Found Footage Friday: MAKABE~!

MD: Friend of the blog and of every person who holds the grandeur of pro wrestling somewhere in their heart, Daniel Makabe, has been following our dubious lead as of late and blogging about the entirety of his 3-2-1 Battle! run. https://danielgoestocollege.blogspot.com/ He's also posted some matches along the way and recommended a few of them to us to cover for a FFF. It'll be a while before he gets to 2017 and he's coming at things from the inside while we're as outside as can be. But if you ever read our stuff, you're going to want to pop over to his blog to see what he's doing.

Daniel Makabe/Scott Henson/White Tiger vs. Craig Mitchell/Matt Knicks/Kenny Sutra 3-2-1 Battle! 3/10/17

MD: This was one night before the European Rules match below and a testament to the variety at play. I liked how this was regimented to start. If you have a trios match, start with clean individual pairings. We see way too much bleed over in US trios matches and it just seems to defeat the strengths of the form. Here you had Makabe and Sutra with a bit of wrestling to start, Tiger and Knicks picking up the pace, and then Mitchell and Henson having a bit of a hossfight. Granted, the last one was more of a high-basing superheavylightweight bit with headscissors takeovers and what not but you can't complain too much because of Henson's connection to the crowd. 

Things broke down in the home team's favor and then they had a solid transition for the Chicago contingent to takeover, before rolling into an extended finishing stretch after the comeback. In the midst of it Mitchell got to hit three press slams in a row (meaning that they held back his strength spots from that opening exchange for a moment that it'd mean more deeper into the match). Unfortunately for him, his fate was to be crotched hard on the top and stuck there for a while until he could eat a huge super rana from Makabe. They had teased a top rope double team earlier when they were setting up the heat, but were able to pay it off impressively for the finish as Tiger had two guys in an Octopus at once (wish I had a better camera shot on that double stretch). Considering its place on the card, this was big, fun, and firework laden like you'd want.

ER: This started out as guys who didn't really feel familiar with each other and by the end it felt like guys who had been working rec center Rev Pro matches all year. RevPro is a vibe I'm happy I got to experience live and I love when a match brings me back. Get some subpar white bodies in a ring throwing legit suplexes and taking some death bumps and suddenly I'm back in the City of Industry in 2002. I've seen more polished versions of everyone in this match save White Tiger and Kenny Sutra, but I liked this energy and how it kept building. 

Craig Mitchell had a lot of nice stuff. Big belly small butt guy with a crisp standing moonsault, nice elbowdrop/right hand/dropkick, and at one point he gave all the cats this combo press slam/death valley driver one after the other. His Rainmaker looks better than almost every Okada Rainmaker I've seen. Henson was a guy who played to a comedy crowd while doing catboi Kings Road. He elbowed Sutra right in the mouth - I liked how Sutra pawed at his heated up face despite not being one of the cats - and his half nelson suplex to Knicks was fantastic. The half nelson suplex has become such an O'Connor Roll bump that seeing Henson do a more classic Kings Road style is a stand out. I loved the way Knicks' legs flew over his head. 

I first became aware of Makabe because of a match against Timothy Thatcher just a few months after this match, and here he's a guy who seems so different than the guy grappling with Thatcher. Nobody else here wants to try out his matwork (I bet he and Knicks could have worked a fun singles match around it. Knicks is pliable with good faces) but I like seeing him work nice basics combined with RevPro crazy. Nice headlocks and honest in how he handles How A Spot Looks vs. How It Was Supposed To Look, but then stuff like a super frankensteiner and an ambitious missile dropkick/senton aiming for all three of the Chicago boys and getting two of them. The finish is wild as Henson sets up a Meltzer Driver and Dan turns it into a flipping legdrop to the taint and crushing that boy. They call that one the Coal Harbour Hangover. 

Daniel Makabe vs. Kaden Talbain (European Rounds) 3-2-1 Battle! 3/11/17

MD: With wrestling, we take so much for granted. In almost any match you watch in 2025, there will be a dozen things that happen because they're supposed to happen, because they're tropes, because they're expected. The viewers and maybe even the wrestlers don't question why they happen, why they work. They're simply expected. And that's ok. There's a narrative language to pro wrestling and you don't necessarily need to constantly be focused on the etymology of every movement in order to enjoy it. A lot is symbolic and our minds and familiarity bridges the gap.

