Slim J Bit Off More Than He Can Chew Like A Face Full of Swedish Fish or Lorena with Two Penises

Slim J vs. Iceberg NWA Anarchy 4/26/14 - GREAT 

PAS: This was more of an angle than a match, but it is a heck of an angle. Iceberg and Slim J had been a tag team (with the amazing name of Iceberg Slim), but Berg had gone back to his heel ways and rejoined up with Jeff G. Bailey. Slim gets on the mic and demands an explanation, Berg cheap shots him with a nasty right hand, then smashes him all around the arena, throwing him into the post and the ring barrier. Slim gets a slight comeback, only to continue to get destroyed until Berg gets DQ'ed for driving the implement of destruction into his head. Ace Rockwell comes out for the save, only to get jumped by Shaun Tempers. This sets up Rockwell/Slim vs. Berg/Tempers which I am sure is great. Cool big man vs. little match if a bit one sided. 

Slim J vs. Griff Garrison Anarchy Wrestling 1/13/18 - FUN

PAS: This was a fun TV juniors match with future AEWer Garrison early in his career. So many of the Slim matches we have been reviewing lately have been brawls, but he is also really good at this kind of AEW Dark juniors match. He hit a really great looking headscissors off the ropes, a flipping springboard dive in the ring and a rubix cube finish. Garrison got a moment or two to shine, but this was mostly a showcase of Slim J's offense, which is always worth watching

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2018 Ongoing MOTY List: Hollis vs. Slim J Dog Collar Match

15. Corey Hollis vs. Slim J Anarchy Wrestling 5/12

PAS: This was a nasty violent dog collar match between two really great under the radar southern wrestlers. Slim J has been awesome for 20 years, although GA indies are a pretty unmined resource.  He bleeds a bunch, throws great chain assisted punches and takes some nasty bumps. Hollis more then holds up his side of the equation, getting crotched with the chain and yanked by his neck.  There was a great spot with Slim J applying an STF with the chain wrapped around the ankle and Hollis's throat at the same time, a submission Hollis stops by raking J in the eyes with the chain. Finish was super nasty with J going to the top rope, and getting pushed off into a hanging position, great selling job by Slim J who's eyes looking like they are bugging out of his head. Dan Wilson coming out and firing Hollis is a pretty lame comeuppance for a heel who just tried to murder someone (also it's Dan Wilson, are we supposed to buy he is incensed about extreme violence? He led the Devil's Rejects for Anti-Christ's sake). Still bell to bell this was great stuff, really well done violent gimmick match.

ER: What a cool throwback bit of violence, with no weapons needed, just two dudes dying to give each other terrible neck pain and a body full of bruises. These kind of matches always feel extra tough, as you can't really bump without wrenching your neck or falling on a chain. I tripped and almost fell over the bed putting on pants this morning, so a dog collar match feels like something that would kill me before the bell. A punch with a chain is one of the undeniably great things in pro wrestling and really the match would have succeeded if it were just 10 minutes of that. But they go for some cool stuff and it all works. Slim J really is in the conversation of most underrated worker of the last decade. I can only assume that people wrote him off because of the instantly dated silly name and attached look, but the guy is a brick wall babyface and people need to get on board. I really liked these two wrapping the chain around their necks, and their impressive understanding of physics and simple machines. Slim wraps the chain around Hollis' neck and the ringpost, in a way where he knows he can yank the chain and plaster Hollis' face into the buckle. I also loved Slim's fired up running elbows into the corner, knowing his chain slack and knowing how to hop the chain before running in with another hard elbow. The chain wrapped tight around the ankle for the STF was a nice touch, and an underrated nice touch was that Hollis is a man who knows how to dress for a freaking dog collar match: old jeans tucked into boots, old shirt cut into a crop top. Write that down. The finish is disgusting as Slim is thrown over the top to the floor, chain wrapped grossly around his neck and armpit, looked like something that 100% should have ended the match, and with Slim's tongue bulging out of his mouth like an old sponge it looked like it could have ended Slim.


2018 MOTY MASTER LIST

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2017 Ongoing MOTY List: Gladiator v. Gunner

38. Gladiator Jeremiah v. Gunner Miller Anarchy Wrestling 6/10

PAS: This was also very good stuff. This was a Captain's match for the WarGames match, with the winner's team getting the advantage. Jeremiah (aka Slim J) is one of the most underrated great wrestlers of this century. Outside of a brief ROH run, he has worked pretty exclusively in the South and is always well worth watching. He seems to be a bit more ground based with the Jeremiah gimmick, but he has great bumping and a ton of intensity. He takes over early on Miller really pounding on him, until Miller is able to grab a big boot and hyperextend Jeremiah's knee. Then Miller really rips at the knee and the match is built around Jeremiah fighting back with a bad wheel. Finish run was really great with Jeremiah's bumping making Miller's football tackle and diving headbutt spear look brutal. This was the first time these two had wrestled each other in a singles and their chemistry was great, I hope Anarchy runs this match back, and I am suitably pumped for War Games.

ER: Man I really missed out on tons of Slim J. I wrote him off pretty much immediately. I saw him on an early TNA weekly PPV in a throwaway trios where he was pretty much positioned to be the least impressive guy in the match, and sure enough, I wasn't impressed. He was probably a teenager, and I was barely not a teenager. Now 15 years later I think he's consistently the best guy in his matches and I just kinda want to find the point where he got really great. Because he's really great. And it still seems like people are writing him off (his 2.69 rating on Cagematch is a cruel kick to the dick. The fucking Boogeyman is at 4.25!). The guy moves like a star and makes offense look deadly. Right from the start the two of them tease a lock up and after a few moments Jeremiah just cracks Gunner in the jaw in the meanest fashion, and all his shots look great and he comes up with some neat ways of catching Miller off guard (loved his little headscissor feint in the ropes). Miller eventually starts ripping into his knee, including some nasty stuff around a ring post, and all the knee stuff was real good. They kind of abandon it to go into a hot finishing sequence, but the moves in the finishing sequence hit big enough to make me forget a knee ever got worked over. Jeremiah gets a wild tornado DDT, and Miller has a few moves that pretty much involve him flinging his larger body into Jeremiah, and Jeremiah bumps like mad for it. Really both guys just make each other's stuff look like kill shots. Finish is good as Bailey distracts Jeremiah, and shows he's STILL the best sneak shot leg hooker in the game, swiping hard and fast at J's leg, leading to Miller absolutely knocking his block off with a flying forearm. Yeah, these two need to fight again.


2017 MOTY MASTER LIST

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