Paradigm Pro Wrestling Terminal Combat 5/21/21

PAS: I am in the bad for the PPW UWFI series, and they put together a great looking card here. Unfortunately I am really weary of the Frankensteining of the rules for Terminal Combat, with the first five minutes being UWFI rules before it becomes a street fight. Feels like if this was a straight UWFI rules show it would be amazing, we will see how this goes.

Akira vs. Dominic Garrini

PAS: This match was kind of what I was worrying about. I really liked the five minute UWFI section. The dueling leglocks were cool, and I liked how aggressively Akira went after the Kimura. It was pretty clever how Dom used the rules shift to break the Kimura attempt with a big low blow. I didn't love the street fight section, it was stiff, but there were these silly Akira spots like putting a pop tart into Garrini's mouth. Really came off discordant. Dom using a bunch of low blows to set up a bulldog choke was cool, but this really was neither fish nor fowl and I would have enjoyed either a UWFI match or a street fight way more.

Dustin Leonard vs. Flash Thompson

PAS: This doesn't go five and thus was just a UWFI rules match. Love Leonard who is a Ju-Jitsu black belt who looks like Don Kernodle. He is one of my favorite guys to watch in this fed, even though he is pretty limited. The stand up parts of this fight didn't look great with Leonard looking a little flinchy and overearly dropping from a Thompson hook. Flash brought his nice movement, but not much else. Finish was bonkers though, with Leonard from his back pressing Thompson off of him with his knees and spinning him into a cross armbreaker. Totally sick shit, and stuff like that will keep me searching out all Dustin Leonard. 

Lord Crewe vs. Derrick Neal

PAS: Crewe has been one of the in-ring standouts of this project, really mastering these kind of swing for the fences brawls and this was another corker of fight. Neal hasn't done anything for me previously, but fit nicely into the Lord Crewe formula. Lots of wild shots some, which land big. Loved the finish, as we are into the count down to switch rules, and Crewe hits a nasty knee right to the chin and a sick sounding diving elbow for the KO. Really popped me by avoiding the awkward switch into street fight. 

Alex Kane vs. Isiah Broner

PAS: This was my most anticipated fight of the show, and it delivered (and thankfully in under five minutes). Both these guys come off like total killers, and it was quick and hard hitting. Broner throws bodyshots to the kidneys and is able to slip and hit a suplelx of his own. Kane fires back with a German chained into a Saito suplex but as he is setting up the Mark of Kane Broner slips out and puts him to sleep with a spinning back elbow. Intense short and violent, exactly what I have loved about this series.

Ron Mathis vs. Josh Crane

PAS: Crane is a Big Japan guy, and although there was an interesting moment or two during the UWFI series - Mathis has some fun takedowns - they were basically killing time until the chairs and doors part of the match. That was OK I guess, it is a style I am pretty much over, there were some nice bumps, but unless these matches have outstanding individual performances or something, they just tend to to blur to me. I thought the finish was clever with Mathis making a Backlund face after getting driven through a door and locking in a choke, but otherwise this wasn't much.

Austin Connelly vs. Brayden Lee

PAS: This was supposed to be Connelly vs. Max the Impaler which I hope we get to see one day. This was a banger though on it's own. Lee was in a singlet and introed with his collegiate wrestling background referenced, and was really great working amateur style stuff into this match. He stuffs Connelly's aggressive attack and hits gator rolls, and is constantly and impressively riding and taking down Connelly,  wet blanketing his intensity. Connelly is able to take control a bit when he lands a bunch of strikes to the temple on a banana split attempt, and is able to ragdoll him with a throw. Finish was really great with Connelly figure fouring Lee's leg while Lee was on his back and then stomping him right on the head. I thought Lee ruled in this, would love to see him back, and Connelly is one of the most entertaining wrestlers in the world right now.

ER: Brayden Lee gets his college credentials listed in his intro but this man looks like someone who walked straight out of a collegiate wrestling program and showed up in Paradigm. Connelly is a crazed Connor O'Malley character who had no real chance of competing with Lee's wrestling skills, but had his own advantage with every part of the striking game. It's impossible to prevent Lee's takedowns, but Lee never expects to be open hand slapped across the ear immediately after a takedown, so it's this cool battle of amateur wrestler brain vs. UWFI brain. Connelly rushes in (as he'll do) and repeatedly gets trapped in front chanceries and constantly has his force deadened by Lee pushing on his shoulders, but again: Lee knows wrestling, Connelly knows how to hit, and Lee does not know how to take someone down while avoiding the hits that come after. I loved when Lee locked on a banana split and you're thinking "well Connelly is toast" before you, too, realize that Connelly can throw hard palm strikes right to Lee's head and neck and suddenly the banana split is neutralized. Connelly's gutwrench powerbomb looked sick, and then he outdoes himself by almost getting a shoot Texas Cloverleaf before deciding it's easier to just stomp Lee in the head and neck a bunch instead of rolling through with the Cloverleaf. We've seen Connelly work great 2 minute, 3 minute, and now 4 minute matches, and this pairing is something I'd love to see several more times with all new stips each time. Connelly is just so good on these shows. 

John Wayne Murdoch vs. Reed Bentley

PAS:  These guys are a brawling tag team, and Murdoch kept bailing out and trying to grab weapons, only to get called back into the ring, at one point he even sat down in the chair to try to run out the clock to Terminal Combat. Still when Murdoch comes back into the ring, Bentley hits him with a nasty barfight headbutt and lands a knee on the ground to KO him before they ever got to the garbage wrestling. I liked the last flurry from Bentley, although this was more of a troll then a match.  

Bradley Prescott IV vs. Jody the Wrestler

PAS: This was one of those meta comedy matches where guys make fun of the idea of pro-wrestling. I pretty much hate those universally, and Jody and Bradley aren't exactly UCB all-stars when it comes to sketch comedy. Keep it moving

Janai Kai vs. Sandra Moore

PAS: This did the best job so far of bridging the two concepts in this match. Kai is a UWFI rules veteran and wrestled Bloodsport, while this was Moore's first UWFI rules match. Kai dominated the first section using TKD and some nice snap takedowns. Moore is bigger and used her size to keep Kai off of her and land some bodyshots. Moore is basically able to survive until Terminal Combat where after Kai works her over a bit with Nunchucks, she is able to land a sick chair shot to the side of Kai's head and take control, finishing her off with a big powerbomb. Liked the story of the brawler surviving the shoot style specialist until it was her turn.

Jollyville Fuck-Its (Nasty Russ and T-Money) vs. Creature Feature (Adriel Noctis/Lazarus)

PAS: I am not really sure how much of this match was actually shoot style, but it is such a pleasure to see the Fuck-It's back and whooping on some Goths. T-Money was a truck in this match, just tossing the Features with big slams, his opening shot was a spinebuster which looked like it snapped Lazarus's head back and won a UWFI rules match by KO after wasting Noctis with a pounce into the ropes. Russ was a little less showcased, although I loved his big right hand. This was basically a fun tag semi-squash, and there is no one better at violently squashing a tag team then the Fuck-Its.

Chase Holliday vs. Yoya

PAS: This was a nifty short David vs. Goliath shoot match. Yoya starts the match leapfrogging Holliday and dropping him with a big kick, Holliday is able to get up and throw Yoya a couple of times, and hits a couple of big powerbombs out of armbar attempts. Yoya was able to grab another armbard, slither up his body and grab a rear naked choke and put him out. Holliday had been really protected before this, so it was a big upset, and I like Yoya as a dangerous little guy who can absorb big shots but put someone to asleep if given the chance. 

Matt Makowski vs. Matt Justice

PAS: The opening five minutes of this were pretty cool with Justice using his size and strength to counter Makowski and push him into the Terminal Combat section. I enjoy Justice in these shoot matches as a big strong hard hitting guy who can overcome his lack of skill, kind of like a garbage wrestling Crazy Horse Bennett. The transition into Terminal Combat was cool with Makowski having a rear naked choke on and Justice falling backwards over the top rope to start the brawling. The brawling section in the middle was pretty dull though, not a lot of energy by Justice when we was in control, really felt meandering (which they even brought up sort of on commentary) Finish was cool though with Makowski putting on his Gi and using a Gi assisted choke armbar for the tap grabbing Justice after he got put through a table. I really like the MMA guys secret weapon being a Gi, too bad the brawling wasn't better as this had some stuff I liked. 

Hoodfoot vs. Bobby Beverly

PAS: They skipped the UWFI rules section of this match and went straight into the brawl, and while it had it's moments, Hoodfoot hit some great headbutts, there were some nice suplexes, it really felt repetitive as most of the match was Hoodfoot getting an advantage and Gregory Iron interfering, rinse repeat. The finish was pretty nasty with Hoodfoot suplexing Beverly hard into a door and Iron and Iron really getting crushed, and Hoodfoot does have great charisma, but this was pretty low on the list of Heavy Hitters defenses, and the entire Hoodfoot to Makowski to Beverly back to Hoodfoot series of quick title changes felt like a waste.

PAS: Overall as an idea this was a failure to me. I am a big fan of this roster, so many matchups I want to see, but everything I liked was just a straight UWFI match, and I am thinking I will stick to that stuff from Paradigm in the future. 

Read more!

Paradigm Pro: UWFI Contenders Series 2 Episode 6 Finale

Lost Boys (Chase Holliday/Hoodfoot) vs. Aaron Williams/Gary Jay

PAS: I don't think the tag format totally worked, although this had some moments. Hoodfoot is always going to entertain in this style, and he clubbed Williams with a huge shot to the back of the head, and finished the match with a gross suplex on Williams and some ground and pound. Jay looked better in this match then he did in his first match, but I don't think this style is for him. He doesn't seem like he has the pacing and selling down and just wants to get in his indy offense. He did hit hard though, which mitigates some sins.

ER: It seems like a liked bigger parts of this a lot more than Phil, even if we have the same complaints. Once they got past joking about the UWFI tag rules in ring, I thought this settled in pretty nicely. Holliday had some nice palm strikes, including a cool almost uppercut shot as he was getting up, really looked like it cracked Jay. Jay had a couple of things that were way too "regular indy match" and that's my least favorite stuff when it turns up on a specialty show. The little mule kick to take out Holliday's knee, followed up with a big downward strike closed fist, just made everyone involved look stupid for it not drawing any kind of penalty. The commentary couldn't call the punch what it was, and the ref even looked like he hesitated and wasn't sure if he should point it out. 

