Boss Rock

Technical wrestling and mat work has admittedly never been my favorite style (I've always been partial to brawls and bombfests). However, there are a lot of technical wrestlers today that I've come to admire and enjoy the more and more I see of their work. At its best, technical wrestling is almost like a science and there are many different ways to approach it. So I thought it might be interesting to analyze and break down some of the best technical wrestlers in the world today. Zack Sabre Jr: Sabre is a rather polarizing wrestler. There's been a lot of criticism thrown his way about only doing flashy stuff, killing time for the first half of the match, only making stuff matter in the second half, etc. I understand those criticisms but personally I disagree with them. I view Zack as someone who will break his opponent down over the course of an entire match both physically and mentally. Rather than focus on one limb or method of attack, he busts out as many holds and submissions as possible to wear his opponent down and finish them off when the time is right. Basically, he's playing the long game. This was the story of his winning the New Japan Cup. He imposed his will early and consistently, working over any body part he could grab a hold of until they could simply take no more. And with how smooth and flashy his mat work is combined with his ability to counter almost any move with another hold, he's like a magician rather than a professor like Fred Yehi. And like a lot of magicians, not many seem to know his secrets. Going back to his flashiness, as a face or heel, Zack has always had a dickish vibe about him. He thinks he's the coolest thing around because he can do almost anything to punish an opponent. So taking his character into consideration, it makes sense that his offense would have a "Hey, look at me!" vibe. Fred Yehi: Like I mentioned above, Yehi is more of a professor compared to Sabre as a magician. He's much more of a nitty-gritty technician who grinds his opponents down in logical yet ingenious ways. The way he'll attack an arm or stop on a hand for foot, he constantly finds new ways to hurt his opponent that are in plain sight but constantly make you go "Geez, why didn't anyone else think of that?" I've seen several comparisons to a young William Regal. And even though he's not as flashy as Sabre, he'll still throw in a few neat moves like the Liu Kang chest kick. I can see why some might prefer Yehi over Sabre, but I think they're both somewhat similar in trying to break their opponents down over the course of an entire match. They just have different ways going about it. Sabre takes his time, Yehi is a bit more aggressive. Hideki Suzuki: Given that he's bigger and stronger than a lot of his opponents and contemporaries, Suzuki is much more visceral. He's a heavy hitter who mixes powerful strikes and suplexes with limb-punishing submissions. I saw someone describe his BJW title reign as being like a "final boss" and that sums up Hideki fairly well. He's willing to stand and trade strikes, but why go to that trouble when you can first decimate your opponent's limbs in the most violent way possible? If you're going to fight back, he's going to make you earn it because he's not willing to give up one inch. And while he's not exactly flashy like Sabre, there's a certain finesse in how he dissects opponents. His game is to establish his complete and unquestionable dominance, but he'll enthrall you in the way he does it. Instead of a magician or professor, Suzuki is more like a doctor at his most benevolent and an executioner at his most malevolent. Timothy Thatcher: Similar to Suzuki, Thatcher is bigger than a lot of his opponents and takes a sort of bruiser approach. Though the latter end of his Evolve title run saw his work get increasingly dry and bare bones, he's seemingly become more and more aggressive. To Timothy Thatcher, wrestling is serious business and he has no time for those he deems unworthy of sharing the ring with him. He can be very nitty-gritty like Yehi but also punishing and visceral like Suzuki, even if he doesn't quite have the latter's finesse. And while Suzuki is more powerful with his strikes, Thatcher is more aggressive and angry. He's out to punish his opponents whether it be just business or a perceived slight at daring to challenge him. If there was a profession to describe Thatcher, it would be a butcher.

Great match and awesome way to do a title change. It certainly helps that I'm a big fan of Sabre, but it really felt like someone had finally overcome and beat him at his own game. I get the criticisms of Sabre doing flashy stuff just because he can, but I've always seen it as Sabre imposing his will early and doing as many things as he can to break his opponent down over the course of the match (which was instrumental in him winning the New Japan Cup). And even as a face he's kind of a dick, so it makes sense that he would have that "Hey, look how cool I am!" air to him. Loved the finish of Riddle tying up Sabre like Sabre had done to so many opponents before with no way of escaping. One of the best matches I've seen this year and my pick for Evolve MOTY so far.

