New Footage Friday: Low-Ki~! Xavier~! K Kwick~! CHICKY STAR ~! FINLAY~!

Low-Ki vs. K-Kwik vs. Xavier UWF 3/9/02 - GREAT

MD: If you're going to have a three-way where one guy will end up laying around at times and with a bunch of imaginative but slightly contrived spots, keeping it to ten minutes makes that go down pretty smooth. Truth (the 2002 version) and Low Ki is a pretty unique pairing too, which helped, as did Ki's complete commitment to everything he did and Xavier looking great out there, first with getting clowned as he tried to intervene between Kwik and Ki and later on with the opportunism and some nice, aggressive offense. The biggest spot of the match was a triple submission where Ki had a dragon sleeper on Kwik and Xavier came in with a sort of flipping cattle mutilation and while the physics of it made no sense, it was fairly dramatic. I did think after that Kwik was laying around a bit too much, but it's not like Xavier and Ki didn't work well together. This was definitely of its time, but hey, it was an enjoyable time.

PAS: I am not a fan of three ways, and I think this would have worked better as any combination of these guys in a singles match, or a tag with a fourth guy. Still this had a lot to like in it, Ki was at the height of early prime, and Xavier was always one of his better opponents. I liked Ki's kicks versus X's nice looking plum clutch knees. Kwik was around to bump, and he took some nice ones, including a nasty one to the floor after a Ki springboard kick. I normally hate triple submissions too, but I have to admit that Xavier Cattle Mutilation on the Dragon Sleeper Ki put on looked cool, and looked like it crunched Kwik's neck. I have a lot of time for this era of indy wrestling and this was a fun unseen glimpse of it. 

Thunder & Lightning vs. Chicky Starr/Bronco #1 WWC 2003

MD: Quality island Memphis. You could see this being Hart and someone against two bruisers twenty years earlier. Chicky almost got real sympathy early on because he started off with a huge gusher and it looked like an inevitable mauling. Thankfully, that turned around with a bit of valet distraction and obvious weapon shots. From there they built plenty of heat using the object, other chicanery, and drawing the ref away to keep control, and their own necks, until they make the mistake of getting too close to Thunder and Lightning's corner and the weapon changes hands. Even then, there was another bit of heel miscommunication before it's over and the enjoyable post-match where it looks like they're going to turn on each other. You add these ingredients and mix it all together for heel comeuppance in the end and this will always work.

PAS: Chicky Star really does a Puerto Rico appropriate blade job here, and it is hard to root for Thunder and Lightning as their opponent is pulsing gore. The heels do some heel shit, but damn, I would use a foreign object too after an attempted murder.

Finlay vs. Ethan HD DOA 1/21/12-GREAT

MD: This was a Finlay indy tour match that we had as a HH but not proshot, if I'm not mistaken. We hadn't covered it previously. It's really good. A grounded match with Finlay spending the first half chaining together violent shots and punishing Ethan and a back half where he had to work from underneath for a few different holds. The crowd, maybe younger (Eric could probably confirm this), was patient and game for the comebacks. Ethan's cutoffs were actually really good: well-timed, varied, solid impact and believable. He was also more than eager to leap into Finlay's stuff. I would have liked the chair shot to link into another whip into the exposed corner to set up the finish, but that's nitpicking. I liked how they transitioned the outside star into an angle with one of their own guys post-match too. Good stuff.

PAS: The first part of this match had Finlay taking someone to the woodshed, and he is one of the great trip to the woodshed wrestlers ever. He beels Ethan by his chin, drop elbows on throats and forearms to the chin. Classic Finlay asskicking which is one of my all time favorite things to watch. Ethan on offense was a bit more of a mixed bag, and only occasionally delivers the receipts needed. I did like him forcing Fit to work out of a headscissors, and the business with the removed turnbuckles was nice, although overshadowed a bit with all of the chair nonsense. The final indy run Finlay maybe my favorite part of his career and this was a pleasure to watch.

