Results – HWA: All or Nothing – 1/29/10

On Friday January 29th, the Heartland Wrestling Association returned to downtown Cincinnati for HWA All or Nothing and it was a night to remember!

The show featured seven matches and a who’s who of wrestling talent appeared on the card. Andre Hart welcomed us to the show, playing the “special host” of the evening. After spending a few minutes talking to the crowd, he introduced commentators Ryan Campbell and Chris The Brain, along with ring announcer Parker Riley who got the action underway! The first match of the night was between The Noble Bloods and Utterly Fabulous, with Tucker Carson as the referee. The Noble Bloods weren’t in a joking around kind of mood and seemed determined to take out recent frustrations on Sid and Kid Fabulous. Matt Taylor and Chad Cruise would take turns beating down Kid Fabulous, never allowing Kid to tag in his partner. Matt and Chad really seemed to be on their A game, flawlessly executing their game plan to cut the ring in half and isolate Kid in their half of the ring. Kid struggled for well over five minutes to tag in Sid, who was in his corner desperately hoping for the tag. The Noble Bloods, with Shawn Bond in their corner, played the numbers game and everything appeared to be working in their favor. While Chad was beating down Kid, Sid was able to tag in behind Chad’s back, came in the ring and rolled him up for the surprise win! The crowd exploded as Utterly Fabulous danced their way to the locker room, leaving The Noble Bloods in utter disbelief standing in the ring!

The second match of the night was for the American Luchacore Championship. Jesse Emerson was making his first title defense after only winning the title two nights prior. His challenger would be former champion Aaron Williams – the man who never actually lost the title. Brandon Tolle would be the referee and the match was contested under Luchacore rules. The crowd was split as to who to cheer for in the beginning, with both men getting nice reactions. The match was very evenly contested with both men seeming to have each other scouted well. The early going saw lots of mat wrestling, quite back and forth, until a low bridge by Aaron to the action the to the floor. The action picked up following a dive by Aaron to the floor and this is when the intensity level of the match picked up. After brawling on the floor, the match returned to the ring where the pace and intensity continued to escalate. The match crescendoed towards its dramatic final moments, where Jesse was attempting to close things out with his Alabama Slam finisher but Aaron was able to counter. A series of near falls for both men kept the crowd on their edge of their seats and when Aaron hit a top rope frog splash, the audience thought it was over, but Jesse kicked out at the last possible second! Aaron missed a kick, flew off the ropes and was caught by Jesse for the Alabama Slam for the win! Jesse went for a handshake post match but in a surprising turn of events, Aaron refused and walked away. This begs the question: Why Aaron? Hopefully we get answers in the near future as to why Aaron acted the way he did.

Match number three was a four way dance between Tarek The Legend, Chris “The Madness” Hall, Shank Barzini and “New Attitude” Ron Mathis. Tucker Carson would ref this wild affair and it was not an enviable task to say the least. Ron Mathis started things off by slapping Madness, who proceeded to press slam Mathis high in the air. It was here, less than a minute into the match that all control was lost over this contest and the action sprawled out all over the ringside area. Mathis and Shank’s issues are well documented and these two never disappoint when they get their hands on each other. Madness and Tarek don’t seem to mind hurting anybody and were both going full force for the duration of the contest. Early on, Shank dove over the top taking out Madness and Tarek. Mathis slid in the ring and then dove on top of all three opponents. Tarek would make in into the ring next, setting up a chair and spring boarding off the chair over the top rope, taking out his foes. In the most shocking moment of all, Madness would rise to his feet first and not to be outdone, Madness dove over the top taking all three opponents out! After everyone got to their feet, the brawl continued. Mathis perched himself on the top rope, as Shank and Madness cut him off. They were attempting a double suplex as Tarek climbed up behind Mathis and hit a sunset flip on all three men! The crowd was standing in unison at this point, waiting to see what else these men could pull off. Each man would make pinfall attempts, each broken up by someone else. Madness got a near fall on Mathis, followed by getting a near fall on Shank. With both Mathis and Shank laid out, Tarek picked his moment perfectly, hitting Madness and pinning Shank for the win!

The fourth match was for the HWA Heavyweight Title. King Vu’s entrance was like something out of a Hollywood red carpet event, with The King’s Court making royal entrances, complete with a lady dropping roses, two gladiators protecting the Court and The King’s Court dressed in designer threads. Vu made his way out, boldly telling the crowd that he was leaving as champion again. Jon Moxley came out next, looking focused and ready to defend his title. Senior official Joe Kopasz would be the ref for this historic title match after after he gave his instructions, the match was underway. King Vu and Mox proved quickly that while they made a good team, they make better enemies. Vu tried to force Mox to kiss his hand, to which Mox replied by spitting in Vu’s face. There would be no stopping these two warriors from here as they tore into each other with a ferocious intensity. There was nothing pretty about this match folks as Mox and King Vu seemed hell bent on destroying each other. They traded punches, kicks, chops and even punishing submission holds in their respective quests to leave as the Heavyweight Champion. The dramatic conclusion of this match saw King Vu nearly ripping Mox’s head off with a lariat before climbing to the top rope. Mox caught Vu and knocked him down, got a near fall which he turned into a STF. Vu escaped and again nearly ripped Mox’s head off with a lariat. Vu made a mistake here though, playing up to the crowd, which gave Mox a chance to roll Vu up for the winning pinfall! Jon Moxley is still the HWA Heavyweight Champion!

