By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
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Absolute Intense Wrestling “Terror at the Temple”
Streamed on TrillerTV+
December 29, 2023 in Cleveland, Ohio at Temple Live Asylum Room
This is a large theater and I’ve seen shows from this venue before. The crowd is maybe 500, as the lower tier of the seating was fairly full. Lighting over the ring is quite good but the fans are in the shadows. Matt Wadsworth and Dustin Alberty provided commentary.
1. Tyler Jordan defeated Josh Prohibition at 13:15. Jordan is a Black, young mat-based wrestler; think a very young Shelton Benjamin, or Jason Jordan. These two have fought before. They traded mat reversals early on. Josh hit a clothesline that sent them both to the floor at 6:30. In the ring, Tyler hit a springboard flying punch and they were both down. Jordan nailed a dive through the ropes and barreled onto Josh at 9:30. In the ring, he hit a spinebuster, but he missed a split-legged moonsault. He hit a spin kick to the face, and they were both down again.
Jordan hit a German Suplex, and this time he hit the Split-legged moonsault for a nearfall at 11:00. Josh hit a Tiger Driver/butterfly powerbomb for a nearfall, then a hard clothesline. Josh hit a Jay Driller but he pulled Jordan up at the two-count and the crowd was shocked. Jordan hit a superkick and his own Jay Driller! Jordan hit a frogsplash for the pin. A very good opener. I am looking forward to seeing Jordan move on to other competition; I am presuming that Josh has been a trainer and mentor based on their interactions.
* They shook hands, but then Josh hit a clothesline. He got some chairs and jabbed Jordan in the gut with them. Other wrestlers made the save.
2. Derek Dillinger and Katie Arquette defeated Magnum CK and Ziggy Haim at 10:05. Magnum is a babyface, but his robe and whole presentation makes me think of heel Damian Sandow. Dillinger is the rotund brawler; a few months ago, he beat up Ziggy after a loss and sided with Katie, so there’s some history here. They took turns playing to the crowd before the bell. CK got a scoop powerslam early on. CK hit a sideslam on Katie. She fired back with a German Suplex at 3:00. Dillinger picked up teammate Katie and slammed her on CK, and the heels kept working over CKm with Dillinger choking him in the ropes.
CK finally hit a spinebuster on Derek at 7:00, but Katie blocked CK from tagging out. Ziggy finall got the hot tag and she hit a clothesline in the corner on Katie. Katie speared Ziggy. Dillinger hit a Bubba Bomb on CK for a nearfall at 9:00. They guys brawled to the floor. In the ring, the women traded chops. Ziggy hit a double-arm DDT but the ref told her Katie wasn’t legal. Dillinger hopped in the ring and speared Ziggy for the pin. Pretty Standard intergender tag match.
3. Dex Royal defeated Mike Bailey at 12:42. Dex is a thin Black man; I’ve seen him here and in Black Label Pro and he’s fairly talented. They shook hands before locking up; I’m sure this is the biggest match of Dex’s young career. They traded shoulder tackles. Dex hit a second-rope missile dropkick at 2:00. On the floor, Bailey hit his Speedball kicks to the ribs and thighs. In the ring, Bailey dropped Dex stomach-first on the top rope, then he hit a top-rope kneedrop to his back, and he took conrol of the offense. They traded chops at 5:30 but then Bailey hit some kicks and a running Shooting Star Press for a nearfall. Dex fired back some quick kicks, a legsweep, and a standing moonsault for a nearfall at 7:00.
Bailey hit a superkick to the jaw. They hit simultaneous roundhouse kicks and were both down, and this crowd was HOT. They both kipped up to their feet, and Dex caught him with a rolling elbow that sent Bailey to the floor. Dex hit a flip dive to the floor onto Bailey. Bailey hit his Triangle Moonsault to the floor at 9:30. Bailey nailed the moonsault kneedrop to the chest as Dex was lying on the ring apron. They fought on the top rope, where Royal hit a bodyslam to the mat. Dex hit a top-rope dive to the floor onto Bailey. In the ring, Dex hit a top-rope Shoting Star Press for a nearfall at 12:00. Bailey hit another moonsault kneedrop to the chest. He nailed the Tornado Kick in the corner, Bailey set up for the Flamingo Driver, but Dex turned it into a Victory Roll and got the pin! The crowd went nuts for this shocking finish.