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Matches from ICW 3/19/10

Grim Reefer/Azrieal vs. All Money is Legal (K-Pusha/K-Murda) vs. The SAT

ER: Yeah gimme this. Azrieal and Grim Reefer are a good multiman tag team, same kind of undersized heel flyers that feel adjacent to Special K. SAT did that great thing where one of the members of a brothers-who-look-alike tag team gets like 35 pounds bigger than his brother. It's really easy to tell Joel and Jose apart when writing, because Joel looks like Sonny Siaki if he stopped lifting, and while Jose has also moved up to heavyweight it is visually much less so. This also happened on the west coast, to one of the Ballard Brothers, twins who are now very easy to tell apart. And I wonder if this happens to these tag teams in every single indy territory, that the United States is filled with lookalike brother tag teams who now look very different, and I think some indy needs to run a tournament with teams like this. I liked this enough, but would have liked it more as a tag. Azrieal/Reefer are a good team, and I would have been way more interested in seeing them work NE stalwarts SAT or see what they could do with the younger AMiL. As it was, nobody got to shine for long, but there was some shine. The dive train was big, with SAT hitting a kind of sunset flip bomb to the floor on K-Murda, Azrieal hitting a gorgeous tope con hilo, Reefer flying onto and past everyone with his own dive. SAT can still hit the Spanish Fly, AMiL are basically in there to be crash test dummies for the more known teams (which they did well), and Azrieal definitely looks like the money of the bunch. He's as quick here as he was on the JAPW tapes I have from earlier in the decade, and Grim Reefer isn't far behind.


Dan Maff comes out and cuts a kind of Ian Rotten promo but gets interrupted by an absolutely ON FIRE Prince Nana. The announcers weren't expecting Nana to be here, and Nana draws actual heat, and it doesn't sound like people are playing along. He is actually out here riling up fans, cutting down hecklers, and has a wild eyed intensity while running everything down. He talks about how he plans on ending Maff's career, and how he wants to end his career TONIGHT. I like Nana holding a grudge for all those times his teams and charges got wrecked by Da Hit Squad earlier in the decade. So now he's going to bring out a murderer's row of goons to cripple Maff.

Dan Maff vs. Rob Fury

ER: Nana's plan has a bit of an inauspicious start. Fury is a beanpole of a man, has a Batman tattoo on his chest, and doesn't have a ton of pro matches under his belt, but he looks professional. I like how it starts with Fury landing running elbows in the corner, throwing downward strikes until the bottom inevitably drops out. Maff hits a buckle bomb that meets the turnbuckle in that perfect spot between Fury's shoulderblades. He scrapes his boot across Fury's face, hoists him up for a big press slam, and then caps it off with a big man standing moonsault. Fury is disposed, so Nana brings out a new challenger...

Dan Maff vs. Maximus Sex Power

ER: This pudgy doofus eats a hard lariat from Maff, then holds on for dear life to the top rope as Maff aims to hit a burning hammer. Once he scrambles out of the BH attempt and makes it to the apron, he just quits. Obviously I wanted to see this guy get shortened by a burning hammer, but I like how they focused on his mad attempts to escape the hammer and leave with his life instead. It made for a more interesting twist. And then Nana brings out the REAL challenger...

Dan Maff vs. Xavier

ER: I loved the cockiness that Xavier entered with, not a single beat missed in 8 years. He doesn't have that speed, but he credibly stands toe to toe with the larger Maff. Xavier flummoxed him with some ju jitsu, and he hits Maff hard with a nice mix of shots. His elbows land right in the middle of Maff's jaw every time, has a couple of killer running back elbows that hit as hard as anything in the match, and all of his knee strikes look good. Xavier's muay thai knees are cool, and I've always been into how he logically starts throwing knees to the thighs and lower abdomen, and keeps working his way up until he's hitting leaping knees into Maff's face. It's cool how much Xavier took control, impressed with how he dished offense to Maff as well as he took it. Maff pays him back with a quick running knee to the face, but hits knees on a senton, and then Xavier actually hits the Xavier driver on Maff, totally crazy looking lift. We got to a great burning hammer tease, but Xavier slipped out of it only to be accidentally punched from the floor by Nana, which allowed Maff to bounce Xavier of the side of his head with a half nelson suplex. Maff breaking a triangle with a powerbomb looked good, and I thought it was cool they established Maff's big lariat finish instead of making Xavier take the burning hammer. Because you have guys like Rob Fury around, with their young fresh unkinked necks, and THEY can take burning hammers and fold in disgusting ways. This match was different than it would have been in 2002, but the best elements were still present in 2010 and I thought was cool.


