Monday AIW - Against the World 8/26/16

42. Jollyville Fuck-Its (Nasty Russ/T-Money) vs. Cheech/Eric Ryan

PAS: This was the Fuck-Its' return to the promotion and was kind of a Fuck-Its showcase, which is a hell of a showcase. Colin Delaney couldn't make the show so Ryan replaced him, and Cheech and Ryan are a fun makeshift team. T-Money was especially great in this, his tope looked as good as ever and he was wrecking people with clotheslines and slams. Ryan hits a chop where he runs around the outside before landing it, and when he goes for it a second time, T-Money explodes out of the rail and pounces Ryan into the crowd, it looked like one of those NFL films violent collision videos they stopped doing after CTE became prominent.

ER: Any show that starts with a Jollyville match is gonna go up a grade in my book, and I love a cool WCW style thrown together tag team. WWE always threw together as a lazy way to write in tension. WCW thrown together teams were always born out of a guy suddenly left without a partner and forced to find the best substitute on short notice. It's how we end up with a cool Bobby Eaton/Mike Enos team, or Rick Steiner/Kenny Kaos, or Bobby Eaton/Kenny Kaos! Eric Ryan is an awesome wrestler and Cheech is a great flashy counterpart. Jollyville are just a great team, that honestly also would have fit into WCW. They feel like an awesome SMW team, T-Money hits hard shoulderblocks and clotheslines and punches like the best possible Ice Train. Nasty Russ has the long combed back hair and looks awesome, like a badass estranged brother of Mr. Rosso on Freaks & Geeks. And this whole thing was awesome, just my exact favorite kind of tag match. Jollyville looked great. This is absolutely one of the best Jollyville performances I've seen, and these guys are my team. Russ bumps like crazy but hits hard, and sometimes he hits the mat hard while hitting hard. He takes a clothesline in the corner at one point that knocks him up to the top rope and back down on his shoulders in one quick shot, and it's like a Psicosis bump that never happened before. And the match ends with him hitting one of the most gung ho cannonballs, really throwing himself into it like he was  jumping into a pool and not onto a man. T-Money looked so big league here, Just running into guys like a freight train with hard punches, big ass lariats, and an all time great no hands dive into both Ryan and Cheech, the greatest double clothesline. Money leans into beatings too, and he bravely took his lumps in the corner to eat a mean facewash from Cheech, coast to coast dropkick from Ryan, and that cool 619 around the ringpost from Cheech. Ryan has great snap on everything and is always running fast and crashing hard, and Cheech as I've said a ton just blends so well into a great formula tag match. I loved all the exchanges here, from the big hard hitting flash right down to simple missed exchanges. In fact, my favorite part of the match was T-Money missing clotheslines, just running fast as possible off the ropes and swinging so low and so fast with those meaty arms that any miscommunication would have ended in murder. That kind of stuff is why I love pro wrestling. I love this tag scene.

Shawn Shultz vs Louis Lyndon

PAS: This was a match with some cool individual moments, some nice kicks by Lyndon, a brutal DDT on the floor by Shultz, but it was ultimately kind of a mess. It seemed like they were switching from face to heel every 90 seconds or so, there was some super dancey stuff from Shultz who is supposed to be working as a Southern wrestler, and the aforementioned DDT on the floor was so nasty that it makes no sense for them to work a your turn my turn roll up section a minute later. I have liked both guys in the past, but this was no bueno.

Britt Baker vs Crazy Mary Dobson

PAS: Britt Baker is the big female AIW graduate and definitely got pushed past her ability level. Mary Dobson was throwing bows like someone who was putting over someone she shouldn't. The parts of the match where Mary was kicking her ass was fun stuff. The Baker wrestling sections significantly less so. I have dug Logan in the WWE, is there fun Crazy Mary I should be checking out?

14. Eddie Kingston vs. Shigehiro Irie

PAS: Kingston Road matches are specific subset of his big matches and there have been some awesome ones. I think this might be my favorite. Irie is a sawed off asskicker, who is going to hit hard and take a beating but this was Kingston taking what he can do and crafting a classic around it. Standard hard hit start, until Kingston takes an elbow to the ear and collapses. For much of the rest of the match he does some amazing head trauma selling, constantly shaking off cobwebs, unsteady on his feet, but moving forward and attacking. Irie is a force in this match, he breaks Kingston's hand by ducking his head on the backfist so Kingston hits the top of his skull instead of his jaw. Such a simple counter and so awesome looking. He also shrugs off a big lariat, hard to lariat a guy with no neck.  There was a bunch of tough guy selling in this match, but Kingston especially put enough pain behind his eyes that it wasn't just a cheap stunt. Finish had Kingston dumping Irie on his head and Irie popping up to stumble around, it was a tribute to the Williams vs. Kobashi finish and done about as well.

ER: Goddamn do I love 2004 NOAH Eddie Kingston. He is so damn good at perfecting one of my all time favorite eras of wrestling, with a unique slant, inventive selling, and a ton of personality, he's just going from I guy I've always been into to an all time great. This is everything Kingston does great, distilled into one match. I see this and it makes me angry I never got to see him against every guy who worked NOAH from 2001-2007. His stand and trade tough guy dying on his sword bombfests add so many more interesting dimensions to his style that it feels like it's exposing every single big dumb New Japan wankfest for what they are. This whole thing is just Irie and Kingston hitting each other while Kingston plays out the best vinyl pants Kawada match structure. I loved it, and I loved Kingston's heavy armed chops, backfists to the neck, big damn STO, and his selling while taking a big bodied beating. When he goes to hit Irie and hurts his hand, recoiling and falling down to a knee and then back on his butt, I was gleeful. And by the end of the match where Irie headbutts to counter two spinning backfists, and Kingston is rolling around on the floor holding his hand while the ref tries to get a read on the situation? I was in wrestling heaven. Two incredibly fun personalities, throwing blows, adding their personal color in a wonderful combination, harkening back to a style of puro I greedily consumed (and looking even better coming not several hours after checking in for the umpteenth time on New Japan to the usual disappointment). Another Kingston classic. 

BJ Whitmer vs. Jimmy Wang Yang

PAS: This was Yang's first match in 3 years (he took another 2 off and worked a Tokyo Gurentai match in 2018). It was a lot of shtick to cover up a guy who hadn't worked in forever. They took a plant from the crowd and made her Yang's manager, had lots of stuff with the Duke, etc. Yang had some nice looking flips, but wasn't landing anything with particular force. It was OK, but more of a live crowd match then anything to revisit. 

