2018 Ongoing MOTY List: Demus vs. Wotan

37. Demus 3:16 vs. Wotan Club Apolo 4/1

PAS: Small show dirty floor, possible staph infection Demus brawls are my single favorite type of match in 2018. This one was a little lightubey for my tastes, although at least there wasn't any long construction spots, and more just smashing each other with tubes, they used the tube shots in the place of strikes, and I wish they just used punches. Lots to love in this though, Demus is such a persistent fucker, he is like a wolverine who smells blood, and I love all of his takedowns into headbutts and punches. I also loved Wotan grabbing him and just fireman's carrying him into a discarded pile of tubes, felt more like a spot in an action movie fight, then a garbage wrestling match. For some reason these guys are incapable of having a decent finish, as this had a loooong double count on a vertical suplex and then a Demus low blow, two in a row between these guys soiled by a stinko ending.

ER: This goes to the floor about a minute in and I already knew Phil would be way on board at that point. Not long after that and Wotan is bleeding from bites, and we're in our Demus small show comfort zone. The tubes are distracting, as there are tons of them set up, and I too would rather just see these two bleeding weirdos punch each other. They do, that, and I did like the moments where the tubes came into the match a bit more organically: Instead of one guy grabbing one while the other waits, we had a big moment where Wotan hefts Demus up and drops him with a death valley driver into a pile of them, with Demus following with a double leg takedown into the tubes. A pile of tubes that required no match pausing for spot set-up, that I can get behind. Chairs get flung, a big stack of connected plastic chairs gets used, children get protected by grossed out mothers, it's definitely a small show Demus match. My favorite moments of the match are the quieter ones, like Demus celebrating only to have Wotan run up behind him and punch him right in the kidneys, then deliver a few more great body blows to drop Demus in the corner. Demus really is one of the all time great bleeders in wrestling, and both guys bleed all for one of the most putrid match finishes of the year: The match was last man standing, supposedly, even though pinfalls had been counted all match, and a vertical suplex just leads to them lying there, fans confused about the finish, Demus improvising a new low blow finish, total confusion, match basically just ends. So awful. How can they not think of a better finish to a match!? BUT we had 10 minutes of guys pasting each other before that, and this match wouldn't have made tape a decade ago, so sit on it.


2018 MOTY MASTER LIST