Black Label Pro: The Darkest Timeline Tournament Phase 1 9/23/17

B-Boy v. Kevin Lee Davidson v. Simon Grimm v. Space Monkey

PAS: This was a basic four way, Grimm is the ex-Simon Gotch from the Vaudvillians and ended up getting the win and moving on. I enjoyed KLD, he was a big fat dude and hit pretty hard, although he wasn't in the match a ton. Highlight was B-Boy and Davidson pounding on each other. Space Monkey is a Chikara guy with comedy shtick, and would hijack parts of the match to getting in his horseshit. 

Dasher Hatfield v. Joe Gacy v. Mordecai

PAS: This is part of the booking strategy of this fed which is bringing in old names to end up with wacky WAR style match ups, I think they got a little cute with this match. I am not sure if Mordecai has been wrestling anywhere in the last 15 years, but he looked fine. Match was mostly Gacy and Mordecai teaming up on Hatfield, until the expected falling out. It was humming along at an average rate, until Hatfield and Gacy go one on one and it is a totally mess, they blow three spots in a row until Gacy hits a lethal injection of all fucking things. Finish has Hatfield rolling Gacy up after Gacy broke up a pin, and the rollup was sort of a mess too. 

Keith Lee v. Sammy Guevara

PAS: I really liked the first 10 minutes or so of this. Basic story with Lee as a the Grizzly bear tossing around and mauling the high flyer. Guevara took some big shots, and was hurled all over the ring. Guevara had some fun flippy counters and realistic bits of offense, he had a really pretty dive to the floor. Match falls apart, with Guevara kicking out of a big powerslam which should have ended it, and then the momentum dipped with a dumb ref bump, a low blow, a couple of long visual falls and a silly finish where the ref DQ's Lee off of an obvious accidental ref bump. Really dumb way to put Guevara over which makes everyone look worse. 

4. Ernest "The Cat" Miller vs. Ethan Page

PAS: Long mike work by the Cat where he calls everyone in the crowd ugly and fat. Not sure the point of bringing in Miller if you are going to have him work this kind of heel. Isn't the point of a nostalgia act that people are nostalgic for them? Page comes out and runs off Miller and cuts a Tommy Dreamer style "all the guys in the back are busting their ass." I am not a Page guy, but he does a nice hateble heel, recasting him as a rah rah babyface seems weird.

Matt Riddle vs. Tom Lawlor

PAS: This was pretty great stuff. I have been wavering on Riddle a bit this year, but putting him in with another MMA guy minimizes some of his more questionable attributes. The opening mat section between the two was pretty great, both guys were just rolling, looking for submissions grabbing advantages, high level stuff which is always good to watch. Riddle is a super impressive athlete and will often do something jaw dropping, after the matwork they exchange tough guy chops, elbows and kicks, and Riddle ends it with a pele kick which looked like it was in fast forward. Lawlor has a fun dick head charisma, shit talking, claiming Dana White sent him to take Riddle out, he is a natural heel and I dug him. His counter of the senton with a rear naked choke was especially cool. Finish was really awesome with Riddle throwing on a super fast triangle choke, and Lawlor trying to slam his way out of hit, only to turn it into a pinfall right before he went out.

ER: I thought this was awesome, loved Lawlor's bruiser heel charisma against Riddle's freak athleticism. The opening rolling was easily some of my favorite mat stuff of the year. I easily could have just watched 15 minutes of that. Lawlor holding Riddle in a facelock, trapping his leg with his own to pull it closer, and then maneuvering into a half crab may be my favorite mat trick of the year. But we got several cool slippery moments, like Riddle hopping into a rear naked only to get immediately shaken off onto his head by Lawlor ducking forward. I didn't think the chop exchange was great, much would have rather seen more mat game, but once they go to blows Lawlor throws some fast and sharp elbows right to the chin. We get several great catches and reversals, which I felt were the best moments of the standing portion: Riddle catching a leg and quickly sneaking in a Pele kick (one of his most seamless Pele kick transitions I've seen, and Lawlor's stumble sell was awesome), or Lawlor shifting to catch a Riddle senton in a rear naked choke. Lawlor does tons of things I love - that most guys don't do - little things like cutting low on clotheslines. It makes the clothesline that eventually hits look so much better when the misses all would have taken a head off too. Loved the Lawlor rear naked choke, the suplexes by both were nuts (Riddle crumbles better than most lunatics on Germans), and the finish was bomb: Lawlor deadlift powerbombing Riddle to escape a triangle, keeps getting triangle locked on after slam, so Lawlor rolls forward with it for the pin.

Dominic Garrini vs. Donovan Danhausen vs. GPA vs. Leva Bates vs. Rory Gulak

PAS: This was short, not very good and sort of a waste of Garrini. I had never seen Garrini work heel before, and I did enjoy him as a smirking meathead prick when he "accidentally" hit Bates. No one else did much for me, and at least the right guy went over.

Darby Allin vs. Super Crazy

PAS: Super Crazy is a guy who has worked rudo against high flyers with nice armdrags for 20 years, so he was right at home eating all of Allin's springboards, armdrags and headscissors. Really pretty stuff, including Allin transition into a somersault dive as smoothly as I have ever seen it. I am use to seeing Allin as an insane bump machine, and it was fun to watch him work as Rey Cometa. Finish was a little abrupt, with Allin countering into a Code Red, getting a two, putting on a Fuller leglock and getting the pin. Seemed like a possible ref flub, otherwise this was a blast.

ER: Phil nails it with the Rey Cometa comparison, but I liked Darby here more than anything I've seen from Cometa this year. He's smooth as silk in his transitions and he shifts into position for things quicker than anybody. He never makes his opponents look like doofuses waiting around to be hit with a move, he's just too damn quick. A lot of his movements remind me of the slickest Freelance spots. Allin needs to go on a sojourn to Mexico as Dark Freelance. Crazy is great as tubby asskicker, though I like him much more cracking Allin in the jaw than doing 1999 Tajiri ECW spots. I know there was nostalgia on this show, but Crazy is a guy with enough tools to still work without relying on nostalgia. That somersault dive of Allin's was flat out gorgeous, and this whole thing was really fun despite the weird and unexpected ending.

Everett Connors vs. The Sandman

PAS: Connors is working a Justin Beiber superfan gimmick, and this was basically Sandman coming out, doing his whole entrance (minus cigarette) and squashing the kid. This was the right way to use a nostalgia act, that is what people wanted to see the Sandman do, so he did it.

Darby Allin v. Dominic Garrini v Sammy Guevara v. Dasher Hatfield v. Simon Grimm v. Tom Lawlor

PAS: This was a six way match with the winners from the early matches to see who advances to the final title match later in the year. Both Guevara and Allin are eliminated almost immediately, which was strange, because both guys are good for at least a crazy spot or bump, multi man matches always need sizzle and dumping your sizzle dudes doesn't make sense. It comes down to Lawlor v. Garrinni v. Hatfield. We never really get a Lawlor v. Garrinni show down (I guess I am going to have to buy the AIW show with their singles) instead it is all Hatfield working both. I did love the finish with Lawlor turning a jackhammer into a nasty rear naked choke and refusing to release it. The show really made Lawlor, and I will be totally into a fed with him as the top guy.

PAS: Lots of this show didn't connect with me, but I did really like Lawlor v. Riddle which was got me to open my wallet (and is an easy choice for our 2017 Ongoing MOTY List), and there are enough fun looking things on the next show I will keep watching.