Alex Daniels vs. Matt Cross vs. Triton vs. Laredo Kid

PAS: Fun spotfest. Triton had a nice double jump dive to the floor, but was a bit slow and a bit leadfooted for some of the stuff he was trying to do. Dainels was surprisingly adept at the armdrag/lucha rope running part of the match, he looked like he had been working in that style for years. Lots of crazy spots, leading to kind of a lame ending with Gregory Iron tossing in a belt for Daniels to graze Cross with for a roll up. Took a bit of the steam out of the match honestly.

Tracy Williams vs. Michael Elgin

PAS: This was a very 2010s wrestling match. With your opening feel out mat sections, exchanging of big bombs, moves on the apron, forearm exchanges and big 2.9 sections at the end. It is expected stuff. This did lack some of the true excesses of the style, there wasn't a bunch of no-sells or a big "fight forever" finisher killer end run, and it had some little moments I really dug. Elgin is a big strong guy, and they did a short arm scissors deadlift spot, which is one of my all time favorites. I also loved how Elgin stepped into William's forearm blunting the impact with his belly. Overall this was a good match in a style I am weary of. Williams had a hell of a singles match run in AIW from around 2016 until he got signed by ROH, and this was a worthy part of that run.

Josh Prohibition vs. Nate Webb

PAS: Prohibition gets on the mic and says that no one paid to see them wrestle a mat classic, so they go relaxed rules. This was a greatest hits Nate Webb show, from the Teenage Dirtbag entrance, to a bunch of dumb bumps, to all of his twisty offense. I am a Nate Webb fan, so I was happy to watch him play his hits (Eddie Kingston even makes that call on commentary). Prohibition got put through a table and thrown around a bit, he was fine Nate Webb dance partner, made him look good.

Teddy Hart vs. Facade

PAS: This was a super Teddy Hart match. Mr. Money comes down with him. They open with some pretty awesome Teddy matwork, including a Fujiwara take down, and an incredible spot where he caught a kick to the chest and turned into a mid air leg lace, it looked like something Tamura might do. Then, of course, Teddy hurts his ankle applying a spinning scorpion. They stop the match, have people come from the back, take his boot off. Teddy limps to the ring gets on the mic and apologizes to the fans and puts over Facade as the future of the business. Facade thanks him, and attacks him giving him a Canadian destroyer. Teddy is able to fight back though and lay Facade out with a Destroyer on a guard rail. It did a nice job turning Facade heel and setting up a blood feud rematch (although Teddy just should have been laid out and not gotten his heat back), but of course since this is Teddy Hart, he never comes back to AIW. Still a cool, if ridiculous bit of business.

ER: Teddy Hart pulls off things that most wrestlers can't, and this is him pulling off a modern era Chris Hamrick performance. Chris Hamrick never had a cat, but you can imagine how successful he would have been with a white cat (obviously) wearing a matching shiny confederate flag vest. I loved those matches where Hamrick would take a grizzly bump and stop everything, bring out a couple guys from the back to check on him, lie motionless talking under his breath in a scared tone about his neck or his knee, get an organic Hamrick chant going, and basically derail everything for 8 minutes just to cheapshot his opponent with a ballshot. Could he have just kicked his opponent in the balls without falling off the top turnbuckle and twisting his knee in the ropes? Well, yeah. And HHH could have just hit Stone Cold with a sledgehammer in the first segment instead of setting up an elaborate series of costumes and double switches before hitting someone with a sledgehammer (except faking a knee injury to kick someone in the balls is infinitely more interesting and HHH didn't understand that). Here Hart punches Facade across the mouth a bunch, drops some cool unexpected transitions, and eventually hurts his ankle and limps back to the ring to put over Facade, AIW, the crowd, the boys in the back, and professional wrestling. And I liked the twist of Facade being the one to lash out with a Canadian Destroyer. I think it would have been a great heel turn...if Teddy Hart didn't immediately get to do a FAR cooler Canadian Destroyer from the apron onto a freaking guardrail that Facade had set up. Oh my god Gordy just slammed the cage door right in Kerry's face! But look at that, here's Kevin, and he slams the cage door right in Flair's face!! Von Erichs win!! And they never fight again.

71. Raymond Rowe vs. Tommy End

PAS: These two looked like a mosh pit fight at a Black Metal concert. I think this could have been an incredible 10 minute sprint. Both guys have super cool ways to throw knees, kicks, forearms and punches. I really like how End throws combos from different places, shooting low kicks to the knee, and punches to the ribs and kicks high. Rowe had some bangers too, although he did do some unnecessary leg slapping. There were some especially gross knees to the back of the head. This did feel a bit bloated, lots of killer shots which should have ended a match, but instead were just kind of there without any context. This was a big main event with Rowe fighting his friend in his home town, so I get why it was worked at the length it was, and it was overall a good match, I just think with some edits it could have been a great one.

ER: I really liked this, but agree it went too long. It's a bummer when I find myself really hooked into a match, and then feel myself mentally checking out through the last few minutes of kickouts and strikes. There were a couple of those "I am definitely checking out now" moments, like nearfalls where the guy doing the pinning is the one who kicks out first, and the peak just felt like it hit, then we shot past it and it's like we don't actually know how to end things but at least we still hit hard. But I really like these two! End is a strike combo guy, but he's one of the few who doesn't actually do the exact same combos in the exact same order every time out. There's a lot of strike combo guys. Every one that I'm thinking of always goes through the same sequences in the same way. End always winds up surprising me with a couple of the ways he sets up a kick. He hits his hooking spin kicks so quickly and accurately that they really do seem to come out of nowhere, and we never wind up with any of those stupid "I kick you and then you bounce off the ropes and hit me and that spins me around into another kick" kind of bullshit, End just comes up with cool ways to land shots without ever swing dancing. I really dug the stuff on the floor, both guys hitting the railing, Rowe setting up knee strikes on the apron, but wherever they were at I was never quite sure what was going to happen next. They always kept me guessing, and I like the strikes and big slams from both (that standing splash mountain from Rowe is damn cool), they manage to avoid the worst parts of this style.


2016 MOTY MASTER LIST

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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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EVOLVE 58 4/1/16 Review

1. Drew Galloway & Johnny Gargano vs. Caleb Konley & Anthony Nese

ER: This is one of those tags where guys run in random directions for the sole purpose of setting up somebody's offense. After awhile you find yourself asking for the 10th time, "what was Konley's plan if Gargano hadn't been there to cut him off with a kick?" Galloway is wasted in stuff like this, which is a shame. Nese takes a nice bump to the floor and I love how he takes a DDT. But this match was victim to some poor move set up, with again, guys going where they shouldn't go just to take offense. On top of that the promotion appears to have totally lost their ring bell. I noticed it at the beginning when the ref called for the bell multiple times, and when it didn't come Gargano just started the match. Well the big finish comes and Konley taps and the Premier Athlete Brand is forced to break up...except there's no ring bell, and half the wrestlers don't know what's going on, and the crowd doesn't know what's going on. Galloway is confused, gets in and immediately repeats the finish and now he makes Konley tap. And the ref says the match is already over. But there's no ring bell. And the fans, being shitheads, all chant "This ref sucks" even though somehow a major promotion started a show with no ring bell. Really embarrassing stuff all around. Post-match Galloway does a decent job saving things by doing a reenactment of what the dramatic climactic finish was supposed to be like, calling in some bearded goober who's trying to ape the legendary style of Dylan Hales. Match wasn't good, but Galloway at least got the fans to stop being assholes.

