ACTION Wrestling 8/17/18

Ike Cross vs. Slim J

ER: Hot opener, tough to start off a crowd with something this dynamic. Everybody else on the show is going to be working from behind. I just saw Cross for the first time while watching the recent SCI, so I saw him there as this great babyface. Here he's a heel and just as fun, and very different than his SCI performances. Slim is a great babyface, really he's AJ Styles without a TV deal. If people out there think AJ Styles is great, there is no reason they wouldn't love Slim. He's strong as hell, gets crazy height on everything, hits hard, and can take a beating. A really great babyface. I think Styles is clearly a great, but right now Slim is better. He and Cross do a really fast rope running bit, Slim has an amazing high dropkick (and later a cool spinning kick of the top), and I love it when AC Mack starts running distraction on the floor. Cross drills Slim with a brutal running elbow to the back of the head, and Cross is really great at finding ways to get the ref's attention while Mack interferes. Cross played powerhouse here, and he pulls out some real stunners: a ridiculous sky high Dr. Bomb, a deadlift tilt a whirl backbreaker, and a uranage type slam where he just yoinks Slim up and plants him face first. It looked like something that should have finished the match. These two matched up really well here, and this kind of had the feeling of a tryout match, with both guys keeping a quick pace and breaking out impressive tricks. I pretty much need to be tracking down every match from both of these guys.

PAS: Fun stuff, interesting to see Cross as a heel, he is a great traditional babyface, but here is a fun trolling heel. Lots of shtick distracting the ref while AC Mack mugs Slim, he also stomps Slim in the corner and pretends his leg is spasming to get in some post ref break shots. Slim has decades of experience getting a crowd behind him, and all of the early stuff really got them into the nearfalls. I loved all of Cross's power moves, working heel we didn't see as much of his vertical leap, but he was beasting Slim, that lawn dart into the turnbuckles looked like Slim was 2 inches shorter post match (inches he can't afford to lose), and that reverse uranage thing was awesome looking. That final bump Cross took on the electric chair headrop was harrowing, that is big dude to be landing on his neck like that. Great stuff and another example of Slim J being this gem hiding in plain sight for years.

Alan Angels vs. James Bandy

ER: First time seeing both guys, and I came away seeing a couple cool things I hadn't seen, and liked this take on the modern indy match. Bandy had a few nice full extension suplexes, Angels was good at taking suplexes, and neither guy held back on strikes and kicks. Bandy had a nice kick to the chest and Angels hit a cool spin kick. We also had Angels working Bandy's arm in some cool ways, whipping his arm into the mat and breaking out the wild Rings of Saturn after rolling through with a Tim Horner style armdrag. I've not seen that attempted before, and I dug it. The arm stuff didn't really go anywhere, but I liked it peaking with that armdrag into the Fujiwara, into Angels throwing elbows to the ribs. When Angels tries it against he gets his momentum reversed and caught with a quick curb stomp. I liked a lot of what I saw here.

Kevin Ku vs. Tommy Maserati vs. Bobby Flaco vs. Dani Jordyn vs. Matt Sells vs. Shawn King vs. Teddy King

ER: I might have a name or two wrong on this one, only seen about half the talent before. And this was a perfectly fine scramble match, although we didn't always have a great use of time, and a LOT of people disappeared too often for it to really have the chaos of the best scramble matches. As it was, we got fun snapshots of what everyone can do and would up with a few memorable moments. Jordyn has a powerlifter build and got to throw a bunch of fun suplexes (and especially launches Flaco who bumps high and hard), and has a cool Jeff Cobb-like momentum reversing slam on Shawn King (?) late in the match that looked cool, and that guy also leaned in . Ku looked like more of a bully than I'd previously seen him, I got a kick watching him run as hard as possible into corner attacks, really pushing the pace faster than anybody else. I don't love his need to get some kind of lungblower into a match, but he was a good dominant mid-match presence. We get a couple of big dives to the floor, a flip dive that takes everyone out (and sends some kid in an orange hoodie running for the hills), and then an awkward set-up/fun result slingblade from Flaco, springing off the ref and delivering it to Ku on the apron while he basically stage dove across the other workers. Weird/cool landing, clunky set up, but these are the moves you need to be breaking out in a scramble match, so it totally works. Maserati is a great bumper, even if I don't like how his kicks land, he at least makes offense look good. I wouldn't mind seeing more from some of them, so as a showcase the scramble did its job.

