OVW Rise 1296 Recap

By Ethan Absler

OVW fans were treated to yet another action-packed episode of Rise (1296) emanating from the historic Davis Arena in Louisville, Kentucky. With Independence Rage just over the horizon, the June 13th episode proved to be as significant as expected with everyone leaving it in the ring as they attempted to claw their way onto the card.

Between the fallout of last week’s Career versus Women’s Championship match, Al Snow promising to address Crixus and the men in black, and multiple current and former champions competing in matches, Rise 1296 was a can’t-miss show that gave viewers a better look at what Independence Rage on the 29th may look like.

At a Glance

        ○    Sophia Rose Vs. Angelica Risk

        ○    Jay Dinero and Tony Evans Vs. Tusk and Chains (C)

        ○    Dream Girl Ellie Vs. Hollywood Haley J

        ○    Luscious Lawrence Vs. Super-Z Vs. Dustin Jackson

        ○    Al Snow Addresses Crixus and the Men in Black

        ○    Buzz Backlund (C) Vs. “Ice Man” Justice Davis

        ○    Leila Grey (C) Makes A Statement

        ○    “Immovable” Jaylen Flye Vs. Jack Vaughn

        ○    Carson Drake Promises Update on Mick Foley Attack

        ○   Crixus (C) and the Masked Men Vs. Kal Herro (C), Tony Gunn, and Luke Kurtis

Match 1: Sophia Rose Vs. Angelica Risk

One-half of America’s Sweethearts squared off against Angelica Risk in the opening contest of the night. Rose gained an upper hand early with a flurry of offense before a miscalculation allowed Risk to trip Rose face-first on the apron. Risk made sure to continue inflicting punishment, hitting Rose with everything from thunderous shots in the corner to a stiff dropkick to the back, to a picturesque 619.

As the match progressed, Risk only grew more confident, eventually disrespecting Rose and giving her the opening she needed to recover. Two Clotheslines and a Pump Kick to the face later, Rose was in firm control. She proceeded to finish Risk off with a Stunner, ending a strong showing from both competitors.

Result: Sophia Rose DEFEATS Angelica Risk

Match 2: Tony Evans and Jay Dinero Vs. Tusk and Chains (C)

An angry Tony Evans recalled his last few weeks, promising to redeem his singles losses via tag team wins with his partner, Jay Dinero. Unfortunately for them, the current champions used their dynamic mix of size and speed to take control early, leveling both partners before focusing their attention on Evans. Cecil used TW3 as a battering ram before throwing him at Evans for an alley-oop-like Hurricanrana.

The champs continued picking apart Evans and Dinero, effectively preventing them from ever getting out of the gates. Besides a short-lived moment of offense where Dinero and Evans were successful in grinding down the faster TW3, the champs dominated this match. In the end, Cecil turned into a one-man wrecking crew, creating chaos in the ring that would eventually come back to hurt them.

With the referee distracted, Dinero hit TW3 with a brass-knuckled punch, knocking him out and causing the immediate disqualification. Although Evans and Dinero avoided a pinfall or submission loss, a disqualification still goes in the record book as a loss nonetheless.

Result: Tusk and Chains (C) DEFEAT Tony Evans and Jay Dinero Via Disqualification

Match 3: Dream Girl Ellie Vs. Hollyhood Haley J

Looking to prove herself against a former OVW Women’s Champion in Haley J, Dream Girl Ellie started this match off strong, trying to punish her opponent straight from the opening bell. After hitting a Wasteland, a sitting Clothesline, and a Diving Elbow Drop, Ellie found herself in the driver’s seat.

She continued her punishment, taking the former women’s champion to her limit with running boots to the face in the corner. Seemingly moments away from one of the biggest victories of her career, Ellie scaled the top rope only for Tiffany Nieves to emerge from backstage. The distraction allowed for Haley J to hit Ellie with a Powerslam out of nowhere for the victory.

Result: Haley J DEFEATS Dream Girl Ellie

Match 4: Luscious Lawrence Vs. Super-Z Vs. Dustin Jackson

Three of OVW’s brightest young superstars battled it out in a triple-threat match that lived up to the hype it advertised. From the get-go, the match was fast-paced and frenetic with each man trying to take each other out while simultaneously keeping track of the numbers game.

Everyone seemed to have an answer for each other’s offense, with none of the competitors able to gain a clear advantage for more than a few moves at a time. Multiple distractions on the outside from the likes of Mahabali Shera and Crystal gave Jackson the chance to roll up Lawrence for a quick three-count victory.

Result: Dustin Jackson DEFEATS Super-Z and Luscious Lawrence

Segment: Al Snow Addresses Crixus and the Masked Men

Accompanied by Kal Herro, Tony Gunn, Luke Kurtis and Doug Basham, Al Snow reassured the OVW fans that despite the havoc that the masked men and Crixus have caused, OVW is still in control, succeeding, and that the only “revolution” happening in OVW is the company’s success.

Snow challenged the masked men and Crixus to come out like men and face said members of the roster in a match, only to be uninterrupted by an arrogant Crixus and company. The masked men say that they aren't scared of a match, and despite Doug Basham overseeing the action to ensure the OVW faithful get their justice, they ask Snow to keep the side door of Davis Arena open for them.

Match 5: Buzz Backlund (C) Vs. “Ice Man” Justice Davis

With an angry Will Austin on commentary to watch the man who beat him for the OVW Rush

Division Championship last week, Buzz Backlund looked to defeat Academy standout Justice Davis. Backlund used his amateur wrestling skills to gain control early, displaying effortless takedowns and his technical prowess to dominate the rookie.

