Matches from Jimmy Lloyd's American Wasteland 2/17/22

2 Cold Scorpio vs. Slim J 

ER: This is a real dream match. The most impactful highflyer of all time and maybe the most underrated American wrestler of the last 20 years, finally locking it up. Slim J has been wrestling so long and still somehow isn't even knocking on 40's door, meanwhile Scorpio is still out here Jungle Boogying in his mid-50s. Scorpio is slower now and makes up for it by hitting as hard as ever, so this was about Slim trying to outquick him but still getting tagged and flattened. I love Scorpio as a big bully, and there was a lot of that here. He ran over Slim so hard with a clothesline, flipping him into next week and then flipping his own double legdrop right across Slim's torso. Scorp doesn't fly as much now, so instead he just lights up Slim with punches and vicious clinch knees to the body. Slim took all of Scorp's offense really well, and even paid attention to selling his own offense, like how he sold his own neck and top of his head after dazing 2 Cold with a jawbreaker. Slim's flying didn't hit with the crispness it normally does and I couldn't tell if it was Scorpio leaning out of the corkscrew moonsault and crossbody or if Slim was holding back, but Scorpio's selling throughout left a lot to be desired. There were several times where he just kind of stood in place waiting to take something. There were still other little things Scorp did that showed his cool instincts, like when he dropped a heavy leg and hooked Slim's legs when they reflexively popped up, and I cannot freaking believe that the man is still doing the Tumbleweed. That's pure insanity, and Slim is probably just as insane for taking it. 

Matthew Justice vs. PCO

ER: I wrote about Scorpio's match, so it only makes sense to write about another guy in his mid-50s who I watched on TV when I was 12. I never had Honor Club so I didn't see PCO during that era, but it's clear nothing has changed. He is a stiff moving goon who will take real damage, and Matthew Justice is a guy who always damages his body for the people. Justice is going to take a backdrop on the floor, get speared off the ring apron through a door, obviously he's going to do a big splash off the weird Aerial Assault Cube affixed to one ringpost that was only used one time in the Aerial Assault Scramble earlier in the night, and he's also the guy who will rush to hug a seated woman who he accidentally bounced a door off of. The longer it goes, the more it becomes about Justice taking damage and refusing to stay down, taking two gross PCO somersault sentons while laid out on a table that refused to break even just a little bit. Justice had a large man bounce off his body twice, and PCO was crazy enough to do that off the top, not get the result he wanted, and immediately decide to do it again (to the same result). I always get hyped when Justice does his one count kickout, and after PCO hit his unhinged moonsault the kickout was a good one. I also like Justice because that kickout usually doesn't mean he's just going to get up and shrug off everything that's happened to him. He uses that kickout last a desperation strap removal, psyching himself up as much as he's psyching up his fans. He still gets brained with a chair, but he went down like Matthew Justice. 

Jimmy Jacobs vs. Effy

ER: I think this is a pretty great pairing and I liked the match a lot. It felt like the big stuff really ramped up down the stretch, although I liked this a lot more when all of the chairs weren't involved. Jacobs went to the spike almost immediately in a weird violent Bugs Bunny spot, letting Effy go down on him under his skirt so he can tap him on the shoulder and spike him in the head. The spike stuff was all great, loved the visuals when Jacobs ran across the ring and stuck it in the turnbuckle when Effy moved, but then moved out of the way when Effy came flying in and almost tore his sac open on that spike. I don't want to see Effy get his sac torn up, personally, but flying towards a spike ass first and legs spread eagle is a good way to tempt that fate. Luckily, he only got hung up by a leg and it's a gift to us, as being hung upside down made the blood flow more. Jacobs's offense looks as tight as ever, like his perfect kneedrop to the back of Effy's head, smacking it down into a chair, and the camel clutch hooking Effy's chin with the back of a chair was gross. All of the big spots on a stack of chairs looked incredibly painful, but I think it hurt the flow of the match a lot. It meant a lot more time in between the violence, and I thought this was really singing when it was Jacobs working a cut while Effy started working over his back. I would have liked to see that play out more, but I do appreciate the punishment.