2016 Ongoing MOTY List: Yehi v. Riddle

6. Fred Yehi v. Matt Riddle EVOLVE 54 1/23

ER: This is just about the coolest 6 minutes you'll spend watching a wrestling match this year. We've always been a champion of short matches here. I think there's a neat art in constructing a short little story and paying it off satisfactorily, and these two started threads that made me want to watch them every time they show up. Yehi is a little beast and Riddle? Man, I'm not sure how Riddle is as good as he is, this early. Riddle already gets so many little things. David Flair, son of the man who many people consider the biggest wrestling legend of them all, was allowed to be the worst wrestler on television for two years. And here's a pothead formerly fun UFC guy immediately understanding presence and body language and movement with about a year in the business. This is a 6 minute sprint that had me gassed just watching it. The go behind battle was fun and eventually leads to Yehi dumping Riddle a few times with brutal Germans. Riddle flew into these and they peaked with him getting full rotation on the third. I love how Riddle ended up spilling out on his stomach, one leg hung up into the ropes. That's the kind of thing I mean when I say Riddle understands presence, and presentation. That kind of visual display doesn't happen by accident, and a lot of guys don't have that. At one point Yehi throws a hammer blow to Riddle's (bare) foot and it gets paid off by Riddle rushing to his feet and faceplanting when putting weight on that foot. The struggle was real in this one, and there was always grapple control, limbs being fought over; I was wondering where Yehi was taking things once he foolishly dove into triangle bait, and I loved Riddle rolling through for the final tap. If we get a hotter 6 minutes this year then color me excited.

PAS: I loved this match, Riddle is already really good and I am excited to see where he goes from here. The early amateur wrestling sections were great, some of the better worked amateur wrestling I can remember seeing, Yehi getting Riddle's back and dumping him on his head was great looking, I loved the over rotation on that third german, just looked nasty. I also loved Yehi smashing the bridge of the foot and how Riddle sold it. Finish ankle lock was awesome too, unique way to put it on, and the extra wrench by Riddle to get the tap was great. This made me want to track down everything by both guys.


2016 MOTY MASTER LIST

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2016 Ongoing MOTY List: Gulak/TJP vs. Sabre/Callihan

1. Drew Gulak/TJ Perkins vs. Zach Sabre Jr./Sami Callihan EVOLVE 54 1/23

ER: I loved this and it might have even been my favorite Gulak performance. The term "ring awareness" gets tossed around by commentary crews in practically every match you ever watch. It's basically a meaningless term at this point. But damn Gulak was so good and just so aware of where he was at in the ring and in the structure of the match that it really felt like the definition example of the term. Flashy submission style wrestling tends to work better in a singles match setting, as the subs need time to build and tag settings make it easier for partners to break things up. But he (and the others) were really good about cutting off the ring, tagging in and out at proper times to keep the flow going, and doing neat things like saving partners from a sub while actually doing damage to his opponent. I loved when Sabre had Gulak trapped in a kind of backpack Americana, while Sami has TJP trapped in a sub, and Gulak just falls on top of the pile effectively ending all submissions. Gulak and Sabre were so fun together, with fun flashy counters and learned mistakes. Sabre did one of my favorite reversals by pulling his own leg close with his own leg to get out of a sub, and then when Gulak did the same moments later Sabre countered it, but Gulak was right there to quickly roll through Sabre's counter surfboard. It's all happening so quick and laid out so smart that it's really wonderful when it works out as well as it does. Gulak was really a terror throughout, though. His ring positioning was killer, both for his own subs and to not make his opponent look like a boob (how many times have you seen somebody supposed to be trapped in a sub, but then have to move AWAY from the ropes so as to look more in danger, due to his opponent's lousy positioning?), and his timing was on point. He always knew the right moment to tag in TJP, and the right moment to do cool things like a fast surprise tope towards the end of the match. Sabre Jr. feels like a guy with a million cool tricks up his sleeve and is able to do flash without making it look rehearsed and exhibition-y. Callihan is a welcome return to the indies and I like him diving back to this style, and also like him breaking from formula by doing things like bailing to the floor to plaster Matt Riddle in the face with a kick. I thought all the subs worked great in the tag setting, and I think that's much more a testament to the 4 guys in the match than anything else. This was really great.

PAS:  I really enjoyed this a bunch too, the main the night before was more of a bomb fest, this was almost a hyped up version of a maestros tag, all four guys tried to whip out a bunch of crazy submissions and the constant saves stopped them from doing a catch and release which can weaken Lucha versions of this match style. I have been a bit of a Sabre Jr. agnostic before, but he has really kicked it into gear in the last year and is already on a hell of a roll in 2016, I loved him as the flashy submission artist in contrast to the more subdued Gulak, they just meshed great. Callihan is so much fun in these tags too he wrestles like he's on speed and it is a great contrast to the submission work, we get some pretty counter mat wrestling and then this lunatic runs in to kick people in the face. Didn't love the finish, as partner dissension is an old school wrestling trope which bores me, still this was overall a heck of match.


2016 MOTY MASTER LIST

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