By Liam Byrne @tvtimelimit
The hybrid world of shoot-style wrestling has had somewhat of a resurgence over the past few years, especially amongst Western promotions and fans. Whilst Japan has often blurred the lines between real and fake in their companies, it hasn’t always been the case with places like the UK and the US. wXw has promoted its Ambition event alongside the 16 Carat Gold Tournament, but it wasn’t until the arrival of promotions such as Tetsujin in the north of England and events such as the opening show of the independent Wrestlemania Weekend, Matt Riddle’s Bloodsport, that a market that perhaps people weren’t aware existed outside of Japan looked to be filled.
This is the beauty in and of itself when it comes to what has becomes the different events and shows that run alongside Wrestlemania’s horse and pony show. Not only do we get a significant number of the best and brightest talents converging in patterns we might never have seen before, it also forces promotions to think outside of the box to be noticed. Game Changer Wrestling, the men behind Joey Janela’s Spring Break (1 and 2) are the company promoting this event which is submission and knockout only as its key gimmick. That several wrestlers on the show don’t necessarily scream ‘shoot style wrestler’ is part of what could add to the fun. As was noted on the Voices of Wrestling podcast covering the weekend in detail, part of the joy of this event will be the nervous tension as to whether it actually works. Still, it is always good to see promotions trying something different to turn heads.
A late scratch is the main event – Low-Ki coming down with a neck injury (if you are being charitable) and pulling out of a contest with Matt Riddle. Not being a fan of Low-Ki, I’m perfectly happy with the replacement: Minoru Suzuki!
I’ll be honest and up front: this isn’t my usual graps of choice. However, swept up by the buffet of wrestling that will be available for me to gorge on over the next few days, I thought it would be churlish not to watch one of the more interesting outsider events that is taking place.
After a delay of over half an hour, we finally join the action as we have a conventional wrestling ring without ropes that will serve as the…playing surface?!
The first fight is Dominic Garrini versus KTB, a clear case of a guy grounded in grappling against someone who is more gimmicky, a thing emphasised by KTB’s fighting style being listed as ‘mauling’. KTB actually gets a waistlock throw to block a takedown, but is required to slip out of a chinlock moment later. KTB does utilise some wrestling moves, such as a suplex and a facelock, yet relies more heavily on strikes. Muay Thai style knees and a punch send Garrini to the canvas, but he catches KTB coming in with a triangle choke for the victory. The finish felt a bit too gimmicky for the realism that they are going for, but it was a pleasing enough opener for two fairly disparate styles.
The second match sees Tracy Williams versus Eddie Kingston, with Kingston accompanied to the ring by Matt Riddle. The beginning is tentative, with both men using kicks to gauge distance. Williams ends up in side guard and slaps Kingston, which fires both men up as Kingston allows him a free slap before unloading with strikes of his own. A guillotine choke is poorly executed by Kingston, allowing Williams to escape. Williams uses some kicks on a grounded Kingston, almost forcing the submission with a kneebar and a rolling kneebar.
Fighting from his back, Kingston manages to punch his way clear and rains down blows on Williams, before dropping him hard with a half nelson suplex! The resulting side choke isn’t enough, whilst Williams shows his technical chops with a high angle slam. An armbar looks like Williams is in control, but Kingston lifts and drops him to break the hold. Williams runs into a knee, is hit with a kick and dropped with a spinning back fist for the knockout! A better match than the first one, though Kingston looked gassed for a lot of it and perhaps a popular choice for victory more so than a realistic choice.
The third contest is between Martin Stone and Masada, with Stone a more apt contestant for this type of grappling compared to the death match worker. The commentary are up in arms before the match as Masada spits water at Stone. This just pokes the bear as Stone brings him down to the canvas, yet Masada holds his own by attempting an armlock. The men end up in a Stone body vice, with Masada trying to work the leg. Masada uses his size advantage to get on top, leading a trading of slaps in the guard. There is a little bit of confusion as the referee seems to break the two men up as Masada ends up slightly over the edge of the canvas with Stone attempting to take his back.
Stone fails in an attempt to use a top wristlock, but as both men stand back up they trade slaps once more, before a Stone punch allows him to dump Masada with a German suplex. Stone ends up on top after Masada tries to roll through into a leglock, only to then charge into a weak looking knee that is audibly unappreciated by the fans. This leads to him ending up in a (poorly applied) Masada triangle choke punctuated with elbows for the sudden victory for the death match worker. The fans are not happy, and the ending, from execution to the suddenness of it really killed any momentum the match had. Masada felt out of his depth personally in particular.
