2018 Ongoing MOTY List: Doom Patrol vs. Kingston/Homicide

95. Eddie Kingston/Homicide vs. Chris Dickinson/Jaka Beyond Wrestling 11/25 - GREAT

PAS: Really fun old school vs. new school NYC indie battle. I really liked the trash talking, with Dickinson calling Homicide grampa and daring Kingston to try his bullshit jujitsu. It felt a little good natured at first, but it started to get a little sharper, the way a pick up game can all of a sudden turn into a fist fight. This really did turn into that fist fight with Kingston tagging in and rag dolling Dickinson in a really disrespectful way. Those two especially brought it right to the edge in ways that I always love from both guys: a lot of chops to unsafe parts of the neck and sharp looking kicks. There is a great spot near the end of the match where Kingston is in the corner eating kicks, chops and punches from all angles by both guys while throwing his own shots back. It's one of the cooler strike exchanges I can remember seeing. We get a 2010s tag near fall run, which is what it is, but the big moves were appropriately big and it ended when it should. I am a big fan of all four of these guys and this really delivered. 

ER: I think we've had this sitting in drafts for over a couple years, waiting on me to force myself to watch some of my favorite guys. Obviously it's filled with things I love, and I knew that it would, but wrestling fans are weirdos and we can't always predict which direction our wrestling viewing hours will be spent. The match built well within the framework they established, veering into directions I didn't always like but always kept my interest. It starts with some cool dickhead kneebars from Dickinson with Homicide offering little defense, leading to Dickinson asking for Eddie Kingston's "fake jujitsu ass". Homicide having little ground answer for Dickinson and Dickinson being a loudmouth quickly leads to Homicide going after eyes and fighting the way we love to see Homicide fight. Dickinson and Jaka were great at getting Homicide away from Kingston and it felt like the whole match could have kept that formula, with Dickinson wrapping his arm around Homicide's neck from the apron while Jaka kicked and chopped away, and Eddie's insults grew less eloquent as his anger level rose. 

Jaka got a little too cute on an outside in suplex, choosing to do a ropes balance course with Homicide that is a bit too complicated, but it throws Homicide all the way across the ring, with Kingston tagging in as Homicide rolled to the floor. There was a little undercurrent of Kingston and Homicide disrespecting Jaka, and it was made a bit more obvious by Jaka looking a step behind skill-wise from the others. I was a big Jaka fan (weird to think he's only had like 10 matches since this one) and liked his commitment to using Islander strikes in Catch Point matches. Those strikes throw off the rhythm of this match a bit, with the best moments happening when King and Homicide throw bombs and chops. Jaka's strikes looked a little lighter, so when the OGs would hit him back it read as great old man disrespect. Homicide and Kingston even both SPIT at Jaka! Watching this three years later and that feels even more insulting, now that it's not just the biggest sign of disrespect but also potentially deadly. Kingston's flurries were the best, like dropping Dickinson with a mean Saito suplex and a stiff arm standing lariat. The ending got a bit bombastic and I think every single one of them got their own 1999 Kings Road fighting spirit moment. Pulling from 1999 All Japan is kind of like pulling live material from 1995 Grateful Dead shows, an era with less worthwhile stuff to steal from than the other 25+ years. Kingston takes one of the most scarily accurate backdrop drivers to that 1999 AJ style, and it's mostly glossed over to make way for both members of Doom Patrol to walk through backfists. It was a bit much, but it was in a match that also gave us Dickinson and Jaka teeing the absolute fuck off on Kingston in the corner while Kingston somehow screamed his way through it to chop them both in the neck, and it's the kind of high that many attempt but rarely make look this good. 

2018 MOTY MASTER LIST

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Beyond Wrestling Greatest Rivals Round Robin Pt. 2

Matt Makowski vs. Tony Deppen 3/11/21

ER: I liked a lot of the submission grappling here, as Makowski is someone I'll happily watch work weird figure fours around any limb (or head), and he always surprises in ways he gets someone to the mat for one of those submissions. He's as likely to do a simple armbar takedown as he is to pop a beautiful high arc butterfly suplex. Deppen works some nice stuff too, and I really liked all the work he showed while getting Makowski into an abdominal stretch. You could see every step of him working to get Makowski into the hold, and that will always make a submission mean much more. He also hits this great sliding knee into the back of Makowski's headMakowski is such a beast, and easily my favorite part of the match was when he drags Deppen into this nasty, tangled trailer hitch deathlock that made somebody right next to the camera ask "What the hell is that??" Some things didn't quite work, and not long after Makowski's wicked deathlock variation, Deppen takes too long to set up an Indian deathlock pin that falls apart, then gets to his feet and follows it up with a slap that whiffs so high that the commentary has to immediately say that no part of the slap landed. They get things back on track, and we get another great Makowski finish as he throws Deppen into a kneebar with a crucifix bomb. Shoot that between my toes.

Chris Dickinson vs. Wheeler Yuta 3/18/21

ER: Yuta really feels like the odd man out in this series, and this was my least favorite match of the series so far. There's always a hesitation or a stumble with almost every piece of offense he tries, and I can never get any sense of who he actually is as a wrestler. He's one of those new breeds of pro wrestler who works every style, and works them below average. There's a reason why 4 pitch pitchers who can't locate any of them never land in the majors. Yuta is like an update on Rocky Romero's brand of never meeting a move he didn't like, except Romero's execution was better. I really don't buy him in this kind of stiff submission atmosphere, as all of his shots look lighter than Dickinson's but they worked the match as mostly equals. But Dickinson had a ton of stuff I loved, starting with an awesome Boston crab that he somehow rolled through while pulling guard. Yuta was probably most interesting working ground and pound and tying Dickinson's arm in the ropes, but I thought his stand-up was ugly and too planned. The finish was a real pair of exclamation points, with Dickinson sticking Yuta into the mat with a Death Valley driver, then trying to shorten his spine with a brainbuster. This did get me more excited to see Dickinson/Makowski, so in that, it did its job. 

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Matches from Beyond Wrestling Project Dolphin 6/3/21

Matt Makowski vs. Logan Easton LaRoux

PAS: LaRoux is a guy I saw live a couple of times in DC back in the day, and is really good at being hateable but is also a slick wrestler. He does the 2021 version of Mocking Karate by dickishly dropping into guard, only to have Makowski do a somersault into mount and reverse monkey flip him into an armbar. LaRoux was able to attack the knee with some low dropkicks and a knee bar, and the match became LaRoux attempting to tear the knee up before Makowski could catch him in a crazy submission. Great selling by Makowski and really nasty limb work by LaRoux, until Makowski catches him in a Razor's Edge throw into an armbar for a tap. Great little match, and Makowski keeps coming up with holy shit spots.

ER: This was a really cool style clash, with Makowski getting his knee worked over while still finding cool ways to roll LaRoux into submissions. The beginning action was a real trip, with Makowski hitting a standing moonsault into guard and then monkey flipping him straight into the air while catching an armbar on the way down. Makowski has really fast strikes, maybe the quickest and most impactful leg kicks in pro wrestling, and LaRoux had the exact right amount of leaning into some of the kicks and narrowly leaning out of a couple deadly high kicks. I liked his work on Makowski's knee (I think I'll always love anyone who does a single leg DDT) and Makowski had some really impressive selling. He was good at subtly paying service to the leg work, shaking out his leg and not putting weight on it during exchanges, realistic stuff that he kept up through the finish, wobbling out of the corner while carrying LaRoux in a Razor's Edge. There were several cool sequences (loved a Makowski O'Connor roll that LaRoux reversed by kicking out Makowski's knee) and the finishing leglock (thrown into it by the Razor's Edge) was disgusting. 

Slade vs. Max Caster

ER: Here's a really odd Submission Match that really caught my attention and mostly kept it. Slade is a very new guy who is already very over with the live crowd, and of course I was going to watch him because they are billing him as a Riker's Island convict who is not trained to wrestle. He looks like a cross between 70s Sid Haig and Paul Ellering and wrestles like a guy who is not very trained. And that stands out as pretty interesting right now. He doesn't seem to know how to bump but he has a crazy eyed charisma that obviously connects with people. Caster is an AEW TV regular who is basically Xavier (not early 2000s Xavier, but NEW Xavier when he worked much slower and didn't take crazy bumps), and he is tasked with working a submission match against a guy who is either not very trained or is very good at playing into the Not Trained part of his gimmick (I like it either way). It's a great premise, and their only misstep is that they insanely work a 15 minute match. SHANK isn't going out there working 15 minute matches man. You get an untrained convict from Riker's, who has an incredible farmer's tan and a good presence, you do NOT need to be the 2nd longest match on the show. 

This could have been great with 1/3 of the time cut, this could have been great with *2/3* of the time cut, but I'm still way down with Slade. He wrestles like early Taz, complete with walking around in between throws to effectively cover when he's not sure what move to do next. Slade has nasty body shots and made his worked strikes look really good. They brawl on the floor and Slade takes forever setting up a door spot but the payoff is great, with Slade getting shoved off by Caster's boy (who we could have done without the rest of the match but get a lot more interference) and taking a bump off the stage through a table like someone who has no idea how to bump through a table. He goes through knee, wrist, and shoulder first and it looked sick. That actually leads to the few submissions of the match as Caster goes after Slade's knee and Slade keeps fighting him off like a threatened cobra. Slade comes off like a real threat and I loved him fighting back. Still, inexplicable to go 15 minutes in this situation, and even with that padded time this was a cool match. 

PAS: I agree with this going a bit long and I don't think a submission match really works into Slade's strengths, but man he has some strengths. He has these incredibly sharp elbows that really look like he is taking someones head off, like I am not sure if that first back elbow was a work or he just loosened Caster's teeth for real, but my goodness. He hit a totally gross elbow to the back of the head as well.  Caster was OK, he did a nice job of looking terrified of Slade which is what you need in this match. Not a MOTY list match, but I have a new guy, and it is always fun to have a new guy.

Chris Dickinson vs. Brogan Finlay

PAS: Finlay is the 18 year old son of Fit Finlay and this was his 8th match. He was clearly still getting his sea legs, but had some nice moments. I especially liked him splaying Dickinson's fingers and jamming them into the top rope, and he also hit a nice Finlay roll. Dickinson is a guy who is great, but I don't really think he figured out this match. You really should work it like Tenryu, but he seemed to go back and forth between killing the kid and pulling his stuff. There was an especially long and bad New Japan elbow section which really took me out of it all. The finish seemed completely blown, with Dickinson hitting a Death Valley driver and the ref signaling that Finlay kicked out when he clearly didn't. Dickinson then DVD's the ref and counts his own pin on Finlay who is still lying there. I am not sure if he was supposed to kick out and got knocked silly or they ran an angle which didn't make sense, but it went over like a burp in a synagogue. If they ran this back in six months, with some more seasoning for Brogan, I imagine it will be good. 

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Beyond Wrestling Greatest Rivals Round Robin Pt. 1

4. Chris Dickinson vs. Tony Deppen 2/25/21

PAS: This is a new mini Greatest Rivals round robin tournament, which I imagine will place a bunch of matches on our MOTY list. Dickinson is really peaking over the last year, and I think he has an argument for top 10 in the world at this point. He is really great at making wresting look violent, the veins in his bald head pulsate really evocatively when he is put in holds and when he applies moves the muscles in his forearms really look like they are straining. Deppen is good as the faster leaner guy, pushing pace, being slick and trying to get the lactic acid chewing up Dickison's muscles. The early section of the match has both guys with some slick grappling, with Deppen able to take the advantage when he quickly scrambles out of an exchange and drops a knee hard on Chris's arm. We get some vicious Deppen arm work, headbutts to the bursa sac, uppercuts to the humerus, nasty stuff. Dickinson does a sick looking dragon screw and works a figure four before we get to our bomb throwing finish, which included a gross brainbuster. Very good hard hitting pro-wrestling and a great start to a mini tournament which is pretty exciting. 

