2016 Ongoing MOTY List: Young Bucks v. Cobb/Riddle

18. Young Bucks v. Matt Riddle/Jeff Cobb PWG 12/16

PAS: Young Bucks matches have some problems baked in, you are going to get winking goofiness, some contrived spots and way too many superkicks, however both guys are big bumpers, have some nice looking offense and good timing. This was a match where the good outweighed the bad, Riddle and Cobb are a fun Steiner brother tag team, and really chucked around the Jacksons. I loved Cobb just throwing them both like sacks of wheat into a truck bed. Meanwhile the Bucks did a nice job timing their superkicks, I especially loved the superkick on Riddle's bare foot, which is a really nifty way to work a bodypart. I really should dislike the Young Bucks, but man are they in some good matches.

ER: My god I loved this. Bucks are usually a no middle ground team with me. I think I'm overall higher on them than most people, but I also recognize pretty early in a match if a particular Bucks match is going to work for me. So I love peak Bucks, and bail early on the stuff I recognize as not working. But this worked. It was like a Steiners/PG-13 match that never happened (wait did the Steiners ever face PG-13!?!? No that's impossible...unless it happened like a year ago at a Gathering of the Juggalos or something). Riddle and Cobb dominate so convincingly (tossing both around as you'd expect) that you start wondering how the Bucks will convincingly go on offense...and then Matt gets the boots up in the corner, suckers Riddle into chasing him around the ring, right into a beautiful Nick blindside superkick from the apron, and shit is ON. The rest of the match is a wonderful off the rails sprint, with unexpected double teams, neat move set ups, and tons of superkicks. People are weirdly offended by the Bucks use of superkicks, but I like it. It's an adjustment of thinking, no longer treating them as a KO blow but more as a thousand tiny cuts. I think they're effective because while they use them constantly, they use them in different ways and to different degrees. Sometimes they use them the way Lawler uses a punch, other times they're more devastating (like when Cobb is going for Tour of the Islands and takes one to the back of the head, and crumples beautifully), or when they're used specifically as a blindside cut off, or when they're used specifically to set up an opponents offense (the several times they get caught by Riddle and get used against them). They take it to the next level once they start stomping Riddle's ankle and then hold it up on a platter to superkick it. Great, great spot. They also avoid the Bucks mugging while the opponents have to sit around and sell. All Bucks mugging leads directly to Riddle/Cobb getting the momentum back: Nick mugs to the camera while punching Riddle, leading to him getting popped in the eye; both doing cocky superkicks to kneeling Cobb/Riddle leading to them getting caught in ankle locks.

This match is just a great confluence of styles, within the tag structure. From there we get unique Bucks double teams (Matt powerbombing Riddle into the corner while Nick hits an enziguiri, Matt hitting a cannonball while Nick hits a sliding shotgun kick), neat subtle taunts (Matt Jackson hitting a more vicious version of Riddle's running corner knee than Riddle hit earlier in the match), clever quirks (Matt pulling the ref towards him to hide the fact Nick is tapping to an ankle lock), big bumps, great nearfalls, and a satisfying, logical finish. I would have flipped my wig had I been there live.


2016 MOTY MASTER LIST