Ladies and Gents we are just over two weeks away from Stranglemania and both Brawl and Rampage absolutely delivered on their go home shows before the biggest night of EWC’s season. Settle in and grab a snack, pour a drink, and get comfortable while we recap all the action, the winners, champions heading into Stranglemania, and much MUCH more on this week’s Weekly Roundup.
We’re starting out with Brawl, coming to you all live from Edmonton for episode #580 of the flagship Red Brand and to say things got spicy would be an understatement. Let’s check it out.
BRAWL #580 – Recap & Highlights
MATCH ONE
SINGLES MATCH
Dylan Jackson VS The Creeper WINNER via pinfall: The Creeper
Match Highlight: Creeper has gotten the best of Jackson and backed him up into a corner! He’s now laying into Jackson’s mid section with vicious left after punishing right. He picks him up and sits him down on the top turnbuckle, then he climbs to the second… BRAINBUSTER ONTO THE TOP TURNBUCKLE!
MATCH TWO
SINGLES MATCH
Zack Tyler VS Caleb Scott WINNER via pinfall: Caleb Scott
Match Highlight: Zack looks to take advantage here, sending Caleb to the ropes after a jumping knee strike as he preps for the Michinoku Driver on the rebound…but Caleb counters out! Caleb lifts Zack up like he’s going for a supelx…but drops him with a powerbomb-like maneuver instead! BLACK NIGHT!
MATCH THREE
SINGLES MATCH
Antoni Malietoa VS Jason Hunter WINNER via count out: Antoni Malietoa
Match Highlight: Antoni brings Jason back to his feet…but this time, it’s Jason who sends the big man colliding with the steel ring post! Antoni looks hurt from that, grabbing his shoulder in pain…an opening that Jason exploits by sending him right back into the post with a dropkick! Antoni is down as we hear the ref making his count: ONE… TWO… Jason pays no mind of this, running up the steps as he taunts the Great Warrior to get back to his feet. Antoni obliges with this, but is taken right back down with a double foot stomp to the back by the Bossman!
MATCH FOUR
SINGLES MATCH, X-DIVISION RULES
Jason Rayne VS Darius WINNER via pinfall: Darius
Match Highlight: Darius stumbles backwards, clutching his face as Rayne slides back into the ring, seething through a crimson mask, before slamming the stick across Darius’ back numerous times! Darius retreats into the corner, but before he is able to react, Rayne slams down onto Darius’ forehead again, this time busting him wide open! Rayne continues the assault, slamming down onto Darius’ head and shoulders until the stick splinters apart! Darius stumbles forward in a bloodied daze, but Rayne catches him and quickly plants him to the mat with a Saito suplex!
MATCH FIVE
TRIPLE THREAT MATCH, STREET FIGHT
King Flip VS Stitches VS Ace King WINNER via pinfall: King Flip
Match Highlight: Flip gets to a vertical base and goes for a baseball slide as Ace rounds the corner to slide into the ring. But the Gambler sees it coming and jerks out of the way, pulling Flip the rest of the way out of the ring. The two exchange right hands but the CHK quickly gets the upper hand on account of the affixed weaponry. Flip pounds Ace over to the guardrail but isn’t able to get much headway here as Stitches climbs to the top turnbuckle inside the ring. The carnival clown delivers a simple splash, colliding hard enough into both opponents that all three go bursting through the guardrail.
MATCH SIX
SINGLES MATCH FOR THE FX BROADCAST CHAMPIONSHIP
Nick James VS Rebel Rhodes WINNER and still FX Broadcast Champion via : Rebel Rhodes
Match Highlight: James muscles his way up out of the pin, staggering to vertical base, toward the opposite corner. Rebel pursues him this time, and even lands a couple of slicing kicks to the midsection that sandwich the challenger between her and the post. He takes them like the champ he intends to be, then grabs the third, and falls back, dragging Rhodes into the corner face-first. She eats the impact, and then James is on her, turning her around to drive in hard forearms, and then a superkick that lands flush, leaving her down and out in the corner!
MAIN EVENT
SINGLES MATCH FOR THE EWC INTERNATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
Gabrielle Visconty VS Xavier Reid WINNER and NEW International Champion via : Gabrielle Visconty
Match Highlight: Reid uses a Russian Leg Sweep to force Gabi onto the mat. He quickly puts a boot right onto her sternum and starts applying pressure. Gabi screams out and desperately tries to pull his boot off, but it’s to no avail. Tommy is enjoying the sight before him … maybe a bit too much. Gabi growls, flashing him an irked look while still trying to pull the boot off. The referee comes over to Reid and warns him he’ll be disqualified if he doesn’t pull his foot away soon. The Champion scoffs but heeds the warning and pulls his boot off. The relief Gabi feels is very short lived, however, as Xavier picks Gabi up and sits her atop the highest turnbuckle … Only to turn her upside down and slam her head right down on it with the CTE!