Amazing Red vs. B-Boy vs. Bandido Jr.

ER: I was not feeling like one. I think the extra person threw off the timing, and there was too much hitch with the extra man. B-Boy was the surprise, and man I wish they had done an angle where he had jumped Bandido and replaced him. So we got a lot of punching guys into position, a lot of guys bumping awkwardly because they had to land not on an extra guy, and too much time spent on getting the third man out of the ring to the floor. Bandido wasn't bad, but his striking was the weakest of the bunch (and yes we got one or two of those dumb moments where three guys stand in a triangle and take turns punching each other). At minimum he hit a dive and took a mean sitout powerbomb from B-Boy. Red didn't have his signature crispness, although still managed to hit a couple nice spots (his senton atomico into both on the floor was the flying highlight here) . His spinkicks didn't have the same snap that they typically have (both 8 years prior and 8 years after) and they felt off because he worked a third man into them, like vaulting off B-Boy to spinkick Bandido. It just meant for more of guys standing still waiting to take complicated spots, and couldn't ever come off organic. B-Boy had a lot of punch and was my favorite guy here, as he flew harder into offense than the others and made his biggest moves land with an exclamation point. The only times he didn't look good were when the match format got in the way. It felt like the format was actively working against the wrestlers. Finish was fun, with Red battling over and finally hitting the Code Red for a nice nearfall only to seamlessly connect on a standing shooting star off the Code Red kickout to win.

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WWE Velocity 1/18/03: Indy Invasion

I love this episode of Velocity, because it weirdly looked like the indy scene was doing a WWE invasion and being treated as equals. Bryan Danielson takes 70% of a match against Jamie Noble, Xavier gets long runs of offense against the much larger Chuck Palumbo, and Brian Kendrick wins in just his second televised match (without having his identity fully revealed yet). Kendrick was signed at this point, the other two obviously weren't. But all three of these matches were worked way differently than WWE typically treated guys who were working just one night. The night several of my favorite guys invaded Velocity!!


Jamie Noble vs. Bryan Danielson

ER: This was the first time this pairing happened. The two would later go on to be tag partners in New Japan the next year, then opponents in places like ROH and PWG the year after. This is Danielson's first match on WWE TV, and there weren't many people on the roster who were a more perfect match for Danielson than Noble. Danielson didn't work as anything approaching enhancement talent, he was clearly there to be Bryan Danielson. If you were watching for the first time you would have just assumed he was a guy already in WWE. He's wearing his dress whites (I remember around 2001 when he got new kickpads, and they were these big white shining things, an they would look like he was wearing snow boots) and goes right after Noble, the two of them working the same kind of match they would have worked on a 2003 indy card. This didn't feel like they were following any kind of structure, just going out and doing a bunch of cool things in 7 or so minutes (which is more time than I've seen given to almost any non-roster wrestler). It's way different from your typical WWE match from this era, as a lot of it is on the mat or worked around standing grappling. This kind of match would have played strong anywhere in current wrestler, nothing from it feels dated 17+ years later. Danielson throws a lot of kicks, to the leg, to the ribs, to the back, and the more he kicks the louder the fans react. He throws elbows (including a rolling elbow to the back of Noble's head) and really controls a ton of this match. I liked the ways Noble took over, especially his drop toehold that sent Danielson neck first into the bottom rope. They stay close nearly the entire match, as it's not based at all around taking tons of bumps. Even Nidia's interference looks good, attacking Danielson on the apron the one time Noble is away from him. Danielson's bridging German looked good (really, all of their offense looked good), and the finish was cool too: They lock up and twist out of standing go behinds, both squirming out of suplexes, until Noble hooks Danielson's arms and snaps him into a modified swinging neckbreaker. It was totally unexpected, and came off like a cool kill shot.

