Francesca De La Cruz
Rising Star of the Week
Xander Payne
On Voltage, Xander Payne took on the World Heavyweight Champion, Rex McAllister. For Xander, this was a match he really needed to win since being on a slump since losing the New Breed Championship. Prince of Phenomenal was the man, who managed to help Xander get the biggest victory on his career by connecting with a springboard forearm on the World Heavyweight Champion. Lucky for Xander, the official never caught that interference and Xander was able to take advantage and win the match for himself. Later in the night, Xander tried to use his victory over Rex to justify his reasoning to go after the National Elite Championship. With Osamu Arcichida having to relinquish the National Elite Championship, this may be the opening Xander needs to regain championship gold. Him vs. Jackson Blayde seems like a solid match at Road to Redemption and if things go Xander’s way, he could be ending the year with gold on his shoulder.
Beef of the Week
Fire and Ice vs. The Canadian Dream
The semi-finals of the Grand Tag Team Prix takes the spot as Beef of the Week. I was a little unsure about how the interactions were going to between these two teams, but it was interesting to see these dynamics clashing with one another. Four of them individually are fantastic and there’s a reason why they’re holding championship gold. I know, this match was going to see some heartbreak. I thought the four people killed it. The match lived up to the hype in some way and I was excited for the four of them to cut promos on one another. I was a little bummed over the result of the match, but I’m not going to discredit the winners of the match. It does not take away with how fantastic Fire and Ice are. For the Grand Prix Finals it will be The Canadian vs. Jaded Hearts—it’s kinda obvious who is going to be winning this match. Although, I’m excited to see this match go down and the for the sexual tension between Theron Nikolas and Kassidy Heart to be off the charts.
Show of the Week
Dynasty
I’m not giving Dynasty Show of the Week because Mr. DEDEDE threatened to kill himself if I didn’t. :krabs:
Man, this episode of Dynasty was an emotional roller coaster from the moment this show began. As you begin watching the show, you get the whole wedding feel as the “anticipated” wedding of Mr. DEDEDE and Carmen Ava will be closing the show. I got the impression that this would be the focal point of the entire show since this is the biggest storyline on Dynasty. Hell, it may be the biggest storyline in EAW.
We moved quickly from that wedding feel as the show opened with a STEEL CAGE MATCH with APOCALYPSE and Lucas Johnson. Like always, APOCALYPSE looked like a monster. I was surprised that he didn’t murder Lucas within seconds of the match. One of the funniest things in the match was trying to envision APOCALYPSE kipping up to his feet. Like, is that possible at all? I liked the addition with Lucas bring the brass knuckles into the match. It was smart of him to bring that weapon into the match. The ending of the match was unexpected with APOCALYPSE throwing Lucas through the side of the cage and he technically has two feet outside the ring. I thought it displays APOCALYPSE and his strength and sometimes, his incapability to control it. It also gives Lucas a victory going into Road to Redemption, which benefits him.
In order to get back into the wedding spirit, a segment with The Ava Sisters — ALL OF THEM occurred. From this very segment, you can see the tension and division with all of the sisters. Consuela Rose and Candice Blair Ava seem to be all for the wedding. Cameron Ella Ava is not okay with this wedding at all, which is completely justified due to her issues with Mr. DEDEDE. One of the biggest questions was where is Camille Ava? One of the funniest parts of the segments was learning that Camille has ruined quite a few weddings in her life and for that, she was not allowed to be at the wedding, but when has that ever stopped Camille? By the looks of the segment from last week, Camille may be having the wheels turning in the back of her mind.
Erebus Jennings versus Devan Dubian was one of the more competitive matches of the night. I liked Devan’s attempts of ending the match with the Bleeding Edge. I kept wondering if the match was going to end unexpected due to that finisher having the capability of being connected at anytime. Erebus managed to escape the Bleeding Edge for so long. He managed to bring out a good fight out of Devan, while looking good for most of the match. This victory could have belonged to anyone, but Devan poking Erebus in the eye and getting the victory was unexpected but this can all go back to Devan doing whatever it takes to get the victory. In a way, this gives Erebus an argument that he could have won the match if it weren’t for that eye poke.
