By Sean Radican, Torch columnist

RADICAN’S AIW REVIEW SERIES
“GIRLS NIGHT OUT 9”
OCTOBER 6, 2013
CLEVELAND, OHIO

The show started with promos from Jenny Rose, Savannah Summers, and Nikki Storm.

(1) Annie Social (w/The Social Network) beat Jewells Malone. Malone wiped out the Social Network with a dive off the apron after some early back and forth exchanges in the ring. Malone was overwhelmed by the numbers game on the outside and Social tossed her back into the ring and began working her over. Social worked over Malone for a long period of time with the Social Network aiding her from the outside, but Malone fired back with a forearm off the second turnbuckle. Social cut off Malone quickly and continued to work her over. The crowd tried to rally behind Malone as she continued to take a beating from Social. Malone mounted a comeback and got a rollup for a 2 count. Social countered a Samoan drop with a split and then she hit a crotch punch. Social then hit a modified stunner for the win. This was fine for an opening match, but there wasn’t much to it. (*1/2)

(2) Jenny Rose beat Santana Garrett. This is Garrett’s GNO debut and Rose’s first appearance in AIW in over a year and a half. Rose has toured extensively in Japan in recent years. The pace picked up during the early stages of the match with both women trading pinning combinations for 2 counts before coming to a stalemate. Rose took control and hit a delayed vertical suplex for a 2 count. She then locked Garrett in a unique submission with a bridge that tied up Garrett’s legs and neck. Rose was finally forced to release the hold. Garrett fired back and flipped over Rose after tripping her into a last chancery. Rose managed to break Garrett’s bridge and finally got to the ropes to break the hold. Garrett tried to bounce off the ropes, but Rose nailed her with a spear for a 2 count. Garrett fired back and hit a cartwheel elbow on Rose in the corner. Rose grabbed Garrett’s legs when she tried to kick her as Rose charged into the corner. Garrett tried to hold onto the ropes, but Rose eventually dragged her away and locked her in a Boston crab. Garrett struggled, but eventually got the ropes. Rose hit an arm breaker in the middle of the ring and tied her up in a combination arm/leg submission. Garrett finally verbally submitted. This was a solid match overall with both women going back and forth for the duration. (**1/2)

(3) Leva Bates & Xandra Bale beat Team Double J (Jasmin & Joy D’Milo). Bates and Bale came out dressed like the X-Men. Bates and Bale whipped D’Milo and Jasmin into each other during the early stages of the match, but the spot came off awkward and D’Milo didn’t even sell colliding with her partner. Bates worked over D’Milo, who eventually tagged out after Bates overwhelmed her. Bale and Jasmin went at it inside the ring. Bale got the upper hand on Jasmin and caught her with a pinning combination for a 2 count. Bale got cut off and D’Milo began working her over. Jasmin tried to run in with the ref distracted and Bale tied upside down, but she ran right into Bale’s knee. D’Milo yelled at Jasmin and Bale was nearly able to tag out, but she got cut off. Jasmin ran in with Bale on D’Milo’s shoulders, but D’Milo swung Bale’s legs right into Jasmin. Bates got the hot tag and ran wild on D’Milo. They appeared to mess up another spot with Jasmin breaking up a pin on D’Milo. Jasmin got sent to the outside and Bale and Bates nailed her with a series of kicks for the pin. This was rough with a lot of light looking offense and spots that were sloppy. (*)

After the match, The Social Network attacked Bale and Bates. They ended up beating them down before sending them to the floor. It looks like we have the setup for a match at GNO 10.

(4) Angeldust beat Heidi Lovelace (w/The Social Network and Melanie Cruise. Cruise shoved the ring announcer out of the ring while he was announcing her. That was funny. Lovelace and Angeldust sport 1-4 records in GNO action. Cruise is 1-1. Cruise is much larger than Lovelace and Angeldust. Dave Prazak joined the commentary booth! They did a triple test of strength. Cruise backed out and kicked the test of strength to Lovelace vs. Angeldust. Lovelace and Angeldust managed to send Cruise packing to the outside and they went at it in the ring. The announcers speculated the match would end in one fall when Cruise broke up a pin attempt from Angeldust on Lovelace inside the ring. Angeldust went for a splash off the top on Cruise, but Cruise caught her and hit a huge slam. Lovelace stayed on the outside while Cruise worked over Angeldust. Lovelace choked Angeldust from the outside with the ref distracted. Cruise hit a big spinning side slam and Lovelace broke up the pin. Lovelace slapped Cruise across the face. Cruise responded with a huge spinebuster. Cruise went up top, but the Social Network dragged Lovelace out of the way. Angeldust then rolled up Cruise for the win. The action was good, but I wasn’t fan of the finish. Cruise was impressive here until Angeldust stole the win. (**3/4)

After the match, Cruise nearly took Angeldust’s head with a big boot.

Duke Schork made his way down to the ring. He got on the mic and said at “Gleaming the Cube,” Nixon had taught a lesson to Chest Flexor. He said he wanted to continue the lessons tonight. The Duke said the list has always been coed since they started a year ago. The Duke said he needed a first lady. He introduced a woman that was turned away at the border numerous times and had been bad mouthed by the promoters and the talent. The Duke said he had decided to bring back Leah Von Dutch. One of the announcers called her LVD the whole f------ no show. Von Dutch was wearing Black Nixon gear.