But I probably liked his fighting spirit roaring elbow after a Hoodfoot backdrop driver much less. Tons of matches in this series have ended with suplexes that weren't as gruesome as Hoodfoot's, and if you really want to get your favorite 90s puro spots into your match, well, maybe you should crib from the right fed. Nobody is doing Michinoku Pro hops at the end of exchanges either. But I really liked the whole finishing stretch, with Holliday getting surely KO'd by Williams, only for Holliday to be close enough to tag in Hoodfoot at the 9 count. I thought the Hoodfoot/Williams shootout was among the best strike exchanges in their entire series, felt really intense and was filled with shots. Williams gets trapped in a huge trap arm German, and then Hoodfoot throws them downward strike elbows for the stoppage. I've said it before, but this style benefits from hot finishing stretches, always great to go out on a super high note. 

Freddie Hudson vs. Lexus Montez

PAS: I haven't loved Montez so far on this show, but he and Hudson have clearly worked each other a bunch and had a nice rhythm. Both guys hit nice suplexes, I especially liked Hudson's teardrop, and Montez does a cool roll through into a kimura for the tap. Got me a little more excited to see Montez in the Middleweight tourney, and he was initially a name I wasn't pumped about.

ER: Rhythm is a good word for what we got here, and it was fun. Commentary points out how these two have met several times before in Paradigm, but never under UWFI rules. Those kind of details added to the way Hudson played things, which was as a guy happy to be there and work a different style against a familiar worker. It added a fun edge to things, and both delivered big snap suplexes that looked worthy of a count. Totally agree on Montez's kimura finish as well, didn't expect the spot to go that direction and I kept getting more into it the more Montez appeared to improvise bending Hudson's arm. 

Big Beef Gnarls Garvin vs. Lord Crewe

PAS: Crewe has quietly become one of the best guys in this fed, and this was the high energy slap fight you want from this matchup (and a solid improvement on their first match). Both guys threw real heat here. Beef had a couple of big sack toss suplexes, and the back slap to the ear which Crewe used to drop Beef was a real equilibrium buzzer.  I liked how Beef wouldn't let the ref count on his suplex, he was pressing forward and it eventually cost him.

ER: I thought this kicked ass, totally the kind of match I wanted them to have. Beef really chucked Crewe on a couple of throws, and Crewe is either a great suplex bumper, or is a crazy man who leans shoulder first into painful throws, and I don't care which one of those it is. The stand up looked like it had real consequences, and I somehow always forget how much snap Crewe can get on his close quarter striking. It's hard to get a lot of momentum behind strikes when you're dodging return fire and standing half an arm's distance away, yet Crewe really cracks Beef several times. His backhand to the back of Beef's head was killer, loved how Beef dropped for it, and I really like the storyline of Beef getting more and more frustrated that Crewe is the guy adding crooked numbers to his loss column. Beef doesn't lose any aura, even though Crewe wasn't winning on banana peel finishes. 

Yoya vs. Robert Martyr

PAS: These guys train together, and they really have fun chemistry. The brawling on the floor isn't completely kosher with the rules, but I liked Yoya's shot with the guard rail and how it caused Martyr to sell for the rest of the match. But I didn't think the tap out and restart added much to the match, and we easily could have done without it. I did like how Martyr tried to fight his way into suplexes and the finishing headbutt was super nasty and a meaningful KO. Good stuff, and I would be into this being run back. 

ER: Great chemistry, and an over-complicated fight that didn't need this many story beats, but the work and chemistry almost made all the beats work. Every time I would find myself going "well they didn't need to do..." I would still be interested in where they were going. The roll to the floor came off well, but it did feel odd seeing Yoya trap Martyr's arm in the guardrail and kick it. Yoya hasn't really been a guy who takes shortcuts in his matches, and it's odd to have him be such a giant killer who never quits, and then have him cheat for the first time against the one guy who is closest to his size. Or maybe I'm looking at it all wrong and it's a great small guy thing of being way meaner to other small guys while trying to earn the respect of the largest guys. Fight the guys nobody expects him to be with honor, fights the other small guy like there can only be one small guy. 

The controversial stoppage was a bit odd, not sure I understood any of it. Martyr clearly tapped, then begged his way into a restart. In 2nd grade I almost got sent to the principal's office, which would have been my first visit there. I was warned plenty of times using the classic grade school "clothespins on a colorfully drawn stoplight" method, and once you get moved to the yellow light you know you're one misstep from red. So I hit read, and the class ooooooooooed and I shamelessly pleaded with Mrs. Setterlund to have mercy, total groveling act, dancing like no one was watching. And it worked, and it was at least another 3 years until I actually got sent to the principal's office for the first time. BUT if I was a babyface pro wrestler and clearly lost a match, I would not grovel and beg to get the match restarted. I thought Yoya looked cool as hell for agreeing to a restart, even though I don't understand it. I really liked Martyr struggling and selling while trying throws, and I loved Yoya's rolling armdrag. I do wish Martyr had left the thigh slaps at home though. His strikes looked good without slaps, and you don't need slaps on back elbows, and I thought the slaps on the finishing headbutt were really egregious. Back elbows and worked headbutts look cool, just let them breathe. 

Max the Imapaler vs. Alex Kane

PAS: I really liked what we got here, but I think it was a bit too short. Max does a great job of conveying menace and I totally bought them dominating early, even with as strong as Kane has been put over. That belly to belly throw was especially sick, but I did think two suplexes put Kane down a bit too easily. The German Max threw was nice, but it wasn't "put an undead monster to sleep" nice. One or two more moments really could have made this something special.  

ER: I thought this was cool as hell, and was about the length I was expecting based on how the length all of these hiss showdowns have been on Contenders. Kane has been such a steamroller, it was cool to see Max just go right at him. I thought their German looked awesome, Kane appears to have that inverse Lawler magic where he is as great a punch salesman as he is a puncher. Kane folds real well on this German, comes off like a guy who really knows all angles of a suplex, taking and giving. both had their chance to show off cool belly to belly suplexes, with Max doing a short deadlift and just dropping Kane, like men after carrying a 40 lb. bag of cat litter up the stairs. Kane's belly to belly has this gorgeous followthrough, just moving Max's dead body and driving them into the mat. The landing looked so heavy that I was actually expecting a stoppage. This felt like more than one minute. 

The Lifers (Matthew Justice/Bobby Beverly) vs. Team Filthy (Tom Lawlor/Dominic Garrini)

PAS: This worked better than the first tag match, but I don't think this was the best way to pay off the Team Filthy vs. Justice feud for the season. Justice is best in wilder, brawling UWFI matches and this was by far the longest UWFI rules match PPW has done. It had a much more deliberate pace, which exposes some of the seams way more than something quick and nasty. I did like Lawlor and Garrini as grinder mat wrestlers who would take both Justice and Beverly down and tie them into knots until they had to grab the ropes. The finish run between Justice and Lawlor was pretty exciting, exchanging slaps, with Lawlor having the advantage until Justice checked his kick, hit a spear, and landed some sick knees to the temple for the KO. I honestly think the match would have been better if it was just a singles between those two, and that was basically just the last finish run on its own. 

ER: This was too long for me, too meandering, too out of sync with the rest of the vibe these shows have given us. I didn't even dislike anything that happened, and I love all these dudes, but it felt like an on paper WCW dream tag match that gets more time than any other TV time that week, and doesn't really do much with that time. There's a 12 minute Finlay/Jericho Nitro match that I think is incredibly boring, and I don't think I've called any other Finlay match in history "boring". This wasn't boring, but it didn't go the places I wanted to, and there were still some fun moments along the way. I laughed at and loved Dom's fun rolling ankle pick, just slowly somersaulting in all unassuming and suddenly he's an anaconda around Justice's leg. The final showdown between Lawlor and Justice was great, awesome mini war, and I wish we would have had a 5 minute tag of that kind of stuff rather than what we got. Still, loved these guys. 

Read more!

Paradigm Pro: UWFI Contenders Series 2 Episode 5

Hardway Heeter vs. Kerry Awful

PAS: This was Awful working the match as Ian Rotten punishing a young guy, which is a type of match I like. They set this up last week with Awful berating Heeter, his student, for losing. This was Awful potatoing him with kicks to the face, a really tight front face lock and stiff forearms, while Mr. Stuff talks shit from the outside (Mr. Stuff has a great Gary Hart vibe to him). Heeter is able to fire back and hit three big suplexes causing Mr. Stuff to throw in the towel, and earning his respect. I am into this version of Awful and while this wasn't strictly shootstyle, I enjoyed the vibe.

ER: I'm with Phil, the Ian-punishing-student match type is always worth seeing, and this was a really cool version of that. I thought the set up last week was kind of corny, but the follow through match more than made up for that. Awful was a good Ian, and even had Ian's exact same love handles from when Ian was in his best shape. Awful adds a small wrinkle to the match type as he was really great at facially selling Heeter's strikes. Awful slaps Hardway to start and then does a really great wince and stagger in response to Hardway's return volley, and I liked it more than the Ian method of pretending the slap never happened. I dug how Awful immediately went to a single leg as a response, then threw a couple of Kurisu level kicks at Hardway's head. Awful's missed elbow into a Heeter back suplex was set up really well, and Heeter's Saito suplexes to draw the towel looked great. I really loved the towel stoppage, such a great shithead move to preach a Never Say Die match mantra and then have your boy throw in the towel. Love it. 

Appollo Starr vs. Sidney von Engeland

PAS: This was fun. Starr had an old veteran mat wrestling style, and he would get countered by von Engeland's flashier stuff. Engeland worked an armbar in some interesting ways, and while I didn't like Starr's leg slap enziguiri, that was my only complaint. The straitjacket exploder he used to win the match was sick stuff, and von Engeland took it right on his head, appropriate KO for sure.

ER: I liked these two on the mat, and liked how this was a little more drawn out than a lot of the quicker fights we've been getting. This one took a little more time without falling into any bad strike exchange traps, just kept to some mat exchanges and a couple of submission attempts. Starr felt like a guy scrapping by, trying a can opener and looking open to finish any way. I really liked Engeland slowly wearing Starr down, and my favorite moment of the match was Starr selling a backdrop like it really meant something, taking a backdrop as an actual knockdown. The enziguiri was out of place, but that match finishing exploder was something else, just a big boy toss right there. 

