SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
•Kenny Williams vs. Ashton Smith vs. Amir Jordan – MISS: This was a Triple Threat match for the final spot in The Heritage Cup Tournament. What made it an automatic miss for me was the people in the match. Since they told us the last person would be an unknown person who will be announced later, it seemed like it would be a more prominent name or someone new. But with these three, they are lower-card tag team guys who aren’t a big deal. I know they said this tournament’s history is for no-name guys to make a name, but I would love to have seen a more prominent name in this spot. On to the match, it was just a typical triple threat match with a bunch of spots. Nothing to highlight in this match; Kenny Williams pulled out the win and thus will face Trent Seven in the first round of the Cup.
•Promo Package for Eddie Dennis – HIT: This video package for Eddie Dennis was quick but nicely done. It explained why he came out last week for the tag team match, and it gave us his state of address for what he is trying to do from now on. Right package and another good way to tell us about a guy they look at to be one of their top Heels on the roster.
•Xia Brookside vs. Jinny – HIT: This was a surprising hit for me. Last time seeing Xia, she was a young high-flying babyface who told us the story of how she was a rookie who was getting her feet wet. Now with the time off, it looks like she has been putting in the work because she added the British style of mat wrestling to her game, which made this match verses Jinny very interesting. This new style from Xia seemed to fit with Jinny’s in-ring style and heel character. Last week’s Women’s Title match was to be the best match of the brand for the woman. With me saying that this match wasn’t on that level, it was not too far from it and was tied for the best match on this show here. After the match, Jinny cut a promo, which is the best part of her game, and it laid out that she is ready to stop playing nicely and start showing everyone she is ready to rule this brand.
•Dar vs. Wolfe with Pete Dunne as Special Guest Ref – HIT: This was the official first match of the Heritage Cup Tournament. They were building this match up from last week since they got into it with each other then and the week before when Wolfe came out and tried to interrupt the match between Dar and Dragunov. This was why Pete Dunne was the special guest ref. To this opening match of the Cup, these two were a great first match to introduce the tournament. The style of the match they put together made it easy to understand the Cup rules and showed us what to expect from the Cup. Dar took the early lead, winning the 2nd round, Wolfe came back won the 4th round, and last Dar won the 5th round being the first to two. As I said, it was a great intro to the tournament rules. After the match, Wolfe blamed Dunne for the loss and tried to attack him with Dunne holding him off until Walter came out to help jump on him. This led to Dragunov coming out to equal the odds and help run the two off with this ending the show. The right way to use this to continue building the UK Title match somewhere down the road.
I think you too easily set aside the drama of tag team partners pitted against one another in the threeway match. I honestly had no idea who would go over. I thought all three men did a good job,, likely Ashton Smith’s best showing to date.