[2001-03-24-JAPW-March Madness: Night Two] Ric Blade vs Reckless Youth

[GSR]

Reckless addresses the fans but the audio’s not too clear as to what he says.  I don’t think it was anything too complimentary as you hear Hat Guy shout “No wonder you didn’t win the Super 8 Tournament you prick!”  Rob Feinstein is still trying to play the comedian on commentary.  At one point early Doug Gentry cuts to him and Eric Gargiulo up in the Eagle’s Nest and you see him laughing at his own “jokes”.  Title bout for the “coveted” Jersey All Pro Light Heavyweight title.  So far this is more like a dance than a wrestling match.  Reckless locks on an Octopus submission and rolls backwards as he stretches Blade out.  Slingshot senton.  Handspring kick by Blade.  Reckless rolls to the outside and Blade with a corkscrew Orihara moonsault.  Feinstein couldn’t tell from their vantage point if Blade landed on his head from that.  It’s Ric Blade, automatically assume he did.  Christ, just like in the CZW tag last week, Blade slips when he goes for that springboard 450, crotching himself on the top rope.  He was holding his head and taking his time prior so he very well may have knocked himself out again, Gargiulo noting he did exactly that the last time he wrestled at the ECW Arena.  Draping DDT by Reckless.  He sits on a Dragon sleeper looking to give Blade a bit of time to try and recover.  Bombs Away kneedrop for a two count.  Japanese wrestling expert Rob Feinstein thinks Reckless has been studying his Hakushi video tapes when he pulls out one move, saying how Hakushi uses it in both New Japan and Toryumon.  I though Hakushi was a Michinoku Pro guy?  Reckless works over the leg while Blade pretty much just lies there, still trying to get his bearings.  He misses a middle rope legdrop and I mean misses, Blade didn’t even move he deliberately missed him.  Blade is fucked, although he does catch Reckless with a neckbreaker.  Samoan drop/nip up/standing moonsault sequence.  Spinning release cradle suplex.  Flying elbow, Blade almost losing his balance on the top turnbuckle.  As he climbs them again Reckless gets underneath and powerbombs him to the mat.  Brainbuster for a near fall.  Reckless gets caught when he goes upstairs but manages to fight off the superplex and land an awesome looking tornado DDT.  That sends Blade to the floor, where he’s joined by Reckless who drags him towards the back of the building.  Ric Blade crazy ass dive coming in!  A table has been conveniently placed right behind the curtain so Blade doesn’t have to go far looking for one.  Reckless avoids the Swanton from high above the entrance way and Blade goes crashing through the table himself.  RF branching out into instant replays to show that one again, a spot Feinstein compares to Jimmy Snuka and Bob Backlund.  I wouldn’t have had Insane Dragon do a dive from there earlier in the show if Blade was also going to do one.  They return to the ring Blade rolling out the way of the 2 Cold Scorpio tumbleweed.  Shooting Star headbutt by Blade and he’s hurt himself again.  Of course that should’ve been a Shooting Star press but he botched it.  Considering his batting average when it comes to Shooting Stars and how poorly they always end up he was foolish to attempt that.  450 splash and what Gargiulo calls a “classic” is over.  The two hug it out post-match, Reckless straps the belt around Blade’s waist while a highly optimistic Feinstein believes that we’ll be seeing Ric Blade in the World Wrestling Federation one day.

The same comments that apply to the vast majority of Ric Blade’s matches apply here.  It was all too co-operative at first and really did feel like a dance, then he KO’d himself for at least the third time this year already.  Good stuff by Reckless in covering and trying to slow things down to give him a chance to recover.  I always enjoy Reckless’ innovation and he did it again here with that tornado DDT, while I can’t remember ever seeing him do the tumbleweed previously.  The obligatory nuts Blade dive in there, although he needs to retire that springboard 450, twice in a row he’s crotched himself when attempting it.