Isaiah Broner vs. Dustin Leonard

PAS: This was my most anticipated match on the show, and unfortunately it fell a bit short. I liked almost all of this a lot. It was worked really smartly with Leonard going for limb attacks, and Broner using his core strength and base to counter them or go to the ropes if he couldn't. I love the way Leonard attacks a hold, he is always adjusting, tightening and shifting his grip, he puts it on and then coils his body around to amp it up. Broner's only bit of offense was the KO blow where he hits a palm strike on a Leonard shoot, and it just wasn't a good looking shot. Broner is normally so good at making his KO shots look like KO shots, but he didn't have his feet set and was leaning over and it didn't land the way it needed to. Since the match was short and so much of the match is based around that moment, it really hurts that it wasn't pulled off.

ER: I match up 100% with Phil on this one. Same level of excitement, same absolute love of Leonard's sticky glue submissions, same disappointment with the finish. Leonard is so much fun, love him hanging off Broner's legs and trying to drag him down to the mat with all his weight. His leg submissions were nasty as hell, with Broner using this great strength and balance to stay standing even while Leonard is anaconda wrapped around his leg, hyperextending it. Leonard also has these fun downward palm strikes that look like peak big brother torturing little brother smacks to the side of the head. But the finishing shot doesn't look great, looks like Broner lightly paintbrushes Leonard behind the ear, and it didn't feel like any kind of finish. A good KO shot in a worked fight is not an easy thing, because a lot of the time a "Good Worked KO" is just "An Actual Near KO", and that's a tough thing to brace yourself for. These guys are likely taping several of these matches in a weekend, can't really get your button pressed several times, so it's not easy. But it is an undeniable drag when a match ends like this. 

Ron Bass Jr. vs. Big Beef Gnarls Garvin

PAS: This was two minutes, and what you wanted from a two minute match between two big ass dudes. Beef hits a nasty slap to the ear, Bass lands thudding short clotheslines amidst a bunch of smaller harder shots. It all comes to a head with a Garvin club to the head and a side suplex for the KO. Maybe could have used one more Bass big shot but I certainly enjoyed what we got.

ER: This was my true dream match, but whenever any fed pairs up the biggest guy with the 2nd or 3rd biggest guy available, that will basically always be my true dream match. Knowing how big Beef is really puts over just how huge Bass is. Their stand and trade was among my favorites in this series, as Beef was really swinging with full arm shots, just swarming Bass and not caring about whether every shot was landing. Beef connected on some of the hardest open hand slaps, and Bass throws these cool slow strikes with a ton of power. Bass doesn't have long arms, and his throwing speed is very slow, but every connection sounds like a real connection. He nails a couple of great body shots on Beef in the corner, and lays him right out with a short arm clothesline. Obviously I wanted several more minutes of this match, but Beef powering Bass over with a back suplex was really impressive, and I loved how Bass sold the suplex all through the 10 count. RUN IT BACK BABY!

Cole Radrick vs. Robert Martyr

PAS: This had a lot of energy, and although I thought they might have done a little too much at points (they did six suplexes in a four minute match), I appreciated the pace. The idea was Martyr earning Radrick's respect (which was kind of funny because grizzled veteran Radrick looks like Jimmy Olsen boy reporter). Radrick landed some really heavy stuff here, including the KO short elbow which clipped Martyr right on the jaw. Martyr stood right in too, and landed some big slaps. 

ER: This was really really fun, both guys lighting each other up and neither waiting around for any kind of planned shots. The worst part of strike exchanges is when you can see too many of the seams. Seeing guys throw and then pause waiting for someone almost always takes me out of things, and these two had none of it. They went in throwing hard, and any pauses would have lead to either of them getting rocked, so the only defense was more offense. Radrick landed some real hard shots, and his grounded punches were really nasty. I'm not entirely certain that closed fists are technically allowed here, but striking rules in this series are basically treated like traveling calls, and I am fine with that since it leads to things like Radrick punching the hell out of Martyr. Martyr's suplexes dumped Radrick really unceremoniously, with one looking like it bounced Radrick's head across the ring. They had a tough spot to fill, coming right after a super heavy brawl, and they stuck the landing nicely. 

Matt Makowski vs. Bobby Beverly

PAS: I am not sure the point in having Beverly win this title again. There are lots of interesting match ups with Makowski, I see less with Beverly. For a shock title change, at least it was worked well. Beverly hits a couple of side suplexes, but Makowski hits a couple of bigger ones, and dominates Beverly on the feet with several knock downs. Just as it looked like Beverly was going down he hits a Hail Mary big shot on the ear, dropping Makowski. It felt like a big MMA or boxing upset and certainly doesn't hurt Makowski. 

ER: I really don't understand the point in moving the title around like this, even though I enjoyed the scrap that lead to the surprise title change. The idea of the invading MMA stable accruing belts is more fun to me personally, and I was happy to see it off Beverly (even though I obviously enjoy Beverly). The suplexes here were gnarly as hell, a bunch of nasty foldings and hard landings. The surprise finish worked really well, as Makowski was believably dominating the stand up, and Beverly's KO shot and the way Makowski sold it really made this feel like a genuine surprise KO. It was almost the same kind of shot we saw in Leonard/Broner, only this shot behind the ear really looked like what they were going for. 

PAS: This seems mainly to set up a Garrini/Lawlor vs. Justice/Beverly tag match next week, and I didn't dig the Justice promo setting this up, where he shits on UWFI rules and makes a lame Attitude era joke (calling Garrini and Lawlor "Severn and Blackman") and tries to put over him and Beverly teaming up as a Super Team. I have really been into this season but am a little wary of where it's all going, not sure about tag team matches, and there are two of them next week. The Middleweight tourney will be a whole season and while it has some names I am excited about (Nasty Russ!) it has a lot of new guys and seems to be missing some of the more established names they have set up (Austin Connelly, Alex Kane, Garrini, Lord Crewe). The card of Terminal Combat looks great, but the Terminal Combat concept seems really dumb. It's 5 minutes of UWFI rules and then it switches to No DQ. I mean, how many of these UWFI matches have even *gone* 5 minutes, and then having them all switch to garbage matches in the middle of a UWFI rules is going to be really discordant, totally unnecessary.  We will see...but I am a bit nervous.

Read more!

Paradigm Pro: UWFI Contenders Series 2 Episode 3

Akira vs. Hardway Heeter

PAS: I am a big No on this. Akira does a lot of things in his UWFI matches, and it is usually a question of ratio of cool things to not so cool things, and the ratio was way off here. I hated the suplex no-sell and the hands behind my back "let you forearm me" spot so much. The announcers were even saying stuff like "Don't forget this is a UWFI rules match" and well they seemed to forget. There was a couple of nice kicks, and a super nasty Kimura finish, but otherwise, no bueno.

ER: This one kept losing the score the longer it went. Heeter was kind of used as a submission dummy, and Heeter is more interesting when he's stiffing someone. He is not nearly as good at being in position for complicated submissions, and the submissions kept getting more complicated and looking more clunky the more they tried. I thought this actually was ending early with Akira getting his great armbar (with Heeter getting his leg over the rope), but I really did love Akira rolling Heeter into a guillotine with a leg lace. But I don't think you need to hands behind back thing in every match (although I would have loved it being used as a way for Heeter to get a surprise knockdown), and by the end you had stuff like Hardway flipping himself into a kimura, and was all a bit much.  

Sidney Von Engeland vs. Dustin Leonard

PAS: This was awesome. Leonard is a ju-jitsu black belt who is built like Don Bass, who had a cool grappling match with Garrini in their last tourney. Engeland is either British or working a British gimmick. Leonard dominates with simple powerful grappling, overwhelming Engeland with skill and size, including really rocking him with knees. Engeland is forced into rope breaks until he uses a fishhook to break a submission and hits a couple of Exploders, including one which dumps Leonard right on the top of his head. A stunned Leonard rushes him and hits a kneebar out of a Gotch lift which was just awesome. Super cool short match which really gets my hyped for more Dustin Leonard.

ER: Great to see Leonard back on my screen. I love gi wrestlers, and you usually don't see gi wrestlers with Leonard's body type. He's a southern wrestling/MMA guy who looks like a shorter RINGS guy. I think he's from Oklahoma, but I bet at least a couple RINGS guys were from Georgia. I really like when Leonard gets to the gi removal moment of a match, and he really needs to stick with it. It could easily be his own Lawler strap spot if he keeps this up. A ju-jitsu guy with a boiler tossing his gi down and coming back in for a takedown is just always going to be cool. Engeland's exploders looked real tough, and Leonard's selling was great, really made it look like he got his bell rung on the second one (he did kind of take it on the back of his head), and the finish was tremendous. Leonard looks like he's going for a Gotch piledriver and flips Engeland out of it into a perfect kneebar, the kind of thing that was and should be a quick tap. Leonard's post-fight promo only made me more of a fan, as he talks up real - and not bullshit - ju-jitsu as the best style, and I just want him to claim more ACLs. 

Alex Kane vs. Phoenix Kidd

PAS: Kidd is a black guy in a mask with a cool leather jacket, who they say was a submission grappler trained in Alaska. Kane is 2021 Taz, which is a really cool thing to be. Kidd shows some skill early blocking a couple of Kane's throws by using leverage and grabbing limbs. He is able to hit a German of his own (somewhat improbably) only to get Pablo Marquezed with a couple of gross suplexes, including the Mark of Kane which lays him out stiff. I like Kane running through lower level guys early. There are legitimately a dozen guys in this promotion I am excited to see him against, they have really built a roster full of awesome matchups.

ER: This was great, with Kidd going into this knowing what was likely to happen, and finding some pretty good ways to stave off the inevitable. Kidd was really smart about tying up Kane's limbs on suplex attempts, just suctioning himself to the nearest limb to prevent getting tossed. That makes it sound more desperate than it looked, as it was a very smart and well executed strategy, and things didn't go upside down for him until he abandoned it. He blocks an exploder by grabbing Kane's wrist, and he stops what surely what have been a horrible landing by wrapping himself around Kane's leg while upside down. I liked his own German, as it really felt like something he put everything into and still barely got Kane over, didn't look like Kane leapt into it at all. I also like Kidd's chippiness by flipping Kane off after immediately taking a far worse German, that last little gasp of getting in an insult before you lose a fight. Kane hits him with hard kneelifts and then destroys him with the Mark of Kane, and love how they are treating that as a killshot. 

Appollo Starr vs. Chase Holliday

PAS:  Holliday has never fully connected with me. He isn't bad, but I want things to land a little cleaner and harder. I do like how he uses his size to control on the mat. Starr is an old school midwest legend, and is a bunch of fun in this. I really liked how he used a jab early, nice wrist lock takedown, and he also showed some really solid amateur wrestling. I would have like the finish more if both KO blows landed better. I mean people are murking each other in this show, that backfist has to be more Aja for it to work as a KO blow.