ER: 15 minutes doesn't seem like a lot of time, but there are plenty of wrestling matches that don't need 15 minutes to be good. And a lot of wrestlers don't have 15 minutes of material to work with, but that's not a problem for Dickinson and Deppen. There aren't many indy workers left who I like more than Chris Dickinson. His brand of big match feels like it could eventually get as good as Eddie Kingston's big match. Dickinson and Kingston both have that quality where they are still themselves while working in any style match. Plus, he gives commentary guys good things to say about him, like how he's described as having "the best second wind in wrestling". That's the kind of way I like a wrestler to be hyped. Deppen is a guy  I like, who has a couple qualities I don't like. He wrestles a bit like if MJF was trained by Drew Gulak. He's got a lot going on with his face, probably a bit too much bared teeth, and some of his holds really have a "Dickinson needs to hold still for a bit" feel to them. But he also aims to kick a dent in Dickinson's arm, and that I love. All the kicks looked real hard, and he also stomps it, digs his knuckles into it, knee drops it, really uses and blunt part of his body on that arm. Dickinson is good at working through it. Dickinson comes back by catching Deppen in two whipcrack dragon screws, the kind of thing that would have shredded Deppen's ACL and MCL if they had miscommunicated. Dickinson's kicks are thrown to land, he gets to take some revenge on Deppen's knee as payback for the arm, and his brainbuster is the best. Good start to a promising tournament. 

Matt Makowski vs. Wheeler Yuta 3/4/21

PAS: Makowski is one of the most fun guys to watch in wrestling right now. You are almost guaranteed two or three completely new cool things a match, and his grappling fundamentals are really solid. Yuta seems like the odd man out in this series and he was a bit hit and miss here. He looked very good when they were on the mat, but he had some really puzzling decisions when it was time for offense. At one point he does this leap into weak looking ground and pound and then follows it up with a CM Punk level top rope elbow. I did really like him trying to put on a surfboard and grinding his foot into Makowski's head, little touches like that can really make a match that is mostly babyface versus babyface grappling. Makowski as expected did some bad ass stuff, including actually finding a new way to do Malenko vs. Guerrero rollups, and an awesome second rope straitjacket torture rack flipped into an armbar.  

ER: Makowski is a real compelling wrestler, easily one of my favorite new guys of the past few years. So far he's been worth watching in every match of his I've seen, a guy who brings a unique set of skills to make any opponent a little more interesting. Wheeler Yuta is a guy I don't really like, and here he's the guy in the tournament whose name stood out as not like the others. He wrestles like Humberto Carrillo, only without the timing or pretty execution. His armdrags are a touch slow, he always makes opponents wait on his dropkicks, his elbow drop looks like an 11 year old kid jumping into a pool. But he's a fun opponent for Makowski, who spins around Yuta's body and attacks limbs. Makowski can get into zones where it looks like stopping him is not possible, has some impressively quick ways to grab an arm or slip on a choke. He hits like hell, and my favorite part of the match may have been when he just unloaded with one big Cro Cop kick across Yuta's chest, which Yuta sells by quickly rolling through the floor and lying on the ground like someone who legitimately had the wind knocked out of him. Makowski of course breaks out some cool tricks, like slingshotting through the ropes into a rear naked choke, and finishing things by flinging Yuta out of a torture rack from the middle buckle directly into an armbar. Makowski's inclusion was the main thing that got me interested in this tournament, and he hasn't disappointed me yet. 

2021 MOTY MASTER LIST

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Josh Barnett's Bloodsport 4! 2/13/21

Diego Perez vs. Gil Guardado

PAS: These guys are both MMA fighters apparently without any pro-wrestling experience, so this was basically an MMA sparring session. In shootstyle you are going to be better off with MMA guys with no pro-wrestling experience than the other way around, and there were some exciting moments of ground work, although neither guy seemed fully able to pull strikes and make them look good. The rolling guillotine choke Perez used to finish the fight was really cool.

ER: This mainly looked like the kind of karate or MMA sparring you'd see open a late 80s FMW show or two UWF young boys wearing black trunks and tights and having something called a Fight Exhibition. These two even had the black trunks and tights, but it almost always looked like a pretty friendly MMA exhibition. I liked how Guardado worked inside and outside leg kicks, and at one point it looked like Perez got annoyed and threw a straight kick at the kneecap of Guardado's lead leg. Could have used more stuff like that. I think MMA Guy New to Wrestling pairs nicely with Wrestling Guy New to MMA as a match, so I could see either having a fun match with a midwest indy worker in 2021. 

Royce Isaacs vs. Calder McColl

PAS: This was flashier stuff with both guys having MMA and wrestling experience. Issacs had some really cool takedowns and throws, including a cool gutwrench, but would often get caught by McColl working off his back. There was an especially cool McCall trip takedown from behind. McColl reverses an anconda vice into an armbar and then into a triangle choke for the finish. This was a really good ground battle, with both guys showing some skill. 

ER: This felt a bit too long for what we got, but I liked Isaacs working somehow tentatively, not wanting to rush into something stupid, while also pushing pace and making it almost a sure thing he gets caught in something. Aggression is more interesting in Bloodsport than who eventually gets the triangle, and I liked his short takedowns, liked that he went for stuff like low angle German suplexes even though they almost surely took more energy than they were worth. We have a match long story of McColl's triangle attempts, and Isaacs escaping until he can't. At one point Isaacs did a cool hip pop to break out of a triangle, I really dug that. McColl was a little dull but obviously had some skill, thought it was cool how he set up a slow rolling armbar finish almost as a decoy, giving him a third and final chance to lock in the triangle. 

Bad Dude Tito vs. Super Beast

PAS: This started out pretty awesome with Super Beast with some monstrous throws and huge clubbing forearms, a totally jacked dude who wrestled like it. Tito had some fun brawling strikes early and a couple of nifty holds from the bottom, but this got derailed a bit by a New Japan forearm exchange which should be banned by penalty of death from shootstyle matches. And while the Super Beast keylock throw to finish it was pretty rad, this never got back to the awesome start. 

ER: Yeah, this started cool and then went into a beyond bad strike exchange. Tito from his back going for armbars? Awesome. Tito throwing really bad solebutts, yakuza kicks, and spin kicks? Terrible. The striking wasn't even a New Japan kind of exchange, it was just the exact same kind of exchange you see several times on any indy show, and it has no place whatsoever on a show like Bloodsport. Super Beast's suplexes have a place for sure, and that super fast Saito suplex seemed to make Barnett mark out on commentary. Gimme a guy trying to ripe a jacked masked MMA monster's arm off while that monster is trying to club and throw him, and you get a match on our list. But trying to take down a monster by making him sell a bad spin kick? No sir. 

JR Kratos vs. Alex Coughlin

PAS: Coughlin is a New Japan dojo guy who came in with a lot of energy, although he mostly got thrown around. There was an awesome spot where Coughlin does a deadlift suplex on big ass Kratos where he powers him up with a deadlift. Kratos landed some big throws of his own, and dropped Coughlin for good with a knee to the head for the first KO of the show. 

ER: This didn't totally work for me, felt like it was worked a little at 80% speed. Kratos had a real size advantage and I liked how Coughlin tried to head that off by being a little unpredictable. I wasn't expecting the deadlift, and those are the kind of moments that make Bloodsport something worth seeking out. But I don't think we built to much of actual substance, even with some things I liked. One of the strengths of these matches is that even a match that doesn't grab me can still end strong and leave on a high note, and Kratos squaring up and throwing a knee felt nice and decisive. 

Kal Jak vs. Nolan Edward

PAS: KAL JAK IS BACK! This delivered everything you would want it to. Edward is a fun underdog wrestler who works in the IWTV feds, and he has a moment or two in between getting sent into the heavens by Jak. I really liked his jumping headbutt strike, which looked like a UWF Fujiwara strike. This was mostly Jak throwing huge suplexes, which is the best. He really has that Gary Albright vibe which is something missing from pro-wrestling in the 2020s. He throws this sick gutwrench into a knee strike, which might look silly if thrown by a little guy but looked brutal by a giant unkempt dude. He finishes the match by fireman's carry throwing Edward into a brick wall, which might not technically be a Tamura finish, but still utterly ruled.

ER: Kal Jak is such a good fit on these shows, and they really feel like they're helping him open up in ways that weren't happening when he was working strictly pro style. I was waiting for him to destroy Edward the entire time, and I loved how we kept inching to that point, winding up beyond where I thought we'd wind up. Edward never looked like someone who was going to hang with Jak, and that's fine, because he kept going for single legs and didn't back down when overmatched. Kal Jak broke out some cool tricks, like a full tilt-a-whirl into a great German suplex, and later using that same tilt-a-whirl to land a disgusting knee. If you had described a move as a tilt-a-whirl into knee to me, it would sound gimmicky as hell and filled with unnecessary movement. But seeing Kal Jak execute it looked like a damn killshot finisher. Little did I know that the actual finish was Kal Jak hoisting Edward up into a fireman's carry and just throwing him as far out of the ring, aiming for a brick wall way too far away from the ring. Hard landing for Edward, unexpected as an actual finish, and I'm absolutely loving this side of Jak. 

Simon Grimm vs. Tom Lawlor

PAS: MLW brings a feud to Bloodsport, and this was really tremendous stuff. This was probably the most grappling heavy Bloodsport match, worked almost entirely on the mat with both guys constantly attacking different limbs, going for chokes and shifting positions. Grimm nicely shifted from a front choke to an armbar into a knee to the head, Lawlor was able to grab the back. The grappling was very balanced, with Lawlor taking an advantage in the match by targeting the liver with knees, open hand slaps and kicks. Eventually all of the body shots took their toll and he was able to get a KO with a running knee to the body. 

ER: I really like how Grimm uses his legs in his shootstyle work. He's not tall, but he has limber and muscular legs and is really great at using body vices. He uses them in active and passive ways, sometimes working towards something bigger and other times using it to tie up and annoy Lawlor. It looked like Grimm came close to finishing things with a guillotine choke, starting with a leaping body vice and dead weighting Lawlor to the mat. Lawlor was smart about working the body, and I loved Grimm's selling as the targeted body shots started to add up, leaving Lawlor openings to strike. And those openings all lead to something nasty, with that running knee to the body really looking like a finish, even if it hadn't been followed up with mean hammer fists to the button. 

Davey Boy Smith Jr. vs. Calvin Tankman

PAS: I think I am going to end up being a low voter on this match. Smith just hasn't fully connected with me on these shows. Much of the early part of the match was Greco struggle and mat work, which wasn't particularly dynamic, though I did like Smith solving a problem by shoving Tankman out of the ring. Once Tankman gets back in, they go to the dreaded forearm exchange, before Smith was able to get a side suplex and a crossface tap. I didn't love any of the strikes and thought this was overall just kind of there. Although the cool thing about these shows, that if a match doesn't connect it is at least over quick.

