2017 Ongoing MOTY List: Cain v. Kincaid

58. Cain Justice vs. Jason Kincaid Modern Vintage Wrestling 9/16

PAS: Cain Justice ventures out of CWF Mid-Atlantic (kind of, this show was at the CWF Sportatorum and had Stuttsy and CL Party on commentary), and has a banger with Jason Kincaid. Kincaid is a guy with fun looking weird offense, that doesn't always put it together in a great match. Justice is very John Tatum in this, getting flustered and irritated with Kincaid's shtick in a really amusing way, being a total dickwad, and breaking out some great offense. I loved all of the armwork, and Kincaid did a really nice job selling it. I loved how they built to the twist ending near fall, and Kincaid's roll up was a cool counter. I also like Kincaid trying to tap Justice, and how the commentators put that over as a big humiliation for Cain. Justice can do no wrong at this point.

ER: It's Easter so might as well review a match with dirty hippie Jesus. Kincaid is a guy I like, a real weirdo, like a wrestling version of when that guy from Korn quit the band to go be hippie metal Jesus and build homes in poor Indian communities. He's like a character in a Street Fighter game, you can even picture him in 16 bit graphics, in a yogi position making praying hands before the graphics morph him into a fireball attack. He has some cool offense, and bumps big, although I agree with Phil that it doesn't always get put together into a good match. It doesn't always depend on the quality of opponent either, sometimes it just doesn't work. Against our souther fried judo stooge, however, it works perfectly. Cain is perfect getting flustered by Kincaid, and Kincaid's dirty zen bounces off Cain perfectly. Even if it wasn't a great wrestling match-up (it is), it would be a good personality match-up. Kincaid is constantly one step ahead of Cain, until Cain catches his arm, and that remains a thorn for Kincaid the rest of the match. Even in the spots where Kincaid controls, he's really great at paying service to his left arm, and I really appreciate some of the showmanship (rubbing it between moves, slamming it into a turnbuckle down the stretch). I hate when Cain matches have a moment where someone lasts way too long in an armbar, and then doesn't even bother to pay it respect by selling it. Here they hit the spot and Kincaid was great at showing that even if he kept his title, Cain almost took his arm. Kincaid takes a couple big spills to the floor, but also a couple big spills into Cain (that cross town dropkick off the middle rope is great). We get an awesome nearfall when Kincaid hits a big stunner variation, and Cain gets his foot on the rope. Cain is really great at dramatic rope breaks, his ring placement is really smart, there have been a few matches where he looked far enough away for a rope break that I wasn't even thinking of it as an option, only to barely get part of a foot on it. Kincaid does have some goofy offense, but man is Cain great at making some goofy offense look great. The match finishing goofball Diamond Dust bulldog thing could have looked like a move that should not have ended a match, but Cain makes it look like it spiked him right through the mat. These two really blended nicely in a quirky way. Wouldn't mind seeing this run back.


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EVOLVE 98 1/13/18

PAS: Really liked the opening with Darby Allin giving a promo at his skate park and getting Champ tattooed on his upper lip. A wrestling version of a Soundcloud rapper is a pretty in culture gimmick, wrestlings Lil Peep is a pretty great gimmick especially for a guy who takes the bumps Darby takes.

Jarek 1:20 v. Snoop Strikes v. Brody King v. Jason Kincaid

PAS: This was a four-way with all of the pluses and minuses of a four way. We got a chance to see all four guys do some impressive stuff (well three guys, I am not riding the Jarek 1:20 train), King had a great dive for such a giant fat guy, Kincaid hit some brutal double stomps including the finishing stomp which nearly caved Strikes chest in, Snoop had some really fast counters and a great missile dropkick. Still there was the downsides which was a lot of complicated four person spots which weren't always pulled off and what ever the fuck Jarek's comedy magic gimmick is. First time I have seen Strikes and King and they are a fine poor mans Cool J and Mike Mars

Dominic Garrini/Tracy Williams v. Timothy Thatcher/WALTER

PAS: Man was this great, Garrini is a guy we love and I am really happy to see him step up in his most high profile match and deliver like this. He was a pitbull, getting his teeth on a scrap of meat and not letting go always pushing pace and attacking, he also laid in his strikes better then I had seen before. Loved the early Thatcher v. Garrini matwork, Thatcher is super comfortable rolling with a Jujitsu black belt, and they do a bunch of cool things based around knee and ankle locks. WALTER is a beast and is a great hot tag, just wrecking everyone with big boots and sack of laundry german suplexes. Williams is a problamatic guy for me, he has a lot of skill, but will occasionally do some comically bad looking stuff, this was mostly the good Tracey (outside of one silly 619) and I really liked how tenaciously he went after the neck near the end. Finish run was dope with Garrini countering a rear naked choke and pulling a triangle  but WALTER hoisting him up and chucking him on Williams. One big WALTER powerbomb later Williams is smushed. So much fun, and I am hoping 2018 has Garrini really mixing it up with the EVOLVE uppercard.

ER: This is probably the best I've seen Garrini look in a match, even better than the Cain Justice match we loved so much. That match felt more like Cain knowing how to use every one of Garrini's strengths to craft the perfect match with him. This felt like him really bringing all his skills into pro wrestling, and knowing just how to work within a nicely built tag structure. The control segment on Thatcher was awesome, and I love how abrupt the finish was. There's a pretty high correlation between a lack of overkill and the guys we love, as I could have easily seen this match going much longer but was very pleased with where and how it ended. Thatcher turned in a great performance and I loved how he matched with Garrini, and really got into the match when Garrini and Williams were keeping him isolated. Williams brought really good energy to everything, and the longer they kept Thatcher isolated the bigger I knew WALTER's hot tag run would be. And before long WALTER is throwing chops and lariats and boots and Garrini and Williams and it's great. Garrini keeps trying to slow him down and smother him, going for triangles and chokes, allowing Williams to target Thatcher. The finish was awesome and sudden, with Williams catching Thatcher in an armbar and Garrini getting a rear naked on WALTER, and I love the camera shot of Williams' armbar in the foreground, and in the background you see WALTER rolling through and deadlifting Garrini, and then WALTER just powerbombs him onto Williams. Awesome moment. And I love how that leads to Williams eating an immediate powerbomb for the sudden win. Very fun tag.

