Paradigm Pro Wrestling Cherry Picking

I am going to watch and review all of the PPW UWFI rules shows, as that is a weird thing I am super into, but they run other shows and either sprinkle in UWFI rules matches or have other cool looking things mixed in among stuff I am less interested in, so on to the Cherry Pick!

Matt Makowski vs. Flash Thompson 5/26/21

PAS: This wasn't a UWFI rules fight although the opening section was worked like that with some nice simple grappling by Makowski. When they got to their feet and did some indy wrestling, it didn't do a ton for me, Makowski broke out his burning hammer spun into an armbar which was cool, and I liked Flash's kneebar counter, but they also did some rope running and chops which I could have done without. The finish was cool, with Flash lifting his shoulder on a pin attempt, which Makowski pounced on and hit an armbar for the tap, Makowski is pretty much always worth watching, and is freaky fast when he attacks.

Hoodfoot Mo Atlas vs. Ron Bass Jr. 6/9/21

PAS: This was also a traditional match, and exactly what you want from two big heavy handed guys. Bass towers over Hoodfoot, but Hoodfoot has established his KO power so I totally buy him throwing in the pocket with Bass. Bass has great chin checking uppercuts, and they have a fun long brawling section on the floor which was highlighted by a big Hoodfoot bump over the stairs. They get back in the ring and continue to pound on each other, ending in a sick Hoodfoot clothesline to the back of Bass's head for the win. I could watch this all day. 

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Paradigm Pro: UWFI Contenders Series 2 Episode 4

Hardway Heeter vs. Austin Connelly

PAS: Wild 90 second match, as we have come to expect from Connelly. He rushes Heeter and they exchange hard winging shots, until Connelly hits a nasty elbow and a gutwrench suplex leaving Heeter laying. They did a post match angle with Kerry Awful berating Heeter and calling him a pussy and a loser, which took a bit of the shine off of Connelly's first win, but I am happy to see him get the duke and hopefully move on to bigger and better things.

ER: This really kicked ass, and felt like it had some solid turns for only 90 seconds. People are already timing Connelly's match starting charge, and I like how Heeter caught him with a knee, but they both kind of responded like they were both surprised by it. It's like Connelly has at least 5 seconds of Tasmanian Devil where he is just going to be invincible, and I love it. Even when he wrestles Heeter to the ground, Heeter is landing hard shots to Connelly's back that Connelly doesn't seem to even notice as he's elbowing Heeter in the face. Connelly throws three slaps in the corner that lead to a plausible standing break, and we get an actual well done elbow exchange. Heeter throw nice, sharp, lunging lefty elbows with a good amount of force behind them, and then gets leveled by one of Connelly's. Connelly bounced Hardway off his head with a gutwrench suplex, looked like the kind of whiplash that should end things. Great scrap. 

Yoya vs. Flash Thompson

PAS: This was my favorite Thompson match so far. He was really fun as a smirking prick bully, using his size to manhandle Yoya until he got too cocky.  I really liked him shit talking as he stuffed Yoya's shoot, and he broke an armbar attempt with some really sick stomps to Yoya's temple. Finishing minute was very cool with Yoya hitting a nasty jumping knee, stunning Thompson. Flash fired back with a palm strike (which looked like a KO shot), but Yoya survived and jumped onto Flash's back, and with the help of some strikes to the temple locked in a choke. Very cool stuff.

ER: I came into this anticipating the upset, just because I don't think I've ever seen them give such huge odds for/against any of the fighters until now, with Thompson coming in as something like a -450 favorite. Yoya is the smallest competitor in this, they set deep odds, I think we know how this pro wrestling thing works. This was a great showing for dickhead heel Flash, a really disrespectful performance with amusing cheapshots and eventually comeuppance. He is A Guy Asking For It throughout, throws an elbow to the back of Yoya's head while they were on the mat, tosses Yoya like a bag of laundry, kicks at his head while breaking a hold. I dug how he started unnecessarily throwing bigger shots, which gave Yoya the chance to actually dodge. When Flash was just throwing leg kicks and working smart, he was on pace to finish in two minutes. But when you commit to a haymaker you leave yourself open if it misses, and Yoya hits a boss leaping knee under the chin for a nice knockdown. He misses another wide swing and Yoya pounces on his back for the tap, and in true dickhead fashion, Flash denies tapping afterward. I'm not sure I totally bought Yoya pulling off this upset, and would have liked it even more if Flash *almost* got caught, but didn't, and didn't learn his lesson. That would have set up a more interesting match down the line. Still, I liked the actual work in this a lot. 

