{"id":44714,"date":"2019-04-26T10:37:58","date_gmt":"2019-04-26T14:37:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lwosonprowrestling.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/?p=44714"},"modified":"2019-04-26T10:37:58","modified_gmt":"2019-04-26T14:37:58","slug":"preview-aiw-gauntlet-for-the-gold-14-4-26-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2019\/04\/26\/preview-aiw-gauntlet-for-the-gold-14-4-26-19\/","title":{"rendered":"Preview: AIW &#8211; Gauntlet For The Gold 14 (4\/26\/19)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Absolute Intense Wrestling (AIW)<\/strong> continues it&#8217;s string of top notch cards as one of the premier Midwest indies with <em><strong>Gauntlet for the Gold 14<\/strong><\/em> on Friday night in Parma, Ohio, which features the AIW Farewell Match for <strong>DJ Z<\/strong>, <a href=\"https:\/\/lwosonprowrestling.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/2019\/03\/18\/report-former-impact-star-dj-z-signs-with-wwe\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">who is heading to WWE shortly<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Josh Prohibition vs. Matt Cross<\/strong><\/h3>\n<figure id=\"attachment_44719\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-44719\" style=\"width: 500px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-44719\" src=\"https:\/\/lwosonprowrestling.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2019\/04\/D4w7rbrXkAAGzKi-e1556056476583.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"350\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-44719\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo: AIW<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>A match literally 20 years in the making. <strong>Matt Cross<\/strong> made his pro wrestling debut on April 24, 1999 and this weekend he faces a man who has been intrinsically linked to his career for a large part of his two decade career. In 2002, Cross and\u00a0<strong>Josh Prohibition\u00a0<\/strong>were paired together in <strong>Cleveland All-Pro Wrestling (CAPW)<\/strong> and together as <strong>Youthanazia<\/strong> (and also known as <strong>Burning River Brigade<\/strong>) they traveled together for years, running riot in tag team divisions in AIW, <strong>International Wrestling Cartel (IWC)<\/strong>, and more before disbanding in 2014. Since then, Cross has found international stardom as a singles competitor, as well as national recognition as\u00a0<strong>Son of Havoc\u00a0<\/strong>with\u00a0<strong>Lucha Underground<\/strong>. But on Friday, it&#8217;s two former friends and allies facing off one on one.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">The first time I ever stepped foot inside a professional wrestling ring was 20 years ago today.<\/p>\n<p>A lot of mixed feelings about that.<\/p>\n<p>What a wild, worldwide, ride it&#39;s been thus far. Come celebrate this Friday in Cleveland<\/p>\n<p>MDogg20 vs Josh Prohibition Forever<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/WrestlingIsForever?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#WrestlingIsForever<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/GZ2hQNmzVZ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/GZ2hQNmzVZ<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; matt cross \/\/\/ (@MDoggMattCross) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MDoggMattCross\/status\/1121112327179337728?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">April 24, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h3><strong>AIW Tag Team Championships: To Infinity And Beyond (Colin Delaney &amp; Cheech) vs. La Familia de Tijuana (Bestia 666 &amp; Damien 666)<\/strong><\/h3>\n<figure id=\"attachment_44716\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-44716\" style=\"width: 500px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-44716\" src=\"https:\/\/lwosonprowrestling.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2019\/04\/D4pIor7WwAUPrvI-e1556056503949.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"350\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-44716\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo: AIW<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Since 2014,\u00a0<strong>To Infinity And Beyond\u00a0<\/strong>has been one of the best tag teams in the Midwest, where they&#8217;ve become 4x AIW Tag Team Champions. The duo are 119 days into their fourth reign and on Friday night will defend their belts against two mean hombres from Mexico in\u00a0<strong>La Familia de Tijuana<\/strong>, a rogue faction that works with <strong>The Crash Lucha<\/strong>, the hardcore\u00a0<strong>Desastre Total Ultraviolento (DTU)<\/strong>, and multiple other Mexican indies. The unit of <strong>Bestia 666<\/strong> and former WCW Superstar <strong>Damien 666<\/strong> have been working the US for much of the new year and are looking to bring some US gold back down South.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>AIW Intense Championship: Matthew Justice (c) vs. Joshua Bishop<\/strong><\/h3>\n<figure id=\"attachment_44717\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-44717\" style=\"width: 500px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-44717 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/lwosonprowrestling.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2019\/04\/D4pIor8XkAAqnw--e1556056484452.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"350\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-44717\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo: AIW<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Matthew Justice has emerged as the new force in AIW and his reign as Intense Champion is over 150-days now and has pushed back challenges from\u00a0<strong>Dominic Garrini, KTB, Wheeler YUTA\u00a0<\/strong>and\u00a0<strong>G-Raver<\/strong>. Trained by Ohio legend\u00a0<strong>JT Lightning\u00a0<\/strong>and debuting with Lightning&#8217;s CAPW in 2006, he&#8217;s put in a lot miles over the years to get to where he is now. He puts his title on the line once again, this time against one of AIW&#8217;s rising young talents in\u00a0<strong>Joshua Bishop<\/strong>, one of the young stars in the\u00a0<strong>No Consquences\u00a0<\/strong>stable that has been running wild in AIW since 2017.