2. Matt Riddle vs. Timothy Thatcher

ER: Awesome stuff from these two, which shouldn't be too surprising. There are some moments where you see a couple seams in their style with split seconds of waiting for one another, but I'm stunned that type of thing doesn't happen more with these guys. Thatcher dominated most of this and was really mean, throwing big strikes to Riddle's ribs and neck and ear, tossing him with gut wrenches, making his ankle bend at a disgusting angle with an ankle lock, locking on a brutal sub where he yanks Riddle's leg back while pushing into his knee with his boot. Damn that should be a finisher. Riddle doesn't overdo the selling, but he doesn't no sell either. Watch him lift his ankle after nailing Thatcher with a fisherman's buster. I'm sure many will hate the finish, which I get, but I liked Riddle hyperextending the arm after Thatcher thinks the ref broke the hold. It's a nice Gerard Gordeau dick move that adds another wrinkle to the Thatcher/Catch Point feud.

PAS: I really loved all of the infighting in this match, both guys laid in some vicious shot to the ribs and stomach and I am shocked that none of the shots to the ear popped an eardrum. Both guys come off as naturally tough dudes and parts of this felt like they took it a bit far. I thought the multiple arm bar reversals at the end might have been a bit much, although I did love how each guy found a different way to reverse and counter. Finish was pretty cool, although I think both the ref and Riddle needed to be a bit more demonstrative. I can totally see how it would have come off confusing to the crowd, Riddle need to wait a beat before torquing the arm, so it was obvious he wasn't breaking clean, and the ref really need to over emphasize that he needed to break the hold.

3. Fred Yehi vs. Marty Scurll

ER: Another awesome Yehi performance. Truly one of the must see workers today. This match had plenty of his weird, quick grappling and odd movements that you don't see from others. He finds cool ways to do spots we might not think much about. The way he slides into an ankle pick while Scurll is running, or grabs a single leg off a go behind, it's unexpected and almost foreign and so awesome. I loved all of Yehi's stomps here, loved him stomping hands Finlay style. And I love how him stomping Scurll's hands eventually leads to Scurll finally being villainous and going after Yehi's fingers. Yehi has shown he's a great salesman, and he puts over a finger break really excellently. And then Scurll finds amusing ways to work that hand and finger, even throwing in a thigh slap off a finger break, and then wedging Yehi's finger in between his boots before kicking. I love the trend in Yehi matches of limb work or body work not leading to the finish you expect, but instead leading to someone's focus being drawn away so that they don't see the real finish coming. Yehi is dealing with his hand injury which allows Scurll to leap on him for a nasty falcon arrow into chickenwing submission. Really cool stuff, really awesome finish.

PAS: I thought the beginning of this match was a bit formless. Scurll has never done much for me, his Villain stuff always felt like a big put on, more Chikara then Regal. Yehi is always going to be worth watching, and his weird stomps are some of my favorite things in wrestling. The last couple of minutes were truly excellent though, I loved all of the hand break spots and though Yehi's selling was awesome. I want to second Eric's observation about the coolness of the finish, loved how it came out of nowhere. Yehi really can do no wrong.

4. Ethan Page vs. Sami Callihan

ER: Not bad but below your standard Callihan match. Page isn't really defined enough as an opponent. He does a lot of big moves but tends to be better when he plays up his frat charisma more. This was odd as they seemed to skip several steps to get to the "we're in a war" moments, but they ran really hollow and undeserved once they got there. Callihan screams "QUITTTTT!" at Page, when up to that point it had been a very even match, and the announcers tried putting over the "what is it going to take to put him away!?" when really it was just 8 minutes into the match. I liked Callihan's powerbomb with him already grabbing Page's ankle to set up the stretch muffler, and thought Page's selling of the muffler was impressive. It was just strange and felt like 6 minutes had been clipped out of the middle, suddenly Callihan is lying on the mat begging off Page, one minute after screaming at him to quit. They kept jumping around like that, and everything up to that had essentially been move trading. This felt more like a thigh slap faux epic, even if parts were good.

5. TJ Perkins vs. Ricochet

ER: Sometimes guys like this do so much stuff that it's easy for me to get lost. I prefer Evolve to PWG as they have no problem having matches go 10 minutes. I think an excellent match can happen in 10 minutes. In many cases I think you're asking for trouble if you go too far past 10 for a singles match, as I don't think most workers are capable of filling that much time without things getting at least somewhat problematic. Ricochet is a super talented guy and I'm sure I'm in the minority when I say I don't care about the extraneous goofing around and mugging he does in his matches. It's always the reason I prefer him as Puma to just being himself. Just being himself always adds too much bullshit to matches, matches that I think would be tighter without the bullshit. And that's why I eventually liked this, because Ricochet did his bullshit, and TJP got pissed at the bullshit and wanted to kick his ass. He didn't play along and have a comedy circle jerk (though I guess with two guys it would just be a straight line jerk), he took offense at the jerking around and took it out on Ricochet. These guys both do super fast sequences effortlessly, impossible to keep up with as a viewer. But I loved how TJ kept going after that leg. And how it kept paying off. His grapevined heel hook is a really nasty sub and Ricochet set it up great by doing a show off missed moonsault, landing on his feet, and having that worked over knee buckle. It's a simple formula, take the legs out of the flier, but usually indy guys aren't good enough to pull it off, because they still want to get their shit in. But the match structure was tight enough that it allowed both guys to get their shit in, and still be truthful to the story they were telling. And I appreciate that. I appreciate your wrestling, TJP and Ricochet.

PAS: This was pretty solid, it got a little dancy at times, which is to be expected with these two guys. These are two of the most polished, athletic wrestlers in the world so if we have to watch a dance this is a pretty good dance. Ricochet has one of my favorite kip ups in wrestling, he flies up so fast it ends up looking barely human, like CGI or something. I enjoyed the knee work by TJP it did give the match some structure, although Ricochet really only sold it at the end.

