2016 Ongoing MOTY List: Yehi v. Riddle

6. Fred Yehi v. Matt Riddle EVOLVE 54 1/23

ER: This is just about the coolest 6 minutes you'll spend watching a wrestling match this year. We've always been a champion of short matches here. I think there's a neat art in constructing a short little story and paying it off satisfactorily, and these two started threads that made me want to watch them every time they show up. Yehi is a little beast and Riddle? Man, I'm not sure how Riddle is as good as he is, this early. Riddle already gets so many little things. David Flair, son of the man who many people consider the biggest wrestling legend of them all, was allowed to be the worst wrestler on television for two years. And here's a pothead formerly fun UFC guy immediately understanding presence and body language and movement with about a year in the business. This is a 6 minute sprint that had me gassed just watching it. The go behind battle was fun and eventually leads to Yehi dumping Riddle a few times with brutal Germans. Riddle flew into these and they peaked with him getting full rotation on the third. I love how Riddle ended up spilling out on his stomach, one leg hung up into the ropes. That's the kind of thing I mean when I say Riddle understands presence, and presentation. That kind of visual display doesn't happen by accident, and a lot of guys don't have that. At one point Yehi throws a hammer blow to Riddle's (bare) foot and it gets paid off by Riddle rushing to his feet and faceplanting when putting weight on that foot. The struggle was real in this one, and there was always grapple control, limbs being fought over; I was wondering where Yehi was taking things once he foolishly dove into triangle bait, and I loved Riddle rolling through for the final tap. If we get a hotter 6 minutes this year then color me excited.

PAS: I loved this match, Riddle is already really good and I am excited to see where he goes from here. The early amateur wrestling sections were great, some of the better worked amateur wrestling I can remember seeing, Yehi getting Riddle's back and dumping him on his head was great looking, I loved the over rotation on that third german, just looked nasty. I also loved Yehi smashing the bridge of the foot and how Riddle sold it. Finish ankle lock was awesome too, unique way to put it on, and the extra wrench by Riddle to get the tap was great. This made me want to track down everything by both guys.


2016 MOTY MASTER LIST