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Full Disclosure: This DVD was given to me to review.

AAW is the hottest promotion in the Midwest, as this small Eagles Club in Berwyn, Ill. (west of downtown Chicago) is routinely packed with 200 fans. I know I say this every time I review an AAW show, but here goes: AAW is like watching a really good episode of RAW. The matches are short and to the point. A video 'titantron' above the entrance ramp shows highlight clips and backstage promos. Stories flow well from month to month. Obviously, I'm a fan.


This is a review of “Defining Moment,” from May 19, 2007. Tenacious P and Commissioner Billy Whack provide much of the commentary. Once again, heel wrestler Derek St. Holmes also did a bulk of the color commentary, and he is EXCELLENT. Seriously, he is a wrestling historian, and he's great at explaining away some heel tactics, or ignoring their cheating altogether. These shows are filmed with multiple cameras, but the hard camera feels a bit blurry tonight; the corners of the screen are definitely a bit out of focus.

* The DVD opens with a nice video montage of the best moments in AAW history. This is a well-done promo.

* Backstage interviewer Kevin Harvey tries to talk to Danny Daniels, but Daniels brushed past him, ran into to the locker room, and attacked Tyler Black! The wrestlers had to be separated.

(1) Tony Rican & Tyme Paige & Charlie Manson Jr. defeat Hunter Matthews & Kris Hybrid & Bonebreaker Brooks (w/Derek St. Holmes) at 6:20. Solid opener. St. Holmes is the 'old school' ring technician who is training his three proteges into rule-breakers like him. My first time seeing Rican (I think! AAW likes to do battle royals with lots of guys I don't know!), and he has short curly black hair and he reminds me of Santino Marella. Manson started and hit a hurricanrana on Matthews, then a springboard move into an armdrag, then a nice dropkick. Paige tagged in and faced off with Brooks, who has a ridiculously tall Mohawk. Paige hit a nice tilt-a-whirl backbreaker for a pop, and the heels bailed. The faces hit springboard flip dives to the floor. Manson went for a move, but he slipped and CRASHED onto the floor at 2:00. OUCH!

Hybrid, who is bald, hit a backbreaker on Rican in the ring. The announcers acknowledged that on the last show (which I recently reviewed), Tony Scarpone broke his ankle and will be out six months. The heels took turns working over Rican. Hybrid missed a top-rope flying headbutt at 4:--, and Rican made the hot tag to Paige. Tyme entered and hit clotheslines on all the heels. Paige & Manson hit a team slingshot move, then a team wash machine move for a nearfall. Brooks applied a Texas Cloverleaf, but Rican made the save. Paige hit an inverted DDT on Matthews, then a top-rope 450 Splash for the pin. Good action.

* Derek St. Holmes got in the ring and declared that the "six man trophy" was NOT on the line. St. Holmes told his students he was going to show them how it's done, and he issued an open challenge. However, out came the very angry Danny Daniels!

(2) Danny Daniels defeats Derek St. Holmes at 4:41. The announcers said that Daniels is in a bad mood. St. Holmes stalled. Daniels shook his hand, but Danny immediately hit some punches. They fought to the floor, where Daniels whipped him into the guardrail. Daniels set up for his sitdown piledriver, but St. Holmes avoided it, and St. Holmes hit a European Uppercut. St. Holmes tossed Daniels to the floor, where St. Holmes' students stomped and worked over Daniels.

In the ring, St. Holmes hit some kneestrikes. Daniels hit some chops, and he was fired up! Daniels hit a neckbreaker in the ropes at 3:30, and he hit a top-rope doublestomp on the back, then he beat up St. Holmes' students. Derek hit a butterfly suplex for a believable nearfall. Brooks accidentally hit a missile dropkick on St. Holmes! Daniels hit a sitdown piledriver on St. Holmes for the pin. Basic action; solid while it lasted.

* Daniels got on the mic and called out Tyler Black. Black came out of the back, but he refused to get in the ring.

* Backstage, an interviewer talked to Nikki, who is the sister of one half of the tag champions, Krotch. Krotch plays a role where he's terrified to get in the ring; he's seriously about 140 pounds with no muscle, but the crowd here adores him. Silas Young walked up to Krotch, and he seemed to make fun of Krotch, because his partner, Zach Gowen, wasn't in the building. "Zach lets people down," Silas told Krotch. Intrigue.

