It’s been a long time since I’ve done a “Fan Favourites” review, so here we go. This request came from BohsJohnny on twitter, follow him @BohsJohnny.
This match features two of the break out indie wrestlers of 2016 and two of the top technicians in all of wrestling. Both had amazing years and will do well on my top wrestlers of 2016 list (soon to come?).
I had actually watched this match earlier this year, when I subscribed to the amazing Beyond Demand service. I highly recommend this streaming service, a great price to follow a great promotion.
What I loved about the early going of this match was that it was a competition, not a fight. They grappled for advantage, traded submissions, and hit a few suplexes. It was never about hate, it was about getting the win.
Even when Williams had his hand slapped by Gresham, taunting him, it only pushed him to wrestle harder. The match from there kept with that competitive edge with Williams more motivated than the early going.
The problem Williams had in this match is that Gresham is more of a veteran and is a better technician. Williams could gain the advantage, but never get fully in control. For example, Williams would go for a Russian Legsweep, but Gresham rolled through to subvert the damage. It was kind of interesting that Gresham wrestled a defensive match, where most of his offense came from the defense.
The match continued to build, keeping in the competitive spirit, but both men seemed to become equals as the match continued. A great spot, to show that off, was both men hooking legs and doing headstands and trading slaps. They rolled a few different ways from that spot, with neither men gaining full advantage as they had to break it up in the ropes. In fact, that spot lead to increased aggression as they felt the referee broke the hold up too slowly and Williams held onto the submission a little too long.
That lead to the first real strikes of the match as that aspect of the match exploded, included an incredibly vicious lariat by Williams for two. Which injured Gresham’s neck.
As the match picked up his pace, Gresham’s strategy started to focus on the knee of Williams, while Williams focused on Gresham’s neck. It felt like very move had that kind of focus, including some innovative knee attacks by Gresham.
From there Gresham worked for a single leg Boston crab until he was able to hook it on. That move combined with a barrage of punches forced Williams to tap out. Gresham had to struggle to get the submission on correctly, but once he did it was over.
I’ve got to say I liked this match a lot more on second viewing, as the story stood out more. The psychology and story were top notch, as each segment of the match was a natural progression from the last. A really good match that would be in my top 25 matches of the year.
Rating: **** 1/2
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