Chris Dickinson v. Parrow

PAS: The End run out, and we get a brawl with Catch Point that lead to this singles No DQ match. Pretty fun ECW brawl. Parrow is a big dude and Dickinson really wails on his back with chair shots. I also like Dickinson going to the back and getting a broom to choke him with, I always like wrestling match with plausible plunder. Finish is Parrow eating a pazuzu bomb on some chairs which is a nasty bump for such a big dude, that is a lot of weight on a fat neck.

ER: I thought this was great! Dickinson looked fully consumed by hate as he went after Parrow, just the worst kind of initiation as Dickinson beats him all around ringside with nasty chairshots with uncomfortable plastic seats, and you can start to see bruises forming on Parrow's back as he falls around. Dickinson ramps it up and unfold a chair over Parrow's neck, and then stands on the chair as Parrow chokes. Nasty spot. Dickinson also makes a wooded broom look like a mean weapon, choking Parrow with it and talking trash before breaking it over Parrow's chest (but not before sweeping some dirt on him). Dickinson was classic dickhead Dickinson here, with his crazy eyes and zebra Zubaz (zebraz?), and it's weird for a giant 300 lb. dude to be the underdog babyface, but Parrow coming back and chucking Dickinson onto the stage with a powerbomb was an awesome moment. The camera angle made it look like Dickinson was swallowed by crowd and chairs, and I love integrating a venue's terrain into a match. Both guys take a couple rough bumps on the stage with Dickinson going through chairs and Parrow threatening to powerslam him OFF the stage before Dickinson - in true asshole fashion - claws at Parrow's balls to get down!! The vertical suplex is already an underrated awesome move, but a 300 lb. guy getting vertical suplexed on a small stage makes it even more awesome. Both guys take nasty bumps, with Dickinson back in getting powerbombed through a chair, and we get a great visual of Parrow - back to camera - asking for chairs and then swatting chairs into the ring as they're tossed. But as goes the rule of spot set up ("He who sets up the gimmick, goes through the gimmick"), Parrow takes too long and eats the insane pazuzu bomb onto a bunch of chairs. The visual was nuts with a huge guy taking that move, and this whole thing was a cool little mean spirited scrap.

AR Fox v. Matt Riddle

PAS: Fox comes out with a whole crew of dudes, and has an amusing back and forth with them. I enjoyed Fox taunting Riddle at the beginning by dropping down into guard and making punching motions. I also liked Riddle being pissed and super aggressive. When Riddle turns it on, he is a really dynamic offensive wrestler. I do think they are forcing the "Riddle hates rope breaks" story a bit, and I do have a hard time buying Fox's offense being strong enough to put him down. I did think this was better then some of Riddle's other matches against flyers as it felt like a clash of styles, rather then Riddle justing trying to work as a workrate junior.

ER: I love a good posse in wrestling, and Fox has a good crew of sycophants around him. It's awesome seeing all the boys overly praising Fox for everything he does, you got fanny pack guy, hair guy, wife in the high heels overselling Riddle's entrance music, etc. You gotta have a good crew. And I thought this was awesome, easily my favorite AR Fox performance ever. In the same way I hated end of career Shawn Michaels, but would have loved his same moveset as a heel, AR Fox is a guy who works much better as a heel for me. I love a cocky highflyer heel, and Fox is so athletic that he can pull off complicated stuff and then smirk like an asshole. It works great. Riddle doesn't fall for his trap and start pulling off a bunch of similar moves just because he's also athletic, instead he waits to sink in violence, like a killer leaping high knee lift to the chin, or a huge tombstone followed up with a powerbomb, that only doesn't get the 3 count because Fox was next to the ropes. Riddle also throws out these dismissive sentons that are heavy and smartly used. Fox's crew at one point gets baited into catching a huge springboard cannonball dive from Fox, again, you gotta have a good crew. Finish is insane and a total kill shot, with Riddle putting Fox up top but Fox hitting a stupid Destroyer off the top, then a Spanish Fly variation off the opposite corner, and then a hard 450 splash, no way anybody would kick out of that. Awesomely build crazily ramped up spotfest, both guys using their athleticism to the match's advantage. My easy favorite AR Fox performance, and my favorite Riddle singles match in awhile.

Austin Theory v. Fred Yehi

PAS: Fred Yehi is always entertaining, but I am not buying any of what Austin Theroy is selling, I am not buying Priscilla Kelly goth temptress, I am not buying the goofus redemption story with Jason Kincaid, his goofy ass NOVA finisher, I am not on board for any of it. Yehi tries, and I do like his stomps and his upkicks, but this was tons of booking and not very interesting booking. Pricilla Kelly has a nice flip dive off the apron though.

Jaka v. Keith Lee

PAS: I enjoy slugfest Lee way more then worlds thickest junior Lee and he and Jaka pound on each other here. Lee has some awesome throws, at one point Jaka tries to grab his arm and he just throws him through the air with his wrist, I also love his overhead belly to belly where he just tosses him with no back bump. Jaka had some cool flurries, I loved his leg sweep and his over hand slaps. Finish was a little goofy with Lee being distracted by AR Fox's posse which allows Jaka to unload on him, only problem was the finish spin kick didn't land with the kind of force you would need to drop a mountain like Lee, really took the steam out of an otherwise enjoyable match.

ER: I think I liked this more than Phil (and it kind of seems like I've enjoyed the show as a whole more than Phil, though I've also skipped a couple matches), but I thought Jaka looked good competing at the WWN champ's level, and didn't think Lee was brought down a lot in losing (though if beating him is to make him seem more vulnerable heading into a match with Fox, it's a lot to ask to believe he'd lose to Jaka and then turn around and lose to Fox). I thought Jaka was great bumping around for Lee, and I liked the varied strikes he tossed out, coming big with chops and leg kicks and working the knee, and I thought a couple of his blocks of Lee strikes were used nicely. Lee is a physical freak and breaks out the big rana (which he shouldn't use often, but as a big surprise moment it looks so cool) and Jaka makes me actually care about a tornado DDT in 2018! It's been such a regularly used, unimportant move to most matches, but somehow seeing Lee whip around and bounce off his head made it huge. Jaka hits some rolling kicks and then bumps awesome into the corner when he misses (and later bumps great into the ropes off a mean Pounce), leading to Lee chucking him with a couple big throws. I didn't hate the distractions from Fox's crew, but maybe it's because I'm really digging Fox's crew, and love how it kept Jaka in the game. Going into the match I thought this was going to be a 6-8 minute destruction of Jaka, so I loved him repeatedly staying in it, and was not expecting him to get the win. I guess the end spin kick could have landed more "KO blow", but it was a heel whipped into a guy's neck and jaw, so who am I to judge? I love Jaka and Dickinson got to both conquer two huge dudes, love them getting some singles match clout.