BRAWL #580 MVPs: King Flip & Gabrielle Visconty
BRAWL #580 MATCH OF THE NIGHT: King Flip VS Stitches VS Ace King
Connor’s Corner
He might’ve just lost the International championship, but Jim Connors was quick to bring our attention to Xavier Reid. The former Undisputed champion may not have left Edmonton with the W – but he walked out of Brawl #580 with two new records to his name as the longest-reigning International champion at 346 days with his most recent run and adding to that he takes the honor of being the longest cumulative champion as well with a whopping 472 days as the International champion. Xavier’s loss may sting, but his well-earned three successful defenses of the championship mean he’s very comfortably positioned to take on the winner at Stranglemania if he so chooses for a rematch to see if he can earn that honor back. And we here at the Wolfe Pack think it’d be one hell of a match to build Hardcore Revolution around. (Hint Hint!)
Rampage woke up and chose violence for their go-home show, including an HBO Broadcast match, and a match between two United States championship contenders being officiated by the champion herself, and a showdown between Wrestling Royalty vying for dual Main Event status! Let’s check out how the Green brand made everyone else green with envy.
RAMPAGE #497 Results & Highlights
MATCH ONE
HALL OF FAME CAGE OF DOOM MATCH
Michael Saint VS Ruthann Hunter WINNER via pinfall: Ruthann Hunter
Match Highlight: Saint smelling blood starts to pound away at the bloody head of Ruth with a flurry of punches. Ruthann sitting up on her knees looking right at Saint as she screamed out to him with blood pouring down her face like crazy “BRING IT!!!!!!” Saint growls out towards her when she says that taking the toaster within his hands and slammed it hard against the side of her head over and over again. It takes her by the hair and drags her over to the toaster placing it on top of it. Saint takes in the boos as he smirks climbing to the top rope and jumps down from the top doing a top rope senton right on Ruthann’s head.
MATCH TWO
X-DIVISION TRIPLE THREAT – NON TITLE
Ruby Clifton VS “The Love Child” Jamie Love VS Samantha “The Titaness” Hamilton WINNER via pinfall: “The Love Child” Jamie Love
Match Highlight: Right as he stands up, Ruby comes from flying through the ropes and slams her forearm into the side of his head. Jamie falls over as Ruby quickly gets back up to her feet. Black Velvet tosses her the kendo stick as Ruby catches it. She twirls it around her fingers before slamming it across Jamie’s back and head. She then turns around and stomps onto Samantha’s ankle. Ruby smirks before picking Sam up by her blonde hair. As she is doing this, Black Velvet is holding a glass window. Ruby punches Sam in the face before throwing her into the glass. The glass shatters as Sam falls to the ground.
MATCH THREE
X-DIVISION MATCH
Autumn Raven VS Tanja Devereaux WINNER via pinfall: Tanja Devereaux
Match Highlight: Tanja gets up, pulls out the cookie sheet, and slams it across the chest of Autumn. She does it again and again before picking Autumn up. After getting her up, Tanja pulls a trash can out and goes to place it over Autumn. Autumn instinctively lands a right jab into Tanja’s midsection which causes Tanja to lower the trash can. As she lowers it, Autumn leaps into the air and sends the trash can into Tanja’s face with a dropkick. Tanja falls backward as Autumn gets up to her feet.
MATCH FOUR
SINGLES MATCH
“Headhuntress” Aiya (w/ Saidie Sharpe In Her Corner) VS Lavender WINNER via pinfall: “The Headhuntress” Aiya
Match Highlight: Aiya picks Lavender up onto her shoulders, but Lavender uses that movement to leapfrog over Aiya. Lavender kicks Aiya in the gut and butterflies her arms, quickly nailing a Butterfly Effect that completely changes the entire course of the match! Lavender kicks the recovering Aiya who got up to her knees in the midsection, then kicks her in the midsection again for more punishment. Lavender hooks Aiya’s arm and performs the magistral cradle, a move considered to be a permanent pinning predicament that you can’t get out of!
MATCH FIVE
SINGLES MATCH FOR THE HBO BROADCAST CHAMPIONSHIP
Karver VS [C] Phoenix Winterborn WINNER via pinfall and STILL HBO Broadcast Champion: Phoenix Winterborn
Match Highlight: Karver pops Winterborn in the mouth and rolls him back into the ring. Karver is in right behind Winterborn and he quickly rushes Winterborn as he stands. Karver grabs on a waist-lock, he lifts Winterborn and drops him into an atomic drop! Karver lifts Winterborn for another atomic drop, but Winterborn spins around a grabs a headlock and uses Karver’s momentum to bring Karver down on his head with a headlock driver!
