2022 Ongoing MOTY List: Necro Butcher vs. Finger Cutter

14. Necro Butcher vs. Blaine Evans IWA-DS 4/22

ER: Necro Butcher is back, he's got some weight back on him (though probably not the "285" he's billed at) and after working XPW's King of the Death Match tournament in California, it only makes sense that he'd work a man in Alabama who cut someone's finger off with bolt cutters. Blaine Evans is a man who looks like shaved head Alex Jones, and in his defense John Rare stabbed him with a box cutter before he cut off Rare's finger, and there were a couple of dozen people in attendance. This is Falls Count Anywhere, which seems like a redundant stipulation to have in a Necro Butcher match. He's obviously going to brawl on the floor, and I guess IWA Deep South didn't want any know-it-alls pointing out that Necro Butcher and a man who cut someone's finger off were violating the referee's count. Necro looks good, slapping Evans, hooking an arm around his neck after a nice drop toehold, holding onto a super right side headlock and refusing to let go. Evans doesn't have good strikes, but I liked how they built to him finally knocking Necro down by stomping his bare foot before hitting a shoulderblock. 

I wasn't actually expecting any big Necro bumps, but here the man is taking a big barefoot clothesline over the top to the floor, which rightly sends Necro into a rage. Necro throws headbutts, the same punches you remember, and chokes Evans with a ringside rope. At one point he chops Evans so hard that a seated old man who looks like Michael Berryman turns his head in disgust, first towards the sound, then away. Evans weirdly had bad strikes in the ring, but they kept improving the longer the two brawled on the floor. After a couple minutes of crowd brawl he's out here throwing nice punch combos, choking Necro against a wall, his chops get harder, and he even adds in a couple of really nice solebutts. He had some pretty nasty work on Necro's ankle, sweeping his leg and twisting it, stomping on it hard, and at one point I think forgets which ankle he was working over and starts in on the other one. Working the wrong limb is a pretty forgivable offense, as that just meant he was twisting and stomping both of Necro's ankles. The finish is lousy, a desperation inside cradle from Necro where it doesn't look like either man is pinning the other and an unconvincing ref count. But the finishes are almost always lousy in a match like this, the real money is in the journey, and this was a cozy journey. 

PAS: I really dug how this match started with like five minutes of mat wrestling. That has always been an underrated part of Necro's bag of tricks, and his drop toe hold with a hooking choke was one of the coolest things in the match. Evans wasn't anything special, but was a mostly fine opponent, especially when he realized he was in the ring with the Necro Butcher and started throwing with some force. The bad finish is the only thing which keeps this low on the list, but Necro is inexplicably back, and I really hope he can get involved with the ICW NHB group of guys. Necro vs. Krule, Slade, Justin Kyle or Isiah Broner would be awesome.

2022 MOTY MASTER LIST