Modern Indie Wrestling

[EricR]

I'm intrigued by the Hoyt match as he has looked really terrible in...well, anything I've ever seen of him. I would never describe him as a hoss. His offense looked really bad and his crowd work always seems really misguided.

[shoe]

I've felt he has grown a lot in the last year or 2.

[Memphis Mark]

I have watched a couple of Tracy Williams matc

 

Okay, so the new grappling initiative is awesome. Absolutely love it with guys like Thatcher, Busick, and, the important lad for this post, Gulak really driving it home in EVOLVE. Gulak could very well be leading us to an era in indie wrestling where there's a multitude of these types of wrestlers populating the scene, or at the very least can work a grappling based style. Evident in his work with Dojo Wars which has some real fun matches on the whole but when they crank up the grappling they can crank out a CRACKIN' match. Looking at a guy like Conor Claxton as a potential technical deathmatch worker gets me real pumped to see wrestlers that probably wouldn't even touch the style adapt it into environments you would least expect. Really making this post to point to what I am calling one of my favorite indie matches of the year and is up there with Gulak vs. Hero as my #1 indie match. Maybe would have to look at my EXCEL to make sure I'm not forgetting something but YEAH this is good.

 

Conor Claxton/Frankie Pickard vs. Drew Gulak/Tracy Williams.

 

 

 

I have watched several Tracy Williams matches over the past couple of weeks. If I understand correctly Williams is very young and has only been wrestling about a year . This guy is a strong mat wrestler and he all of the physical tools to make it in wrestling. Williams has height and a frame that couple pack on about 20 pounds of muscle without really losing a step . Williams should be one of the next break out stars . Any body else seen Tracy Williams and have any thoughts of his potential ?

[stomperspc]

I watched the Styles vs Rave match that Dylan went to see and was impressed with. He's pimped it on his twitter.

 

AJ Styles vs Jimmy Rave 5/8/15

 

I really liked the first three or four minutes with the slow build. I am not sure it felt old school in nature to me but they definitely took their time to ease into things and build, rather than jumping in head first. Rave looked good. At his best, he's always had a strong sense of timing both on offense and in bumping and he brought both of those elements to this match. I was somewhat surprised to see Styles hit the plancha since he seems to use his non-through the ropes dropkick dives sparingly these days. In terms of what Styles brought, I didn't think this was in the top tier of his recent indie matches but probably the next level down. From an offense standpoint, I agree that the match build on itself really well thanks in large part to how they began. I thought it could have used a little more clearly defined heel/face structure. The match didn't go totally into my move/your move territory near the end but it did venture close to it. The crowd was chanting for Rave at spots but that was more their own choice than anything the match did to place Rave in that role. I thought more clearly defined roles would have helped the ending some. The announcers were great. They added in a ton of background details from Rave's ROH days to Styles' current schedule and did so without it ever coming off like them trying to show how much they know.

 

As far as Rave's facial expressions (or lack thereof) were concerned, I watched the match before reading shoe's review and my takeaway was that Rave was trying really, really hard to emote facially, he just didn't do a very good job. Rave has always had an issue of looking like he is going through the motions from an emotional/facial expression standpoint (even has a heel). That's partially why his pairing with Nana worked so well. You had the eccentric, colorful Nana leading this guy that was a great heel from a wrestling standpoint but somewhat vanilla otherwise. In this match, it seemed noticeable to me that Rave was trying with the facial expressions (particularly when in holds) but they just came off hokey or weak.

 

Good match overall. Rave definitely deserves a higher profile right now and this was another strong A.J. Styles indie match.

[shoe]

I'm intrigued by the Hoyt match as he has looked really terrible in...well, anything I've ever seen of him. I would never describe him as a hoss. His offense looked really bad and his crowd work always seems really misguided.

He told me to shut up. LOL

[W2BTD]

I'm intrigued by the Hoyt match as he has looked really terrible in...well, anything I've ever seen of him. I would never describe him as a hoss. His offense looked really bad and his crowd work always seems really misguided.

 

I take it you haven't seen Hoyt since about late 2011. He's really found himself as a worker, in particular the placement of his big spots and how he projects himself as a monster. He's become a real tape hound, studying his matches and seeking out critical feedback from people he trusts.

 

Long gone is the 6'8" dude in TNA who thought he belonged in the X Division.