Zach Sabre Jr. v. Darby Allin

PAS: Tremendous match. Modern day version of Fuchi v. Kikuchi with stellar performances from both guys. Out of this world stuff from Allin, he is a guy who made his rep for taking insane bumps, so it is pretty incredible he could pull off a main event match with basically no bumps at all. Not only did he not take some crazy spill, he basically took two flat back bumps all match. Allin comes out and tries to catch Sabre quickly with some lighting fast roll ups, but Sabre quickly takes control and starts torturing Allin. He was twisting his body in some vicious ways, manipulating elbows and wrist, I mean gross stuff. Allin is super flexible and a really charismatic seller, you totally buy the pain etched on his face, and the stubborn willingness to go farther then anyone should to get a win. I loved Sabre as a technician in this, he had awesome counters for both the coffin drop and last supper (Allin's Gibson leglock rollup), and I loved how that composure slipped as Allin refused to go down. We get a couple of really persuasive Allin near falls, and going into this match not knowing the results, I bit on the code red totally, and then the finish is gruesome with Sabre transitioning from submission hold to submission hold kicking a prone Allin in the head until the ref has to stop it. Great stuff, hell of a match for EVOLVE to start the year on.

ER: Damn damn damn! Sabre is undeniable at this point, and he was a full force asshole to Allin's body in this match, and Allin can convincingly play the stubborn idiot who is too badass AND too dumb to know when to quit. But this was a savage Sabre performance, with him just torturing Allin, bending his limbs, slamming his legs into the mat, kicking at joints, throwing some of his best uppercuts, digging his elbow into meat to get Allin to offer up limbs, throwing the best mocking kicks to a downed Allin, just mean cruel stuff. The stretching and beating and torture would sometimes go so long without being broken that it made Allin's comebacks and surprise offense so much more satisfying. Sabre was just in full jock heel mode, showing the first day of class rookie a lesson, mugging at the crowd with doofy faces, flexing, cockily having the ref count Allin down after strikes while he waited in the corner, just awesome overly confident heel masterclass. Allin has tons of cool offense and Sabre's wide-eyed idiot faces were great when Allin would catch him with a flash roll up or plausibly executed Code Red. Sabre's control of Allin's limbs was a treat to watch, knowing when he had Allin's leg leveraged enough that he could break his grip (supporting the leg with his body) to allow him to shift focus to another part of the body, back to bending elbows or hyperextending arms or wrecking wrist ligaments. Allin was just the perfect amount of nuts in this, still crazy enough to try locking in an awesome guillotine choke, with no regard to what Sabre is going to do to him when he inevitably pops out free. This was really squashy in parts, but with Sabre's movements and cockiness it always felt like he was ripe to be upset, and with Allin's grit he always felt like a guy who could get that upset. He does get two very good nearfalls, close pinning combos that could have easily held Sabre down for an extra split second, and that just made the finish all the more brutal: Allin goes for the Coffin Drop, Sabre catches him in an armbar, and begins just bending both his arms back while digging his boot heel into Allin's face, kicking him in the head, just making you want the match to end. Ref stops it, and we get a truly awesome match very early in 2018.


ER: This was an awesome show, great start to the year, with three matches easily landing on our (very young) 2018 Ongoing MOTY List. A lot of guys are making big strides forward, and it won't be shocking to see a bunch of these guys continue to pop up on our list.


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CWF Mid-Atlantic Worldwide Episode 122

Episode 122

1. Roy Wilkins vs. Montana Black

ER: Yeah baby Montana Black is Back! He's a guy we saw seemingly ages ago that I've been wanting to see again, no reason why I should be deprived of this dude. This is worked simply, with Wilkins moving all around Black as he stands tall as an unchoppable tree. Wilkins fights him like a heel Westley fighting a babyface Fezzik jumping on him and trying to take out those legs. Black doesn't have thick legs, so Wilkins' shoulderblocks to the inner knee seem extra tough. I loved him jumping in for an abdominal stretch and how badly everything went when he tried jumping on Black. Black hits a mammoth face buster, picking up Wilkins in a full nelson and just planting him face first. His power looked legit and Wilkins took the bump like Wile E. Coyote falling face first off a cliff. I was disappointed when no dust cloud ploofed up. Black gets distracted and Wilkins blasts him behind the ear with his golden ticket plaque. I really love these 6 minute CWF matches. They always feel like they accomplish so much for the allotted time. I want more Montana Black!

PAS: Montana Black is two for two with me in singles matches. He is legit huge and seems to understand how to use his size, he actually works a lot like Andre the Giant, all open hand thudding chops and immobility. Wilkins is great at working as a cerebral wrestler, and I loved him try to solve the puzzle, before just giving up and smashing Black in the head with brass knuckles. I actually think Black would be a great addition to the All-Stars as a sort of a monster equalizer.

2. Slade Porter vs. Cam Carter

ER: This wasn't a bad 5 minutes, though some parts felt a little too rehearsed, it still had cool stuff. I was admittedly distracted by Cain Justice on commentary, as he wasn't really working in character, instead he came off like a more southern fried Snagglepuss. "That was a nice floatover, a nice drop down, even." We've seen Porter a few times now and this is probably the best he's looked, specifically thought a couple of his more complicated moves looked painful (like that nice leaping back elbow), and I liked Carter's low German suplex. This still felt like more of a touring match, but if you got 5 minutes to make an impression I can see using your touring match.

