Josh Barnett's Bloodsport 3! 10/12/20

Matt Makowski vs. Simon Grimm

PAS: Makowski damn near stole the show at the last Bloodsport, and Grimm is always good in this style too, so this was bound to deliver.  These guys hued very closely to shootstyle, although Makowski always finds a way to innovate something cool. In this match he did a moonsault to pass guard, although it was totally something I could see Caol Uno doing in a real fight.  Makowski landed some nasty leg kicks and a solid high kick, and I really liked how he didn't sell Grimm's enziguiri when it didn't land clean. I liked the idea of the finish, with Makowski turning a cross armbreaker attempt into a kneebar, only for Grimm to hit a suplex for the KO. Suplex didn't land clean though and the ref jumped in way too fast for the call. If you are going to end a match on a suplex like that, it has to look brutal or the guy taking it has to really sell being KO'd. This was a regular flack back bump sold like a flat back bump and I didn't buy it ending the match like that. Still this was good stuff, and Makowski is a must watch at this point.

ER: Grimm has been so good on these Bloodsport shows, something near entirely impossible to predict after being in attendance live for his pro wrestling debut nearly 20 years ago. It's amazing to me how long he's kept at it, but you can look at his career as a whole and then look at his three Bloodsport matches and see the kind of wrestling he truly excels at. His first Bloodsport match against Kratos was the best live match I'd seen from either of them, and they are two guys I've seen live plenty. I really loved the way he kept Makowski tangled up on the mat, eating leg kicks while standing but always super active on the ground. Sometimes it didn't work out, like when Makowski stuffed a takedown and just pancaked him, but I thought his mat skills were very impressive. I loved when he was raining down elbows from mount, and Makowski shifted slightly so that one of the elbows was a glancing blow, essentially sending Grimm straight into a snug side triangle. But I really liked how Grimm stayed calm and worked to snag Makowski's ankle, twisting it to break the hold and continuing to grapevine the legs in a painful way. The suplex did not work for me as a finish for the same reasons Phil mentioned, but I liked the work around the suplex itself. I like the brief fight for it and liked how Makowski going deadweight lead to a hard flat bump, I just didn't like that as a thing that should KO someone. Had Grimm floated right through and locked in a choke I think that would have been great, but this match was still some very good shoot style. 

Killer Kelly vs. Allysin Kay

PAS: This had some cool moments mixed in was some rough looking stuff. This was the second longest match on the entire show, and they didn't seem to have enough stuff to fill a match this long in this style. It felt like they started over again a couple of times. There was some bad looking strikes mixed in with some good looking ones, there was a section where both women took each other down and rained strikes which looked more like a diva era catfight then Hotta vs. Yamada. I really liked the finish though, with Kay getting a crucifix and raining down Goodrich elbows and keeping the crucifix into a head and arm submission as Kelly tried to stand out or roll out. I think with that finish and a bunch of the meat cut out of the middle this could have been a really good match, just too ambitious to really recommend. 

Lindsay Snow vs. Leyla Hirsch

PAS: This was definitely a better length for what they brought to the table. Hirsch was out sized and out skilled, but brought a bunch of fire to the match. The story was that Hirsch is a talented amateur, who is able to get some takedowns, but once she gets to the mat the much bigger Snow is able to control her. Was pretty impressed with Snow's grappling, she seemed to always find a counter or an advantage and it looked pretty slick. Definitely feels like Snow vs. Kay is the right tourney final.

Calvin Tankman vs. Alexander James

PAS: Tankman is fun in these kind of tourneys, he really feels like a guy you would see in an early UFC with some made up martial arts style, Hoodjitsu or something. He is big and reckless and strong and sometimes that will win you a fight. Not a lot of technique though, mostly James trying to take him down and getting overwhelmed by size. Tankman was crazy over with the crowd and that really added to the atmosphere of the match, as they went nuts when he dropped James for the KO.

ER: I really didn't like this at first, which was painful because I did not want to have to write a negative review now that we finally have a fat guy doing shootstyle again. There are not anywhere close to enough Vader guys doing shootstyle, so I was really rooting for a good Tankman performance. He looked like a real fish out of water at first and didn't look like he'd be able to do anything once things got serious. But after a few minutes I started growing into the minimalist style and started thinking this was actually closer to an actual MMA fight than anything else so far. It had that freakshow PRIDE feel and the crowd was way into the freakshow guy lasting longer than he was supposed to. Tankman laid on him and made slow movements, trying to cool back down after throwing some strikes. I liked the slow passes and just using his weight to plot his next move. But James always looked like he was plotting too, and eventually I got really into the short match slow burn. The triangle choke got the crowd even more into it and by the time Tankman escaped and started throwing hands with James I was fully into the match right with the crowd. The finish looked good as a winged hammer of an arm swung down at a cool looking angle to catch James. Cool approach and great build that kind snuck up on me. 