But here, with this match, there are no gaps to bridge. There is no air. There are no holes. What there is instead is pressure and leverage and positioning and meaning. Watching a match like this, where so much care is put into not just every hold and counterhold, but every movement of every extremity, makes you a smarter wrestling fan. It makes you think about things you've always just taken for granted. It's a match that triggers an animal part in our heads of a Regal match where he might have enacted a tiny leverage move to get a hold. Or yes, your World of Sport exchanges whether we're talking Saint or Jon Cortez or Clive Myers or whatever else. But this was more dogged, more focused, more single-minded. 

Those matches breathe. This never did. Save for the round breaks, it never came up for air. It kept you immersed in total dedication not just to craft but to pro wrestling physics, a world of joints and limbs and pure causality. To do A will cause B. Moving your leg just so will provide you with the slight positioning to accomplish the thing you need to do in order to do the thing you need to do in order to do the thing you need to do.

It took what was a widespread televised product and turned it inward, increased its potency, took it to its logical conclusion. And you, as a viewer, are no longer following the tides as they come in and out but are instead watching for every tiny bubble, every conscious decision to move a limb, a hand, a finger, for the impact it might have immediately, and down the line.

That is not to say the tides didn't exist. There were broader story elements at play. Makabe was the aggressor in the back half of the first round, with Talbain trying to work out of what I'll call an inner chicken wing with all the up and over tricks (headscissors and otherwise) that we'd become so used to in 50s French Catch a few years later, with Makabe managing to jam him right until his escape right at the end. At the end of the second round, Makabe almost (almost) locked in a butterfly suplex only to run out of time. It was that selfsame hold that Talbain was able to use in the third round to pick up the first fall.

Talbain came out of Makabe's equalizer in the fourth round damaged, that same unfortunate World of Sport feeling you'd sometimes get when someone toppled out of the ring and could barely continue. He then had to survive the final round, managing a clutch rope break that brought forth the same sort of subdued but obvious frustration in Makabe that followed the end of the second and the butterfly suplex that never was. Maybe that's why he transitioned away from holds and into pin attempts, a decision that would ultimately cost him the match. So yes all the small details were counterbalanced by large ones creating something greater than the sum of the whole.

You're left watching a match like this and wondering why we shouldn't hold wrestling to a higher standard when it comes to every tiny detail. If they could do it here over twenty minutes and five rounds, why can't the people we see on TV week in and week out meet them at least half way when it comes to leverage and consequence and meaning. Hitting spots is lazy. Constructing a castle like this has value to the viewer in not just outputs but inputs as well.

Daniel Makabe vs. SARIAN (Seattle Streetfight) 3-2-1 Battle! 4/8/17

MD: It's absolutely nuts to think this was just a month after the European Rules match. It's a big plunder filled, interference marred, wild brawl; punches right from the get go and then escalating weapons all the way through, with some nasty bumps, and just enough blood and guts along the way. 

All that said, there were a few underlying principles that connect the two matches and make it more than it could have been if it was sensation alone. First, every time a weapon gets introduced, there's a consequence to its entry. It almost felt like an X-On-A-Pole match in that regard (transitions tied to the cost of trying to win) because just introducing the weapon created an opening for the opponent. When Makabe tries to use the chair early, SARIAN is able to come back. When SARIAN introduces the skewers, Makabe is able to come back. Likewise the tacks. So on, so forth.

And then, connected with this, there's a ton of anticipation built around each weapon being used. Everything is framed so that it's introduced, built to, utilized, and then shown to be consequential. Makabe, after using the skewers, is momentarily shocked at what he just did and the consequence thereof. They fight around the tacks before bumping into them once or twice. It's that same sense of Onita in an exploding cage death match teasing and teasing and teasing before finally allowing for an explosion. Wrestling IS symbolic and there's no functional difference between a figurative bomb and a literal one in a narrative sense. In both cases, you want to build to it and then show the impact, and they did an amazing job here. It's not necessarily less is more, because this was all over the top, but instead it was more is most, where they squeezed out every bit of drama possible.

It meant that even after the interference and the dismantling of the ring, things still felt weighty and impactful. Makabe had is one last submission attempt while the post (and turnbuckle attached to it) were like the Sword of Damocles was in SARIAN's hand. Eventually the sword fell and Makabe fell shortly thereafter. Again, it's just hard to look at this, even with the little bits of discipline that remain among the chaos and not be amazed at the disparity between the two singles matches this week.

