AAW Back Alley Brawl, November 27th, 2016

Steady building with a few surprises keeps a show afloat, and that’s exactly what we’ve got on the first Ace Alley Wrestling of the not-soft-launch Blam!TV era. Read on for the fallout from the Eternal Rival pay-per-view, and an upcoming debut that has us eager for more. On the Stick: The Real Deal It’s confused champion Ron “The Real Deal” Steele out to start the show, to the cheers of his adoring crowd, and having retained his title in a surprising MOTY candidate last weekend, he’s here to show some appreciation. The transition Steele has made to being a begrudging face has been a little rough at times — Real Deal’s hardly known for his work on the stick — but with a couple of clips of the most spectacular spots from his brawl with Vengeance, Ron announces he’ll do his best to give the audience what they want — by defending this title as often as possible.

Based on the increasingly worrisome flashes Ron has had in the ring when on the stick, we’re not totally certain he doesn’t just want an excuse to lose the strap as soon as he can. At this announcement, it’s Ace Andrews himself out to address the crowd, and after asking the enthusiastic fans if they want to see Ron defend that AAW Championship tonight, he announces Ron will be booked in a match with Joe Crank. We take a quick break for Dan and Lance to say hello to the viewing audience, talking up social media reactions to Eternal Rival,including#FallsCountAnywhere and #RealDealSteeleQuestionMark. Nothing major of note here, other than the mention of new personnel slated to join the AAW roster. Do tell, Dan Powers, do tell… MATCH: Anita vs. Father McDonnell Father McDonnell has actually been around longer than fans give him credit for, as he’s changed his entire look with this new gimmick. He’s been playing things out as being a beacon of control and discipline, a big change from his previous work as an unhinged psychopath, but it hasn’t gone over well. The in-ring sermons, in particular, have been picking up more heat from the audience than they seem written for. Enter Anita, fresh off of her appearance in the heavily-booked tag and main event at Eternal Rival. Rumor says she’s been doing a little work with Marcus Smart backstage, and it showed in this match — it seems like her aerial work is improving each time she gets in the ring. A brief back-and-forth finds Father McDonnell unable to keep up with Anita’s ferocity in the ring, and after softening him up with the Fouettes of Fury, Anita clotheslines the Father to the mat, climbs to the top rope, and delivers the cleanest Swan Dive we’ve seen yet. Winner via Pinfall: Anita (Swan Dive) Not the strongest match from either as an overall piece, but clear signs Anita’s technique continues to improve with the additional time and exposure she’s getting at AAW. Father McDonnell shows some very clear signs of frustration in the ring at the end of the match, too, which could be a good sign that even he and Ace know that the gimmick has already gotten stale.

INTERVIEW: Marcus Smart The show cuts to an interview with Marcus Smart, taped backstage "earlier today." Dan Powers catches Marcus doing something on his tablet computer, annoying Marcus, who still snidely acquiesces to questioning "for the sake of the Real Fans." Dan tries to ask Marcus how he's feeling following Ron "the Real Deal" Steele's shocking victory over Vengeance at Eternal Rival, only for Marcus to cut him off mid-question, outraged at the ridiculous line of inquiry. "How am I feeling?" Marcus says. "I'm feeling the way all the Real Fans in the AAW audience are feeling." He goes on to say that Ron's title reign is a disgrace, a blatant exploitation of a rigged backstage system to garner some cheap pops and put a few worthless, pasty white-collar butts in seats. "Ace, and Steele, and their buddy the Hot Topic Bandit? They've disgraced our sport. But redemption is coming. Section 14 is gonna make itself heard...but their V.I.P. is gonna be the loudest of all." Smart’s signing had indie fans everywhere salivating at the prospect of the former Eddie Law as a potential champion. Could this mean we’re already looking at a title feud for the high-flyer turned shoot-talking heel? MATCH: Sanguine Arcane vs. local talent Local talent Boots Swanson never stood a chance against Arcane — Swanson manages one bum-rush, and Arcane controls the match exclusively thereafter. This was never going to be anything but a squash, of course, but that’s exactly what Arcane needed; his character work is still developing in a lot of ways, but here his aikido work can really shine in a way that facing an equally-highly-booked wrestler really doesn’t afford him. Arcane toys with Swanson, moving out of the way of Swanson’s offense and even tripping the heel jobber to add insult to injury. Playtime, of course, doesn’t last long — Arcane begins flinging Swanson around the ring with a series of tosses and throws, including a surprising one-handed flapjack that suggests the aikido-focused Arcane may finally be beginning to diversify his offense with some more traditional wrestling. Arcane’s irish whip-into-cascading arm lock-into-deep half Boston Crab is really given time to get over here, and with his very real background in martial arts, the man makes his Ars Arcana #1 look spectacular in this outing. Not a long squash, but worth having a look to see some glimpses of what we’re hoping for from Sanguine Arcane. Winner via submission: Sanguine Arcane (Ars Arcana #1) Lance Corning called the move a “Hurticane” after the match had ended, and I rewound to count the number of seconds Dan had to hold back a response on air. (Seven.) BACKSTAGE: Joe Crank Tom Spiracy is backstage going to check on tonight’s challenger as we watch on camera, and when there’s no response to the knock on the door, he opens it to find an unconscious Joe Crank laid out on the floor of the dressing room, calling for a medic as the camera fades.

