Uprising: Lucha Libre Workrate Report 9/6/14

This match was from the 2/22/14 show in San Francisco and really was the main thing that got us to go there live.  Thatcher is without a doubt one of the best workers in the world today, and it's extra cool for me as it feels like a real long time since Bay Area wrestling fans got to watch a really great wrestler before he moved on to bigger things. I'm not even sure who the last really good worker to come from the Bay Area was. I really liked Larry Blackwell, but he's not really a guy who worked anywhere other than the Bay Area. So who is the last acclaimed worker who can be thought of as originating from the Bay Area? Mike Modest? Cheerleader Melissa?




Timothy Thatcher vs. Blue Demon Jr.

I really liked this match and thought it was really the best possible Demon singles match we could have gotten. Again, this was the match that got us all to drive down to the show, a) because Thatcher is awesome, and b) I was really curious what he could get out of Demon. And at the end of the night I think it would be unfair to say that Demon was carried. I think he brought more to this match and actively tried here more than I've ever actually seen him. Thatcher had a bunch of cool armwork throughout which shouldn't be a shock to anybody. Him grabbing a guy by the wrist and stomping down on the arm is one of my absolute favorite things in wrestling. Also had some nice armbar exchanges with Demon rolling with it to try and leverage pin Thatcher. Now it's true the armwork never really goes anywhere, as Demon never sold any of it for too long, but the journey was fun. Demon threw out a lot of fun holds and Thatcher was real good at making them look engaging. I dug the Nieblina that saw Thatcher wiggling on his back so he could hook the bottom rope with his chin. Demon threw out way more strike exchanges than I've ever seen him do including some nifty kick combos, although Thatcher does noticeably hold back his shots after his first chop of the match. Thatcher backs him in the corner and blasts him, and yeah, it can't be a coincidence that the first shot was his biggest chop of the night. Still, his others look fine and Demon returns fire with nice overhands. We also get a cool baseball slide dropkick late in the match from Demon, Demon throws a great back elbow out of the corner, and Thatcher makes a Demon bulldog look lethal. Finish got a big surprise pop from me live, as Demon does a sunset flip out of the corner which seemed like the obvious and inevitable finish, but then Thatcher reverses it and holds the ropes for the win. None of us were expecting Demon to lose, that's for sure.

Now, the TV airing of the match does something real smart, as live the rest of the evening was a complete confusing mess. Demon got on the mic, demanded it be made into a 2/3 fall match, the match started right back up again and Demon immediately locks in a submission. Thatcher never taps, and ref tries to break up the hold, and the bell starts ringing a bunch, and all the tecnicos come out to pull him off Thatcher, and then Thatcher just leaves. But Demon gets on the mic again, demands more match, appearing to challenge for a hair vs. mask match, and then eventually gets Thatcher counted out of the ring. The crowd had no idea what the hell was going on starting right after Thatcher pinned Demon, so it was a real odd and confusing way to send people home that night. The TV version wisely edits almost all of that stuff out, which I think the match benefitted from.

So good job on the TV presentation as I think the match was even better here on rewatch. I had a good time watching it live, but enjoyed it even more here. Really good camera work, commercial breaks planned at good spots. Up above I included the match which my buddy J recorded live, for all of you to enjoy!