On Friday January 29th, the Heartland Wrestling
Association returned to downtown Cincinnati for HWA All or Nothing
and it was a night to remember!

The show featured seven matches
and a who's who of wrestling talent appeared on the card. Andre
Hart welcomed us to the show, playing the "special host" of the
evening. After spending a few minutes talking to the crowd, he
introduced commentators Ryan Campbell and Chris The Brain, along
with ring announcer Parker Riley who got the action underway! The
first match of the night was between The Noble Bloods and Utterly
Fabulous, with Tucker Carson as the referee. The Noble Bloods
weren't in a joking around kind of mood and seemed determined to
take out recent frustrations on Sid and Kid Fabulous. Matt Taylor
and Chad Cruise would take turns beating down Kid Fabulous, never
allowing Kid to tag in his partner. Matt and Chad really seemed to
be on their A game, flawlessly executing their game plan to cut
the ring in half and isolate Kid in their half of the ring. Kid
struggled for well over five minutes to tag in Sid, who was in his
corner desperately hoping for the tag. The Noble Bloods, with
Shawn Bond in their corner, played the numbers game and everything
appeared to be working in their favor. While Chad was beating down
Kid, Sid was able to tag in behind Chad's back, came in the ring
and rolled him up for the surprise win! The crowd exploded as
Utterly Fabulous danced their way to the locker room, leaving The
Noble Bloods in utter disbelief standing in the ring!
The second match of the night was for the
American Luchacore Championship. Jesse Emerson was making his
first title defense after only winning the title two nights prior.
His challenger would be former champion Aaron Williams - the man
who never actually lost the title. Brandon Tolle would be the
referee and the match was contested under Luchacore rules. The
crowd was split as to who to cheer for in the beginning, with both
men getting nice reactions. The match was very evenly contested
with both men seeming to have each other scouted well. The early
going saw lots of mat wrestling, quite back and forth, until a low
bridge by Aaron to the action the to the floor. The action picked
up following a dive by Aaron to the floor and this is when the
intensity level of the match picked up. After brawling on the
floor, the match returned to the ring where the pace and intensity
continued to escalate. The match crescendoed towards its dramatic
final moments, where Jesse was attempting to close things out with
his Alabama Slam finisher but Aaron was able to counter. A series
of near falls for both men kept the crowd on their edge of their
seats and when Aaron hit a top rope frog splash, the audience
thought it was over, but Jesse kicked out at the last possible
second! Aaron missed a kick, flew off the ropes and was caught by
Jesse for the Alabama Slam for the win! Jesse went for a handshake
post match but in a surprising turn of events, Aaron refused and
walked away. This begs the question: Why Aaron? Hopefully we get
answers in the near future as to why Aaron acted the way he did.
Match number three was a four way dance between
Tarek The Legend, Chris "The Madness" Hall, Shank Barzini and "New
Attitude" Ron Mathis. Tucker Carson would ref this wild affair and
it was not an enviable task to say the least. Ron Mathis started
things off by slapping Madness, who proceeded to press slam Mathis
high in the air. It was here, less than a minute into the match
that all control was lost over this contest and the action
sprawled out all over the ringside area. Mathis and Shank's issues
are well documented and these two never disappoint when they get
their hands on each other. Madness and Tarek don't seem to mind
hurting anybody and were both going full force for the duration of
the contest. Early on, Shank dove over the top taking out Madness
and Tarek. Mathis slid in the ring and then dove on top of all
three opponents. Tarek would make in into the ring next, setting
up a chair and spring boarding off the chair over the top rope,
taking out his foes. In the most shocking moment of all, Madness
would rise to his feet first and not to be outdone, Madness dove
over the top taking all three opponents out! After everyone got to
their feet, the brawl continued. Mathis perched himself on the top
rope, as Shank and Madness cut him off. They were attempting a
double suplex as Tarek climbed up behind Mathis and hit a sunset
flip on all three men! The crowd was standing in unison at this
point, waiting to see what else these men could pull off. Each man
would make pinfall attempts, each broken up by someone else.
Madness got a near fall on Mathis, followed by getting a near fall
on Shank. With both Mathis and Shank laid out, Tarek picked his
moment perfectly, hitting Madness and pinning Shank for the win!
The fourth match was for the HWA Heavyweight
Title. King Vu's entrance was like something out of a Hollywood
red carpet event, with The King's Court making royal entrances,
complete with a lady dropping roses, two gladiators protecting the
Court and The King's Court dressed in designer threads. Vu made
his way out, boldly telling the crowd that he was leaving as
champion again. Jon Moxley came out next, looking focused and
ready to defend his title. Senior official Joe Kopasz would be the
ref for this historic title match after after he gave his
instructions, the match was underway. King Vu and Mox proved
quickly that while they made a good team, they make better
enemies. Vu tried to force Mox to kiss his hand, to which Mox
replied by spitting in Vu's face. There would be no stopping these
two warriors from here as they tore into each other with a
ferocious intensity. There was nothing pretty about this match
folks as Mox and King Vu seemed hell bent on destroying each
other. They traded punches, kicks, chops and even punishing
submission holds in their respective quests to leave as the
Heavyweight Champion. The dramatic conclusion of this match saw
King Vu nearly ripping Mox's head off with a lariat before
climbing to the top rope. Mox caught Vu and knocked him down, got
a near fall which he turned into a STF. Vu escaped and again
nearly ripped Mox's head off with a lariat. Vu made a mistake here
though, playing up to the crowd, which gave Mox a chance to roll
Vu up for the winning pinfall! Jon Moxley is still the HWA
Heavyweight Champion!
