I actually watched this show a couple weeks ago when the homework was officially announced. Thanks to Jerry’s Internet Wrestling Emporium, also known as IndependentWrestling.TV I was able to watch this show along with a few others that will be reviewed shortly, along with the entire platform. This homework is a part of the At Odds with Wrestling podcast.

Absolute Intense Wrestling Absolution X took place July 10, 2015 in Cleveland. This is listed as a 4 hour show but the first 16 minutes are promos for tonight’s matches. It helped me get up to speed on who was who and what is what. This is the tenth Absolution, thus the X, and putting on ten of anything should be a badge of honor for any indie company.

The Iron Curtain (Benjamin Boone, Gregory Iron, Jerry & Joey Vincent Martini) vs Brian Carson, Frankie Flynn, Joshua Singh & Kaplan.

First thought is that this venue seems like tight quarters. I don’t know if that’s what I’m thinking in a Covid world or if 5 years ago it was considered close quarters as well. There’s a commentary line, “people still like comic book shows?”, and I wonder if that was a jab at one of tonight’s commentators and one half of the At Odds podcast. Frankie Flynn has something. There’s a good level of skill and fan connection for a “rookie”. Is Martini a hoss? Gregory Iron gets his tights yanked down in the back and is in no rush to fix that. Whole lot of Iron butt crack during the match. Which gave an extra comedy aspect to the match, but not over the top. A devastating move is even more so with a bare ass comes crashing down too. The more the match progresses the more I could see Martini vs Kaplan as an eventual main event. Singh has good ring awareness. He slips up, and flows with it instead of letting one mistake ruin his evening. Iron Curtain wins the match and attacks Singh after but he’s saved by… Vader?! Vader looks in immense pain coming to the ring. I’m all for celebrating legends and giving them another payday but there is a sadness to seeing icons past their prime. He beats up the entire Iron Curtain and they bump their asses off for him as a show of respect.

Veda Scott (women’s champion) vs. Athena.

“It’s Veda time” made me laugh, probably too much. Athena brings the attack immediately and has three dives through the ropes to Veda on the floor. The amount of cardio alone that this take is more than I have put out in the last year combined. Veda has an impressive walk on the guardrail that I didn’t expect. Athena is no selling a lot of Veda’s offense and while the match is good this makes Veda looked out matched the whole time. Athena wins and is the new AIW womens’ champion.

AIW Intense Title Match
Davey Vega (champion) vs BJ Whitmer.

Good story throughout over which one of these men is the better champion. It helped me take not only the two of them seriously, but also the title. BJ’s disrespectful pin attempts is such a small thing that should be done more often. Subtle things like that add to a match. A tree of woe, double stomp, and Vega wins out of no where. I did not see the finish of the match coming at all.

Eddie Kingston (with The Duke) vs. Ethan Page in an I Quit match.

Hey it’s Eddie with some guy! I kid. In a previous homework assignment I didn’t catch the Duke’s name and he called me out on it over Twitter. The Duke is a good dude and I was happy to see him on my screen again. Duke cuts a hell of a promo to begin the match. The “Jesus didn’t quit” chant got me. I have to steal that. Maybe at church. Duke makes this match grossly unfair, but that means he’s doing his job. Page shows a capacity for great violence. He goes after Eddie’s eyes. He hits a spine buster through chairs. He hits Boom Head Shot on Duke through a table and drop kicks Eddie at the same time. I’m a huge mark for Eddie, and more on that coming up in posts over the next week, but I forget Ethan is really fucking good. Can someone explain the Duke loves Subway running joke? Also, is Vader peeking out to watch the match? Eddie brings out the scariest chain I’ve ever seen and beats the hell out of Ethan. Ethan powers back up and for a moment there is fear in Eddie’s eyes. Or at least it looks like fear. I’m aware Eddie fears nothing. Please don’t hurt me. Ethan grabs a roll of barbed wire from under the ring and kicks it into Eddie’s head. He rubs the wire spool into Eddie’s head forcing the King to quit.

This match was incredible. It gets over Eddie, it gets over Ethan, it gets over AIW. A great match to pull out and show someone who will now fall in love with everything about it and spend some money on these guys and on AIW. Question for Ethan though, do I type in Lawrence or Laurence when I’m doing an incognito search. Because both options bring up results.

AIW Tag Team Title Match
To Infinity And Beyond (Cheech & Colin Delaney) (AIW tag team champions) vs Hot Sauce Entertainment (Tracy Williams & Tyson Dux).