As we transition from that match to a backstage match featuring what is possibly MY Feud of the Year — StarrStan vs. SYNCON. P.S. — I think I have a good idea, who SYNCON could be, but we’ll see at Road to Redemption. We shifted from the focus of that matter to Jack Ripley, who is more than ready to slap the shit out of Starr informs him that he will have an announcement next.
Before going into that announcement, we are blessed with another segment with Mr. DEDEDE, who should never consider a career in singing because he’s shit at that. CIC and MVM appear as they do the one thing that Mr. DEDEDE is fantastic at doing and that is disrespecting women. At that point, you know that some shit is going to go down at that wedding. After a moment with those three torturing us with their voices, we are welcomed by the presence of that Henrique Fernandez, Mr. DEDEDE’s best man. Man, it’s like those two are the one’s that are family.
After, we finally go to StarrStan and with that special announcement. At Road to Redemption, a person from Dynasty, Showdown, Voltage and even Empire will face each other in a fatal-4-way match. The winner of the match automatically gets placed in the finals of King of Elite. This was something that has never been done before. For the person representing Dynasty, that will be Jack Ripley and I have no complaints with that. I would be open to Jack winning King of Elite and Theron Nikolas being his royal fool. Soon after, Starr tries to introduce to the newest signing on Dynasty, but gets stopped by Kevin Hunter, who is sick and tired with being overlooked. Starr argues that he can’t give Kevin the spotlight when he hasn’t earned it. However, the man he introduces is opening to earning his opportunities. “Radd” Thadd Blazevich comes out and him and Kevin clash for a moment before Thadd connects with a corkscrew reverse roundhouse kick before following that with the FloBro and ends the segment with standing tall. For someone to get as much hype and get his own segment of introduction, he may be someone you need to look out for.
As we move on from that in-ring segment to a backstage segment, we are in the presence of Drunk Venom, who is still drunk after all of these years. He gets all the woman surrounded as the bouquet toss happens. The woman who catches the bouquet? Constance Blevins, who seems content with being the one who catches it, but when she sees that she would have to get engaged with Venom, she hands them off to newcomer, Serena Bennett as she probably wants to run away with fear. We have a small altercation with Clara Lovelace having Consuela Rose Ava under the mistletoe. And for some reason, it was Drake King under the mistletoe with her. I mean, I wonder why that happened? :eyes: Also, the “Jellyfish Jam” is a goat song that should be at ALL weddings.
It soon after goes to a segment with The Score. Jason McKormick cannot get his mind off his match with APOCALYPSE and the thought that it ended via referee stopage. Jason is not happy with the fact of sitting out this week and Ryan Wilson assures him that he knows how Jason feels and how he wants to take all the wrongs of Dynasty and make them right. Shaker Jones informs the group that when Ryan takes on Donovan Cross, another “phase” will be completed.
As we return from commercial break, Ryan Wilson takes on Donovan Cross. I thought. Ryan got some good offense on Donovan and Ryan colliding with the ring post and Donovan getting the victory was something, which helped elevate this beef a bit more as we anticipate that tag team main event on the next episode. I think this loss for The Score is only going to lit a fire underneath them event more.
Soon after, there is a segment with Answers World Champion, Theron Nikolas. Michael Belfort calls out Theron on not being the main attraction on Dynasty and how he’s been lost in the shuffle despite being champion. Theron is offended by all of that as he argues that he has been untouchable in 2018 and has done well in his first year in EAW. This leads into a match between Theron and Hades the Hellraiser. I thought the match was competitive and a fantastic showing from each of the men. Theron getting the victory over Hades was something that Theron needed to get the attention back to him. If he manages to retain the title at Road to Redemption, I think he may regain his spot as the social point on Dynasty.
