2018 Ongoing MOTY List: Eagles vs. Purrazzo Submission Match

72. Deonna Purrazzo vs. Madison Eagles SHIMMER 4/14

ER: This was a submission match that I think really worked, built really well, and had some nice surprises. I don't believe I'd ever seen a Madison Eagles match before this and I cam away super impressed. They take their time and don't throw a single strike until almost the 10 minute mark, when Purrazzo started integrating a little pro wrestling into her submissions, kicking Eagles away from her and then hitting a headscissors into a Fujiwara armbar. I was enjoying all the mat stuff, especially loved how Eagles used her long legs to reverse or sweep Purrazzo. Eagles seemed really natural on the mat, and was always busy. There where never any moments where they were lying there not making contact, Eagles always looked like she was thinking two moves ahead. The way she would pin Purrazzo's leg down with her leg so she could grab a wrist, or kneel on Purrazzo's thigh while advancing, stuff like that really showed how good she is at details and not skipping steps. And once they started with strikes we opened up a new world of reversals. It's like Purrazzo using a kick suddenly opened that door, and not long after Eagles hit a great lariat (with the arm that hadn't been worked over) and when Purrazzo tried another kick she got caught, with Eagles awesomely stepping over Purrazzo's held leg and dropping her weight down over it to lock her into an STF. Eagles' long limbs added some cool drama to moments too, as she had easily gotten to ropes when trapped a couple times, so when Purrazzo finally caught her just a wee bit far from the ropes in a Fujiwara it felt like a big deal, Eagles stretching her leg and pointing her toe, desperate to hit the bottom rope. The brief strike exchange down the stretch had a lot of shots land hard, nice thudding blows to the chest, and the tapout came organically at what felt like the moment the match built to.

PAS: I dug Eagles in this, she is working as a poor woman's Mariko Yoshida which is going to be more up my alley then women working as poor women's Manami Toyotas. She had a bunch of interesting counters and approaches to holds, moving pretty fluidly from one hold to another and always looking to improve and adjust her position. Purrazzo felt a little more like a passenger in this match, although she had a really nice La Mistica, and I enjoyed the finish with her rolling through on the armbar. This was solid stuff, with all of the new feds starting up I could see both ladies finding their way into bigger things.


2018 MOTY MASTER LIST