We are live from Lakewood, OH for this Absolute Intense Wrestling show that just took place on March 10. Or, we are watching it on the IWTV service. This show has been suggested by Joe, one half of the At Odds with Wrestling podcast. Each and every week without a major PPV, Joe and Adam assign a wrestling event for each other, and for listeners like myself with too much free time. Let’s get down to ringside! 

This event is at the Winchester, a familiar AIW venue but still new-ish to me. The hard camera setup took me a match or two to get used to. The ring is right against one of the walls, and the ceiling is low. This takes nothing away from enjoying the matches, but I’ll predict some of the wrestlers might have to take this into consideration. 

Megan Meyers vs Alice Crowley.

I think Megan needs different gear if she’s supposed to be creepy. She does do a cool creepy Bray Wyatt-esque flop though. As predicted, it’s a tight squeeze to climb the ropes on one side of the ring. Alice is a slightly bigger wrestler and does well using that size to play the heel. Megan counters with speed and flexibility. Alice argues with the ref over a two count and that allows Megan to roll her up for the pin. Good start for both of them with tons of potential. 

Original Sins vs Members Only.

Original Sins with one hell of an entrance music choice for two white guys. Big fight outside of the ring to start off. It was two on one for most of the match. Member Only though is more experienced and eventually fights back. The Members hit a package piledriver into a brain buster for the pin. Not bad at all but the classic tag team heels cutting off the ring felt like it went long. 

Eddy Only vs TKD.

Eddy comes out and immediately endears himself to the fans. The fans respond by throwing glow sticks. Only gets his trunks pulled down and we see a bit too much. But the show is at a bar. But there’s kids. But it’s only his butt. But some assistant principal just got fired for reading a silly kids book about a butt. But AIW knows their audience. But enough butt talk. The face? Anyways, I love the spot where a heel has the crowd move out of the way before throwing their opponent into the guard rail and then throws the face somewhere else. Lots of back and forth action. Lots of antagonizing the referee. Eddy valiantly tosses the referee out of the way so the ref doesn’t get hit by TKD’s kick. Eddy then uses this opportunity to hit TKD in the nuts and follows it up with a top rope elbow for the pin. Very fun match and I think this is when the crowd really starts to embrace the evening and everything gets turned up from here. 

Evan Ambrose (Weird Body) vs Casey Carrington IV (with Brian Carson).

Alright, I’ve heard about Weird Body all the time on Pod Van Dam but I do not remember if I have seen him before. This is great. He is absolutely fascinating to watch. Weird is on the outside, Casey attempts a suicide dive but Ambrose moves and Casey crashes hard. Carson rushes over to check on Casey. The referee checks on Casey and Carson uses this to go attack Weird. Casey then recovers and gets the pin. Great heel work. Dominic Garrini comes out to save Evan which leads to…

Dominic Garrini vs Brian Carson. 

Dom is so good. So so good. What a machine. Casey distracts the referee long enough to give Carson an opening. Sunset flip into a submission looked great. If I was booking a company other than AIW I would pick up Dom now. Book him like Taz. I bet he can do an overhead suplex better than Ridge Holland too. Dom makes Carson tap out. 

Lucky 13 vs Riley Rose vs Chase Oliver vs Dan Champion.

The music tonight, despite my previous smart ass remark, has been great. If Dom is a modern day Samoa Joe, Chase is PAC. 13 is a great character. The chemistry and the humor with Dan and Lucky 13 is a highlight of the match. I would team these two up. This here is Big Dan, and you can’t teach that. Riley and Chase double team Dan. Dan takes out everyone and pours himself a beer. Riley slams Dan! That surprised the hell out of me. Chase with a DVD onto Dan into the turnbuckles and then gets the pin. I see so many good AIW matches ahead for all of these guys. 

9 to 5 vs the Production.

“Let’s hear it for National Women’s Day!” “We’ve been looking for a sec… an administrative assistant.” 9 to 5 with some amazing heel work. They offer Ziggy 30k a year and “benefits” to get them coffee. Not a bad offer. Besides the greasy benefits talk. Ziggy shuts them down and kicks so much ass. I love ass kicking women and Ziggy is the absolute best. She’s tops on my talk to/interview/meet one day list. 9 to 5 get the advantage and beat up Ziggy. It’s the same two on one heels trope but poor Ziggy. Derek is finally in. Great wheelbarrow suplex into the turnbuckle. 9 to 5 is such a smug heel gimmick but damn they’re a threat in the ring too. 9 to 5 tries to use a briefcase but the referee takes it away. Wait a minute, there’s a second case! Derek reverses the case attack then bombs Ziggy on top giving the Production the pin. 

Ziggy is teaming up with a local favorite, Riley Shepard, against Edith Surreal and Shea McCoy for Dropkick Depression on April 30 and I’m hoping this will be streaming somewhere. 

Bobby Orlando vs Isaiah Broner. 

The sound I made when Orlando’s hand hit the post! I felt my hand break too. The referee saves the goat – Bobby Jr – and Bobby uses that opening to get his advantage. I love the kid in the front row with his own goat plushie. Orlando is so deceptive it’s great. Broner hits a big lariat to get a quick pin. Orlando was so much fun to watch. 

Bulking Season vs PME (AIW tag team champions).

Arthur signs up for the two on one beat down. There is an entertaining as hell jam session on commentary. Chuck takes his beating for a while too. This match is mostly PME. Nice claw assisted back breaker. Philly breaks up the count and hits the referee thus Bulking Season gets the DQ win. Not the last for this feud I’m sure. 

Kaplan vs the Duke (with the Bitcoin Boiz) for the Golden Boot. 

OMG the ring moved! Like actually moved, not just WWE hyperbole. “Duke needs to take kicking lessons from me.” This has been one of the best nights of commentary for any show that I’ve heard in some time. Lots of talk about Duke’s day job. How familiar is he with NYS tax law? I feel like I’m getting screwed over this year. Kaplan dives onto all three heels. The Bitcoins interfere causing the DQ. The Rip City Shooters come out to make the save. This is now a six man intense tag team match. But the boot is no longer on the line. 

The heels isolate Bishop, which is probably a good move. Bishop with good well timed spots to fight back eventually leading to the hot tag. Bishop starts to pull out the doors. Duke and Wes fight deep into the crowd. Wes runs Taylor through a door. Mikey puts Wes through a door. Bishop puts Wes through… no, it doesn’t break. Second attempt. Still doesn’t break the third time! Mikey misses a move and Bishop stiffs him down then they try it again. But it flows so naturally. Duke misses with the boot and Kaplan spears Duke into the infamous door which still doesn’t break! Another spear. And for the fifth time the door stands tall! Bishop hits a death valley driver through a different table to the floor. Something rips off the ceiling! Wes hits Duke, Kaplan follows it up with a lariat, and the good guys get the pin. What a match! 

Once this show kicked up it got more and more and more exciting. So much fun. This show alone is worth the $10 for IWTV.