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| Ricochet. Fox. One more time. Photo Credit: Scott Finkelstein |
We have cracked into the final third of the year, and this third act will have a tall order to live up to. While WWE and NXT have had a tremendous amount of great wrestling in America, the indies have provided more than their fair share of excellent wrestling matches. WrestleCon, National Pro Wrestling Day, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, Wrestling Is.../Chikara, the Beyond Wrestling explosion, and other companies around the country have been putting their A-game up. They don't look to be stopping either. Six matches coming up in the next couple of months will be featured this week.
1. Saraya Knight vs. Mickie Knuckles, Womens Superstars Uncensored Blood and Thunder, 10/12
I'm not so much looking forward to this match as I am fearing that I won't survive it. Knight, making her WSU debut, is as vicious as she is cantankerous. Normally, she has problems finding competitors who are on her level, but in Knuckles, she may have met her psychotic match. While Knuckles has been around the block a couple of times, she's still a spring chicken compared to Knight, whose grumpy old woman routine will make Genichiro Tenryu's similar late stage persnickety demeanor look like Santa Claus. This clash of generations may require the Flyers Skate Zone to reapply the ice in the arenas next door.
2. ACH vs. Kevin Steen, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla's next event, 10/19
PWG is always ahead of the curve in the "advancing the mainstream of indie wrestling" department. While ROH has ACH wrestling the same three tag teams over and over again (don't get me wrong, the matches are great, but c'mon now), PWG is throwing him in against perhaps its most iconic remaining superstar in Steen. HOSS vs. flippy dude is one of my favorite match archetypes, and Steen is just as adept at dishing the pain out as ACH is at taking it. I'm not sure where this match will fall on the card, especially with Kyle O'Reilly's shot at Adam Cole and the Young Bucks vs. Joey Ryan and Candice LaRae happening on the same card, but knowing PWG, this match will get a lot of time.
3. Wrestling Is Awesome Championship Tournament final, 10/6
The quarterfinals will be happening on October 5, and the semifinals will happen the same day. The eight wrestlers remaining are Max Smashmaster, Juan Francisco de Coronado, Green Ant, Dalton Castle, Frank "Don't Call Me Francis" O'Rourke, Scott Parker, Shane Matthews, and Tommy Mack. Aside from Mack, with whom I'm not familiar at all, I'd say the other seven are fearsome, especially given the environment. The Wrestling Is... family of promotions has done well to keep Chikara's spirit alive, and the parent company was always at its best when it combined stakes with fun. Keep an eye out for a potential semifinal or final match between Scott Parker and Shane Matthews. I wouldn't think 3.0 is ready to dissolve, so this tournament might be the best shot to see them face off one-on-one.
4. Green Ant vs. Chris Dickinson, Wrestling Is Respect's next event, 9/29
Speaking of Wrestling Is..., the Respect arm is bringing in the volatile and ruthless Dickinson as his entree into the Chikaraverse. Drew Gulak wrestles there too, but he's old hat as an opponent for Dickinson. Ditto O'Rourke. Green Ant though provides both the stiff, strong-style chops needed to keep up with Dickinson as well as the link to the native oeuvre to help acclimatize him into the fabric. The aura surrounding the match reminds me a lot of Eric Corvis' debut in Wrestling Is Cool against Eddie Kingston, except the alignment is ostensibly reversed. However, I'm still looking forward to this match most out of any singular match in the Wrestling Is future.
5. AR Fox vs. Ricochet, EVOLVE 24, 9/22
Yes, the trappings of EVOLVE are dumb. They get shows out late. However, the company still books great wrestlers, and for better or worse, Fox and Ricochet have been embroiled in a bitter feud for the better part of the company's existence. When the fuse of aerial pyrotechnics is lit by the spark of hate, the colors shine brighter in the sky. And who knows, maybe they'll break out some old school clubberin' when they're allowed to brawl on the outside. Again, I didn't make the rules, but great wrestlers work around constraints. To me, Fox and Ricochet are pretty spiffy wrestlers.
6. Paul London vs. Tony Nese, Family Wrestling Entertainment Openweight Grand Prix First Round, 10/12
The full slate of wrestlers for the first round matches in this tourney include Chris Masters, Tommy Dreamer, Colt Cabana, Joey Ryan, Carlito, Brian Kendrick, and Sonjay Dutt, but the matchup that holds the most intrigue for me is very much a generational battle like the first one. London is a godfather of the indie scene, while Nese, despite having TNA experience, is still finding his footing in the current landscape. Their styles may seem disparate, London as a spacey stoner and Nese as somewhat of a Jersey Shore guido at his most animated, but in the ring, they mesh well.
