Daniel Makabe vs. James Runyan
ER: I liked this, and liked the turns it took. I knew nothing about Runyan going into this (looks like there are Batt Academy matches of his dating back a couple years) and the way it started I thought it could be Makabe running him over. Makabe works the opening like a boa constrictor, locking on a body vice and working for a choke while on the mat and standing. It looked like Makabe was just going to smother him until he collapsed, and that's why I liked Runyan just falling on Makabe with all his weight to break the hold. Runyan does it again, this time as aggressive offense and not as a last defense, and has a nice headlock takeover. He starts working an armbar and that's when Makabe looks for strikes. I wish Runyan had done more with the strikes Makabe was throwing, as he kind of got glazed over eyes like he was too focused on his parts of the strike exchange, which meant some nice body shots went basically ignored. I'm a big fan of Makabe's german that uses a guy's existing momentum, and here he smacks Runyan and does a quick go behind and almost helps Runyan the rest of the way over, then gets up and hits a lifting german for good measure. Fun opening round scrap, might check out a couple Runyan Batt matches just to see how he looks.
PAS: First time seeing Runyan and I dug him, he doesn't have the same fluidity as Makabe (no slur, Makabe is really fluid) but he had cool ideas and executed them well. Loved his judo throw (got to be the Santino training) and his spinning cross armbreaker. I want to ban all forearm exchanges from wrestling forever and it is especially repugnant in Ambition, but I did really dig Makabe's body shots, I really like his striking, it has a Diaz brothers feel, where he throws a couple of softer shots and then loads up on the third or fourth. I thought the finish was super cool with Makabe spinning out of Runyan's tight triangle into an STF which he cranks violently for the tap. Makabe is pretty much a must watch at this point.
Dominic Garrini vs. Alexander Dean
ER: I thought this would be another first round steamrolling, and while it did feel like Garrini was mostly toying with Dean on the mat, I liked when Dean was landing hard elbows from mount. They had done a little stand and trade before that and Garrini was pasting Dean, so it's cool he adjusted to that and was bringing the strikes more down the stretch. Even though I'd prefer less stand and trade in matches like this, I liked his overhand chops. Garrini had a couple moments where you could really see his power on the mat, really see how easy he can shift and move from any position just by bulling his way through, see him really digging his heels into the mat. I don't think we get enough of Garrini messing with guys on the mat.
PAS: Garrini is a pretty diverse wrestler, and while I certainly enjoy crazy Garrini brawls, this is the stuff I love. I liked Dean using power to take Dom down and his big elbows looked nasty, but man is it fun to watch how talented Garrini is on the mat. He just spins Dean into various different traps, and his scissors kick takedown into a heel hook was awesome. It just feels like Garrini should barrel through a tournament like this and I am interested to check out how Makabe can credibly hang with him.
Rust Taylor vs. Kevin Lloyd
ER: First time seeing both guys, but this felt a little long, a little too exhibition, and a little scattered. It felt like we were seeing a series of resets and restarts, until it eventually decided to end. There was nice stuff, especially enjoyed Taylor grabbing an arm and rolling over Lloyd into a Fujiwara, and the finishing submission looked like something that should finish a match. But the application of these subs were filled moments of hesitation and brief stand stills. Even the match winning sub was applied when Taylor just literally ran across the ring at Lloyd and put it on, and there was very little struggle at any point throughout the match.
PAS: Taylor said he has been wrestling 15 years, which is pretty crazy considering I haven't heard of him at all, I mean I know some shit about wrestling. This was OK, it had a lot of movement, and that pace covered up some possible problems with the execution. Not a ton super memorable, but I enjoyed the struggle, and the final submission was pretty nasty.
A-Kid vs. Scotty Davis
ER: I had never seen Davis before but came away from this far more interested in seeing him than in seeing another A-Kid match. I don’t think Kid brought a ton of interesting stuff to this. I think the one thing he did that I liked was a cocky back somersault after a break (that Davis later taunted him with). Other than that he was a guy using a derpy superkick on an Ambition show. I liked several of Davis’s rolling attacks, his legbars and a cool neck crank, he threw a damn cool head and arm suplex, and I liked the rolling neck crank that sent Kid to the floor (and was what lead to strikes getting thrown). It was a slap fight, but some hard slaps landed in there. The finish didn’t do much for me, looked like Kid took a long time to apply a hold that eventually looked good but was only made possible by Davis holding perfectly still.