Cain Justice vs. Dominic Garrini

PAS: This is one of my favorite current matchups in wrestling. They had a match last year in CWF which went super high on our 2017 list, the second match was fun although not as mind blowing and this is the rubber match and the first outside of CWF. These guys are both super skilled, super interesting grapplers, and they have a couple of really cool scrambles to open the match, Garinni especially is whipping out really cool stuff, including a couple of super tight chokes with Justice finding cool ways to escape. Garinni has gotten better at landing his shots in the last six months, and he hits some big bombs including a nasty spinning back elbow. Justice is really great at using his environment, the Action ring has these hooks on the outside of the ringposts and Justice has used them in cool ways in all of his matches, here he traps Dom's foot in the hook and torques on the metal. Garrini did a great job of selling a damaged foot on his throws for the rest of the match. My one quibble in this was that Justice was back on offense too quick after the Screwdriver, but I did really like finish run. I am excited to see both of these guys grow up together, and I hope we get to see some more classics. I would rank this a little below their first match, that match coming out of nowhere really made it special, but this was good stuff for sure.

ER: I think this one falls as their third best match together, which isn't really an insult to this match, as I really liked those two matches. This felt a little more disjointed. Their first two matches didn't necessarily establish a match long narrative, but this one stood out because of that weird Screwdriver thrown in there. That move, and Cain getting up from taking that move at almost the same time as Garrini and going right back on offense, really made the match feel like they were just doing stuff until THAT moment. It felt really out of place the way it was used here. I would have loved it if that had finished things, going from grappling and striking to a sudden unexpected exclamation point, Justice beat in an instant because he wasn't expecting something like a Screwdriver. Instead we just kind of get up and do a little reset, Cain working for the Twist Ending and Garrini working for a triangle, gaslighting us into thinking we hadn't just see that big spot. I liked the bulk of this (though I thought the finish felt a little tacked on, even though I liked Cain winning with leverage to reverse a triangle). I really liked the grappling in this match, especially thinking Garrini looked sharp on the mat. He looked like he was calmly setting traps for Cain, dropping down in a certain way to get Cain to go one way, opening up his leg which was Garrini's goal all along. There was stuff that looked fluid yet nasty, and it looked like you got a cool insight into Garrini's crazy muscle memory, knowing what all his options are on the mat at any given moment. I loved Cain using those ringpost hooks, as Dylan Hales pointed out on commentary, he uses those every time he wrestles in this ring, and I love him for that. I liked some of the striking in this, but thought other parts focused to much on making a slap sound. I don't need a slap to know Garrini is hitting a nice kneelift. Now, a silver lining in that Screwdriver spot: They set it up close to the ropes, so Cain got his foot up. I still don't like what came after, but I'll give credit to both for clearly setting up near the ropes to avoid an unnecessary kickout. In retrospect, I think my favorite thing about the match might have been Cain's irritated glances at children while he was on the floor, being booed by kids. Just a bunch of kids booing him, while he shook his head at them, hands on hips.

Kavron Kanyon vs. Fry Daddy

ER: Short and sweet, didn't really get much of an idea what Fry Daddy is about, but I liked our Kanyon squash. Kanyon looks like a smaller Chris Hero, had a big kick combo (I really like a good high roundhouse kick, the type of kick Eric Bischoff would call a "back leg front round kick") and he finished it off with a brutal knee to the face. He had Daddy up for a package piledriver, then tossed him straight out and met him with a knee. It looked brutal enough for a finish, so I was pleasantly surprised when it was the finish.

Arik Royal vs. Fred Yehi

ER: Damn, boys, you go get it. I loved the dichotomy of this, with Royal being bigger, but Yehi hitting harder, and I loved the build. Royal is the king and Yehi basically had the best August of any other wrestler I watched. We get a fantastic lock up to start, both men all in and getting low, and Yehi blew up Royal's spot here, not letting him breathe, and Royal is one of my favorite "falling behind" wrestlers, making great faces and fun wobbly selling when he's getting overwhelmed. Yehi slams Royal into the ring apron and Royal comes up selling as if he were a man stumbling lost out of the desert. Yehi keeps ramping up the vicious, peaking with two spinning back elbows/fists to the back of Royal's head. But the big moments were yet to come, as once Royal uses his size, Yehi flies around like a popped balloon. Royal absolutely upends Yehi with his tackle, getting low and exploding; Yehi looked flew like he was riding a banana boat that got hit by Jaws. Royal throws Yehi back-of-neck first into the bottom rope (feels like a great lost Finlay spot) and in something I don't think I've ever seen, skips Yehi across and out of the ring like he was a damn stone on a pond. Royal had a couple of great biel throws in this, but here he just skipped Yehi across the damn ring. Awesome. We got a couple cool momentum shifts based on failed charges by both men, and Yehi sinks in a crucifix bomb before rocking him with that brutal Koji clutch-with-elbows. What nastiness. I think the match should have ended there, as afterward Yehi got freaking blitzed by another great tackle, sending him soaring, and a hard lefty lariat from Royal. And the finish was a little confusing as Yehi ties him up and a grounded kind of octopus, and the ref counts the pin even though Yehi looks more pinned than Royal, so it was somewhat deflating after all we'd been through. But damn still a total banger.  Post match Royal is the best, always, and he draws out all the sympathy from the crowd, acting despondent from his loss, holds up Yehi's hand to a couple sides of the ring, lets the crowd know Yehi was the better man. And then, as we all wanted, levels Yehi. This was all great.