After a couple of minutes, the champ’s offense was too much for the Ice Man to handle.

Backlund made quick work of the newcomer, putting him away with an Angle Slam and

Crossface Chicken Wing for the submission victory. A tense staredown between Austin and Backlund ended the segment, with the champion reminding Austin he’s been beaten three times in a row now.

Result: Buzz Backlund (C) DEFEATS “Ice Man” Justice Davis

Segment: Leila Grey (C) Talks Women’s Championship Picture

Leila Grey kicked off her time in the ring emphasizing how good it feels to still be OVW Women’s Champion after last week, and did what she had to do in sending Gemma into early retirement despite disappointment from the fans. She continued, talking about how there is a snake in the Bad Girls Club in TIffany Nieves and vows to cut the snake’s head off at Independence Rage.

Just then, Nieves emerged, explaining why everybody in the Bad Girls Club turned on the champion. She claimed she was the leader of the faction, and even went as far as to take credit for their success and for Grey still being champion today. She proceeded to challenge Grey, saying if she’s so tough, she’ll have no problem with Nieves picking her opponent next week. Grey, fired back with the same offer.

After Grey accepted, Nieves selected Freya The Sleya to face the champ next week. As for Nieves, the champ chose her best friend and fellow Bad Girls Club member, Dream Girl Ellie, setting up for two blockbuster women’s matches next week ahead of Independence Rage.

Match 6: “Immovable” Jaylen Flye Vs. Jack Vaughn

The Veteran Jack Vaughn took on the much larger academy standout, Jaylen Flye. Still, the size was no match for the experience of Jack Vaughn who was able to shrug off the early rally of offense from Flye and take control with a big boot to the corner.

The newcomer stayed in the fight though, firing back at Vaughn, even stringing together a few combinations including a thunderous Sidewalk Slam before the Veteran figured out a way to deal with Flye’s immense size. Chopping him down little by little, Vaughn was able to finally down his opponent with a diving Shoulder Tackle and a Lariat for the victory.

Result: Jack Vaughn DEFEATS Jaylen Flye

Segment: Carson Drake Promises Update on Mick Foley Attack

A confident Carson Drake told the OVW fans that after a week of doing nothing but investigating the attack against Mick Foley with Al Snow, they have narrowed their suspect down to one man. He asked the fans to trust him despite his history of questionable behavior, before revealing that their top suspect is none other than Will Austin. Austin emerged but, unsurprisingly, vehemently denied attacking Mick Foley, saying he’s too focused on chasing the OVW Rush Division Championship to attack a “has been” like Foley.

Drake offers up a motive behind the attack: Foley has been critical of Austin’s performances on commentary. This pushed Austin over the edge, who hit Drake with a sucker punch to the face. He tried to follow it up, only for Drake to hit a devastating Backbody Drop on Austin, sending him reeling before promising to get to the bottom of the Mick Foley attack.

Match 7: Crixus (C) and the Masked Men vs Kal Herro (C), Luke Kurtis, and Tony Gunn

Before the team of Kurtis, Herro, and Gunn entered, cameras rushed backstage where viewers saw an injured Tony Gunn after being jumped before the match. Angry and undiscouraged, Luke Kurtis and Kal Herro charged the ring despite being outnumbered. Their pure fire and intensity was enough to overcome the numbers game, allowing the duo to gain a surprising early lead.

The duo continued rolling for a few minutes, defending OVW on their own before the numbers game just became too great. From there, Crixus and company methodically picked apart Herro and Kurtis, clearly enjoying the beating they were putting on their opponents. Surprisingly, the duo continued fighting back, determined to defend OVW from what they believe is evil.

Once the fight spilled to the outside, the numbers game once again suffocated Herro and Kurtis. After seeing Crixus headbutt Basham on the outside, a fired-up Kal hit a double DDT which promised to give him the opening he needed to tag Kurtis. Suddenly, two more masked men attacked Kurtis on the outside before he chased them out of the arena leaving Kal alone in the ring. Just when it seemed that the fight would become a three-on-one affair, a bandaged Tony Gunn came through the curtain, limping to the ring to save Kal.

Outnumbered and surrounded by the masked men, Kal and Gunn looked to fend off their enemies before Gunn shockingly turned around, hitting Kal from behind out of nowhere. Much to the shock of the fans and the announcers, it seemed as if Gunn pledged his allegiance to the masked men before standing over an unconscious Kal.

Who knows what more damage could have been inflicted if it wasn’t for the rest of the OVW locker room coming out to make the save and send the masked men retreating? Result: No Contest

Overall

Independence Rage cannot come soon enough as the tension in every division has reached a breaking point. Both advertised Women’s matches next week hold major significance as we approach the June 29th special with both the Champion and the challenger facing opponents of each other’s choices in one-on-one contests.

Additionally, Carson Drake has actually seemed to make some progress in the investigation of

Mick Foley’s attacker, peaking the interest of the OVW fans. In other news, the meteoric rise of Buzz Backlund continued this week after a hard-fought victory against OVW newcomer Justice Davis, and Will Austin’s luck just keeps getting worse.

Fans will have to wait until next week to see who continues building momentum, as multiple competitors have legitimate arguments for wanting a spot on Independence Rage based on the stellar performances we’ve seen over the last few weeks. The title pictures are getting more crowded, the drama is reaching a fever-pitch, and the next few weeks will prove immensely important in shaping the future of OVW.