Damyan Tangra vs. Isaiah Broner

PAS: Love Broner, he is one of my favorite guys in this promotion. He comes off like such a dangerous badass, like French Montana's bodyguard who has a bunch of felonies. Tangra is WW4A guy who has a mat wrestler gimmick. Fun structure here, with Tangra trying lots of takedown attempts and Broner using his core strength and base to shrug them off. Broner also drops Tangra with a nasty body shot. Tangra is able to stun Broner with some head kicks, but makes the mistake of going for a German. He gets shrugged off and wasted with a spinning back elbow. Would be into seeing more Tangra, and Broner vs. Dustin Leonard next week should be fucking killer. 

ER: I really liked how annoying Tangra was here, just gluing himself to Broner and tangling him up in annoying ways. I'm not sure I've seen something quite like this, as Broner was on his feet the whole time but because of Tangra's annoyingness he kept having to buckle and reach like someone was trying to trip him up during a game of Twister. Broner has hands, so Tangra just hugs his way in close and takes away that reach. It might not be super effective as a long term strategy, but it's annoying, and when you annoy someone it can force them to make mistakes. And once there is a bit of distance, that's when Broner lands a hard right to Tangra's spleen to put him down. I liked Broner's selling when Tangra lands some kicks, how he doesn't go down for a grazing high kick but leans forward as if he's trying to maintain his center of gravity. Broner sold the kicks like someone who has been having drinks with friends, and realized just how much he had when he tried standing up from the table. The back elbow finish was sick, love a great back elbow. 

Dominic Garrini vs. Ron Mathis

PAS: This was the chickens of Mathis's Shooter Ronnie gimmick coming home to roost.  Garrini tooled him on the mat in a fun way, intentional giving him openings and then countering him. Mathis was able to muck it up a bit, but this was mostly Garrini showing off. Loved the finish with Garrini taking the back and - as Mathis countered - suckering him right into a triangle choke which put Mathis to sleep. Garrini does a lot of different things as a wrestler, a lot of which I like, some I don't. I think he has really found himself in this context. Indy wrestling has plenty of W*ING Kanemuras, they need more Katsumi Usudas. 

ER: I appreciate Mathis committing to the bit and still trying to goof off against someone like Garrini (also, I like how in Mathis's tale of the tape bio it says he "really likes PPW UWFI Rules matches"), even pointing out that Garrini didn't get him with a strike and only grazed his mohawk. Garrini toying with people is a great look for him. I think there is pressure on guys with non "pro wrestling" skills to learn those and better blend in with pro wrestling, but I think there is more value in incorporating your unique skillsets into a pro wrestling frame work. Dom is at his best when he shoehorns his legit skills into a match, and it will always be better than him doing pro wrestling sequences. 

Derek Neal vs. Ron Bass Jr.

PAS: First time I have seen Bass, and I was into him. He is a big fat guy with short arms, and seems really into hitting hard. He had some nasty clubbing clotheslines and used his fat well, which is welcome. I need to track down some non UWFI stuff for sure, feels like he would make an awesome Blackjacks tag team with Manders. I didn't like Neal in his Gary Jay match, and wasn't into him here. I thought the finish looked especially weak. You don't want the guy clearly throwing softer stuff to get the knockdown, and he broke out his windmill arms for the ground and pound. Want to see more Bass, have seen enough of Neal.

ER: Certain things in wrestling excite me more on paper than they should, and "oh hey so Outlaw Ron Bass's actual son is wrestling now and he's a big fat guy" is all the information I would need to know to make me seek out some Ron Bassito. And, I loved him. He's shaped more like a small Akebono or a large Jake Milliman than Ron Bass, with his big broad back and egg torso, and he absolutely lays it in. He threw a couple of lariats with almost no runway, and they were great enough that they would look like a finish if he dropped an elbow right after. I think his bumping reminded me of Milliman too, the way he took a thrust kick to the stomach by almost rolling off his feet. I am with Phil on the finish, didn't think any of Neal's stuff looked like it should fell Bass, and the match stopping slaps were just hitting forearms. Bass looked like he was just dealing with them, not being damaged by them, and that's precisely how they should have been sold. 