PAS: This didn't do it for me, I think Porter is one of the worst guys who shows up semi-regularly, and serious Porter was just as try hard and fun loving Porter. There was a section where Porter was throwing punches that were getting blocked which was comically bad looking. Carter has some potential and nice athletic ability, but wasn't going to be able to save this.

3. John Skyler vs. Jason Kincaid

ER: Skyler comes out wearing the one armed, studded leather jacket like Finlay or a Mad Max villain. It's a look I don't think I can pull off. But maybe it's one of those "confidence is key" things, where if you just act like you're someone who can pull off a one armed, studded leather jacket with one armor-like shoulder pad, then you can pull it off. I remember when vests became popular again among men, and I tried one on and just felt like I couldn't make it work. I felt like too much of a phony. So I might *think* that I wouldn't be able to pull off a Mad Max vest, but I don't know for certain. But I liked this match, even though I thought it could have been trimmed a bit. I was surprised how much Skyler was in control. I thought several of Kincaid's comebacks came off unnatural, just because Skyler was doing nothing but hitting him with big moves. Early on he used a lot of speed to stay one step ahead, or logically set up offense off of Skyler's misses, like that sunset flip powerbomb sending Skyler into the bottom buckle. But at a certain point this just felt like Kincaid barely kicking out of something, then just going back on offense. And sometimes the offense he set up felt a little longwinded, like the 619 from the entrance ramp, or the finishing cutter off the top that required Skyler to lift him into position to do the move. I don't like that kind of stuff. But for a longer match I thought they mostly filled the time well, and there were plenty of big (and little) killer moments, like Kincaid's crazy stomp to the face off a ringpost, and Skyler doing a deep back rake to sink in a powerbomb.

PAS: I liked this more then Eric did. I am a fan of Kincaid's fancy offense, it fits well with his character and spots like the double stomp off of the ringpost are legitimately awesome. I also really like Skyler, he is an ex CW Anderson and Preston Quinn tag partner and he has that same methodical yet forceful style. I did think it might have gone a bit too long and I thought the 619 from the ring entrance was kind of dumb, but I thought the finish was great. Stuttsy had been talking all match about Skylers top rope Finlay roll being his killer move and Kincaid reversing it in mid air into a stunner was crazy athletic and cool.

ER: I liked the stuff with Snooty and CL in Chapel Hill, with Snooty showing her his favorite 24 hour restaurant. Not only did I like Snooty (and CL) more after this, it made me want mac and cheese and a chicken biscuit. After all these scary beyond belief fires out here in CA this past week+, what kind of place do you think I can afford in Chapel Hill or Gibsonville? Somebody sell me on NC!

4. CW Anderson & The Dawsons vs. Chet Sterling & The Sandwich Squad

ER: I would have liked 5 more minutes from this, and 5 less from the prior match. I mean before the bell this match already had a woman in the crowd throw her nachos for a total bullseye on Zane Dawson, and then the Squad picked up a couple of the nachos and ate them. The parts of this match where CW and the Dawsons were picking apart Sterling were the best, I could have easily taken more of a heat segment. CW was vicious with everyone. His staredowns are maybe my favorite in wrestling, he never skimps on stomach kicks, and he never tries to get cheers. He is a bad man through and through. I like Sterling more every week, and I think he's especially good as the sympathetic babyface in matches like this. He fights to comeback nicely, sells well (which might be easier to do when Zane is smacking you in the ribs, or Dave is twisting you in a cravate, and CW is throwing big right hands to your face), but I like him getting dropped with a backdrop, coming up holding his shoulder and still wanting to fight, loved CW working that shoulder over his own while digging an elbow into Sterling's neck. I love how CW kept on Sterling, even when things started to break down and everybody got involved, he still lazered in on Sterling until he stuck that spinebuster. I thought the finish was real great as Biggs hits a mammoth Thesz press, but CW breaks up the pin with a killer low superkick; Biggs struggles back to his feet and shoots CW a look, but CW nails another one, Zane hits a lariat, and Dave dumps him with an awesome Saito suplex.  The Converse/Anderson standoff at the end of the episode hyped me even more for WarGames.

PAS: The beginning of this match with the face team all holding their trophies and the heels holding their belts, plus the faces taunting the lady into tossing her nachos was classic wrestling horseshit. Great CW performance, he was the conductor of the whole match, masterminding the beat down on Sterling. Coming in and hitting brutal cheap shots, right hands and his nasty spinebuster. I always enjoy watch the Sandwhich Squad do their thing, and Mecha hits an especial big time lariat. Finish was really great the Thez press by Biggs is world swallowing, and that short superkick by CW looked like it broke Biggs jaw.

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CWF Mid-Atlantic Worldwide Episode 121

Episode 121

1. Jason Kincaid vs. Chip Day

ER: I really like Kincaid, glad they brought him in and I hope we see him more. He's possibly the most athletic guy to also own multiple Blind Melon CDs. He's probably the most athletic guy out of all guys called "dirt weed" by their friends. I kind of need to see a team of Kincaid and Aric Andrews, two lanky scuzzy dudes, Team Black Crowes Guitar Tech! Kincaid flops around nicely for offense, leans into kicks (and I really like Day's spin kicks to the chin, and his kicks to take out Kincaid at the shins). Day is a guy with a lot of offense, and much of it he pulls off effortlessly, a guy who has a moveset that actually feels like his moveset, in spite of it being large. And I like how his moveset can also be complicated enough to make him vulnerable. This was plenty of fun, and yeah I hope we get more Kincaid.

PAS; This was good stuff, felt like a touring indy match, with both guys getting to show off their cool spots and a sensible well worked finish. Kincaid has a bunch of really innovative stuff that all makes sense and doesn't look contrived. Most guys who work an innovator style end up throwing in a bunch of superfluous junk, Kincaid is flashy but it all connects. I especially love his top of the ringpost double stomp, he missed it here but it always looks dangerous. Day was landing his kicks good, and I really liked his ankle pick submission attempt. I am not sure what Day's persona is though. I think he should just lean into his new Wikileaks gimmick , have him dox his opponents before the match, he can leak emails of tag partners talking shit about each other, Day could be the guy who got LaRoux Smith Garrett's medical records. Maybe you could have Gabe sending in EVOLVE guys to take Day out, Day v. Fred Yehi or Keith Lee could be really great.

