On Saturday night, Booker T's Reality of Wrestling returned to the Clear Lake City Sports Complex for a big event. One champion walked out as a FORMER champion, while another champion thrilled the crowd...or least one lucky lady in the front row.
The madman known as Cedric Pain opened things up against AJ Summers. These two went back and forth in a very solid opening match. Summers put on a tremendous showing, but Cedric was able to counter a roll-up attempt and pick up the victory. Summers sat in the ring stunned at what had just happened.
Up next, "Ruthless" Ryan Davidson made his way to the ring for a match against the ultra popular American Eagle. Davidson wasted no time, as he attacked Eagle as he was getting into the ring. He brutalized his patriotic opponent for several minutes, keeping grounded and unable to do much. Eagle tried to make a comeback, but Davidson slammed that door with a series of chops. But as Davidson went to continue the assault, Eagle suprised him with a roll-up and picked up the win. An enraged Davidson sat in amazement as several ringside fans voiced their opinions of him.
Up next, Jasper "The Hammer" Davis squared off against The Pride. Starting off, they locked up as Jasper backed him into the corner. Pride tried several times to turn things around in the opening minutes, but Jasper leveled him with a pair of clotheslines. Pride finally gained an advantage, catching him in the corner and delivering a big splash. He then took Jasper to the opposite corner and laid in a vicious chop. But he made a crucial mistake, when he went to the top rope and missed a big moonsault. Jasper would roll out of the way and hit a sit-out powerbomb to pick up the win.
"Rockstar" Robbie Gilmore was in action on Saturday night, as he stepped into the ring against Steele. Robbie found himself on the wrong end of the match early, missing a splash in the corner and crashing to the outside of the ring. Back inside, Steele took over and dominated the majority of the match. He barely let Robbie get any kind of offense in. Robbie did manage to find his way to the top rope, but it would end badly. After missing a big elbow drop from high above, Robbie found himself getting driven face-first into the mat as Steele picks up the win.
From there, ROW GM Queen Sharmell made her way to the ring. She was there to address a serious situation involving Abel Andrew Jackson and Miss Bates. She said that Abel putting his hands on Bates two weeks earlier was completely unacceptable and she demanded an apology from him. Abel felt he had nothing to apologize for, but Sharmell wouldn't budge. So he apologized. But he apologized for Bates getting in the way and not doing her job.
Sharmell was quick to let him know that it wasn't a sincere apology and he needed to redo it. So he said he was a sincere and heartfelt guy, and then whispered something in Bates' ear. Enraged by what she had apparently just been whispered, she slapped Abel and attacked him. Referees had to sprint to the ring to pull the two apart.
After being nearly humiliated by Bates just minutes earlier, Abel returned to the ring for a match against Cedric Pain. Bates accompanied him to the ring, but was quickly stopped by a police officer. She was handcuffed and escorted out of the building. Cedric chased afterwards, and Abel demanded that referee Scott Zenzen begin a 10-count.
The referee obliged but before Abel could celebrate, Erik Lockhart bolted to the ring and started an impromptu match. He got several near-falls on Abel to start things out, before Abel was able to turn things around. He hit Erik with a German suplex and then lined him up for a picture perfect dropkick. He set Erik up for a suplex, but it was countered as Erik rolled him into a single leg Boston crab. But when Erik became distracted moments later, it allowed Abel to score with a swinging neckbreaker to pick up the win.
Kid Ransom was set up for a big night, that started with a defense of the ROW Internet Championship against Ayden Cristiano. They locked up and Ransom took Cristiano to the corner and connected with a big splash, then followed up with a big clothesline. Moments later, Cristiano was firing back with a series of chops that sent Ransom reeling to the corner. He then hit Ransom with a vicious elbow to the face, that nearly ended the champion's night. As Cristiano was in complete control, TJ Lewis came down and assaulted him. The left the referee with no choice but to throw the match out. As a result of a no-decision, Ransom holds on to the title. But his night was far from done, as you'll find out later on.
Gustavo Mendoza (accompanied by Rubio) faced off with TJ Lewis in the next match. Mendoza took over with an early armbar, but TJ reversed with one of his own to take Mendoza to the mat. This was a very fast-paced match that ended just like the previous two, with outside interference. As TJ went to the top rope and hit a senton splash, Ayden Cristiano hit the ring and returned the favor from earlier. He and Mendoza beat down Lewis until ROW newcomer Bryan Keith sprinted to ringisde and made the save. The referee awarded Lewis the match as a result of a disqualification.
Up next was a tag team match, featuring Erik and Andrew Lockhart taking on the team of Kelly Kevin and the American Eagle. Early on, both teams traded control. At one point, Kevin and the Eagle had control when they both dispatched the Lockart brothers to the floor. But that was turned around moments later, when round two of brawling went to the brothers when they threw their opponents to the floor. Once things settle down, both teams went back and forth and gave the fans a very entertaining match. Kevin tagged in late in the match, and worked on Erik. But when he went for a cross-body from the top rope, Erik rolled through the pin attempt and picked up the shocking win.
But disaster struck moments later, as American Eagle was returning to the locker room. Ryan Davidson, who suffered the loss to Eagle earlier in the night, came out and brutally attacked Eagle. He was obviously still enraged from the loss. Before he could a great deal of damage, Kelly Kevin and the Lockhart brothers returned to the scene and made the save. Davidson backed out of the area screaming, "It's not over till I SAY it's over!"
With that said, it was time for the main event. Australian import Rob Barnes came to the ring with his ROW Championship with a microphone. He said he had to make the sad announcement that he had no opponent for the night. So he brought out three members of the ROW roster. Keith, Alex, and John Deere were brought out, and Barnes said he would hand-pick his opponent based on crowd reaction.
John Deere received the biggest reaction, but Barnes said that the clear winner was Keith and that would be his opponent. But he was quickly stopped by Sharmell, who was about to make his night worse. She said that he doesn't get to make the rules, matches, or even hand-pick his opponents. That's her job. She then picked a suitable opponent for Barnes, and it was revealed to be Jasper Davis.
Very disapproving of Sharmell's decision, Barnes reluctantly faced Davis. Early on, Davis took the advantage, hitting Barnes with every suplex and slam he could unleash. He then connected with a high back body drop and a vicious powerslam. Barnes was able to cut him off with a kick to the midsection, and then went to the corner for a move from the top rope. But Davis was spot on with a defensive dropkick that was designed more for self-defense rather than an offensive maneuver. Later in the match, Davis connected with a Death Valley Driver, but Barnes was able to get his foot on the ropes to break the pin. Moments later, Davis hit the move again, and pinned Barnes to become the brand new ROW Champion. Fans celebrated as "The Hammer" walked out with the gold.
After all the action of the evening, there was still one more surprise left to unveil. ROW Founder Booker T and Sharmell returned to the ring and addressed the fans. Booker noted that ROW would hopefully be relocating to a larger venue and thanked the fans for all their support. Booker then brought out the ROW Internet Champion, Kid Ransom.
Ransom first thanked Booker and Sharmell for setting him straight and getting him to lose weight. He said he had a decision to make, and that he had thought long and hard about this and that it was time. Ransom said with that, it was time to basically put up or shut up and then he left the ring. He walked over to the front row, where his girlfriend was sitting with his family, and proceeded to get down on one knee and propose to her in front of the entire crowd. As suddenly shocked and surprised by what had just happened, she said yes through a face full of tears. The crowd gave a standing ovation as Booker thanked the fans again to close out the show.
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