6. Will Ospreay vs. Zack Sabre Jr.

ER: I went into this one expecting to not like it much, assuming that each man would bring out the worst in the other. BUT it actually turned out to be an awesome match (that went on a couple minutes too long). To me this felt like a cool modern twist on classic World of Sport, with both guys (especially Sabre) pulling from a bottomless bag of tricks with fast exchanges and updated WoS transitions. I loved all the slippery headlocks, with one going for a headlock and it seamlessly getting reversed into a wristlock and back into a headlock. We also had reversals based out of snapmares which is something directly lifted from WoS. They would often do a snapmare with a guy handspringing forward onto his feet, here we get Ospreay turning a snapmare into his own handspring elbow, and it was done quick enough that it looked great. Sabre was killer here, dropping Ospreay with a couple of rough suplexes, including a wheelbarrow roll through turned into a tiger suplex. Then he would come up with all sorts of ways to work over Ospreay's neck, legs, arms, whatever. Ospreay worked a lot of flying moves to counter and Sabre was often there to catch him with something. This was incredibly fun, incredibly quick counter based wrestling. It's something that doesn't work but damn did they make it work here. Where I wish it would have ended was when Sabre caught a triangle choke while Ospreay was going for a standing shooting star. Right before that Ospreay had kipped out of a tornado DDT which I think is an exceptionally stupid spot that athletic wrestlers do. All it does is show how a DDT is just rolling through at the right time. "See? My neck wasn't impacted at all! I was able to just hop out of it!" It's needless. But it would have been great if he had done that, tried his SSP and immediately met his doom in a triangle. Buuuuut we get a 80s WWF hulk up as his arm doesn't drop (since when does Evolve even do that spot? Don't they just call submissions as if they were MMA?), and we have to see some Ospreay tropes like trapping Sabre's head against the turnbuckle. The finishing sub by Sabre is absolutely vicious and almost made the match continuing worth it, as Sabre ends up sitting down on Ospreay's head and neck while yanking both of his arms up and behind his back. It's something Negro Navarro would be jealous of. Even with the extra pointless final two minutes, match was still awesome and a great representation of this style.

PAS: I was also not expecting to like this very much, and was looking forward to shitting on Eric for digging it, but I confess it won me over. A match like this is all about doing cool stuff and not wearing out your welcome, and they did a bunch of cool stuff and kept from dragging on. I loved Ospreys shooting star press, it a spot I haven't seen in a while and he added a cool tuck in the middle of it, I also liked a bunch of the quick counter which is something can bug me. Finishing submission was truly awesome, as was the Liger bomb that set it up. I am still not sold on Osprey, some of his stuff is still pretty stupid looking but I think I need to give up the ghost and embrace Sabre.

7. Chris Hero & Tommy End vs. Drew Gulak & Tracy Williams

ER: Great tag between two teams who complement each other wonderfully. Hero at this point is like the big fat king of the indy scene. He worked hard to get to the top, and some that want to dethrone him point to his cosmetic laziness, and so he gamely gets off the throne to demonstrate why it's still good to be the king. And Hero absolutely is king at this point. He and End are a great team and Hero especially makes it his point to pick on Williams as the weak link, as if he were the Kikuchi of Team Catch Point. And damn do they murderize him. I love End/Hero's spin kick/elbow smash double team, and after that at one point Hero is just toying with him; kicks, chops, elbows, and always capped off with his killer roundhouse pump kick. I loved little moments like Williams finally catching a Hero kick, only for Hero to laugh before dropping back and kicking Williams with his other leg. But Williams would keep coming back and fighting and it was awesome. The match was long and because of that they were allowed to stretch out and do some fun stuff. The opening lucha armdrag stuff with Hero and Gulak was a trip. Hero does a sweet 360 armdrag off the top and Gulak follows with a beautiful tilt-a-whirl variation. We get a couple nice cut off the ring sections with both teams, plenty of cool double teams on Williams (loved when Hero kicked him off the apron onto End's shoulders, and then kicked him again), and great apron performances from both Hero and Gulak. Hero was great rooting on End, Gulak was great pleading for Williams and sneaking in for saves when needed. Hero is cocky but he's smart with his cockiness, and it never came across like Catch Point was only making comebacks due to his own cockiness. Catch Point looked strong by making their own comebacks, on their own merit. And that's important. There was plenty here that you could trim and make it a tighter, better match. But you could trim out a good portion of the White Album, too. Part of the fun is in its bloat. And I'm glad we got the extra minutes of bloat.

PAS: I didn't like this as much as Eric, I love Hero and Catch Point, but I thought the bloat was a bit too much. The long section of Hero and End using Gulak and Williams against each other was a bit SATish. End is a guy who looks cool and has awesome looking strikes until they land, if he could hit his stuff cleanly more I would love him, but a lot of his shots look violent as hell on their way and gentle when they get there. I thought Gulak was awesome as usual, his lucha armdrag challenge against Hero was nifty, and I love his out of nowhere dragon sleeper. Still this lost me by then end, which kept it from being great.

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WWN Supershow: Mercury Rising 4/2/16

PAS: My buddy Dylan Waco called this show the best show he has ever seen live, so I figured I would check it out. Lots of awesome on paper stuff here, hopefully it lives up to the hype.

ER: Last year's Evolve/WWN Mania weekend shows were far and away my favorite live wrestling experience of the year, and right up there with all time for me. Great atmosphere, great wrestling, tons of my buddies with me. Can't really go wrong. Watching these VOD might not feel as special, but I love a lot of the talent, and the venue itself has a killer vibe. All the faux storefronts and strung up hanging lights make for a cool visual as guys spill to the floor. I'm in.

1. Chris Hero vs. Zack Sabre Jr.

PAS: Man Chris Hero's throwback Golden State Warriors gear makes him my new favorite wrestler, that is so dope. Hero was awesome in this match, I think it is his best performance in year. He totally brutalizes ZSJ while delivering some sweet smack talk, at one point he calls Sabre sweetheart while begging him to hit him. I loved how Hero used typical indy counter stuff as a shit talking move, he would counter Sabre's stuff and use it to taunt him, nice use of something which can come off like applause pandering under other circumstances. Sabre is still a little unnatural to me, his KO selling and fired up faces seem pretty performative, it isn't nearly as bad as Davey Richards, but it is in that same phylum. This also goes a bit too long, no opener, no matter the back story or talent involved should go 30 minutes. Still I did love the finish run, with Hero getting more and more vicious and Sabre trying to pull out a flash submission, or roll up and just getting overwhelmed until he gets put to sleep. Great stuff, and I like ZSJ consistently falling short to Hero, it is going to make his big win really big.