After intermission, referee Brandon Tolle came
out for the next match between Dustin Rayz and Tim Donst. Donst
recently has been shunned by the HWA locker room and Rayz feels
he's been disrespected by pretty much everyone lately, so this
winning this match would go a long way in helping out both men.
The crowd was behind Donst and Rayz spent the early going toying
with Donst, leaving the ring and taking his time to get back in.
Dustin's mind games didn't seem to affect Donst too bad, as he
appeared focused on his matchup. Donst offered a handshake to
which Dustin responded with a slap to Donst's face. Donst,
although angry, stayed on course and wrestled his style of match
instead of letting anger dictate the tempo. Rayz also stuck to his
plan of keeping Donst grounded and subtle cheap shots to attempt
to rile up both donst and the fans. Dustin settled into a grrove
mid way through the match, using leglocks and even a modified
camel clutch to control Donst on the mat and his trademark spin
kicks when the action was off the mat. Donst stayed in the match
though, fighting back with a German suplex into a bridge which got
a near fall. Donst's comeback seemed to be in full force when
Dustin pulled a fast one, getting a sneaky pin with his feet on
the ropes to win the match. Both men fought a hard match and Tim
Donst has to be begging for a rematch after this one.
The sixth match of the night saw Jack Verville
upset Kadan Assad. Senior official Joe Kopasz was in charge of the
match and the crowd chanted "USA" directed at Kadan for almost the
entire match. Verville, a fast, exciting young wrestler, showed
explosive quickness and displayed genuine toughness in this match.
Kadan controlled most all of the match, seeming to enjoy taking
his time beating Verville down for most of the match. Kadan more
than once brought his flag into the ring, which nearly encited a
riot among fans. The crowd support for Jack Verville seemed to
keep him alive during the worst parts of Kadan's vicious assault
on him, including when Kadan had a modified camel clutch applied.
The crowd expected that to end the match and when Verville managed
to escape, he made several fans for life. Kadan's frustrations
took over here, distracting him and Jack took advantage, rolling
up Kadan for a quick pin!
The main event of the evening was a four team
Tables, Ladders and Chairs Match for the HWA Tag Team
Championship. The Hybrids, The Naptown Dragons and Aeroform all
wanted to be the team to take the gold away from reigning
champions, Dave and Jake Crist - The Irish Airborne. The Airborne
received a heroes welcome as they made their way to the ring.
Allow me to apologize ahead of time for not being to do justice to
this match. With eight wrestlers fighting all over the building,
it was impossible to keep track of every devastating move that was
inflicted throughout this war of a match. Longworth Hall - the
building the show was held in - is the proud new owner of several
holes in the wall as bodies were flying every which way and
destroying everything in the wrestler's path. Tables were smashed,
chairs broken over wrestlers heads, ladders used as impaling
devices - this was the most brutal match to ever take place in the
state of Ohio, the Midwest, the country - ANYWHERE! Early in the
match, several wrestlers made their way up to the balcony and
while no one was thrown over, it wasn't for lack of trying. After
nearly twenty minutes of mayhem, which saw two HWA referees and
several more officals get taken out, Jake Crist climbed the ladder
and had the gold in his reach and was able to grab one of the two
titles hanging from the ceiling! The crowd exploded, thinking The
Irish Airborne had retained, but with no ref, Donovan of the
Hybrids tried to take the title from Jake. Senior official Joe
Kopasz came out and saw the two men fighting over the title and
made his official decision - the match would restart with The
Irish Airborne and The Hybrids to determine a winner! While the
members of Aeroform and The Naptown Dragons weren't happy with the
decision, fans certainly were as they got to see more of this epic
encounter. The fight resumed between the two teams with Jason
destroying Jake with a chair. Dave made his way back into the ring
to help his brother, only to be double stomped by The Hybrids -
stealing an Airborne trademark! The Hybrids set up a table in the
corner while Jake set up the ladder. Jake and Dave took out
Donovan with their version of the double team double stomp through
a table! Jason goes for the save before getting taken out by Dave.
With Jake climbing the ladder and both Hybrids knocked out, their
manager Danny O'Brien climbed the ladder trying to stop Jake Crist
from reaching the gold. Dave drilled Danny with a chair shot to
the back and Danny fell off the fifteen foot high ladder through
the table left setup in the ring! Jake Crist reached the gold and
The Irish Airborne win! Winning would not be enough though, as
Dave Crist decided that Danny O'Brien needed to go through another
table! Jake jumped off the ladder, destroying Danny with a flying
elbow, crushing the table! Will Danny O'Brien ever be seen in the
HWA again? After what the Irish Airborne did to him, I'm not
expecting to see Danny for a long, long time. A fantastic
conclusion to a fantastic night!
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Correspondent, Andrew Grevas
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