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2019 Ongoing MOTY List: Zayne vs. Makabe

63. Daniel Makabe vs. Alex Zayne 3-2-1 Battle! 10/18

PAS: Both of these guys are 321 Battle regulars who have broken out into more high profile indies in the last year, and this was their big return match. This was a very cool contrast in styles, with Makabe being a technician and Zayne being a really dynamic highflyer, and they had a bunch of nifty variations on those tropes. I loved when Makabe goes to the floor and instead of Zayne hitting a dive, he has to bail mid dive and then turns around a gets blasted by Makabe breaking out his own dive. Zayne does hit some crazy shit, including an inside out spring board Phoenix splash and a flip dragon rana, but this match was made by Makabe's selling. He gets dumped with a side suplex and comes up with a stinger, and for the rest of the match he has to compensate for the bad neck, including switching up a bridge on a German suplex and failing to hold a roll up. Zayne dumps him one time again on the neck, and that's a wrap, no 2.9 kickout and fighting spirit, his neck is fucked and he is done. My only quibble is the strike exchange stuff, Makabe looked good, but Zayne's forearms were pretty dainty and he should cut them completely out.

ER: I was there live for two of those high profile Makabe indy breakouts, his WM weekend match against Yehi, and obviously his SCI tournament victory (Road Report coming by 2022!), and I always love a good The Man Returns story. This one started a little slow for me, but even in some of the off moments there was gold. Zayne stumbled a bit on the ropes, leaving Makabe waiting a hair too long for him, so Makabe does the Bring It On hand motions before catching him, the same way Tracy Smothers used to do while waiting an eternity for Nova to set up a dive. And Makabe's small detail selling added a lot to this, especially in a moment where he caught a Zayne springboard in a triangle attempt and still sold the fact that Zayne had landed hard on his inner thigh and groin. I love Makabe against fliers, as he's a good base who you also always expect to come out on top after a flying move, waiting for him to catch an errant limb. This match really kicked up another level for me on the dive, with Makabe going over the top to the floor and immediately taking a powder into the shadows, the camera helping with the illusion, as Zayne whips fast over the ropes to stop his dive only to find out too late that Makabe had sprinted back into the ring to hit a great tope con giro of his own, flying into Zayne sideways and flattening him. Things felt really tight after that, with that dragon rana spot looking fantastic, and set up uniquely, with Makabe fighting off a couple of attempts at something else before Zayne surprised him with the dragon rana. And the neck injury really cemented this. Zayne's side suplex really whipped Makabe over, and Makabe is someone who is really good at integrating an injury into a match in interesting ways. Hit hits a German but can't hold the bridge, so leans into the cradle with his side; he tries to lock in an STF but the torque on his neck means he can't close it, allowing Zayne to grab the ropes, and he can't even hold his trademark legs trap roll up. The finish was perfect, with Zayne catching Makabe in a quick fisherman's driver, scooping and dumping him before anything could be stopped, and that's all that was needed, and with Makabe's selling it surely looked like all that was needed.


2019 MOTY MASTER LIST

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2019 Ongoing MOTY List: Makabe vs. Thatcher 3

27. Daniel Makabe vs. Timothy Thatcher 3-2-1 Battle! 7/12

PAS: One of the best series in this decade has been happening at punk club in Seattle. This is their third match, and is as good as the previous two. The first match had Makabe working underdog babyface pulling off an upset, the second match had Makabe as a heel, arrogant about the win, but still at a level below, here Makabe has worked Mania weekend and traveled the country and works it more as an equal. The matwork in these matches is always slick, but I really loved the striking, Makabe was always going back to the body in between all of his head shots, and I especially dug the straight punch to the kidney. Thatcher also threw some huge uppercuts, forearms from the top and sick slaps.  They played nicely off the finish of the first two matches, with Thatcher getting a rope break on Makabe's cattle mutilation variation, and Makabe reversing the Fujiwara. Loved how Makabe just demolished Thatcher's neck and back of the head to loosen him up for the final Mutilation. Great match, Makabe is a treat to watch, and I love that Thatcher is still doing his thing.