PAS: I liked how the commentary mentioned that both guys do things a little differently, and this was a traditional big match indy formula just turned 10 degrees to the left, enough variety to really make it interesting. I love how Yehi is always moving forward, his pushing the pace is treated like a real advantage. He wrestles like a pest point guard who picks his opponent up full court, like the Patrick Beverley of wrestling. Royal has some off the charts power moves in this match, the spot Eric mentioned where he skips Yehi across the ring like a ground ball was a spot of the year candidate. Yehi is great at mixing in nifty pieces of offense and bumps into his match, he really reminds me of Finlay in that way. I thought we had some really great nearfalls, with Yehi smashing Royal with backfists and chops and Royal throwing him. I dug the flash pin, and the post match nicely sets up a rematch, which I am excited to check out.

The Lynch Mob vs. Team TAG (Chris Spectra/Kevin Blue)

ER: More of an angle than a match, with TAG jumping the Lynch Mob and eventually ending things prematurely by bringing in a couple chairs for the DQ. We've seen Team TAG work some more violent matches, including that awesome WarGames from last year, and I was less interested in seeing them work their way into Joey Lynch tandem spots. They both have tassels which is a plus, and I like a brash cheapshotting team.

AC Mack vs. Austin Theory

ER: Really fun match, the most I've enjoyed Theory, and further cemented how much I dig Mack. Austin Theory is a smooth athletic move-chaining wrestler, except in other matches there was always some hesitation. Here he and Mack worked together extraordinarily well, as if they had come up together and worked dozens of times. Both guys worked really quick and snaked some cool sequences. They worked fast rope running spots, really on your toes stuff. Theory's offense looked really tightened up, but damn Mack can GO. Mack gets crazy height on spots (what is with Georgia workers getting unreal height on bumps and offense?), and I liked every single thing he did in this match. I loved the smoothness he used to get into position for a low dropkick to a seated Theory (kick looked great too), and there was one spot where he leaped practically halfway across the ring to hit a superkick on a slumped-in-the-corner Theory and I jumped out of my seat. Some of Mack's movements seem so impossible, and then they hit flush and it's just...WOW. We get some fun learned behavior moments, like Theory catching Mack's uppercut on his knee/Dustin uppercut spot, and a couple of very believable nearfalls. Now, what's weird, is mid match we get a Theory knee injury. Theory misses a springboard stomp and begins limping around. Pulls off his next piece of offense, but goes down to the mat yelling about that knee. Great, I'm thinking, now we get a bunch of cool cocky attacks on the knee from Mack. Except that didn't happen. Theory continued barking and screaming and emoting about the knee, all while hitting increasingly bigger moves. Theory hit more moves after the knee injury spot than he did before. It was so weird. He was acknowledging it the entire time...except he was on a dominant run of move after move after move, huge sitout powerbomb, huge (great looking ) running blockbuster, a freaking running buckle bomb, getting Mack onto his shoulders for a fireman's carry, just...none of it made sense. The match did not need this knee injury whatsoever. It got really comical after a few moves. If they had changed nothing about the match, but made no allusions to a knee injury, I think this would have easily been high up on our list. Mack gets this hard low blow for an awesome false finish, and Theory comes up holding his balls...and his damn knee. This match was still very good, but that knee injury was such an unnecessary addition to the match. Mack came out of it with a big unexpected (to me) title win after an awesome hard kick to the knee and then his variation of a pedigree. I loved how the finish happened, with Theory just wanting to throw down fists and Mack laughing and agreeing, tossing off his gloves before just kicking low, what a great dickhead heel move. It really did feel like the preceding low blow would have been more than enough to justify the Theory loss, without needing any kind of knee injury angle. I mean you took a hard shot to the balls, nobody would think you didn't fight hard enough. But working in that knee injury without it every coming into play AT ALL just felt truly bizarre. Still, again, with it, the match was very good, and Mack is a guy I'm going to need to see every time he shows up.

PAS:  These guys are both WW4A trainees, and this match had the feel of a classic post match Ian Rotten speech touring showcase. I haven't had much time for Theory before, and his knee injury after a move/knee is fine during a move, is exactly the kind of dumb Seth Rollinism I can't stand. Still he has some pretty great chemistry with Mack and they pull off some really breathtaking stuff. Mack's vertical leap and speed almost feels like a tape glitch, they have a spot where Theory knocks him off the top rope and Mack hits a spinneroonie into a leaping enzigiri directly into this jumping superkick from three quarters of the way across the ring, it felt like watching Zion Williamson dunk, people aren't suppose to move like that. I agree with Eric that if you edited out Theory's weird unnecessary knee selling this would be a better match, but I did dig how it played into the finish. Mack nut punches Austin for a near fall and Theory gets up holding his balls and limping, he screams at Mack to come and fight, and Mack takes off his gloves, and then sneak kicks Theory in the patella, cross arm pedigrees him and pins him. Such a great bit of heel prickishness, fuck fighting like a man, win a match. Mack is a must see guy, what a star making performance.

