locker room area.
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Mike Awesome (w/Gary Hart) vs. Edge (w/JJ Dillon and Missy Hyatt): The lumberjacks surrounded the ring first, followed by Awesome, then Edge. Though Edge seemed uncomfortable to start the match, his confidence was restored when he realized that a big part of Awesome’s offense – brawling outside the ring, the big dives, the throws to outside the ring – were neutralized by the 15 other men. Nonetheless, Awesome took it to the leader of the HoRsemen early, overpowering him with straight punches, slams, and shoulder-blocks. But Edge raked the eyes to reassume control, and used his superior speed and technique to frustrate his foe. He took Awesome to the mat and worked over his neck and left arm, hoping to take away the powerbomb from his opponent’s arsenal as well. He scored several near-falls, but the former ECW champ powered up and threw Edge into the corner, and followed with a big splash. They brawled back and forth, until Awesome missed another splash. Ever opportunistic, Edge hit a spear – but only got two! Undaunted, the “Rated-R Superstar” picked Awesome up and connected with the “Downward Spiral” facebuster for the one-two-three. Surprisingly- perhaps unwilling to continue the war with the Gaijin Invasion – Edge simply rolled out of the ring and left with Dillon and Hyatt as the cameras faded to black.