[EricR]

I dunno, I saw two of his NJPW tags from last year and he looked horrible. I found both things I've written about him over the past year:

 

From a 2013 six man:

 

"And boy, Lance Archer. Even in limited time the guy just looked like junk. He's so unnatural in the way he gets in position and throws guys in turnbuckles or ropes. There is no subtlety with him getting where he needs to fall. Nakamura kicks him in the face but he needs to be in the turnbuckles and ends up falling diagonally to his side to get to them, in a way nobody would ever fall after being kicked. Later he needs to throw someone into the buckles, is out of position to make it look convincing, so walks all the way around him to properly whip him. There are just a shocking number of mini time stand still moments with this guy."

 

And from the 6/21/14 tag vs. TenKoji:

 

"I remember a time a decade ago when Lance Archer was a total embarrassment, truly one of the worst wrestlers in the world to appear on my television. I'm in my mid 30s now, I'm a homeowner, and Lance Archer is still a total embarrassment, truly one of the worst wrestlers in the world currently appearing on my television. Man there is not one thing he does well in the ring. He takes offense like he's scared to be hit, always preparing more for the bump he's about to take. His offense is just terrible. We - me the author and you the reader - we know what moves he's supposed to be doing just because we know the movements. But I have no clue what a first time viewer would think Archer was doing half the time. At one point he did a standing splash and Rachel actually had no clue what he was attempting. It's like he was making a weird human tent over him. He just sort of jumped up and landed on all fours, but no part of him came close to touching Kojima. Even worse he awkwardly yelled "Let's get CRAZY!!!" before hitting it. You have never seen anything less crazy that Lance Archer's standing splash. Out of all the things to possibly yell to the crowd..."

 

 

It is quite possible I've seen two very bad examples. But those two examples certainly confirmed every single one of my existing opinions on him.

[SomethingSavage]

I remember really liking the Archer vs. Masters match from Traditional the last couple of times I watched it. It's nothing earth-shattering or mind-blowing, but it's a smart & straightforward struggle between two strong powerhouses.

Now admittedly, Archer's not a guy I actively seek out or try to keep up with, but I think he's definitely turned a corner in terms of being a wiser worker these past few years.

[Troy]

I watched Hoyt at a local indy show recently and wasn't impressed.

[EricR]

http://segundacaida.blogspot.com/2015/06/premier-ix-6715-review.html

 

Watched the full Premier show, and really loved it. I've seen many of these guys live a dozen times, and this was the best most of them have ever looked. I don't know if there's something in the water at this venue, but man it was just really obvious the little - better - things these guys were doing at this show vs. the APW show many of them were on one week later. Looks like I'll have to try the 2 hour drive to Gilroy for their next show.

[Blehschmidt]

PWG just released the finalized Battle of Los Angeles line-up and HOLY SHIT!!!

 

1) Will Ospreay

2) Marty Scurll

3) Timothy Thatcher

4) "Speedball" Mike Bailey

5) Chris Hero

6) Biff Busick

7) Mark Andrews

8) Brian Cage

9) Ricochet

10) Tommy End

11) Trevor Lee

12) Pentagon Jr.

13) Drew Gulak

14) Angelico

15) Trent Barreta

16) Andrew Everett

17) Fenix

18) Rich Swann

19) Jack Evans

20) Drago

21) Matt Sydal

22) Aero Star

23) Zack Sabre Jr.

24) Drew Galloway

[WingedEagle]

Does PWG release their shows on VOD after the fact or only DVD?

[Blehschmidt]

Just DVD

[InYourCase]

Does PWG release their shows on VOD after the fact or only DVD?

Their VOD's come out a cycle after their DVD's. DDT4 just got released on DVD, so the show prior was just released on VOD. For whatever reason I'm having trouble putting this into words so hopefully it makes sense.

http://www.highspots.com/c/PWG-VOD.html

[Zoo Enthusiast]

Basically, the downloads come out a month or two after the DVD.

[BBscout]

Who are the guys on the rise that aren't here? Seems like they got all the right mix from the hot areas of interest - US free agents, UK guys, Lucha Underground flyers, and recent ex-WWE guys.

 

I guess PJ Black/Justin Gabriel and maybe Ciampa seeing that despite having been around a while he only debuted there kind of recently.

[Blehschmidt]

After the show they had last night, it would seem that one major name is missing from the tournament.....

 

 

Super Dragon Returned!!!