ER: This was a tightly run, very fun show, with some genuine bangers, fun matches top to bottom, and even standout performances in the lesser matches. You could tell people were working hard, and that's always going to make me seek out more from a promotion. Can't imagine us being not fully onboard for what ACTION has in store going forward. Indy wrestling shows with diverse, killer action and a sub 2 hour run time? That's the market inefficiency right there baby. We placed a whopping 4 matches from this show on our 2018 Ongoing MOTY List, and I'm sure we'll have more ACTION matches on that list before it's done.

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Matches from EVOLVE 106 6/23/18

ER: This show opens with a potentially unintentionally hilarious vignette with Jarek 1:20 outside of the Los Angeles Wahlburgers restaurant, saying he "first discovered" Wahlburgers in Philadelphia, and has since eaten at locations in Detroit, New York, and now LA. This motherfucker DISCOVERED this mom and pop burger joint, I assume in much the same way that I discovered Planet Hollywood in my teens, and then discovered Claim Jumper in my 20s. Keep that information under your hats though, I don't want my discoveries to get too well known. Inside the restaurant he barters with a waiter to give him a free chocolate shake if he successfully pulls off a magic trick and guesses the guy's card. The waiter commits to nothing whatsoever, repeating several times that he'll "see what he can do". Jarek does the trick, the waiter responds with the greatest possible reaction a card trick can get (which is nodding and going "Oh, yeah, that's it."), and then walks off.

Then, in a moment of pure brilliance, Jarek turns to the camera and says "I'm a man who gets what I want."

Holy shit.

Imagine Ric Flair, a man who cut dozens of promos celebrating his wealth and lifestyle, clearly a man getting exactly what he wants. Picture Flair, instead of boasting about bagging ladies on his jet, picture him smugly bragging about boosting a guy out of a $7 chain restaurant milkshake with a completely dead eyed straight face. It's fucking brilliant.

I have seen hardly any Jarek. I don't know if he's a goof or if the wink was implied. I really, really hope the wink here was implied.


Darby Allin vs. WALTER

PAS: This is everything that people were saying the Draganov and David Starr matches were. The pinnacle of WALTER laying in an asskicking to a spunky underdog. Darby is tremendous in this, he takes some uncalled for bumps and gets his chest turned into hamburger, but he also has a real sense of when to mix in comebacks and has really credible offense for such a little guy. The hand work was class stuff Darby hurling WALTER's hand into the ringpost violently was great, as was the ground and pound punches right to the knuckles. I loved how he used it as a last gasp counter and attack, if nothing else was working he could bang at the hand. I thought WALTER's selling was really good here too, his hand was fucked, but he wasn't going to let it stop him from chopping Allin's chest into gazpacho or slapping his eardrum into ribbons. There are some really awesome individual spots here, Darby going for an in ring tope and WALTER shotgun head-butting him out of the air was an awesome King Kong vs. Airplanes spot, I also loved WALTER countering the coffin drop with the Kojira clutch. These are two of my favorite guys to watch, and this felt like both guys apex performances.

ER: What a breathless fight, with Allin taking far more damage that you think would be possible, and WALTER practically getting bored by dishing out a beating. There are only so many ways you can violently throw and strike a body, and around the 10 minute mark WALTER has appeared to have used up all of the ways he knows how to violently throw and strike a body, so just keeps doing the same thing. He chops Allin to the mat a dozen or two times, throws him insanely far with a beal, basically just picks him up a bunch and drops him. Allin's body should crumble, but I love the way he hangs in there and the way he spends the whole match essentially being chased down a hallway and gets his licks by knocking over bookcases and trashcans. WALTER is great at showing all the little ways Allin is a pest to him, all the little moments that leave him briefly unguarded. The stuff on the floor was so great, and Allin exploits every opportunity WALTER leaves him, knowing he'll only be able to attack for a second or two before he's thrown again. Allin attacks him from the apron and pounces on him like Westley jumping on Fezzik, gets splatted on the ground, but then catches a WALTER kick and throws his knee into the post, then with zero hesitation throws WALTER's hand off the post. Allin's zero hesitation was just at its apex here, watch him get rolled out on a kickout and spring immediately into a tornillo crossbody (bouncing off the bottom rope). It was done so fluidly and without missing a single beat, yet looked totally natural. WALTER is fun in how he both takes and blocks Allin's offense, like when he just stays in place for a big Allin crossbody, and Allin just bounces off like he hit the ringpost again. WALTER takes a couple Allin roll-ups really nicely, whips himself over fast on the Santito special, and Allin attacking WALTER's hand was really exciting, just punching away at it and clonking his head off it while WALTER screamed. Something tells me WALTER could get his hand lopped off and he'd probably insist on finishing the match, probably by smacking someone a bunch with his stump. But seeing Allin work that hand gives him a possible finish, and I like how he keeps on it and keeps at EVERYTHING, going with a hanging guillotine and working an armbar, and you get the sense that WALTER just ran out of things to do, got his hand run over, and Allin's tenacity lead to him stealing one. WALTER's big Gojira Clutch always looks like he's really cutting off air, and the Coffin Drop is both a fun move AND a great way for WALTER to reverse, and the roll up from there was a nice payoff. These two absolutely killed it, and there were a dozen cool moments that neither of us mentioned. I keep saying that Allin is one of my absolute favorite guys to watch, and I'm going to enjoy him for as long as I can, which just doesn't seem like it's going to be many more matches. But, I've been thinking that for awhile and somehow, Darby endures.

