2018 Ongoing MOTY List: Thatcher vs. Makabe 2

23. Timothy Thatcher vs. Daniel Makabe 3-2-1 Battle! 7/13

PAS: This is a rematch from their 2017 banger, and we have a role reversal. Makabe has turned heel at this point, and is no longer the plucky underdog searching for a win, he has beaten Thatcher and isn't going to show him the same respect. Thatcher still controls early, with big shots and throws, until Makabe is able to send him chest first into the turnbuckle, Thatcher bounces back and gets cracked with an elbow to the neck and Makabe has a target. For the rest of the match he aims at that neck, grinding his elbow into it, throwing elbows down, dropping him on his head. Whenever Thatcher takes control, Makabe bangs at that neck. Makabe is able to sink in his Cattle Mutilation variation that won him the first match, but Thatcher counters. Makabe lands this great looking wind up kidney punch, some dropkicks to the head and a Sawa baseball punch but as he drops on him for the pin, Thatcher latches on a nasty Fujiwara for the duke. Another great match between the two, and I liked how the roles shifted. Makabe may look like a pre-dye job Pete Davidson, but he can throw leather (his boney ass arms make the elbows look like they hurt even more), and Thatcher is just a master.

ER: I really liked their first battle, but loved this one even more. I really liked heel Makabe who didn't do anything overtly illegal; it's not like he was using ropes for leverage or sneaking in a low blow, he just worked more mean and aggressive, which made Thatcher comebacks even more satisfying. I really started to get into this one when Makabe grabbed a cool almost off balance ankle pick and they both worked some cool stuff around the leg (that would come up later) and Thatcher working for an Indian Deathlock. And before long both men start laying in shots, and that's some aggression that we didn't really get in their first match. Makabe has a number of nice worked strikes, like his headbutt to Thatcher's neck or his swiping shot to the ribs, and his expertly timed dropkicks with Thatcher draped in the ropes, and his Big Unit/King Felix wind up punch. But I really liked his worked elbows to a kneeling Thatcher, shaking out his fist and forearm after each big shot. Thatcher comes back to Makabe's ankle in a cool way, squirming his way into an ankle lock after a ground exchange, shifting from arms smoothly down to that ankle, twists it painfully (with Makabe spotted trying to roll it around later), but they build to something cool I don't believe I've ever seen: Both stand, Thatcher still grabbing that ankle from behind, tucks Makabe's leg back heel touching back of thigh, then locks in a rear waistlock while Makabe's leg is trapped between the two of them, and drops him with a German. Such a cool bit of trickery and misdirection. And talking of misdirection, Makabe had a cool little moment, easy to miss, that I loved: as he was wrenching at Thatcher's arm, bending at his wrist, hyperextending that elbow, he walks Thatcher's arm around his body and lays it prone, Thatcher (and our eyes) instinctively expecting Makabe to stomp the arm he'd been working...and instead Makbe stomps Thatcher right in the back of the head. The neck work on Thatcher was good, Thatcher always makes convincingly annoyed nerve pain faces, and Makbe was good with his focused strikes and gets to drop Thatcher with a payback German. The finishing stretch was satisfying and played off their previous match, and we get to see Thatcher snap and attempt to pay back the neck damage with some rage strikes of his own. And now, obviously, we need a blowoff match!


2018 MOTY MASTER LIST