2. Cain Justice vs. Dirty Daddy

ER: I love Justice coming out quick following the previous match, and immediately getting into Day's face. I already want to see Justice against just about anybody, but he has a way of adding to potential future match ups, always setting up little reasons for other people to want to fight him other than "we were booked against each other off camera". It's little, but it adds a lot. And this match rules as Cain goes after Daddy's left arm in some sick ways, including snapping it back over the top rope. And Daddy is so good as a fighting babyface, always firing back at Justice with hard shots. I loved how Cain smacked him a couple times and then was shocked to find Dirty hits harder. Dirty is also super mindful of his injured wing, selling appropriately at all times. Loved Cain blasting him with a lariat and the look on Cain's face when Dirty doesn't budge. Daddy's offense looked killer here, I especially liked him purposely over-rolling Cain on a backslide, sending Cain flipping over right into a vicious knee to the face. I loved the spot, as at first I thought he had just come in too hot on a backslide, then I realized it positioned Cain perfectly and naturally to take the knee. Very clever. Cain matches always seem to go just the right amount of time, and there's always a lot of high end action packed into them. There are usually a couple little match stories going on and we usually get satisfying results to those stories. This couldn't have been more than 8 minutes but had so much neat stuff going on, with a nice satisfying ending, I'd really love to see these two continue to match up.

PAS: I thought this was really great. Watching these two guys match up is like seeing early Flair v. Steamboat or the first Low-Ki v. Danielson matches, just a pair of prodigies at the start of what should be an all time great rivalry. Dirty comes in throwing bombs, clearly fired up trying to drop Justice early, his ripcord elbow is really sharp and violent looking. Cain of course goes after the arm, and is really sadistic, very early he tries for a crossarmbreaker and when he gets counters, he immediately switches to the other arm. There is a great spot early where he rubber bands the top rope into Dirties eyes, and later in the match when he tries it again Dirty just stomps a mudhole into him. I loved the end with Cain knocking Daddy silly with some brutal forearms to the back of the head, when the ref pulls him up, Daddy spits in Cain's face, it was a great "fuck you" before dying, and leads right into Cain superkicking him and slapping on the twist ending. I want to see every single match up these two ever have.

3. Arik Royal vs. Beau Crockett vs. Mike Mars vs. Mecha Mercenary vs. Aaron Biggs vs. Snooty Foxx

ER: This was a bit of a rushed mess, but with a "winner gets title shot" stip like this you either work a long match and then have the winner gassed for his title shot, or you work a short inconsequential match that's just a lead in for the main. I guess I'd rather have the latter, as the main event singles has potential to be the better match. But this is one of those short multimans where guys are selling way too much way too early, and it's a shame because I like how a lot of these guys match up. Still, even in the short time we still get Royal taking a beefy clothesline to the floor (hitting his knees in rough fashion on the apron on his way down), Mecha throwing meaty chops, clotheslining Mars in the face, a big Snooty spear, a huge Biggs samoan drop on Royal, obviously some fun stuff. When you put some of these guys in a match and let them do things, those things are going to be fun. Crockett and Mars seem to just be in there for the same reason Misawa has Satoru Asako on his trios team or Stan Hansen has Lacrosse as a tag partner, or how Eric has the hottest wrestling analogies from 1997. But one of those guys were clearly in there to eat a pin, and it doesn't make a lot of sense that they'd even be this close to title contention. This was a "2nd chance" 6 man, when did Crockett or Mars ever get a 1st chance? I'm fine with the end result, as I love the Squad and would love to see them in more singles, but at this rate they may as well have just given Mecha an offscreen title shot.

PAS:  This was a fun idea, I like putting all the big dudes in one ring and let them pound on each other, but the execution was wanting a bit. Mars I understand because he is large, but Beau Crockett isn't 300 pounds so he is an odd man out and an obvious candidate to get pinned. Some of the work here was fine, but I would have rather had this go a big longer and have some drama.

4. Mecha Mercenary vs. Trevor Lee

ER: Yes yes yes! This is the first time I've seen Lee against a monster fat dude, and the first time I've seen Mecha in a singles match (let alone a long main event), and it all couldn't have gone much better. Outside of one moment where it looked like Mecha let Lee out of a tight pin, this was a fully plausible monster vs. scrappy brave defender with some awesome twists and constantly killers spots. These two blast each other with strikes the whole match, huge lariats from both (Mecha turns Lee inside out a few times with his great lariats, and one of the best moments of the match is Lee hulking up and practically dislocating his shoulder to crush Mecha with a standing clothesline), and some really cool learned behavior. Lee made up the size difference by being nasty and persistent. Mecha may chop harder, but Lee can chop you right in the eye, motherfucker! I loved all the play around Lee's apron kick, with Mecha catching the first attempt and grabbing him in a fireman's carry, other attempts see Mecha swinging at Lee's legs with Lee jumping over, and finally Lee hits one and adds another for good measure. They were really good at showing Lee's normal attacks might not affect the big man as much, or might work differently: I loved when Lee went for the STF and couldn't really roll him over, so Mecha ended up on top in a very close pinfall. Mecha goes into the match seeing the trail of bodies Lee's title reign has left in its wake, and clearly ramps things up, sometimes to his disadvantage: He goes to the middle rope two different times and never looks comfortable up there, but knowing how effective his awesome elbow drops are from the mat, think of the damage he could do from the middle? Lee is crafty and makes Mecha pay for it, and the build for this was really good. Part of me was rooting for Mecha to win the belt, part of me was rooting for Lee to figure out a way to take down this giant and put another notch in the belt. The finish was coconuts and well played, with Lee flying off the ropes and getting caught in what surely would have been a crushing powerslam, but coming in so fast and rotating so quick that he flips through and lands on top of the powerslam. The move looked awesome, and the pin was handled perfect with Lee getting barely enough for the 3, the reversal surprising Mecha just long enough to keep him down, kicking out right at 3 but a split second too late. Money.