Von Dutch got on the mic and said ever since she got turned away from the border, everyone had been rude to her. She issues an open challenge to any bimbo in the back. Mickie Knuckles came out to answer her challenge.

(5) Leah Von Dutch (w/The Duke)beat Mickie Knuckles. The fans chanted “You’re gonna get your f----- head kicked in” at Von Dutch, who bailed to the outside. Von Dutch kept bailing to the outside. Knuckles followed her with a hammer, but The Duke tripped her and Von Dutch got the upper hand inside the ring. Knuckles didn’t take long to fire back, as she caught Von Dutch with a big boot out of the corner. They began brawling on the outside and exchanging forearms. Von Dutch hit some big chops, but Knuckles fired back and nailed her with some big chops of her own on the outside. Knuckles went under the ring and Von Dutch looked for her. Knuckles dragged her under the ring. The Duke finally helped Von Dutch escape and she teased bailing to the back. One of the announcers said that’s her finish. She just walks out on anything she’s commited to. Von Dutch caught Knuckles with a dive off the stage and told the ref to count her out. Knuckles beat the ref’s count and lit up Von Dutch with some big forearms. Von Dutch countered Knuckles and got the million dollar dream, but Knuckles drove her into the corner and nailed her with a clothesline. Von Dutch shoved Knuckles off the top and went for a moonsault, but Knuckles got out of the way. The ref checked on Von Dutch. The Duke ended up on the apron and he knocked out Knuckles with a punch. Von Dutch then covered her for the win. The action was solid and the action plays into the ongoing Nixon storyline, but I wish they had let them go to a clean finish. (**1/4)

(6) Savannah Summer beat Sassy Stephie. Stephie got mad when the announcer introduced her as having a record of 0-4. The crowd chanted 0-4 at her. Summers is from Australia and making her AIW debut. Summers had the upper hand early, but ended up missing a splash off the top. Stephie worked over Summers for a long period of time, but Summers fired back with a series of chops and got a sunset flip pin for a 2 count. Stephie fired right back with a side slam for a 2 count. Stephie dominated the action for a long period of time. The crowd tried to rally behind Summers. Summers ducked a charge in the corner and nailed Stephie with a series of clotheslines. She then hit a Perfect plex for a nearfall. Stephie fired back a short time later when she caught Summers with a neckbreaker off the ropes. Summers got up and caught Stephie with a modified code breaker. Summers went up top and hit a big splash off the top for a 2 count. Stephie tried to lift Summers up, but Summers managed to counter her and got a pinning combination for the win. The action was solid here, but the match seemed to just be getting to a higher gear when it ended. (**1/2)

(7) Taeler Hendrix beat Marti Belle. Belle drew the ire of the crowd coming out lip syncing her Nickleback entrance music. Hendrix tried to grab Belle’s hair when she went to the floor, so Belle slapped her across the face. Belle did a lot of hair pulling as she dominated the action during the early stages of the match. Hendrix mounted a comeback and nailed Belle with a huge chop. Belle countered a whip and slapped Hendrix across the face. Hendrix fired back and went for a handstand into the corner with Belle seated up top, but Belle shoved her to the mat. Belle missed a splash off the second rope and the crowd tried to rally behind Hendrix. Hendrix hit a slap to the face and a nice kick to Belle’s face for the win. This was short, but Hendrix looked good here hitting some nice athletic kicks to mount a comeback and then put away Belle. (*3/4)

(8) Kimber Lee beat Nikki Storm. Storm came out screaming about how she’s the best in the galaxy. She told everyone they should be kissing her feet. This is Storm’s AIW debut. Lee sports a GNO record of 1-4. Lee dominated the action early and locked in a cross-arm breaker, but storm got the ropes. Prazak was back in the booth commentary and said this was a match on the card he was looking forward too. He said she was brought to Shimmer because of her performances in AIW. Storm mounted a comeback and began working over Lee. Lee mounted a comeback and grabbed an arm submission. Prazak did a good job on commentary of talking up Lee’s background. Storm quickly cut her off and hit a neck breaker for a 2 count. She screamed at Lee as she worked her over. Lee made a comeback and hit a modified face slam on Storm. Lee went up top, but missed a swanton. Storm hit a swinging neck breaker, but Lee kicked out. The fans stared a chant for Lee. Lee fired back and caught Storm with a cross-arm breaker and she tapped out right away. This was a good match, but just as I was getting into it, it ended. It has been a theme on the show where the matches haven’t gotten a lot of time to develop. (**1/2)

Veda Scott came out and grabbed the mic. Scott said she hadn’t announced her dream partner yet. Gregory Iron’s music played and he made his way to do the ring. Iron is Scott’s regular partner in AIW. Scott told Iron she didn’t want to have this conversation in public. She told Iron she wasn’t her partner tonight. Scott said she couldn’t pass up the opportunity to have a perfect partner. Shanna was then introduced as Scott’s partner. Scott told Iron to leave. Iron wouldn’t leave so Scott got angry and told him it was her night and he had to leave.