ER: This was unsurprisingly really good, and I can't decide if I like the matwork more or the strike game more, it's too tough to choose! I loved the dueling leg attacks, every single thing done to a leg felt uncalled for. Thatcher had some of the best ankle locks I'm seen, a move killed for years by Angle's boring/reversed every time application, here looked like something that will have Makabe's achilles aching as the weather gets colder. Makabe off his back was always trying to hook Thatcher's standing leg, always kicking at his patella, and in the closing moments he flat out stomped down on top of Thatcher's extended leg. Thatcher's natural reaction to it made it look immediately hyperextended, just a super nasty spot with a stomp going against the natural bend of the leg. The striking was great too, Makabe throwing in various body shots over the duration. He never looked to finish with anything body related, but he was so damn good at using body shots to set up other attacks. Early on he was mashing the heel of his hand right into Thatcher's ribs, hooking Thatcher's arm while pushing hard downward with that heel, and late in the match he landed a strike to almost the exact same spot. Thatcher rocked him a couple times with uppercuts, and they both had great intuition about selling strikes, selling each one how it actually landed, not treating them all equal. So many individual moments to like, heavy suplexes thrown by both, hard knees, a nasty half crab from Thatcher, Makabe's enziguiri counter to set up a German, and the finish is just fantastic. I really liked Thatcher getting to the ropes immediately for the first Cattle Mutilation, and the body wrecking cruelty that Makabe unleashes onto Thatcher (including that stomp right to the top of the leg) to tie up his legs and THEN lock in the Mutilation dead center? Hell yeah. Keep giving me more of this.


2019 MOTY MASTER LIST

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2018 Ongoing MOTY List: Makabe vs. Spencer

47. Daniel Makabe vs. Artemis Spencer 3-2-1 Battle! 3/9

ER: This whole match was worked as a really frenetic sprint, and it had this unfocused quality that added to the match. Sometimes I say a match is unfocused if it feels like the guys in there had no actual real plan of how to work things out, so they just try a hodgepodge of indy matches and squish them all together. But for this match I think unfocused is a compliment, as it felt like both guys were working for a finish from the opening bell (opening chant?) and kept that vibe up through the finish. The strategies and attacks were manic so you didn't get either of them going for one specific finish, so the unfocused nature benefitted the match as it felt like the whole thing could end at any time. They made good use of rope breaks so neither guy was hanging out in a submission for too long, and they did a great job of constantly butting up against each other to try to cancel each other out during the grappling. They end up in a bunch of cool tangles, like Spencer locking in a kneebar and then locking up Makabe's free leg, or the few cool scraps that resulted from blocked roll-ups (like a triangle out of a Makabe sunset flip) or knucklelocks, Makabe getting a hold loosened by digging his elbow into Spencer's thigh, Makabe always grinding his forearm on Spencer's chin during pinfalls. Makabe gets his arm worked over with some Fujiwaras (liked Spencer getting big leverage on it, bridging up his legs), and I loved how Makabe kept selling his arm throughout, loved how he still used his punch and great elbow as a blunt object with the hurt arm. The finish with a bunch of flipping knucklelock trickery ending with Makabe suckering him into an STF was killer. This match was super fun, almost like a scrambly version of a Hideki Suzuki match.

PAS: I thought this was really good, with Spencer looking like he was on Makabe's level in this weird garage rock bassist Battlarts that Makabe has going on up in Seattle. I loved how both guys kept going for prawn holds that would get countered: Makabe went for one that Spencer flipped into a triangle, and later countered a Makabe prawn into a sleeper. They went back to it for the finish with Spencer trying a prawn hold and getting caught in a nasty STF. Not many strikes, but they all looked good. Makabe has such boney elbows that they really look painful when they land. I love a mat scramble and this whole match was a long mat scramble with both guys doing cool memorable stuff.


