ACW held Winter Warfare 5 at Lincoln Elementary School in Roselawn, IN on Friday, December 8, 2017 at 7:00pm CST.

Because math is hard, this was the 4th anniversary show for ACW, since it would have been Winter Warfare 2 that made the 1st anniversary.  It’s like the argument about whether the new millennium started in 2000 or 2001.  Now, I’m typing this 6 days later, after an entire week of having a cold, so I am relying more then usual on the skimpy notes I tapped into my cell phone.  Any errors are the fault of T K Zero.

I do remember I considered not going to the show at all, because Cliff Caviar stressed on social media that he was vacationing on his yacht this weekend and would not be on the show.  If Cliff Caviar isn’t performing, is there a point to making the drive?  I dunno.

To start things off, some familiar faces from Fire Pro Wrestling come out to take their seats at a ringside table: announcers Jim and the masked guy.  They were never introduced to the audience at any FPW show I went to, and that trend continues here.  I almost wonder if I’m seeing ghosts, and no one else knows they are there.  But I’m pretty sure that’s not true, as I think it’s their voices on this video of the opening segment of the show.  Either that, or a couple of loud drunk guys in the front row got captured in the audio.  But since that video is there, now there’s no point with me continuing with a recap, so goodnight!

Nah, I’ll keep going.  I didn’t take all these high quality pictures for nothing.  General Manager Michael Allen comes out greet the crowd.  He is interrupted almost immediately by Drex Odell, who is out to complain (again) that he has defeated everyone in ACW and is out of competition.  Michael Allen grudgingly agrees with him, and says that’s why he’s brought in someone to take on Odell; Odell will meet Gideon for the ACW Heavyweight Championship later in the show.  Gideon comes out to give a sneak preview, which leaves Odell lying in the ring.

The opening match is Austin Fury against Rockstar Jonny Nigh.  The special guest referee is Mr. Shepherd, from Lincoln Elementary, I guess.  Fury and Nigh are each accompanied by teachers.  (The match does not devolve into a Lunchroom No DQ Falls Only Count in the Biscuits & Gravy Brawl, sadly.)  You can watch this video for the part of the match where Nigh makes Fury bounce like a beach ball off a DDT.  I’ll just say this once then leave it alone, but … man, those saggy ropes really seem to hinder things.   Rockstar Jonny Nigh wins.

The second match of the evening stars Crimson Dynamo.  He, like Drex Odell, does not have any competition lined up already for his Tough Man Title (this could be a short evening if too many people don’t have matches planned!) and he issues an open challenge.  The challenge is answered by …. Blue Dynamo?  He is in Dynamo gear that’s, you guessed it, blue.  And he’s really skinny.  (See picture.  He’s the one that’s getting handled.  And he’s masked.  Hey, wait a minute ….) Soon, T K Zero comes out to talk smack at Crimson Dynamo.  While he is distracting everyone, Blue Dynamo pulls out some brass knuckles, gives Crimson Dynamo a low blow, and gets the pin.   Then Blue Dynamo unmasks, and it’s Cliff Caviar!  Oh no!

Off the heels of his involvement in the previous match, T K Zero takes on Jared Kripke in the third match.  Kripke’s original opponent was supposed to be CK1, who was not on hand, and Kripke states (1) that his moustache does more curls than CK1, and (2) that he’ll take on anyone (another open challenge!).  That’s when T K Zero came out.  And man, do the kids here at Lincoln Elementary hate T K Zero!  (Pic 1 below shows him reminding the children at the rail to stay in school, eat their vegetables at lunch, and respect their teachers.) Kripke gets the win, after which Austin Fury comes out and attacks him (Pic 2).

The fourth match has Rick Raid taking on Macho Del Silver in a ladder match; an ACW contract is hanging above the ring – the first person to retrieve it gets the contract, the loser must leave ACW for good.  This match was simply amazing, with some big moves like a suplex up and over the top of the ladder, a tipped ladder where both workers ended up on the ropes, slams from the top, and so on.

