Sunday Reading: Dixie's Got the Yeyo

Dixie vs. Tony Lazaro JAPW 9/13/02 

ER: Jersey All Pro Tony Lazaro wrestled less than 25 matches in his career and died tragically young, which might make him the most obscure eventual member of Special K. This was before his brief Special K run, not yet one year into a career that didn't last two. Think of this match as Kikuchi trying to rise up against Kobashi, but if Kikuchi and Kobashi were 135 pounds soaking wet. Knowing how inexperienced Lazaro was, it's another great Dixie performance, highlighting how good he was at missing offense to create openings, and how advanced he was at fueling the innovation of others. His fast missed offense to set up an opponent's sequence - like his fast spinning heel kick - was something La Parka was really good at in the exact same way. I don't think Dixie was inspired by La Parka, he just has many qualities that great wrestlers have. He's able to highlight the strengths of Lazaro in cool ways, working familiar sequences in ways that include something unfamiliar. 

I loved the way they approached their mirror sequence, with them mirroring each other so well that they actually perfectly connect the soles of their feet during the mirror dropkick. I don't think I've ever seen that. Dixie works his brilliant fusion of southern wrestler and innovative joshi worker, throwing sharp punches and multiple kneedrop variations to glue together his attacks. The knee he shoves into the side of a crawling Lazaro's head is even better than his traditional vertically dropped knee. They don't overdo big spots which makes their high end basics stand out, and makes their biggest spots pop. Seeing them do a gorgeously executed Ocean Cyclone Suplex is cool because you get to see what it would look like performed by people smaller than Manami Toyota. 

There's a great moment that really captures the feel of this era of Jersey All Pro, when Lazaro hits Dixie with a stiff mule kick to the face from the apron then hits an Asai moonsault that smashes his shins across the guardrail. He earns his Holy Shit chant for the dangerous landing, while also earning his babyface cheers when he makes it back to the ring fired up from surviving his bad landing. JAPW fliers landing brutally and fighting through pain is one of the things that made the style so cool. It turns traditional wrestling selling on its ear because we witnessed them actually surviving violent crashes, their toughness eschewing the need for theatrical limping. 

Dixie is an innovative bumper without reinventing the bump, great at taking slamming offense on his face. His small frame was perfect for being whipped into the mat on pancakes and 2002 Staten Island playground wrestling full nelson clutch slams alike. He's also great at quickly setting up and executing extremely complicated offense. His match finishing Air Raid Crash delivered over his own knee rules in its full embodiment of the promotion's highly embellished style, but it's the way he gets Lazaro into position for it so quickly that makes it the style's equivalent to an Arn Anderson spinebuster. 

COMPLETE AND ACCURATE SPECIAL K

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