ER: I thought this was plenty fun, thought they kept active in interesting ways, and was a really great performance from the commentary team pointing out some small details. Bringing in old midwest indy guys like Starr will only make these Paradigm shows more interesting. I mean now I definitely need to see a Soul Shooters Explode match on a future episode. Starr had a really cool knucklelock takedown, snapping back on Holliday's wrist so he had no choice but to go to his back, and commentary was great at describing how much power Holliday has in his strikes, getting Starr to break the hold even though Holliday was only throwing straight clubbing shots from his back. They also notice when Holliday briefly shakes out his hand, wondering whether that wristlock might have something to do with it. I thought the finish looked decent, and liked how they got there. 

Bobby Beverly vs. Lexus Montez

PAS: This match had a lot of booking setting up a Beverly squash. Not sure what the point of Beverly getting the #1 contender match was. I guess a Beverly vs. Hoodfoot match makes sense, but heel versus heel against Makowski really doesn't. I am a Young Studs fan from way back, but not really sure what role Beverly has in this version of Paradigm.

ER: This was the rematch that was set up by the early stoppage finish we didn't like from the season 1 finale. That might have been the worst stoppage in this series' history, as Montez's strikes really looked like he was shadow boxing or lightly smacking a sibling without hurting them. I think the angle was supposed to be that it was a bad stoppage, but you can still do a bad stoppage angle without the thing stopping the fight looking bad. So the rematch has more of that bad Montez striking, then Beverly throws some back suplexes, they do a kind of silly Beverly superkick/Montez pop up knee, and then Beverly finishes him with another back suplex. I'm with Phil, love Beverly, not really sure what his longterm role is going to be in this Paradigm series. These angles haven't worked for me and the layout of this match didn't work for me, but it's Bobby Beverly so I can only assume it will eventually produce a match we love? 

Hoodfoot vs. Matt Makowski

PAS: Loved the idea of Elite XC veteran Makowski defending the legacy of Kimbo Slice. This was a big main event, and felt like it. Makowski was playing the role of the more skilled fighter who was going to pick apart Hoodfoot, while Hoodfoot was trying to land that KO blow. We get a couple of really heavy suplexes by Hoodfoot, and Makowski strafing his body with body shots and liver kicks. I thought they may have gone one suplex too many, but Makowski hitting his chaos theory into a armbreaker was a holy shit move and a great way to switch a title. Team Filthy invading PPW and cleaning house is a great and Makowski has a lot of fun matchups with the belt. Still kind of sad to see Hoodfoot drop it, he really brought something unique to that title.

ER: Give me an "I knew Kimbo Slice, and you sir are no Kimbo Slice" angle I never realized I wanted. These two are a perfect pairing, and this is the Paradigm match we were most excited to see the moment we found out Makowski was joining. Atlas is an excellent seller, sells strikes more honestly and poetically than anyone this side of Eddie Kingston, so seeing Makowski - man who can throw several nice strikes - tee off on Atlas is wrestling joy. Atlas sells strikes so passionately, really makes me belief in the power of a leg kick or a shot to the ribs, makes me fully buy into his arm getting knotted up from taking a couple of strong kicks. Makowski suplexing Hoodfoot was a big moment, love how Hoodfoot falls and folds over, and you know he was excited to toss Makowski as payback. Makowski's spin kick doesn't quite land, but it works well to set up Chaos Theory into the excellent match finisher cross armbreaker, a fantastic spot to win a title with. I am sad that Hoodfoot isn't the champ, as he's a GREAT fighting champ, but Makowski is someone strong to have on top. Plus, I think there are a ton of fascinating Hoodfoot matches we haven't gotten yet, and I like how the dynamic changes with him no longer champ and instead fighting to get his belt back. This match should splinter off into several subsequent great matches, and I can't wait. 

Read more!

Paradigm Pro Wrestling 2020 Fighting Spirit Grand Prix 11/6/20

After really enjoying their UWFI contender series, I wanted to go back and check out some of the other PPW UWFI rules shows. This was their second Fighting Spirit Grand Prix and had a fun line up:

Cole Radrick vs. Derek Neal

PAS: This was really good, with some more pro-wrestling tropes then most of Contender series matches, but in a way that worked. Radrick had some real slickness on the mat including a great calf slicer counter. Neal was a heavier hitter, and landed a big elbow for a knockdown. Finish was really cool with Radrick landing a big double leg spinebustery takedown, and throwing from the top. Neal is able to squirm out and cancel Radrick with a gross elbow to his brain stem. Felt like it should have been a stoppage, but Radrick gets to his feet hits a desperate spin kick and a running knee to knock Neal to the floor and out. I would like to see both guys again in this style, really entertaining sprint with some big moments.

ER: Very cool short match that kept building to bigger, more exciting peaks. Radrick threw a bunch of cool spin kicks that really made this feel like something out of Bloodsport: The Movie. They were always great whether they landed or missed, because the landings looked like KO blows and the misses lead to him getting worked over. Neal laid into him after several misses, and it kept looking like Radrick wouldn't beat the count. They managed to make this feel like it could go both ways despite Neal connecting more. The way Radrick kept pulling things out were really exciting, great way to open a show. 

Dominic Garrini vs. Dustin Leonard

PAS: Leonard is relatively new to pro wrestling, but has a Jujitsu black belt and a ton of combat grappling experience. As expected this was mostly on the mat, and while it didn't have the flash you might see out of Volk Han or Navarro, there was some pretty cool technical stuff fighting in and out of guard, and a great looking judo throw by Leonard. On their feet Leonard looked a lot more tentative and got caught with a big jumping knee, he shoots into Garrini after getting stunned which allows Dom to crucifix him and elbow him out of there. Cool idea and neat to see a promotion just let two guys go out there and grapple. 

ER: I was really into this, great grappling throughout that felt like it had real consequences the whole fight. This was my first time seeing Leonard, and I will always like a bigger guy in a gi. He threw these straight front kicks that I really liked, and I liked how Dom struggled to contain him. Leonard was big on the mat, a great neutralizer against Dom. We've been watching a lot of UWFI rules stuff lately, and a lot of it is with guys who aren't as experienced on the mat, so seeing several minutes of two jujitsu guys doing their thing was a treat. Leonard even gets a strap down moment when he ditches his gi. I wonder if Gary Goodridge knows how important his UFC 8 finish is to pro wrestling. 

Max the Impaler vs. Lee Moriarty

PAS: Max has a great look, a mix of Mad Max and Furiosa. They are really powerful looking, and for most of the match overwhelm Moriarty. I am a Moriarty low voter, but enjoy him in this style a fair amount. He has nice flashy kickboxing and knows how to time shootstyle near falls. Max had some nice Vader smashes and power throws.  Moriarty uses the bottom turnbuckle as a Anthony Pettis style springboard into a forearm which turns the tide, before another elbow finish. Fun stuff and I am interested in tracking down some more Impaler. 

ER: I think this is my first time actually seeing Max the Impaler outside of GIFs, but I agree they have a great wrestling look, maybe the most authentic of all the Mad Max cosplay gimmicks we've got over the years. The Fury Road aesthetic is strong but could be tough to convincingly pull off, but they pull it off well. Moriarty was like a CAW dummy here, I barely even noticed him until there was an annoying and out of place German suplex fighting spirit sell. This was all Impaler, clubbing away at Moriarty's back and executing big throws while stomping around. The Moriarty elbows at the finish looked good, and my favorite thing about all this may have been how Impaler sold their jaw after the finish. Very cool. 

Thomas Shire vs. Josh Crane

PAS: This was the least of the first round matches, but had a pretty cool finish. Crane is a Big Japan gaijin but didn't seem to have the hang of throwing UWFI style strikes, and most of his offense was strikes. Shire is on defense for most of it, until he throws a nice looking side suplex and then just wrecks Crane with European uppercuts out of a Muay Thai plum, which was exactly how you want a Dory trained guy to finish a shoot fight.

ER: I wasn't really feeling the stand up as Crane's open hand strikes didn't look good, although I thought Shire sold them well, especially a hard slap. Crane's offense was seeming to come alive (big knee lift that looked like it knocked the wind out of Shire) before Shire decided enough was enough. Shire hits an awesome back suplex and makes the decision to not take the suplex point so he could instead kick away at Crane. His European uppercuts landed deep and the stoppage finish was well utilized and timed. 

Alex Kane vs. Levi Everett

PAS: This is how you make a debut, holy moly. Kane has one of the fastest shoots I have seen in pro-wrestling. He looks like he is moving in 1.5 speed while doing two nasty gator rolls and a lightning taking of Everett's back. Levi only gets in two moves, but they both look great: a big bar fight headbutt for a knockdown, and a SUWA dropkick which actually works in this style. Kane finished him off with a head and arm cradle suplex which was like prime Taz level nasty. Two minutes but Kane is on my radar for sure!

ER: If you come in with the nickname Suplex Assassin, you have to murder someone to get that name over. Luckily for us the Amish love taking suplexes, because the match ended here was a doozy. Kane hits like an inverted fisherman's buster on Everett, a suplex that can be called the No Good Landing, and then we have to deal with Everett's lifeless corpse after. Everything up to that was great, a missed overhand by Everett lead to a great double leg takedown, Everett had a big knockdown off a headbutt, and there's some great timing on an Everett dropkick that hits heels first into Kane's chest. That suplex was a real finish though, on a show with all good finishes, that suplex is the thing you're talking about on the ride home. 

Bobby Beverly vs. Cole Radrick

PAS: They start out just throwing hands back and forth, finishing with a nasty open hand shot to the neck by Beverly. Rest of the match is Beverly establishing himself as the heel landing two low blows before his Saito suplex and a running knee for the KO. I really liked Radrick in the first round and would have liked to see him get a chance to do more here.

ER: Yeah, Radrick had a cool opening round performance and it felt like he was a bit wasted here establishing Beverly as the dirty fighter of the tournament. There's a fine line between these windmill arm open slaps looking painful and looking like clueless 3rd graders fighting, but I liked these, and liked how the opening flurry ended with Beverly chopping right at Radrick's neck tendons. Once Radrick composed himself he landed some nice stick and move shots, but had no chance in a format that apparently allows low blows. It's tough to do that "the pro wrestling ref keeps missing these low blows" when you're going for realism, as the low blows would work better if the match was actually stopped as if they were accidental. Beverly would still get the heel advantage and we wouldn't have to put up with wrestling tropes in our shootstyle. Beverly's Saito suplex and running knee make for a nasty finish, but we could have gotten there with different shenanigans. 

