2018 Ongoing MOTY List: Hollis vs. Slim J Dog Collar Match

15. Corey Hollis vs. Slim J Anarchy Wrestling 5/12

PAS: This was a nasty violent dog collar match between two really great under the radar southern wrestlers. Slim J has been awesome for 20 years, although GA indies are a pretty unmined resource.  He bleeds a bunch, throws great chain assisted punches and takes some nasty bumps. Hollis more then holds up his side of the equation, getting crotched with the chain and yanked by his neck.  There was a great spot with Slim J applying an STF with the chain wrapped around the ankle and Hollis's throat at the same time, a submission Hollis stops by raking J in the eyes with the chain. Finish was super nasty with J going to the top rope, and getting pushed off into a hanging position, great selling job by Slim J who's eyes looking like they are bugging out of his head. Dan Wilson coming out and firing Hollis is a pretty lame comeuppance for a heel who just tried to murder someone (also it's Dan Wilson, are we supposed to buy he is incensed about extreme violence? He led the Devil's Rejects for Anti-Christ's sake). Still bell to bell this was great stuff, really well done violent gimmick match.

ER: What a cool throwback bit of violence, with no weapons needed, just two dudes dying to give each other terrible neck pain and a body full of bruises. These kind of matches always feel extra tough, as you can't really bump without wrenching your neck or falling on a chain. I tripped and almost fell over the bed putting on pants this morning, so a dog collar match feels like something that would kill me before the bell. A punch with a chain is one of the undeniably great things in pro wrestling and really the match would have succeeded if it were just 10 minutes of that. But they go for some cool stuff and it all works. Slim J really is in the conversation of most underrated worker of the last decade. I can only assume that people wrote him off because of the instantly dated silly name and attached look, but the guy is a brick wall babyface and people need to get on board. I really liked these two wrapping the chain around their necks, and their impressive understanding of physics and simple machines. Slim wraps the chain around Hollis' neck and the ringpost, in a way where he knows he can yank the chain and plaster Hollis' face into the buckle. I also loved Slim's fired up running elbows into the corner, knowing his chain slack and knowing how to hop the chain before running in with another hard elbow. The chain wrapped tight around the ankle for the STF was a nice touch, and an underrated nice touch was that Hollis is a man who knows how to dress for a freaking dog collar match: old jeans tucked into boots, old shirt cut into a crop top. Write that down. The finish is disgusting as Slim is thrown over the top to the floor, chain wrapped grossly around his neck and armpit, looked like something that 100% should have ended the match, and with Slim's tongue bulging out of his mouth like an old sponge it looked like it could have ended Slim.


2018 MOTY MASTER LIST