By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
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Absolute Intense Wrestling “When the Smoke Clears”
Streamed on TrillerTV+
April 20, 2024 in Akron, Ohio at Tadmor Shrine
A good crowd here of maybe 300. The walls are white and bare; unless I am wrong, I thought this venue had busy Egyptian images in the background.
1. Chuck Stone defeated Mikey Montgomery, Tre Lemar, and Tyson Riggs in a four-way at 10:07. Montgomery is the short rocker in a denim jacket, who reminds me of a young “Spanky” Brian Kendrick. I don’t recall seeing Riggs before; he wore a karate robe and he jawed at the crowd. Lemar is a Black man with a splash of brown in his hair, and I’m a fan of him. Chuck Stone is the rotund brawler and he has a hardcore title belt. Montgomery and Riggs jumped Stone as he got in the ring to begin. Lemar hit a springboard back elbow. Stone hit a hard clothesline on Montgomery at 3:00.
Lemar hit a Pele Kick on Montgomery and everyone was down. Lemar hit a flip dive to the floor onto Stone and Riggs, then a top-rope flying clothesline on Montgomery at 5:30. Lemar hit a Death Valley Driver on Mikey for a nearfall. Montgomery flipped Riggs onto Stone. Lemar hit a top-rope crossbody block. Mikey hit a double Sliced Bread for a nearfall at 8:00. Mike and Riggs traded forearm strikes. Stone powerbombed Mikey onto Riggs. Lemar hit a top-rope flying elbow for a nearfall. Riggs hit a roundhouse kick to Lemar’s head. Mikey hit an Eat D’feat on Riggs, then a Death Valley Driver, for a nearfall. However, Stone grabbed Mikey, picked him up and choked him out until Mikey submitted. Decent opener.
* Video aired of Isaiah Broner arriving at the building earlier in the day. He shook hands with Alec Price.
2. Alec Price defeated Dex Royal at 11:45. Dex has his hair in a mohawk and he’s a babyface here; I just saw him as a heel in Georgia and it’s a totally different look for him. Good reversals early on. Price hit a springboard crossbody block for a nearfall at 4:00 and a basement dropkick to the back. He hit a high back suplex for a nearfall and remained in charge. Dex hit a leaping DDT for a nearfall at 6:30. Price hit a Frankensteiner but he couldn’t hit the Surprise Kick. Price nailed a half-nelson suplex and his running kneestrikes in the corner.
Price hit a flying leg lariat for a nearfall at 8:30. Royal hit a spear, then a doublestomp to the chest as Price was on the ring apron. Dex nailed a second-rope Spanish Fly for a nearfall at 10:30. Price hit his springboard Blockbuster for the pin. A good match, but yet I know they just scratched the surface of what they can do.
3. “Cash is King” Elijah Dean, Eric Taylor, The Duke, and Zach Nystrom defeated Wes Barkley and Kaplan “PME” Philly Collins and Marino Tenaglia (w/Bill Alfonso) at 11:33. Taylor held his title, while Dean and Nystrom had their tag titles. Kaplan is a rotund brawler; he is likely 350+ pounds. All eight brawled at the bell. The babyfaces each backed a heel into a corner and hit punches as the crowd counted along. The heels began working over Tenaglia in their corner. Duke got in and planted some kneestrikes to the spine at 5:30. Barkley finally got in, and he traded punches with Taylor at 9:00. He hit a Jarrett-style stroke. Everyone brawled to the floor again. Tenaglia hit a flip dive off a short stage onto several guys and nearly everyone was down. In the ring, Taylor hit a low blow mule kick on Barkley, and Duke hit Barkley in the head with a weapon. Taylor then hit a Stomp on Barkley for the tainted pin. Decent brawl.
