2024 MOTYC List #1

 

Demus vs. Mad Dog Conneely, ACTION Wrestling 4/4

This was slightly hurt by the overwhelming praise it has received, calling it the match of the year and best chain match since Valentine/Piper. It's not that good in my eyes, but it's a fun violent match. The start with the chain whip to the face was nice.  Connellys strikes in the corner looked great- I would have liked to see more like that. Connelly seems certifiably insane to bite a bleeding Demus. The brawling on the outside was fun with a bleeding Demus falling into audience members and both guys smashing each other with a huge trashcan. When Demus took control, he amped up the violence yanking Conneelly around by his shirt and the chain. The ending with the chain assisted submissions was nasty. Good stuff.

Timothy Thatcher vs Axel Tischer, Bloodsport 4/4

I have yet to watch the full show but I thought this was better than Thatcher/Makabe  (which was solid). Opening grappling was very tight and felt different, like a good hybrid of shootstyle and 50s/60s style grappling. Thankfully Tischer did not do any thigh slapping. Him coming down hard to pounce on Thatcher with nasty elbows whenever openings presented was really good. His suplexes were also great. Thatcher did not goof up the match and the "any move could end the match" factor kept things interesting. Not blowaway great but a nice surprise.

Shinya Ishida vs Hakaru Imai, Sportiva 2/22

Gritty MUGA-esque match with some unexpected hate filled stiffness. That kind of match is pretty much the only thing I care about coming out of Japan these days. Imai was great here, he's this 47 year old ghoulish looking guy who barely wrestles but somehow is really good in gritty technical matches. He looks like he struggles to bump but he is great on the mat. Imai does lots of nifty things here as they hit the ground for a grappling section that actually feels fresh and tight. Imai gets the advantage locking a short arm scissor on Ishida and then proceeds to work the arm the entire match. Ishida actually adds to the match by finding ways to kick Imai in his bald head while entangled in submissions. Imais stubbornness and constantly cranking Ishidas shoulder with nasty Fujiwara armbars and kimuras made a lot of this feel like an El Samurai match as opposed to Zack Sabre Jr esque stuff. Ishida actually doesn't have bad offense for a pretty boy wrestler, and he keeps firing back pretty stiff, making things look like a struggle  and selling the arm. As the match progressed they never lost me and kept working in nifty stuff that I like, such as awkward lariats that land hard against the side of someones head, flash submissions, odd pinning combos on the ground etc. Nice stuff that is well worth checking out in the vein of the Mutoha stuff from the past few years.

2024 MOTYC List Project