Timothy Thatcher/Tracy Williams/Anthony Henry vs. Chris Dickinson/Jaka/Dominic Garrini

ER: A good match with good performances from a bunch of guys I obviously really like, that doesn't quite gel into a list worthy match. It's probably better than a few things on our 2018 list, but didn't quite feel list considering who was involved. But it's still well worth seeing if you like these guys anywhere near as much as I do. I love how Catch Point started as a group of fit mat grapplers and has now evolved into a stable of thuggish brutes. They're all meaty guys who complement each other nicely without having the same style, with Dickinson working as a modern crazy-eyed Buzz Sawyer, Jaka as tae-kwon-do Kimala, and Garrini with his growing collection of strikes. This whole thing was a great scrap that went by quick, a lot of quick tags and fast action. We got a great babyface performance from Henry, tons of energy and ran into a lot of nasty shots from Catch Point. Thatcher was a great simmering badass, throwing hard shots and muscling guys down to the mat. I think Garrini is behind Jaka and Dickinson as he still shows moments of hesitation in the ring, but he has a couple of absolutely nasty pinfall breaks here that are awesome, landing a spine altering double stomp on Thatcher's back and coming in with an axe kick later, also love his double handed chop to the neck (feels like a Jaka strike, and I like the idea of teammates lifting from each other). Jaka has a bunch of offense and strike combos, and I like his simple attacks like slapping guys in the back with both hands or big throat thrusts. He doesn't necessarily have KO strikes, but his strikes are pesky and constant. Dickinson has really turned into one of my favorites in the world, just a completely hateable charisma and explosive ringwork; every time he charges into the ring he looks like someone charging out the front door of a douchey club to fight someone on the sidewalk. It's a specific charisma that nobody else has and he's awesome. Love him using a vicious powerbomb to break up a hold, love that heavy enziguiri finisher, just a real great bully. If you like these guys, you will definitely want to watch this match.

Joey Janela vs. Austin Theory

ER: Evolve doesn't run as many shows as they used to, and really the only on paper matches that interested me on the show were the two up above there. But I figure I should at least check out a couple title matches, and I don't remember Janela working Evolve before so that's kinda fun. I don't think the match was great, but the crowd was really hot for it and that made it come off really well. Janela is a fun worker but a little sloppy, and Theory works like a lesser Matt Sydal from 2005. There's a lot of that split second hesitation before Theory does offense, and other stuff that basically requires his opponent to leap at him before doing something. It's like when HHH couldn't do a move without reversing an Irish whip. There were some big things I liked, like Janela's big tope and that nasty Death Valley driver on the apron, but Theory isn't too interesting in the ways he transitions back to offense, as he just takes big moves, kicks out, and then does some improbable offense back. Janela hits a package piledriver for a big nearfall, moments later Theory is giving him a TKO off the top rope that requires Janela to climb up onto his shoulders all by himself. I thought Penelope's involvement was kind of clunky, and Theory going for the belt to have Penelope grab it from him felt like a hack Smackdown finish and not something that should change a title on a guy's debut show. But the crowd was amped and Janela clearly has charisma. I don't have a ton of use for Theory and Priscilla's act, though.

No Rope Breaks: Shane Strickland vs. Matt Riddle

ER: A match where both guys really killed each other with some spots, and were rewarded with a finish that nobody could really like. Strickland has definitely improved over the last year. Just a few years ago I thought he was one of the worst guys getting regular work on the indy scene. His striking has tightened up a bit (there was an honest to god really good punch in this match, popping Riddle's jaw on the floor). But a lot of his big offense really only works against a hyper athlete like Riddle, who is really great at getting into position for complicated stuff. Riddle can move like liquid, and I don't think Strickland could pull off some of the suplexes or transitions without someone like Riddle to pull the weight. There's a Saito suplex that Strickland hits that appears to be almost all Riddle, though Riddle does a great job of making it look plausible. I didn't think Strickland's arm work looked good, but he impressed me in ways that he never has before: he had a nice lariat, a sly catch of Riddle's Pele kick (which I think is a Riddle spot that doesn't always look great, so Strickland catching it was a nice play on that), and most importantly I was impressed with Strickland's snarling intensity. He carries himself very confidently and jawed with fans in a way I haven't seen from him before, and it made him come off far more interesting as a character. The finish set up was too obvious by a mile, as both men clearly adjust positions 90 degrees on a suplex so that Strickland gets tossed towards the ref, who Riddle then accidentally KOs. Eventually they brawl to the back, no cameras though. Strickland gets into it with guys backstage, they all come out, Strickland hits a big dive on everyone that doesn't feel like it fits into this match, and Riddle locks in the Bromission but apparently that KO'd ref was the only ref Evolve has. Nobody is satisfied with this finish, and the overstuffed aspect of all of it took away from the parts of the match where these guys were stiffing the hell out of each other. The No Rope Breaks stip didn't really lead anywhere interesting. There was a lot of good here, and it was harmed by some things that weren't really their fault, which is a shame.