(3) Silas Young defeats Joe Doering at 8:16. Good match. My first time seeing Doering; he has a great physique, appears to be around 6'1", and he wore red trunks and he has a military buzzcut. Silas is one of my favorite wrestlers from Wisconsin, and he has a good physique, and he's about 5'10" with long blonde hair now. They had an intense tie-up. The announcers talked about Silas' strange comments to Krotch. Silas went for a crossbody block, but Doering caught him. Silas kicked him in the knee. Doering went for a gorilla press, but Silas escaped and bailed. In the ring, Doering hit a sudden brainbuster for a nearfall at 3:00.

Doering put Silas in a bear hug, and he slammed Silas' back into the corner. Silas hit another kick on the knee, and he tried to snap Doering's leg. Silas was bleeding near his left ear, and he jawed at the referee. Silas hit a nice Dragonscrew Legwhip, and he was in charge. Doering hit a Mafia Kick, but he sold the pain to his leg. Doering hit a backbody drop at 7:00 and a nice Spinebuster for a nearfall. Doering set up for a Death Valley Driver, but his sore leg gave out. Silas immediately hit a Tornado DDT for the pin. Good match; I want to see more of Doering, and possibly a longer rematch.

* Jayson Reign appeared backstage, talking about his no DQ match later on. Chandler McClure, his opponent, walked up, and informed Reign that his manager is gone, so it's just "you and me." McClure is the heel, but he seemed confident (almost like a face!) here.

* Christian York cut a backstage promo, saying he's here to prove he's the best. He said that Phil Atlas "better bring his A game."

(4) Phil Atlas defeats Christian York at 11:45. This was a really good match! I've seen Atlas a few times on UWA Hardcore DVDs; he's from Canada, and he has long black hair. York, of course, is an original ECW guy who is just getting back in the ring now after a few years away. They opened with some intense reversals and shoulder tackles, with neither man budging. They traded headlocks on the mat, as the commentary team praised Atlas and called him a 'rising star.' Atlas slipped coming off the second rope; seconds later, he messed up an armdrag. (He recovered well from these mishaps, however). Atlas hit a nice dropkick at 3:30.

York shook his hand, but then York punched him! York hit some chops, and he was suddenly acting heelish, as he nailed a Flatliner into the turnbuckles for a nearfall. York hit a snap suplex and some kneestrikes to the lower back, and he was in charge. York hit a Facewash in the corner, and Atlas bailed at 6:30. Atlas fired up and hit some chops. York hit a hard kick to the face, then a Spinebuster. Atlas hit a hard Superkick out of nowhere, and they were both down.

Atlas hit a running clothesline, a nice spin heel kick for a nearfall, an enziguri, and a butterfly faceplant for a believable nearfall at 10:00. York hit a missile dropkick to the back of the head, then a neckbreaker over his knee for a nearfall! "These two guys are leaving it all in the ring!" one announcer said. Atlas nailed a second-rope cravate swinging neckbreaker (think Chris Hero) for the pin. Good match, and a surprise winner. This was a smart booking decision, giving the big win to the up-and-comer.

* They shook hands in a classy spot, and York left. Kevin Harvey hopped in the ring to interview Phil Atlas. However, Jimmy Jacobs came out! (Derek St. Holmes joined commentary here). Jacobs attacked Atlas with his cane! Jacobs said he was fired, but he called his lawyer, and he learned he couldn't be fired while he was injured, or AAW would have a big lawsuit on its hands. So, Jacobs is now a manager! Billy Whack confronted Jacobs in the ring. Jacobs said he has learned that Whack's contract as commissioner was about to end; Whack was unnerved that Jacobs somehow found that out. Jacobs said he would be back next month with "some of my friends." The commentators wondered who it would be. (NOTE: It turned out to be Arik Cannon, Darin Corbin, and Ryan Cruz, who had defected from rival promotion IWA Mid-South).

* Jay Ryan, who was not on the show tonight, cut a backstage promo. Ryan lost in the main event last month to champion Marek Brave. Ryan, the Stan Hansen cowboy character, chewed on tobacco and spit it onto the camera lens. Yuck. He said that Marek was lucky last time, but Ryan is still coming for the title.