ER: Hero's too-tight Golden State tank top and trunks make him look like he's wearing half of a kid's jammie set. Or like Hank Venture wearing his Aquaman PJs. Hero is one of my favorite guys in wrestling, one of those guys who I would go out of my way to watch wrestle anybody. And I loved his act here. He really had this cocky thing going, but not in a way that was brushing off Sabre, but more like a guy confident in his abilities who went out partying the night before. So he was out having a good time, and throwing some elbows and kicks on his way there. And I loved how this match progressed, with Sabre easily outpacing him to start, kicking him all around the ring, catching and blocking all of Hero's chops and elbows, and eventually Hero has enough of that and just straight punches him in the face. And from there the match settles into Hero kicking some ass, with Sabre being so damn squirmy and smart that he occasionally finds ways to reverse Hero, or make Hero's body or attitude work against him. Sabre always pulls out quirky reversals and here I flipped out when Hero went for a senton and Sabre kicked his legs up so Hero landed on the back of Sabre's thighs, right into an armbar. THAT was awesome. But Hero is too damn strong and while Sabre is good at blocking or catching some elbows, he can't catch them all, and those elbows that land, land HARD. And Hero starts punishing Sabre for his earlier reversals, planting him with a couple of authoritative sentons. Hero has arguably my favorite moveset in wrestling, and I love it against Sabre. Also love that Sabre hung in there the whole time, always looking for an opening. At one point Hero opens his arms for crowd adulation, and Sabre rushed into frame to grab Hero's outstretched arm. There was some punishing stuff throughout this one, all of that ankle/wrist/finger/elbow joint manipulation always makes me cringe, and I love Hero getting occasionally frustrated (him flipping out when Sabre wraps a chair around his arm, but then accidentally swinging his trapped arm into a ringpost was a great little moment) but never completely losing sight of beating down Sabre. It did go a little long, but I've seen tons of shorter indy matches that felt much longer. These two know how to fill time. This felt like maybe the greatest ever Hero performance, a perfect convergence of his ringwork and character.

2. Fred Yehi vs. Drew Gulak

ER: A year ago I thought Gulak was a step behind the best of the grappling sub guys, and at this point he may be my favorite of them. But then you have Yehi who at this point is must see against anybody. Guy is legit. And these two tear down for 9 hot minutes and it's great every step of the way. Both guys are constantly working to be one step ahead of the other, and you always end up seeing a reversal or transition that is totally new and totally fresh. I don't know how these two maintain their bearings with how fast they move in their scrambles. I imagine it would be like not knowing which direction is up while underwater, but they always look totally locked in. Too many cool things in this one to list them all, but I especially loved Gulak locking on a side headlock and running circles around Yehi, like he wanted to twist that head right off. I've seen Yehi sell a knee like he did here before, and it's an impressively real touch to this kind of grappling. Sweet Dee on Always Sunny does a real great fake gagging face, and I imagine doing a convincing knee buckle is as impressive a personal niche to a wrestler as a fake gag is to a physical comedienne. It lead to some real exciting momentum shifts as Yehi would come up swinging and plant on that leg, once sending him falling to his face, another time making him wobble hard. Both times Gulak smelled blood in the water and pounced. I like how the knee played into the finish, but not in a traditional "work the leg" kind of way. Instead it just slowed Yehi down and left openings for Gulak, which allowed him to roll through with his dragon sleeper choke, a chance he might not have gotten otherwise. I pretty much want to see every match these two have, against anyone.

PAS: I loved this, Yehi is one of my favorite new guys in wrestling and it is really fun to watch him match up with a true pro like Gulak. His offense always looks a little different then regular wrestling offense. The angles he throws suplexes, the parts of the body he stomps it is just a bit off. Gulak has a much more traditional wrestling base, but knows how to work interesting struggles around Yehi's weird stuff. I agree with Eric about Yehi's leg selling it was awesome , and I loved how aggressive Gulak was when he saw it, they way a great counter puncher will parry until he sees any opening.

3. Tracy Williams vs. Matt Riddle

ER: Team Catch Point explodes! Is Matt Riddle the most obvious wrestling Rookie of the Year since Akiyama? Sure feels like it. He's shown so much intuition in his first year that I have no idea what he can do to improve past his current level. But if he keep cranking out matches like this then I'll continue to be along for the ride. Williams is a guy I like but also a guy with a lot of ideas, and a need to squeeze all of those ideas into his matches. Riddle is a guy who can dish it and take it so match him with Williams and you're going to see Riddle taking some damage, maybe too much. There were some real oh shit moments here, with Riddle bouncing right on the top of his head on a vicious lariat, and later on off a top rope DDT leading to an immediate tap out finish. Williams has some harsh offense to unload on Riddle. His upkicks were gross, and his power offense is done sparsely enough that it really impacts when he breaks it out. Riddle is so much fun during these matches, suckering Hot Sauce into a ropes assisted arm bar, taking a wild bump over the top to the floor (no shoes!!! People who wrestle with no shoes are certifiable), hitting a couple of cool flying knee variations, breaking out the neat Alabama Slam/heel hook combo, and bumping like wild. I liked the story of two teammates pushing each other further in competition, as opposed to one of them just suddenly acting like a heel and everything being cool afterwards. I may need a Team Catch Point t-shirt...

PAS: Yeah this was a total blast, I think I liked their match earlier in the year a bit better, but these two just click. I am also totally all in on Matt Riddle. His jumping knee strikes to the torso are totally nasty here he looks like he is going blast Williams kidneys out the other side of his ribs. Riddle also takes some truly sick bumps, like Eric mentioned that top rope brainbuster/DDT bump looked totally neck fracturing. Williams is a really solid guy in this style, he doesn't have the flash of Yehi or Riddle, but he is a great workmanlike member of this stable.

4. Anything Goes: Ethan Page vs. Anthony Nese

PAS: This was a fine WWE style garbage match, with both guys finding lots of different ways to land nastily on chairs. I especially liked Neese smushing Page's head into a chair with an Asai moonsault. I haven't really cared for either guy previously but this was fine violent stuff, and was a nice balance for the rest of the show. Still both guys really killed each other in a midcard match with a lukewarm reaction, felt like that punishment should have meant more.

ER: Fun match, felt like the kind of thing that would be regarded as a classic if it had happened in ECW. And I really liked Nese in this, really using all of his athleticism to take lunatic damage. And I kinda liked Page here more than I have before. This match was kind of the perfect use of his bloaty detached douche character. There was some pretty brutal stuff in this and I assumed it would go way into overkill, and it never did. That quebrada onto Nese's head on a chair is an all time brutal spot. Rewound that one a couple times. And Nese was great at sending his forehead into ladder shots, then getting turned inside out on a vicious tornado ladder shot from Page. Good grief. I thought things really built nicely and the powerbomb onto chairs with a nice piledriver after was a great way to finish things. For a match I went in with pretty low hopes for, this far exceeded them. Good stuff all around and made me want to revisit Nese.