ER: Well, WALTER/Allin is a slam dunk choice for our 2018 Ongoing MOTY List, with Phil and I going back and forth on just how high we should place it. What a front to back excellent match that was a real testament to how good those two are right now. It could have easily looked ridiculous, as WALTER is such a Terminator that having him lose to Darby could have easily looked foolish. They crafted an excellent match though, one of the best of the year.

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EVOLVE 98 1/13/18

PAS: Really liked the opening with Darby Allin giving a promo at his skate park and getting Champ tattooed on his upper lip. A wrestling version of a Soundcloud rapper is a pretty in culture gimmick, wrestlings Lil Peep is a pretty great gimmick especially for a guy who takes the bumps Darby takes.

Jarek 1:20 v. Snoop Strikes v. Brody King v. Jason Kincaid

PAS: This was a four-way with all of the pluses and minuses of a four way. We got a chance to see all four guys do some impressive stuff (well three guys, I am not riding the Jarek 1:20 train), King had a great dive for such a giant fat guy, Kincaid hit some brutal double stomps including the finishing stomp which nearly caved Strikes chest in, Snoop had some really fast counters and a great missile dropkick. Still there was the downsides which was a lot of complicated four person spots which weren't always pulled off and what ever the fuck Jarek's comedy magic gimmick is. First time I have seen Strikes and King and they are a fine poor mans Cool J and Mike Mars

Dominic Garrini/Tracy Williams v. Timothy Thatcher/WALTER

PAS: Man was this great, Garrini is a guy we love and I am really happy to see him step up in his most high profile match and deliver like this. He was a pitbull, getting his teeth on a scrap of meat and not letting go always pushing pace and attacking, he also laid in his strikes better then I had seen before. Loved the early Thatcher v. Garrini matwork, Thatcher is super comfortable rolling with a Jujitsu black belt, and they do a bunch of cool things based around knee and ankle locks. WALTER is a beast and is a great hot tag, just wrecking everyone with big boots and sack of laundry german suplexes. Williams is a problamatic guy for me, he has a lot of skill, but will occasionally do some comically bad looking stuff, this was mostly the good Tracey (outside of one silly 619) and I really liked how tenaciously he went after the neck near the end. Finish run was dope with Garrini countering a rear naked choke and pulling a triangle  but WALTER hoisting him up and chucking him on Williams. One big WALTER powerbomb later Williams is smushed. So much fun, and I am hoping 2018 has Garrini really mixing it up with the EVOLVE uppercard.

ER: This is probably the best I've seen Garrini look in a match, even better than the Cain Justice match we loved so much. That match felt more like Cain knowing how to use every one of Garrini's strengths to craft the perfect match with him. This felt like him really bringing all his skills into pro wrestling, and knowing just how to work within a nicely built tag structure. The control segment on Thatcher was awesome, and I love how abrupt the finish was. There's a pretty high correlation between a lack of overkill and the guys we love, as I could have easily seen this match going much longer but was very pleased with where and how it ended. Thatcher turned in a great performance and I loved how he matched with Garrini, and really got into the match when Garrini and Williams were keeping him isolated. Williams brought really good energy to everything, and the longer they kept Thatcher isolated the bigger I knew WALTER's hot tag run would be. And before long WALTER is throwing chops and lariats and boots and Garrini and Williams and it's great. Garrini keeps trying to slow him down and smother him, going for triangles and chokes, allowing Williams to target Thatcher. The finish was awesome and sudden, with Williams catching Thatcher in an armbar and Garrini getting a rear naked on WALTER, and I love the camera shot of Williams' armbar in the foreground, and in the background you see WALTER rolling through and deadlifting Garrini, and then WALTER just powerbombs him onto Williams. Awesome moment. And I love how that leads to Williams eating an immediate powerbomb for the sudden win. Very fun tag.

Chris Dickinson v. Parrow

PAS: The End run out, and we get a brawl with Catch Point that lead to this singles No DQ match. Pretty fun ECW brawl. Parrow is a big dude and Dickinson really wails on his back with chair shots. I also like Dickinson going to the back and getting a broom to choke him with, I always like wrestling match with plausible plunder. Finish is Parrow eating a pazuzu bomb on some chairs which is a nasty bump for such a big dude, that is a lot of weight on a fat neck.