8. Erik Hammer vs. Grizzly Kal Jak

PAS: I thought this was totally awesome. This was legit heavyweight shootstyle, between two enormous guys with real skill. Jak is a Nor-Cal guy who was in WWE developmental, he was an All-American amateur and is 6'7ish, Hammer is a Barnett sparring partner who has done some IGF before. Jak wrestles this like a taller Gary Albright, huge throws and takedown, and even a big slap to the ear to open the match. Hammer is a shoot wrestler so has real submission skill, and was willing to go for a ride to bait Jak into a dangerous position. Loved the back elbows that Hammer threw when Jak took his back, real jaw clicking stuff and something Jak didn't have to worry about in the NCAA's. Finish was dope stuff with Hammer surviving the big throws until he is able to get the arm out and crank it from the tap. Maybe my favorite Bloodsport match ever. 

ER: I'm really happy Grizz got the opportunity to have this match, and hopefully it exposes him to a larger audience and gets him some more bookings. He's a good guy who has given up a lot of his time for our local indy north Bay Area Phoenix Pro Wrestling, a real popular act with that crowd, and here doing something completely different and completely awesome than anything else I've seen him do. This match was pure shootstyle, the kind of thing that could have been between a Belarussian and a Georgian in RINGS. The only pro wrestling in this entire match is the tale of the tape (Grizz is a big guy, but he's not six and a half feet tall). Hammer has a great look, like a jacked Gary Hart. But this is just fantastic shootstyle wrestling and I agree with Phil that it's arguably the best Bloodsport match we've seen. I would rank it with the best under 10 minute matches we have, honestly. The scrambling and takedowns were really cool, and Jak came off super strong with some big lifts and suplexes from positions where he didn't have leverage. The grappling felt like it could always explode into something new, and sometimes that was a throw, sometimes that was Hammer throwing 4 elbows in a row back behind his head directly to Jak's jaw. I thought that was going to be the finish and I was fully prepared to buy that as a finish. Hammer spots his best chance to finish as going after Jak's arm, and I dug how you can see him trying and see Jak keep lifting him, and you got that sense that eventually Hammer was going to be able to get that arm loose before getting thrown. This was an awesome little journey. 

17. Homicide vs. Tom Lawlor

PAS: I thought this was a good wrestling match which sort of failed as a Bloodsport match. Weirdly I place the blame on Lawlor who really should have known better. He was the one throwing those bad looking New Japan elbow smashes which were by far the worst part of the match. There was a fair amount of really cool shit though, I loved Homicide countering the guard by brutally stomping Lawlor in the head, exactly the way a Bed-Stuy street fighter would react to a ju-jitsu sweep. Homicide also landed some nasty clinch knees, and even kind of made an STF look like a shoot hold. I also dug the finish with Cide going for the Cop Killer and paying for it by getting choked and then tapped out. Would love to see Homicide back here, especially against someone who hues more towards strict shootstyle for a contrast.

ER: I thought this was great, and an incredible Homicide performance. I mean, we've written up a lot of Homicide matches in our time, but this was some next level wrestling in a style I've never seen him utilize before. It was still pro style Homicide, but with more shootstyle reactions. I don't like when other guys bring too much pro wrestling into these shows, but I really loved how Homicide specifically brought it in. Homicide still wrestling as Homicide but within a shoot fight is something I didn't know I wanted and didn't know I would love so much. I, too, did not like the elbow exchange portions of this (thought the first one was good due to both mixing up shots well, but then we got three others after that and we really could have got by with the one), but I was in awe at everything else. 

Homicide looked outgunned at times, but then would find his way out of it in ways perfect for Homicide-in-a-shoot. The moment where Homicide started stomping hard down on Lawlor's head to get out of an ankle lock was one of those moments where people there realize they're seeing something special. Phil and I synced up and watched some of these matches over the phone, and when Homicide caught a sliding Lawlor kick and violently twisted Lawlor's leg around his own and then cranked into a STF? I lost it and yipped loudly into the phone. Homicide's exploders were great, and the finish was tremendous. Homicide gets to power out of a choke by grabbing onto the ref's shoulder to help pull himself to his feet - at this point Homicide felt like he was acting out a serious church play for special sermon, with the Lord helping him pull himself to his feet and power through the chokehold the Devil has on his life - and fought back to the point of going for a Cop Killer. I was losing it on the phone at the prospect of Homicide finishing a shootstyle fight with a Cop Killer, but Lawlor slipped off into a sleeper choke, Homicide rolled him off, and then Lawlor hit his best action of the entire match: He slides past Homicide and hooks the ankle he softened up earlier while getting his face stomped in, and yanked Homicide into a flat out disgusting single leg crab. I loved this, the kind of genuinely special performance from a legend that makes standing elbow exchanges melt away. 