5. Taylor Made vs. Nicole Matthews

PAS: Not a great idea on a weekend which had so much pushed high end women's wrestling to put on a dud like this. There was a mix of potato shots with some offense that looked really weak. I liked some of the stiffness, but both ladies were pretty awkward. The gimmick of these Wrestlemania weekend indy shows is that the ring work is going to be better then the big shows, this wasn't as good as the Divas 10 man, and was way lesser quality then either the NXT or Wrestlemania ladies matches.

ER: I'd not seen either gal before, and this match certainly isn't going to send me scrambling to find more Shimmer or Shine shows. I thought Taylor was clearly the better of the two, and Matthews looked real bad at times. I liked some of Taylor's stomps and boot scrapes, but this was mostly formless as sloppy, with some shots landing hard and then a moment later the worst clothesline you remember seeing. Sometimes sloppiness can get harnessed into an overall positive, depending on the workers, but this was just aimless and bland. My favorite parts of the match were Andrea's two running kicks, and it's usually not a great sign when the best parts of a match are a couple moves done by a second.

6. Jason Cade vs. Gary Jay vs. Maxwell Chicago vs. Caleb Konley

ER: I had mixed feelings about this one. There were plenty of amusing moments in it. Maxwell Chicago is a comedy guy I haven't seen before and a lot of guys have funny schtick the first time you see it. At the same time it's a title match, so the FIP title looks a little silly getting its showcase in a match that had to completely stop multiple times for comedy. Cade is definitely a guy who seems like an Evolve undercarder: small, does flying moves, easily confused with a few other guys like this on the American indy scene. Jay was really fun and I'd like to see more of him. He seemed like a goofball but also backed that up with some stiff strikes. I'd like to see him in a short violent singles. This is probably the best I've seen Konley look, and he was smart to mostly stay out of the way of Chicago's comedy. Maxwell clearly stole the match and basically steamrolled everybody else. Even during other guys' big moments he would still be stooging and carrying on with an extended bump from a move that had happened well before. Konley played along on a couple of the spots but mostly let the other guys get steamrolled, putting himself in the position of the serious asskicker who keeps setting the match back on track. Konley down the home stretch was awesome, pretty much right from the moment he obliterates someone with a backfist. Match was fun and didn't overstay its welcome, and this is the kind of thing that definitely would play even better on a live show, especially coming out of a long intermission and a dull women's match.

PAS: I liked this less the Eric, I couldn't get passed all of Chicago's Chikarisms. It is fine to do shtick in a match, when it makes everyone stop wrestling and point out how fake everything is, I am out. His wacky "I am afraid of heights dive" made the three other guys wait for him for way too long and then sell the dive as brutal. Thought the other three guys were fine, although nothing outside of Konley's backfist made any impression on me.

7. Sami Callihan vs. Timothy Thatcher

ER: I felt bad for these two here, as at this point it had to have been a looooooong day of wrestling for fans and wrestlers alike, and it's almost like the previous match took the last bit of energy the crowd had. There were some strangely silent moments here that can only be explained by people being exhausted, considering the great reactions Evolve crowds usually have for everything. It made certain things come off a little flat in the match, things that usually sound killer, and then it made some of the legit violence come off across as in a vacuum, two sadists killing each other in silence. Things came off a little disjointed, with Thatcher doing a super convincing job selling his elbow the entire match, very much seeming like a legit injury, but with Callihan mostly staying away from the elbow. It's odd to see Callihan hit a stiff powerbomb on Thatcher, and then see Thatcher sell the elbow and none of the powerbomb, but Callihan then still going for KO blows instead of just ripping apart the elbow. That DOES come eventually, and it looked brutal, with Callihan locking on a top wristlock that I actually think should have gotten an immediate tap. Thatcher had been selling that thing before any actual lock up took place, and sold it as being in barely manageable pain the whole match, but then having that nasty wristlock locked on dead center of the ring didn't appear to make the elbow any worse. I don't think it's possible for these two to have a match I don't like, and I know I'm dumping on major parts of the match, but these guys have a much higher floor than most wrestlers. So while I think it was below what they're capable of, below average Thatcher/Callihan is still good eats.

PAS: I liked this more then Eric, these guys have this weird rhythm which I really dig but I could see how people could think was disjointed. Kind of feels like a boxing match with two power hitters pot shotting each other but not throwing combos. Loved the violence of each big shot, Callihan has some nasty stomps and kicks. I agree the arm stuff was a little weird, although that top wrist lock was a big near fall. My only real problem with the match is that the Thatcher headbutt KO didn't look great and certainly should have been way bigger to get a knockout. There were so many nasty shots in that match that you really need to kill a guy to get a KO.

8. Tommy End, Marty Scurll & Will Ospreay vs. TJP, Johnny Gargano & Kota Ibushi

ER: Man, this was not good. For a match clearly presented as "breathless weekend-closing epic" there sure was a lot of time where guys were awkwardly standing around waiting to be superkicked for the 8th time. Ospreay is a guy with a lot of kicks, and none of them look good. Scurll is a VILLAIN but doesn't do anything villainous.  Everybody here completely forgot how to naturally get into position to take moves, sometimes at several points of the match. There were many moments of guys politely waiting around to be Irish whipped. The way they all end up in the crowd at the end is absurd, all waiting around to be gently tossed one at a time over the barrier, before Ospreay does a dive that overshoots everyone. At one point all six men squared off in the ring over an embarrassingly choreographed bit of rope running and bad stomach kicks. For something so clearly choreographed, you'd think it would at least threaten to get good at some point. Everybody looked far too cautious about getting in somebody's way, and you always had guys checking to make sure somebody else was hitting their mark so they could begin their dance steps. Gargano and End probably looked the best of anybody here, but nobody was utilized very well. This was a pretty downer way to close out a very good show. The new trend in indie shows appears to be frontloading cards, as I've been on a run of really digging the first half of shows and then just waiting for the rest of the card to finish.

PAS: People really liked this match, including some people who's opinions I trust, and man I am saying no go. There were a handful of cool spots, I really liked the double military press ace crusher, and a nice dive or two, but mostly this was just a bunch of guys doing stuff. Stopping the match multiple times to watch Osprey and Ibushi lightly massage each others faces with forearms wasn't a great idea. The face off triple team stomach kicks was one of the worst spots I have seen in years. Six man indy spotfests are not my bag as a style, but come on yall you have seen MPRO, youv'e seen Nitro lucha, shit you have seen SAT's v. Divine Storm, this was not that.

ER: Overall this was a really good show, primarily for the first half. The first half stands up with some of the greatest pro wrestling of all time. THREE different matches from the show ended up landing on our 2016 Ongoing MOTY List, with Hero/Sabre and Gulak/Yehi landing the top two spots so far. Other matches weren't far off from being listworthy. This show would be well worth the time and people should go out of their way to see most of it.