‘Filthy’ Tom Lawlor, a man who broke his arm not too long ago and appears to be wearing a sporting cast to protect the injured limb, is out next to face WALTER, sliding underneath his UFC-style banner in a beautiful show of arrogance. He also scratches his pubes with his mouthguard, which is less arrogant and more disgusting. WALTER initially blocks two takedown attempts with ease, before blasting Lawlor with a chop following a caught kick. WALTER’s size helps him to fight back to his feet as Lawlor worked his way into a chinlock, flipping Lawlor over and targeting the injured arm both on the canvas and with his strikes. A gutwrench suplex and a slam showcase the professional wrestling aspect of WALTER’s game, whilst his removal of Lawlor’s cast has the commentary team up in arms.
Lawlor makes the wrong decision to try and match chops with WALTER, a game that you will always come out on the wrong end of. At this point, my stream dropped, only to return with Lawlor hitting a German suplex, a Superman punch and then doing a second Superman punch (with Reigns’ ‘cocking the arm’ taunt) straight into a WALTER chop. A short lariat and a sleeper follow, with Lawlor rolling through into an armbar that is broken with a lift and drop by the big Austrian. Forearm blows and an arm trap sleeper are enough for WALTER to claim the victory. A really fun match that worked well by utilising WALTER’s size advantage versus Lawlor’s legitimate MMA ability to allow for realistic shifts in momentum, only really let down by the technical issues in the middle.
After an intermission in which we see adverts for Joey Janela’s Spring Break 2 (alongside a lot of stream crashing), we have Chris Dickinson against Dan Severn, which is another good mix of characters as you have Dickinson’s outlandish aggression against Severn’s stoicism. Severn has three men carrying his belts to the ring; Dickinson shows his respect by chucking a shirt in Severn’s face. It may sound bleeding obvious, but Severn is able to make a lot of the moment to moment parts of the fight look realistic due to his actions whilst on the attack or defense. Every time Dickinson ends up on top, Severn is able to close the distance to avoid strikes and submissions. Each man has his chance to try and finish, though often the application of the holds are in such a fashion to easily allow the opponent to escape.
Severn catches a big kick by Dickinson and tries to use a rear chinlock but without having the back. Dickinson actually manages to hit a takedown, but once again Severn is able to move himself into the mount and once more goes for the back. A guillotine choke attempt by Dickinson has Severn in trouble, as does multiple elbows by Dickinson, but the ref inexplicable stands it up. This allows Severn to hit a German suplex after a missed Dickinson kick and finally win with the rear chinlock. Another awful finish, whilst the match itself was interesting due to who was in it, but was actually fairly boring almost because of its closer resemblance to an actual MMA contest. Dickinson does try and make up for an awful finish by jumping Severn after the bell, only for Matt Riddle to come out and break up the melee.
The crowd are firmly behind another wrestler who doesn’t fit the conventional mould for this type of event, Nick Gage, who is up against Timothy Thatcher. The question is all about what Gage might try and do within the confines of these rules. We find out pretty quickly, as after some jockeying near the apron followed by Thatcher attempting a half Boston and an armbar (which Gage breaks with a bite to the leg), Gage falls to ringside and we get a brawl that includes Gage hitting a suplex on the concrete floor and briefly using a table to beat up Thatcher. With both men back in the ring, they trade forearms and Thatcher hits his jumping head kick, but Gage fires back with a trip and several forearms for the knockout victory. This was perfectly fine, though I expected more – perhaps a naïve expectation for two men that will wrestle many times over the weekend. The finish in particular seemed to come out of nowhere.
The main event is up next as the fans chant ‘Kaze Ni Nare’ to signal the arrival of Minoru Suzuki. Matt Riddle, the main man, is out next with his Kill Bill inspired ring gear and we are primed for what should be a really good main event. In the early exchanges, Riddle makes the interesting choice of calling Suzuki a ‘bitch’ before both men try and tweak the knee in matching kneebars. Some wild trading foreshadows what will happen later, whilst Suzuki ends up ignoring a break call by the referee to start a sequence of submission trading on the ring apron with each man making use of the difference in elevation to their advantage.
It wouldn’t be a Suzuki match without him taking out his anger on the referee as he stops applying a Fujiwara armbar at ringside to chase the official and a throw a chair at him. After the match returns to the ring, the two men trade hard slaps before a Suzuki strike combination allows him to lock on a rear naked choke. However, Riddle escapes, hitting a German suplex, a senton and multiple elbows, leading to a chinlock with hooks that requires Suzuki to fight his way out. Moments later, Suzuki manages to transition into a rear naked choke, with Riddle’s attempts to jump backwards and break the hold only allowing Suzuki to sink it in deeper. Riddle fights it for all he is worth but the referee waves off the contest. The two men share a hug after the match, whilst a Riddle promo in the ring is barely audible to those watching the stream.
As a start to the weekend goes, Bloodsport was an interesting diversion if nothing else. WALTER and Lawlor was the best contest, whilst Riddle versus Suzuki was a close second. Some of it was fairly inconsequential and there really shouldn’t have been two bad referee stoppages on a worked show, but the good outweighed the bad for me. For me personally, this is one down and eight more shows to go. Wish me luck…