4. Tom Lawlor defeated Dominic Garrini at 11:55. These two were faction partners in MLW a few years ago. Lawlor is now entirely bald; a week earlier, his West Coast Wrecking Crew partners attacked him at NJPW’s Windy City Riot. He wore a T-shirt and sweatpants, making me wonder if his gear got lost in flight. They traded mat holds. They got to their feet and traded spin kicks to the thighs at 4:00. They traded forearm strikes. Lawlor hit a buzzsaw kick to the head for a nearfall at 7:30. Garrini hit a piledriver for a nearfall. A cut on Dominic’s left elbow from a prior match has started bleeding.
They got up and traded more punches, and Garrini hit some Kawada Kicks to the face at 10:30, then a back suplex. Some guys started fighting at ringside, and Garrini was distracted by it. Lawlor got a rollup for the pin that the cameras COMPLETELY MISSED. Merely okay; these two scratched the surface of what they can do, and a deeply unsatisfying finish and bad camera work.
5. Joshua Bishop defeated Jason Bane at 12:16. Bane is a Goldberg clone; bald, muscular, and a goatee with some white whiskers showing his age. Bishop has a brace on his right shoulder. An intense lockup to open, and they brawled to the floor at 2:00. Bishop went under the ring and grabbed a door; he threw it at Bane and it disintegrated. Bane flipped Bishop onto a horizontal guardrail at 6:30. Lawlor hit a Death Valley Driver through a door set up in the corner at 8:30 and they were both down. They got up and traded punches. Bane hit a spinebuster, then a Razor’s Edge for a nearfall at 10:30. Bishop hit a Black Hole Slam but didn’t immediately go for a cover. Bishop hit his own Razor’s Edge-style sit-out powerbomb for the pin. Okay big-man match.
6. Tyler Jordan defeated Josh Prohibition in a best of three falls match at 22:48. Josh is the 20-year-veteran and he’s been battling his trainee for months. I always compare Tyler Jordan to WWE’s Jason Jordan; he clearly has some amateur wrestling background, and I’m a big fan. Tyler went for a dive through the ropes at 2:30, but Josh caught his head and hit a stunner. In the ring, Josh was in charge and he stomped on Tyler and choked him in the ropes. He tied Jordan in a modified Tarantula in the ropes. Jordan hit a German Suplex at 7:00 and was fired up. Jordan nailed a dive through the ropes at 9:00. However, Josh dropped Jordan on a guardrail. In the ring, Jordan hit a superkick and a DDT, and they were both down.
Jordan hit a missile dropkick at 11:00. Prohibition hit a standing neckbreaker across the top rope. Jordan hit a Dragon Suplex. Josh hit a neckbreaker over his knee for a nearfall. Jordan hit a Blue Thunder Bomb for a nearfall, but he missed a frogsplash. Prohibition nailed a Jay Driller for a pinfall at 13:15. The match continued without a break, and Jordan hit a superkick and he hit the frogsplash for a pin at 14:48, and we’re tied at 1-1. They traded forearm strikes while on their knees, then while standing, and Josh hit an intentional low blow; Jordan rolled to the floor and sold the pain. Josh hit a Russian Leg Sweep, sending Jordan into the guardrail.
They rolled into the ring, where Josh hit him with a chair to the back. Jordan hit a Tiger Driver powerbomb onto a folded chair. He went to swing a chair at Josh, who begged for forgiveness. Of course, Josh got the chair and swung it but missed. Jordan hit a superkick and struck Josh on the back with the chair. Josh hit a Jay Driller onto a folded chair for a believable nearfall at 20:00, and Josh was irate at the judge, thinking that was it. Josh put zip-ties on Jordan’s wrists behind his back! He struck Jordan across the back with the chair. “M-Dogg 20” Matt Cross appeared at ringside and confiscated the chair! Jordan hit his own Jay Driller on Josh! He hit another frogsplash for the pin. That’s going to be a tough match to beat.