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

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

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

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


2016 MOTY MASTER LIST

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Tetsujin Shoot Style 11/20/15

Really cool oddity of a show. A British wrestling radio show promotes a shootstyle tourney made up of mostly under the radar British guys (no Sabre, Scurll, Ospreay, etc.) and it comes off way better than it should have. You can order it here.

1. Jack Gallagher v. Zack Gibson

PAS: Gallagher is in full gi here, he is guy I had seen before and enjoyed, he always seemed like one of the more natural guys doing new age WOS stuff. Here he was really cool as a Tamura-ish shootstyle grappler, he kept falling into guard and inviting Gibson to roll with him.  I though Gibson looked fine, but Gallagher was on another level. This built nicely to a pretty hot finish, with Gibson doing a deadlift powerbomb for a near KO, and Gallagher ripping off a nice flying choke and doing a cool arm shift to synch in the choke, almost looked like the way Cody McKenzie would sleep people during the Ultimate Fighter.

ER: I loved the way this was paced, loved the RINGS vibe. Trying to do a whole show featuring these kind of matches worked by guys who don't normally do these kind of matches seems like a Brawl for All type disaster waiting to happen. Just torn muscles and knocked loose teeth and ligament damage.  I know nothing about these two guys so if there were any pre-existing hierarchy I'm unaware, and it's probably best that way. Gallagher was loads of fun, like a little coiled rattlesnake. Gibson had some nice stuff as well, including an awesome abdominal stretch which he smoothly rolled into a rear naked, and later almost ripped Gallagher's shoulder out of the socket. My tricep ached just watching Gallagher's bend back to his shoulder blade. The powerbomb was a real holy shit spot (wish he had tidied up the follow up punt, however) and I just really liked the way all of this built.

2. Tyler Bate v. Chris Brookes

PAS: I enjoyed this a bunch too, Brookes is way taller then Bate and he really uses his length in the way tall shootfighters use their height, he has nasty upkicks, and uses a jab. Bate has kind of weird body, he sort of looks like a giant baby like Sekimoto. I really liked how Bate kept going for german suplexes, which Brookes would block, made it a big deal when he finally hit one. Finish was really awesome here too with Brookes fighting for an ankle lock from the ground, he blast Bate with an upkick and sinking in the pick.

ER: I really loved this one. I had seen Brookes before wrestling in a "normal" tag match, but here he's like a young Semmy Schilt which looks ludicrous when paired with Bate and his weird overly muscled smaller frame. Actually Bate has kind of eerily similar posture to Bob Backlund. But man do opposites attract as the tradeoffs ruled. The standing exchanges and grappling looked really great, especially at one point where they lock hands and have a kick exchange, like a bizarro MMA version of the knife fight from Beat It. The headlock takeovers looked like they would pop heads off shoulders, the struggle during suplex attempts was real, that upkick right across Bate's cheek was sick, and this was just awesome.

3. Dan Moloney v. Chris Ridgeway

PAS; This was too short to get much of a sense of either guy. They have a slap fest which mixed some good strikes with some iffier ones, and Maloney dumps Ridgeway on his head and lands elbows to the back of the head for the KO. Those forearms to the back of the head are hard to work well, and they didn't look particularly good here.

ER: Yeah those clubbing forearms didn't look good which is a shame as I really liked the lead up to it, with both guys tossing out off-time kicks and slaps really quick, until Moloney scouts a missed kick and uses Ridgeway's momentum against him to grab a go behind and quick German. Everything up to the stoppage was good, but the stoppage looked poor.

4. Trent Seven v. Dave Mastiff

PAS: Mastiff is a big fat dude and I like a big fat dude. This was the longest of the first round matches and was a little dull. Mastiff and Seven lied around a lot instead of doing cool holds. I did like Mastiff's cool back elbow and german suplex, but otherwise this wasn't anything special.

ER: Mastiff is another one of the guys I had seen before, because fat. He's like Jake the Milkman Milliman without the rattail. I kind of expected this to be slower paced as it would be odd to see Mastiff rolling around and doing quick go behinds, but I though the slow pace was rewarding as Mastiff brought a little fish out of water vibe to things, but showed he could still throw you right quick before you realize what's happening. At one point we get into a fun Frye/Shamrock ankle lock battle and I liked the handshake compromise to get out of it. I loved when Mastiff started bringing strikes, like his upkicks from his back, his elbows, and then that big German to end things, leading to him being the first guy to sort of show heel leanings as he pounces on Seven a couple times to get more shots in, long after the bell.

5. Dan Moloney v. Chris Brookes

PAS: This was another very short match (I hope they didn't pay Maloney by the hour). Thought Brookes looked good again, his slaps looked nasty in the slap exchange, and his jumping ankle pick was very cool. Really short match, so not a ton to say about it.

ER: Match goes over 4 minutes so it's not exactly that much shorter than the other matches so far, but it does kind of expose Moloney. He had some smart strategy at one point, feigning a KO during a slap exchange to get the ref to back Brookes off him, then springing up and surprising Brookes with a German. But earlier he had some goofy missed strikes where he was firing way over Brookes' head, which given the size difference couldn't have looked like anything other than one guy purposely trying to miss strikes. I did like Moloney realizing he was only going to win with slams, so I dug Brookes going for a rolling armbar only to find himself getting dropped with a front slam and scrambling for the ropes. This was fine but I'm glad Brookes advanced.

6. Jack Gallagher v. Dave Mastiff

PAS: This was great stuff. Gallagher is a little guy trying to fell the oak tree. Meanwhile Mastiff is just tossing him too and fro, with some very cool throws. Gallagher has very little success until the very end with Mastiff clubbing him with a big forearm and running headbutt, and when Mastiff leaps on him to finish it, Gallagher is able to grab a desperation triangle, which he is even able to sink in after getting powerbombed. Really cool flash finish which reminds me of the kind of thing Fujiwara would pull off.

ER: This fell a little more flat with me, as the slow pace Phil complained about that didn't bother me in the first Mastiff match, bothered me here. Funny, that. The bulk of the match didn't feel like taking down an oak tree, it felt like Mastiff being a fish out of water, not knowing how to deal with Judo Jack, floundering on his back like a turtle. His frustration eventually turns to him using strikes, when he just levels Jack with a mean forearm, then when Jack beats the count he runs straight into a Mastiff headbutt. The finish didn't feel genuine to me, felt much more planned out than all the other finishers we've seen so far. After the headbutt Jack barely beats the 10 count, and then Mastiff does an awesome STO and starts beating him in the face. And it goes on WAY longer than any of the other finishing match stretches, which have all seen sudden quick calls by the ref. So Jack barely beats the 10 count, and then is just taking several shots to the face, and once the ref didn't call the match it telegraphed the finish, as sure enough Jack grabs for a triangle. Mastiff hits a nice powerbomb to desperately try to get out of it but Jack holds on for the win. The finish may have looked better on a show that hadn't already set up its universe, but it came off too "fake MMA" to me on a show that had better looking and more surprisingly suddenness.

