WWE Global Cruiserweight Series: RPW Qualifying Match

Noam Dar v. Josh Bodom RPW 5/1/16

PAS: Kind of an odd match to run as a qualifier. You figure these would be more showcases for the guy going over, but this was more of an angle based match. Dar hurts his arm early and Bodom works it over with Dar doing a nice job of selling. They also do a bunch of spots with Bodom's stable mates interfering.  I didn't get much of a sense of Dar's stuff, although I loved his final kneebar and the fight over the finish.

ER: I was unfamiliar with both men going into this, and I came away liking Bodom and thinking Dar is one of those guys who I may like or dislike depending on the opponent. He has a lot of hammy facials and pauses before hitting offense, and I have a feeling against some guys we'd have to suffer through extended periods of schtick. For a 12 minute match this took forever to get going. We get a long stand off and several singing chants from the crowd which made it an easy choice to watch most of it on mute. I've heard dozens of Hey Jude renditions, I don't need to hear an indy wrestling crowd's take. Bodom had a nice snap to a lot of his stuff and I liked the way he pressed on. Dar was really effective at selling the arm, really wisely able to use only his good arm throughout the entire match and never dropping it for brief moments of convenience. The interference felt odd and out of place, as Phil mentioned, and I would have liked a different structure, but by the end this won me over.


WWE GLOBAL CRUISERWEIGHT SERIES GUIDE