PAS: Really good stuff. I love how diverse Lee's title matches are, especially lately and it was fun to watch him work basically a modern day One Man Gang. Mecha is really great at projecting his size, sometimes guys that big will want to show off their athleticism, but Mecha is great at being a mountain to climb. Even a simple cradle is super impressive when it is a refrigerator sitting on your chest. I loved how they set up Lee's german suplex, even great big men like Vader would jump a little too much when they got thrown, Mecha obviously had to assist on the german, no way a human could throw a guy that big with out help, but he didn't leap, Trevor muscled him over and it looked like an enormous feat of strength. I also loved the second rope moves backfiring, Mecha isn't showing off his moonsault, he doesn't belong up there and paid for his hubris. Also that finish didn't even look humanly possible, again somehow Mecha made a move that requires cooperation look like a one man miracle.  I watched it three times and have no idea how either guy pulled it off. I also love the multi match story they are telling about Lee's arrogance, calling Mecha a bitch and telling him to hit him harder, is exactly the kind of thing which will cost Lee his belt, whenever he loses it, and they are doing a great job of sowing seeds for his fatal hubris.

ER: These shows have been flying high lately, I can't believe how many we've already reviewed. And, as is becoming a trend, we've added another match to our 2017 Ongoing MOTY List. Mecha vs. Lee was another in an awesomely booked main event program.

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EVOLVE 78 Road Report + EVOLVE 79 Live Blog

I went to EVOLVE in Joppa last night with Childs in the new weird thing where I had a baby and am now going to live wrestling a lot.

Matt Riddle v. Anthony Henry

I didn't really care for this. It had it's moments, Riddle is always going to do some cool stuff, I liked the early amateur takedowns, and the finish combo of fisherman's buster into tombstone into twister was very cool. Most of this though I didn't like, I thought Henry was pretty good in the Style Battle Yehi match, but he was working as a Dixie Davey Richards in this, lots of stiff kicks to the chest and grimacing. There wasn't much selling, a terrible looking New Japan forearm and stare exchange (which has infected the indies like Noro virus). Riddle is getting less interesting to me as he gets more experience, he has sanded away a bunch of the rough edges which made him interesting, and is working more like an indy workrate dude, I am concerned his is developing Kurt Angleitis.

Austin Theory v. Darby Allin

Crossfit has really ruined wrestling, now even your guy working a Kidman in the flock junky gimmick has super well developed abs. Allin's crazy face tattoo is a nice step, but he needs to stop with the wall jumps if he really wants to live the gimmick. This match was pretty great, Allin is a nutso bumper, but here he was mostly doing cool springboard rana's and armdrags, Allin basically works like a US version of Freelance or Dinamic Black. Theroy has a dumb name, and goofy gear (he has Unproven on his tights, works as a 19 year old, but he is going to have to buy new tights in a year or so, can't really push a guy who's tights say Unproven) but I really dug him as a base for Allin's fun flips. Theory also does a nutso top rope moonsault to the floor where he nukes his ribs on the guardrail, I was really worried because Allin seems like a guy unwilling to be outbumped but he kept it in his pants. Really liked the finish, with Allin flubbing a springboard briefly, but enough to get caught.

Ethan Page v. Jason Kincaid

Ethan Page matches are always a chore, but I minded this less then usual. Page is as his best as kind of a put upon stooge and he was amusing being flummoxed by Kincaid's goofus shtick. I like Kincaid 's spots but he doesn't always land his offense cleanly and there was things from both guys which didn't look good, especially when Page started taking more of the match. Still this was basically fine which is all I can hope for with a Page match.

Chris Dickinson/Jaka v. The Gatekeepers

It is odd that Jaka is working a tiny ethnic guy who yells things in a weird voice on the same show where Yehi is fighting for the title. B. Brian Blair wasn't cupping his ear and dropping a leg on MSG undercards. Match had its moments, Dickinson and Jaka really laid it in especially on the bigger of the Gatekeepers (who is legit big and muscular, he would have had a career in a different age).

ACH v. Tracey Williams

I had pretty low expectations for this coming in, but it ended up maybe my MOTN. Both guys really laced into each other, in a fed and a show where you have a lot of stiff workers this felt a step above. Williams especially was landing these really nasty elbows and chops to the sides of ACH's neck and his throat he also landed a really uncalled for lariat. ACH got in some of his trademark spots, but mostly went at Williams too. Not sure if this will come off on tape as good as it came off live, but live, it made us both wince multiple times.

Drew Galloway v. Jeff Cobb

You don't usually see this kind of heavyweight scrap on Indy shows. Cobb's strength stuff is alway impressive and it is even more impressive to watch him throw around a beast like Galloway. I also loved Galloway doing a slingshot beneath the ring, catching Cobb's neck on a metal poll, I remember Drew McIntyre doing a bunch of Finlayesque use of the ring spots during his WWE run, so I am glad he still has that arrow. Loved the finish with Cobb powering out of a backslide which I have never seen before, only to have Galloway flip over him and hit his DDT, really cool stuff. Still waiting for Cobb to have a real classic, but he is a pretty low floor guy, he is always at a minimum worth watching.

Keith Lee v. Zach Sabre Jr.

Lee is huge live, so crazy that out of these two the skinny british guy doing Johnny Saint spots was the one with a big WWE push. Worked exactly how it should have been with Lee throwing around ZSJ using his strength, and Sabre trying to catch him in submissions. Sabre also used Lee's size as an excuse to unload on him, his Penalty kick usually looks kind of shitty, but he booted the fuck out of Lee, I also liked that he used him as a jungle gym, climbing all around him and putting on weird abdominal stretch variations. Lee as a indy Mark Henry is great, surprising bursts of agility along with big throws and good shit talking.

Timothy Thatcher v. Fred Yehi

So am I the only guy who has noticed that Thatcher seems to be working a subtle Alt-Right gimmick? I made a joke to Childs about his new Richard Spenser haircut, but then I notice he has Ring Kampf written on his jacket and shorts, and the ring jacket is lined with plaid just like every Skinhead punk I punched in college. Also going to study in the Snake Pit with Billy Robinson and adhering to a technical European style of wrestling seems like exactly how a white nationalist indy wrestler would behave. I am not sure why Gabe put him with a Black manager, but it would be just like a Jew promoter to promote @White Genocide.