ER: I thought this was great! Dickinson looked fully consumed by hate as he went after Parrow, just the worst kind of initiation as Dickinson beats him all around ringside with nasty chairshots with uncomfortable plastic seats, and you can start to see bruises forming on Parrow's back as he falls around. Dickinson ramps it up and unfold a chair over Parrow's neck, and then stands on the chair as Parrow chokes. Nasty spot. Dickinson also makes a wooded broom look like a mean weapon, choking Parrow with it and talking trash before breaking it over Parrow's chest (but not before sweeping some dirt on him). Dickinson was classic dickhead Dickinson here, with his crazy eyes and zebra Zubaz (zebraz?), and it's weird for a giant 300 lb. dude to be the underdog babyface, but Parrow coming back and chucking Dickinson onto the stage with a powerbomb was an awesome moment. The camera angle made it look like Dickinson was swallowed by crowd and chairs, and I love integrating a venue's terrain into a match. Both guys take a couple rough bumps on the stage with Dickinson going through chairs and Parrow threatening to powerslam him OFF the stage before Dickinson - in true asshole fashion - claws at Parrow's balls to get down!! The vertical suplex is already an underrated awesome move, but a 300 lb. guy getting vertical suplexed on a small stage makes it even more awesome. Both guys take nasty bumps, with Dickinson back in getting powerbombed through a chair, and we get a great visual of Parrow - back to camera - asking for chairs and then swatting chairs into the ring as they're tossed. But as goes the rule of spot set up ("He who sets up the gimmick, goes through the gimmick"), Parrow takes too long and eats the insane pazuzu bomb onto a bunch of chairs. The visual was nuts with a huge guy taking that move, and this whole thing was a cool little mean spirited scrap.

AR Fox v. Matt Riddle

PAS: Fox comes out with a whole crew of dudes, and has an amusing back and forth with them. I enjoyed Fox taunting Riddle at the beginning by dropping down into guard and making punching motions. I also liked Riddle being pissed and super aggressive. When Riddle turns it on, he is a really dynamic offensive wrestler. I do think they are forcing the "Riddle hates rope breaks" story a bit, and I do have a hard time buying Fox's offense being strong enough to put him down. I did think this was better then some of Riddle's other matches against flyers as it felt like a clash of styles, rather then Riddle justing trying to work as a workrate junior.

ER: I love a good posse in wrestling, and Fox has a good crew of sycophants around him. It's awesome seeing all the boys overly praising Fox for everything he does, you got fanny pack guy, hair guy, wife in the high heels overselling Riddle's entrance music, etc. You gotta have a good crew. And I thought this was awesome, easily my favorite AR Fox performance ever. In the same way I hated end of career Shawn Michaels, but would have loved his same moveset as a heel, AR Fox is a guy who works much better as a heel for me. I love a cocky highflyer heel, and Fox is so athletic that he can pull off complicated stuff and then smirk like an asshole. It works great. Riddle doesn't fall for his trap and start pulling off a bunch of similar moves just because he's also athletic, instead he waits to sink in violence, like a killer leaping high knee lift to the chin, or a huge tombstone followed up with a powerbomb, that only doesn't get the 3 count because Fox was next to the ropes. Riddle also throws out these dismissive sentons that are heavy and smartly used. Fox's crew at one point gets baited into catching a huge springboard cannonball dive from Fox, again, you gotta have a good crew. Finish is insane and a total kill shot, with Riddle putting Fox up top but Fox hitting a stupid Destroyer off the top, then a Spanish Fly variation off the opposite corner, and then a hard 450 splash, no way anybody would kick out of that. Awesomely build crazily ramped up spotfest, both guys using their athleticism to the match's advantage. My easy favorite AR Fox performance, and my favorite Riddle singles match in awhile.

Austin Theory v. Fred Yehi

PAS: Fred Yehi is always entertaining, but I am not buying any of what Austin Theroy is selling, I am not buying Priscilla Kelly goth temptress, I am not buying the goofus redemption story with Jason Kincaid, his goofy ass NOVA finisher, I am not on board for any of it. Yehi tries, and I do like his stomps and his upkicks, but this was tons of booking and not very interesting booking. Pricilla Kelly has a nice flip dive off the apron though.

Jaka v. Keith Lee

PAS: I enjoy slugfest Lee way more then worlds thickest junior Lee and he and Jaka pound on each other here. Lee has some awesome throws, at one point Jaka tries to grab his arm and he just throws him through the air with his wrist, I also love his overhead belly to belly where he just tosses him with no back bump. Jaka had some cool flurries, I loved his leg sweep and his over hand slaps. Finish was a little goofy with Lee being distracted by AR Fox's posse which allows Jaka to unload on him, only problem was the finish spin kick didn't land with the kind of force you would need to drop a mountain like Lee, really took the steam out of an otherwise enjoyable match.