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2018 Ongoing MOTY List: Makabe vs. Talbain

124. Daniel Makabe vs. Kaden Talbain 3-2-1 Battle! 9/7

ER: Now this was a cool fight that started with snug matwork and sharp sequences and steadily built to some big bomb throwing and hard throws. Talbain is a guy with a big Saito suplex and Makabe is a guy with a bunch of cool ways to avoid getting suplexed, and a guy who can build nicely to getting suplexed. Makabe brings the squirrelly wrist control but can't get in too close without the risk of eating a suplex, and we get a few cool Makabe roll throughs (he always has good positioning on these), rolling in the way of Talbain during an Irish whip to catch him off guard, and we get a couple of awesome moments of Talbain going for that suplex and Makabe using his weight and leverage to get a cool headlock takeover. We got one of the coolest spots I've seen all year with Makabe basically jumping his full body weight up into Talbain's arms during a headlock (basically picture Makabe leaping up into Talbain's arms like Scooby Doo leaping into Shaggy's arms), forcing Talbain to drop him so that Makabe could roll him into a kneebar. Both guys hit hard, Talbain had really nice body shots and a great headbutt, all his strikes were short and too the point, and Makabe's punches are awesome. We get some cool learned behavior reversals, and some cool uses of the ring and surroundings to create drama. Makabe bull rushes Talbain while holding a sleeper to send both sprawling out of the ring, which felt like a cool self sacrifice moment where he knew he'd take some damage on it, but knew it would be worthwhile to cause more damage to Talbain. And both seem real smart about their use of positioning and use of the ring, like when Makabe shoved Talbain chest first into the turnbuckle and caught him with a great snap German on the rebound. Makabe was able to weather Talbain's storm while taking some mean spills, and they pay off Makabe's match long arm attacks when Makabe holds onto Talbain's trunks on a superplex, keeping him close so he could grab the arm and fold that wrist in for the tap. I didn't love the minimization of the superplex, but it was a minor nit in a match with so much great stuff. This really made me want to see their other singles matches.

PAS: Makabe is a guy who will break out a ton of fun shit in a match, and really delivered here. Talbain was a fine guy to tag along and be part of the cool shit, although I didn't think he brought a ton to the table outside of being an opponent. Eric said both guys hit hard, and while Makabe threw some nasty stuff, including a great short jab right to the kidneys, Talbain would just threw dozens and dozens of weak looking forearms, more mustard would have really helped. Still there was a ton of great stuff here, Makabe seemed to invent a ton of neat moves I hadn't seen before. I loved when he pushed Talbain chest first into the ropes and snapped off a German, and the set up for the kneebar was impossibly slick. He did about three counters to set it up, and it was so fast that it didn't come off contrived like some similar British spots can. I can't fully endorse shrugging off of a superplex, but that last armbar was some nasty stuff.


2018 MOTY MASTER LIST

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Daniel Makabe 2018 Dive

I've been meaning to watch a bunch more Daniel Makabe, dig through more of his available 2018 work, and since I'm seeing him this weekend I figure now is as good a time as any to do that. I've not seen many of his opponents, know nothing about the Seattle indy scene, so let's dive in.

Daniel Makabe vs. "Big Cat" Scott Henson 3-2-1 Battle! 1/12/18

ER: Henson is a man who wears tiger tights, tiger singlet, tiger tail, wears fur on his arms and neck, and seems like I guy I would not like. I liked Jun Kasai, he wore a tail; I liked Felino, he dressed like a furry cat; I liked Monkey Magic Wakita, he didn't wear anything like that but you would assume he did based on his name. And this whole match felt like something really impressive that Makabe can hang his hat on. Even though this is my first time seeing Henson I can't actually see him having a better match with another area indy worker. These two have been matched up a bunch over the last half decade, and Makabe was great at feeding his offense and providing openings, and they worked a fairly long match (nearly 20 minutes) without it wearing out its welcome. Makabe controlled a lot with cool mat stuff, which adds up as I am an owner of a chubby cat, and I can totally push him around when he's lying around. My cat son has little mat game and panics when he's on his back. Makabe is really great at moving in and out of roll-ups (great victory roll) and submissions (dig that octopus he effortlessly applied in the ropes), always showing his work and not just heatlessly running through rehearsed sections, and it becomes kind of sick fun watching him take apart this man dressed as Rum Tum Tugger.

