CALGARY – More incredible moments were added to the long history of professional wrestling in Calgary as AEW made its debut July 15th to a rambunctious crowd. Whether it was the instant classic 58-minute battle between FTR and Bullet Club Gold or celebrating the Owen Hart Tournament, the show will go down as one of the best to ever happen at the Scotiabank Saddledome.
Fans who arrived at 5 p.m. experienced the current incarnation of Ring of Honor, with Daniel Garcia the first wrestler to receive a loud reaction for his pure rules bout against Jason Gieger. Fans cheered for Dalton Castle as he took on Shane Taylor, were polite for Utami Hayashishita taking on Trish Adora, and gave a babyface response to Powerhouse Hobbs in a dark match.
There is going to be a lot of talk about the tag title match that opened the show, and rightfully so. At around the 40-minute mark I commented to a friend that they were going for a draw, as AEW is prone to do a few times a year. So it was a genuine surprise when, with just two minutes remaining, Juice Robinson tapped out to the sharpshooter. The audience was electric for the match and knew they had just witnessed something special.
It’s always hard to come after a big match that takes the audiences energy, but Willow Nightingale and Ruby Soho put on a fun match that the audience was still willing to engage. Both wore pink and black attire which was a nice touch. Willow’s win was the right choice.
For some reason, the “locals” used for the evening were Vancouver based wrestlers. However, Randy Myers, who teamed with Artemis Spencer to be destroyed by the House of Black, trained in the Dungeon and has history in the city with the 2000’s incarnation of Stampede Wrestling and the PWA. A noticeable “Randy” chant broke out during the match, which must have made him smile. It certainly did me.
While Ricky Starks didn’t wear pink and black, CM Punk did. Despite that the crowd was torn. More tributes to the Harts were in play, with Punk doing Bret’s trademark second rope elbow and side Russian legsweep. Everything about the ending blurred together – the surprise win by Starks, the blink and you missed it appearance by Jushin Liger to present the cup to Ricky Starks, who grabbed it and ran away, and suddenly it was Battle of the Belts.
I must give credit again to the fans, who for the most part stuck around for the Battle of the Belts. AEW often gets criticism for throwing together matches, and BotB felt thrown together. Lance Archer hasn’t been on TV for months before last night’s Rampage but gets a title shot? The fact that Orange Cassidy is hugely popular helped the match, but the star of the bout was Jake “The Snake” Roberts. The man who fought in Calgary for the first time over 40 years ago in Stampede Wrestling basked in the chants of his name. The pop when he almost DDT’d Cassidy matched the response to earlier matches. The crowd did not like the count out finish, with Cassidy retaining his title.
We were unaware of the severe thunderstorm that battered the Stampede grounds and apparently took out the broadcast during Toni Storm’s title defense against Taya Valkyrie. As is typical, Ruby Soho provided a distraction for Storm to hit a piledriver to retain the belt.
The Martha Hart segment struggled because the microphone didn’t broadcast in the building properly so she could hardly be heard. While the ending of the tournament felt rushed (Again… Liger flew in from Japan for that?) hearing Owen’s name chanted and feeling the love for him was truly special. I am thankful that AEW and Martha Hart gave fans the opportunity to remember Owen in a building that has so many memories of him for long time fans. All of the little touches like FTR, Nightingale, Soho and Punk’s gear and moments like the sharpshooter really added to the show.
I enjoy Shawn Spears. I think he is very talented and has been misused frequently in both WWE and AEW. No one thought that he had a chance of winning the TNT title in another thrown together match with t0 build and someone that has barely been on TV for months getting a title shot. Fans gave Christian a hero’s welcome because, Canadian, and were thrilled for the table spot. When Luchasaurus went headfirst into the chair the crowd almost believed Spears could take the belt. After Luchasaurus won and the broadcast ended, Christian ripped on the city, and claimed Bret Hart didn’t bother to show up because he was scared of Christian. Hart was in Grande Prairie for a ComicCon and unable to attend.
At that point fans streamed out the exits, even though they announced more matches taped for Ring of Honor. Unfortunately, they didn’t say whom. Edmonton’s Dynamite taping kept the audience because The Elite were promised. Had ROH had someone that was recognizable to the regular AEW viewer like Samoa Joe or Claudio Castagnoli they may have kept more people. The Boys vs Vincent & Dutch and Leyla Hirsch vs Nicole Matthews weren’t enough to keep the fans interested. Athena did get a big reaction from those remaining when she squashed Nikita. This meant that the final match of the night – a four-way tag featuring The Bollywood Boys, The Kingdom, The Workhorsemen, and the team of Action Andretti and Darius Martin – didn’t have the audience it deserved. The teams were obviously having fun, with Taven and Bennett jawing with the crowd and Maria Kannelis borrowing a cowboy hat from a fan. It’s a tough position for the talent to go out after Collision, and I have to give credit for not phoning it in.
AEW’s really set the bar high in Calgary for future shows. Calgary turned out, though initial sales were sluggish; things picked up this week and the second level was opened up, with the lower bowl sold out. Fans proved that we were willing to show up and add to the shows and support the product. WWE has neglected Calgary and Edmonton over the years with one show a year, if lucky. Hopefully the response from the Alberta fans will mean that AEW will come back with more frequency.
TOP PHOTO: FTR with the dual sharpshooters and the win in Calgary. Photo by Jason Clevett
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