ER: I didn't have the same level of problems that Phil had with this, though it did have some of the striking I don't love seeing in these matches. Outside of one section though I thought this was cool struggle between the two biggest guys on the show. Tankman worked a cool rear waistlock and looked to really be grinding Davey Boy down, except it's easy to burn out your arms working a waistlock on a strong guy. Tankman pays it off with a big follow through German suplex that folds Smith in a cool way. Tankman spends some energy and after awhile Davey Boy kind of has to treat Tankman like dead weight, which makes some of Smith's stuff against the big man look more impressive. There was way too much delay during their strike exchange, and these strike exchanges are a tough needle to thread during these matches. To make them look good, you can't just stand still waiting for the other guy to take his turn, because that looks dumb. It's also a risk to both throw at the same time as each other, because that's how you wind up with Lisa Simpson windmill arms fighting. Both look bad, and you start wondering if maybe it would just be easier to not feel the need to do those? I hated how both guys stood there waiting for each other to take their turn, did not like the way it looked at all, and it didn't help that a lot of the strikes just didn't look good. I did like Smith's strikes to set up the finish, thought it was his strongest set he threw: two quick sharp forearms that lead right into two hard knees, nice throw into a cool crossface. There's a good match in this pairing, and I wouldn't hate seeing it again. 

3. Jeff Cobb vs. Chris Dickinson

PAS: Pretty interesting match, not worked the way I expected it all. This was almost entirely grappling with Dickinson trying to outwrestle the Olympian. Dickinson was the stronger submission grappler, with Cobb using his strength and amateur wrestling style to escape when Dickinson would try an armbar or ankle lock. Eventually Cobb is able to muscle Dickinson up and bring him down hard with a couple of big german suplexes. I expected to see Dickinson throw more strikes, but it is cool to watch how his mat wrestling has evolved. 

ER: I thought this was super impressive, and came away with even more respect for both guys' abilities. I thought Dickinson looked awesome on the mat, and kept finding ways to really spread his weight out to do damage and stay in control. Cobb looks powerful as hell on the mat, and at times is able to make it look like he's just effortlessly moving Dickinson exactly where he wants him to go. And that's what made Dickinson look so good, the way he was able to control as much as he did. He has a really good base and the more he flattened Cobb the more you could see actual frustration brewing on Cobb's face. Dickinson had several convincing submissions, and Cobb would punish him with strikes after narrowly escaping them. I loved Dickinson's two ankle locks here. Seeing his application and Cobb selling the danger of it made me think Dickinson could get that move over as a finish on a big level. 

The ankle lock is a move that Kurt Angle spent a decade plus letting every single opponent easily reverse his way out of it, and Dickinson made me buy that he was going to take an Olympian's achilles with it. Cobb had a couple of downward elbows into Dickinson's kidneys after escaping the first one, that I was kind of surprised he had the balls to go back to it. This was a real punishing, exhausting 11 minutes, and I love when Cobb finally decided to shut the door. His suplexes are really incredible. Seeing Cobb live in 2013 when I'd never heard of him before - and then seeing him throw those suplexes - is one of those wrestling live memories I still think about. He starts lifting up Dickinson in ways that few in wrestling could, and his scoop German is a real beaut. I dug how Dickinson reacted to it in frustration more than pain, with Cobb coming right in and finishing him off with another. It was a cool visual sell from Dickinson that showed he knew how close he was to finishing Cobb, but he knew his fate. Great finish to the show. 

2021 MOTY MASTER LIST

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Matches from Beyond Wrestling 9/20/20

To Infinity and Beyond vs. Mike Verna/Rex Lawless

PAS: Verna and Lawless are two jacked up Jersey looking guys, with fun power offense. TIAB are one of the best tag teams in the world, although this was much more of a move, move, move match then the traditional tag structure they excel at. The moves were pretty fun, although not hit perfectly. Verna gets one guy in a powerslam position and the other in a powerbomb position and Lawless Hart Attacks the guy in the powerbomb position. TIAB also chain stuff together really well and make SAT double teams look plausible. There was some timing issues which kept this from a real high level, but Cheech and Delaney are always worth watching.

ER: To Infinity are my favorite tag team going, and I have a feeling this would have been a real mess without them in there. Lawless is like a green Brody King and Verna is a guy working a Brian Cage power gimmick while being roughly the same size as Chris Candido. Almost all of his power spots come off terribly, a power guy who relies on his opponent to make him look powerful. He did a slingshot suplex spot (and it's a spot he does regularly) where he walked Cheech around each side of the ring and bounced him off the top rope, only he was just walking Cheech close enough for Cheech to lower his own legs to touch the ropes. To do a slingshot suplex you have to be able to lower your opponent on your own power, and Verna's whole thing is basically making other guys provide the illusion of power. This doesn't really have the build or nuance of the best Infinity tags, had more the feeling of "guys doing things" which isn't what makes Infinity matches great. They're good at setting up timing spots, but the timing has to at least somewhat be there from the other team, and here it was not. 

9. Matt Makowski vs. Chris Dickinson

PAS: About the most fun I have had watching pandemic era wrestling. Feels very much in the spirit of the BattlArts and FUTEN I have been binging lately, clearly pro-wrestling with rope running and pinfalls, but shot through with shoot holds and stiff violence. Dickinson is such a horse, everything he does has a thud and an oomph to it, meanwhile Makowski matches him shot for shot and throws in some really inventive shoot innovations. They start out with some tough simple grappling, hard takedowns and escapes, mixed in with thudding kicks and elbows, moving into some big submission near falls, and really great moves. Makowski does a cutthroat torture rack spin into a cross armbreaker which is indescribably cool, and Dickinson counters into a deadlift spinning German from the ground which is Tamon Hondaish in its beauty and force, one of the niftiest two move exchanges I can remember seeing. I also loved the later battle out of the cross armbreaker, where Dickinson does one of the coolest Hughes lift counters I can remember. I want to see this run back again, and want to see both of these guys against nearly anyone.

ER: I've watched plenty of pandemic wrestling that I loved, but this stood out as unique among the stuff I loved. Makowski brings Z-1 shoot gaijin feel to these kinds of matches, and Dickinson is the kind of pro who is great enough at shoot elements that he can take a guy like that and do something special. Not everything hits clean, but this isn't the kind of match where clean matters as much. The grappling is strong and comes off like both men are fighting for dominant position at all times, focusing on the actual struggle rather than pulling off a cool reversal. But there are cool reversals! Once they start bringing hard kicks and elbows, I completely wasn't expecting Makowski to catch a Dickinson kick and spin counter to a Judas elbow, and I love how Makowski couldn't capitalize right away and throws his own kick, only for Dickinson to rearrange his patella placement with a dragon screw. Makowski was going after Dickinson's arm and Dickinson managed to tie up Makowski's way in cool ways, and both sent the other scrambling for the ropes in meaningful ways. It took a little effort to prep, but Makowski lifting Dickinson into a fireman's carry and violently unrolling him into an armbar is an incredibly cool move that somebody incredibly less cool will probably steal, but Dickinson had a bunch of less flashy but no less nasty tricks. I loved Dickinson locking in a trailer hitch and then roughly rolling Makowski over with it, and the fights out of barred legs were all nasty. Makowski hasn't been at this very long, but has a cool tool bag to pull from, and Dickinson is someone who will gamely hang in and throw leather with that kind of guy. It's no wonder this came off as awesome as it did. 

2020 MOTY MASTER LIST

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Pandemic Era IWTV Cherry Picking

I have really been slacking on watching new wrestling since COVID, but there has been some cool looking matchups on IWTV so I figured I would cherry pick a couple

Matthew Justice/Manders/Mance Warner vs. Chris Dickinson/Nick Gage/Tony Deppen Beyond Wrestling 7/27/20

PAS: Really great looking on paper match, which got really derailed by Gage blowing out his knee or ankle. There were some fun Dickinson vs. Manders exchanges (I need to track down their singles match), but Gage gets hurt, and there is an awkward heat segment on him where he clearly can't stand. The finish run had a ton of steam taken out of it because of that. Bummer that it didn't live up to its potential, but perfectly understandable.

Violence is Forever (Dominic Garrini/Kevin Ku) vs. Rip City Shooters (Joshua Bishop/Wes Barkley) BLP 8/24/20

PAS: These are a pair of teams I have a fair amount of time for, but this felt pretty minor. Weirdly they barely match up Bishop and Dom at all, which you would figure they would focus on. They had one of the greatest indy grudge matches of the decade a year ago, and their isn't any sense that they even know each other. When Piper and Valentine matched up at the Royal Rumble they tried to kill each other even though their feud was in a fed that the WWF didn't acknowledge. I did really like Bishop in this. He has some huge power moves, and has gotten really good at wrestling big. I especially loved him just chucking Ku into the air with a side suplex throw. Ku and Dom have some fun double teams that are always really violent looking, but the presentation of this show is really bad. The ring announcer is wearing basketball shorts, the woman doing commentary spends the entire match trying out her wacky podcast comedy, I mean...if you want me to think your show is important, treat it like it is important. Treat it like a joke, I am not going care.

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IWTV Worth Watching: IWTV All Stars vs. Team Beyond! Dickinson vs. Homicide!

Chris Dickinson vs. Homicide Squared Circle Project 9/21/19

ER: This got plenty of time but never really jumped up to that next gear. The parts I enjoyed the most were the opening minutes, where we got to see them trading holds, doing some grappling and doing some tiring submission work. That wasn't what I was expecting and I found myself pleasantly surprised. And so by the time they worked up to the brawling portions of the match I was less interested, and the brawling also felt sluggish in spots. All of the brawling felt very 70%, like they were going through the motions of a Homicide/Dickinson match, including throwing in stuff like a ringpost chop and multiple chairshots that felt half-done and immediately forgotten. There was some inspired stuff like Homicide tying up Dickinson in the ringside barrier tape, and these are two guys who can still throw some nice strikes. They had a couple punch exchanges that looked really good - including Homicide punching Dickinson right in the throat - or Homicide going back to the mat and Dickinson biting him in the head to get him to break a kneebar. There was also a bit of weirdness, like Homicide maybe sandbagging a powerbomb leading to Dickinson just kind of sitting back into a piledriver, or a stand and trade section towards the end where Homicide keeps doing weird stuff like rubbing his hands through Dickinson's chest hair, yanking chest hair out (which Dickinson does not react to), or rubbing Dickinson's bald head mockingly (which is a weird flex for a bald dude to pull on a bald dude). This just felt a bit too meandering without much payoff.

IWTV All Stars (Manders/Dominic Garrini/Kevin Ku/Matthew Justice/Warhorse) vs. Team Beyond (Nick Gage/Kris Statlander/Thomas Santell/Bear Bronson/Bear Boulder) Beyond Wrestling 11/28/19

ER: I love team challenge matches, and this was even more on paper exciting to me because it's elimination. On paper this had the chance to capture the vibe of a good NOAH Captain's Fall match from the mid 2000s. It has a good collection of sizes and styles, and it wouldn't have shocked me if this wound up being something special. I do think it underdelivered, had a couple minor messy moments, but far more big spots and to it's credit, felt like a big main event. There was a wild dive sequence where Ku hit a fast tope while Warhorse hit a big tope con giro, Garrini hit a freaking Asai moonsault into everyone which just upped the energy level (is there anything Garrini won't try?), and then Matt Justice reminds everyone that he's Matt Justice and leaps off a 20+ foot ladder. Boulder is a huge guy and a nice presence to have in a match like this, especially when he's hitting double cannonballs and double powerslams like he's in an arcade beat 'em up. We get a lot of stiff strikes, Ku and a Bear really going at it, Statlander hits a totally nuts 450 splash while Ku and Garrini are stacked, and Manders kept showing why he's a cool guy to have on a show. Manders squaring off against Boulder was what I wanted, and we got a great taste. Those two slammed into each other as hard as I was hoping for, and Boulder leveled him with a lariat. This was a nicely assembled group of talent, and it kept a nice pace for the duration; a long match that stayed fresh is a solid rec.

