AAW: Art, Wisdom and Other Things Randy Doesn't Understand

*Blog originally posted to MainEventOfTheDead.com in Sept/Oct 2016.

I think it is difficult to argue the statement that All American Wrestling provides Chicago with the best wrestling. It does not have the perceived outlaw persona of Freelance Wrestling or Resistance Pro, and that is because it does not need it. You buy a ticket, and you are rewarded with the best wrestling showcase the region has to offer.

AAW currently seems to have an over abundance of riches. It may sound foolish to say there is a downside to showing off the best, but the promotion seems to lack identity. The best wrestlers will inevitably get signed to exclusive deals. When that happens, the most talented members of the undercard should be expected to step up to fill the vacant roles. Unless you can just find main eventers from other territories which is what the promotion that developed Tyler Black is ironically doing.

AAW feels like a YouTube Wormhole that you can check out in person, instead of a team you come to cheer on. As pro-wrestling’s premier Cubs fan, I loved cheering on the team for 36 years as they developed into world champions. There were times that I wished ownership would just buy a title, but if that occurred, I would then be bitching about any time they did not win a title. That would make me a Yankee fan who is not from the five boroughs. To those fans, they are not your team.

Who can stand someone who does not think you need to work to win? As a jaded Gen-Xer, that may come across as a implied question about the younger generation, but the wrestling audience right now is millennials. AAW seems to have their fingers on the pulse of the audience, and the dollar makes anything tolerable.

Art is either a luxury or a gamble, and taste determines what you want. I am always trying to create, and the money I spent on failing to produce my motion picture “Main Event of the Dead (I am willing to send out treatments of the zom-com pro-wrestling screenplay. Send me an email at russthebus07@gmail.com)” shows that I like to gamble. This may leave me predisposed to be frustrated at the lack of AAW creative direction. But, the less work you put into make money, the wiser you are. So perhaps you can argue that RPW and FLW may provide better wrestling, but Danny Daniels and AAW demonstrate the wisest wrestling.

The Card:

Paco defeated Connor Braxton.

Jake Crist picks up the win from Myron Reed, Laredo Kid and Joey Janella. With all of the dives, did the AAW faithful catch all at least four Ace Crushers.

Trevor Lee steals one from Colt Cabana. I feel when you face Cabana, you should not focus on your own comedy style. Lee should have been bringing out his X-Division stuff for his opponent to work against. That brings out the best in Cabana.

Davey Vega & Alex Daniels score the fall against Detective Dan Barry & Lt. Bill Carr, and Trey Miguel & Stephen Wolf. This is where the show started to feel redundant. The crowd may have been thinking the same since “…Dive” was the only chant they brought to this match.

Keith Lee earns the hard fought win over Donovan Dijak. This match completed the Rip Roger’s Indy Equation. If “Both These Guys” and “Fight Forever” were not shouted in the first four match were expressed here. It is just proof that AAW’s booking is superb. Lee vs. Dijak was 20 minutes of showing how bumps are overrated. I need to rewatch Lance Storm and Jerry Lynn. Did Dijak have to suffer so many chops to get away from flat backs?

Michael Elgin teaches Former World Champion FKA Jack Swagger what the indies are all about. This match shows why all Indie shows need an intermission. Elgin is awesome which makes up for Swagger being behind the Indy curve. Better placement of the bout could have hid this better from the audience. If Swagger goes to NJPW and catches up with the style, WWE will regret how they let a wrestler with a football player structure leave the company.

AR Fox and Rey Fenix retain the AAW Tag Team Championship from Lio Rush and Shane Strickland’s challenge. I think this could have been the main event instead of another one of Sami Callahan’s brawls. If I was able to get away from the hospitality business more often, I might see that Callahan fighting a challenger all over the venue is not the only main event AAW has to offer.

This was Rush’s debut, so I understand his team not getting the win, but I am getting worn out seeing how the luchadors from Lucha Underground will not take falls. Bringing in a gearless Juventud Guerrera to do the favor for the holder of the “Bestest in the World” does not shake this vibe. But the money that Penta and Fenix bring to the promotion may be why every AAW show is otherwise loaded. I do not think I can win an argument of wisdom versus art.