Paradigm Pro Wrestling Fighting Spirit Heavyweight Grand Prix 11/15/19

One of the odder phenomenons in indy wrestling in the last couple of years in the proliferation of shootstyle tournaments. First Ambition, then Bloodsport, and now we have a random fed in Indiana running a UWFI rules tournament in a garage. The quality is going to vary, but I am all for it.


Lexus Montez vs. Myron Reed

PAS: This was a non style match with guys working a 2.9 juniors counter wrestling style. The opening counter exchange was done a beat too slow and felt like guys working through their stuff before the show. I am so tired of this kind of match, that they are going to have to do something really special to break me out of the fog, and there wasn't anything special here. Reed has a nice 450 I guess, and Ford's heel hook was a cool near fall, but this wasn't what I clicked on the link to see.

ER: Yeah this really shouldn't have been on the show. Montez looks really really new and Phil nailed it, everything was a beat slow and Montez was a beat behind. Reed kept getting to his mark early because Montez was moving too carefully, so it resulted in Reed's bumps looking too disconnected from whatever it was Montez was doing. I like Reed, but this match style is very much not my favorite style, and for it to work you need two guys on the same page, a strong layout, a couple of twists, and some sense. This had none of those things. I liked the Montez bump down the aisle for a Reed tope, but big parts of this felt not ready for primetime. A match worked in a different style than the rest of the card could stand out and benefit from that, but not when the rest of the card is actually worked in an intriguing style and your match looks like amateur night at the flip flop house. Also, a doing a long "ref misses the tap" spot in the first match of a card filled with UWFI style fights is just tremendously dumb.


Erick Stevens vs. Derek Neal

PAS: I appreciated how both guys really tried to stick to the style, we didn't see any elbow exchanges or chops (which was a problem in Ambition), and we would get ten count attempts on Neal's suplexes. This was Neal using his strength and Stevens using his submission attempts, and it was going to be a question whether Stevens could tap Neal before getting flattened. Loved the finish with Steven's eating three rolling german suplexes, but loosening the grip on the third and floating over into a beautiful chicken wing for the tap. The match was a bit disjointed before that, but that was a Fujiwara level finish, which is the highest compliment you can give in this style.

ER: This was a good start to things as right out of the gate it felt like UWFI rules. Neal came off like a big Gary Albright type while Stevens was slicker on the mat and had quicker knee strikes. I thought the made good dramatic use of the rope breaks, especially when Stevens sank an armbar that I thought was surely the end. Neal was the one bringing big KO shots, with the surprise elbow strike a fun knockdown and the back suplex looking match finishing when Stevens went vertical. The finish was a good one, loved how Stevens knew he wasn't going to be able to stop the Germans from happening by going deadweight, so stopped Neal in his tracks using his brain. That chickenwing looked sick and I dug how Neal tapped quick.


JD Drake vs. Dominic Garrini

PAS: This was more of a style clash with Drake getting schooled on the mat by Garrini and responding with hard chops. I don't like chops in UWFI matches in theory, but if you are going to throw them you might has well try to slice someone's skin off, and Drake was absolutely pasting him. Garrini is so skilled at jiu-jitsu and it's fun to watch him switch back and forth from attack to attack. Finish was a great looking flip into a cross armbreaker. Fun short match.

ER: On paper I do not like the sound of a UWFI match filled with a ton of chops, but in execution I was way into Drake making horrible music on Garrini's chest. Those chops looked so violent that I totally got into them as actual knockdown shots. I always love the visual of big fat guys on the mat in shootstyle as it looks so incorrect and almost offensive. Drake does his best to squash Garrini when he quickly realizes that Garrini is going to school him. We get a killer early match callback and UWFI throwback when Drake clotheslines Garrini out of the air on a charge. Garrini hit a flying knee to start the match and got caught when he tried it again, but intentional or not I thought Drake threw his clothesline just like one of Vader's old bear attacks (I wrote up all of Vader's UWFI matches BY the way). I thought Drake's Saito suplex could have easily been the finish, just a mean throw, but Garrini's finish was so smart. He tosses Drake up for a German but knows before he throws the German that he's not actually going for that move. Drake instinctively blocks the German and realizes then that Garrini had laid that trap and had merely tossed him into an armbar. The spot looked great and Drake played it like he didn't see it coming.