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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

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Matches from Beyond All Hands on Deck 9/22/19

KTB vs. Erick Stevens

ER: Real nice 7 minute sprint, both guys felt like they were really pushing pace. It's like when a starting pitcher throws one inning in the All Star game, and suddenly he's added 4 MPH to his fastball because he knows he's not going to be throwing 110 pitches. This was a great showing for KTB, with Stevens taking plenty of tough bumps of his own, but really shining a light on KTB. I didn't realize this would be worked so quickly, but they started fast with hard shoulderblocks and never really slowed down. KTB had a couple of big slams but also wound up in the sand, and Stevens took zero seconds of hesitation to nail him with a great bullet tope. I'm sure the guys and gals on this show will be finding sand in their gear for the next several gigs, but I bet doing a crazy tope is made that much easier knowing that sand is there to catch you if your opponent doesn't. We even get some sand thrown in the eyes, which feels like something Finlay would have done had he worked any of the early Bash at the Beach shows. And one of the commentators makes me laugh with an Actual Good "shades of", as he drops a "Shades of Paul Orndorff vs. The Renegade from Bash at the Beach '95. I was there, you were there," to which the other commentator replies, "...I wasn't there." Loved it. KTB hits a picture perfect Asai moonsault, Stevens hits a German when KTB goes up top for another (I like when guys establish offense early, leading to openings for their opponents later when they go back to the well), and I kept digging all of KTB's running attacks. It felt like he would run into the ropes and feel like he wouldn't necessarily know what he was going to do when he hit Stevens, but in a good way. I loved the way he caught Stevens on the top rope, hit a running elbow into him, and then just shrugged him over his shoulders. Stevens' comeback was fiery, really I dug all of this.

Team Tremendous (Dan Barry/Bill Carr) vs. Bear Country (Bear Bronson/Bear Beefcake)

ER: This show appears to be full of hot sprints, and I am always going to be cool with that. This is tornado rules, so the ring was constantly filled with big dudes crashing into each other. I really like Dan Barry, he's the smallest guy here but hits harder than the others, his offense always focuses on results rather than style (look at his nice impactful dropkick through the ropes), and he's the guy who typically ties things like this together. This had a ton of fun action, with Bronson hitting a tope early and Barry following that up with a slingshot senton to the sand. We get plenty of lariats and avalanches from the real big men, Carr and Beefcake, nice big boy sentons, big ass Bossman Slam from Carr, and cool power spots like Barry getting powerbombed into Carr (with Beefcake impressively deadlifting Barry off the mat), or Bear Country setting up a tandem electric chair spot only for Barry to do a simple inside cradle and topple their bear stack. It would have been easy to see everyone getting in each other's way due to the tornado format, but they did a great job at looking reckless while nicely building things. I'm not sure why I slept so long on Team Tremendous. They have several years of stuff that I skipped past on Evolve shows (I think the whole cop thing came off too Chikara for me and I never gave it a full chance) but I have dug Barry in everything I've seen him in the past couple years. I ain't missing any more.

Chris Dickinson vs. Kenn Doane

ER: Dickinson is an established property at this point, and it's cool seeing a former WWE come in and not be treated as a holy entity because they were on TV a decade prior. So many times a former TV guy will be brought in as a special attraction on indies, and the local guy he's fighting will treat it like the fight of his life and it plays as a showcase to the former TV guy with the local guy narrowly getting a win. Now, Doane is obviously different from someone like D'Lo Brown, he's still a premier athlete and can provide something other than nostalgia, but it's cool that he would come in and work a show like this and Dickinson is the one rightly booked to look like the big deal. Doane is good at wrestling, but also doesn't seem to want to do it full time, and he's a cool opponent for Dickinson. We also get the addition of Christian Casanova and Cam Zagani running interference for Doane, so Dickinson is in there against essentially three guys and comes off even cooler for it. Doane has some nice athletic stuff, real nice dropkick and crazy vertical leap on his flying back elbow, but also throws a mean right hand, and I love his cocky athletic guy persona. If he wants it, he feels like someone who could be a major name on the indies. And it was great that he came in knowing that the best thing for him to do would be to highlight Dickinson's star. And Dickinson looked great. He hit hard and missed big, everything he did looked like he was 100% committed to wrecking Doane. But he really came off like a big deal when he was finally wrecking Doane's lackeys. Hitting a running Pazuzu bomb on Zagani to the floor is a great holy shit spot, as it's not a move that's easy to hit clean, plenty of bad landings possible. But the visual of Dickinson running across the ring with him, wearing the captains hat, tossing him to the masses, was awesome. I loved how Doane put over the finishing leg lock, really reaching desperately for the ropes, getting pulled deeper into the ring with each desperate grasp, before finally tapping. I'm curious to see more of Doane outside of Beyond, and Dickinson just looks like a star at this point.

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2019 Ongoing MOTY List: Dickinson vs. Thatcher

51. Chris Dickinson vs. Timothy Thatcher Beyond Wrestling 7/24

PAS: Beyond has been running a Dickinson challenge series leading up to his match against Sekimoto at the end of the month.  They bring in Thatcher and they have exactly the match that is promised on paper. Really minimalist thudding professional wrestling. Lots of nasty slaps and hard forearms, uppercuts and kicks. I really liked all of the work in Thatcher's leg lock, the leg lock can be a time killer hold, but Thatcher kept adjusting and twisting the ankle and Dickinson turned red with pain and constantly made little attacks to reverse or escape. The announcers kept talking up Dickinson's second wind, and he took a pretty big beating, before firing back and winning with a nasty piledriver and Pazuzu bomb. I liked the idea of Dickinson being a hard enough hitter that he can win a match even if he is down on the cards.

ER: This was a nice, boiled down, compact version of what these two can do, and it's pretty clear that we like what these guys do. Both guys are so good at conveying struggle and at making time killer seem important, that I like a shorter match length on them as it just adds more weight to everything they do. We don't need Dickinson dropping several nasty death valley drivers, just one in the right sequence can be enough. Both guys work hard on the mat so that it always feels like things are advancing, and I dug a couple of Dickinson's reversals; it's like the sweatier he got the more dangerous he got, as there were at least two times Thatcher had him in something potentially dangerous and Dickinson expertly slipped out and locked on something nastier. Dickinson grabs an armbar at one point that I thought looked finisher-worthy, and early on he rolls through into an awesome kneebar. It really felt like he knew where to keep his limbs farthest from Thatcher while still working for his reversal, loved that moment where Thatcher was blindly reaching for Dickinson's free arm and Dickinson kept it away long enough that he was able to reverse due to Thatcher's tunnel vision. Both guys lay in uppercuts and kicks, thought Thatcher's uppercuts looked especially jarring and I loved Dickinson's whipping kick to a kneeling Thatcher. Dickinson's straight drop death valley driver (almost like a northern lights bomb), and the piledriver rolled into the Pazuzu Bomb was a great exclamation point finish. And what put it all over for me was that awesome high leverage pin by Dickinson, with him bringing backslide energy to a straight pin, sliding down Thatcher and putting all his weight on Thatcher's legs.


2019 MOTY MASTER LIST

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Tuesday Shoot Indies - GCW Josh Barnett's Bloodsport 2 9/14/19

PAS: I am starting to build a backlog of Shoot Indies which I am always into so I decided for a bit to alternate AIW Monday with Shoot Indy Monday, also this lets me jump right on Bloodsport after loving their Mania Weekend show so much.

ER: Being there second row with Phil and Tom for Barnett's first Bloodsport is going to be one of my great live wrestling experiences when my time is up, and there's still something I think Phil isn't telling me about how he got tickets. Day before the show it was sold out, next morning I wake up to Phil joyously saying "I got three tickets to Bloodsport! You know, three tickets, together, that ticket quantity that is super common for somebody to be selling. Oh, and they're great seats. Oh, and they were below list price." He refused to answer other questions. I don't know what Phil had to do to get us Bloodsport tickets, but he did something that we will never speak about, and I'm fine with that.

20. Matt Makowski vs. Rory Gulak

PAS: I thought this was great. Makowski is an ex-Bellator guy who is apparently working in Chikara now, I assume he is an old timey Gold Prospector or a sentient bag of pork rinds there, but working shootstyle he owns. Gulak comes in repping Catch Point, I assume he inherited the left over merch when his brother went big time. Gulak is really aggressive with his takedowns including a nasty Judo throw, and is always looking to advance his position on the mat. Makowski had a bunch of really cool stuff, climaxing with the O'Connor Roll into the cross armbreak which was incredible looking, the low kick/head kick combo which finished the match was nifty too. Totally delivered.

ER: Fucking Drew WHO? This was awesome, among my favorite 6 minutes of wrestling this year. This is the Rory I knew was there and I have seen hints of, and now I only want this uncut pitbull energy from him. No backsies. Makowski is fun as hell in a 2003 Z-1 kind of way, and his striking and arm twisting made for an awesome counter to Rory's wrestling. Gulak was really vicious on the attack, and the rolling was all awesome, peppered with bigger moments like Gulak's short belly to belly and big ass German, but with a bunch of tiny movements that all felt like they meant something. A match like this is just as fun for something like Gulak shifting his calf positioning to gain leverage than it is for the big throws. I dug Makowski landing a big hook kick to Gulak's jaw, dug how it felt like he was throwing it out as a lark and didn't realize it would land, and it served as a cool wake up for Rory rather than an instant KO. Makowski even had some stuff Sakuraba would have tried to steal, like a moonsault to pass guard (that could have looked stupid but I loved it). The armbar battles were all legit, Rory looked like he was clasping his hands for dear life while deftly maneuvering his hips, and that chaos theory armbar transition was just bananas. Rory shot straight up into the air like the skinniest kid getting bounced off the blob by the fattest kid at Camp Hope, I mean just a fantastic spot. Rory flew spectacularly into the air with Makowski grabbing that arm on the way down, absolutely one of the spots of the year. Kick feint finish was a good one, and this is the kind of killer match that makes a concept show like this such a bottomless well.

Sumie Sakai vs. Lindsay Snow

PAS: This was a bunch of fun too. Snow was listed as having a Gracie Ju-Jitsu background and lots of this match was Ju-Jitsu sparring on the ground. Sakai was really great with both her Ju-Jitsu and her Judo, landing a bunch of cool throws, and constantly looking to adjust and look for attacks on the mat. Snow was a bit more rudimentary on the mat, but used her size well. I loved the finish with Sakai countering each counter attempt and locking in the arm bar for the tap. Sakai has been around forever, but man did she look skilled here.

ER: I've seen Sakai work pro style a bunch (she's been working in the states for 15 years at this point) but not nearly enough of her like this. She was giving up about 30 lb. to Snow but was the clear aggressor here, to the benefit of the match. She didn't necessarily play it like she was more skilled than Snow, but would shoot in quick and bail early if things weren't going her way. This wasn't as explosive as our first match, but the finish run was cool as hell, loved all the counters and the quick tap when Snow knew she was caught.