1. Saraya Knight vs. Mickie Knuckles, Womens Superstars Uncensored Blood and Thunder, 10/12
I'm not so much looking forward to this match as I am fearing that I won't survive it. Knight, making her WSU debut, is as vicious as she is cantankerous. Normally, she has problems finding competitors who are on her level, but in Knuckles, she may have met her psychotic match. While Knuckles has been around the block a couple of times, she's still a spring chicken compared to Knight, whose grumpy old woman routine will make Genichiro Tenryu's similar late stage persnickety demeanor look like Santa Claus. This clash of generations may require the Flyers Skate Zone to reapply the ice in the arenas next door.
2. ACH vs. Kevin Steen, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla's next event, 10/19
PWG is always ahead of the curve in the "advancing the mainstream of indie wrestling" department. While ROH has ACH wrestling the same three tag teams over and over again (don't get me wrong, the matches are great, but c'mon now), PWG is throwing him in against perhaps its most iconic remaining superstar in Steen. HOSS vs. flippy dude is one of my favorite match archetypes, and Steen is just as adept at dishing the pain out as ACH is at taking it. I'm not sure where this match will fall on the card, especially with Kyle O'Reilly's shot at Adam Cole and the Young Bucks vs. Joey Ryan and Candice LaRae happening on the same card, but knowing PWG, this match will get a lot of time.
3. Wrestling Is Awesome Championship Tournament final, 10/6
The quarterfinals will be happening on October 5, and the semifinals will happen the same day. The eight wrestlers remaining are Max Smashmaster, Juan Francisco de Coronado, Green Ant, Dalton Castle, Frank "Don't Call Me Francis" O'Rourke, Scott Parker, Shane Matthews, and Tommy Mack. Aside from Mack, with whom I'm not familiar at all, I'd say the other seven are fearsome, especially given the environment. The Wrestling Is... family of promotions has done well to keep Chikara's spirit alive, and the parent company was always at its best when it combined stakes with fun. Keep an eye out for a potential semifinal or final match between Scott Parker and Shane Matthews. I wouldn't think 3.0 is ready to dissolve, so this tournament might be the best shot to see them face off one-on-one.
4. Green Ant vs. Chris Dickinson, Wrestling Is Respect's next event, 9/29
Speaking of Wrestling Is..., the Respect arm is bringing in the volatile and ruthless Dickinson as his entree into the Chikaraverse. Drew Gulak wrestles there too, but he's old hat as an opponent for Dickinson. Ditto O'Rourke. Green Ant though provides both the stiff, strong-style chops needed to keep up with Dickinson as well as the link to the native oeuvre to help acclimatize him into the fabric. The aura surrounding the match reminds me a lot of Eric Corvis' debut in Wrestling Is Cool against Eddie Kingston, except the alignment is ostensibly reversed. However, I'm still looking forward to this match most out of any singular match in the Wrestling Is future.
5. AR Fox vs. Ricochet, EVOLVE 24, 9/22
Yes, the trappings of EVOLVE are dumb. They get shows out late. However, the company still books great wrestlers, and for better or worse, Fox and Ricochet have been embroiled in a bitter feud for the better part of the company's existence. When the fuse of aerial pyrotechnics is lit by the spark of hate, the colors shine brighter in the sky. And who knows, maybe they'll break out some old school clubberin' when they're allowed to brawl on the outside. Again, I didn't make the rules, but great wrestlers work around constraints. To me, Fox and Ricochet are pretty spiffy wrestlers.
6. Paul London vs. Tony Nese, Family Wrestling Entertainment Openweight Grand Prix First Round, 10/12
The full slate of wrestlers for the first round matches in this tourney include Chris Masters, Tommy Dreamer, Colt Cabana, Joey Ryan, Carlito, Brian Kendrick, and Sonjay Dutt, but the matchup that holds the most intrigue for me is very much a generational battle like the first one. London is a godfather of the indie scene, while Nese, despite having TNA experience, is still finding his footing in the current landscape. Their styles may seem disparate, London as a spacey stoner and Nese as somewhat of a Jersey Shore guido at his most animated, but in the ring, they mesh well.