Jordan Blade vs. Max the Impaler

PAS: Battle of the non-binary beasts! I thought this was pretty awesome. Max really projects menace well, coming off like a total monster, and they made Blade (who is really strong) look small. Blade would constantly work for submissions and Max would just power their way out of. The question was whether Blade could sink in something before they got got. Max's Hughes slam out of the triangle attempt was nastier than Matt Hughes' original, and the final KO knee did the job for sure. Blade was pretty slick with their submissions and I really bought that they were going to pull off the win, until I didn't buy it. Post match they set up Max vs. Alex Kane which was a match I had no idea I wanted to see, until I really wanted to see it.

ER: This is how you do a satisfying ground and pound stoppage! Blade was really good at staying in things and tying up Max, throwing constant open hand slaps at Max's head while working for any submission she could get. Max seemed to working this like a horror movie villain, where she welcomes any attack Blade can muster, knowing she can finish at any time. It's a risky strategy, but it gave us a cool chance to see a bunch of Blade's cool tricks. I liked how active Blade was during submissions, quick to throw in strikes, and it was fun seeing how Max would break them. I don't know if I can say the Hughes Slam was nastier than the original - I mean, Matt Hughes ran that man across the entire damn octagon - but I love seeing a cool powerbomb out of a triangle attempt. Blade's hanging armbar looked great, and Max's knee strike to flatten Blade was excellent. Sign me up for Max vs. Kane. 

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Paradigm Pro: UWFI Contenders Series 2 Episode 1

8. Hoodfoot Mo Atlas vs. Akira

PAS: One of the longer Hoodfoot UWFI matches I have seen and one where he sold a lot. Akira took most of the match, including landing a couple of big knockdowns, one with a stiff liver kick and one with a flurry ending in a running knee. Akira is good at bringing an appropriate amount of stiffness to his shots, and I bought him taking a lot of this match even though he was smaller. Finish was a classic Hoodfoot finish, with Akira rushing in and getting obliterated with that looping right hand. It felt like King Kong swatting a plane out of the sky.

ER: I expected this to be a kind of Hoodfoot steamrolling, but what we got was much more special than that likely would have been. Atlas is great at steamrolling guys, but he's perhaps even better at showing believable vulnerability. The mat scrambling looked really good, and Atlas is strong at little mat details the whole match, like grabbing Akira by the meat of the calf on the ground, or holding down Akira's elbow late in the match while in a triangle. Akira's striking looked like it was legitimately taking Atlas apart, and I exclaimed out loud to nobody when the liver kick knockdown happened. I went from expecting Hoodfoot in a walk, to not expecting Hoodfoot to get up from that kick. Akira rocks Atlas with a back elbow, goes back to that kick in the corner (Atlas is so good at using the ropes to save him from a knockdown, I've seen him rely on them in cool ways a few different times now, great way of integrating the ring into his matches), and drops him again with an awesome running knee. You knew Atlas was going to throw big hands, and all of them looked predictably great, loved him going for heavy kneelifts, and I can't believe Akira got up after that right hand sandwiched between two Saito suplexes. I'm glad he did, and I love how the wrapped it up instead. Great stuff through and through, so much better than the match I thought I wanted.

Robert Martyr vs. Nick King

PAS: I though this was good stuff. King is listed as having a folkstyle and judo background and there was a lot of mat scrambling at the start including King throwing a really seamless fireman's carry, and a nice snap german. Martyr actually uses the ref to block King's view, stomps down on the ankle and hits a big german of his own, before he gets a chicken wing for the tap. Lots of energy in the early mat work, and I would be into seeing King again.

ER: Great bang for your buck, under 3 minutes and all of it great. This was my first time seeing King, and Paradigm is really making me think they have a bottomless supply of interesting new guys at their disposal. King was really gluey on the mat, looked like he hardly let go of Martyr's left ankle and kept rolling and pivoting into new holds from that ankle control. His fireman's carry alone was great enough that I think I was counting myself a Nick King Fan one minute in. Martyr stomping King's ankle while the ref was clearly obstructing King's view is a real dickhead twerp move, and commentary was super sharp to point out how Martyr would likely get a point docked for that but gained a point and damage from following it up with a German. The chickenwing was a surprise quick finish, but a good one, and King was great at looking like a guy who got caught in a chickenwing. 

Isiah Broner vs. Flash Thompson

PAS: Felt like they were writing Flash out of the territory here. Both these guys have boxing backgrounds, so I enjoyed the timing and movement. Broner is able to shoot in and grab a quick double leg and clean out Thompson quick with ground and pound. They do a post match angle with Bobby Beverly turning extra heel by turning on his heel group and joining another heel group. I like this sub-promotion a lot, but all of the angles that aren't just one guy calling out another have been misses. 

