2014 Ongoing Match of the Year List

17. Drew Gulak v. Timothy Thatcher EVOLVE 8/8

PAS: Really great match, the three way battle between these two and Biff Busick are really the best thing in wrestling right now with the WWE on a bit of a match quality dip, and lucha having a lot of great but not transcendent matches. This is worked in that mix of catch, shootstyle and 80's technical wrestling. Thatcher really works this like a power guy vs. Gulak's slippery opportunist. He had some great Billy Robinson-esque throws and nasty clubs and forearms, at one point he grabs Gulak by the fingers and snaps them, he also really violently tears up Gulak's arm. Meanwhile Gulak is spinning in to armbars and kneebars just hoping to catch Thatcher before he is overwhelmed. He eventually counters a deadlift and is able to grab a kneebar. Not the smoothest finish, which may put this a little below the best of these series, but this was a corker.

ER: The best thing about these guys, is that there is actual payoff to the great work within. Limb work is not exactly a new thing in indy wrestling, but how many times have we all watched a match where a guy is getting his leg taking apart, but he's a high flier so you know it's just a matter of time before the limb work gets blown off. You can't really fully blame the flier in that scenario as it's not really his fault the other guy put him into an impossible situation. Not selling a limb that's been worked over is always cited as a problem, but working over a limb so much that a human wouldn't believably be able to use it is just as much if not more of a problem within a worked wrestling match. Knowing your opponents' limits is arguably more important than knowing your own, and watching Gulak and Thatcher it's clearly two guys who know what the other can handle, and not only two guys who feel like they've wrestled hundreds of matches against each other, but two guys who you wouldn't mind seen work a hundred more. There are always great little moments in these matches, but they always come together as some sort of constant overall snapshot. You don't get any traditional comebacks, as instead they're a constant struggle with Thatcher being a nasty bully and Gulak trying to scrabble around for any opening. If you're into awesome holds, nasty shots to vulnerable joints, and one of the best piledrivers I've seen in ages, you maaaayyyy be into this.


2014 MASTER LIST