PAS: Eric is being kind to A-Kid, I thought he was really bad in this. Davis has a amateur wrestling background, and looked like a beast, tooling Kid on the mat, with great looking takedowns and controls, I loved his Gator roll into the ropes and to the floor, and he hit a great looking german (which Kid no sold) and a nasty Tazish head and arm toss. Kid stunk, he was throwing these lame slaps, did a suplex no-sell and a terrible looking super kick. That submission at the end took forever to apply, and had none of the craft or skill of a lot of the other submissions on this show, Davis laid their like a corpse. I would be excited to see more Davis, can't believe A-Kid is the guy they put over in this tourney.
55. Daniel Makabe vs. Dominic Garrini
ER: This was my favorite match on the card so far, and I was a big fan of the way these two would get tangled up. Both looked really impressive on the mat, tons of nice little moments any time they were rolling. I loved Makabe getting easily into mount, only for Dom to pop his hips and immediately buck him into an unfavorable spot. I dug the focus on each other's legs, with both guys almost racing each other to see who could properly apply a painful heel hook before the other, before they wound up so tangled that the only way out was to slap their way out. The slaps didn't look hard, but I appreciated how tough it would be to get a lot of mustard behind a slap at the close range they were at, with their legs tied up. It would be like swinging a bat while sitting cross legged Indian style and only using one arm. Makabe was smart about getting to ropes quick, not playing the dummy, knowing that once Dom was tugging away at your arm it was a smarter play to break the hold before he broke his grip. Makabe really got dumped with a German, Dom broke out one of my favorite Volk Han leg attacks (where he just leaps onto a guys leg knowing the weight will have to take the guy down), and I was certain the match was finished when Dom had Makabe in a side choke while grapevining his leg. It looked like Makabe was going to have a permanent lean to his left if he hadn't got to the ropes. I did think there was a little disconnect from Dom in a few moments, bumping too hard and early when they were tangled and slapping, and missing a beat before hitting his enziguiri after Makabe missed his Jamie Moyer wind up; it was nothing egregious, but when other stuff is so snug it stands out when someone is left hanging for a move. The finish was cool with Makabe getting Dom right in the center, made me think of all those subs that Dom locked in too close to the ropes.
PAS: This is kind of a dream match which I am surprised AIW or Scenic City didn't get to first. These are the two best end of the decade indy matworkers, and I thought this was a really good tourney semi-final version of this match up (I really want to see the main event or special attraction version). Both guys put on really vicious looking submissions with Dom taking most of the match on the mat, but Makabe squirming away for rope breaks. I loved Makabe getting mount early and Garinni just shrugging him off with his hips and retaking control, it was almost like he gave Makabe mount to show how easy he could get out of it. Garrini spinning out of cattle mutilation into a twister was some Negro Navarro shit. I wasn't in love with the strikes, felt like the timing was a bit off, and while the finish was cool, I thought it was a bit abrupt. The great stuff in this was really great though, and someone needs to run this matchup back.
A-Kid vs. Rust Taylor
ER: I was not as excited for this one, but they kept it short and sweet and I liked a lot of the transitions they did, liked their scrambling. Rust comes off like the best possible Mike Von Erich. He's not as big as Kevin or Kerry, but damn does his build remind me of a Von Erich body. I really like the way he traps an arm with his calf to roll his opponent over. He did it against Lloyd and it looked just as cool here, and he does it fast enough that it comes off totally natural. His use of strength on the mat was cool, and eventually he just hoists Kid up with a big flat landing gutwrench powerbomb. I would have liked a couple extra teases at the finish, but the finish itself looked great: Kid rushes him with a leaping guillotine, and you could see Taylor taking every step to work through a reversal: loosening the choke, getting a grip on the trunks, and as he muscles him up into a sweet vertical suplex, Kid slips out and gets him in a quick rear naked. Even though I liked this, I still liked Kid's opponent far more in both of his matches, but liked him more here than in the Davis match.
PAS: I thought this was a much better performance by Kid. What he seems to be able to bring to the table is really fast matwork and attacks, and he was constantly spinning and attacking the back and pushing the pace. There was some really nifty stuff here including a great finishing run with Kid doing the jumping guillotine, Taylor reversing it, and Kid spinning onto his back for the choke out. Gives me a little more hope for Kid vs. Makabe in the finals.
19. Timothy Thatcher vs. Oney Lorcan
PAS: Thatcher is a mainstay on these shoot style shows, although he doesn't really work that style. This was more of a super stiff 70s match, more Johnny Valentine than Volk Han, but I will take that for sure. Lorcan spent a lot of the match cranking a nasty side headlock, and it really felt like a violent attack rather then a time killer. Both guys unloaded with their shots, Thatcher came in with a bandage already, and by the end of the match Lorcan's slaps made his cheek fire engine red and his mouth bleed. Thatcher was giving it right back with some sick up kicks and some teeth chattering slaps of his own. Finish felt like the end of a heavyweight fight. I loved the Thatcher/Gulak/Busick throuple five years ago and I am glad we got Lorcan vs. Gulak and Lorcan vs. Thatcher this year again.