Dominic Garrini vs. Calvin Tankman

PAS: I dig Tankman on these shows working like Emmanuel Yarbrough. Garrini keeps trying to get Tankman on the ground, only to get stymied by his size, and it is hard to put on a hold with a giant dude smushing you. Garrini has been really clever with finishes and this was a killer, with Tankman rocking Garrini with big shots, knocking him down with a great spinning elbow, only to get suckered in to side choke for the tap. Love the Fujiwaraish way that Garrini is always moments away from tapping you out. 

ER: This started out slow and was clearly Dom trying to sucker Tankman into going to the mat, while Tankman was fine to stand. The stand-up from both was tentative, and that makes sense because who would not be tentative opposite Tankman? The finish was really fun, with Tankman finally hauling off on Garrini, throwing heavy elbows and a big chop, then nailing a big spinning back elbow that sent Dom spiraling into the mat. Alas, Tankman gets excited and pounces on Dom, with Dom getting his back and digging in his heels to get the tap. It doesn't seem too sustainable to lean into spinning back elbows just for the shot at getting a choke on the mat, but it worked here. 

59. Thomas Shire vs. Mike Braddock

PAS: Braddock is a OVW wrestler with a ju-jitsu and boxing background who has a prosthetic leg. He has really good balance on the leg, and it was easy not to even notice for most of the match. The only moment it comes into play is when Shire backs him into the corner mixing up kicks and palm strikes and accidentally leg kicks the metal leg which allows Braddock to take over. They had some good grappling exchanges, and I liked how Shire threw forearms to the ribs to weaken the body. Braddock is able to get a sneak head and arm choke during a mat scramble which worked really well to end a very even match. Shire is really fun in this style, and I hope we get to see more. 

ER: I thought this ruled, count me as an immediate Braddock fan. Braddock is like Catch Point Vachon, and his mat movement with a full prosthetic left leg were so natural that he comes off like an AI effect from Ex Machina. He moved like Buzz Sawyer, which will always put me in your corner, and it was easy to completely forget that he in on an artificial leg. It brings up cool psychology moments here, gives total new implications to a Shire kneebar. Is it an advantage that he has one less leg that Shire can work over for a submission? Or is it a disadvantage to have just one leg for every attack to be focused on? And that lead to a great moment where Shire was backing Braddock into a corner with strikes, and threw a leg kick and hit titanium. The grappling here was really great, both really tenacious and fighting for their spot in the semis. And the striking was really active, leading to a big Braddock slap, and Shire went after Braddock with brutal knees from side mount. The finish was awesome, with Shire pouncing into a rear naked choke after landing a heavy knee, trying to sink in hooks and looking like he had it, only for Braddock to turn himself and lock a head and arm choke onto Shire for a quick tap. I loved this, was hooked through every second, and I think I'm going to start obsessing over Mike Braddock matches the way Phil is going to obsess over Alex Kane matches. 

Hoodfoot Mo Atlas vs. Lee Moriarty

PAS: Hoodfoot is the breakout star of this promotion. I am not sure I can remember a wrestler who carries that 1985 Mike Tyson one punch eraser aura. Moriarty is much faster and was able to use that speed to flummox Atlas early, staying inside on his looping strikes and peppering him, even getting a knockdown on a jumping knee. Atlas hurls Moriarty but gets caught in a triangle armbar and needs to go to the ropes. You can only play patty cake with a panther for so long, and Atlas gets another takedown and taps Moriarty with a vicious neck crank that looked like he was trying to rip his jaw off. 

ER: I really do get excited for Hoodfoot matches, the kind of guy I can watch on a show and have a good feeling that I'm not going to have to skip through a match that goes too long. I loved watching Hoodfoot stalk Moriarty, and it all paid off just the way I wanted. Moriarty lands a straight kick to the chest, but gets cute and tries a kind of Superman punch off the ropes, and Atlas catches him with a video game violent suplex. The neck crank he finishes the match with was awesome, big arm pressed hard and flat across Moriarty's jaw, just brutal. 

Chase Holliday vs. Lord Crewe

PAS: A spirited little slap fight. Crewe has a ton of activity in all of his UWFI fights, he is like Max Holloway, overwhelming his opponent with activity. Holliday has more power and also throws a couple of nice deadweight suplexes, before getting the KO with a spinning backfist, which didn't land as clean as one would hope for a KO finish. Still this was entertaining and compact which is what you want from a non-tourney fight. 

ER: I love Chase Holliday in these things, makes it easy to picture Daveed Diggs doing a cool version of The Wrestler. The arm swinging looked good here, neither guy fighting like they were afraid of getting hit.  It's not easy to work extended open hand stand-up without it occasionally coming off silly, but this looked tough a bruising. 

Lexus Montez vs. Flash Thompson

PAS: I have written up three Flash Thompson matches now, and in everyone I primarily talk about how he has really good head movement and positioning. I want there to be more, but so far it's mostly head movement. I did like a couple of the open hand hooks, and the back elbow he used to set up the heel hook was nasty. Still most of this didn't totally work. Montez has a Muay Thai gimmick, but the knees didn't have the pop they need. This wasn't bad, but this tourney has set a pretty high bar.

ER: I liked this a little more than Phil, but I give it credit for the final minute being stronger than the first minute. That's been a nice floor for several of these Paradigm UWFI matches, and it's a plus that's built into the format. It makes sense that the guys would save up their most explosive stuff for the finish, especially if they're going less than 3 minutes. So guys sometimes save themselves for the final burst and it ends matches on a high note. Here I thought the Montez shotgun knee knockdown looked great and I liked how Flash sold the 8 count. The Flash rolling kneebar finish was really slick and I liked how it got the instant tap. 

Hoodfoot vs. Mike Braddock

PAS: Another great Hoodfoot slugfest, Braddock catches Hoodfoot with multiple short counter hooks for knockdowns, throwing shorter to get inside of the more looping shots. Hoodfoot gets a big knockdown on one of his big swinging shots, which actually bends Braddock's head to the side. Braddock gets up, catches Hoodfoot again, but while going for the submission scramble, ends up on his back, and Hoodfoot stomps him on the head for the KO. Really enjoyable scrap, and Braddock fits really well in this style. 

ER: Here's an indy dream match featuring a guy I didn't know existed an hour earlier. Mike Braddock had just popped up on my radar and made me want to see more, and near instantly he is matched up with one of the true breakout names from this UWFI trend. This had a few neat surprises in its short runtime, with Braddock catching Atlas at just the right moment to stun him with a slap, then following up to the exact same spot. Braddock wound up with two knockdowns before this was over, and I love how Atlas folded on the first one, taking open hand shots and dropping down to a knee before going over, and the second time he just spun down a bit, selling almost more surprise than damage. Hoodfoot had a big, effortless looking throw early, looking like all arms, and he finishes this with a damn chest stomp stoppage! Hoodfoot is out here just stomping a man's chest until the ref gets involved, and that rules. Atlas has basically been doing the coolest version of the Rodney Mack White Boy Challenge and we are here for it. 

Bobby Beverly vs. Dominic Garrini

PAS: Pretty damn exciting 45 seconds, with Beverly charging at Garinni only to get caught in a leaping triangle for the tap. Came off in the crowd like a wild UFC finish which would get GIFed and Sportcentered, and is a hell of a way to set up a Hoodfoot vs. Garrini final.

ER: It's tough to fit too much more angle into under a minute, but this was really impressive. Beverly has been almost openly flaunting the rules of UWFI, more concerned with his Heavy Hitters title and getting some actual heat by doing so. The excitement in the crowd is palpable as Beverly charges directly into a leaping triangle and has to tap, that kind of excitement where the crowd is jumping out of their chairs at a fixed pro wrestling result. Garrini's title win felt really exciting, and I loved the idea of the title being on the line during the tournament, guaranteeing the title will be also defended in the finals. I'd love a Garrini/Beverly rematch, loved all of this. 

32. Dan Severn vs. Matthew Justice

PAS: Holy hell was this awesome. Even though we are big time Severn fans on SC, I wasn't expecting much from a match from a 62 year old Severn, but he looked great. He has such natural strength, that when he got a grip on Justice he would just muscle him down. He was also great at transitions on the ground, having a long struggle on the mat for an armbar, or transitioning into a side choke. Justice hits a great looking spear when he got some distance, which was a nasty shot for an old guy to take. Severn snaps after a slap in the corner which looked like it welted his eye, and he just yanks Justice down, with Justice nearly getting his arm ripped off in the ropes. Severn locks on a sick choke and drags Justice to the floor and strangles him out. 

ER: What a tough fight, probably the best Severn performance we've seen in his increased indy usage of the past 5 years or so. I've been really into Justice's MMA legend killer gimmick, and you knew it was going to come down to something crazy with the Beast. The grappling here was really good, and Severn was moving more fluidly than during his 1998 WWF run, no way he was moving like a 62 year old once that bell rang. He stuck to Justice and squeezed like an anaconda, not so much throwing him to the mat as he did drag him to the mat, just a concrete block dragging someone under water. Sure there were a couple throws, but I loved the dragging, loved how he fought for an armbar or choke and broke Justice's grip by throwing glancing chops at Justice's eyes. Matthew Justice has a great spear and he really drove that shoulder into Severn's midsection, really looking like it took his wind. The shot of Justice's face while he was desperately hanging onto the ropes and Severn was dragging him under was so classic, with Justice's hand tied inadvertently between top and middle rope, he looked like a guy willing to rip his hand out of a trap to escape the approaching wolf. Nothing was going to prevent Severn from choking the life out of Justice, rules be damned, and the finish of Severn sinking in those hooks on the floor was really cool. Let's run this match back, maybe do a best of 3. 

50. Hoodfoot vs. Dominic Garrini

PAS: This really felt like a main event, with the two top guys at this style in this territory meeting at the end of a tourney. Almost felt like a 2020 version of Nogueira vs. Sapp, with Garrini being ultra dangerous with submissions and Hoodfoot being hyper powerful. Garrini is able to catch Hoodfoot in multiple submission attempts early, with Hoodfoot using his strength to throw him several times. Eventually Garrini makes the mistake of trying to throw with Hoodfoot, only to get stunned and knocked down by one of those huge bear swipes. Garrini suckers Hoodfoot into a triangle though, and it looks like the finish, until a sick looking Rampage powerbomb and ground and pound forearm for the tap. Great styles clash and I want to see a rematch bad.