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>MJF vs. &#8220;The Franchise&#8221; Shane Douglas w\/ Francine<\/strong><\/h3>\n<figure id=\"attachment_44715\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-44715\" style=\"width: 500px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-44715\" src=\"https:\/\/lwosonprowrestling.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2019\/04\/D4cEiz0X4AAQeAM-e1556056536254.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"350\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-44715\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo: AIW<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>All Elite Wrestling (AEW)<\/strong> and <strong>Major League Wrestling (MLW)<\/strong> star <strong>MJF<\/strong> has been a thorn in many a wrestler&#8217;s side over the past few years, with a talking game that is nearly unparalleled that has a way of getting under everyone&#8217;s skin. On Friday, he runs into a mouth that has ran for decades and has had the fists to back the words up, in former 4x ECW World Heavyweight Champion and NWA World&#8217;s Heavyweight Champion <strong>Shane Douglas<\/strong>, who is bringing his Queen of Extreme <strong>Francine<\/strong> into his corner to shut MJF up once and for all.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Mance Warner vs. Eddie Kingston<\/strong><\/h3>\n<figure id=\"attachment_44914\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-44914\" style=\"width: 500px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-44914\" src=\"https:\/\/lwosonprowrestling.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2019\/04\/D5E3iX8WAAA82F7-e1556287125476.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"350\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-44914\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo: AIW<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>Eddie Kingston<\/strong> is seemingly on a farewell tour of his own and he continues to bring the damage to AIW as he returns on Friday night looking for a fight. A former <strong>Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW)<\/strong> World Champion, <strong>IWA Mid South<\/strong> Heavyweight Champion and <strong>CHIKARA<\/strong> Grand Champion (for a record 924-days), Kingston is one of the most ruggedly tough brawlers in the game. Originally slated to face\u00a0<strong>Nick Gage\u00a0<\/strong>on Friday night, the Game Changer Wrestling (GCW) World Champion had to withdraw from the card early Friday morning, but AIW has found a suitable replacement in one of<a href=\"https:\/\/lwosonprowrestling.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/2019\/02\/14\/mance-warner-2019s-breakout-star\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> 2019&#8217;s emerging breakout stars<\/a> and former CZW World Champion\u00a0<strong>Mance Warner<\/strong>. Warner is a near-indestructible lunatic, and will be equal to the task of facing &#8220;The Mad King&#8221;.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Farewell to DJ Z: DJ Z vs. Flip Kendrick vs. Deranged vs. Gringo Loco<\/strong><\/h3>\n<figure id=\"attachment_44720\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-44720\" style=\"width: 500px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-44720\" src=\"https:\/\/lwosonprowrestling.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2019\/04\/D42uM3pWAAEOcJy-e1556056519535.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"350\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-44720\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo: AIW<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>For former 2x IMPACT X-Division Champion DJ Z&#8217;s last match with AIW, the former AIW Triple Crown Champion (Absolute, Intense and Tag Team Champion) has hand picked the combatants in his Fatal Four Way Match. <strong>Flip Kendrick<\/strong> is a Midwest veteran who has been battling DJ Z since 2008. Whether in singles action or in tag team wars against Kendrick as part of <strong>Aeroform<\/strong> (with Louis Lyndon) or alongside <strong>Facade<\/strong>, he&#8217;s been one of DJ Z&#8217;s great rivals.\u00a0<strong>Deranged\u00a0<\/strong>is a former star from Ring of Honor&#8217;s earliest days, when he was a member of the stable\u00a0<strong>Special K<\/strong>. He recently reunited with Special K&#8217;s\u00a0<strong>Slim J\u00a0<\/strong>and\u00a0<strong>Azrieal\u00a0<\/strong> over WrestleMania weekend and is back on the indies full force. DJ Z first encounted\u00a0<strong>Gringo Loco\u00a0<\/strong>in the Chicago indies in 2015 and they&#8217;ve had countless battles ever since, including several encounters in AIW starting in 2016. Gringo Loco has exploded nationally since debuting with MLW last year, and is a perfect compliment to what should be an explosive four-man match-up.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Absolute Intense Wrestling (AIW) continues it&#8217;s string of top notch cards as one of the premier Midwest indies with Gauntlet for the Gold 14 on Friday night in Parma, Ohio, which features the AIW Farewell Match for DJ Z, who is heading to WWE shortly. Josh Prohibition vs. Matt Cross A match literally 20 years [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":649,"featured_media":44722,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,6],"tags":[1055,1843,962,1763,2128,2702,1452,3184,2546,1759],"class_list":["post-44714","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-north-america","tag-aiw","tag-dj-z","tag-eddie-kingston","tag-francine","tag-gringo-loco","tag-mance-warner","tag-matt-cross","tag-matthew-justice","tag-mjf","tag-shane-douglas"],"modified_by":"Jamie Greer","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44714","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/649"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44714"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44714\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44722"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44714"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44714"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44714"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}