Davey Boy Smith Jr. vs. Josh Alexander

PAS: This was the least of the matches on the show. I thought some of the early grappling was fun, I especially liked the spot where Alexander got caught in submission as he fell to the floor, really looked like he jacked up his back on the ring apron. It devolved into a New Japan forearm exchange though, and DBS won with a Liger Bomb. Sort of pointless to do that kind of stuff, if you are going to bother to work this show, work the style. 

ER: I liked this more than Phil. I thought it was a tight 5 minutes, and thought the strength from both guys played well in all the rolling and grappling moments. The match had a lot of tough body scissors and a lot of the grappling looked really tiring. I thought Davey Boy used the Sharpshooter attempt really well, as there wasn't any fumbling or any actual attempt to go for the move, but a cool turned kneebar into a low squat single leg looked as painful as Bret's finisher. They made a couple good uses of the apron, with Davey throwing hammers down at Alexander's head while trapping him against the edge, and later the visual of him holding that Sharpshooter variation right on the edge of the ring looked really cool. I thought the pro wrestling stuff at the very end worked well they way they played it. There were no exchanges, just Alexander getting to his feet and throwing to quick elbows that surprise Smith (strikes really hadn't been thrown in the match) and leads to Smith throwing a couple of hard kicks to the chest. I thought the Liger Bomb worked as a KO finish, as it looked like Smith really powered him into the mat like a Zangief Street Fighter KO. 

Allysin Kay vs. Lindsay Snow

PAS: This was the tourney final and felt like a tourney final. I continued to be impressed by Snow on the mat, super pace pushing, always looking to press and counter and attack. I also liked how she threw big looping forearms whenever she got on top, they really looked out of control. Kay nicely used her height to throw up legs to counter submissions, and I dug how she went for the crucifix again, but she did look a bit tentative at points, and Snow was clearly the class of their women's division. 

ER: This was good, I liked both working long stretches basically neutralizing the other. Kay impressed me by staying with things the whole time, the way things were constructed made her come off strong while not even being in control a majority of the time. She has strong legs and was good at using her legs and height to push through different Snow attacks on the ground, and she looks like she's making headway while always being bent painfully bending over her own midsection. When she was able to stand Snow up she through hard knees, and they looked good while she was balancing and preventing a takedown. Snow was relentless and they seemed like they were each making the other work hard. I liked their ground work and it looked like neither was having an easy time advancing, made the whole match feel like a cool struggle. 

Chris Dickinson vs. Jon Moxley

PAS: I thought this was a heck of main event, and I give Moxley a bunch of credit for working as hard as he did to put Dickinson over. Dickinson is on a hell of a Rona roll, and was firing shots with real intent behind them, just mashing Moxley's legs with low kicks. I really like how they used the ring outs, made both big bumps that Dickinson took look totally credible. It is a real shame they stuck that strike and grimace elbow exchange in the finish run, match didn't need it and it took it completely out of the style. Trust the audience, there were responding big to all of the work they were doing, we didn't need a cheap short cut, really turned the end of the match into a indy wrestling match, and they were doing something special before that. 

ER: I thought this was good, but less than Phil. It mainly made me feel bad for Dickinson, as we review all of the big matches that he was supposed to get before the pandemic. But knowing what his Mania weekend was looking like, seeing why he was one of the obvious choices for a current indy guy as Moxley opponent, and seeing how much momentum he's had over the past year, and it's not hard to see Dickinson on TV within 6 months (I mean when WWE has Anthony Greene and Curt Stallion on every other week now you have to assume Dickinson isn't far away from being part of a stable with Lorcan and Burch). But I do wish this match wasn't so strongly tilted to Moxley. Moxley worked a lot of this the same way AEW main guys work a lot of AEW competitive squashes, and that's something I see every week. Moxley didn't treat Dickinson like a chump obviously, but I don't think a lot of the Moxley control was as interesting as it could have been. 

I loved the surprise moment of Dickinson getting kicked off by Moxley right into/past the ringpost, spilling to the floor. It was a great kind of jump moment, but by the end of the match we had two other shoves to the floor, and again this just kept feeling more AEW than Bloodsport. That was before the big standing exchange/face making portion of the match, which felt like the culmination of this match going from grappling and leg kicks to a certain comfort zone. I think the best part of Bloodsport is getting out of that comfort zone, and this kept feeling like they were fighting to get back to normal pro wrestling. I still thought it was a strong Dickinson performance and the connection he has with crowds is undeniable. Even though they were full indy match by the end, he still kept me invested with his hot comeback after being kind of smothered by Mox, as their aren't many current guys I like see make a fired up last stand in a match. 

ER: Another great Bloodsport show, at this point feeling like the kind of thing that can work as its own promotion. We landed two matches HIGH on our 2020 Ongoing MOTY List (with Kal Jak/Hammer making our top 10 and Homicide./Lawlor making our top 20) and there were several matches (Dickinson/Moxley, Tankman/James, Makowski/Grimm) that were narrow list misses. That's a great show, something we've come to expect from Bloodsport.