AIW Champion Allysin Kay came out next. She got on the mic and taunted Scott for picking someone Spanish. Shanna told her she’s from Portugal. Kay said since she can’t clone herself, she needed to find someone a lot like her. She said she needed the person in AIW that’s the toughest besides herself. Mia Yim then came down to the ring.

(9) Mia Yim & Allysin Kay beat Veda Scott & Shanna in a Dream Partner Tag match. Iron was in on commentary and said he still wanted to be in the match. Kay was announced as having the most impressive GNO record at 7-1. Shanna fired up after escaping a stretch muffler from Kay during the early going and hit a face buster. Kay tried to fire back, but Shanna countered her and hit a neck breaker. Yim and Shanna ended up going at it in the ring. Yim took her down with a nice hurricanrana. Yim and Kay tagged in and out to work over Shanna as it appeared Scott didn’t want any part of Kay unless she had an advantage. Iron distracted Scott, who got off the apron to argue with him as Kay and Yim continued to tag in and out to work over Shanna. Yim got a last chancery, but Scott kicked her off of Shanna. Yim went up top, but Shanna cut her off and hung her upside down. Shanna then hit a big double stomp that popped the crowd. Yim looked to be dead inside the ring. Shanna was slow to make the cover, but Kay jumped into the ring to break up the pin. Scott grabbed a dragon sleeper and taunted Kay. Scott and Yim began trading slaps to the face, but Scott cut her off and tagged in Shanna. Shanna hit two fisherman suplexes on Yim, but Kay broke up the pin. The action broke down and Yim and Kay went for a double kick on Scott, but she ducked and they ended up kicking each other’s shins.

Scott tagged in Shanna and they hit a stuffed suplex on Yim, but Kay broke up the pin. Yim and Shanna went to a big exchange that ended with both women down after Shanna connected with a rolling forearm. The crowd fired up as Yim managed to tag out. Scott backed off when Shanna tried to tag out, which allowed Kay to run wild on her. The action broke down with Shanna out of the ring. Scott raked Kay’s eyes and went for a German on Yim, but Yim blocked it. Shanna missed a splash off the top. Kay chased Scott to the back. Yim hit a big German on Scott followed by a lionsault for the win. This was easily the best match on the card. The action was solid throughout and they did a good job of setting up Kay-Scott for the AIW Women’s Championship. (***1/4)

Shanna got an ovation from the fans as she was helped from the ring. Iron got into the ring and the fans chanted for him. Scott came back down to the ring and looked to be upset to Iron. Iron told her she didn’t win, but she did good. Scott held the AIW Women’s Championship and shoved Iron away. She looked upset as she shoved the title into the hands of the announcer and stormed to the back.

Overall thoughts: (5.5) – This was a show that didn’t feature anything outstanding on the undercard. The matches were mostly solid, but the case seemed to be that just as some of the better matches on the card were getting good, they went to the finish. This show crammed 9 matches in two hours, so a lot of the matches outside of the main event didn’t get a lot of time to build into something good.

I was impressed with some of the women I hadn’t seen perform recently. Rose-Garett was a solid back and forth contest, but like many of the matches on the card, it simply wasn’t given time to develop. With the Female Fight Season theme with several promotions banding together to promote shows throughout October, I was hoping for 2-3 really good matches on the undercard and this was a match that if it was given more time, could have turned out to be a real selling point on this release.

The same could be said for Summers-Stephie and Lee-Storm. I was surprised that Summers and Storm didn’t do much to stand out in their respective matches being international talent that was flown in for Female Fight Season. Both of their matches were solid, but weren’t given a lot of time.

I was impressed with Taeler Hendrix in her match against Marti Belle. They weren’t given a lot of time, but Hendrix hit some athletic looking kicks and her striking looked powerful. She came across as someone that is worth investing in on the independent scene. I might be biased because of her Massachusetts roots, but this was the first time I saw her wrestle outside of TNA and I was much more impressed with her work on AIW’s platform than I was with what I saw from her in TNA.

The main event dream partner match was easily the best match on the card. Kay & Yim vs. Scott & Shanna delivered a good dose of storytelling and in-ring action that sucked me into the match. The small crowd didn’t provide a ton of heat for the match, but this was fun to watch. I liked the storyline with Greg Iron wanting to wrestle with Scott in the match with her wanting him to go away because it was her night on this card. They are playing Scott up as the cowardly heel going into her title match against Kay on the next show, so this match did a good job of establishing that Scott wanted no part of Kay unless she had an advantage. I was impressed with Yim in the match. Her striking and high-flying is a lot of fun to watch and she did a nice job of finishing off Shanna to win the match for her team.

Overall, there were some solid matches on the card, but I was hoping for a well-rounded card in terms of in-ring action. The storytelling elements on the show were hit and miss. I’m not a big fan of the Nixon storyline and it came into play on this card, but I did enjoy the storytelling and in-ring action in the main event.

You can purchase “Girls Night Out 9” by clicking HERE or by visiting AIWrestling.com

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