ER: Hoodfoot with the gear change throughout the tournament is a real highlight, and the white trunks with royal blue accent is a championship look. This was a great looking tournament on paper, with cool alternate bouts and plenty of great pairings, and on paper this was definitely one of those matches you wanted to see. The fact that it was in the finals, and also for the Heavy Hitters belt, only made this more cool. Garrini is good at getting Atlas to the mat, and I kept thinking he was going to tap him within the first 2 minutes, but was also rooting for him to not do that. There's one thing Dom does that I don't really love, and it shows up in a lot of his matches, and it's that he's not great at selling during strike exchanges. There are always these moments where he just kind of stands still and waits to get hit, and it kind of seems like he's just someone with no rhythm? I'm curious to know if Dom is a decent dancer or not, as there always seems to be one of those moments in his matches where he's motionless, neck craned forward waiting for a strike. It's distracting and kind of gives away what is about to happen. So he trades with Atlas and then kind of waits to be struck, and Atlas delivers on that. The triangle catch is really great and I thought once again Hoodfoot was done, but the powerbomb was sick and that diving finish forearm is classic. 

2020 MOTY MASTER LIST

Read more!

Paradigm Pro: UWFI Contenders Series Episode 5 Finale

Ron Mathis vs. Akira

PAS: This wasn't really a UWFI match, more of a highspot sprint. It had some nice stuff in it, like Akira landing a gross Low-Ki double stomp and some big high kicks. He is a fun Minoru Tanaka style shoot junior in this garage BattlArts. Mathis had some fun throws, but was almost doing comedy spots at the beginning.  For what this was it was fine, it was pretty out of style though. 

ER: Yeah the Mathis comedy at the beginning really threw me, come off like something we didn't need worked into this series. Felt like the wrong vibe to bring, maybe would have played better in front of a crowd. But every minute of the match was stronger than the minute that preceded it, so it's hard to dislike a match that keeps getting better and ends with the best stuff. There were a bunch of exploder variations, and one of the commentary guys called one of them "a real sack of shit toss" which made me spit coffee out a bit. The throws got pretty big by the end, and I liked Mathis leaping onto Akira with a guillotine. I thought Akira's bridging reversal of the guillotine was fantastic, and his leaping double stomp into Mathis's chin was disgusting, one of the great spots of the season. 

Big Beef vs. Austin Connelly

PAS: I am into Connelly. He does relentless really well, and comes right at Big Beef, only to get rudely and violently rebuked. Some of those forearms that Beef threw were Vader on Cactus level of concussive. For a second I didn't buy Connelly getting off a suplex, until I saw the size of his thighs. He looks like he could squat a mobile home. Quick and violent seems to be a Connelly special, and he is a guy I want to see more of. Beef hits appropriately hard, and I think him versus Hoodfoot could be great.

ER: I couldn't wait for this one after Connelly's last fight and Beef's performance all season, and this delivered. Connelly is a nut, and I buy into the way he keeps popping up and charging in until he can't. I'm not sure how sustainable it is for his career, but I love it! He rushes Beef and runs right into a boot and a powerbomb, and that kind of thing keeps happening. His throw was really impressive, and his ability to eat shots is even more impressive. Beef cracks him across the face and jaw with some vicious forearms, There's also some awesome post match body wrecking, with Connelly running down Beef and laying in full arm forearm shots just as hard as he took, and then Beef powers Connelly up and runs him back to the ring to dump him disgustingly with a powerbomb on the floor. Another season 1 highlight from these two. 

Lexus Montez vs. Bobby Beverly

PAS: More of an angle then a match, Beverly does a Fuerza handshake gimmick at the beginning and catches Montez with a couple of his Saito suplexes. Montez is able to bully him into the ropes and hit some shots and the ref does an quick stoppage. There ends up being a locker room brawl setting up Hoodfoot vs. Beverly in Terminal Combat which is five minutes of UWFI rules and then a hardcore match, which on paper seems kind of silly. I needed Montez to land harder stuff for me to buy the stoppage even if it was supposed to be fast.

ER: Yeah none of this worked for me. The referee is wearing a mask so I can only assume it's Steve Mazzagatti under there, because this stoppage was bad, and looked bad. I get the angle, but you need to actually play up to the angle and "bad stoppage" is just about one of the least interesting angles around. Nothing Montez did looked like it warranted a stoppage, his Superman punch just looked like a bad avalanche, and his match stopping slaps were arguably the worst strikes we've seen during this 5 episode UWFI rules run. If not worst overall strikes, then definitely the worst strikes used as justification to stop a match. My grandma really hated my beard, and would always tug on it and give my face these little slaps when she saw it, and those slaps looked harder than the slaps that stopped this match. If a match is going to be used to further an angle, you have to actually a) sell the angle convincingly, and b) make the angle interesting. The match this leads to sounds cumbersome at best, but the execution that got us there was even worse. 

Chase Holliday vs. Jordan Blade

PAS: This was pretty good stuff, with Blade showing their skill on the mat, including pulling guard with a jumping kimura, only to be caught with some big shots when they stood up. There was a nasty short hook which dropped her, and a big spinning back elbow for the KO (better then Holliday's first spinning back elbow, still not as good as Akira's or Broner's). I liked Blade a lot, and this was a better Holliday performance, excited to see more from both. 

ER: I thought this was a nice little snack. I really liked Blade's tie up matwork, her guard seemed really difficult to pass and she had really dangerous upkicks, and strong use of her legs in general. It looked like she had a good plan and I really liked her heavy knees to the ribs while standing. Holliday's worked back elbow finish looked good, and I dug how Blade sold it. 

Aaron Williams vs. Matthew Justice

PAS: I like Justice's fish out of water gimmick in these shows. It was cool how this match kept threatening to spin out, before being brought back in. Williams was fun shit talking on the mat, as he was clearly the more skilled grappler, and I loved his body shot/hook combo which sent Justice to the floor. I thought the buckle bomb and death valley driver were a step too far away from the style for me, but those finishing KO grounded knees were nasty looking. Post match Justice calls out Josh Barnett, which would be a big deal if they could actually deliver. 

ER: This landed a bit short for me. Justice is a "main event" worker I really like, but this didn't have the main event season ending heft that a lot of Justice matches come with. I do like Justice as fish out of water, challenging any Pride or UFC vets in an open challenge (how much could it cost to bring in Gerard Gordeau or Zuluzhino?), but I wanted more out of the last fight of the season. There were several individual things I liked, like Justice breaking a guillotine by trying to drop Williams back of neck first over the middle rope, and those nasty match ending knees from Justice. I also liked Williams talking trash ("I'm gonna get my shit in too!") and his triangle attempt. I thought the dvd was worked in as well as you can work something like that into a shootstyle match, but yeah I'd rather not see it. 

PAS: This is the end of season one, and I think overall this was a successful experiment. Not everything worked on every show, but everything was kept short, and I can digest a four minute failure pretty easily. This introduced me to a bunch of wrestlers I want to see more. Isaiah Broner, Hoodfoot, Austin Connelly, and Jordan Blade being people I hadn't heard of and have left big fans, and there is a whole second tier that I am excited to see more. We are in, and will cover Season 2 for sure.

Read more!

Paradigm Pro: UWFI Rules Contenders Series Episode 2

Matthew Justice vs. Robert Martyr

PAS: This had some moments, Justice had a big size advantage and used it to chuck Martyr around, with Marter using speed and technique to get some shots off. Martyr hit a couple of pretty implausible german suplexes, for shoot style suplexes to work you have to buy the guy really muscling his opponent up and this wasn't that. Finish was awesome though, with Justice taking him down and landing a brutal knee right to Martyr's temple which Martyr sold by jerking his arm's straight in the air with cool concussion selling. Or, he got brutally concussed, and the fact I wasn't totally sure either way really made the move. Justice then calls out Chuck Lidell which goes with his UFC legend battling. Not sure they can get Chuck, but Phil Baroni and Ken Shamrock are taking bookings.

ER: I really liked this. I wanted to hate Martyr on sight with his angsty teen scowl face Green Day entrance, but Justice kicked his ass bad enough that it babyfaced him. Justice has the kind of charisma that connects with wrestling crowds, and I liked that he used his significant size advantage to integrate several pro wrestling moves that otherwise wouldn't be in UWFI rules. I don't always like that, but this felt more like a big brother doing every wrestling finisher to his younger brother, and he's big enough that the younger brother can't stop him. Justice is good at that. And Martyr does a good job at slipping out of a couple of the wrestling moves, like when Justice goes for an Argentinian backbreaker and Martyr slips into a backpack choke. Justice drops backwards and slugs him hard a couple of times on the mat, and that's what I mean by Justice turning this annoying guy babyface. Martyr never quite looked like he had a real chance, Justice would hit him 3x harder during exchanges (especially cracking him with a couple hard cupped hand slaps), and Martyr had the absolute worst downward elbows I think I've ever seen in wrestling. But I liked Martyr's two German suplexes, I don't think they come off too implausible due to catching Justice off balance both times he hit them, and I liked how it wasn't just him getting overwhelmed the entire time. Still, he looked like he got murdered at the finish here, Justice drops two knees down on his neck and head, real finisher worthy knees. I am here for Justice facing more old MMA dudes though. I want see all of that. Gerard Gordeau is only a decade older than Liddell, would probably come cheaper. 

Flash Thompson vs. Jeffrey John

PAS: I thought there were moments in this which teased a promising direction, but overall this wasn't good. I like the way Thompson holds his hands and moves his feet but he didn't seem super into this fight. John catches a kick and hits a nice slap, but the rest of his offense didn't look good, and the kneebar finish seemed slightly blown. Doesn't feel like John is a good match for this style and I wanted Flash to look more explosive coming off of the main event last week. 

ER: Yeah this didn't work for me. I was ready to like it, as I liked John's shit talking over the tale of the tape, made me think he would be backing things up with a bit more. His knees didn't look great (although they got better later in the match), and Flash really did look bored here. That's a shame, as there was real value in either Flash demonstrably kicking John's ass for mouthing off, or being so bored that John pulled off a couple near upsets. But they didn't do either of those, they just kind of futzed around until Flash got a kneebar. This felt like a missed opportunity to advance both guys. 