 

[SomethingSavage]

Having him in the tournament would be good for some fresh buzz and excitement, but I don't think it's necessary. Clearly this lineup is stacked to the gills without going that route, and I'd much rather see him treated like a big deal & special attraction kind of combatant anyway.

 

But yeah. That lineup is insanely glorious. Just bee-yoo-tee-full.

 

Part of me doesn't want to get TOO excited, because last year's lineup looked tremendous on paper at first. And Night 2 still turned out to be utterly atrocious. I think the one decent match was Cole/Sabre Jr. Everything else was time-killing trash. I honestly can't think of another PWG card that turned out as disappointing in their entire history.

 

As long as there aren't any "no loss" clauses to contend with & all that this year, hopefully they can keep things steered on track and not have any off nights again. I know that sounds like I'm just pissing & moaning and whining & bitching, but really - looking over that lineup one more time, I don't think it's going to be an issue this year.

 

You could literally draw names at random, pair them against each other, and flip a coin to decide the winners - and you'd still probably come out with nothing but quality matches all the way up through the finals.

[Memphis Mark]

I watched one DVD from Beyond Wrestling " When Satan Rules His World " . I must admit that I am kind of on the fence with Beyond. I like watch new talent work and develop , but the match quality was all over the map . If anyone has watched much Beyond , please give me your views on the promotion . I am interesting to see what others think about this group. Thanks .

[Memphis Mark]

Having him in the tournament would be good for some fresh buzz and excitement, but I don't think it's necessary. Clearly this lineup is stacked to the gills without going that route, and I'd much rather see him treated like a big deal & special attraction kind of combatant anyway.

 

But yeah. That lineup is insanely glorious. Just bee-yoo-tee-full.

 

Part of me doesn't want to get TOO excited, because last year's lineup looked tremendous on paper at first. And Night 2 still turned out to be utterly atrocious. I think the one decent match was Cole/Sabre Jr. Everything else was time-killing trash. I honestly can't think of another PWG card that turned out as disappointing in their entire history.

 

As long as there aren't any "no loss" clauses to contend with & all that this year, hopefully they can keep things steered on track and not have any off nights again. I know that sounds like I'm just pissing & moaning and whining & bitching, but really - looking over that lineup one more time, I don't think it's going to be an issue this year.

 

You could literally draw names at random, pair them against each other, and flip a coin to decide the winners - and you'd still probably come out with nothing but quality matches all the way up through the finals.

 

 

I don't know much about AAA and how they operated their promotion . I would think AAA would want their talent booked strong, So might we see a whole bunch of AAA vs. AAA match ups in BOLA , so the guys can eliminate each other from the event .. I could be wrong, but AAA might want to protect their talent , similar to Styles last year .

[shoe]

This is sick. The talent here is insane. I would love to see an Aero Star type win it. Even Vince Russo at his creative worst would have problems ruining this tournament.

[Zoo Enthusiast]

This is sick. The talent here is insane. I would love to see an Aero Star type win it. Even Vince Russo at his creative worst would have problems ruining this tournament.

I'm pulling for Biff.

[Grimmas]

House of Hardcore 9

Saturday July 18, 2015

Meet & Greet: 6:00pm

Belltime 7:30pm

 

Ted Reeve Community Arena

175 Main Street

Toronto, ON M4E2W2 Canada

 

Confirmed Matches:

The Young Bucks vs. Team 3D

 

Matt Taven & Mike Bennett with Maria Kanellis vs.

Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian

 

Tommy Dreamer vs. Chris Hero

 

Rhino issues an open challenge to anyone!

 

Also appearing:

John Hennigan

Tony Nese

Eddie Kingston

Thea Trinidad

Tommaso Ciampa

Team Tremendous

Traci Brooks makes her final appearance!

 

Plus surprises and more!

 

Hero vs Dreamer is an insane match that I don't know what to think about.

 

The Young Bucks vs Team 3D may just have forced me to get a ticket.

[jpchicago23]

Anyone going to the Evolve shows in a couple of weeks? I'm going to try and hit up 45. It's only 15 mins away and Thatcher and Hero are on the card. I believe Busick as well.

[Dylan Waco]

House of Hardcore can be really hit or miss. I think it was there first show that I thought was absolutely awesome, and I think they had one other that I really liked, but they have had some complete shit shows too. The Bucks v. 3D match from 2CW last year was a fun little match, but if the HOH match is anything like it it wouldn't be enough to get me into the building on it's own.