Rick Raid ends up winning the match, signs the contract and slaps it into the chest of GM Michael Allen, then sings “Na Na Na Na Hey Hey Goodbye” to Del Silver.  (He’s got a pretty good voice, if this wrestling thing doesn’t work out, he has options!)  Macho Del Silver gives a farewell speech.  And hey look, it’s Mr. Moxie Mollie out to console him, he must be an old friend.

After the short break, the next match is Kyle Kaylor vs ACW Intercontinental Champion Xavier Black.  Black wins this, and then pulls a fast one on Kaylor by feigning the “I respect you now and will shake your hand” move before attacking him.  While Black is attacking Kaylor, a mystery man runs out from the back and pretends to buddy up to Black before he clobbers Black himself, then feeds Black over to Kaylor to get his licks in.  I don’t know who he was and his name was never announced.  But if you can identify him from this photo, please contact the authorities.  And no, Kyle Kaylor is not playing “I’ve got your nose” there, it just looks like it.

Next up, we have Flawless Dave Allen (without his branded Dave Allen shorts!) against X-caliber (Pic 1, below), who wins with (if I am learning my wrestling moves well) a Death Valley Driver.  Afterwards, Austin Fury runs out and attacks him, too!  Jeez, what’s up with this guy?

The second to last match is the one set up at the beginning of the show, Drex Odell vs. Gideon for the ACW Heavyweight Championship.  Pic 2 above shows Drex trying and missing a moonsault.  Between Gideon, Drex, and the ref, there were three large homo sapiens in the ring for this match.  Odell wins, rather suddenly, and keeps his title.  Someone has to step up!  I wonder what Kongo Kong is doing in 2018…  Please note that Austin Fury does NOT come out and attack either of these guys after the match.

In the main event of the evening, the Fighting Schoolteacher Jimmy Holmes takes on Bradley Alexander Dawson in a match coming out of the John Hendle Cancer Benefit Show.  This is a street fight!  Picture 1 below shows Holmes going into a piece of plywood. At one point, BAD leaves the ring to go backstage and runs back in with a weapon – Kyle Kaylor!  BAD slams Kaylor on top of Holmes, that’s funny.  But Kaylor cannot be called a foreign object, since he’s from Indiana.  (Hey, don’t look at me like that, you’re the one still reading this crap.) Soon, BAD KO’s the ref and exposes a turnbuckle, preparing to send Holmes’ head into it.  But Holmes has other ideas, and hits BAD with BAD’s own golf club.  While the original ref is still out of it, Super-Ref Zoran dives effortlessly into the ring (seriously, I’d give that dive / slide into the ring a 9.7) to count the pinfall for Holmes.  And then, during the celebration, Mr. Moxie Mollie comes back to the ring and attacks Holmes!  This causes a brawl and lots of folks from backstage have to come out to separate these two (Pic 2 below).  They don’t like each other!  Mr. Mollie introduces himself to those who have not been with ACW since the beginning, he is Maverick Cage, he and Holmes have quite a history, and now it’s time for the third match between the two.  This will take place at ACW School’s Out, which I’m guessing is in May or June of 2018.  Jeez, that’s a long time away.

So 2017 is all done in ACW, and the year ends with:

• Heavyweight Champion:  Drex Odell
• Intercontinental Champion: Xavier Black
• Tough Man Champion:  Cliff Caviar (due to events hereafter to be called the Roselawn Screwjob!)
• No tag team or women’s titles are around, but maybe that can be taken care of in 2018, eh ACW?

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If you’re so inclined, check out the Northwest Indiana Wrestling Action Program (NWIWRAP) broadcast Sundays at 9:30pm, right after Mostly Metal, which runs Sundays from 8:00-9:30pm CST, on WVLP 103.1FM in Valparaiso, IN.  If you’re not in Valpo, catch it streaming on http://www.wvlp.org and the Tune In Radio app.  Rebroadcasts happen Wednesdays 10pm – midnight, and NWIWRAP is archived on YouTube, just search for NWIWRAP.  You can find @nwiwrap on Twitter.  And you can subscribe to the nwiwrap.wvlp@gmail.com Google calendar, where I try to keep up to date calendar postings of shows in and around the NWI region.  Because WRESTLING!