This is probably the best take I've seen on this.

Ishikawa-Nomura was really good. Also loved Jun-Suwama and Kento-Ishikawa.

Great call on the background to this match. Really adds a lot of context.

This match gets a lot of hate but the first time I watched it I liked it, so I watched it again to see if it holds up. The first 7-8 minutes are actually pretty good and really it's only when Black hits the Rubix Cube that it gets a bit over-indulgent. And as indieriffic as it is, it's not exactly all that out of place from what you'd see at a PWG show. Not a classic, but not the blight of independent wrestling either. It's fine.

Really fun match. Never felt like any of the action was lost despite the number of competitors in the ring, which is always a plus for multi-man matches like this. Loved Itami going after the mask and accidentally nailing Tozawa, costing them the match.

I don't even think there was any "outrage". Just a "Wow, seriously?" kind of reaction.

Why because Bruno just died today. That's why people don't like it. I saw that he paid tribute and that's the right thing to have done. A significant news story ? It's a fecking sell out number for msg from over forty years ago. I'm not desperate to be outraged but bringing it up today but now isn't the time or place. Bruno's death is a significant news story. I know that when I'm writing an obituary for a prominent person, which I've done plenty of times, I work extra hard to get the facts right. An obituary is like the final word on someone's life. If anything, I'd argue it's more important to be careful with the details in that context. I know if I were writing Bruno's obituary, I would be happy that Dave, as an authority in the field, clarified this point. Then maybe don't go on twitter, and just send correction notices to people writing the article with the mistake in it? Why shouldn't he post factual (and in no way negative or critical) information on Twitter? Have we really become this infantilized? I don't even get where people are coming from with this. Not one person who is writing these stories will read Dave's twitter. He has corrected nothing. Also, it's just about timing. The amount of sell outs he did is irrelevant today, especially for stories on ESPN's website or whatever. Sort of how I feel about it. I get WHY he tweeted it but coming from a guy not known for having tact on social media, it came off a bit callous. Not saying anyone should be outraged, but I get why some were a bit put off by it. But at any rate, Bruno and Dave were friends and I'm sure his obituary will be great.

I definitely think it's a cool rubric to use for wrestlers.

I'm not sure if there's anyone who could bring the heat like he could. Guys like Hansen, Tenryu, and Jumbo could be absolutely relentless with their strikes, but Hashimoto was just...different. Almost unmatched in intensity. I'm not as crazy about his more "sporting" or ground-based matches, but he still knew how to make stuff like working an arm or headlock seem dramatic when most just use them for transitions.

Yep, although I can still sort of see the argument against HBK even including his comeback run.

Damn, how is Casas still this good at 58? Not only is Casas slick with his matwork, he's aggressive. He attacks the limbs of Aramis. This turns into a really nice, urgent sprint with back-and-forth strike exchanges and a hot finishing stretch with both guys trying everything from big bombs to quick pins to put the other away. ***3/4.

Originally wrote this for the GWE project: Given the over-indulgent tendencies of Kenny and the Bucks and the fact that this match went nearly 40 minutes, this could have been a misfire. Was it perfect? No. Did it get really schmaltzy and melodramatic at the end? You bet. But this was one of the most ambitious matches I've seen in the best possible way. As long and as over-dramatic as it was, the match never came off as a forced, self-conscious epic. It all felt natural and the spots really made sense where they happened. That's pretty dang impressive for this kind of match where 3 of the 4 competitors are known for being excessive. The selling by Nick Jackson was great, the offense was spectacular, the tension and conflicting emotions were prevalent throughout, and the finishing stretch was fantastic outside of the cheese. Really strong contender for MOTY in a first quarter that has already produced several strong contenders.

This was a hell of a sprint and further proof that Daniel Bryan is indeed back. How he looks like he's only taken a week off when it's really been three years is something I'll never know, but I'm grateful for it. Loved the urgency between the two and the back-and-forth submission attempts. Bryan selling the knee after doing a backflip off the turnbuckle is the kind of selling a lot of wrestlers overlook for the sake of getting to the next spot, but that's why Bryan is one of the greats. The interference by Nak furthers the feud with A.J and sets up future matches for Bryan against A.J. and Nak down the line. I can't wait. ***3/4.