(5) Jayson Reign defeats Chandler McClure in a no-DQ match at 17:03. Reign, the face, jumped McClure, and they fought on the floor. Reign hit some forearms, and he dropped McClure gut-first on the guardrail, and he kicked him repeatedly in the head. McClure put a chair around Reign's head. Reign crotched him on the guardrail and hit a leaping kick off the apron onto McClure. Reign hit a top-rope dive onto McClure in the crowd, and they were both down at 3:00, as fans chanted, "AAW!" They fought into the men's room and around the floor.

Back in the ring, McClure hit a swinging neckbreaker onto a folded chair, and he was in charge. McClure hit a running knee onto Reign's head, pushing it into a chair wedged in the corner, at 6:00. Reign was in pain. McClure got a piece of the guardrail and put it in the ring. McClure choked Reign with a cord, and he slammed McClure onto the guardrail in the ring at 9:00. Reign did a nice spot where he did a springboard off the guardrail in the ring and hit a spin heel kick! NICE! Reign hit a flying forearm, then a "Reign Driver"/ hooked-leg suplex for a believable nearfall. McClure fired back with a brainbuster onto a folded chair for a nearfall at 13:30.

McClure got a table from under the ring and set it up on the floor. They fought on the ring apron, and it wasn't clear who would go through the table! Reign picked up McClure's legs, and he swung McClure's head into the ring steps! Fans chanted, "Table!" Reign put McClure on the table, and Reign hit a springboard doublestomp to the chest, sending McClure through the table! Fans chanted, "Holy sh!t!" Reign rolled McClure into the ring and nailed repeated kicks to the chest, as it appears Reign doesn't want to go for a pinfall! The referee checked McClure, and he stopped the match! The ring announcer said Reign won "via knockout." Good brawl, with a spectacular bump to finish it. "Jayson Reign made a statement there," an announcer said.

* Joey Eastman & the Phoenix Twins (Dash & Tweek) appeared backstage. Eastman taunted his former team, Bryce Benjamin & Shane Holister, saying he owns the rights to their team name and their wrestling contracts. Eastman turned his attention to tonight, because he got the twins a tag title match! Dash and Tweek began to argue over who got the pinfall last month. I seriously cannot tell these two apart at all.

(6) Shane Holister & Bryce Benjamin defeat Truth Martini & N8 Mattson (the Michigan Invasion) at 9:55. Solid tag match. Martini started against Holister, with Truth hitting some blows to the back. N8 entered and hit a hard European Uppercut. The faces of Holister & Benjamin hit front & back kicks, then double sentons on N8. N8 got a schoolyard takedown. Martini hit a headbutt and a kneedrop on Holister for a nearfall at 3:00. The heels worked over Holister, with Martini hitting a nice Spinebuster for a nearfall, and N8 hitting a flying knee for a nearfall. Martini hit a flying double kneeshot in the corner at 6:00.

The heels hit a team Alabama Slam and a double wishbone. Bryce finally made the hot tag, and he hit some punches, back elbows and a double noggin’ knocker. The faces hit double enziguris. Martini hit a nice palmstrike on Bryce for a nearfall at 9:30. Holister hit some punches, and he was fired up. The faces got simultaneous rollups and scored pins on the heels. Solid, standard tag.

(7) Skullkrusher Rasche Brown defeats Tyler Black (w/ Ms. Matano) at 12:44. Good match, and the intensity picked up here. Skullkrusher, at about 6’4” is so much bigger than Black, who is maybe 6’1” but much thinner. They opened with an intense lockup, and Skullkrusher pushed Black to the mat. Black was frustrated, and he hit a shoulder tackle, but it had no effect. Black missed a dropkick. Skullkrusher did a leapfrog and hit his own dropkick! Black bailed at 3:00. In the ring, Black hit some punches. Skullkrusher hit a backbody drop. Matano tripped Skullkrusher, allowing Black to attack him from behind. On the floor, Black shoved Skullkrusher into the ring steps.

Back in the ring, Black hit a nice dropkick. Skullkrusher came back with a delayed vertical suplex for a nearfall at 7:00. Black hit a senton for a nearfall, and he hit some chops, but Skullkrusher fired back with his own, much harder, chops! Black snapped Brown’s neck over the top rope, and Black hit a springboard clothesline for a nearfall, and he jawed at the ref. Black hit a spin kick to the head for a nearfall, but he couldn’t pick Skullkrusher up for the “Uni-Bomb”/small package driver. Skullkrusher nailed a sitdown powerbomb, and they were both down at 10:00.