7. Tommy End v. Big Daddy Walter

PAS: This was a Superfight between two WXW guys. End has as a cool look and has gotten some US Indy love in PWG and Evolve, and Walter is a long term WXW mainstay who works an indy Vader gimmick. The early grappling part of this match was a little dull, but the end run was fun stuff. They really had a bomb throwing feel, much more BattlArts then RINGS, End really laid in his kicks and Walter landed some big suplexes. Sort of a poor mans Ikeda v. Fatter Otsuka, not at that level but pretty fun.

ER: This was fun. I got to see End live during WM weekend last year and came away impressed. If you shaved a little off the front you might have something here, as once they got to the strike portions this got really awesome. End especially is a really cool striker, mixing up heights and arm angles and tossing in kicks when you're not even expecting a foot to enter the fray. One of his flash kicks was a top 3 moment in this cool tourney. It's kinda neat the powerbomb is being treated like a sudden death move in a couple matches here, as it makes Judo Jack Gallagher look even tougher for surviving Mastiff's bomb to win with a triangle. That's a nice subtle way to build up the advantage of a main eventer.

8. Jack Gallagher v. Chris Brookes

PAS: This felt like the right final, these were the two best guys in the tourney and I was amped to see this matchup. It didn't disappoint. Gallagher was super fast and impressive in his grappling, he was always moving and squirming and looking for an advantage, while Brookes used his height to throw leg kicks and keep Gallagher off him. Gallagher took a suplex about as nastily as I have seen in years, and I loved his jumping arm bar for the tap. Really good finish to an impressive tourney.

ER: Fun final and a nice capper for the evening. Judo Jack even shows up in a new black gi, looking like the Final Boss. I knew these two would match up well as Gallagher showed off his quick reactions all night, and I wanted to see how they went up against the quick strikes of Brookes. And it all works. Their scrambles are good, their rolls are quick and always end interesting, Jack is good at getting to the ropes and some of the sub attempts looked like they would make him a goner. The flying armbar was a surprising fun finish, but this style lends itself to surprising finishes and the possibility of those finishes makes these matches more intense. Good final on a good, really fun show.

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PWG Battle of Los Angeles Night One

PWG BOLA has gotten some great reviews, and I figured I would check it out, let see if I can get through a whole show.

Brian Cage v. Aerostar

One of my fears about this tourney was the dreaded PWG bloat, this is a fed in the past that has had 14 minutes matches drag to 25, so I was happy this was a compact 9 minutes. Both guys had some cool ideas, that they only hit sometimes,  I liked Cage doing curls with Aerostar's body, and that finish hanging Steiner screwdriver was uncalled for. Cage is good in Lucha Underground 4-Ways, and this felt like it could have used two more guys to do some stuff in between their big spots. If they had included Big Ryck and Drago this might have been something great.

Biff Busick v. Andrew Everett

I really enjoyed this. Busick is great as a bully against highflyers, he has had a series of good matches against Mike Bailey and this was in that style, Everett would hit some big time highspots inbetween Busick muderizing him with suplexes, clotheslines and uppercuts. There were point where it felt a little formless, but the big stuff was big. At one point Everett went back on offense with this leaping one motion backwards rana which was one of the prettiest highspots I have seen in a while, really shouldn’t have been thrown out in the middle of the match. Finish run of Busick offense looked awesome as Everett takes stuff so crazy that all of Busicks moves look deadly.

Will Ospreay v. Mark Andrews

This first round placed guys together who had worked each before or worked similar styles. It hurt a little on the dream match aspect of a tourney like this, but it did allow new guys to avoid awkwardness and show their stuff. This was a total blast, both guys are hitting very high difficulty flips and arm drags, I know my man Robert Bihari must have been losing his shit live, Andrews especially was just contorting his body in mid air with a variety of crazy takedowns, reminded of a taller Mascarita 2000, including one of the prettiest springboard ranas I have ever seen. Osprey was also really fast, and got crazy height on everything he did, his twirling kick looked like something out of a wire kung fu movie. Exactly the kind of opening round tourney debut showcase match you want to see.

Jack Evans/Angelico v. Rich Swann/Ricochet

Took a while to get going, as they did a lot of dance contest horseshit which didn’t do much for me. Had a fun finishing run, including a great dive by Angelico, but the problem with tourneys like this is, is that you get inured to all of the high spots, there has been a reverse rana in every match so far, so when Rich Swann does one, it is hard to care, same with 450s and 630s, just the same kind of spots over and over again. I liked this fine, but I could see having a problem watching all three nights of this tournament.

Trent ? v. Trevor Lee

Trent ? is the former Trent Barretta and an ex Chuck Taylor partner, and he has the same junior college improv troupe approach to wrestling. After his early shenanigans he tries to have a serious indy wrestling match, and he isn’t particularly good at that either. We get the 43rd reverse rana of the tourney, and some german suplexes and shit. Lee is a guy I have liked in other matches (He had an awesome sprint with Bailey in PWG earlier this year) but he couldn’t do much here

Pentagon Jr. v. Drago

This was a bummer, I like both guys a lot and you figure they would have lots of experience working each other, but lots of this felt off, and even the big spots weren’t as big or interesting as stuff that was hit earlier in the tourney. Pentagon Jr. has a lot of charisma but this wasn’t good.

Matt Sydal v. Fenix

This was pretty much a popcorn match, with both guys breaking out all of their spots until there was a finish. For that type of match it was pretty good, although nothing I will remember later (unlike the British match earlier which was a similar style but with more pizzaz) . I liked how Fenix brought a little extra to all of his kicks and chops, there was one point where he toed Sydal in the eye, which was brutal looking.  Sydal is good at playing the outclass veteran who used to be able to jump as high as these kids, but now is a step slow, kind of like a Grizzlies era Vince Carter. Still the match ending on a reverse rana,, into a SSP after every nearly every other match on the show through out a reverse rana as a nothing mid-match move, really hurt the finish, this show really needed someone backstage producing this tourney.

Mt. Rushmore 2.0 (Roderick Strong/Young Bucks) v. Marty Scrull/Zach Sabre Jr./Tommy End

This was the most PWGish match on the show. Mt. Rushmore 2.0 has some fun triple teams, and I loved ZSJ using a Breaks special as a hot tag move, but this match just went forever. It felt like it had two or three crescendos, and then the match would slow down with the Bucks doing shtick. It this had seven minutes or so cut, it might have been pretty good, but I just lost interest as it just kept going. I did think this set up Sabre Jr. v. Strong pretty well, and made Rushmore look badass going into the next two days.

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