70. Zachary Wentz vs. Anthony Henry

PAS: This was worked as a crazy sprint, like a worked version of those WEC Bantamweight fights early in the decade. It was a nice contrast to the pace most of these matches were worked at. I really liked how both guys kept frantically attacking limbs during all of the submission attempts. Henry would put on a kneebar and Wentz would bang away with hammerfists and try to escape. Wentz had two really cool choke attempts, one where he pressed Henry his body and flipped him into a choke, and one where he leaped into a guillotine. Finish was very cool with Wentz getting a knockdown and going for a diving punch, but landing right into a tight guillotine for the tap.

ER: This exceeded my expectations as I didn't know if either of them had any kind of fight sports background, so I was just going into this familiar with their indy wrestling. Wentz is a guy who has stood out to me as a big bumper, and Henry has been in matches I've liked, but I wouldn't have tagged them for something like this and came away pleasantly surprised. Phil hit the nail with his WEC Bantamweight descriptor, and it's hard to do that kind of style without it coming off like flash exhibition. A couple of the missed strikes might have, but those were small pieces of a fun sprint. I loved all the action getting into chokes, dug the Wentz missed punch into a side triangle, and thought the finish was fantastic: when Henry went down from a kick I clearly thought that was going to be it, but Wentz leaping in with a Superman punch (a callback to the Bloodsport show we attended where Kratos absolutely wrecked Grimm with that diving punch as the deserved finish) and I didn't anticipate Henry's triangle. Henry made it even more badass by rolling it over and twisting the trapped arm. This show has slayed so far.

JR Kratos vs. Erik Hammer

PAS: This was a pretty mixed bag, it had some stuff I really dug, and some stuff I really hated. Hammer is a shoot wrestler who worked some IGF and really has Zero-One energy, like a lost jacked up McCully. All of the mat stuff was pretty cool, with a pair of big dudes really struggling over holds. I thought the stand up, New Japan style chop, forearm and grimace stuff sucked, it was a bad version of a tired spot that was really inappropriate for this style. There was some good stuff later in the match, but they really lost me and never got me back.

ER: I saw people calling this the fight of the night, and I am not seeing that. There was a lot to like, and I would have loved it had they stuck to the intense grappling that much of the match was based around. I'm not opposed to strikes in these things, obviously, but the stand and trade forearms and chops building to a phone booth fight was so damn out of place. That kind of stuff is in several matches on every single wrestling card in 2019, Bloodsport is supposed to be presenting something different. And I don't think it was particularly good stand and trade, either, which is an additional problem. I really liked Kratos kicking a downed Hammer in the chest, feinting another one, and then punching him in the jaw. BUT, then it lead directly to some old bullshit. But everything on the ground was intense and that struggle was real. I honestly thought we were going to get a fairly early tap when Hammer was hyperextending Kratos' leg on a hell hook, and I loved late in the match how hard Hammer was going for that armbar, and how hard Kratos was trying to keep those hands together to block it, and I got fully wrapped up in the crazy struggle that was happening. Something like that is way more meaningful than some bad overhand chops and screaming.

Nicole Savoy vs. Allysin Kay

PAS: I like how the women on this show have hued strictly to shootstyle, this was almost all grappling and palm strikes, really no pro flash at all. Kay constantly was going for cool mat attacks, Imanari Rolls, Twisters,  which Savoy would either escape or counter. I loved how Kay went for the Imanari Roll one too many times and got blasted with hammer fists. Finish was really cool with Savoy going for an Omaplata and Kay rolling through into a crucifix and raining down elbows for the tap. Neither lady had the polish of an elite grappler, but they were trying cool shit and pulling it off and I am going to appreciate that, even if it was a bit slower and more awkward then Volk Han.

ER: I liked this even though, yeah, the skill level for this thing was quite there. This lead to a couple exhibition-y moments, but this style leads itself open to things like that. I'll always appreciate two wrestlers going for things that are maybe beyond them, rather then settling into the same old comfort zones. I dug both of them rolling through armbars and heel hooks, and really liked Savoy punishing Kay with mounted punches and hammerfists throughout, and I thought they made good frustrated use out of accidentally falling to the floor. The twister set-up was cool and looked like it could've popped one of Savoy's ribs had it been held longer. I really like what these two went for.

Anthony Carelli vs. Simon Grimm

PAS: Holy hell did Carelli look great here, talk about a guy who could have had a totally different career. He looked like a guy who deserved to run a BattlArts school. Super stiff strikes, just bounces Grimm's head off the mat with forearms, great looking judo takedowns, and some cool submissions. Grimm had his moments, and he really got some heel heat on a show without it normally, but this was a Carelli show and a great one.

ER: Calling Carelli a revelation here would not be an overstatement, because we have hundreds of his matches on tape and outside of occasional judo takedowns we saw none of this guy. I know he had early career Batt matches (that I've never seen) and has been running a Canadian Batt Academy (where I don't think he's wrestled), and here he comes out raining down some of the nastiest grounded strikes of the year while trying to leave with any one of Grimm's limbs. He was a genuinely gifted comedy wrestler who could still be making a killing working indy shows, taking no bumps, kids screaming for the cobra, powerwalking the ropes, easy; instead he goes down to Vegas and reigns supreme! I thought Grimm brought more to this than Phil did, even though this clearly felt laid out to show Carelli's (unseen?) abilities. I loved Carelli's downward elbow strikes to Grimm's chest, loved the hard shots to Grimm's body, and loved the fight over kneebars and armbars, and I dug how things ramped up. Grimm started besting Carelli and that's when Carelli hauls off and starts throwing open hand strikes to escape. And my favorite part of the match was probably Carelli locking in a great dragon sleeper, real mean, and Grimm having to get out of it by throwing a knee up over his head. the knee looked vicious and Carelli sold it appropriately. I wouldn't have guessed Grimm would be such a solid addition to these shows, but I like what he brings and hope we get to see more of Carelli.

Timothy Thatcher vs. Ikuhisa Minowa

PAS: I thought this was good but never broke into the great level. Thatcher doesn't really do worked shoot style on these shows, he really works more of a MUGA style heavy on hard forearms and more traditional wrestling submission holds. That worked well as a style break against Hideki Suzuki on the last show, a guy who is the best in the world at that style. Minowa is an MMA fighter who has done a handful of works, he is technically skilled, but he wasn't bringing a ton of flash to the match. I liked Thatcher grinding out submissions, including the finish where he pounded on Minowa's back until he gave up his neck. I also liked how Thatcher would spin out of one submission to another. This ended up being cool but dry, I think Minowa would have probably been better served against more of a shoot guy.

ER: I was left a little cold by this one, even though I liked a lot of what they did, but it did feel like a styles clash that was sound, but not as interesting as it should have been. On paper it seemed like it would be dynamite but it wound up more perfunctory than I was expecting, and I think a lot of that was Minowa. Necro Butcher vs. Minowman is a styles clash classic, but here he showed no charisma and felt much more like a generic karate fighter a fed would add as a special attraction to a 70s card. Except on this card that wasn't any kind of special attraction, it was expected. I thought Thatcher looked awesome working in and around him, and was laying in some pretty mean shots on the mat that felt like they could have been sold better. Minowa would have an occasional nice moment, I liked him spinning out to grab a heel hook, but I think he would have been better off against another MMA guy or even better, someone like Nick Gage. I agree with Phil about how awesome Thatcher looked down the finish stretch, felt like he was grinding Minowa down and by the time he pummeled his way into that nasty neck and crossface choke it felt like a fine finish.

59. Davey Boy Smith Jr. vs. Tom Lawlor

PAS: I really enjoyed this. Smith is great in this format because of the heaviness he gets across. When he is on the mat he is a this dense ball of tendon strength you have to try to move off. When he lands shots, they feel and look like he is laying cinderblocks upside the head of his opponent. Lawlor was really good at fighting off the back foot, I loved how he threw peppery jabs only to land big leg kicks, and he had some slick counters off of his back. Smith kept rolling though and by the end he felt inevitable.

ER: Damn I just want Davey Boy Smith to work exclusively this style, it's far and away the most I've ever enjoyed him and it's a style he really excels at. He has big strength and hits hard, and really knows how to project his weight. Every one of his elbow shots looks like it should send Lawlor to spaghetti legs, and Lawlor pretty much behaves like that's where he's at. DBS would hit a couple big elbows and Lawlor would throw shorter rabbit punches to set up his only real shot, taking out DBS' leg. But I just loved the power DBS showed, in "smaller" things like a couple back elbows he lands to Lawlor's mouth while in guard (I put smaller in quotes because any one of those shots would have leveled me), to bigger things like when he took Lawlor down with basically a keylock suplex, to fitting more traditional wrestling offense into the match without it seeming out of place. Lawlor attempts a backpack choke and DBS grabs him into a powerslam, DBS hits a powerbomb that fit perfectly fine into a shootstyle atmosphere because it looked like there was nothing Lawlor could do to stop it, DBS dumps Lawlor with a flat out rude backdrop driver, and Lawlor himself even hits an awesome sliding lariat that throws both to the floor. Other Bloodsport stuff that tried to incorporate pro wrestling came off looking phony, but these guys had a great sense of what would work (other than maybe that Sharpshooter attempt, but I appreciate the cockiness to even attempt it).

Killer Kross vs. Nick Gage

PAS: Fun little sprint which delivered what you want out of this match up. Gage is a fun Tank Abbott style brawler on these shows. I loved Kross dominating him with technical striking only to fall victim to a bar fight headbutt, and a soccer kick to the mouth. Kross getting him down and choking him out felt inevitable, but Gage throwing up his set as he passed out was a great bit of theatre. I assume Kross is only making the Batista shoutout because they have that match signed, if they do it is a great bit of business.

ER: This match ruled, the perfect quick and dirty fight to have on a card like this. This is the shortest match on the card but was memorable as hell. Gage has a connection to the crowd that few indy guys today could ever dream of having, and that always adds to his matches. In a setting like this it adds even more, and Kross is a cool opponent for him. Kross goes after Gage's ankle, kicking at it and making it seem like legwork was going to be the story of the match, until Gage completely rewrites the story by hitting a tremendous headbutt to KK's face. He sandbags a Kross backdrop driver and I dug the messiness of the ground grappling, dug how they reacted to hitting each other, and thought Gage going down to a nasty choke while throwing double middles was about as fitting as a finish could be.

10. Josh Barnett vs. Chris Dickinson

PAS: Really excellent stuff. All of the cool shit in the Barnett vs. Suzuki without any of the New Japanish shit. I loved the pace of this match with Barnett using his strength and technique to dominate, only to have Dickinson catch him with semi cheap shots to the back of the head or to the ear. Barnett wasn't fully prepared for shots that were legal in Bloodsport but would be illegal in MMA and Dickinson was able to make hay from that. I also loved Dickinson sneaking in a cross armbreaker after fighting for the leg. Finish was totally awesome, they both stand up after some grappling and Barnett tosses off his wrist tape in a very cool drop the strap way, they stand and throw and Dickinson lands first clipping Barnett in the ear and stunning him, Dickinson lands a nasty deadlift German, and some soccer kicks, Barnett is stunned swinging wildly and catches Dickinson in the temple, drops him with a powerbomb and a KO kick to the jaw. The match was slow paced before that and built to this great wild crescendo. Contender for a career match for both guys, and these are guys with great careers.

