Pickard
really impressed me in the amazing Gacy match and that Gulak & Tracy tag,
so I decided to check random three matches of his. I’m not feeling robbed of
time at all because this was a borderline great little match with super smart
body of work. Sykes has the power advantage, but Pickard just kept attacking
his legs in a compelling Bret Hart fashion, they made it a story of the match
and never abandoned it, I’m such a sucker for tight, focused matches. This was
good.
Life often can
be full of surprises. For instance, Joe Gacy was totally unbearable just 2-3
years ago, such an awful pro-wrestler who sucked in both deathmatches and
regular stuff. He was nothing but a white trash greaseball fatass waste of
space. Well, he’s STILL a white trash greaseball fatass, but he ain’t no waste
of space anymore, no fucking way, because judging by this match alone (my first
Gacy match since 2013), he might as well be one of the best wrestlers in
America. Shockingly true, my friends! How and where did this mindblowing change
happen, I have no idea, but right now I don’t even care, because it seems the
2015 version of Joe Gacy kicks some serious ass, now that’s what I call
redemption, motherfuckers! This match is SERIOUSLY great, and it’s not just
because of Gacy, because after all, it takes two to tango, as Frankie Pickard
was brilliant in his underdog role. I don’t want to talk about the technical
stuff of the match much, I’ll just say it had some nifty grappling, heavy,
sluggish escalation on the mat, gruesome holds, all the awesome little details
that MATTERED, and the best thing of all – just ONE suplex that made the whole
difference. Very careful and well measured match. And while that rigid,
technical stuff was truly excellent, it’s the story they told that’s totally
awesome and captivating, loved every second of it.
Good match
that could’ve been amazing if Gatton didn’t get so much offense. I mean, he
took like 45% out of the match, wtf… Strange, because he’s a rookie and I
thought this’d be prolonged rookie punishment schooling, but instead Gatton got
to bust out some serious strings of attacks and even big nearfalls in the
climax. Nothing against Gatton really, but in this instance it didn’t look too
compelling, as Gulak is not only much larger, but also way more experienced.
Gulak was still awesome at doing his own thing, though, and that’s what
saved/made this match, everything he did inside that ring was intense,
punishing, purposeful and methodical. The way he finished off Gatton was
breathtaking and almost made up for the entire “Gatton got too much” thing.
I really
wanted to see what Tracy can do with Gulak out of picture, and to no one’s
surprise he’s still damn good. He has tons of talent and potential, his moveset
is awesome and the way he carries himself and sells the game is highly
promising. Qefka is your generic fake luchador whose only quality is bumping
around for bigger dudes, but hey, it counts for something, right? This was your
typical match with big dude dominating and calling the shots, and with underdog
working from behind, it was done right and the finishing run was sweet.
Curt
Robinson & George Gatton vs. Drew Gulak & Tracy Williams
Amazing
trainee punishment match, this rocked. It’s fascinating how they managed to
make an awesome match in the first two thirds even though you knew Curt and
Gatton stood no chance against Drew and Tracy, I mean there was no drama about
who might win this, no, the entire body of work was nothing but Drew and Tracy
stretching the shit out of Curt and George. Honestly, it didn’t even feel like
a pro-wrestling match, it rather looked like a gnarly sparring session for Drew
and Tracy. And shit man, it was fantastic! Curt looked better than his tag
partner, and he’s like, what, 17-18 years old? He let us know he might surprise
with his unpredictable mat tricks, but every time he tried something like that,
it just angered Drew and Tracy even more. Gatton is a vanilla midget personified,
he looked totally average at first, but then came around later in the match,
gotta give him credit for all the beatings he took, it was very nasty. The last
third of the match was also great, but in a different fashion, because the
trainees managed to sneak in few dangerous nearfalls, and I honestly thought
they might pull it off on Tracy that one time. But they didn’t.
Amazing
match, this is exactly what indie wrestling needs more of, when I look at these
guys, I say let WWE raid all the Garganos, Ciampas, Elgins, Lethals and Coles
of the world, they all suck hairy balls anyway, guys like Gulak and Tracy are
true talents, and I totally see Curt Robinson developing into a good CZW
prospect in few years.
Conor
Claxton & Frankie Pickard vs. Drew Gulak & Tracy Williams
Oh god, it’s
so refreshing to see a modern indie match (especially tag) that is not filled
with dry, blank moves and big spots. That’s why the guys like Gulak, Busick and
Thatcher are something worth rooting for, even though I find Thatcher
incredibly overrated, but I do appreciate the variety he brings to the table.
This match was so well done, it was beautifully booked and there was an awesome
progression that was really rewarding. The match was pure scrapping, grappling
and crawling for life. Obviously Gulak is a seasoned warrior and he’s the man
here, his tag partner Tracy Williams is like a young tomcat learning to hunt
with a big tomcat Gulak. They’re facing two other tomcats, both of whom are
total noobs. And the roles were perfectly hit, and as awesome as Gulak was, the
MVP was Tracy Williams, he showcased some serious potential here. He looked
like someone with a 10 year experience. On the opposite side the absolute star
was Pickard as an amazing face-in-peril, he took a stupendous doses of rookie
punishment and his selling pretty much made the match, he was screaming,
gasping for air and fighting for life, he totally made Tracy look like a
serious threat. His comebacks and hope spots were also pretty nifty. Great
match here, folks.