ON THE STICK: Ace Andrews Ace comes out to announce the next Pay-Per-View, Season’s Beatings, at which the AAW Championship will be defended. The response to the mention of the championship is a raucous boo from Section 14, raging against what I assume is ‘everything wrong with wrestling’. Ace tries a couple more sentences before angrily declaring that tonight, their ‘precious smark darling’ will be facing eight-time champion Vengeance for the number-one contender’s spot before storming out. BACKSTAGE: Ace Andrews and the Real Deal Backstage, Ace is apologizing to his wife and production manager Dale for the outburst outside when Ron arrives. Ron insists that he has to be a fighting champion, and pleads for Ace to give others the title shots they deserve against him, but Ace patiently tells Ron he’s called off tonight’s match as they look into the matter of the unconscious Joe Crank. Honestly, this is one of the most impassioned promos I think I’ve ever seen from Real Deal Steele, which either means he’s been hiding some serious gift of gab from us, or the man is absolutely desperate to lose this belt. It’s a fever dream, but sometimes I think it might be both? MATCH: Vengeance vs. Marcus Smart for the #1 Contender’s spot Really nice ring psychology from these two tonight. The commentary team put over Vengeance as a strong threat and definitely the favorite, even bringing up a previous injury to Smart that we’ve known about but that’s never yet been brought up in kayfabe. The two build slowly, clearly both playing at being different types of heels — Vengeance more monstrous and methodical, Smart angry and jawing at the veteran the entire match. Smart calls him old and decrepit, then seems astounded when the longtime wrestler continues to keep up with the younger, more spry combatant. Things get faster as the two trade whips and arm drags, resulting in a nifty sequence of back-and-forth that culminates in a pair of small packages before the two face off, the audience applauding. Things continue to escalate, culminating in a Shooting Star Press from Smart the likes of which we haven’t seen since his AAW debut, but Vengeance still kicks out. A frustrated Smart gets Vengeance on the ropes; a loud chorus of boos from Section 14 distracts the ref, and after raking the veteran’s eyes, Marcus pulls Vengeance into the center of the ring and hits the Smart Bomb for the 3-count. Winner via pinfall: Marcus Smart (Smart Bomb) Marcus Smart is your new #1 contender, but as Dan and Lance discuss the ramifications for the Season’s Beatings, the screen goes black and the sound cuts out. Moments later, we get a hooded silhouette on screen, face obscured, voice distorted. "God damn it, Marcus. What happened to you, man? I remember when your definition of Integrity and Ethics actually MEANT something. But look at you now, cheating to win. "Maybe it's time someone reminds you what those words mean, the hard way." I can’t lie, this teaser has me curious. This division needs a strong anchor face besides the uneven Ron and the upcoming-but-green Anita and Sanguine, and if someone is coming after Marcus Smart, this makes the title picture instantly more interesting. How about you, Alley Aces? Did the first Ace Alley Wrestling fallout show do it for you? What are you excited to see at Season’s Beatings?