ER: What a showing from these two, and I'm especially blown away by Dickinson. He's become one of my very favorites over the past couple years, but this match was going to take something special. To look credible in a shootstyle atmosphere against a guy not only larger than him, but a former UFC heavyweight champ who has beaten a who's who list of heavyweight fighters. And he totally did. Barnett looked like Barnett, and Dickinson fought like a guy with nothing to lose, attacking Barnett with downright cruel closed fists to the body and face. Barnett was working him over with early MMA holds, lots of heel hooks, a can opener, and I loved how he would work an armbar and then catch a push off kick from Dickinson and then just twist his arm AND his leg. But Dickinson was aggressive as hell and the violent pace they kept up for 17 minutes was insane. Barnett was being a good guy and throwing open hands, working holds, and Dickinson was throwing big damn fists and trying to bull his way through, and it was working! Dickinson came off like such a major badass, really hanging with an MMA legend, actually flustering Barnett at points by sneaking in kicks. And the match long struggle built to an absolute explosion with the kind of stand and trade this show really needed. There was a killer moment earlier where Dickinson landed a shot to the back of the head and Barnett did this great lights out recovery, and now he was going to pay him back, peeling off and throwing down his wrist tape in an awesome visual. But Dickinson hits this wild German and just starts kicking the hell out of Barnett, sending Barnett into muscle memory winged shots, and we get a completely plausible epic gutwrench powerbomb with some mean follow up knees to Dickinson's face. The bell to bell action was the best, a major accomplishment and some of the best shootstyle fighting we've seen. A real gem, and a real reason to keep excitement levels high for these shows.

ER: Four matches land on our 2019 Ongoing MOTY List, and others weren't far off. This feels like a format that has a lot of legs as long as the shows are spaced, but then again I'm someone who would get excited at school every Monday of 1998, hoping there would be a Brawl For All segment that night.

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Matches From ICW New York Respect The Game 7/27/19

This show popped up on IndependentWrestling.TV and has some real on paper bangers, figured why not cherry pick our way through.

54. Nick Gage vs. Dan Maff

PAS: Really not the match you would expect for these two guys on paper, and I think the difference really helped it stand out. Gage jumps Maff before the bell and hits the chokebreaker. Gage immediately rolls to the floor clutching his knee, and starts getting helped to the back. Gage turns around and limps back to the ring and demands the match start. Maff doesn't even hit him back for the first couple of shots, but is eventually convinced to fight, and ends up working over Gage's knee while he fought through the injury. I loved how they built to Gage getting desperate enough to try the choke breaker again, and Maff's barbed wire board bump was nasty. This was much more compelling than the Gage by numbers match, and he makes a surprisingly compelling underdog.

ER: Gage is like Marko Stunt for me in a way, in that I usually don't enjoy their matches, but they both have an undeniable live charisma that can add to their matches. I'm usually a kind of low vote on them, but I know they have tools that can be used in a match I really like, and this was a great instance of that. Give me and interesting story like this any day over sitting in chairs and trading shots. Phil went over what happened, Gage immediately injures his knee by making the insanely stupid decision to drop 300 pounds on his own knee. You get the gutsy return, you get Maff not wanting the fight this way, and you get Maff goaded into beating the hell out of him. Once Maff starts off his flurry by locking in a figure 4, I was in. "You wanna hit me? I'm gonna wreck your leg." You have Maff alternately working dangerous cannonballs and hitting a flat out tremendous dive, and then he's working World of Sport tumbling stump pullers. Big fat guy working cannonballs, dives, and Regal legwork? Hell yeah sign me up. They work some cool sequences are the guardrail , and their apron work was cool too. I liked that we didn't build to a big dumb apron bump, instead just Maff hitting at Gage's knee causing him to collapse on the apron. The eventual Gage comeback is really good and appropriate, as the piledriver was a big moment and Maff flying through the barbed wire board was our first big bump, and gave us the cool visual of Maff covered in wire and screaming like on the cover of Evil Dead. Gage's run was logical as hell, including a logical reason to illogically use the chokebreaker again. The fact it lead directly to Maff hitting that brutal cannonball stunner through another board was perfect. The layout of this was really fantastic, played to the strengths of both and gave us a cool look at something different from Gage. Maff is 45 and looked as great as I've seen him look. This is my favorite Gage match of the year, and now I want to see even more old man Maff.

Joe Gacy vs. Tony Deppen vs. Jimmy Lloyd vs. Facade

ER: This was kept under 10 minutes and worked brisk, but - and this seems like something one of us has typed dozens of times - would have been much more interesting as two singles matches with literally any combo of the 4 guys here. Jimmy Lloyd isn't really as suited to these multiman matches, but a singles against any of the other three could have been cool. Gacy vs. Lloyd, Gacy vs. Deppen, whatever, it would have been more interesting. But there's still plenty of fun on display here, it just has that multiman thing where guys are always inching a couple feet over to be in the right position, or looking over their shoulder to make sure somebody is springing off the ropes for some tandem horseshit. The kind of "we're performing an act" that is concealed easier in singles matches that don't have so many moving parts. Gacy was a guy trying to actively combat that, and that made his performance stand out the most. There was a moment where he was about to DDT Lloyd, while Facade was setting up something off the top that would hit Gacy, while causing Gacy to DDT Lloyd. Well Facade lost his footing, Gacy saw that and immediately improvised and tried to hoist Lloyd up for a waistband assisted Hashimoto-style DDT, buying Facade some time until the spot came off. I love those moments of professionalism. Deppen hits what appeared to be the longest dive in history, but we missed half of it due to camera angle. Facade hits a big flip dive that doesn't get caught by anyone, and we get one of those dumb spots where all 4 guys are standing in a circle swaying in the breeze taking turns hitting each other; typical multiman stuff. But Lloyd has a couple of cool bumps (I really liked him spiking himself vertically on a DDT), Gacy looks good throughout, Deppen is a guy I like a ton more after seeing him at SCI, and Facade is at least someone willing to try things. I thought this would be better, and it wasn't, but it won't negatively affect my opinion on anyone here.

Homicide vs. Chris Dickinson

PAS: This was a pass the torch match for NYC indie wrestling and was really worked like that. They start out with some mat wrestling and escalate into so real hard hitting stuff. Homicide was really working hard, taking some nasty bumps on a guardrail, some sharp kicks, and a german where he landed right on the top of his head. I liked how as the match went on, Homicide got dirtier and dirtier, clawing the eyes and fishooking, like if he was going to lose his crown as King of New York, he was going down throwing it all out. Good stuff and a nice kicker to the Dickinson challenge series gimmick he had been running on IWTV.

ER: Passing the torch is a good way of describing this match. Homicide is in his early 40s and has been through some wild battles, and understandably doesn't quite have that fire that Dickinson has burning in his eyes any more. But that doesn't mean he's an old sack of meat thrown in the garbage! I don't think these kind of nearing 20 minute close pinfall matches are really his bag at this point, though he's clearly a guy I still enjoy and love seeing. I am always going to like older, slower, more vulnerable versions of the wrestlers who I loved, and here's Homicide getting thrown tailbone first on a guardrail and ripping at Dickinson's face. The fishooking spot was so good, I was waiting for Homicide to pull a fork out of his shorts to stab Dickinson in the cheek. I also liked some of Homicide's reversals, especially catching Dickinson's lariat off the middle buckle and turning it into a Fujiwara. Dickinson is a guy who I've been real over the top for the past few years, and I dug the early mat takedowns so much that I was kinda hoping the whole match would be like that. Homicide is shaped exactly like Ian when Ian was in his "peak" condition during his MethBatt years. Homicide could have a whole second life as CatchPoint Ian. Dickinson hits those hard corner clotheslines, a big German that tosses Homicide all the way over onto his knees, the pazuzu bomb looks killer, and to lift right up into a piledriver is always going to be my bag.

25. Eddie Kingston vs. Daisuke Sekimoto

ER: What a fun and weird main event, taking an Eddie Kingston main event and the veering into oddball 70s kung fu comedy in a delightful way. We get a huge part of match devoted to chopping chest, and peaks with an awesome ring high camera shot of Kingston on his back, sitting up towards the camera right into chops, both guys filling the camera shot perfectly, Kingston making these anguished pained but almost Don Knotts faces in he best way, Kingston doing these tough no hands sit ups into getting the breath taken away by a heavy chop, eventually tiring and just getting pulled up by Sekimoto into more chops. Soon Sekimoto is throwing 12 to 6 chops while Kingston is on his back kicking his legs. This segment stood out so much from these type of chest thumping matches. It's the kind of thing that feels like it could only happen in an Eddie Kingston match these days, but seems like it owes itself to 80s feelgood house show matches. Kingston makes this kind of thing work and I'm not sure who else can or will be able to if Kingston leaves. I loved when he would get overwhelmed with chops and go in with knees, and worked simple but well done things like a good neckbreaker. His chops right to Sekimoto's neck looked like they would change my posture, and we still hadn't got to Sekimoto clotheslining the hell out of Kingston's arms on subsequent chops. Kingston works in some incredibly fun ways to get his fists blocked, and Sekimoto was swinging his inflated hulk arms as hard as he could was one of my favorites. I also loved the sudden death, Kingston being tenderized like veal and then put away instantly. Sekimoto softens him up with strikes, hits that big splash and plants the surrendered Kingston with a German. Also, I actually thought it was a cool touch that the commentators opted to not call the action. It could have come off cheesy to have them actually say they were going to not call the match, but I liked them stepping away to "let the match speak for itself". Fun as hell.

PAS: Kingston is pretty much the only guy I want to watch doing these kind of test of manliness matches. Sekimoto is here to beat on Kingston's chest and let him die dramatically. Eddie gets beaten down brutally, and we get a chance to watch him rage against the dying of the light. I have watched a ton of Eddie Kingston matches in the last year or so, and his chop sell where he starts to fire back but instead collapses, is one of my favorite bits of wrestling selling ever. He has so many interesting ways of conveying pain, and Sekimoto is a great ball of muscle to punish him. His moments of grace are pretty awesome, the backfist is a great stunning shot and he gets a couple of real believable near falls, before ultimately failing. No one is better at falling short then Eddie Kingston, he may be the best agony of defeat wrestler of all time.


2019 MOTY MASTER LIST

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Matches from Beyond Wrestling Uncharted Territory 5/8/19

Chris Dickinson vs. Josh Briggs

ER: This was a really fun Power Plant style match. It's probably the best possible version of Hardcore Holly vs. Test, and that's something I'd want to see the best version of. Dickinson really feels like the indy wrestler with the best chance at taking over Eddie Kingston's mantle. His personality has the potential, his execution is excellent, intensity is strong, and he makes offense look good. Kingston is a legend, but Dickinson certainly has a Kingston ceiling. And even if this is the best he gets, he's a guy that I seek out, and these days I don't have the time to seek out the number of guys I used to so that means something. There's a lot of simple stuff in this that looks good, with Briggs throwing out several nice big boot variations (nice forceful one out of the corner, nice surprisingly fast one during a strike exchange, nice traditional one after an Irish whip) and a couple late 90s big guys slams. Dickinson works this like the great aggressive asskicker he is, hitting hard shoulderblocks (and eating a nice one from Briggs), really hard clotheslines, quick elbows, tough kicks, shoves Briggs violently off the ropes, and beats at his leg. We get a couple really good rope breaks, with Dickinson locking in his cool trailer hitch reverse figure four in a couple really convincing ways, and earlier Briggs scrambling and reaching for the ropes in a Boston crab variation. I try not to use the expression "hard fought" as much as others use it, as it feels like a too frequent touchstone, but this was a hard fought match that didn't skimp on the basics, and felt like fun throwback to/improvement on a match style from a popular era.