123. Calvin Tankman vs. Lee Moriarty

PAS: I am a Moriarty skeptic, but I thought this was unabashedly great. Tankman is enormous, basically looks like Emmanuel Yarbrough, and this was a really cool speed versus size battle. Moriarty tried to use kickboxing to keep Tankman off of him, but when he got caught he would just get ragdolled. Tankman murders him with a german suplex and then catches a body kick and tosses him in a fisherman's buster on the top of his head. Moriarty is able to recover and catch him with a high kick and grounded axe kick for a flash KO.

ER: Tankman is definitely someone with that Segunda Caida bod, and here he comes off like Shoot Cheex. I didn't fully buy into the axe kick that ended the match, as I think you really need to nail that KO blow when it's the finish AND there's a size difference like this, but I loved every other part of this. Tankman's two throws were real all timers, 1.0 on the Albright scale. Moriarty gets TOSSED with a German and bounces around in the ropes like a guy failing hard at a team building ropes course. The fisherman's bomb was a real beauty, with Moriarty landing at an unsightly angle. Tankman's selling on that front kick to the jaw was so strong. Indy wrestling is filled to the brim with people who have no idea how to sell on their feet, and here's Tankman actually understanding that it's more than just doing Mortal Kombat Fatality selling, he does small foot movements and small cobweb shaking mannerisms. Selling on your feet is much more like a drunk person stopping their walk to try to refocus before walking again, and his was great. He occupied the time really well until Moriarty's second kick. I wish they would have just called it after the second kick, since UWFI rules don't allow strikes to a downed and prone opponent anyway.


Brett Ison vs. Anthony Henry

PAS: Ison looked the most lost with these rules, but I still dug this. Henry just chops at Ison's legs with sharp nasty looking low kicks, he would throw a couple of body shots and slice Ison's thighs and calves. Ison hit one nice suplex, but was mostly throwing not great forearm smashes and ineffective bull rushes. Henry really looked like an assassin though and I really dig a match finishing on a low kick KO.

ER: I thought this was cool, and thought Ison's inexperience with the style played well into the match. Anthony Henry came off cooler here than in any of his faux shootstyle Evolve matches. He looked cool advancing on Ison with the size difference, and he kept throwing hard kicks right into Ison's shins and patella. I thought those looked real gross and I thought they were a great way to plant the seeds for the finish. Henry was good at stuttering his timing on muay thai knees or low-high kicks. Ison lumbered and barged his way through things and grabbed him with a big suplex, and I liked a lumbering big man taking hits. But I hated his rolling elbow in response to getting kicked in the knee. The elbow didn't work as a reaction shot, came off real phony in the middle of what had been a cool messy fight. Also, the referee counted extremely slow in this match, kind of robbing some of the drama by having Henry stalking around for too long waiting for Ison to recover. I still thought the overall match was strong because it did feel like UWFI, with Ison the large gaijin but sitting duck for a young cool guy.


Bobby Beverly vs. AJ Gray

PAS: I dug this a ton in conception, not sure the execution was up to par. Much of the match was built around UWFI style slap exchanges, and they just didn't look good. I imagine it is really hard to throw palm strikes that look credible and don't injure the guy you are landing them on, and these looked too pulled. Outside of that the match was pretty cool. Gray, who was the PPW champion, dominated landing two nasty suplexes and a high kick. Beverly on his way out landed the best palm strike of the match and a guillotine for the win. It did a nice job of establishing that wins can come out of nowhere. So far this show has had awesome finishes and that goes a long way in shootstyle.