ER: This was mostly angle, which is fine, but the execution was muddy and the implications were unclear. I'm not bothered by the 1 minute fight, even if the stand-up slapping thrills me less than any other options open to guys under these rules. But I did like Flash's selling on the shot that made his legs wobble, and thought Broner dragging Flash to the mat with a papoose takedown kicked ass. But you have Broner getting a stoppage in a minute, then Flash beating Broner down after, then Beverly cheapshotting Flash, which leaves Broner slumped there waiting for an angle to play out, his quick finish already in the rearview. I think filming something separately with Beverly and Flash could have played better, as a big Broner win should have been played up as a bigger thing than a Bobby Beverly stable change. 

Austin Connelly vs. Jordan Blade

PAS: I have compared Connelly to a shoot style Buzz Sawyer before, and he has really leaned into it with a chain and barking, which is great. Like always, Connelly is a missile aimed right at his opponent, constantly moving forward throwing reckless forearms. He run rights into a forearm by Blade which busts his mouth, and they are moving with such speed and wildness that it doesn't seem possible to control the force of blows. Blade grabs the ankle and really cranks it until the ref has to stop the fight. I am into both of these fighters, Connelly especially is one of my favorite wrestlers in the world to watch right now.

ER: My god Austin Connelly rules. There have been a ton of standout moments and standout wrestlers on these Paradigm UWFI shows, so it's high praise to say he might be my favorite. I like Phil's Shootstyle Buzz Sawyer description, and while I harp on other guys not really adhering to UWFI style, I hypocritically love how UWFI rules cannot contain Connelly as he rushes headlong into kill or be killed. These two were throwing elbows straight at mouths and not pulling things, and we got a great visual of Connelly yelling through a mouth filled with blood while trying to break an ankle lock. Blade hung in with the mad man and weathered the storm, fighting for that ankle lock even while Connelly was pounding on her knee to get her to break. I would have liked another minute or two of this, but also love experiencing the joy of Connelly in these starbursts. 

PAS: Filthy Tom Lawlor comes out and introduces Matt Makowski as the newest member of Team Filthy, which is awesome. Love Makowski, and I am excited to see what he does in this format. They do another angle that sets up Makowski vs. Hoodfoot which is of course great, but there is some stuff with Bobby Beverly and Lexus Montez which wasn't great and ended up with some shoving, and the angles continue to leave me cold. Makowski vs. Hoodfoot should rule though.

ER: Getting more guys than necessary out there to do some shoving was really not necessary, as the purpose of the Lawlor segment should have only been to build excitement for Makowski/Hoodfoot. That match is something to be excited about, and I left the segment excited for it, but everything else distracted from that excitement. 

Derek Neal vs. Gary Jay

PAS: This didn't work for me, the striking had a real Lisa Simpson windmill feeling, and there were some New Japan forearms and even a knife edge chop. It had some nice energy and Neal threw a good clothesline, but it felt out of the style and too many thing didn't land but got sold anyway.

ER: This didn't bother me as badly as it did Phil, but you know when Phil breaks out the Lisa Simpson reference that he is getting ready to really hate something. I don't know what part of the match those punches are referring to, as it's a tough criticism to levy towards a match with no closed fists allowed. When you're only allowed slaps (technically), you are going to be walking that fine line between hard strikes and "kids having a slap fight with 90% of them missing". And from the looks of this match, they landed in that unfortunate valley of strikes that likely really hurt, without actually looking good. That's a shame, because you could see how hard Neal was laying things in with his clubbing shots to Jay's back, and I liked the big powerbomb Neal used to start the match. He has 60 pounds on Jay, hell yes he should Sapp him up into a powerbomb. That kind of stuff worked for me, and I also liked how Neal kept getting solid knockdowns for the first minute: That powerbomb, a kind of waterwheel suplex, a couple of strikes, good way to keep Jay down early. But by the time they started in with bad looking chops and some real bad looking Jay roaring elbows, I was ready for it to be over. I'm sure it's possible to hit a cool roaring elbow that would fit right into the vibe of a Paradigm match, but these elbows wouldn't have looked good in any setting. 