Now, the segment we were all waiting for —the wedding of Mr. DEDEDE and Carmen Ava. Where do I begin with this segment. I think this segment did its job with taking the Mr. DEDEDE/Cameron Ella Ava feud to that next and personal level. I like to describe my reaction of the segment as being shocked, but not surprised, if that makes sense at all. At this moment, I think was Cameron’s breaking point. Although, not much of her reaction was seen, but one my critique of the segment would be to get a glimpse of what Cameron’s reaction of the entire thing. Not vocally, but just facial expression wise, which would probably summarize people’s reactions in a nutshell. How I envision Cameron being is just completely vulnerable and almost broken in a way. By looking at the segment this week, we may be getting that. One of the more shocking moments in the segment was Henrique Fernandez getting himself involved. We learned that he can throw a good sucker-punch and a punt to Carmen’s skull that would make the Last Resort look like nothing. Mr. DEDEDE and Henrique’s assault on Carmen and Candice Blair Ava was one way to get heat. Like, this whole entire rivalry has made Mr. DEDEDE into the biggest cunt on the face of the Earth. Almost has that similar feeling to his feud with Diamond Cage, which is basically the feud I remember and the moment, I thought made Cage over with the people.
Fucking hell, how the hell do you top that level of heat? Is that even possible?
Match of the Week
MarrKade vs. Generation Genesis
As we move on from that intense episode of Dynasty, we ended the week with a solid main event for the Unified Tag Team Championship Match between MarrKade and Generation Genesis. Just like James Peter says, this was a perfect match of Old School versus New School. This match was entertaining and competitive. It was interesting to see these teams clash knowing that all of them will be opponents at Road to Redemption. I thought this was an epic match. I would have loved to see a winner and I assumed it was going to be Lethal Consequence and Impact, but it wouldn’t be POP for POP to get involved in another match that night and cause a disqualification for Generation Genesis. Soon after, Rex McAllister got himself involved in the match and one of the funnest things said on commentary was Rex saving his “children” and him being the greatest “dad” ever. Henrique could never! The segment ended with POP standing tall and I think he does have a solid shot at dethroning Rex.
Promoer of the Week
Fire and Ice
For Promoer of the Week, I was going to give it to either Rex McAllister or Raven Roberts, so I did the rare thing and gave it to both of them. Knowing that they had their own matches on their respective brands going on as well as the Grand Prix semi-finals to worry about, I thought these two handled it very well. Personally, I was rooting for them in the semi-finals and my heart breaks that they weren’t able to advance, but I’m guessing there’s a reason for that. Raven can place her focus on becoming a double champion. Rex can place his focus on retaining the World Heavyweight Championship. Rex is someone who always brings it in these multi-man matches, so I am expecting an A-game Rex in the Extreme Elimination Chamber Match. For Raven, she is hungry, determined and has grown so much in the past few months. I’m more than excited to see how these two perform at Road to Redemption. I would not mind seeing them team again. This is probably a team I would not mind facing if our paths crossed.
Champion of the Week
See MVE
Most Valuable Elitist
MarrKade
As we shift from the topic of the Grand Prix back onto Voltage, MarrKade defended the Unified Tag Team Championships and managed to retain thanks to POP. I was pretty surprised with this result. No shade or disrespect to MarrKade, but I was expecting for Charlie Marr to turn on Daryl Kinkade in this match seeing that these two are at odds every now and then. It would have been smart for Generation Genesis to use that to their advantage, but by the looks of things, it will be MarrKade to take on the winners of the Grand Prix. It it’s either Jaded Hearts or The Canadian Dream, I think Charlie and Daryl have a huge challenge ahead of them. I think that there are some of us who are awaiting for them to implode at any moment. It may come sooner than later. To me, it’s quite surprising how these two manage to keep their tag team alive after everything they’ve been through together. Even with their polar opposite personalities, these two have managed to make an interesting duo. I am excited to see how they perform at Road to Redemption.
Note: Due to next week being Road to Redemption week, I will not be posting an MVE. By the looks of things, I will have one last MVE to close out 2018 because we should all celebrate the holidays. c:
