Low-Ki Advent Calendar Night 4: Fat Frank's Suicidal Games

54. Team Doghouse (Low-Ki/Homicide/Da Hit Squad vs. Team Pazuzu (Chris Dickinson/Jaka/Team EYFBO) JAPW 4/30/16

PAS: This was a War Games style match without a cage and a fans bring the weapons stip (more ECW style weapons like stop signs and ironing boards, then the kind of CZW style barbed wire and glass basement hooker torture devices.) It had the kind of chaotic fun that the best ECW fights had, lots of fun charismatic, talented guys, grabbing everything they can to try to brain each other. Really impressed with Mike Draztik from EYFBO here, he bled the most, took some nutso bumps and hit a crazy tope. Dickinson and Ki had a match in 2015 which I loved, and they had some awesome interactions here, I really wish this was a touring indy matchup. There was some really fun bumps by everyone, Dickinson was delivering cool old school piledrivers, Mack gets blockbustered through an ironing board.

Finish was a little goofy, Mack does a very 80s wrestling "you accidentally hit me, so I am going to turn on you" thing where he pushes Ki off the top rope (Mack turned on Ki on the 2015 show, although they didn't acknowledge it, which is kind of like Terry Taylor joining the York Foundation on every WCW Syndie, he turned on Dustin like three times.) Then instead of that causing Ki to be pinned, Ki ducks the clothesline from Compton and they have a stare off, Joker comes from the back and hits a nasty running knee on Mack, and Mack does a great open eye KO sell, the ref calls the match and awards it to Pazuzu. The knee was awesome, but the whole thing was super confusing, Mack felt like the heel initially, but then came off sympathetic because he was sucker punched and KO'ed, Pazuzu also felt Shelton holed, disappearing completely to set up the big important angle, after how much they killed themselves, they deserved more.

ER: This is 8 guys I really like in an unhinged brawl, so the odds are high I was going to like this one.  This is worked like a WarGames without the cage, with Dickinson and Homicide starting, and one new entrant every couple minutes. Dickinson was awesome throughout the whole match, you want someone working with intensity if they gotta be in there for 30 minutes and Dickinson always brings intensity. Jaka is in next and I love Doom Patrol stuff, the dudes mesh really well together and they were my favorites in this. They were both the glue here and always bring out clever offense in brawls (Jaka had some awesome throws, big capture belly to belly, headbutts, kicks with his heels, Dickinson dropped a huge piledriver, huge running kick at ringside to a seated Homicide, threw sharp chops and was super active the entire match) but they also know how to work through everyone and eat offense to let other team shine, Dickinson especially just eating all of Ki's strikes when Ki came out as the final man. I was also super impressed with EYFBO, especially Draztik. Draztik was a real ham (in good ways), bled way more than anyone, and both EYFBO guys basically got beat around by Hit Squad the whole time, and all built to them hitting a pair of dives down the stretch. The dives were nuts as security was trying to hold the guardrails with their backs to the action, and the dives were coming right at them, would have been real easy for security to get rolled up on. We get fun moments like Mack giving Jaka a cannonball while holding Ortiz on his back, later Mack takes a bump through an ironing board. In fact the true MVP of this match was the camera crew and whomever edited this match together. We jumped around perfectly to all the action happening at ringside and in the ring, never felt like we missed anything, never felt like the cuts were jumping from one to the next too quick, just excellently timed bursts of violence. It helped the chaotic feel of the whole brawl, really seemed to find the best action currently happening. Now the finish sucked a lot of wind out of this, took way too long to set up, and required everybody in the match not directly involved in the finish to just disappear. And it wasn't worth it. Mack turns on Ki for an errant dropkick moments earlier, then stands in the ring forever to set up his big clothesline, which eventually misses. The Joker stuff looked fine but felt so dumb coming as the end of a 30 minute match. Suddenly 75% of the guys in the match are selling damage and not working for the first time all match, and it just ground everything to a halt. The KO knee from Joker looked good, Mack sold it great, but it came off like a super flat and confusing way to end what had been such a wild fun match.


2016 MOTY MASTER LIST

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2017 Ongoing MOTY List: Briscoes vs. EYFBO

76. Briscoes vs. EYFBO wXw 10/7

ER: Tons of fun, just go go go go with no stopping for breath, great way to start off night 2 of this tournament. Even though the Briscoes aren't too much bigger than EYFBO, they are able to convey a super overpowering aura in their matches, always coming off faster, stronger, crazier, and I thought EYFBO was good at finding their moments and bumping big for the Briscoes. We start with a kind of lucha style opening, arm drags and rope running and ranas, but once they kick into the next gear and start chaining together big moves and double teams they never look back. Match really got great once Jay got the hot tag and started throwing savage lariats, really throwing from the shoulder with huge follow through. Both teams keep one upping the other, everyone is throwing huge dropkicks in the corner, Draztik hits this crazy swanton into Mark slumped in the corner (vaulting off Ortiz), they set up some loony cutter in the corner with Mark stretched from the turnbuckle to the shoulder of Ortiz, and Draztik runs the length of Mark and flies off with a heavy crossbody on Jay. Mark takes out Ortiz with a cannonball off the ring apron, and Jay crushes Draztik with his best lariat of the match (which is saying something), and they really knock Draztik's block off with the Doomsday Device. This match couldn't have been more than 12 minutes but was a fantastic spotfest, not a second of slow down. I would have been burnt out already had I been there.

PAS: This was the best EYFBO match I have seen, as they have always felt like a team I should love but always fell short for me. This was total go-go stuff, reminded me of the great Garden State Gods JAPW matches in the mid-2000s. I have been watching the Briscoes since their earliest matches, and man have they fully gone in on their scraggly militia look. They look like they should hijacking Federal land for grazing rights. All of their stuff looked great, they have gotten so good at making little things look impactful, big highspots, but also great looking elbows and clotheslines. I haven't watched ROH in years, but I need to check out some more recent Briscoes.


2017 MOTY MASTER LIST

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