Although it was hard to unnotice that, the match itself was pretty damn great. At this point Thatcher isn't going to deviate from his style, he is going to work a Thatcher match even if that isn't what the crowd wants. I admire that, fuck pandering to the jerks who populate indy wrestling shows, do your thing. This was a really good example of a Thatcher match, Yehi is very capable of working that style and looking good doing it, and he will also deliver a lot of the flash needed. Thatcher's shots don't sound sharp but they thud, and they were thudding. I loved Yehi's ground and pound, and Thatchers choke throw is a hell of a finish. Could have maybe used one Yehi rope break at the end, but otherwise no complaints.

Overall a really good show that delivered four great matches to close out

EVOLVE 79 Live Blog

I am home with Baby Zach so I figured I would check this out

ACH v. Jason Kincaid

I enjoyed some of Kincaid's stuff again, especially his leaping off the stage to dropkick ACH in the ring, he definitely brings a different vibe to these shows. After loving the ACH match the night before, this was a little more generically juniorish. Fine stuff, enjoyed it fine, but relatively forgettable.

Chris Dickinson v. Fred Yehi v. Austin Theory v. Anthony Henry

This was pretty good when the catch point boys were involved a little less so with the pretty boys. Dickinson especially was fired up, throwing big kicks and throws. Kept moving at a nice pace, and I liked the finish with Dickinson stealing the win by getting a pin before Fred could get the tap out. I think the Catch Point explodes tag will be really good.

Jaka v. Jeff Cobb

I was excited to see these guys face off last night, and this was a great little scrap. A pair of Islanders pounding on each other (Jaka is Samoan? Puerto Rican? Dominican? I am guessing he is from some island). There was one German suplex no sell section which I didn't love, but everything else was awesome. Jaka was throwing shots, and Cobb was snatching him out of the air with some huge throws including the best tour of the islands I have seen. Wouldn't mind seeing them run this back.

Ethan Page v. Darby Allin

Great match, easily the best I have seen from either guy. Allin is truly insane, he gets presslamed from the stage into a post, and then gets his hands handcuffed behind and takes multiple bumps on his handcuffed wrists. Page has been trying to do Franchise Shane Douglas and this is the first time I though he got there (not that I love Shane Douglas, but Shane was way more effective at his stuff then Page has been so far), he came off as such as a hatable prick and laid in the kind of beating you need to get this match over. Allin's comeback was insane, he is hitting rana's and dropkicks with his hands cuffed one of the craziest wrestling moments I can remember, like something out of a Jackie Chan movie.

Keith Lee v. Tracy Williams

Another good Keith Lee match, unlike Sabre last night, Williams tried to stand toe to toe with Lee hitting him with hard shots, but standing in front of a bigger puncher is never a good idea, and he gets smashed. Williams really bounced on Lee powermoves, huge powerbomb and got smashed with the firemans carry jackhammer. Lee is not working as a heavyweight with highspots in EVOLVE, he is working as a smashing machine and that works better.

Matt Riddle v. Drew Galloway

I thought this had some good ideas, but never really got out of second gear, the blows were solid, but I felt it was a bit repetitive, and needed to be more violent. I liked the finish, although a ref stop on body blows is a little weird, Galloway should have at least sold broken ribs or something

Timothy Thatcher v. Zach Sabre Jr.

Really great match with Sabre trying to finally be the guy to solve Thatcher, and a rabid crowd wanting Thatcher to go down. Really great early grappling leading to a super hot finish, with Thatcher pulling out counters to counters, before finally falling to a crazy abdominal stretch version. The announcer mentioned Thatcher watching Johnny Valentine, and I see his title reign almost like Johnny Valentine as he trained the crowd to respect and loathe his style, Thatcher had more real heel heat then anyone I can remember seeing in EVOLVE, and he did it all with a sneer and an armbar. Really exiting match, that I especially loved watching live not knowing about the title change.

(Thatcher Pepe watch: Lenny Leanord mentions that he is spending all of his free time in Germany, and makes a weird sarcastic reference about him partying with Jill Scott, also post match ZSJ gives a speech about accepting all people as equal, and loving everyone which I am reading as a subtweet)

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EVOLVE 76 Live Blog

Wife and baby are asleep, so I figured I would check this out

Jaka v. Peter Kassa

I like Jaka a fair amount, although not enough to enjoy a longish Peter Kassa singles match. Jaka has some nice headbuts and works a grinding style which I enjoy, everything he does has some sting to it. Kassa has some nice athleticism, but his simple stuff looks bad (although that has gotten Okada pretty far). Match falls apart at the end when Kassa tries a second rope moonsault and the ring breaks dumping him on his head. Jaka finishes it quick and we have a delay as they try to fix it. Might be a short live blog.

Chris Dickinson v. Darby Allin

Fun match, this is the Dickinson I really dig, less of a fighting spirit babyface, more like a dipship meathead bully. Allin is a great underdog, he doesn't take as many insane bumps in this match, but does die on some in ring bumps. I especially loved Dickinsons dead lift German suplexes where he would snatch him right from the ground and dead lift. Allin kept avoiding the lawn dart, including countering it into a armdrag, and Allin gets the with with a roll up. Really fun compact match, with both guys performing their roles well.

DUSTIN v. Jason Kincaid

I really enjoyed Kincaid's hillbilly WOS of sport stuff, he wrestles like Checkmake Tony Charles impregnated an Arkansas ring rat during a WCCW tour. Early part of this match was fun with DUSTIN getting aggravated by Kincaids shtick, and say what you will about DUSTIN, he does a punchable douche face. This goes a bit long, although Kincaid has enough fun stuff to keep me engaged. Right guy went over, although it felt like DUSTIN needing to get a bunch of stuff in if he was laying down.

Zach Sabre Jr. v. Ethan Page

This is a grudge match, with ZSJ trying to get revenge on Page for convincing Gabe to put him over Sabre last year. I liked parts of this, as ZSJ torturing Page with submission holds was good fun, I especially liked the finish as ZSJ was DQ'ed for not releasing a triangle choke. Still grudge match means lots of strike exchanges and these are two guys you don't want to see exchange shots with each other.