Makabe throws these great worked punches, awesome windup shots that are faultlessly worked and land in a sweet spot on the lower jaw, they have a cool battle over a snap stuffed piledriver with Makabe purposely letting Henson think he reversed out of it by slipping his arms free only to realize that was exactly what Makabe wanted him to do, or how Makabe purposely lets him slide out of a high backslide to get him into position for something worse; Makabe also plants him with a nice bridged German after a fight in the ropes, and we build to Henson's nice comeback. Henson has some decent offense: obviously you're going to get claw rakes (disappointing he doesn't do rabbit kicks as my cat son loves grabbing a toy in his paws and kicking it with his long feet), but he also throws some nice knees in the corner (with Makabe draped over the top rope), hits a big sitout powerbomb, an unexpected La Mistica, nice half nelson suplex (loved Makabe drunkenly reaching for the ropes after rolling through to his feet before finding he was just a bit too far away), and the crowd really gets into Henson. The end run had some awesome moments, my favorite being Henson unsheathing one of his arms from it's fur covering in a kind of Lawler strap down moment, only to take too long doing it; Makabe catches his chop, slams his arm to the mat and stomps it. After Makabe is mocking Henson's hurt arm to the crowd and to Henson himself, allowing Henson to grab Makabe's arm and hit a great single arm lariat. That was just one moment that made me appreciate Makabe finding cool ways to set up Henson for a big moment, there were plenty of other big bumps (backdrop to the floor leading to a near count out, big bump on the apron, missed upside down bump into the turnbuckles) that all logically lead to big Henson moments, just a really nicely laid out match. I don't know how many other Henson matches I'll be checking out, but this was a really nice pairing with some really clever moments all throughout, easily worthy of your 20 minutes.

Daniel Makabe vs. Artemis Spencer 3-2-1 Battle! 3/9/18

ER: This whole match was worked as a really frenetic sprint, and it had this unfocused quality that added to the match. Sometimes I say a match is unfocused if it feels like the guys in there had no actual real plan of how to work things out, so they just try a hodgepodge of indy matches and squish them all together. But for this match I think unfocused is a compliment, as it felt like both guys were working for a finish from the opening bell (opening chant?) and kept that up through the finish; the strategies and attacks were manic so you didn't get either of them going for one specific finish, so the unfocused nature benefitted the match as it felt like the whole thing could end at any time. They made good use of rope breaks so neither guy was hanging out in a submission for too long, and they did a great job of constantly butting up against each other to try to cancel each other out during the grappling. They end up in a bunch of cool tangles, like Spencer locking in a kneebar and then locking up Makabe's free leg, or the few cool scraps that resulted from blocked roll-ups (like a triangle out of a Makabe sunset flip) or knucklelocks, Makabe getting a hold loosened by digging his elbow into Spencer's thigh, Makabe always grinding his forearm on Spencer's chin during pinfalls. Makabe gets his arm worked over with some Fujiwaras (liked Spencer getting big leverage on it, bridging up his legs), and I loved how Makabe kept selling his arm throughout, loved how he still used his punch and great elbow as a blunt object with the hurt arm. The finish with a bunch of flipping knucklelock trickery ending with Makabe suckering him into an STF was killer. This match was super fun, almost like a scrambly version of a Hideki Suzuki match.

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2018 Ongoing MOTY List: Thatcher vs. Makabe 2

23. Timothy Thatcher vs. Daniel Makabe 3-2-1 Battle! 7/13

PAS: This is a rematch from their 2017 banger, and we have a role reversal. Makabe has turned heel at this point, and is no longer the plucky underdog searching for a win, he has beaten Thatcher and isn't going to show him the same respect. Thatcher still controls early, with big shots and throws, until Makabe is able to send him chest first into the turnbuckle, Thatcher bounces back and gets cracked with an elbow to the neck and Makabe has a target. For the rest of the match he aims at that neck, grinding his elbow into it, throwing elbows down, dropping him on his head. Whenever Thatcher takes control, Makabe bangs at that neck. Makabe is able to sink in his Cattle Mutilation variation that won him the first match, but Thatcher counters. Makabe lands this great looking wind up kidney punch, some dropkicks to the head and a Sawa baseball punch but as he drops on him for the pin, Thatcher latches on a nasty Fujiwara for the duke. Another great match between the two, and I liked how the roles shifted. Makabe may look like a pre-dye job Pete Davidson, but he can throw leather (his boney ass arms make the elbows look like they hurt even more), and Thatcher is just a master.