Skullkrusher unloaded some punches to the stomach, and he nailed a running boot in the corner for a nearfall. Black came back with a Pele Kick. Brown hit a clothesline for a visual pinfall, but Matano hopped on the ring apron to distract the referee. Black went to the floor, grabbed the ringbell, and he nailed Skullkrusher with it, for a believable nearfall! Suddenly, Danny Daniels came out of nowhere and hopped on the ring apron and yelled at Black. This distraction allowed Skullkrusher to hit a spear for the pin. Good match.

* A commercial aired for “Scars & Stripes” in July. AAW does a good job of making a couple of its shows a year seem more important than just a ‘regular show.’ Well done.

(8) Krotch (w/Nikki) defeats Dash & Tweek (the Phoenix Twins) (w/Joey Eastman) at 7:07 to retain the tag titles. Eh; this was mostly comedy. So, Krotch’s tagteam partner, Zach Gowen, wasn’t able to make it, so Krotch must defend them by himself. “We’re obviously going to have new tagteam champions,” Tenacious P said, which to me, GUARANTEED that Krotch would somehow retain. I said this already, but I cannot tell the twins apart. The bell rang, and Krotch rolled to the floor and hid under the ring. Nikki got in the ring and yelled at the twins. When the twins put their hands on her, Krotch ran in to defend his sister.

They did comedy with Krotch running around the ring, then under the ring, and one of the commentators even said it reminded him of a “Benny Hill” skit. Not good. The twins kept arguing. Krotch hit a missile dropkick for a nearfall, then a leg lariat, and he was fired up! The twins finally caught Krotch and slammed him against the guardrail. In the ring, the twins hit some punches, but again, they were clearly NOT getting along.

The twins hit a bodyslam, tossing the skinny Krotch across the ring. One of the twins hit a hard clothesline for a nearfall at 6:00, but they argued more. Eastman somehow wound up in the ring. Bryce Benjamin came out of the back, and he nailed one of the twins with a baton. Holister pushed the exhausted Krotch backward, and Krotch landed on the knocked-out twin, and the referee counted to three, giving Krotch the win. This match was more about advancing the storyline of the Phoenix Twins vs. Bryce & Shane than about a title shot.

(9) Conrad Kennedy III & B.J. Whitmer & Trik Davis (w/Dave Prazak) defeat Eric Priest & Ryan Boz & Dan Lawrence at 16:40. Solid six-man tag. Prazak got on the mic and said his group is here to win some titles. CK3 started against Lawrence, with Kennedy hitting a bodyslam. Lawrence hit an armdrag and a dropkick. Trik entered to face Priest, but Priest easily tossed the smaller Davis around, and Priest slapped him! Boz entered at 3:30 and hit a Bulldog Powerslam on Trik for a nearfall. Boz dropped his teammate, Lawrence, onto Trik, for a nearfall. CK3 entered and hit a kneedrop on Lawrence’s face, then he hit a kick to the back as Lawrence was lying in the ropes.

Whitmer entered at 6:00, and he hit some stomps and chops on Lawrence. Trik tied Lawrence in a knot on the mat. CK3 spit at Boz, and he choked Lawrence. Boz made the hot tag at 8:30, and he nailed a powerslam on CK3 for a nearfall, then an overhead (Border) toss on Trik, sending Davis crashing into the corner. Whitmer and Boz traded some STIFF forearm shots, and Boz hit a big clothesline on Whitmer. Priest chased Prazak into the ring. Boz was pushed into Priest, and Priest was angry at him. The heels worked over Boz, with Whitmer hitting elbow shots to the base of Boz’ neck. Whitmer hit a snap suplex for a nearfall at 11:30. Boz hit a headbutt on CK3. Whitmer missed a second-rope flying headbutt, and they were both down.

Priest finally made the hot tag at 14:00, and he hit a flying shoulder tackle on CK3, then his “FU69”/wind-up uranage on Trik for a nearfall. CK3 hit his twisting Lungblower. All six men fought. Boz tossed Lawrence to the floor on the heels. Lawrence hit an enziguri on Trik. CK3 placed Lawrence across his shoulders in the ring, and Trik hit a top-rope doublestomp to Lawrence’s stomach! CK3 immediately hit a Shock Treatment for the pin on Lawrence. Solid match; typical six-man tag booking.

