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AWA Action Zone - Nov. 9, 2005

Murphy42782Posted on 11/01/05 at 16:44:57

Big Line-Up Tonight as we have more AWA Heavyweight Title and AWA Tag Team Titles Tournament matches, plus we have an AWA Television Title match as John "Bradshaw" Layfield defends against "Mr. Wednesday Night" Rob Van Dam.
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AWA Heavyweight Title Tournament

Jerry Lynn vs. "No Gimmicks Needed" Chris Candido w/Tammy Lynn Sytch

Solid opening match from two good workers, was everything you would have expected from these two. Both guys were battling for the right to join "The Franchise" Shane Douglas, John "Bradshaw" Layfield, Randy Orton, Colt Cabana, and Shelton Benjamin in the next round. Triple Threat looked to go 2 - 0 in this tournament, Jerry Lynn was on top of his game though, and put away Candido with the Cradle Piledriver.

Jerry Lynn pinned Chris Candido with the Cradle Piledriver in 0:15:24.
Rating: *** 3/4
[Tammy Lynn Sytch interfered against Jerry Lynn.]
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The Amazing Red vs. "The Franchise" Shane Douglas
Guest Commentator: Tommy Dreamer

This match should have gone the other way, but Douglas seemed distracted with Dreamer at ringside. This wound up costing him as Red put him away with the Code Red in under a minute. Dreamer then entered and started brawling with Douglas until Triple Threat ran in, Dreamer escaped under the ropes and through the crowd as a promo for tonight's main event is shown hyping the Lance Storm/Tommy Dreamer AWA Heavyweight Title Tournament Match.

Amazing Red pinned Shane Douglas after the Code Red in 0:00:56.
Rating: **
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AWA Tag Team Titles Tournament
The Eliminators (John Kronus and Perry Saturn) vs. Doug Basham and Rob Conway

Basham and Conway are a young, up and coming team, but The Eliminators are grizzled vets. Basham and Conway seem to be on the bottom rung of the totem poll so to speak as far as Tag Teams here in the AWA, But they were looking to change that. But the right team went over in a match that took entirely to long.

The Eliminators (John Kronus and Perry Saturn) defeated
Doug Basham and Rob Conway when Saturn pinned R. Conway after a back elbow in
          0:34:51.
Rating: *** 1/4
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AWA Heavyweight Title Tournament
Nick Dinsmore vs. Joey Mercury

Dinsmore is an accomplished singles wrestler and former OVW Heavyweight Champ, while Joey Mercury is more of a tag team specialist. Dinsmore proved why he just may be the best technical wrestler aside from Chris Benoit on the planet today. He put Mercury down with multiple suplexes and high impact moves.

Nick Dinsmore pinned Joey Mercury with the German Suplex in 0:15:34.
Rating: ***
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William Regal came out and hyped the PPV Battle Lines live November 27th and ran down the card thus far:

Tommy Dreamer and Rob Van Dam vs. Triple Threat (Shane Douglas, Chris Candido, and Lance Storm) w/Tammy Lynn Sytch and Dawn Marie

John "Bradshaw" Layfield defends his AWA Television Title against Jerry Lynn

The Finals of the AWA Heavyweight and Tag Team Titles

*Card Subject to change if any wrestler mentioned makes the finals of a tournament*
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AWA Heavyweight Title Tournament
"The Crippler" Chris Benoit vs. Johnny Nitro w/Melina

Benoit won the match, but ultimately lost the war when Joey Mercury hit the ring with a chair. Nitro and Mercury went to work and Pillmanized Benoit. There was severe damage to the ankle and leg of Benoit. Nitro got a mic and joked about how "The Crippler" has become "The Crippled". MNM stalk off and leave Benoit screaming in pain.

