House of Truth vs. Jimmy Jacobs & Tyler Black

House of Truth vs. Jimmy Jacobs & Tyler Black - AAW Defining Moment: Fade to Black 9/24/10

This is where Black got his start, his home company, and this is also (for now) where his independent career ends before getting his start with WWE. One of the fools on commentary says upon Black removing his t-shirt it sounded like the Sportatorium when a Von Erich disrobed. That's about as honest a statement as Adam likes non-mainstream film. If both members of House of Truth stood on Jacobs' shoulders they'd combined be tall enough to ride Splash Mountain at Magic Kingdom. Of the four Christian Able is the best at selling, his performances reminding me of Dennis Farina, his ROH stuff comparable to Farina's turn in Manhunter, his AAW run more akin to Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life is Calling. Jacobs is apparently coming off of an injury, in his spare time he should have spent less time at Hot Topic and Kentucky Fried Chicken and more at the gym. After seeing Black work all those 50+ min. battles with Nigel, Aries, Richards, etc. it's kind of hard buying into the House of Truth's control segment as it's just assorted knees and clubs to the back. Weird spot logically where Black hits a suicide dive on Able, gets back in the ring, then runs across to the opposite side of the ring and does another suicide dive onto Josh Raymond who just stood aloof watching him do it all. Adam once said Black was a mixture of Mike Awesome and Great Khali, which is still baffling, which leads me to wonder how he'd sum up Truth Martini?

Black does a somersault plancha onto both HoT members which looks about as painful as a relaxing bath. Black does Cena's "You can't see me!" taunt and locks in an STFU. One thing I noticed is that there was zero ground work. I love seeing it taken to the mat, in MMA as well as wrestling, and feel cheated when that aspect is non-existent. Able countered a spear by Jacobs catching him in mid-dive and hoisting him up into a big powerbomb which was all sorts of cool. A neat spot saw Jacobs shoved off of the top rope and while falling backward caught Able in an Ace Crusher. Silas Young gets involved dragging Jacobs away (thankfully) leaving Tyler alone with the HoT. The HoT got a really good nearfall off of a Tower of Truth. I loved the finish! Black was fired up, hit some of his signature moves, a turnbuckle powerbomb and Superkick on Able, then moved to Raymond who countered God's Last Gift with a cradle and got the upset victory and tag belts for the HoT. The finish bumped up the score a bit and was well-executed. Post-match there's an in-ring circle jerk amongst the wrestlers for Black. To bad this isn't the fraternal hazing he'll experience in WWE's farm leagues or there'd be a literal circle jerk, onto a Maine lobster roll, which Black would then be forced to eat with a side of Laurinaitis' dingleberries.