ER: I think I liked this more than Phil (and it kind of seems like I've enjoyed the show as a whole more than Phil, though I've also skipped a couple matches), but I thought Jaka looked good competing at the WWN champ's level, and didn't think Lee was brought down a lot in losing (though if beating him is to make him seem more vulnerable heading into a match with Fox, it's a lot to ask to believe he'd lose to Jaka and then turn around and lose to Fox). I thought Jaka was great bumping around for Lee, and I liked the varied strikes he tossed out, coming big with chops and leg kicks and working the knee, and I thought a couple of his blocks of Lee strikes were used nicely. Lee is a physical freak and breaks out the big rana (which he shouldn't use often, but as a big surprise moment it looks so cool) and Jaka makes me actually care about a tornado DDT in 2018! It's been such a regularly used, unimportant move to most matches, but somehow seeing Lee whip around and bounce off his head made it huge. Jaka hits some rolling kicks and then bumps awesome into the corner when he misses (and later bumps great into the ropes off a mean Pounce), leading to Lee chucking him with a couple big throws. I didn't hate the distractions from Fox's crew, but maybe it's because I'm really digging Fox's crew, and love how it kept Jaka in the game. Going into the match I thought this was going to be a 6-8 minute destruction of Jaka, so I loved him repeatedly staying in it, and was not expecting him to get the win. I guess the end spin kick could have landed more "KO blow", but it was a heel whipped into a guy's neck and jaw, so who am I to judge? I love Jaka and Dickinson got to both conquer two huge dudes, love them getting some singles match clout.

Zach Sabre Jr. v. Darby Allin

PAS: Tremendous match. Modern day version of Fuchi v. Kikuchi with stellar performances from both guys. Out of this world stuff from Allin, he is a guy who made his rep for taking insane bumps, so it is pretty incredible he could pull off a main event match with basically no bumps at all. Not only did he not take some crazy spill, he basically took two flat back bumps all match. Allin comes out and tries to catch Sabre quickly with some lighting fast roll ups, but Sabre quickly takes control and starts torturing Allin. He was twisting his body in some vicious ways, manipulating elbows and wrist, I mean gross stuff. Allin is super flexible and a really charismatic seller, you totally buy the pain etched on his face, and the stubborn willingness to go farther then anyone should to get a win. I loved Sabre as a technician in this, he had awesome counters for both the coffin drop and last supper (Allin's Gibson leglock rollup), and I loved how that composure slipped as Allin refused to go down. We get a couple of really persuasive Allin near falls, and going into this match not knowing the results, I bit on the code red totally, and then the finish is gruesome with Sabre transitioning from submission hold to submission hold kicking a prone Allin in the head until the ref has to stop it. Great stuff, hell of a match for EVOLVE to start the year on.

ER: Damn damn damn! Sabre is undeniable at this point, and he was a full force asshole to Allin's body in this match, and Allin can convincingly play the stubborn idiot who is too badass AND too dumb to know when to quit. But this was a savage Sabre performance, with him just torturing Allin, bending his limbs, slamming his legs into the mat, kicking at joints, throwing some of his best uppercuts, digging his elbow into meat to get Allin to offer up limbs, throwing the best mocking kicks to a downed Allin, just mean cruel stuff. The stretching and beating and torture would sometimes go so long without being broken that it made Allin's comebacks and surprise offense so much more satisfying. Sabre was just in full jock heel mode, showing the first day of class rookie a lesson, mugging at the crowd with doofy faces, flexing, cockily having the ref count Allin down after strikes while he waited in the corner, just awesome overly confident heel masterclass. Allin has tons of cool offense and Sabre's wide-eyed idiot faces were great when Allin would catch him with a flash roll up or plausibly executed Code Red. Sabre's control of Allin's limbs was a treat to watch, knowing when he had Allin's leg leveraged enough that he could break his grip (supporting the leg with his body) to allow him to shift focus to another part of the body, back to bending elbows or hyperextending arms or wrecking wrist ligaments. Allin was just the perfect amount of nuts in this, still crazy enough to try locking in an awesome guillotine choke, with no regard to what Sabre is going to do to him when he inevitably pops out free. This was really squashy in parts, but with Sabre's movements and cockiness it always felt like he was ripe to be upset, and with Allin's grit he always felt like a guy who could get that upset. He does get two very good nearfalls, close pinning combos that could have easily held Sabre down for an extra split second, and that just made the finish all the more brutal: Allin goes for the Coffin Drop, Sabre catches him in an armbar, and begins just bending both his arms back while digging his boot heel into Allin's face, kicking him in the head, just making you want the match to end. Ref stops it, and we get a truly awesome match very early in 2018.


ER: This was an awesome show, great start to the year, with three matches easily landing on our (very young) 2018 Ongoing MOTY List. A lot of guys are making big strides forward, and it won't be shocking to see a bunch of these guys continue to pop up on our list.


2018 MOTY MASTER LIST

COMPLETE AND ACCURATE MATT RIDDLE

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