* After the match, Priest and Whitmer continued to fight. The heels left, and Priest argued with Boz, as those two never got along in this match.

* A clip aired from a few months ago, when Jerry Lynn approached Marek Brave and asked for a “best of three falls” match. Then, clips aired of their prior matchups on Dec. 16, 2006, and on March 10, 2007. These video packages are EXCELLENT and really well done; it really shows that AAW builds its shows, with chapters to each story. Bravo.

(10) Jerry Lynn defeats Marek Brave at 19:24 to win the AAW Heavyweight Title. Very good match. Tenacious P said there was “no clear cut winner” in either of the past two matches. They traded armbars and reversals and had a standoff, and the crowd was hot and split. Brave applied a headscissorslock at 3:00, and they sped it up with some armdrags, and had another standoff. Good, intense face-face match. Marek focused on the left arm. Lynn blocked a bulldog and hit a uranage for a nearfall at 6:30. Lynn hit a nice crossbody block, and Tenacious P said that Lynn was putting on a “wrestling clinic.” Lynn hit some kneedrops on the left arm. Lynn got a Victory Roll, but Marek rolled through the move and scored the pin at 8:35!

The crowd was still HOT and split, and Derek St. Holmes mocked the fans for the alternating chants. Marek hit a top-rope hurricanrana, but Lynn through that move for a believable nearfall! Marek hit his spear-into-a-Northern Lights suplex for a nearfall, then a top-rope crossbody block, but Lynn rolled through that move and got a nearfall! These two have really good chemistry. Lynn hit a implant DDT for a nearfall at 11:30. Marek hit a top-rope guillotine legdrop for a nearfall. Lynn hit a standing neckbreaker, and they were both down. Lynn couldn’t hit the Cradle Piledriver. However, he flipped Marek over, got a Backlund Bridge, and scored a pin at 13:45. The match is tied 1-1!

Marek shoved Lynn to the floor. Lynn hit a DDT onto the ring apron. Marek whipped Lynn into the guardrail, and he went for a spear, but Lynn moved, and Marek crashed into the guardrail. Marek eventually stood up, and he was bleeding from the forehead. Lynn hit a TKO for a believable nearfall at 16:30, and he applied a Texas Cloverleaf. Marek went for a Superkick, but Lynn blocked it, and Lynn nailed a sitdown powerbomb for a nearfall. Lynn hit an Air Raid Crash for a nearfall. Lynn again went for a Cradle Piledriver, but Marek avoided it. They fought in the corner, when Lynn suddenly hit a low blow mule kick! Lynn hit the Cradle Piledriver for the pin! “My god, we have a new heavyweight champion in Berwyn!” Tenacious P exclaimed.

* Lynn got on the mic and IMMEDIATELY turned heel (which wasn’t a surprise after that purposefully low blow kick). “I don’t like you, I don’t like AAW,” Lynn said, and he jawed at the crowd. A surprising finish to a good show.

Final thoughts:

This was a fun show, with several matches that were above average. The Lynn-Marek title match was easily the best in their series, and the Lynn heel turn came out of nowhere, but I liked it. I also really liked how the wrestlers kept rolling through each other’s moves – it gave a sense that ‘any move could be reversed, at any time.’ Hands down, this was best match of the show.

Reign and McClure had a really good stand-up brawl that topped all my expectations, and that earned second-best. I haven’t seen a lot of Reign, but this is probably the best match I’ve seen from him. York vs. Phil Atlas was also really good, and it was a smart booking decision to have the young up-and-comer score a big victory over a proven veteran, and it didn’t hurt York one bit. Bravo. I like what I’ve seen from Atlas, and he should be brought back.

Fourth-best match was Tyler Black vs. Skullkrusher, as it just had a ‘big-match feel’ to it. I was really impressed with Doering; I hope AAW brings him back. I definitely wouldn’t mind seeing another matchup with Silas down the road, and that earned fifth best.

The negatives: The Krotch stuff was just silliness. Seriously, Road Runner & Wile E. Coyote silliness. Throw in the commentator declaring that a title change was definitely going to happen (meaning it definitely would not!), and that adds up to the worst match of the night. But, the crowd found humor in all of it.

This show started a bit slow in my eyes, but it picked up, and finished with a good main event, a bit of a swerve, and a title switch. All this adds up to a thumbs up in my eyes. Visit www.aawrestling.com to learn more and purchase this DVD for $12.

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