Chuck Palumbo vs. Xavier

ER: You know something is in the water when a big guy like Palumbo is giving a ton of openings to Xavier. Xavier kind of fell into that Mike Modest/Chris Candido size chasm. Compared to a lot of indy guys, Xavier looked big. Against Chuck Palumbo? Well, he looked bigger than Jamie Noble would have looked. This could have easily been a Palumbo showcase squash, and instead turned into a match that would have been a legendary Worldwide match. I thought this whole thing kicked ass. Palumbo overpowered Xavier to start, bullying him into the corner and getting loud reactions for his excellent right hand (always thought it was odd that Palumbo never went farther in WWE, as the way he moved in a ring always got a response). Xavier's comeback is cool, and reasonable, dropping Palumbo strike by strike, throwing a low kick to the knee, hitting a great muay thai knee once Palumbo is on a knee, and then throwing a low dropkick. We get what I assume is Palumbo wrapping things up by hitting a huge running buckle bomb and running yakuza kick, but instead we get a dynamite sequence: Palumbo goes for another powerbomb, Xavier slips over for a sunset flip attempt, Palumbo drags him through his legs and into a choke, and Xavier snaps off a rana. It was a super modern looking sequence, except it really didn't have the planned out feeling that a lot of stuff reeks of today. It was totally unexpected here, and I loved it. Xavier keeps Palumbo off balance, even gets to hit his awesome neckbreaker finisher, snapping Palumbo over his shoulder and setting up for a 450 splash. The finish is simple, with Xavier rolling through the 450, hitting an elbow smash and some punches in the corner, then getting plastered with a superkick while the ref was separating them. I was not expecting a couple of the twists this match wound up taking, as this kind of match is unheard of today (and wasn't very common then, either).

Shannon Moore vs. The Jet

ER: This was right before Brian Kendrick officially debuted, when he was doing a fun gimmick wrestling in non-descript pants and a mask, named after a local sports team. He was Diamondback in Arizona, he was awesomely the Rough Rider up in Saskatchewan, and here in New Jersey he's The Jet. The match was a really fun juniors match, with Moore working really stiff and Jet flying at him like the Energizer bunny. Moore keeps getting frustrated the more Jet fights back, even yelling "Who IS this guy?" at one point. The armdrag sequences really snap, Moore's forearms hit with a ton of force, and they manage to work a reversal heavy juniors match without it seeming entirely focused on obnoxiously rehearsed learned behavior reversals. The learned behavior stuff fits in well, like Moore whipping himself into the mat off a missed armdrag, leaving himself open for a roll up. But what really makes this match is how hard they lean into every strike, and how hard they bump into turnbuckles and into the mat. They use cool things like blocked strikes when that wasn't a super common thing in even American indies, let alone WWE TV. Seeing Jet knock down a Moore stomach kick is awesome, but seeing Moore drop Jet with a hard back suplex is awesome in a different way. Moore runs into the side of Jet's head with a hard knee, works a cravate over the top rope (which he calls back by going back to in-ring), and both guys make every single nearfall come off so damn close. Every pinfall came after something that looked like it could finish the match, even in a flash pin kind of way, but there were no wasted covers. There is just so much cool stuff packed into this match, and it never felt like either man was shrugging anything off. Both guys made each other look like stars, yet this never came off like 50-50 nonsense. Jet hits an killer short arm yakuza kick and knocked Moore for a loop with a springboard dropkick, and I'm continually impressed with how well each guy works around Irish whips and the ropes. The finish is quick and unexpected, a barely missed lariat getting caught by Jet and turned into the sliced bread. Awesome, totally breathless juniors match to cap off an all time great episode of Velocity. The night the indies were treated like they were on the same level as the big dogs.

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RIP Xavier

Xavier vs. Homicide JAPW 8/24/01

PAS: This was a death match, and a great example of these two at their athletic primes. We had some really nifty wrestling early, including Xavier flipping out of the cop killer countering into a grounded cobra, which Homicide broke with a kick to the knee. Young Homicide was really explosive, even just a run into a corner had so much pop, and his flip dive was as crazy in this match as I ever remember it.  Xavier was great in this too, he was a natural unlikable heel and had his shit talk game down. I loved him pricking his finger on the barbed wire bat when he grabbed it, such a great little heel move. I didn't love the finish of this match, felt kind of cheap to end it on the distracted heel banana peel, but otherwise this was great stuff.

