2017 Ongoing MOTY List: Bone Collector v. Filthy Tom

18. Tom Lawlor v. Dominic Garrini AIW 9/15

PAS: The new trend of UFC guys (and gals)  deciding to do indie wrestling has really led to some great stuff, and this might be my favorite. Filthy Tom Lawlor actually had some pro-wrestling experience before UFC (he is listed as Hack Myers trained by Cagematch) and was a DVDVR poster back in the day. Garrini isn't an ex-UFC guy but is a Brazilian Jujitsu champion and fits in perfectly in this style. Lawlor comes out in a gimp mask and predator wig, and I am not sure what gimmick he is working. Opening matwork was great, both guys rolling around grabbing arms and legs. I imagine this was ju-jitsu sparring and you could tell that the skill level was really high. After the matwork there was a section I didn't like where they did a very 2017 slap exchange into an elbow exchange into a a pair of semi no-sold German suplexes. After that there was a very cool double KO with Garinni throwing a knee and eating a superman punch at the same time. Finish run was awesome with Lawlor hitting a great uranage into an Olympic hell (man someone needs to bring over Tamon Honda and have him work both of these guys and Riddle). Actually finish was dope, Lawlor goes for a top rope headbutt and gets caught in a triangle, Lawlor fights his way out of it and counters it into a Styles clash for the pin. Just a hell of fight, and one of my favorite matches of the year.

ER: According to Lawlor he was also trained by Alex Porteau and AJ Gallant. And when you watch Lawlor wrestle you're clearly thinking "That there is a cross between The Pug, The Shah and...AJ Gallant." But this right here was a kick ass battle. We expect the rolling and grappling to be good, and it was. I loved Lawlor laughing off Garrini's first single leg attempt before getting pulled to the mat, loved them fighting over legs, and my favorite moment was Garrini slipping on a guillotine, almost dropping in from the side. It's not a position you typically see a guillotine applied from. I really disliked that middle 90 seconds. Didn't mind the slaps, but both guys have pretty bad looking chops, the German trading and phone booth fighting is something I don't need to see again, and the double KO spot came off somewhat confusing. I had to rewind to see what actually happened, but the crowd didn't get that benefit. Their other stuff is so damn good that these 90 seconds (especially the "2017" parts Phil mentioned) felt really out of place. But I got over it quick once Lawlor tossed a couple nice suplexes, a deadlift uranage (into a great anaconda choke) and Garrini hits him with a nasty running kick to the face. Lawlor drops him off the top with a German with a nice struggle, then comes off the top with an elbow right into a Garrini triangle. We already saw Lawlor come up with a fun finish based around Riddle catching him in a triangle, and here we get another. Lawlor powerbombs him out of it, gets caught again, then maneuvers into a nasty Styles Clash for the win. Tons of killer stuff here.

2017 MOTY MASTER LIST