Slammiversary 2018: Ranking Each Match By Expected Quality

8. Eddie Edwards vs. Tommy Dreamer- House of Hardcore Match

I’ll get to the match itself in a moment, but first, I need to express my indifference to this storyline for just a second.

There’s nothing technically wrong with the story, and Tommy Dreamer is holding up his end well playing the role of a veteran wrestler that serves as a cautionary tale for younger workers. I just haven’t bought into the idea of Eddie Edwards as a person who’s lost his mind. He’s trying his best, but Edwards doesn’t have the acting chops to pull this off and it’s hurt the storyline as a result.

Thank you for bearing with me, now back to the match.

Even in his prime, Dreamer was never a standout wrestler, so the House of Hardcore rules will mask his in-ring deficiencies. It also helps to have Edwards as a dance partner.

For all of his shortcomings on the microphone, Edwards is one of the better wrestlers on the roster. He’ll have no problem bumping around for Dreamer to put over the brutality of the match. Plus, he can display an intensity and viciousness that hasn’t shone through in most of the angles.

This match will be fine, but it will probably feature many of the same hardcore match tropes that fans have seen a million times. On a show with this much potential, a Tommy Dreamer garbage match will probably be the weakest on the card, which isn’t a bad thing in this case.