ER: I really liked their first battle, but loved this one even more. I really liked heel Makabe who didn't do anything overtly illegal; it's not like he was using ropes for leverage or sneaking in a low blow, he just worked more mean and aggressive, which made Thatcher comebacks even more satisfying. I really started to get into this one when Makabe grabbed a cool almost off balance ankle pick and they both worked some cool stuff around the leg (that would come up later) and Thatcher working for an Indian Deathlock. And before long both men start laying in shots, and that's some aggression that we didn't really get in their first match. Makabe has a number of nice worked strikes, like his headbutt to Thatcher's neck or his swiping shot to the ribs, and his expertly timed dropkicks with Thatcher draped in the ropes, and his Big Unit/King Felix wind up punch. But I really liked his worked elbows to a kneeling Thatcher, shaking out his fist and forearm after each big shot. Thatcher comes back to Makabe's ankle in a cool way, squirming his way into an ankle lock after a ground exchange, shifting from arms smoothly down to that ankle, twists it painfully (with Makabe spotted trying to roll it around later), but they build to something cool I don't believe I've ever seen: Both stand, Thatcher still grabbing that ankle from behind, tucks Makabe's leg back heel touching back of thigh, then locks in a rear waistlock while Makabe's leg is trapped between the two of them, and drops him with a German. Such a cool bit of trickery and misdirection. And talking of misdirection, Makabe had a cool little moment, easy to miss, that I loved: as he was wrenching at Thatcher's arm, bending at his wrist, hyperextending that elbow, he walks Thatcher's arm around his body and lays it prone, Thatcher (and our eyes) instinctively expecting Makabe to stomp the arm he'd been working...and instead Makbe stomps Thatcher right in the back of the head. The neck work on Thatcher was good, Thatcher always makes convincingly annoyed nerve pain faces, and Makbe was good with his focused strikes and gets to drop Thatcher with a payback German. The finishing stretch was satisfying and played off their previous match, and we get to see Thatcher snap and attempt to pay back the neck damage with some rage strikes of his own. And now, obviously, we need a blowoff match!


2018 MOTY MASTER LIST

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2018 Ongoing MOTY List: Makabe vs. Navarro

Daniel Makabe vs. Negro Navarro 3-2-1 Battle! 8/24

PAS: I loved this match, Navarro is very high on my list of all time favorites, and this is one of his better performances in recent years. Makabe is clearly over the moon to work a maestro match with Negro Navarro (he mentioned in post match mic work that it was his all time dream match), and comports himself really well in very difficult circumstances. His matwork was much grittier then Sabre Jr. or Quackenbush who are the two indy guys I have seen work Navarro, they are both flashier wrestlers, and Makabe made everything look like more of a struggle. Both guys spent the match escaping holds, rather then catch and release, and there were some cool counters, I especially dug how Navarro got out of the cattle mutilation, and Makabe escape the figure four armbar. 321 Battle has a Seattle scenester crowd, but hipsters are clearly better wrestling fans then nerds, because they went apeshit for all of Navarro's stuff, which I imagine wouldn't go over as well at PWG or EVOLVE. Finish was cool with Makabe going rudo and throwing a sneaky Ishikawa punch (the only strike of the match) and rolling up Navarro, I like how the mat master couldn't hang with a mat god and had to take a shortcut. Both guys seem to be setting up a revanche, and I would love to see Navarro break out some dirtier tactics for the rematch. Such a blast.

ER: Hearing about this match is what made Phil seek out Makabe and 3-2-1 in the first place, so I knew he was excited for it and I'm glad it delivered. I'm very bummed I was in Seattle less than 2 weeks before this (if I could have seen Fastbacks at SPF30 and then jetted over to see Negro Navarro in front of a hot wrestling crowd I likely would have gotten teary-eyed over the vibrant 60+ year old arts scene happening) but happy I still got to see it so soon after it happened. This whole thing was a tightly constructed bit of heel nipping, bell to bell. Makabe offers a simple handshake to start and Navarro comes in for one of those two-handed handshakes, as if he were an elder greeting people and passing out bulletins at church, and immediately grabs a top wristlock. And that's how we go for 12 minutes. Makabe makes great facials in submissions, accurately portrays man getting tortured in the Hart Dungeon, but is also good at showing he's not lost in the woods. There were a couple moments where I thought the match would end when Navarro got a tough sub (we've seen his matches with Solar go anywhere from 6 minutes to 16 minutes, so once we hit that mark I was looking for killshot subs) and I always liked how Makabe would find a way out of a corner and annoy Navarro with a reversal. Navarro put on this awesome short arm scissors figure 4, and it was cool watching him assemble each little part of it, and even cooler hearing the crowd go nuts for it. I liked Makabe's headscissor Americana, looked like he really could have damaged Navarro, and the second I start feeling sympathy for the old man he comes out of it holding a wrist. I also got a kick out of Makabe going all World of Sport and was kinda rolling my eyes at Navarro having to kind of pause and let Makabe crawl through his legs, but loved how Navarro put a stop to shenanigans by clamping on a tight crucifix. I was loving it, but did not expect the loud "NAVARRO" chant to start up. This 3-2-1 crowd is really respectful and gets really excited for this stuff, feels like a fun crowd to be a part of. They're clearly in the bag for Makabe, but they're getting a kick out of Navarro the same way Makabe probably was, and that's even more apparent when Navarro locks him into a pendulum and shows Makabe's tortured face off to all sides of the ring. I think Phil and I were thinking the same way with the finish, Makabe throws the lone strike of the match and it leads right to the finish, and now Navarro can come back for revenge and stop playing nice.