After intermission, referee Brandon Tolle came out for the next match between Dustin Rayz and Tim Donst. Donst recently has been shunned by the HWA locker room and Rayz feels he’s been disrespected by pretty much everyone lately, so this winning this match would go a long way in helping out both men. The crowd was behind Donst and Rayz spent the early going toying with Donst, leaving the ring and taking his time to get back in. Dustin’s mind games didn’t seem to affect Donst too bad, as he appeared focused on his matchup. Donst offered a handshake to which Dustin responded with a slap to Donst’s face. Donst, although angry, stayed on course and wrestled his style of match instead of letting anger dictate the tempo. Rayz also stuck to his plan of keeping Donst grounded and subtle cheap shots to attempt to rile up both donst and the fans. Dustin settled into a grrove mid way through the match, using leglocks and even a modified camel clutch to control Donst on the mat and his trademark spin kicks when the action was off the mat. Donst stayed in the match though, fighting back with a German suplex into a bridge which got a near fall. Donst’s comeback seemed to be in full force when Dustin pulled a fast one, getting a sneaky pin with his feet on the ropes to win the match. Both men fought a hard match and Tim Donst has to be begging for a rematch after this one.

The sixth match of the night saw Jack Verville upset Kadan Assad. Senior official Joe Kopasz was in charge of the match and the crowd chanted “USA” directed at Kadan for almost the entire match. Verville, a fast, exciting young wrestler, showed explosive quickness and displayed genuine toughness in this match. Kadan controlled most all of the match, seeming to enjoy taking his time beating Verville down for most of the match. Kadan more than once brought his flag into the ring, which nearly encited a riot among fans. The crowd support for Jack Verville seemed to keep him alive during the worst parts of Kadan’s vicious assault on him, including when Kadan had a modified camel clutch applied. The crowd expected that to end the match and when Verville managed to escape, he made several fans for life. Kadan’s frustrations took over here, distracting him and Jack took advantage, rolling up Kadan for a quick pin!

The main event of the evening was a four team Tables, Ladders and Chairs Match for the HWA Tag Team Championship. The Hybrids, The Naptown Dragons and Aeroform all wanted to be the team to take the gold away from reigning champions, Dave and Jake Crist – The Irish Airborne. The Airborne received a heroes welcome as they made their way to the ring. Allow me to apologize ahead of time for not being to do justice to this match. With eight wrestlers fighting all over the building, it was impossible to keep track of every devastating move that was inflicted throughout this war of a match. Longworth Hall – the building the show was held in – is the proud new owner of several holes in the wall as bodies were flying every which way and destroying everything in the wrestler’s path. Tables were smashed, chairs broken over wrestlers heads, ladders used as impaling devices – this was the most brutal match to ever take place in the state of Ohio, the Midwest, the country – ANYWHERE! Early in the match, several wrestlers made their way up to the balcony and while no one was thrown over, it wasn’t for lack of trying. After nearly twenty minutes of mayhem, which saw two HWA referees and several more officals get taken out, Jake Crist climbed the ladder and had the gold in his reach and was able to grab one of the two titles hanging from the ceiling! The crowd exploded, thinking The Irish Airborne had retained, but with no ref, Donovan of the Hybrids tried to take the title from Jake. Senior official Joe Kopasz came out and saw the two men fighting over the title and made his official decision – the match would restart with The Irish Airborne and The Hybrids to determine a winner! While the members of Aeroform and The Naptown Dragons weren’t happy with the decision, fans certainly were as they got to see more of this epic encounter. The fight resumed between the two teams with Jason destroying Jake with a chair. Dave made his way back into the ring to help his brother, only to be double stomped by The Hybrids – stealing an Airborne trademark! The Hybrids set up a table in the corner while Jake set up the ladder. Jake and Dave took out Donovan with their version of the double team double stomp through a table! Jason goes for the save before getting taken out by Dave. With Jake climbing the ladder and both Hybrids knocked out, their manager Danny O’Brien climbed the ladder trying to stop Jake Crist from reaching the gold. Dave drilled Danny with a chair shot to the back and Danny fell off the fifteen foot high ladder through the table left setup in the ring! Jake Crist reached the gold and The Irish Airborne win! Winning would not be enough though, as Dave Crist decided that Danny O’Brien needed to go through another table! Jake jumped off the ladder, destroying Danny with a flying elbow, crushing the table! Will Danny O’Brien ever be seen in the HWA again? After what the Irish Airborne did to him, I’m not expecting to see Danny for a long, long time. A fantastic conclusion to a fantastic night!