Cleveland’s Absolute Intense Wrestling (AIW) hits the Lakewood suburb on Thursday night with another solid card featuring some of the top wrestlers from the Midwest, as well as several national stars who regularly swing through the area. But the big news is the AIW debut of Japan’s ZERO1 World Heavyweight Champion and Big Japan Wrestling superstar Daisuke Sekimoto.
Preview: AIW – Sekimoto Takes Cleveland (7/25/19)
Eric Taylor s. Mikey Montgomery vs. Ryder Reid vs. Lee Moriarty
A fun four-way dance featuring four young talents coming up through the system. Eric Taylor is the hometown boy and Mikey Montgomery is a product of the AIW Academy. Pittsburgh’s Lee Moriarty is on the verge of breaking out and “The Kickflip Kid” Ryder Reid is another raw talent waiting to explode.
Allie Kat vs Super Oprah
Allie Kat has emerged so far as one of the top breakout women’s stars in indie wrestling in 2019, and another burgeoning star from a hot Texas scene. Only a 4-year pro, she’s risen from local promotions like Anarchy Championship Wrestling, Inspire Pro and WrestleCircus and now works around the country with the likes of CHIKARA, Black Label Pro, Game Changer Wrestling (GCW), SHIMMER, RISE and Beyond Wrestling. She’s taking on a cult favorite in 15-year pro Super Oprah, a cross-dressing superhero who has first made her AIW debut back in 2005.
40 Acres (PB Smooth & Tre LeMar) vs. Weird World (Alex Keller & Evan Adams)
40 Acres is a new stable formed in the last few months in AIW featuring former AIW Absolute Champion PB Smooth, AJ Gray and Tre LeMar. On Thursday night, Smooth and Tre are heading into battle under the 40 Acres banner to take on former AIW Tag Team Champions Weird World. Keller & Adams are trying to get back into the tag title scene, but 40 Acres have bigger goals than that – they want all the titles.
Dr. Daniel C. Rockingham vs. Kikutaro
The resident doctor in AIW, Dr. Daniel C. Rockingham, may need psychotherapy after his match on Thursday when he faces Japanese legend Kikutaro in action. Kikutaro’s techniques has lead many into the mouth of madness, but his matches are always a hilarious joyride.
Big Twan Tucker vs. “All Ego” Ethan Page
Big Twan Tucker has been an Absolute Intense Wrestling regular for years now, and a student of Johnny Gargano. While AIW fans are well versed in Big Twan’s capabilities, he’s found some mainstream attention with recent appearances on NXT alongside his mentor. But it’s all business on Thursday, when he faces a man who’s a constant threat in AIW, in IMPACT World Tag Team Champion Ethan Page.
Youthanazia (Matt Cross & Josh Prohibition) vs. The Philly Marino Experience (Philly Collins & Marino Tenaglia)
Matt Cross and Josh Prohibition were early pioneers of the US indie scene when they started tagging together in 2002 as Youthanazia in the Midwest. Both moved on, with Matt Cross finding great success as a singles wrestler, but last year the duo began to reunite with more frequency. The veteran tandem will look to get closer to the AIW Tag Team titles themselves when they face one of AIW’s rising tag teams in the Philly Marino Experience. The PME just won this year’s Chandler Biggs Memorial Tag Team Tournament so are coming in hot, so it may be the youth over Youthanazia on Thursday.
Tim Donst & The Rip City Shooters (Joshua Bishop & Wes Barkley) vs. Matthew Justice, Nick Gage & Dominic Garrini
This will be an absolute warzone. Tim Donst is the heart and soul of AIW the past decade – a former 3x AIW Absolute Champion and AIW Intense Champion – and he’s pairing up with two hungry young studs in reigning AIW Intense Champion Josh Bishop and Wes Barkley, who are making their own mark as the Rip City Shooters. But they’re facing a deadly trio, including former Intense Champion Matthew Justice, GCW World Champion and King of American Hardcore Nick Gage, and one of the Midwest’s top grapplers in Dominic Garrini. This could be the match of the night.
KTB vs Daisuke Sekimoto
An absolute case of the unstoppable object meeting the immovable object. KTB is no stranger to hardcore violence – a former GCW World Champion, he’s a trainwreck looking to explode. But on Thursday, his opponent is a Japanese legend from Big Japan Wrestling in Daisuke Sekimoto, one of the hardest hitting men on the planet. A 4x BJW Strong World Heavyweight Champion, 3x All Japan World Tag Team Champion, Westside Xtreme Wrestling (wXw) Unified World Wrestling Champion and the reigning 2x ZERO1 World Champion, he’s fought the toughest men all over the world.
Stay tuned to the Last Word on Pro Wrestling for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world.