7. “To Infinity & Beyond” Cheech & Colin Delaney defeated Frightmare & Hallowicked and “Latinos Most Wanted” Koda Hernandez & Sabin Gauge and Davey Bang & August Matthews in a four-way tag match at 12:25. Delaney and Bang opened. Hallowicked and Koda fought, and Hallowicked tied up and traded mat holds. Bang hit a double back elbow. Gauge hit a flip dive to the floor at 5:30. Matthews hit a dive through the ropes. Frightmare and Hallowicked worked over Delaney in the ring. Gauge entered and hit a Pele Kick. Bang hit an assisted ax kick to the back of the head. Bang hit a hard clothesline on Delaney at 10:30. Bang hit the Spears Tower on Cheech for a nearfall. Bang hit a moonsault to the floor. Cheech powerbombed Bang onto Matthews and scored the pin. Good energetic match.
8. Magnum CK defeated Derek Dillinger (w/Katie Arquette) in a dog collar match at 13:29. Dillinger is the rotund brawler, and I’ve always compared Magnum CK’s robe and his whole demeanor to Damian Sandow. However, he came out today in a leather jacket, short hair, and he carried the dog collar on a metal chain; I feel like I barely recognize him. It appears to be a 15-foot chain and it was collared around their necks. They opened by trading punches. They brawled to the floor and fought along the guardrails. Both were bleeding from their foreheads. In the ring, Dillinger was in charge, and he hit a Lionsault for a nearfall at 6:30; I didn’t expect that!
Magnum CK whipped Derek’s knees into the ring post, and he did a Bret Hart-style Figure Four around the ring post at 8:30. The ref got bumped. In the ring, Dillinger hit a diving forearm to the back of the neck at 11:30. Magnum pulled on the chain as it was between Dillinger’s legs so it hit his groin. CK choked Arquette with the chain! He removed the chain from around Dillinger’s neck, and he hit Dillinger with it. He hit a top-rope elbow drop, with the chain wrapped around his arm, to score the pin. This was bloody and violent and just not for me.
9. Isaiah Broner defeated Sam Holloway to retain the AIW Absolute Title at 16:20. Holloway is the tall, young amateur wrestler and I always compare him to Julius Creed, and he has several inches of height on Broner, who is no small man. Broner is comparable to Ahmed Johnson or Ezekiel Jackson. They had an intense lockup to open. They switched to trading chops. Sam hit a slingshot shoulder tackle and a running Stinger Splash at 4:00. Broner hit a suplex into the turnbuckles. They brawled to the floor. Holloway slammed him back-first into the ring post at 8:00. Broner hit a D’Lo Sky High onto the ring apron.
In a crazy spot, Holloway dove over the top rope, struck Broner, and actually landed over the guardrail on fans in the front row at 10:00. In the ring, Holloway hit a frogsplash for a nearfall. Holloway hit a German Suplex. Broner nailed an F5 Slam, then a hard clothesline for a nearfall at 13:00. Holloway hit a shotgun dropkick and a pump-handle slam for a nearfall. They got up and traded chops. Holloway chokeslammed him for another nearfall. He hit a Mafia Kick, but Broner rebounded off the ropes and nailed a hard clothesline for the pin. That was good, hard-hitting action. Even with the loss, Holloway is the future of this promotion.
Final Thoughts: I really liked a few matches here. Jordan-Prohibition is my style of match. Too often, a best of three falls match has pinfalls at 4, 8 and 12 minutes; a best of three falls match should go twice or longer than a regular singles match. They built nicely and stole the show. Broner-Holloway was a really strong main event and earned second place. Alec Price-Dex Royal was really good for third. Those three matches are standouts and significantly better than the rest of the action.
The rest of the show was merely okay. I admittedly don’t like the violence of that dog collar match. Bane is big and muscular but also seems somewhat immobile. The eight-man tag was fairly standard; nothing stood out there. Lawlor-Garrini stayed in first gear, and just as they were ramping up, we had outside distraction and a rollup. It wasn’t a bad match, it just was cut off before it became a “good match.” It really hurt to have the cameras miss the finish, too.
The good news is this roster has such a talented core of young wrestlers, led by Holloway, followed in no particular order by Tyler Jordan, Eric Taylor, Tre Lemar, Dex Royal, and Koda Hernandez.
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