Colin and Cheech! The 2CW fan within me is thrilled to see these two guys. At least one of these wrestlers need to invest in tights that aren’t black. Great old school work over a limb wrestling. Cheech’s arm is destroyed throughout the match. Colin keeps trying to save him but is stopped repeatedly. It’s a good underdog match too. As accomplished as To Infinity and Beyond are I feel they aren’t taken seriously. Colin eventually makes the save and To Infinity retain the titles. Nice classic tag match.

Six Way Scramble Match
Louis Lyndon vs ACH vs Candice LeRae vs Cedric Alexander vs Flip Kendrick vs Tyler Thomas.

ACH is a replacement for Chris Sabin. This is going to be a lot of people flying around in close quarters. Lyndon kicks Candice in the face and I can feel the crowd reaction through time and space. ACH is entertaining as hell in this match. Candice has absolutely no fear. I was impressed with the double super-rana until the Balls-plex started. Double balls-plex. Then Cedric hits the nastiest back breaker on Candice and “burned ball-plex city to the ground.” If I wasn’t already loving her on NXT I would have fallen for Candice right here. Lyndon sneaks into the ring and locks a Dragon Sleeper on Candice for the tap out victory. Huge heel heat for Lyndon after this match. Well done.

Anything Goes Match
Tim Donst vs. Nick Gage.

I remember seeing Donst wrestle shortly before his medical issues but I hadn’t seen him since and I was happy to, but nervous about the opponent. Eddie Kingston and the formerly known as Leonard F Chikarason call this match and it was a blast. The match is a blast too. Nasty chair shots. A “Cactus clothesline”. Did Gage no sell a boot from a fan?! Gage dumps out a bag of tacks right onto Donst’s body. A double clothesline means a double tack bump. There are a lot of big match finishing moves onto the tacks that only result in a two count. This is the kind of match that has you standing up screaming “stay down!” Tim takes a beating to the kidney area and it’s scary. As scary as a wrestler freshly returned from neck surgery taking twisting head first moves. Tim surprises Gage with an inside cradle and gets the pin! Gage shakes Tim’s hand in respect. Gage leaves and Donst cuts a ‘thank you’ promo. But Gage comes back out and beats the hell out of Donst. Nick puts Tim through a table, not a piledriver, just head first into the table. Gage cuts a promo while Tim is out.

AIW Absolute Title Match
Rickey Shane Page vs Josh Alexander (AIW champion).

Great work by the announcers telling the background and history leading up to this match. If I was front row I would be scared one of Rickey’s kicks would catch me in the face. Great story throughout the match of Josh the dominant champion vs. Rickey’s refusal to give up. Referee bump. Second referee out. Knock out hit by Rickey and Josh starts grabbing his neck. The second referee stops the match. Veda comes out to check on Josh. The entire show stops. The referee whispers something to Rickey. Everyone is concerned. Rickey comes over to say something to Josh, probably something comforting in this moment. Josh pops up, gets Rickey in a small package and wins the match! Josh and Veda celebrate one of the best swerves I’ve seen in years. But wait, there’s more. AIW will not stand for such shenanigans! The match is restarted. Rickey drops Veda from the top rope then turns his attention to Josh for a pile driver and the pin. Rickey wins and cries. The crowd chants “you deserve it”. This was some damn good storytelling. I came into this blind and was engrossed by the match. Well done by all involved.

Ten Man Tag Team Cleveland Street Fight
Team AIW:Alex Daniels, Johnny Gargano, Josh Prohibition & The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) vs Dudes On TV (DJ Z, Ethan Carter III, Matt Cross, Raymond Rowe & Samoa Joe).

Damn, I thought there were a lot of guys in the ring before. I’m positive if the Bucks ever did go to WWE they would be stuck on 205 Live. There’s a figure four human centipede on the floor that Joe turns over for a Boston Crab. This image should be a poster. Or a Christmas card. Good sequence of a big spot, roll out of the ring, next guy comes in, spot, continue. Great for a main event. Crowd is on their feet. It wouldn’t be a Young Bucks match without a super kick party spot. The continuing “suck it” spot disturbs me. Like prison level disturbs me. More super kick party. A double spike pile driver which I could tell was safe but still made me nervous. Josh Prohibition hits a Dragon Driver on Rowe for the pin. EC3 is brought back out to finish the teased “suck it” spot and finish it. I regret writing that entire sentence. Good exciting end for the show.

This was my first AIW show and the four hours flew by. A lot of great talent, and granted this show was 5 years ago, but it shows they can build compelling stories and groom wrestlers into something better. It definitely won’t be the last one I watch.