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2017 Ongoing MOTY List: Thatcher vs. Makabe 1

47. Timothy Thatcher vs. Daniel Makabe 3-2-1 Battle! 7/28

PAS: I saw that 123 Battle was bringing in Negro Navarro to work Makabe in a couple of weeks, and I have to respect any fed and wrestler crazy enough to fly in Navarro. So I figured I would check out the pair of pimped Makabe vs. Thatcher matches to see what to expect. This was really good stuff, reminded me of a Fujiwara vs. young guy match from UWF or PWFG. Thatcher was clearly contemptuous of the dirtbag arena and the goofy nonsense in the promotion, and he clearly figured on an easy night. Match opens up with Makabe landing a great looking Ishikawa style punch to the jaw and getting a near fall. Rest of the match has Thatcher trying to punish Makabe with submissions, and kidney pulverizing body shots. Makabe was pretty great working from below, and clearly is a guy who is inspired by the UWF and its children. I really liked how he did little things like manipulate fingers to set up submissions. Loved the finish with Thatcher trying to rip Makabe's arm off with a Fujiwara, but Makabe slickly rolling through landing a nasty headbutt to the shoulder blades and locking Thatcher in a Muto lock variation which nearly put Thatcher's nose in his own butt. Finish has Thatcher showing Makabe respect and giving him his towel, which was actually a touching moment. Very good match, and Makabe looks like a guy who could do some cool stuff with Navarro.

ER: Really fun match that is a true testament to the still relevant strength of a regional babyface. I was in Seattle just a week ago for Sub Pop's SPF30 festival and had just missed a show by this group by one night. I'd never heard of them before, but they run consistently, every 2 weeks, using a roster of people who I've mostly never heard about. (some names down from ECCW, not many up from Portland, and only occasional fly-ins). The crowd sounds and acts clearly devoted, and they come off like real fans, reacting to something not to be the cool person in the crowd, but reacting because they're driven to react. This was not an ironic inside joke wrestling audience, this was a crowd that really wanted Makabe to pull out a victory, and that was really exciting. Really we've seen this kind of match plenty of times from Thatcher, but the crowd reaction pushed this over the top for me. Thatcher goes all split legged at the bell after missing a kick and eating a punch, almost loses, and then spends the match punishing Makabe. I wouldn't have expected the crowd to be as into the grappling stuff as they were, but I was happy with reactions to small reversals. Thatcher had several, and I especially loved when he just stood up and grabbed an arm while Makabe was trying to lock in an octopus. Makabe never looked out of his element, just a talented guy overwhelmed by a more talented guy. I love Thatcher working with disdain, and we get all the stuff you love about Thatcher: an awesome deadlift throw, forearms grounded into Makabe's jaw on pins, slick armbars, all with that great scowl. When Makabe ran up the ropes and flipped back onto him, I thought that for sure was the finish, as it's a popular one to lift in this kind of match. I was pleasantly surprised when it wasn't, as the actual finish was much better. Makabe looks like he practically snaps Thatcher in half with almost a combination Cattle Mutilation/Stump Puller. Watching it applied it's easy to picture how difficult breathing would be. Thatcher handing him his towel was really nice. It wasn't overly emotional, he handed it respectfully and left, but it was Makabe's touched reaction and the crowd's excitement for him - again - that really made that gesture feel huge.


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