ACH v. Matt Riddle

I liked this a fair amount, ACH is debuting and this was worked very much like an indy dream match. In many ways I am liking Riddle less as he gets more experience, early in his career he had this unique style, sort of crowbarish, kind of awesomely awkward, as he gets more polished he tends to work in more a indy workrate style, which isn't my thing. Still there was a lot to like here, especially when Riddle broke from modern wrestling convention. There was this point where ACH was running through all of these fancy counters and Riddle just upkicks him in the mouth and knees him in the jaw. I also loved him overwhelming ACH at the end, as a back and forth strike exchange turned into Riddle swamping him and KOing him. I didn't get a huge sense of what ACH brings to the table, but Riddle was well worth watching

Jeff Cobb/Timothy Thatcher v. Fred Yehi/Tracey Williams

This was a bunch of fun. Cobb and Thatcher remind me a lot of the Miracle Violence Connection, a little grinding, a little deliberate, but super powerful and violent. Yehi is one of the most fun guys in the world to watch wrestle, he comes at such odd angles and weird speeds, and I really like watching him counter Thatchers slow down style with bursts of energy. Cobb was great too wandering in and wrecking people with huge throws and big shots. Finish was pretty great with Yehi getting the surprise win over the champ, I really hope we get a big Yehi v. Thatcher title match if Cobb doesn't win tomorrow night.

Chris Hero v. Keith Lee

PAS: About two minutes into this match my stream dies, making that two straight EVOLVE shows I have tried to stream that have conked out during the main event. Totally lame, and it makes me regret the money I spent on this service. Totally bush league. Hopefully they put this up quick and I can watch this match this weekend.

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EVOLVE 73 Road Report

Wife and baby are out of town so I decide to meet my buddy Childs down at Joppa for an EVOLVE show.

Tracy Williams v. Tommy End

Tommy End is a guy that on paper I should like, he has cool looking tattoos, I watched a bunch of K1 in the 90s, always dug the dutch kickboxer v. Maeda matches in RINGS, but he has never done it for me. He is kind of like Killer Brooks, if you saw Killer Brooks in PWI you would think he was this cool looking Texas badass, and then you actually saw him in the ring.

This was a dark match only for the live audience. In my life I have seen four really classic matches which never ended up on tape. I saw Ultimo Dragon v. Eddie Guerrerro go 20+ in a WCW house show in Fairfax VA, Cham Pain and I called a great 2/3 falls lucha match in Monterey Mexico with Satanico/Blue Panther v. Solar/Super Astro, I saw El Hijo Del Santo and LA PARK bleed all over Atlanta GA, and saw Negro Navarro, Solar and Mike Quakenbush rock out a strip mall in Deleware. This was not my fifth hidden classic, Williams looked shockingly bad, there was this spot where he was dropping elbows on End's arm and he was missing the arm by 18 inches, it was one of the most business exposing things I have seen a trained wrestler do. End wins after about 7 minutes with a half crab. They weirdly gets a standing ovation, and then End gives this Ian Rotten style speech about how Tracy Williams is the future of the business like they just tore down the house.

Darby Allin v. Jaka

This are both guys I like and this was a fun semi squash. The Allin push is strange, Jaka isn't really in this fed and he just dominated All9n, with only a couple of hope spots. Jaka works stiff and Allen takes a big beating so I dug it, but I don't get why it was so one sided. Darby also does some really vocal Joshi screaming which is kind of distracting

Icarus v. Jason Kincaid

This was pretty good too, Icarus is working like a 1999 indy era fake Benoit, like Josh Daniels or Quiet Storm, lots of chops and snap suplexes. Kincaid has some amusing spots, there was a moment where it threatened to go off the rails, but it got reined in, and the finish was nutso with Kincaid hiting a diving blockbuster to the floor and them a double stomp after climbing a tall poll.

Ethan Page v. Chris Dickenson

I like Dickenson a fair amount, but have no idea why he is working face here, he is a disgusting creep and should always be working as one. I think Page might own 15% of EVOLVE or something, he is the worst guy on this show and getting this huge money markish push. He turned heel after a year long master plan like the worlds shittiest Ole Anderson, he gets two indy giant henchmen, gets these showcase matches, lots of mic time, and deserves none of it. This is a fed with Chris Hero main eventing, you can't work a match around elbow strikes when you throw pillows like this. Dickenson tried, but Page will Page.

Drew Gulak v. Zach Sabre Jr.

This was tremendous, no strikes, pretty much all grappling and really nasty grappling. Gulak is so great and finding interesting plausable counters and blocks for offense. He is a masterful mat counter puncher. Tons of nifty moments where ZSJ would attempt something, Gulak would twist a wrist or knee and Sabre would counter the counter. There was a whole section based around a ZSJ guillotine attempt which had a bunch of different cool escapes and attacks. There may have been one more restart then necessary, but the finish was awesome with Gulak getting the dragon sleeper out of a Sabre pin attempt and putting him down.

Chris Hero v. Matt Riddle

Worked pretty differently then their previous two matches, as this was more of a sprint brawl. Hero jumps Riddle before the bell and cracks him and they push the pace for the whole match. Not much matwork, all bombs. I did really like Hero constantly staying ahead of Riddle, it is weird booking that he went over, but it does make logical sense that a veteran would adjust to a rookie phenom and be able to be one step ahead. Finish was super decisive, with Hero wiping out Riddle's springboard knee attempt with a brutal elbow and hitting three straight piledriver variations to put him down. Finish felt a bit sudden but nobody should be kicking out of three piledrivers

Chris Hero/DUSTIN v. Drew Gulak/Tony Neese v. The Gatekeepers v. Tracy Williams/Fred Yehi

Various injuries lead to this dogs breakfast of a four way tag for the title. Gatekeepers look really dumb in their business casual slacks and colored dress suits, Big Bubba only worked because he was in a suit, not in temp job business casual. This never really got going, there was a moment or two, but it was mostly dull, and your big Tony Neese send off finish fell flat. I am happy that they got the belts off of DUSTIN so he doesn't stink up next months Dick Togo match, but this wasn't much especially for a main event

Post match Regal comes out to give a speech and offer Tony Neese a WWE contract. We bail on the emotional Tony Neese goodbye speech to get on the road.

Really liked the new Floslam EVOLVE, no intermission, fast moving card, whole thing had us in and out in a little more then two hours. Nothing blow away, but two pretty great matches and couple of fun undercard showcases. Fine way to spend a Sunday

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