Aaron Williams vs. Ron Mathis

PAS: This had a lot packed into three or so minutes. I liked the idea of Mathis as a brawler who would use his strength to counter technique. He got off a couple of big slams early but Williams always seemed to be biding his time. I wanted Mathis to have better looking ground and pound, elbows just weren't landing with force. I did like the finish with Williams locking in the triangle choke, Mathis powering up for slam, but slamming into a tighter lock. Williams calls out Matt Justice and I could be into that match in this style. 

ER: Early UFC was littered with hillbillies who were in over their head, so they always just rushed their opponents hoping to surprise them. This had that kind of feel, with Mathis powering through technique and hitting a great powerslam and a cool fallaway slam, both moves that look great but aren't going to be as effective under submission/KO rules. I dig that Mathis is a guy with some cool slams who isn't as equipped to finish a match under UWFI rules, and I liked Williams waiting for his chance to use his advantage (while also getting in cool things of his own like a butterfly suplex). I will always like someone trying to deadlift their way out of a triangle, always looks like the lifter is shredding his back for a desperation escape, and that's a cool real element to have in a match like this. 

Don't Die Miles vs. Bobby Beverly

PAS: Weird choice for a main event. This was set up last week, and I guess Miles is working sort of a Colin Delaney in WWECW gimmick. This is just a squash with Beverly winning on points by throwing 8 or so nasty Saito suplexes until they stopped the match. I really liked the knee he hit when Miles jumped at him, but this wasn't really worked in the style, with Miles only offense being a Trouble in Paradise kick, not something he stole from Yamazaki or Takada. Beverly has a nice Saito suplex, but all the matches on this show were pretty one sided, and I would have liked to see a real main event. 

ER: I was into this, and I especially liked that they didn't get too ahead of themselves and give Morales too much actual offense against Beverly. Too many of these angles start off with the extreme underdog almost upsetting the big dog and I'm glad this was just a Beverly mauling. Morales got a couple of light enziguiris and a Trouble in Paradise that sort of hit, and Beverly sold them about as much as he should have sold them. The rest was Beverly manhandling Morales, and that really started at the bell. Morales rushed in and Beverly timed a knee perfectly, took him over with a nice front chancery suplex, and then eventually got to our cool closing stretch of Beverly suplexing Morales over and over to the point where it looked like we'd have our first match end due to points. I thought Beverly's Saito suplexes looked devastating, and loved how Morales fought through them and at a certain point knew he couldn't fight back, but still had points on the board. The knee trembler finish put a stop to that in cruel fashion. 

PAS: This week didn't work for me the way last week did. They are building to some interesting things, but this show was all build. I am hoping for some payoff next week. 

ER: I liked this episode more than Phil, although I agree that we could have used at least one match that wasn't so one-sided. Still, these one-sided matches made me more interested in seeing Justice against tougher opponents, made me want to see a Williams/Justice match, made me want to see more of Mathis, and made me want to see Bobby Beverly/Hoodfoot more than anything. It was a show that, while looking back won't stand out as one of their best, made me more interested in seeing a lot of what's to come, and that's a smart way to use 45 minutes of your wrestling television. 

Read more!

Paradigm Pro Wrestling Fighting Spirit Heavyweight Grand Prix 11/15/19

One of the odder phenomenons in indy wrestling in the last couple of years in the proliferation of shootstyle tournaments. First Ambition, then Bloodsport, and now we have a random fed in Indiana running a UWFI rules tournament in a garage. The quality is going to vary, but I am all for it.


Lexus Montez vs. Myron Reed

PAS: This was a non style match with guys working a 2.9 juniors counter wrestling style. The opening counter exchange was done a beat too slow and felt like guys working through their stuff before the show. I am so tired of this kind of match, that they are going to have to do something really special to break me out of the fog, and there wasn't anything special here. Reed has a nice 450 I guess, and Ford's heel hook was a cool near fall, but this wasn't what I clicked on the link to see.

ER: Yeah this really shouldn't have been on the show. Montez looks really really new and Phil nailed it, everything was a beat slow and Montez was a beat behind. Reed kept getting to his mark early because Montez was moving too carefully, so it resulted in Reed's bumps looking too disconnected from whatever it was Montez was doing. I like Reed, but this match style is very much not my favorite style, and for it to work you need two guys on the same page, a strong layout, a couple of twists, and some sense. This had none of those things. I liked the Montez bump down the aisle for a Reed tope, but big parts of this felt not ready for primetime. A match worked in a different style than the rest of the card could stand out and benefit from that, but not when the rest of the card is actually worked in an intriguing style and your match looks like amateur night at the flip flop house. Also, a doing a long "ref misses the tap" spot in the first match of a card filled with UWFI style fights is just tremendously dumb.


Erick Stevens vs. Derek Neal

PAS: I appreciated how both guys really tried to stick to the style, we didn't see any elbow exchanges or chops (which was a problem in Ambition), and we would get ten count attempts on Neal's suplexes. This was Neal using his strength and Stevens using his submission attempts, and it was going to be a question whether Stevens could tap Neal before getting flattened. Loved the finish with Steven's eating three rolling german suplexes, but loosening the grip on the third and floating over into a beautiful chicken wing for the tap. The match was a bit disjointed before that, but that was a Fujiwara level finish, which is the highest compliment you can give in this style.

ER: This was a good start to things as right out of the gate it felt like UWFI rules. Neal came off like a big Gary Albright type while Stevens was slicker on the mat and had quicker knee strikes. I thought the made good dramatic use of the rope breaks, especially when Stevens sank an armbar that I thought was surely the end. Neal was the one bringing big KO shots, with the surprise elbow strike a fun knockdown and the back suplex looking match finishing when Stevens went vertical. The finish was a good one, loved how Stevens knew he wasn't going to be able to stop the Germans from happening by going deadweight, so stopped Neal in his tracks using his brain. That chickenwing looked sick and I dug how Neal tapped quick.


JD Drake vs. Dominic Garrini

PAS: This was more of a style clash with Drake getting schooled on the mat by Garrini and responding with hard chops. I don't like chops in UWFI matches in theory, but if you are going to throw them you might has well try to slice someone's skin off, and Drake was absolutely pasting him. Garrini is so skilled at jiu-jitsu and it's fun to watch him switch back and forth from attack to attack. Finish was a great looking flip into a cross armbreaker. Fun short match.

ER: On paper I do not like the sound of a UWFI match filled with a ton of chops, but in execution I was way into Drake making horrible music on Garrini's chest. Those chops looked so violent that I totally got into them as actual knockdown shots. I always love the visual of big fat guys on the mat in shootstyle as it looks so incorrect and almost offensive. Drake does his best to squash Garrini when he quickly realizes that Garrini is going to school him. We get a killer early match callback and UWFI throwback when Drake clotheslines Garrini out of the air on a charge. Garrini hit a flying knee to start the match and got caught when he tried it again, but intentional or not I thought Drake threw his clothesline just like one of Vader's old bear attacks (I wrote up all of Vader's UWFI matches BY the way). I thought Drake's Saito suplex could have easily been the finish, just a mean throw, but Garrini's finish was so smart. He tosses Drake up for a German but knows before he throws the German that he's not actually going for that move. Drake instinctively blocks the German and realizes then that Garrini had laid that trap and had merely tossed him into an armbar. The spot looked great and Drake played it like he didn't see it coming.


123. Calvin Tankman vs. Lee Moriarty

PAS: I am a Moriarty skeptic, but I thought this was unabashedly great. Tankman is enormous, basically looks like Emmanuel Yarbrough, and this was a really cool speed versus size battle. Moriarty tried to use kickboxing to keep Tankman off of him, but when he got caught he would just get ragdolled. Tankman murders him with a german suplex and then catches a body kick and tosses him in a fisherman's buster on the top of his head. Moriarty is able to recover and catch him with a high kick and grounded axe kick for a flash KO.

ER: Tankman is definitely someone with that Segunda Caida bod, and here he comes off like Shoot Cheex. I didn't fully buy into the axe kick that ended the match, as I think you really need to nail that KO blow when it's the finish AND there's a size difference like this, but I loved every other part of this. Tankman's two throws were real all timers, 1.0 on the Albright scale. Moriarty gets TOSSED with a German and bounces around in the ropes like a guy failing hard at a team building ropes course. The fisherman's bomb was a real beauty, with Moriarty landing at an unsightly angle. Tankman's selling on that front kick to the jaw was so strong. Indy wrestling is filled to the brim with people who have no idea how to sell on their feet, and here's Tankman actually understanding that it's more than just doing Mortal Kombat Fatality selling, he does small foot movements and small cobweb shaking mannerisms. Selling on your feet is much more like a drunk person stopping their walk to try to refocus before walking again, and his was great. He occupied the time really well until Moriarty's second kick. I wish they would have just called it after the second kick, since UWFI rules don't allow strikes to a downed and prone opponent anyway.


Brett Ison vs. Anthony Henry

PAS: Ison looked the most lost with these rules, but I still dug this. Henry just chops at Ison's legs with sharp nasty looking low kicks, he would throw a couple of body shots and slice Ison's thighs and calves. Ison hit one nice suplex, but was mostly throwing not great forearm smashes and ineffective bull rushes. Henry really looked like an assassin though and I really dig a match finishing on a low kick KO.

ER: I thought this was cool, and thought Ison's inexperience with the style played well into the match. Anthony Henry came off cooler here than in any of his faux shootstyle Evolve matches. He looked cool advancing on Ison with the size difference, and he kept throwing hard kicks right into Ison's shins and patella. I thought those looked real gross and I thought they were a great way to plant the seeds for the finish. Henry was good at stuttering his timing on muay thai knees or low-high kicks. Ison lumbered and barged his way through things and grabbed him with a big suplex, and I liked a lumbering big man taking hits. But I hated his rolling elbow in response to getting kicked in the knee. The elbow didn't work as a reaction shot, came off real phony in the middle of what had been a cool messy fight. Also, the referee counted extremely slow in this match, kind of robbing some of the drama by having Henry stalking around for too long waiting for Ison to recover. I still thought the overall match was strong because it did feel like UWFI, with Ison the large gaijin but sitting duck for a young cool guy.


Bobby Beverly vs. AJ Gray

PAS: I dug this a ton in conception, not sure the execution was up to par. Much of the match was built around UWFI style slap exchanges, and they just didn't look good. I imagine it is really hard to throw palm strikes that look credible and don't injure the guy you are landing them on, and these looked too pulled. Outside of that the match was pretty cool. Gray, who was the PPW champion, dominated landing two nasty suplexes and a high kick. Beverly on his way out landed the best palm strike of the match and a guillotine for the win. It did a nice job of establishing that wins can come out of nowhere. So far this show has had awesome finishes and that goes a long way in shootstyle.