Dominic Garrini vs. Matt Justice

PAS: This was really cool, and a great main event for a season premier. Garrini had only lost once in this style, to Hoodfoot, and Justice had been a guy working primarily superfights against UFC guys. Garrini controlled early with grappling, although Justice showed some skill there including a great gator roll and some really nasty elbows to the side of the head. We get a camera close up of the shots and they were brutal. They get back to their feet and Garrini shoots right into a KO knee. Felt like it was building to something bigger before being suddenly finished, and I liked how it really felt out of nowhere.

ER: Really impressed with both guys here, but it's hard to not be more impressed with Justice. Justice went for a single leg to start and really took a grappling match right to Dom, an ambitious strategy against a world class grappler with a notable gas tank. Dom is really good at being calm and cool on the mat, using his low gravity to put a lot of weight on Justice, to tire Justice out. Justice decides to break this by throwing two brutal back elbows at Garrini's head and face, another that scraped hard across Dom's face, and then rained down with a few more after shifting positions. On a weekly show filled with stiff strikes, these elbows were among the heaviest blows we've seen. The finish was so so, as Dom gets his hands way out in front of the knee that leads right to the finish. I obviously can't really blame anyone for not diving face first into a KO knee, but still a match finishing knee needs to look like a knee that will lead to a finish. Still, I love these guys, and would love to see this run back. 

ER: You could make the case that this episode was the best episode of the UWFI rules series so far, with nearly all of the matches delivering at minimum something memorable. We added Hoodfoot/Akira to our 2021 Ongoing MOTY List. 

2021 MOTY MASTER LIST

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Paradigm Pro: UWFI Rules Contenders Series Episode 2

Matthew Justice vs. Robert Martyr

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

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

Flash Thompson vs. Jeffrey John

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

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

Aaron Williams vs. Ron Mathis

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

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

Don't Die Miles vs. Bobby Beverly

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

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

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

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

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Paradigm Pro: UWFI Rules Contenders Series Episode 1

ER: I haven't been enjoying AEW the past few weeks, TNT messed up my area broadcast of AEW tonight anyway, and the first episode of Paradigm Pro's Indiana Inokiism just happened to be tonight. Sounds like some signs pointed to us checking this one out. Big Beef is the only wrestler on this show who I have seen, and I haven't even heard of the rest of them. We're going into this blind.

PAS: This is kind of a silly idea, but silly in an awesome way. Midwest indy guys working empty arena UWFI rules matches is very much our kind of shit. I really liked the opening video graphic illegally mixing in clips of Buster Douglas and UFC fights, just hammy enough.

Big Beef Gnarls Garvin vs. Lord Crewe

PAS: Pair of solid looks on these two, really feels like an unexpected post Hardcore show fist fight at the back bar of the Black Cat. Garvin is a thick guy and despite Crewe being listed as a bare knuckled fighter, Garvin had the advantage throwing shots as he really put his weight behind them. The UWFI rules forbid closed punches to the head and it didn't feel like Crewe fully mastered throwing good looking open hands. I did like his jumping choke finish and he had some nice post match trash talking. 

ER: I think the UWFI rules held back the striking here, as the big swinging arm shots from Beef looked really dangerous for something that would have looked better as a worked punch. Kind of like how Foley said Bob Holly had bad looking punches that actually hurt - the worst combination. Beef is probably killing Crewe with open hands and heavy arms but actual worked punches would probably look better. Beef had a couple great suplexes, including a big German and another that just looked like him throwing a sack of concrete. He's put on big size during the pandemic, but I think it really works for his whole thing. Wrestling needs guys that look like Beef. I was excited to see Crewe after buying into some of the pre-match hype on him, but he didn't show a ton here. Some guys excel in this weird scheme and others don't, I'll see him some day under his own style and I'll make my judgment then. 

Janai Kai vs. Jordan Blade

PAS: Fun style clash with Kai working a Muay Thai gimmick, and Blade being a powerlifter and grappler (with cool nickname the Anklebreaker). Both ladies were DMV based, and I imagine this might be a touring match of a sort. Kai has really fast hands and used the speed to dominate on her feet, Blade took her down and dominated her on the mat before letting her up, dropping to her own back and calling Kai in, only to lock in an ankle lock for the tap. Blade got put over really strong here looked mostly unbothered. Not sure whether this leads to intergender shoot style or if they have a deeper distaff bench, but I was into what I saw. 

