Photo courtesy of Bigo Smith Oh Lort! was the best of all worlds for AWE – great wrestling, epic storytelling and awesome crowd react...
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| Photo courtesy of Bigo Smith |
Oh Lort! was the best of all worlds for AWE – great wrestling, epic storytelling and awesome crowd reactions all night long.
It was the closest promoter Josh Wheeler and booker Blacklist Uno have come to realizing the full potential of their product. The show blended Southern Strong Style with AWE’s twisted brand of Sports Entertainment like never before. This was AWE firing on all cylinders, a three ring circus with something for everyone.
This despite two last minutes changes in key matches. Tripp Cassidy had to bow out of the GWC title match due to a laceration suffered in a death match Saturday night. Eddie Kingston canceled his spot in the number one contender tournament due to a death in the family.
The ROAR division has always been one of the more unique and interesting aspects of AWE. Oh Lort! was the first time a ROAR match had main evented and Tenille Dashwood and Isla Dawn delivered a great one.
Attendance was 150. I have not always been a fan of the ambience created by AWE crowds. They were a big part of what made this show great -- supportive, hilarious and incredibly energized for the duration. It helped that the length of the main show was held to three hours.
I was on the fence about going to Oh Lort!. It turned out to be my favorite pro wrestling show of 2018.
Pre-show:
Long line to meet Dashwood.
(A)Gymnasty Boys (Timmy Lou Retton & White Mike) defeated “King” Bailey Blake & Mr. Sleaze in 5:30. Gynmasty Boys got preoccupied with calling out Lethal Enforcers (Anthony Henry & James Drake) and took a double groin plex from Mr. Sleaze. Retton pinned Blake after giving him an assisted lungblower.
Drake came out to give the Boys sarcastic props for winning a pre-show match, and said Lethal Enforcers were taking the GWC tag titles on the main show.
(B) Ashton Starr won a six way Stunna Division scramble over Bily Brash and Jaden Newman and Ian Maxwell and Mike Outlaw and Talon in 8:49. Brash was mesmerized by Sue Yung shrieking at him from the balcony. Starr pinned Talon with a Canadian backbreaker dropped to a neckbreaker.
Wheeler announced that due to the circumstance with Kingston and Cassidy, Chip Day would be defending the GWC Championship against the three remaining participants in the number one contenders’ tournament.
(1 )CB Suave pinned Chris Crunkk in 9 minutes with feet on the ropes after crotching Crunkk on the ropes. Crowd was pissed at Suave and appreciated Crunkk. Better than Crunkk's match Saturday night for UIW with a better opponent.
Montana Black, the first wrestler to win an AWE battle royal that wasn’t named Chris Mayne in over a year, issued a challenge: since no wrestler had been able to eliminate him by throwing him over the top rope, there would be no more battle royals until somebody could throw him over the top rope one-on-one. Getz Bhndlez, Random Masked Guy, Lamar Diggs, Bobby Ballantyne, Sylar Cross, Zuka King, New Guy and William Huckaby all tried and failed in spectacular fashion. The high point was a chop contest with Huckaby, who ended up with a broken hand. A compelling segment in a freak show, car wreck kind of way.
(2) War of Attrition Match: Sugar Dunkerton & Owen Knight & Chris Mayne & Kiera Hogan defeated The Hiearchy (Blacklist Uno & Adrian Armour & Slade Porter & Su Yung) in 28:28. This was an anything goes elimination match. Porter was wearing a half mask and is now known as “The Tragedy” instead of “The Graduate”. Yung entered separately from Hierarchy and was super over. Yung eliminated Hogan with a draping pedigree. Porter went after Knight’s eye to temporarily take him out of the match. Dunkerton and Mayne went after Porter’s eye and beat the hell out of him until Mayne finally put him out of his misery with a brainbuster. Porter wouldn’t leave without incapacitating Dunkerton first. Mayne took a fierce beating from Hierarchy and Blacklist Uno eliminated Mayne with a piledriver. Knight returned to action and eliminated Armour with a powerbomb. Blacklist Uno immediately eliminated Knight with The Ether. That left a compromised Dunkerton alone against Yung and Uno. Yung was threatening to apply the Purge (mandible claw) to Sugar. Dunkerton got in Yung's ear about how Uno had turned against every female that had been part of the Hiearchy. Yung’s resolve weakened. Sugar asked Yung to marry him and pinned her with a kiss. Uno jumped in and said what the hell? Yung blinded Uno with the red mist and Sugar pinned him with a running knee. The storytelling blew my mind. The willing suspension of disbelief magically remained intact thanks to Dunkerton and Yung.