4a. Tom Lawlor vs. Josh Bishop vs. Shaw Mason vs. Dominic Garrini was a draw at 1:00. Lawlor and Bishop came out together first, then Mason and Garrini, then Lawlor and Bishop had a second entrance; this really is comedy gold. Shaw is young, short and wears a singlet; he’s by far the least experienced in this one, and he give me Charlie Haas vibes. Garrini and Shaw traded mat reversals early. Teddy Long hit the stage to a huge pop and he got in the ring. I couldn’t understand him on the mic. Being as Lawlor and Bishop are clearly working together (as they did in a four-way last monh), Long turned this into a tag team match! Good use of Teddy Long.
4b. Tom Lawlor and Josh Bishop defeated Shaw Mason and Dominic Garrini at 11:11. They all brawled on the floor, but it’s too dark outside the ring to see much. Lawlor threw Garrini head-first into a ring post. In the ring, Lawlor and Bishop worked over Garrini. Shaw finally made the hot tag at 6:00, and he hit a belly-to-belly suplex on Lawlor. He hit a flying back elbow and was fired up. He it an Angle Slam on Lawlor and applied an ankle lock. Bishop tossed Mason to Lawlor, and Tom caught him and applied a rear-naked choke. Lawlor and Garrini traded chops and forearm strikes. Garrini hit a rolling elbow on Bishop. Shaw accidentally hit a crossbody block on Garrini! Bishop and Lawlor hit a team slam on Shaw, then a team Tombstone Piledriver on Garrini for the pin.
* A short intermission.
5. Davey Bang & August Matthews defeated “Members Only” Malcolm Cambridge & Calvin G. Lews and “Latinos Most Wanted” Sabin Gauge & Koda Hernandez and Colin Delaney & Cheech in a four-way tag at 11:15. I have written several times in recent months that Koda seems on the verge of breaking out of the Chicago scene. I’ve written this before, but bald Cheech somehow looks more and more like Sonjay Dutt every time I see him. Sabin and Matthews traded quick reversals early on. Koda hit some rolling suplexes. Calvin hit a snap suplex on Delaney at 4:00. Sabin and Koda hit stereo dives to the floor. Members Only, Delaney and Cheech all hit dives to the floor. Matthews hit a top-rope crossbody block at 6:30.
Bang hit a moonsault to the floor while Matthews hit a dive through the ropes. In the ring, Koda hit a hard clothesline on Delaney. Everyone hit finishers. Members Only hit stereo superkicks. Koda hit a Death Valley Driver. Bang hit a top-rope flipping neckbreaker. Bang nailed the Spears Tower at 11:00. Bang and Matthews hit simultaneous top-rope 450 Splashes for the pin. Good match; I feel like I still need to see more of Members Only to get a better sense of their skills.
6. Kaplan defeated Joey Janela at 18:12. Kaplan is a rotund brawler and he easily shoved Janela to the mat. Janela unnecessarily and recklessly tossed a chair at Kaplan’s unprotected head at 2:00. Just stupid. Janela hit a Swanton Bomb for a nearfall. Kaplan stomped on Janela and kept him grounded. Kaplan began tossing chairs into the ring; one struck Janela in the ankle as Joey was lying on the mat. Janela tossed Kaplan onto several open chairs for a nearfall at 7:00. Kaplan shoved Janela flying through the door in the corner at 9:30, but he missed a moonsault.
Janela took door shards and slammed them over Kapan’s unprotected head, then he hit hit with a chairshot to the head. This is disturbing. Kaplan is bleeding from the head from those unnecessarily violent blows. Janela hit a Samoan Drop onto an open chair for a nearfall at 12:30. Kapan dove through the ropes but crashed onto a table set up on the floor. Janela hit a doublestomp onto debris lying on Kaplan’s chest. He hit a second and third doublestomp onto a folded chair on Kaplan’s chest, but Kaplan kicked out at 17:00. Kaplan hit a fallaway slam onto two open chairs, then a swinging faceplant for the pin. Just incredibly unnecessarily violent and I can’t condone those unprotected blows to the head.