Chase Burnett/Jefferson Saint/Zane Silver vs. Eric Corvis/Johnny Cockstrong/Nicholas Kaye

ER: Phil wrote this one up already and was having a fun time on the phone with me talking about how Beyond has somehow been around long enough to now have its own old man Baba tags. And I'm someone who really unironically loves old man Baba tags. So we get a fun 6 man with older versions of guys I've liked, many of whom had been completely retired several years from wrestling before this match. They almost all have real life/age appropriate bodies and paleness and hairlines, and it's great! Kaye is in probably the best current ring shape, but everyone has some stuff that looks good. Burnett hit a cool sunset flip bomb off the top and then smacked Corvis hard with a moonsault kneedrop to the back of the head, Kaye had some nasty shots including a really mean apron splash to Burnett, Silver hit this gross senton that landed on the back of the neck to a seated opponent, everybody hit relatively hard and the comedy was kept surprisingly low. As much as I love old men Kings Road matches, guys aren't typically getting roughed up and taking nasty bumps in them. I fully expected this to be a "Jefferson Saint is Eigen, Kaye is Momota, Corvis is Mighty Inoue, Burnett is Rusher", etc. I would have totally understood and honestly even expected these guys to work a jovial match with mostly comedy and maybe a few big moments. Instead everyone took the time to show that they didn't forget what made them entertaining and really killed themselves in the best way possible.

Jordynne Grace vs. Orange Cassidy

ER: This was recommended to me - as someone who isn't a real big Orange Cassidy fan - as a match where someone turns his comedy on him and makes him pay. The reason I don't seek out Cassidy matches are that I really don't enjoy comedy wrestlers whose comedy comes entirely at the expense of the match and their opponent. The best in-ring comedians (think Buddy Rose or John Tatum) were great at making themselves the butt of the joke while still being effective and dangerous wrestlers. Cassidy's brand of comedy is completely selfish and relies on his opponent to essentially stand still and look like a doof while he works through all his bits. An in ring comedian who can work in comedy while not damaging the structural integrity of a match is a special thing, but he's a guy who writes 100% of the jokes for himself while his opponents have to act like a perplexed high school principal whose car got filled with inflated balloons by those damn seniors AGAIN. So I'm all for somebody making him eat his own jokes, which does happen here...occasionally. Overall the match still had way too much of him working his routine and bits, which may not have been bad if his wrestling looked good once it got to that point. But a lot of it doesn't. Cassidy has a few "missed shots" that wouldn't have come close to landing, a back elbow that soars two feet over Grace's head, a missed lariat thrown from an overhand arm slot, as if he was throwing out a first pitch, and hit a tope so soft that the announce crew had to drop the dreaded "well I don't think he got all of that one, but...". He feels like a guy who started focusing a ton on his comedy because he knew his wrestling looked bad. And I appreciate that hustle! Recognizing strengths and working towards those is a goal we should all strive for, so I fully get it. I wanted Grace to eat his lunch a bit more, and wanted him to actually show ass for once. If you're dishing shots to a guy with his hands in his pockets, you should be stiffing the hell out of him for making you look like a clown, and he should eventually be selling that he fucked up by keeping his hands in those pockets for too long. Neither happened. We get a comedy spot with him bodyslamming some white guy with dreads, who later slams Cassidy onto Grace. I couldn't imagine voluntarily let a scuzzy white dreads guy grip my taint for a comedy spot, although I did willingly let a white security guy with dreads did check my body for drug paraphernalia before entering an Umphrey's McGee, so maybe we're not all that different after all. When somebody actually forces Cassidy into having their match instead of going all in on his match, I might be interested. Until then I'll be just skipping right past his matches with my hands in my pockets

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Long Road Report to Hell 4/4/19, Show #2: Josh Barnett's Bloodsport

PAS: We really blew it by not pre-buying tickets early, Bloodsport sold out before we could buy some tickets and I assumed we were out of luck,  but the wrestling gods smiled on us and I was able to grab three seats on StubHub for half the face value.

ER: We got to go to lunch after Family Reunion and before Bloodsport, plenty of intriguing options within pleasant walking distance. We landed on a burger place that started playing Hootie upon us being seated, and Tom told a great story about an unearthed Pete Buttigieg "Dave Matthews Band in a Post 9/11 World" college op-ed that is either impossible to believe or a bit with real legs. On the walk back we pass Mr. Brickster on his way to the PATH and he's wearing a full Pac-Man screen suit with a LEGO bowtie, and our day of gushing about Brickster gains strength upon refueling. A line was already 25 deep for Bloodsport when we left, and we come back to a sardine packed White Eagle. Thank god for these assigned seats. It would have been a real shame if we had missed this. We'd never done a Mania week before (I went to some WWN shows when they played San Jose in 2015 but the week wasn't as crazy filled with events then), and had no idea some things sold out so much earlier. Phil casually mentioned as we were walking to breakfast that he had found 3 seats to Bloodsport, and from the second we were seated at our 2nd row seat I was so glad we were there live.

TKG: After Family Reunion we go get food and I see some tall guy on the opposite corner walking from PATH in pleather wrestling gear but without a roller bag, and loudly start with, “Look at that greasy haired fat faced wrestling fan, spent his money on his cosplay leather” or something like that. Eric goes “yeah that’s Davey Boy Smith Jr.”

 

Dominic Garrini vs. Phil Baroni

PAS: Baroni is pretty great at getting heat from the crowd, he was always a hatable sleaze as an MMA fighter and that translates really well to riling up an indy wrestling crowd. I liked this a bunch with Garrini having some nice sprawls to try to get Baroni on the mat, and a brutal finish with Baroni full force punching Garrini in the face. Dom was really going to prove his insanity later in the evening, but letting a MMA fighter with 11 KO wins, punch you full force in the jaw may even be nuttier then some of the bumps he took in the I Quit match.

TKG: Baroni poses and yells at audience “Yeah this is steroids” and neat as I expected Barnett’s vision to be RINGS but instead it was PRIDE. Was trying to explain Baroni to Eric, and couldn’t remember if he was a teen tanning or teen bodybuilding champion or both but the point is he is guy who totally embraces being a Long Island Teen Tanning n. Bodybuilding star, this match was all him doing the same “I’m better than this” shtick that he does in his actual MMA matches and potatoing Garinni. Garinni impressively built a match around that while eating potatoes. If Bloodsport can get some Tony Khan money Baroni/Malignaggi v Berto Bros in Tampa could be super amusing.

ER: I obviously knew Baroni from early PRIDE and UFC shows, and his name on the card excited me for the exact reasons we got here, and I didn't even know about the teenage tan 'n' bodybuilding stuff. He comes out, grinds on a woman, flexes, talks about his steroid bod, and then punches someone. Later, he came out as a second and yelled out tips while eating a PowerBar. Felt like we also could have used Matt Serra yelling tips to Pete Drago Sell. I like gi Garrini, it's a look he should pull more often. This was a quick taste but it delivered and set the tone for the show, really made me happy to be there live and so close to the action. I would have loved to see Garrini control more, threaten another tap (and he did get a cool armbar reversal), but the finish was the kind of fireworks people wanted: Baroni decked Garrini with a right hand for the near KO and then went for a mocking pinfall, then planted him with another to stop the match (after getting a nice dramatic 9 count as Garrini struggled to his feet). Baroni certainly didn't look like someone who was holding back on his KO punch, and agree with Phil that in retrospect taking to straight shots to the jaw may have been Garrini's craziest move of a day with several contenders.

JR Kratos vs. Simon Grimm

PAS: Kratos is a Nor-Cal guy who worked a couple of matches in this style in the late lamented PREMIER fed, but I wasn't expecting this to be as good as it was. It was basically Grimm using his technique to try to minimize Kratos power advantage, there were some especially nasty elbows to the back of the head and ear, and some big slaps. The final mat scramble was pretty great with Grimm lifting up in Kratos's guard and raining down elbows, and Kratos transitioning into a head and arm choke. Loved the finish with Grimm using a schoolboy to grab an armbar, Kratos doing a Hughes lift for a powerbomb and wasting him with a brutal jumping forearm smash. I think this was better then any of the matches on last years show and it was only the second match.

TKG: This came out of nowhere and fuck that finish was beautiful. Kratos does the thing you want in pro/shoot hybrid match where he makes the pro-wrestling spots look as nasty as the legit spots.

ER: Kratos is primarily a Bay Area guy and is pretty popular around here, so no matter what kind of match we got I knew Phil would be touting him as my boy. Technically I was there for some *really* early Psycho Seth stuff, too, possibly even his debut way back in 2002, so this was a Bay Area represent match. Once Tom realizes both are APW guys he excitedly wonders if we might have gotten a triple threat with Moondog Moretti at one point. Seth could have crossed paths with Moretti but I think Kratos started too late. And this is weirdly seeming like Kratos' best wrestling style, as I loved his stuff in Premier and his performance in this match more than any pro style match I've ever seen from him. I thought this was great. It was a match that on paper was maybe the least match on the card, and it wound up being my 2nd favorite match of the show. I thought all the working parts were cool, dug how Grimm controlled the stand up striking (at one point he hits an open handed chop to the neck that made me scoot my chair back) with Kratos controlling more of the ground striking. Kratos had some cool takedowns including a couple where he yanked Grimm's arm through his legs and flipped him. Kratos did a good job minimizing Grimm's ground striking, maneuvering to spots where Grimm had no power, and both had some slick armbar attempts. I particularly liked Kratos pushing at Grimm's locked hands with his free boot. The jumping forearm finish was arguably the nastiest finish we saw all day, in a day filled with some nasty finishes. I've seen Kratos matches that were supposed to end in a KO stoppage that didn't really work. This worked so well it looked like Grimm would need to be helped out, and Kratos lifting up Grimm's lifeless body in case another move was needed for a stoppage was a sick touch.

Davey Boy Smith Jr. vs. Killer Kross

PAS: Another pretty great match which I didn't have big expectations for. They opened up with some kick boxing with Smith throwing some pretty heavy leg kicks. Kross would throw heat and did a nice job of scrambling into positions, much more competent at this then I would expect from TNA fake Batista. This is right in Davey's wheelhouse and he had some really slick takedowns and his final deadlift suplex looked great. Heck of a big boy punch out, and this show just delivered up and down the card.

TKG: DBS comes out in the shorts he wore underneath the tear away pleather pants. I remember DBS in some twitter thread agreeing with Kim Duk about an older credible style that NJ doesn’t do anymore. And thinking “hmm I wish DBS actually worked that style”. And here he is doing it and it is so much more impressive than anything else ever seen of him. This really felt like what he should be doing.

ER: Amazing that we saw DBS in the wild wearing a completely different set of ring gear while out and about. You see a guy walking the streets and taking the train wearing giant baggy pristine white vinyl pants with dog bones all over them, you assume that he's just wearing his gear and didn't feel like taking a roller bag. Then he comes out in trunks and you realize he just has custom walking around dog bone vinyls. But damn would I be so much more excited for DBS matches if he just wrestled like this guy every show. Tom turned to me right after the finish and asks "What other Davey Boy do I need to seek out?" And I responded with a non-word like "Ehhhhhhhhhhh". DBS looked like an absolutely fantastic roller and grappler for the duration of this, and the way he muscled Kross around the mat was really impressive. He really looked like he was moving a human sack of concrete at times, both guys really working the struggle. DBS even tried locking on a shoot Sharpshooter out of a scramble which was a great moment. Both guys threw nice leg kicks, Kross had a couple great Saito suplexes and DBS set up the finish with a bomb hardway backdrop suplex, drags Kross' body to the center and got the tap on a crossface. I thought some of the standing slap exchanges went too long, even though they all paid off nicely, and the throws and rolling totally overdelivered.

