Pro Wrestling Review // AIW "I Assure You, We're Open!" (FITE TV)

https://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=287285

I need to do this at some point so here it goes: since the world has gone into this pandemic and everything has been shut down and then it now begins to slowly open up again, I've felt like that passion I had for wrestling when I got back into it almost a year ago now is starting to fade.  I guess it's odd because my timeframe is that I fell out of love with pro wrestling for a while and had only been back into it for less than a year when everything hit (and you can just ask any wrestling fan what this summer has been like) so it's kind of like it was easier for me to get pushed back into not liking it. 

Part of this reason as well is because Quentin and I were going to maybe two shows a weekend at one point and so the fact that the live aspect of wrestling has faded for me has made me less interested because I'd much rather watch wrestling in person than on my tv.   So for the first time in quite some time I purchased a doubleheader on FITE TV and watched it on a Sunday afternoon because why not.   I didn't really know about this until the day before (that's how much I've been keeping up with things) and these shows were maybe $13 or so each but I bought them together for $20, which I felt was a good deal and a good way to spend a day relaxing.

What I liked about this AIW show is that it consisted of wrestlers I knew and am a fan of as well as wrestlers who I didn't know going into the show but were impressed by (for the most part).   Shout out to the commentary team for complaining about bugs and the wind like that exists only in Indiana.   But seriously, I did enjoy the commentary of Brian Carson and Matt Wadsworth.  Often times I feel like whoever is on commentary is either a) there to get themselves over or b) talking about something completely random and either way it just seems to take away from the match when you're not talking about it or the wrestlers in it.   This commentary was really well handled.

I had never seen The Young Studs as a tag team before, though I know of Eric Ryan as a wrestler from ICWNY.  AJ Gray was a big selling point for me for this show, so to see him open the show was nice.   Dominic Garrini vs. Calvin Tankman is one of those matches where you see two guys just beat the hell out of each other and it's one you should go out of your way to see.  I have no idea who Derek Director nor Zach Thomas are and could have done without that match though.

Tom Lawlor and The Karate Man was fun.  Tom Lawlor is really one of the best parts of any wrestling show he is on.   In the four way match, I had heard of Benjamin Carter but this was my first time seeing him.  I've seen Tre Lamar before but I'd never seen/heard of Chase Oliver and Johnny Patch before.   This was still a good match with a lot of high-flying action.  I didn't know I needed to see Levi Everett vs. Swoggle until I saw it on this card but then it didn't even happen.  Can we get it one day still?

The funny thing is that match turned into four wrestlers I know and like- Allie Kat and Nate Webb joined Levi Everett and Swoggle- to take on four wrestlers I've never heard of before and still don't care about.   That doctor gimmick is quite possibly one of the worst things I've ever seen.  Lee Moriarty defeated Erick Stevens in a match which should have gone on for a little bit longer and if Erick Stevens postponed his second retirement just to lose I'm here for it.

The tag team title match seemed like it was booked to where you knew who would win based on the stipulation and then I really enjoyed the main event.   To be fair, I've seen Joshua Bishop and Mr. Brickster before but I'd not seen anyone else on that side of the match before this.   The Second Gear Crew are just some of the best overall wrestlers in all of wrestling today- Mance Warner, Manders and Matthew Justice- so to see them in this wild, hardcore match was the perfect way to end out a show when it started raining.

The next AIW show is part of The Collective and I want to pay the price tag for it but I have to see how everything goes when that time comes.   For me, I just look at The Collective as being a mess because if you're not there you have all this time to dedicate to watching wrestling to the point where it feels like you can't do anything else (I don't have that kind of time) and I think even people who go see it in person won't be able to see all of the events.  So I don't know.  The only thing I know about The Collective is that, if I can, I am going to try and watch the SHIMMER show.   Everything else is up in the air.