7. Mikey Montgomery defeated El Hijo Del Vikingo, Gringo Loco, and Matt Cross in a four-way at 12:08. The commentator said this is the 23rd time Loco and Vikingo have squared off. Matt Cross is a last-minute replacement for Tre Lemar. Vikingo hit a double missile dropkick on Cross and Montgomery. Vikingo and Loco traded some reversals. Vikingo hit a nice spin kick to Cross’s head at 2:30. Loco and Vikingo traded mid-ring chops. Vikingo hit his huracanrana out of the corner. Cross hit a springboard-back-elbow on Vikingo. Montgomery hit a springboard dive to the floor onto Cross and Loco. We had a weird edit here and everyone was back in the ring; I think they had some issues with the live feed. We lost the signal from the building, too.
Loco hit a springboard moonsault on Mikey at 7:30, but Vikingo broke up a pinfall. Vikingo hit a top-rope Poison Rana on Loco that POPPED the crowd. Loco slammed Vikingo face-first onto the top turnbuckle and got a nearfall at 9:00. Loco hit Montgomery over the head with a chair. Loco and the ref set up a door bridge in the ring; the crowd jeered the ref for helping. Loco hit a top-rope Guerrilla Press, tossing Montgomery through the door bridge, earning a “holy shit!” chant. Montgomery hit a Death Valley Driver on Cross out of nowhere for the pin! Too bad we had frequent issues with the picture freezing during this match; I don’t know if they can upload a better version later.
* Nathan Zegura, color analyst from the Cleveland Browns radio network, was introduced. The audio is so awful I have no idea who he is; his name was finally displayed on the screen as he joined commentary for the main event and I did some quick research on who he is.
8. Philly Collins, Marino Tenaglia, Sam Holloway, Wes Barkley, and Isaiah Broner (w/Bill Alphonso) defeated Eric Taylor, The Duke, Chuck Stone, and “Money Shot” Zack Nystrom and Elijah Dean in a 10-man street fight tag match at 22:51. All ten brawled at the bell. Zegura definitely knows his AIW roster and storylines. Broner and Stone brawled in the ring. Collins hit a dive through the ropes; he has a bloody nose. The 6’9″ Holloway leapt onto the top rope and hit a springboard dive to the floor at 7:00; this kid has so much potential. Broner teased a dive to the floor; we had some more freezing issues with the image.
They brawled up the staircase into the lower tier of the seating area; one camera is far too dark and hard to see. Barkley and Stone brawled to the top tier of the venue, where no fans were seated. Everyone kept brawling on the floor and amongst the fans. Duke and Barkley finally got back into the ring at 17:00 and continued to brawl. Taylor was thrown onto a door set up in the corner of the ring but it didn’t break. Two guys brawled and flew out of the ring and crashed through two tables set up on the floor at 19:30.
Money Shot hit a fallaway slam on Broner, then they speared Broner against the door in the ring, but it again didn’t break. The crowd chanted “one more time!” However, Money Shot threw the door to the floor. Holloway has been handcuffed to the guardrail at ringside! However, Barkley hit a Jarrett-style Stroke and he pinned Eric Taylor. Decent brawl. The heels kept beating down Barkley after the bell, as many of Barkley’s teammates were handcuffed outside the ring. They hit a piledriver move on Bill Alphonso!
* The heels announced that Eric Taylor was cashing in his “money in the bank” title match, right now! We have a bonus match!
9. Eric Taylor defeated Wes Barkley to win the AIW Intense Title at 00:15. Taylor hit a running knee and covered Barkley for the pin. That was unexpected, and the crowd booed the title change.
Final Thoughts: Unfortunately, the show was marred at times by freezing images and lost signals from the building, and particularly during the main event brawl, it was hard to see. Not the fault of the wrestlers, but it does take away from the enjoyment of watching their matches. I’ll go with Dex-Bailey for best match, as that was really good. Even with the freezing issues, I’ll still go with Vikingo’s four-way for second place. The four-way with Bishop and Lawlor takes third place.
AIW has a nice core of young wrestlers, too. Sam Holloway is the Julius Creed clone, and there is so much potential there with his height. Both Shaw and Tyler Jordan are promising rising stars. The main event brawl isn’t my style but everyone worked hard. Janela-Kaplan had this crowd, but it lost my interest once they started taking unnecessary, unprotected, blows to the head.
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