Paradigm Pro: UWFI Rules Contenders Series Episode 1

ER: I haven't been enjoying AEW the past few weeks, TNT messed up my area broadcast of AEW tonight anyway, and the first episode of Paradigm Pro's Indiana Inokiism just happened to be tonight. Sounds like some signs pointed to us checking this one out. Big Beef is the only wrestler on this show who I have seen, and I haven't even heard of the rest of them. We're going into this blind.

PAS: This is kind of a silly idea, but silly in an awesome way. Midwest indy guys working empty arena UWFI rules matches is very much our kind of shit. I really liked the opening video graphic illegally mixing in clips of Buster Douglas and UFC fights, just hammy enough.

Big Beef Gnarls Garvin vs. Lord Crewe

PAS: Pair of solid looks on these two, really feels like an unexpected post Hardcore show fist fight at the back bar of the Black Cat. Garvin is a thick guy and despite Crewe being listed as a bare knuckled fighter, Garvin had the advantage throwing shots as he really put his weight behind them. The UWFI rules forbid closed punches to the head and it didn't feel like Crewe fully mastered throwing good looking open hands. I did like his jumping choke finish and he had some nice post match trash talking. 

ER: I think the UWFI rules held back the striking here, as the big swinging arm shots from Beef looked really dangerous for something that would have looked better as a worked punch. Kind of like how Foley said Bob Holly had bad looking punches that actually hurt - the worst combination. Beef is probably killing Crewe with open hands and heavy arms but actual worked punches would probably look better. Beef had a couple great suplexes, including a big German and another that just looked like him throwing a sack of concrete. He's put on big size during the pandemic, but I think it really works for his whole thing. Wrestling needs guys that look like Beef. I was excited to see Crewe after buying into some of the pre-match hype on him, but he didn't show a ton here. Some guys excel in this weird scheme and others don't, I'll see him some day under his own style and I'll make my judgment then. 

Janai Kai vs. Jordan Blade

PAS: Fun style clash with Kai working a Muay Thai gimmick, and Blade being a powerlifter and grappler (with cool nickname the Anklebreaker). Both ladies were DMV based, and I imagine this might be a touring match of a sort. Kai has really fast hands and used the speed to dominate on her feet, Blade took her down and dominated her on the mat before letting her up, dropping to her own back and calling Kai in, only to lock in an ankle lock for the tap. Blade got put over really strong here looked mostly unbothered. Not sure whether this leads to intergender shoot style or if they have a deeper distaff bench, but I was into what I saw. 

ER: I really liked what both these two brought, with Blade being maybe the biggest female fighter I've seen on the indy scene (tale of the tape said gold medal powerlifting background, and a female Mark Henry would be such a cool thing to see), and Kai's Muay Thai looked like a whole complete look. This started with it looking like it was going to be a Kai showcase with all her cool flash, but Blade started powering her down and basically smothering Kai. There was a great moment where the lifter finally got the bumblebee and slammed her down, immediately kneeling into her back and beginning a pounding that doesn't let up until she gets that ankle lock. Very curious to see more. 

Crash Jaxon vs. Isaiah Broner

PAS: Jaxon is a big kid out of Ohio while Broner is a menacing looking black dude from Detroit. This is short and sweet, Jaxon gets a throw but runs right into a spinning back elbow that damn near takes his head off for the fast KO. Broner calls out Hoodfoot after telling JRose the ring announcer to "Social Distance your ass to the back." Impressive way to make someone, and I like how they don't need every match to be 55/45.

ER: I get why they did this but I really wanted to see this one play out. Jaxon had a huge throw before he got put down hard by a Broner back elbow (even nicer than one Big Beef used earlier) and it looked like something that could be a KO. That's the most important thing, that your KO finish look like something that would result in a KO. They could still run this match back and you've got your built in story of Jaxon feeling robbed. 

Lexus Montez vs. Tommy Kyle Dean

PAS: This didn't fully work for me, both guys seemed to have ideas which didn't totally come off. This was one of the longer matches of the night, and despite some attempts at things, nothing really stood out. Montez wins with a spinning back elbow, which was probably a mistake with Broner's looking way better in the previous match. I would be fine seeing either guy again (TKD is an AIW student and while he hasn't done much for me yet in AIW, that school has a great track record), but this show has nicely made stars, and this didn't.

ER: I liked this a little more than Phil, but I get where he's coming from. It's hard on a show like this to not have guys doing similar versions of what others have already done on the same show, some of it is going to look better, some will look worse. I liked the things they went for and liked the messiness of some of the positions they wound up in. I liked when TKD missed a shot and Montez wound up standing over him, lobbing elbows at the back of his head. TKD would throw out a bunch of kicks and at one point looked like he was trying to intentionally miss a high kick to turn it into a kind of leveraged armbar takedown. None of those things worked, but I appreciated the "First 3 UFC events" feel of the approach. I liked the back elbow finish and thought it worked even with a nastier looking back elbow finish the match directly before. It would have made sense to not double up on the same finish back to back, but if it looks good it looks good. 

Hoodfoot Mo Atlas vs. Flash Thompson

PAS: I thought this was pretty rad for a short match. Thompson was listed as the Indiana Golden Gloves champion, and I liked his head movement and body placement, he looked like a fighter. Hoodfoot is a big charismatic guy who feels like a champion, and it was mostly the speed and technique of Thompson against the power of Atlas. We get several go behinds by Atlas, one results in a Thompson ankle lock, and two others are just dismissive throws to the ground by Atlas. Finish exchange is pretty great, both guys have figured out how to throw good looking open hand strikes, with Thompson throwing cool combos including rocking Atlas with a dip uppercut, before running into a monster looking right hook for the KO. The announcers were making Kimbo Slice and Mike Tyson comps, and it only felt a bit like hyperbole. 

ER: I love matches that barely go 3 minutes but manage to pack in a ton of detail work. Most of this match was worked real tight, a lot of need exchanges thrown from the clinch. I like how off speed they worked in the clinch, both throwing at awkward times instead of more measured turns, and I liked the ways each found to outgun the other. The short range striking can be hard to make look right, and they kept it smart by mixing it up with hard knees in between the open hand shots. The rolling ankle lock from an Atlas go behind looked good, loved how Thompson would set it up with a back elbow. As we've established already on Episode 1, back elbows are murder in Paradigm. So Atlas gets sick of taking back elbows whenever he slips into a go behind, and decides the best way to prevent those is to just toss Flash to the mat. The KO looked strong, and I liked all the KOs on this show. Shows running Only KO/Sub stoppages usually end up with a couple duds, a couple fights ending on this that looked like the weakest shot of the fight, but the KOs on this show all looked like the finish. 

PAS: They finish with a pretty heated pull apart with Hoodfoot and Broner, and they sold me a virtual ticket to that fight for sure.  Fun show, want to see more for sure.

ER: This show came at the right time, on a night where the AEW airings got all messed up in my area, coming after me not enjoying Dynamite for the past several episodes. Something totally different - in this case a Wednesday night UWFI rules show - was the right change of pace. I like some things they set up for future shows, and am excited to see what matches break away from the pack and become shootstyle classics.