ER: I thought this was really good. I watched it through with sound and I watched it on mute, and I thought the slaps looked better muted. Both guys looked like they were swinging really stiff arms and reddening up each other's necks and ears. Gray and Beverly both have heavy arms so you could tell that weight was hitting neck. Gray wrecks Beverly with a couple suplexes, with a brutal German that folds him, and a big Saito suplex across the whole damn ring. Beverly was real good at getting to his feet, and I loved how he was selling that struggle. When he stood up at 6 it looked like he was getting to his feet way too quick and he really looked like a guy 3 seconds and one shot from the end. But Beverly is a guy who obviously has no problem throwing hands, and he hits this nice thrust palm strike to the button on Gray's jawline. And it stalled Gray for just amount, allowing Beverly to leap onto him with a guillotine that he is able to roll over, and the whole thing looked like a real lights out attack. Loved it.


Bradley Prescott IV vs. Blake Christian

PAS: Prescott comes in working a guy who loves Natural Light, and they worked a match built around somersaults and cutters. Both guys had some big spots which looked good and some set ups and small things that didn't. I really liked how they kept all of the tournament matches short. But they made the two non UWFI style matches longer, and I really didn't need that.

ER: Thanks Phil!


50. Dominic Garrini vs. Erick Stevens

PAS: This was pretty great, both guys aggressively rolling and attacking limbs and necks. Stevens looked very comfortable working in this style, Garrini brought most of the flourishes, but Stevens didn't look uncomfortable and I loved his quick and aggressive rear naked choke that he grabbed. Garrini did an awesome half monkey flip into a tight head and arm choke, and slid so quickly into a nasty triangle with elbow for the tap. Garrini is mainly a brawler now, but when he works the mat like this you can really see what a skilled grappler he is.

ER: This was strong, our first real long war of the tournament. Phil is right about Garrini. I've gotten so used to him as a brawler with some nice takedowns that my brain doesn't think of him as the Catch Point grappler, and he's such a boa constrictor here that I hope we get more of these shows to see more of this Dom again. Stevens was real good here. He reminded me - in looks and ability - like reclusive great worker Joe Graves. Six years ago I thought he was going to take indy wrestling by storm, especially while several other Graves-adjacent guys got good work. Stevens could be a premier indy Joe Graves and that's a cool thing. Garrini trapped him and locked him into things, but Stevens was game to get into sticky situations and he looked legit. He locked in a pair of very adept triangles and a pair of nice, heavy suplexes. Hard knee strikes from both guys, Garrini throwing a couple of slick traps (love his pop up triangle), and a damn good fought for finish that really looked like the kind of struggle that should finish a fight. Great stretched out version of the show's formula.


Anthony Henry vs. Lee Moriarty

PAS: I enjoyed this a bunch too. This was primarily a kick boxing match, which was a nice contrast with the previous match. Both guys landed their kicks really well, and mixed it up with sweeps, leg kicks, and high kicks. Moriarty landed a really cool spinning kick to the neck, and Henry hit a multi shot punch and kick combo before rolling into a knee bar and ankle lock for the tap. Short, stiff and energetic, great stuff.

ER: This was our "smallest" pairing of the tournament so I like that they went with something different, more of a kicker's sprint than anything else we'd seen. Henry looked like he was going to pace himself for a longer fight and then suddenly he got backed up and popped by a big spinning kick. From there he was going for broke and looking vicious doing it. Again I've watched several of his more shootstyle Evolve matches and even in the shorter ones he's never come off as vicious as he does here. He goes hard after Moriarty with low kicks and is really taking him apart, and when Moriarty finally catches one Henry uses his expert Minoru Tanaka muscle memory and rolls right through into a beautiful heel hook. This was quick explosive fun.