Masashi Takeda vs. Jonathan Gresham

PAS: Takeda is a guy who started out in Style E, BattlArts, FUTEN and U-Style before he decided to grotesquely scar himself in death matches, so he was very comfortable doing worked shoots. This was a middleweight fight and worked at a much faster pace then the rest of the show. Gresham is really skilled on the mat, and he kept moving to improve his position, while Takeda would have these almost acrobatic leaps into submission attempts. The match changes dramatically when they both spill to the floor, which opens up Takeda (honestly a sneeze might open up Takeda at this point), we get some very aggressive stand up with Gresham aiming hammer fists and slaps to the open wound and Takeda moving forward, finish was great with Takeda landing a flash knee KO. Really energetic stuff and a nice contrast with the previous match.

TKG: I've watched enough Fedor to know if a guy is made of scar tissue you should try to open that up immediately to get the stoppage. They tease a fall to floor once or twice before actually doing it and not sure how I felt about it. I liked the first match having a DQ for touching ref, Promotion establishing its own unique rules....maintain them. But once got back in the ring it got right back.

ER: I actually didn't remember Takeda as a Tamura guy. He's been a grimy death guy for so long. Is Jun Kasai an Anjo trainee? Takeda comes out and Tom asks "So this guy is a death match guy?" Takeda takes off his shirt. "Yep, that's a death match guy." Gresham's performance in this match really highlighted what a colossal disappointment that Orange Cassidy match that started our day was. There was Gresham generously letting a guy take 100% of a match with his shtick, totally thankless work, here he gets to work several cool can openers and throws down with Takeda and looks like a total badass. They made really good use of rolling to the floor (guys had been broken up while getting to the edge of the ring before this, but nobody had rolled out mid-move) and they really hit the ground hard when both took a tumble. Gresham looked really talented on the mat and I'd love to see that pop up more in his matches, and at one point he was throwing trapped hammer fists to the side of Takeda's head that were among the nastier shots of the show. The finish is the real nasty business with Takeda stunning with a strike, then rushing in with a brutal knee for the instant stoppage. That knee, man. Show was absolutely bananas at this point. We were literally sitting in our seats giggling.

Chris Dickinson vs. Andy Williams

PAS: Williams looks like a Peaky Blinders extra, and Dickinson comes right out into him and they wildly throw for a minute which really fired the crowd up. Williams gasses right after that and they move pretty quickly to the finish with Dickinson getting a choke. Short match, but the first minute was really electric.

TKG: Two guys volume punching with no defense till they couldn’t volume punch anymore is always going to be a winning formula. Two heavyweights doing it always is going to get a crowd riled up.

ER: I flew out here from California, but it's pretty cool they flew Williams in from Branson. And I somehow only found out after this weekend that Williams has been a guitarist in Every Time I Die for over 20 years, which is information that would have been much cooler to me in the early 2000s. And I think Phil and Tom are underselling this one as I thought the coolest stuff in the match came after the big throwdown opening. The throwdown is obviously cool and something we hadn't seen yet, but then you got Williams muscling up Dickinson for a powerbomb, and later a sic gutwrench that looked like it was going to be a ganso bomb, plus Dickinson throwing disgusting shots to Williams' ear and back of his head, and the finish was another classic: Dickinson works his way into a backpack choke with Williams gamely gets to his feet with Dickinson locking in the choke further. Williams knows it's locked in and does a forward roll as a desperation escape, but it doesn't work and just opens him up the rest of the way for Dickinson to lock in the choke. The final choke was a great visual as Williams spits out his mouthguard a bit before tapping, felt like the guy in Casino whose eye starts to pop out when his head is put in a vice.

Frank Mir vs. Dan Severn

PAS: Short exhibition, with Mir grabbing an arm pretty quickly for a the tap. Mir didn't show much in his pro wrestling debut, would like to see if he could provide a bit more spark with an opponent not in his sixties. Severn still looks awesome though, someone should sign him as a troubleshooting ref or something.

TKG: Not at all sure what happened here. This was weakest match on show where never made it to the next gear. Post match Mir says he’s getting into wrestling to take out Lesnar and turn Lesnar into the first pro-wrestling in ring death.

ER: I really liked what we got here, but wanted at least a couple more minutes. The finish felt a little sudden, but the work within was good. Severn is 60 and looks the same as he's looked for the last decade plus, body still looks exactly the same, and it looked cool when he dragged Mir down into a north south choke and gator rolled him. I really liked the maneuvering from both guys while Mir is trying to lock on an armbar or triangle, Mir trying to shift his hips and Severn trying to power up with his legs and advance. The heel hook finish looked really good and the application felt natural, I just wanted more stuff before we got there. At minimum, I thought it was awesome being this close to Severn.

Hideki Suzuki vs. Timothy Thatcher

PAS: This was much closer to a MUGA match then a shootstyle match, which works perfectly to both guys strengths. Suzuki is so great at switching speeds, he will deliberately shift into position, only to snap a limb or flip into a submission.  Just everything in this match was applied so tight and twisty and every shot was thudding, Suzuki stomped Thatcher in the head and it looked like he was smashing a grape to make wine. The backbreaker/double underhook suplex finish by Suzuki was just super impactful. Between this and the Ishikawa match, Thatcher is having a monster 2019.

TKG: This wasn’t shoot style at all, this was just super tight mat wrestling and was my favorite match on the show. There was a couple enziguiri, a spinning toe hold, a bow and arrow, a desnucadora, etc...but all of them were sold meaningful. Thatcher's sell of the early toe hold and just his selling throughout left a real impression. We get so used to reversal of reversal wrestling that we forget how exciting changes of momentum can be in match where both guys are actually fighting for control, fighting to apply moves. Just lots of dramatic changes in momentum that crowd almost treated like finishes and two guys who looked completely committed to what they were doing.

ER: On paper this was the match I was most excited for this weekend, and it totally delivered everything I could have wanted it to. It would have been cool just seeing Suzuki's first and only match in the states, but having it actually live up to being the banger we all wanted was extra special. This was the most airtight match of the show, and one of the meanest MUGA matches we've seen. The headlocks and grappling alone would have made for a great match, seriously Suzuki's headlocks look like something that would pop a head right off a pair of shoulders, and it was fascinating being up close and seeing him work exchanges. Phil mentioned how Suzuki will deliberately shift into a position or move a limb to set up something different, and there are a bunch of cool examples of that here, like Suzuki trapped in a sub but moving Thatcher's calf higher up on his own thigh, which then provides him space to turn, which shifts pressure. We get moments where he digs in an elbow before passing, or applies pressure with his palm to Thatcher's knee, or smacks Thatcher in the shin. By the time Suzuki threw a stomp to the back of Thatcher's head, kicked him in the jaw, and hit a Rockette kick to the chest, they could do no wrong. Thatcher gets a nice gutwrench (love how Suzuki sold it with his arms out, like he was getting nerve pain shooting down his fingers), and when Thatcher locked in a side headlock to hit a Saito suplex I said "Uh Ohhhhh" aloud. Sure enough, Suzuki hammers down with his elbow and drops Thatcher with a backbreaker. Suzuki has done more for legitimizing the backbreaker than any wrestler I've seen. His looks like a genuine finisher and the move is actually treated as seriously as the name sounds. Great match, whole card would have been completely worth it if this were the only watchable thing we got. Instead the match had to set itself apart from a totally great show, and it easily did.

Josh Barnett vs. Minoru Suzuki

PAS: This was a match that felt like a main event. Barnett is such a hard man, and everything he did had some real force to it. First fifteen or so of this were pretty perfect as Barnett brought Suzuki back to PWFG as they were really twisting and pulling at limbs and landing big time knees, forearms and slaps. There is a little nonsense with a ref and a chair on the outside, which really felt like Suzuki taking unnecessary match short cuts. I really liked the finish of the match before the restart, and I thought it built nicely to the five more minutes, but you really need to do a finish if you are going to do a five more minutes. Going to another draw really took some steam out the match. Excellent main event for an all time great US Indy show, but I dug other stuff a bit more.

TKG: Barnett’s current look is ridiculously cool. He looks like Kurt Russell’s bad ass cousin and this match felt like main event wrestling. Everything the two did together was as good as you wanted and all the shoot near fallsish stuff, teased submission, teased going to close to the edge etc were as dramatic as anything you were going to see in wrestling. And the eventual escapes had folks on the edge.The show was excellent top to bottom but the semi and the main were the matches that really got you caught up in the drama of false finishes and changes in momentum, the pop of “is this gonna end it?”….being able to feel that drama again. Years of the goofy cliché 2.9, “one, two, nooooo” followed by three minutes of bug eyed Shawn Michaels faces "How did that not do it?, what will it take to put him away? Where in my reserves will I find what it takes?" almost killed the idea that false finish can have any emotional value. At this point I just treat it as a stock lazzo bit to fill time. Was great to experience drama of false finishes again. They work to a 20 minute draw and the crowd was excited as ending with two guys just swinging for fences while crowd counted down. I watched UWF and PWFG and have no problem with a draw finish. They did the five more minutes and it all fell apart, as they went into octopus and fighting spirit shtick. Either do the draw or do the Fujiwara guy taking a hellacious beating slips in a sub for the win. But going into horseshity overtime, hurt the match. Still this was an amazing show top to bottom and left me on a real high.

ER: This one had a real special atmosphere, with Barnett looking like the flat out coolest version of Jaime Lannister, and Suzuki bringing an impossible amount of charisma to a small room. Barnett looked leaner, more intense, and in better shape than any year during his long MMA run, and it was awesome seeing Suzuki immediately snap back into limb twisting savage. Barnett is even wearing his Inoki Genome pads, so we got a decades in the making interpromotional shootstyle war here! And there's not an easy move made in the match, everything is a fight, and by the end they both looked to have lost about 5 lb. of sweat. This was all ankle snapping heel hooks, sunk in headscissors, elbows yanked up to ears, knees driven into chests, twisted bodies trying to scramble out of chokes, and rained down palm strikes and elbows. At one point Suzuki had one of Barnett's legs grapevined, was controlling his wrist, and was shoving Barnett's free leg up towards his shoulder. Suzuki looked like he was a one man drawn & quartered machine, and it made me literally jump out of my chair and look around to make sure everybody else was seeing what I was seeing (which is in full view of the camera, my expression looking like a rube shocked by a magic trick). Honestly the match could have ended on that sub and it probably would have been stronger for it. Obviously we go past that, and get rewarded with more nasty shots and yanked limbs, but also lose some of the steam and magic that had been created. When we went to a bomb throwing countdown, I was fine with them ending on a draw (even though I was hoping Suzuki would feint his way out of the throwdown and get a last second tap with a heel hook). And the draw did lead to an undeniably great moment, as the crowd is chanting for 5 more minutes, and Suzuki looks like he's having none of it, rolling his eyes he quiets the crowd...and then calls for 5 more minutes. It was a great moment. But not really as great if we knew that it was just going to lead to another draw. The New Japan-ness of the restart didn't help, but it also didn't negate the genuinely great majority of the match. Flat finish or no, this was a tremendous live experience. It flashed in my head at one point that Suzuki might take the night off a bit, but this was among the hardest worked matches I've seen from him all decade.

ER: This should go down as a top show of the year contender, an absolutely thrilling 2 hours of pro wrestling. We put FIVE of the matches on our 2019 Ongoing Match of the Year list, and that seems like a near impossible mark to beat.

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