Originally wrote this for the GME project: THIS is how you end a feud. Was like a Southern territory blow-off meets King's Road with violence, emotional storytelling, and clever callbacks. The former best friends start brawling almost immediately but then begin to work a slower, more deliberate pace to try and brutalize each other. Ciampa was clearly going to take his time and relish the pain he would inflict on Johnny. Johnny mounted his comebacks simply to survive but as the match went on, he became more and more obsessed with punishing Ciampa for his sins. They weaved almost every single part of this feud into the in-ring story: the attacks with the crutches, Johnny's futile crawl to Ciampa, Ciampa's hesitation to put Johnny away in the CWC, and Ciampa lulling Johnny into a false sense of security before striking at Chicago. The climax of this match is what sticks out to me the most. Emotional stuff like this is always hard to pull off as wrestlers aren't always the best actors (especially when it comes to sentimentality). In the hands of a lot of other wrestlers this would have been schmaltzy and melodramatic, but Johnny and Ciampa were as authentic as can be. You went from "Johnny you idiot! This is the guy who betrayed you!" to "Oh my God, Johnny don't do it! He was your best friend!" Ciampa looks resigned to his fate, perhaps regretful as Johnny laments how it could have ever come to this between them. Then when you think all hope is lost, the face is one step ahead and pulls off the victory. Tremendous match and easily the best so far this year.

Updated mine to round out the early 80's.

Such an entertaining asskicking. WALTER basically got to do WALTER things by throwing Tracy around and chopping his chest off. Tracy's comebacks worked in that he was able to get his moments to shine so as to avoid a total squash while at the same time make sure WALTER looked dominant.

Great match. Proof that Ospreay can actually be a really good babyface and not just an exciting spot guy. Riddle was a huge dick throughout and Ospreay's neck selling was consistent and realistic (although a great deal of that was probably real pain) without any of the annoying screams. These two have a ton of chemistry together and would love to see a continued feud down the line.

Riddle for the record has said if he would give up smoking if need be (especially if it came to going to NJPW).

Was this Gordy list for Kobashi done before his GHC title win? Seemed like he was a pretty big draw then.

Pretty much agree with all of this. Love Kento to death but he needs to work on his leg selling. That being said, this was a really fun match.

Have really enjoyed reading this thread in regards to Hart-Austin. I always thought it was interesting that it was a "submission match" when it was almost completely an out-of-control brawl. Ultimately I think I fall on the semantics side where the match was basically a fight to see who would quit first and Austin would understandably want to brawl with Hart instead of taking him to the mat. And I think El-P's point about using the stip to introduce Shamrock is a valid one.

As a match? Yeah this wasn't anything special. As an angle? I loved it. Cena talks shit about the Undertaker for weeks, BEGGING him for a match at Mania. And when he finally gets it, he realizes "Oh shit, I didn't prepare for this at all!" Ultimate example of a dog catching a car. Some of the offense was pretty embarrassing (the aforementioned big boot in particular), but Taker getting his shit in and looking all sorts of dominant was actually kind of cool (then again I've always been a huge fan). In a way, I think Cena deserved better for a Wrestlemania match and this will no doubt lead to a rematch that is long and bad, but I still strangely loved this 2:45 minute "Be careful what you wish for" story.

The first few minutes of this seemed really promising, almost like their Mania 31 match. There was some chaotic stuff like Roman getting launched over the announce table, but then it completely fell apart. Brock gasses himself with some of the worst German suplexes I've ever seen and it basically becomes a showcase of "Look how many F-5's Roman can kick out of!" And who looked at Brock hard way opening Orton at Summerlam and said "Yeah! Let's totally do that again!"? Granted, the image of a blood-soaked Reigns screaming in defiance WAS pretty cool, but it was still a dangerous and stupid spot. And to put the cherry on top, the comeback I was hoping would put an end to this cluster was snuffed out in unbelievably anti-climactic fashion. Mania has had some stinker main events and while I wouldn't say this was the worst, it ranks up there (or down there). ** at best.