ER: This match ruled so hard. JAPW guys really beat the shit out of each other (there was probably a reason why I glommed onto JAPW and IWA-MS when I was tape trading), and this match really highlights the violent athleticism of this perfect era of JAPW. Both guys take some shots that look like they'd put someone on the shelf, just an awesome level of trust and fearlessness and craziness on display. Homicide gets a rope around Xavier's neck and chokes him over the ropes, then snaps him around by the neck. A lot of necks and bodies looked like they were getting messed up throughout this match. Homicide threw several kill shots, and Xavier leaned into all of them. Homicide's yakuza kicks, big lariat, and corner elbow all looked like they hit Xavier square in the jaw. And while the hits in the match are big, I'm not sure any hit was as big as Homicide hitting the guardrail on a tope con hilo. I don't know if I've seen a man crash faster into a guardrail, he just flew past Xavier and I have no clue how he didn't break or tear anything. Xavier wraps a chair around Homicide's neck when he's crazy enough to go for a dive right after, then kicks the chair while it's still on Homicide's neck. I loved Xavier's corner cannonball, and his somersault legdrop while Homicide's head was under a chair was nasty as hell. I said necks and bodies looked like they were getting messed up, and Homicide's manager Johnny D gets in on the fun. He didn't look like a guy who knew how to take a neckbreaker, but Xavier made sure he took a brutal looking neckbreaker. The cop killa looks like it could have punctured a lung, just a match filled with sick shots. I love the violence this crew are capable of with each other, truly a special era.


Xavier vs. Christian Cage NEW 4/5/08

PAS: This was the second phase of Xavier's career with him working these 90s WWF style main events as the NEW champion. It didn't have much of an internet profile, but NEW drew (and still draws) big crowds. Xavier wasn't doing any of the athletic stuff he was doing earlier in the decade, but was really great as an undeserving champion willing to take any shortcut. Christian is great at working babyface in these kind of matches, times his comebacks well and bumps big for Xavier's shots. I really liked Xavier's short forearms, added a bit of violence to this match. Full on Dusty finish which works well for this crowd, especially because it wasn't a finish run into the ground in 2008.

ER: This was real satisfying, a well worked title match with some big moments, and a fun engaging performance from both. NEW crowds must be really nice to work for, as they are always enthusiastic and respond loud for crowd work. Xavier's style would be completely unrecognizable if you had seen any of his early 2000s indy work, but he knows the crowd he's performing for and has a completely different bag of tricks. A few years prior he was a super fast athletic bumper who leaned way into strikes, here he is a classic stooging heel who still has some explosiveness but doesn't show it off as much. There was a really great turnbuckle gag, a gag you've seen before but with an additional crowd pleasing twist: Christian slams Xavier's head into the top turnbuckle a few times, works his way down to the middle buckle, throws him into the bottom buckle (we've seen this, it's a good gag), but then works him back up the buckles, which I have never seen. It was great, the kind of spot any stooge heel wish they thought of. Xavier always went the extra stooge mile on bumps here, not simply falling to the floor after taking Christian's teeter totter kick in the ropes, but leaping to the apron and then making a comical face after hitting the rail. Christian bumps to the floor off a hotshot (I thought Xavier was going to throw him to the floor with a belly to belly, too much French Catch has been seeping into my brain and wrecking expectations) and Xavier does a good job dragging Christian around ringside to give all sides a show (Christian did this earlier and even posed for photos while dragging Xavier). He crushes Christian with a clothesline, and his neckbreaker finisher is just as nasty as it was in 2001. The Christian kickout after the 2nd ref came in was really unexpected, a big babyface moment that got a huge reaction. The finish is something that I am into, but it works great on shows like this, and Christian is pro enough to know exactly how to handle the post match in a way that fans weren't even thinking about him getting DQ'd.

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