WWE Big 3: Lorcan, Gallagher, Gulak 12/29/19-1/4/20 + Bonus MOTY List Lorcan

Smackdown 1/3/20

Drew Gulak vs. Otis

ER: I really wish we can get an actual, meaningful 8 minute match. I figured this would only get 3 minutes tops - which it did - but an actual full match with a long Gulak control segment and two different Otis comebacks would no doubt still be one of my favorite TV matches 363 days later at the end of 2020. This one won't be remembered, but it was two guys I love to watch just making me want to see them tangle more. What we got was good, with Otis tossing Gulak with abandon, really planting him with suplexes and launching him with a press slam. Gulak hits a hard dropkick to Otis's thigh and slaps him good, but that was mostly it for Drew. Otis hits some hard bodyslams and crushes ribs with the Caterpillar, then hits a heavy ass Vader bomb. These two really could work a cracking 8-10 minute TV match if given the chance; force Otis to use more grappling and maybe get a good Otis injures a limb story. Here's hoping.


BONUS 2019 CATCH-UP


39. Oney Lorcan vs. Cedric Alexander 205 Live 4/16/19

ER: This might just be the best use of the 2019 WWE trope of giving 205 Live singles matches way too much time. This match goes just shy of 20 minutes, and again it's totally unfathomable that WWE would just be throwing out 20 minute TV matches between two cruiser wrestlers with little or no build. They threw these guys out there all year and let their ring work speak for itself, which was awesome in some ways, and in other ways showed the benefits of giving fans something OTHER than ring work to root for. And this match really made it look like no other guy on the roster knows how to fill time, because they filled this time in tons of interesting ways without ever backing themselves into a corner. Lorcan and Alexander worked a cool back and forth match, odds on victory shifting the entire duration, all of the transitions back to one guy in control making sense. Lorcan attempted to control with tight headlocks, and whenever Alexander would break free he'd pepper Lorcan with strikes: big chops that left nice welts (Nigel on commentary even said those chops were skipping off Lorcan's chest right into his Adam's apple, which is a cool bit of commentary), combos that didn't feel stale or rehearsed (including a great moment where he took Lorcan about systematically, kicking out his knee, drops him to his knees with an uppercut as hard as any thrown by Lorcan, then throws a boot to the chest), and Lorcan would be there waiting whenever Alexander got too showy.

Whenever Alexander would appeal to the crowd, Lorcan was there to punish, and a story of a flier getting punished whenever he shows flash is a cool story to me. Alexander goes for a big tope and Lorcan matadors him right into the barricade (replays showing the back of Cedric's head whipping into the barricade) and then tosses him just as hard into the LED ring skirt; later, when Alexander had Lorcan reeling after a nice strike combo, Alexander goes for a handspring something-or-other and Lorcan is there waiting to fly into him with a European uppercut. Lorcan is really exciting about chaining together offense, and him stacking a flying European uppercut with his cool running blockbuster and *another* flying uppercut will always make for a good nearfall. Alexander would catch him too, and I bought into a nearfall off an surprise Alexander Michinoku Driver at what turned out to be only halfway through this whole epic. The finishing run was so dominant, Lorcan chaining increasingly violent moves together in a way that would have made an Alexander kickout frankly ludicrous. And it all started with them framing their final strike exchange right on the ring apron; ring apron stuff has been the scourge of wrestling these past couple years, but I like that they build to the one (really big) apron moment in the final minute of the match, both men grabbing each other by the jaw and slapping taste, until Lorcan is able to just dump Cedric on the apron with a half nelson suplex. What. The. Hell. Lorcan is a guy who throws protected stomach bump half nelsons in the middle of the ring, but here he is just planting Alexander on the apron with one. And when Lorcan smells the blood of a win in the water it's a glorious thing, as he quickly slides Alexander into the ring, pastes him with a lariat that knocks Cedric a couple directions at once, and then flips him with another half nelson. This was a match that really knew how to build to different notes and peaks, building to bigger and bigger spots while not taking the action too far down in between those builds, ending with the biggest moments and resisting temptation to turn that built to finish into a series of stupid nearfalls. This was a 205 Live match MORE than worthy of its allotted time, and Lorcan's win came off huge.

PAS: This was about as good as you are going to get from a workrate juniors match in 2019. Lorcan is basically a fast Finlay at this point, as everything he does has that same sort of sharpness and he always finds a fun way to put a twist on something. I loved how he was just sniping Alexander out of the air, him catching the in ring dive with the uppercut was one of the coolest spots of the year, I also loved Alexander's concussed sell. I wouldn't have minded if the match ended right there, but that huge offense run by Lorcan did make the victory seem like a huge deal. Alexander was right there with him, making a fun dance partner for what Lorcan was bringing. Alexander with someone else working his style (Ali, Buddy Murphy) isn't much, but he is a cool guy to bring into a styles clash.


2019 MOTY MASTER LIST