ER: This is the first singles match we've seen between these two in over 4 years, and obviously it was good. It's not crazy to think a tournament like this wouldn't be happening without what these two brought to indies several years ago, and this is the kind of dream match booking that actually interests me. I love how everything played out here, with my interest really getting jumped up about 5 minutes in: Lorcan rushes in with a short slap to lead into him grabbing a headlock, and we got an awesome struggle over a headlock takeover. Someone stopping a headlock takeover will pretty much get me invested in any match between any two people, in the same way a fistdrop will, or somebody pointing at their head. But this was a nasty side headlock and all I can think about is how damn sore my neck would be if I stopped the momentum of a headlock takeover, and here's Lorcan just yanking on Thatcher's head while Thatcher refuses to be budged, until Lorcan finally forces him down by the neck. Things were worked tough before that, but that slap and headlock really felt like it opened the floodgates and sent us into the real meat of the match. Thatcher fighting for an armbar was memorable, with Lorcan doing everything he could to keep Thatcher's leg trapped to keep him from extending, and both guys start landing hard slaps and shots, Lorcan gets a great half nelson, things seem more aggressive. By the end of the match the left side of Thatcher's face is comically bruised, making it look more like he had a port wine stain than a crazy occupation. We had seen plenty of slaps on this show but I don't think any were better than Lorcan grabbing Thatcher by the jaw and wailing away. The ref sadly got in Lorcan's way on the running uppercut, really felt like Lorcan was going to hit an all timer, and obviously Lorcan should have stuck with it. A Pedro Cardenas situation would have made for a pretty exciting special attraction match. I think Thatcher needed to put some extra juice on the finish if it was going to be a KO (Thatcher seems to hav a weird habit of lacing into a guy all match and then holding up his shots for the finish, which is bizarre), but I love these two together and I hope we get to run it back every couple years.
A-Kid vs. Daniel Makabe
PAS: I thought this was pretty great Makabe performance. A-Kid was going to do all of his goofy shit and Makabe made a super kick, northern lights suplex, and a Spanish Fly semi plausible in a shootstyle wrestling match. This was really stiff which redeemed a lot of it, there was an especially nasty looking A-Kid knee counter which really should have ended the match. I liked the story of Kid using his speed to get Makabe in a compromising position and Makabe using his technique to get his way out of it. Great tourney for Makabe, he really should have gone over.
ER: Despite Phil earlier saying I was too kind to A-Kid - in a review where the only thing I complimented him on was a taunt - he has been my least favorite guy on this card. Makabe was obviously the guy I had hoped would last to the finals, but would have much rather seen him against any of the other 6 guys. Still, my mind is always open, and I went into this excited. After the Garrini match this really did feel like Makabe's tournament to win. But he wasn't originally supposed to win SCI, so the wrestling gods gift one tournament win and take another. This was a fantastic Makabe performance though, maybe my favorite individual performance of his on a show where I dug all three of his matches. I liked how they worked the mat, thought Makabe had a couple of plausible finishes there, and really loved how he finally nailed the Mike Leake wind-up slap, timing it perfectly, and I loved how A-Kid sold it.
A-Kid gets his absolute best moment of the night when Makabe lands a few leg kicks and then shoots in and gets obliterated with a Kid knee to the chin. I thought that was the finish for sure as Makabe wobbled from his knees right into a rear naked (which Kid had just polished off Rust with). I loved the struggle over the rear naked from both guys, really had no idea if Makabe was going to hold off the arm or Kid was gonna sink it in for the tap. I would have liked that more than the actual finish, even though I think Makabe played into the finish as damn well as he possibly could have. He even gets an amusing close up mug into the camera after eating a superkick, but I don't want to see a Spanish Fly on an Ambition card, no matter how nice they look. This one was worked in just about as well as you can work one into this style match, but Kid struck gold with that knee and I think they should have called an audible. Match was still fun as hell, and gave Makabe three cool performances in 90 minutes. That's efficiency!
2019 MOTY MASTER LIST
Labels: 2019 MOTY, A-Kid, Alexander Dean, Daniel Makabe, Dominic Garrini, James Runyan, Kevin Lloyd, Oney Lorcan, Rust Taylor, Scotty Davis, Timothy Thatcher, WXW Ambition
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