Chris Benoit made Johnny Nitro submit to the Crippler Crossface in 0:21:30. Chris Benoit tore his right achilles tendon. He will be out for approximately 2 Months
Rating: ** 1/2
[Melina interfered against Chris Benoit.]
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AWA Tag Team Titles Tournament
The World's Greatest Tag Team (Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin) vs. Colt Cabana and Randy Orton

The WGTT have struggled of late and don't seem to be on the same page. Benjamin has become annoyed with what he views as shoddy tag team work on Haas' behalf. They were, however, better than the thrown together team of Colt Cabana and Randy Orton. Benjamin put away Cabana with the T-Bone.

World's Greatest Tag Team (Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin) defeated
Colt Cabana and Randy Orton when S. Benjamin pinned Colt with the T-Bone in
          0:17:14.
Rating: *** 1/4
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AWA Television Title Match
"Mr. Wednesday Night" Rob Van Dam vs. John "Bradshaw" Layfield (c)

JBL once again saved his title by breaking every rule imaginable. He strong-armed the ref, gauged the eyes, and even used a chair as a weapon. Triple Threat eventually attacked RVD and joined JBL in a beating until Jerry Lynn and Tommy Dreamer chased them off.

Rob Van Dam defeated John Bradshaw Layfield by disqualification in 0:08:04.
Rating: * 1/2
(John Bradshaw Layfield retained the AWA Television Title.)
[Shane Douglas interfered against Rob Van Dam.]
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AWA Heavyweight Title Tournament
Tommy Dreamer vs. Lance Storm w/Dawn Marie

Good match with lots of animosity between the combatants. Triple Threat and Rob Van Dam were escorted from the building prior to the match except for Dawn Marie. Dreamer wound up getting the W eliminating Lance Storm from AWA Heavyweight Title Contention leaving just Shane Douglas eligible for title gold.

Tommy Dreamer pinned Lance Storm with the Dreamer DDT in 0:13:51.
Rating: *** 1/4


Card rating: ** 3/4
91Posted on 11/01/05 at 22:59:25

There's something very ECW'ish about this (besides the high number of ECW guys) that I can't put my finger on. I'm sort of getting an idea of some of the characters involved (Triple Threat are the jerkass heel stable, JBL the rampant cheater, Dreamer seems to be the #1 face) which is good. All that's needed is a little more, how best to say it, character advancement and motivation if that makes any sense. Depth in character so to speak - it does help that everyone is so instantly recognisable though. I think Colt Cabana is as obscure as it gets here. Who's left in the tournament?
Murphy42782Posted on 11/01/05 at 23:44:36

Thanks for the input. The circuit is still relatively new as this is only the 4th card. But things are progressing kind of slowly. Battle Lines is the first PPV on November 27th, so story lines will begin to play out a little more over the next couple of shows.

As for the tournament Shane Douglas, JBL, Randy Orton, Colt Cabana, Rob Conway are the heels that are left. As for faces Shelton Benjamin, Tommy Dreamer, Nick Dinsmore, Jerry Lynn, and The Amazing Red. Chris Benoit had won his match but has been removed due to his injury at the hands of MNM.

The Last 1st round match is Red vs. Conway

The Second Round is as follows
Orton vs. Lynn
Dreamer vs. Douglas
Dinsmore vs. Cabana
with Benjamin, JBL, and the winner of Red/Conway move on with byes.

Then we have two semifinals three way dances
Benjamin vs. Orton/Lynn vs. Dreamer/Douglas
Red/Conway vs. JBL vs. Dinsmore/Cabana

With the winners facing off at Battle Lines For The AWA Heavyweight Title.
Snabbit888Posted on 11/12/05 at 20:57:16

Like 91 said, this is a good start.  Got some good things going.  Just needs to really start picking up steam.  The first few cards of a circuit are always the most awkward.  As readers we don't see all the champions yet, know the pecking order, who is going to get pushed, not going to get pushed (you can't always follow real life patterns because someone might make Triple H a huge jobber in a circuit whereas in real life he would never be that).  But I'm reading... just keep hem coming. :)