ER: I thought this was really good. I watched it through with sound and I watched it on mute, and I thought the slaps looked better muted. Both guys looked like they were swinging really stiff arms and reddening up each other's necks and ears. Gray and Beverly both have heavy arms so you could tell that weight was hitting neck. Gray wrecks Beverly with a couple suplexes, with a brutal German that folds him, and a big Saito suplex across the whole damn ring. Beverly was real good at getting to his feet, and I loved how he was selling that struggle. When he stood up at 6 it looked like he was getting to his feet way too quick and he really looked like a guy 3 seconds and one shot from the end. But Beverly is a guy who obviously has no problem throwing hands, and he hits this nice thrust palm strike to the button on Gray's jawline. And it stalled Gray for just amount, allowing Beverly to leap onto him with a guillotine that he is able to roll over, and the whole thing looked like a real lights out attack. Loved it.


Bradley Prescott IV vs. Blake Christian

PAS: Prescott comes in working a guy who loves Natural Light, and they worked a match built around somersaults and cutters. Both guys had some big spots which looked good and some set ups and small things that didn't. I really liked how they kept all of the tournament matches short. But they made the two non UWFI style matches longer, and I really didn't need that.

ER: Thanks Phil!


50. Dominic Garrini vs. Erick Stevens

PAS: This was pretty great, both guys aggressively rolling and attacking limbs and necks. Stevens looked very comfortable working in this style, Garrini brought most of the flourishes, but Stevens didn't look uncomfortable and I loved his quick and aggressive rear naked choke that he grabbed. Garrini did an awesome half monkey flip into a tight head and arm choke, and slid so quickly into a nasty triangle with elbow for the tap. Garrini is mainly a brawler now, but when he works the mat like this you can really see what a skilled grappler he is.

ER: This was strong, our first real long war of the tournament. Phil is right about Garrini. I've gotten so used to him as a brawler with some nice takedowns that my brain doesn't think of him as the Catch Point grappler, and he's such a boa constrictor here that I hope we get more of these shows to see more of this Dom again. Stevens was real good here. He reminded me - in looks and ability - like reclusive great worker Joe Graves. Six years ago I thought he was going to take indy wrestling by storm, especially while several other Graves-adjacent guys got good work. Stevens could be a premier indy Joe Graves and that's a cool thing. Garrini trapped him and locked him into things, but Stevens was game to get into sticky situations and he looked legit. He locked in a pair of very adept triangles and a pair of nice, heavy suplexes. Hard knee strikes from both guys, Garrini throwing a couple of slick traps (love his pop up triangle), and a damn good fought for finish that really looked like the kind of struggle that should finish a fight. Great stretched out version of the show's formula.


Anthony Henry vs. Lee Moriarty

PAS: I enjoyed this a bunch too. This was primarily a kick boxing match, which was a nice contrast with the previous match. Both guys landed their kicks really well, and mixed it up with sweeps, leg kicks, and high kicks. Moriarty landed a really cool spinning kick to the neck, and Henry hit a multi shot punch and kick combo before rolling into a knee bar and ankle lock for the tap. Short, stiff and energetic, great stuff.

ER: This was our "smallest" pairing of the tournament so I like that they went with something different, more of a kicker's sprint than anything else we'd seen. Henry looked like he was going to pace himself for a longer fight and then suddenly he got backed up and popped by a big spinning kick. From there he was going for broke and looking vicious doing it. Again I've watched several of his more shootstyle Evolve matches and even in the shorter ones he's never come off as vicious as he does here. He goes hard after Moriarty with low kicks and is really taking him apart, and when Moriarty finally catches one Henry uses his expert Minoru Tanaka muscle memory and rolls right through into a beautiful heel hook. This was quick explosive fun.


28. Matthew Justice vs. Stephan Bonnar

PAS: This was totally awesome, one of my favorite sprints of the year. Bonnar feels like a guy that should be booked everywhere. He has a real New Japan Don Frye feel to him, really great at being above everything and also really great at having the seriousness of the fight dawn on him. We are long removed from Ultimate Fighter 1, but Bonnar still presents himself like a big deal. Bonnar was no selling some of Justice's stuff early, but as the fight went on he really sold big for Justice's spears and knees to the head. I liked how this felt like a real different style fight. Justice wasn't pretending to be a shooter, he was just a tough pro wrestler who was going to try to turn this into a fight. I loved how he bailed to the floor on the Bonnar rear naked choke and landed some spears which felt like he was cracking ribs. Bonnar hit big suplexes too, and really kicked Justice's head off. This felt like an indy version of a high end Brock Lesnar match, and was the perfect super fight for this show.

ER: Yeah this ruled. Bonnar comes in with that McCully brothers energy, that meathead jock energy that is too good for pro wrestling. He's the guy who already knows he's ahead on points before any points have come off the board, the guy who knows he has wiggle room to goof around in this "exhibition". I love how Justice didn't act like he was overmatched, and he didn't play around at something he isn't. He went into a Super Fight and worked it like Matt Justice, and Bonnar went into a Super Fight knowing he wasn't against a fighter but "just" a tough guy. Bonnar would land early and easily, then pose to rub it in, or get cocky and throw a Karate Kid crane kick. Even when he would take a shot after goofing around, he would easily get licks in on Justice. He was the teenager playing against small kids on a 7' hoop, and he was due to get knocked down a peg. Justice is outgunned but not outcrazied, and I love him spilling to the floor with Bonnar and hitting a pescado, with Bonnar bringing that "I don't know how to bump" messiness to every fall and landing. Justice has a couple of great spears that seem less like pro wrestling spears and more like Bonnar was the guy getting under Justice's skin at the bar all night and Justice finally flies at his guy with a tackle. Bonnar eats a back suplex, but the best part about Bonnar is his fighter's survival instinct, when you can see his survivor muscle memory spring into action. Every time he would go down it's like his eyes would glaze over and his body would take over, slip Justice's grip, grab a waistlock, and throw him. Bonnar hits a couple nice Germans and a big gutwrench, and they all come after him going into muscle memory fighter mode. It rules. Justice walks right into a Cro Cop head kick for the finish, and I loved how all of Bonnar's earlier strikes were more "haha we're doing some fake pro wrestling right?" stuff, even his big spin kick was something he was only trying just because he could afford the miss. This head kick was putting someone down, and man did it ever.


37. Anthony Henry vs. Dominic Garrini

PAS: Great final and a real continuation of the narrative set up through the tourney. Henry had established himself as a violent striker who was especially damaging with leg kicks, and Garrini had established himself as a dangerous defensive grappler who could turn the tide any moment. Henry really pummels him on the feet, with brutal leg kicks and slaps, and is even competitive on the mat (although Dom always has an answer). It only takes one mistake though, and I loved Dom taking the ground and pound just to snatch the opening he needed for the tap. Cool match, with both guys coming out looking better than when they came in. Henry in normal matches gets a little too near fall indy guy style for me, but man he looks great when he does this.

ER: Very worthy final of a very cool tournament. Anthony Henry came out of this thing looking like a real badass and I liked how this match felt like a manifestation of the tournament that came before it. Henry's strike game looked great this show, with everyone across from him taking those great sweeping leg kicks. Dom took these great spills onto his tailbone from big meaty kicks to his hamstrings, and I was real impressed with how Henry was kind of muscling him around and advancing. Henry had strong balance and it came off like he kept surprising Dom. Garrini's tricks were scouted this time and he was going to need something unexpected to put away Henry, and Henry was looking skilled on the ground. And the finish was cool and it WAS Dom pulling out something different, with Henry throwing from mount and Garrini looking near toast, before shifting his hips to cause a Henry slap to go wide, with Garrini capitalizing with a choke. Awesome.


2019 MOTY MASTER LIST

Read more!

Eddie Kingston Has Whips on His Fist, Houses on His Wrists

Team AIW (Eddie Kingston/BJ Whitmer/Tim Donst/Chris Dickinson) vs. #NIXON (Ricky Shane Page/Bobby Beverly/Eric Ryan/Necro Butcher) AIW 11/23/12 - EPIC

PAS: This was a mystery partner tag brawl with #NIXON bringing in the Necro Butcher and AIW bringing in Chris Dickinson, both guys who had been banned from AIW in the past. This match had lots of booking in it, which was a little hard to parse dropping in the middle of it, but the action was pretty awesome. The whole match was brawling in the crowd, and these are a batch of crazy fucks. This might be one of the last incredible Necro performances, as he was bleeding buckets, punching and headbutting people right in the face and bumping around. I loved the moments where he and Kingston start clawing at each others eyes, and he and Dickinson really test the boundaries of acceptable stiffness, Necro just blasts Chris in the jaw, and Dickinson spin kicks Necro right in the temple. Match doesn't really have a finish with Dickinson turning on his team and dropping Whitmer on his head, and Gargano coming out to even the odds only to get DQed by a #NIXON heel ref. Really overbooked finish which almost keeps it from EPIC status, but the work was killer and this was a hidden gem for sure.

ER: I thought this kicked huge amounts of ass. The overbooked finish was a couple minutes out of 20, with the other 18 minutes filled with blood, stiff strikes, and some insanely painful landings. Beverly and Ryan are total maniacs. Several people were having a "who can hit the guardrail more painfully" contest, and Beverly probably won it when he leaped off the apron chest first into the rail, looking nastier than that time Bret Hart broke his sternum. Ryan bleeds buckets and I had no idea him bleeding profusely was something he's been doing for years now. Both future Studs take hellish bumps, Ryan getting vertical suplexed on the floor by Dickinson, Beverly flying across the floor while weapons fly at him magnetically. Kingston throws a heavy trash can off the side of Beverly's head, Page is gushing blood while sporting a 5 years in the future Tim Donst look, Donst also crashes and burns hard on the floor a few times, everybody throws great punches and kicks, Necro practically KOs Dickinson with a punch, the hardwood floor is so covered in everyone's blood that Kingston slips in it while throwing a punch, the whole thing was sheer brilliant street fight chaos. Fans gathering around the action are standing still with their mouths open, like they're witnessing a street crime. This was how you do a crowd brawl. This whole thing felt dangerous as hell and had I been in attendance I would have been losing my mind the entire time.


COMPLETE AND ACCURATE EDDIE KINGSTON

Read more!