[2026-01-14-WWE Evolve] Charlie Dempsey vs Timothy Thatcher

[MikeCampbell]

Bloodsport comes to the performance center! This is the exact sort of pro-style/shootstyle hybrid that Thatcher has been having on Bloodsport shows. It's full of insanely stiff strikes and matwork that's somehow both smooth and carny looking. Even the few pro-style stuff they do looks realistic, like Thatcher bouncing Dempsey off the ropes and using the momentum from the rebound to suplex him. If you want realism in wrestling, this is 10 times more effective than any of early to mid 2000's NJPW bullshit with Fujita and the K1 dudes. And one of the funniest things I've heard recently was Robert Stone saying that Thatcher had several broken teeth that he refused to fix because "they were weak for breaking."

[Scarletlikesounds]

God I love these two. Dempsey gets shit because he has to work his style in front of PC crowds, but he's maybe one of the best wrestlers on the planet right now, and Thatcher being as good as he is (like 77 or something on my GWE) and spending this decade basically dedicating himself to lifting up and training as many young workers as possible and doing so by giving them actual real life reps is a thing of beauty. Also, I think Norman Smiley & Timothy Thatcher have gotta be like the best trainers you could ask for in 2026.