MATCH SIX | MAIN EVENT #1
SINGLES MATCH feat. SPECIAL REFEREE Samantha Hamilton
Darna Dare VS Mercenary WINNER via pinfall: Darna Dare
Match Highlight: Mercenary is shocked at what has just occurred. He has taken other’s out before easily with that move. She manages to pull herself up to her feet. He runs towards her hoping to hit a lariat on her, she ducks under his arm and she manages get away from him. The two share blows and when he goes to scoop her up again, she pops up onto his shoulders, managing to backflip off him and into a double knee drop. He goes down to the mat, she sets him up and hits the Rolling Thunder on him, before he manages to sit up and he turns to look at her, fire in both competitors eyes.
MATCH SEVEN | MAIN EVENT #2
SINGLES MATCH
Ace King VS Queen Melody Malone WINNER via pinfall: Melody Malone
Match Highlight: The crowd is firmly against her as she smiles, and points at the heavens. At ringside, Rory provides the applause that nobody else wants to give, and Melody pauses momentarily to preen; then reminds gravity that it’s a patriarchal little bitch with no place in her kingdom, leaping into the air to land split-legged across the corner, coming off with a glorious moonsault! Pow! Ace King takes advantage of gravity’s embarrassed vacation, going from flat on the mat to off his feet above it, corkscrewing into a European uppercut that sends Melody spinning on her axis, right through the ropes and out to ringside as New Delhi pops HUGE!
RAMPAGE #497 MVP: Melody Malone
RAMPAGE #497 MATCH OF THE NIGHT: Ace King v Melody Malone
Duggan’s Diamond
“The Love Child” Jamie Love has gone from a scrappy up and comer to finding himself in some serious championship contention. After the performance, he put on in the HBO Broadcast title match at Rampage #496 and his subsequent win this past Friday over both Ruby Clifton and the reigning United States champion Samantha Hamilton, Jamie Love’s fortunes may have just turned for a bright BORT. With the BORT brackets revealed earlier today on EWC.com, Jamie Love is slated to start the tournament with a bang, taking on Darna Dare who may well be the one walking into the BORT with the United States championship. The B bracket is stacked with the current HBO champion, the possible United States champion AND possibly the Undisputed champion too should Ace King succeed at Stranglemania… and if Jamie Love can keep his performance rolling and have a solid showing in the BORT with a bracket that stacked? The sky is the limit for Duggan’s Diamond of the 497th edition of Rampage.
Coming Soon – Matches to set your DVR for!
Prime # 93 – FATAL FOURWAY FIRST BLOOD BRAND WARFARE MATCH KU Vs Ace King Vs Remarkable Mark Keaton Vs Callie Clark | What more can we say? The final show going into Stranglemania wasn’t about to pull any punches, and with all four brands vying for the top honors on Prime before the big show? This match is bound to be a stunning display of skill and cunning. Making people bleed is an EWC pastime, how can you go wrong?
Prime # 93 – SHOWTIME BROADCAST CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH Bosa Vs Scorpio | We couldn’t help but highlight TWO upcoming matches for Prime, because not only will this match solidify who enters the Broadcast champion ladder match at Stranglemania, but this match could set the tone for so much more on the blue brand. Scorpio is already guaranteed to face off against Narumi Tsutsumi at Stranglemania for the Indy championship, can he afford the loss so close to the big night? Or will Scorpio fight to retain it, only to end up highlighting two matches on the Stranglemania card to his own detriment? The Prime Minister has never been one to shy away from a challenge, but he may have a bigger challenge than his own ego when Bosa stands to be the first person in EWC history to hold two different broadcast championships should be emerge victorious from New Delhi.
News & Updates
International Crisis pt 2?! – With the news of Gabi Vee’s injury spreading across the internet, one who was less enthused about the announcement coming out of Jim Connors’ office was the one and only President of the EWC… Danny Mac. Mac reached out to us exclusively to report
“I’ll be honest, this announcement came as a shock to me. Visconty is getting second and third opinions on her wrist, and I’m footing the bill, because I wanted her comfortable with whatever decision we’d have to come to .. so to find out that Jim already made a call, and did so without consulting me .. I’m in disbelief. I don’t and won’t air dirty laundry in public, but the decision that was made goes against my core values, and I’ll leave it at that. Everything else that needs to be said, will be said behind closed doors and face to face.”
Does Jim Connors know something we don’t? Or has the Brawl GM gone rogue? One has to wonder… with the aftermath of Brawl, did Tommy Love pull some strings to get his client back into the mix at Stranglemania? We at the Network can speculate all day long, but at the end of the night the match has been made official by Connors and Iggy Swango gets to battle Xavier Reid in a Barbed Wire Ladder Match for the now vacated championship on March 28th.
Hardcore Revolution already in the Works? – Speaking of things heating up on Brawl, will Prime’s Amber Lisa Hall get what she wants? After her match with Ku at Prime #92, Amber made her way to Brawl to demand a Parking Lot Street Fight at Hardcore Revolution! Will Connors grant her request? Or will Amber be forced to lure Ku onto her home turf at World Wide in June to get what she wants?
