2016 Ongoing MOTY List: Fred Yehi v. Tracy Williams

5. Fred Yehi v. Tracy Williams EVOLVE 53 1/22

ER: This match was from the recent Style Battle series, which had some fun Matt Riddle showings, and some terrible modern day Ric Blade tribute act from Peter Kaasa, and then what very well could be some name-making brutality from Fred Yehi. Williams is a Gulak guy and I believe Green Ant, and also has no problem bringing the nasty shots and neck cranks. Really both guys were plenty brutal in this, but Yehi jumped out at me most in both of his matches. He's such a little asskicker and his shots looked so damn tough that at a point in the match where it could have felt like overkill, it just made me think Williams was a tough son of a gun for still being fully conscious and fully toothed. There were things in this match that can easily annoy me in other matches: strike exchanges that go on a bit too long, a few too many kickouts, a slightly too long running time...but because the brutality was always at a high level it made me stay right there with them. Both guys worked quick, and the strike exchanges brought more than your standard NJPW exchange. They weren't standing around growling in between, they were too busy slapping and elbowing each other. Even when one guy would be attempting to lift the other or move to a new spot, there were always escape attempts and hard shots to ribs, just no rest for either guy. Yehi packs such a mean wallop, his rolling elbow brought new life to that spot, and this whole thing was a real fun war.

PAS: I did think this went overboard a bit, but Yehi was a Tank, lots of nifty little bits of brutality. I loved a spot where he tripped Williams and then just kicked him in the mouth. I also loved Williams finishing run of nasty headdrops, his piledriver was gross looking. Could have used a bit of trimming in the middle, but a fun battle between two guys I hadn't seen much of.


2016 MOTY MASTER LIST

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2016 Ongoing MOTY List: Hero/End v. Sabre/Callihan

2. Chris Hero/Tommy End v. Zach Sabre Jr./Sami Callihan EVOLVE 53 1/22

PAS: Pretty great US Indy approximation of an 90's All Japan tag. End and Hero are total ass kicking heels, working together great, laying in a huge creative beating on the overmatch but game pair of underdogs. Sabre is pretty great as spunky young kid who can take a hellacious asskicking, but can always pull out a submission, meanwhile Sami is flying all over the ring making saves, kicking people in the mouth, diving to the floor. He is just a whirling dirvish of energy which is really where he shines. Loved Hero and End's double teams,  they did a cool version of Total Elimination with a leg sweep and straight right. Finish doesn't go into overkill which this style of match is bound to do, instead we have Sabre dying on his sword, trying desperately to grab an arm or a flash pin, while getting overwhelmed. Awesome stuff, and a real contender to stay high on this list all year.

ER: Man Hero was an absolute monster in this. Now that he's being exclusively sponsored by Jack in the Box Late Night Munchie Meals he's become like Kraneo, in that he's clearly the biggest guy in the fed but he's going to show everybody he can still go. He is now indy Buddy Rose and it's awesome. He picked on Sabre the entire match and has gotten to the point where he's using his body as offense, and I love it. His sentons land with a thud, he dropped an elbow at one point that was far more body than elbow. At one point he just jumps with both knees right down on Sabre's stomach. Hero's elbows are obviously nasty, and Sabre must have one hell of a chin. Also absolutely loved Hero's snap piledrivers. I'm sure he's done them before but I don't recall seeing them and they looks both cool and deadly (Cool and Deadly was probably a fun straight to video James Remar flick). But while Hero was my favorite, really everybody brings violence in this one. Sami has been in NXT and injury purgatory for years, and it's great seeing him back doing his thing. Sabre always finds unique ways out of things, and it's impressive how he can keep his head straight in a match like this where he's taking so many shots the whole time. How he can have the presences of mind to take an elbow sandwich from End and Hero and still grab an Americana makes his character come off like he's fighting for survival and that adds to things. To be a negative nelly, however, I don't think Sabre for the most part is a very good FIP. He doesn't have a lot of dramatic range, and doesn't have the kind of expressive face you need to have when putting over a violent beating. He was doing the same kind of selling 8 minutes in as he was doing after 28 minutes. Now obviously he's taking these beatings, and that counts for a lot, but he can come off very robotic and that hurts things. We also had a problem of some big things down the home stretch missing (like End's foot stomp during Hero's Backlund lift of Sabre), but overall this was a real war and a real beast of a Hero performance.


2016 MOTY MASTER LIST

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