[2022-02-04-Beyond & WWR+] Biff Busick vs Slade

[corwo]

I did not have the pleasure of experiencing the U.S. indie boom period, having only started following smaller promotions in the past few years. So, when we got the likes of Biff Busick, Timothy Thatcher, and Mike Bailey back in a short period, I was beyond (pardon the pun) giddy. Those three all have one thing in common: I’ve seen very little of their most famous work. As far as Busick and Thatcher are concerned, I have seen their Secret Show classic from Beyond in 2014, which I implore everyone to seek out on YouTube. Even in WWE, Biff, and Thatcher, for that matter, gave us glimpses of what could be from time to time. Biff’s violent sprints with KENTA and hard-nosed grappling battles with the aforementioned Thatcher stick out in my memory. All of this is to say, they are all wrestlers I’m fond of, but their best work has taken place in promotions I haven’t sought out. All of this is to say, they are all wrestlers I’m fond of, but their best work has taken place in promotions I haven’t sought out. I don’t have the same connection to Biff that Simon and Sam, who’ve written about this match do. I’m not familiar with Slade, but he looks like a larger version of Biff.

I’m delighted to say that Biff’s back with a bang. His work is as brutal and hard-hitting as ever. They waste no time, squaring up to each other and heading to the floor. Biff’s chops are resounding, but ineffective on the big man, who no-sells them. Slade’s offense isn’t flashy, mostly consisting of a good old-fashioned clobbering to the back of Biff. Biff’s forehead gets opened up, and Slade introduces a door, suplexing Biff through it. Biff cracks the door over Slade’s head, but he shrugs it off. Biff then neutralizes Slade with a chair shot to the head, and the juice starts pouring from Slade’s forehead. The violence here is off the charts. The image of a crimson-masked Slade staining the chairs is straight out of a horror film. Slade busting out a sleeper is a perfect way to show that he can do this wrestling thing just as well as Biff, but Biff is resilient. Slade’s a great foil for Biff’s fiery comebacks, as all of his cut-offs look gnarly. Slade eats multiple trashcan shots to the head and collapses when Biff hits a running uppercut for the win.

An excellent piece of pacing and escalation, one of gruesome imagery and hard-hitting action. I don’t know if the indies are back, but matches like this give me hope that they could be momentarily.