Postmatch – Dunkerton and Yung had a long, lingering kiss over Uno’s unconscious carcass. Dunkerton said the fans had just witnessed the first ever proposal and acceptance in an AWE ring with his homicidal, genocidal, beautiful bride. A surreal and unforgettable scene.
The Red Wedding is set for June 8 at AWE’s next show at the Southern Fried Gaming Expo.
(3) Kamilla Kane defeated Amy Rose in 3:20. Kane came out in street clothes and said Rose was her best friend and she didn’t want to hurt her, so she wasn’t doing the match. Kane and Rose headed over to the bar to have a drink. Rose threw her drink in Kane’s face. Kane dragged Rose back into the ring and threatened to brain her with chair, but couldn’t bring herself to do the deed. Rose tried to roll Kane up. Good luck with that. Kane put Rose in the torture rack but her conscience got the better of her. Kane finally speared Rose to end it. Like so much of this show, it was different and surprising.
(4) Submission Squad (Evan Gelistico & Gary Jay) defeated The Carnies (Kerry Awful & Nick Iggy) and Lethal Enforcers (Anthony Henry & James Drake) in 16:16. Wheeler said he didn’t know where the belts were and that wasn’t a storyline. Carnies kissed before the match but that was just a preview. Multiple kiss spots were to follow involving everyone in the match. Iggy's chest was bleeding from the chops. Lethal Enforcers had Gelistico beaten when Gymnasty Boys’ music played and they saw White Mike about to DDT Amber Young on the stage. Lethal Enforcer went to war with Gynnasty Boys. Carnies did the forced Canadian Destroyer on Submission Squad but Jay rolled out of the ring to avoid being pinned. Awful put Jay in the Walls of Jericho. Gelistico kissed Awful to break the hold and submitted him with a mandible claw. No way this match takes place in front of any other wrestling crowd in Georgia and gets over. Sexual fluidity spots aside, this match had a cray amount of great action. The striking was off the hook.
Postmatch – Awful kissed Jay. Gelistco planted one on Iggy.
(5) Chip Day defeated Caleb Konley and Joe Black and KLD to retain the GWC Championship in 16:23. Another great match. Black's entrance was a sight to behold. KLD has incredible agility for such a huge man. He hit a barrel roll dive on all three opponents. Day hurt his neck legit when he stepped on a bad board in the ring on a nip up. Black got his bell rung on a buckle bomb from Konley. Day, Konley and Black gave KLD a triple dropkick and Day followed with double knees off the apron to take KLD out of the match. Day hit a tornado kick on Black and pinned Konley with a jumping knee to the base of the neck. For booking on the fly, this was terrific stuff.
Postmatch - Day and KLD shook hands. Massive shit talking between Black and Day ensued.
(6) Tenille Dashwood defeated Isla Dawn in 13:55. Dashwood got the superstar reaction with Wheeler calling her the biggest star to ever appear in an AWE ring. Great match. They worked a hard pace with everything crisp and snug. Dawn more than held her own. Dashwood used a tarantula. Dawn used a spinning air raid crash and a Saito suplex. Finishing sequence saw Dashwood hit a flying bodypress for a near fall, block Dawn’s half and half and hit a low dropkick to the head for the pin.