28. Matthew Justice vs. Stephan Bonnar

PAS: This was totally awesome, one of my favorite sprints of the year. Bonnar feels like a guy that should be booked everywhere. He has a real New Japan Don Frye feel to him, really great at being above everything and also really great at having the seriousness of the fight dawn on him. We are long removed from Ultimate Fighter 1, but Bonnar still presents himself like a big deal. Bonnar was no selling some of Justice's stuff early, but as the fight went on he really sold big for Justice's spears and knees to the head. I liked how this felt like a real different style fight. Justice wasn't pretending to be a shooter, he was just a tough pro wrestler who was going to try to turn this into a fight. I loved how he bailed to the floor on the Bonnar rear naked choke and landed some spears which felt like he was cracking ribs. Bonnar hit big suplexes too, and really kicked Justice's head off. This felt like an indy version of a high end Brock Lesnar match, and was the perfect super fight for this show.

ER: Yeah this ruled. Bonnar comes in with that McCully brothers energy, that meathead jock energy that is too good for pro wrestling. He's the guy who already knows he's ahead on points before any points have come off the board, the guy who knows he has wiggle room to goof around in this "exhibition". I love how Justice didn't act like he was overmatched, and he didn't play around at something he isn't. He went into a Super Fight and worked it like Matt Justice, and Bonnar went into a Super Fight knowing he wasn't against a fighter but "just" a tough guy. Bonnar would land early and easily, then pose to rub it in, or get cocky and throw a Karate Kid crane kick. Even when he would take a shot after goofing around, he would easily get licks in on Justice. He was the teenager playing against small kids on a 7' hoop, and he was due to get knocked down a peg. Justice is outgunned but not outcrazied, and I love him spilling to the floor with Bonnar and hitting a pescado, with Bonnar bringing that "I don't know how to bump" messiness to every fall and landing. Justice has a couple of great spears that seem less like pro wrestling spears and more like Bonnar was the guy getting under Justice's skin at the bar all night and Justice finally flies at his guy with a tackle. Bonnar eats a back suplex, but the best part about Bonnar is his fighter's survival instinct, when you can see his survivor muscle memory spring into action. Every time he would go down it's like his eyes would glaze over and his body would take over, slip Justice's grip, grab a waistlock, and throw him. Bonnar hits a couple nice Germans and a big gutwrench, and they all come after him going into muscle memory fighter mode. It rules. Justice walks right into a Cro Cop head kick for the finish, and I loved how all of Bonnar's earlier strikes were more "haha we're doing some fake pro wrestling right?" stuff, even his big spin kick was something he was only trying just because he could afford the miss. This head kick was putting someone down, and man did it ever.


37. Anthony Henry vs. Dominic Garrini

PAS: Great final and a real continuation of the narrative set up through the tourney. Henry had established himself as a violent striker who was especially damaging with leg kicks, and Garrini had established himself as a dangerous defensive grappler who could turn the tide any moment. Henry really pummels him on the feet, with brutal leg kicks and slaps, and is even competitive on the mat (although Dom always has an answer). It only takes one mistake though, and I loved Dom taking the ground and pound just to snatch the opening he needed for the tap. Cool match, with both guys coming out looking better than when they came in. Henry in normal matches gets a little too near fall indy guy style for me, but man he looks great when he does this.

ER: Very worthy final of a very cool tournament. Anthony Henry came out of this thing looking like a real badass and I liked how this match felt like a manifestation of the tournament that came before it. Henry's strike game looked great this show, with everyone across from him taking those great sweeping leg kicks. Dom took these great spills onto his tailbone from big meaty kicks to his hamstrings, and I was real impressed with how Henry was kind of muscling him around and advancing. Henry had strong balance and it came off like he kept surprising Dom. Garrini's tricks were scouted this time and he was going to need something unexpected to put away Henry, and Henry was looking skilled on the ground. And the finish was cool and it WAS Dom pulling out something different, with Henry throwing from mount and Garrini looking near toast, before shifting his hips to cause a Henry slap to go wide, with Garrini capitalizing with a choke. Awesome.


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