ER: I really liked what both these two brought, with Blade being maybe the biggest female fighter I've seen on the indy scene (tale of the tape said gold medal powerlifting background, and a female Mark Henry would be such a cool thing to see), and Kai's Muay Thai looked like a whole complete look. This started with it looking like it was going to be a Kai showcase with all her cool flash, but Blade started powering her down and basically smothering Kai. There was a great moment where the lifter finally got the bumblebee and slammed her down, immediately kneeling into her back and beginning a pounding that doesn't let up until she gets that ankle lock. Very curious to see more. 

Crash Jaxon vs. Isaiah Broner

PAS: Jaxon is a big kid out of Ohio while Broner is a menacing looking black dude from Detroit. This is short and sweet, Jaxon gets a throw but runs right into a spinning back elbow that damn near takes his head off for the fast KO. Broner calls out Hoodfoot after telling JRose the ring announcer to "Social Distance your ass to the back." Impressive way to make someone, and I like how they don't need every match to be 55/45.

ER: I get why they did this but I really wanted to see this one play out. Jaxon had a huge throw before he got put down hard by a Broner back elbow (even nicer than one Big Beef used earlier) and it looked like something that could be a KO. That's the most important thing, that your KO finish look like something that would result in a KO. They could still run this match back and you've got your built in story of Jaxon feeling robbed. 

Lexus Montez vs. Tommy Kyle Dean

PAS: This didn't fully work for me, both guys seemed to have ideas which didn't totally come off. This was one of the longer matches of the night, and despite some attempts at things, nothing really stood out. Montez wins with a spinning back elbow, which was probably a mistake with Broner's looking way better in the previous match. I would be fine seeing either guy again (TKD is an AIW student and while he hasn't done much for me yet in AIW, that school has a great track record), but this show has nicely made stars, and this didn't.

ER: I liked this a little more than Phil, but I get where he's coming from. It's hard on a show like this to not have guys doing similar versions of what others have already done on the same show, some of it is going to look better, some will look worse. I liked the things they went for and liked the messiness of some of the positions they wound up in. I liked when TKD missed a shot and Montez wound up standing over him, lobbing elbows at the back of his head. TKD would throw out a bunch of kicks and at one point looked like he was trying to intentionally miss a high kick to turn it into a kind of leveraged armbar takedown. None of those things worked, but I appreciated the "First 3 UFC events" feel of the approach. I liked the back elbow finish and thought it worked even with a nastier looking back elbow finish the match directly before. It would have made sense to not double up on the same finish back to back, but if it looks good it looks good. 

Hoodfoot Mo Atlas vs. Flash Thompson

PAS: I thought this was pretty rad for a short match. Thompson was listed as the Indiana Golden Gloves champion, and I liked his head movement and body placement, he looked like a fighter. Hoodfoot is a big charismatic guy who feels like a champion, and it was mostly the speed and technique of Thompson against the power of Atlas. We get several go behinds by Atlas, one results in a Thompson ankle lock, and two others are just dismissive throws to the ground by Atlas. Finish exchange is pretty great, both guys have figured out how to throw good looking open hand strikes, with Thompson throwing cool combos including rocking Atlas with a dip uppercut, before running into a monster looking right hook for the KO. The announcers were making Kimbo Slice and Mike Tyson comps, and it only felt a bit like hyperbole. 

ER: I love matches that barely go 3 minutes but manage to pack in a ton of detail work. Most of this match was worked real tight, a lot of need exchanges thrown from the clinch. I like how off speed they worked in the clinch, both throwing at awkward times instead of more measured turns, and I liked the ways each found to outgun the other. The short range striking can be hard to make look right, and they kept it smart by mixing it up with hard knees in between the open hand shots. The rolling ankle lock from an Atlas go behind looked good, loved how Thompson would set it up with a back elbow. As we've established already on Episode 1, back elbows are murder in Paradigm. So Atlas gets sick of taking back elbows whenever he slips into a go behind, and decides the best way to prevent those is to just toss Flash to the mat. The KO looked strong, and I liked all the KOs on this show. Shows running Only KO/Sub stoppages usually end up with a couple duds, a couple fights ending on this that looked like the weakest shot of the fight, but the KOs on this show all looked like the finish. 

PAS: They finish with a pretty heated pull apart with Hoodfoot and Broner, and they sold me a virtual ticket to that fight for sure.  Fun show, want to see more for sure.

ER: This show came at the right time, on a night where the AEW airings got all messed up in my area, coming after me not enjoying Dynamite for the past several episodes. Something totally different - in this case a Wednesday night UWFI rules show - was the right change of pace. I like some things they set up for future shows, and am excited to see what matches break away from the pack and become shootstyle classics.

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