[2002-02-01-FWA-Crunch] Flash Barker vs Jody Fleisch

[TonyPulis'Cap]

This is part of the ‘Old School’ vs ‘New School’ angle which dominated most of 2002 in the FWA. These guys would be feuding on and off throughout the year, trading the FWA British Heavyweight Title and that would culminate in Jody beating Flash for the title at British Uprising in October.

The two have really good chemistry, with Flash acting as an excellent base for a lot of Fleisch’s highflying and springboards, and Jody making Barker’s offence look really impactful through his crazy bumping. This is about 10 mins long and is all action, but without it feeling overly spotty. Through his size Flash dominates a lot of the match, but the fans are kept invested through Jody’s excellent selling and exciting hope spots. For his part, Flash was a guy that was deceptively agile and quick for a guy with his build, meaning he can equally bump really well for Fleisch’s offence.

Towards the end of the match the FWA’s rather lax rules when it comes to weapons and DQ’s plays a part with a chair getting involved and Jody getting a good nearfall after springboard drop kicking the chair into Flash’s face. I enjoyed the psychology in the finish which plays off the arm that Jody broke the previous year; coming off the top, Flash smashes his arm with a chair and then Pillmanizes it with a leg drop on the chair. He then gets the win by making Fleisch tap to an arm bar. (***)