We read about this excellent concept on Voices of Wrestling and thought it would be fun to do amongst ourselves.
The idea is you pick a wrestling match that you really like and send it in to someone else to see. I think some people here secretly hate their friends judging by some of the matches that were sent in.
Here we go.
Nerd giving: Dom Van Dan
Nerd receiving: Ross ’The Boss’ Casey
Match: OTT Champion Jordan Devlin vs David Starr - OTT 5th Anniversary show.
DVD:“It’s a Meltzer 5-star match and I think it’s the best story told in wrestling this decade.”
Ross: Confession time. I have never seen the OTT product beyond some of the amazing videos they put out on YouTube. However, I have listened to a whole podcast about this match via the British Wrestling Experience and they assured me it is very, very good.
We get the hype video to start and to say it is epic would be an understatement. The long and the short of it is Devlin doubts Starr’s intentions and that he doesn’t truly have the best interests of Ireland’s fans in his heart.
Starr claims that Devlin shows no gratitude for their support. Meanwhile, he very much believes in us not me. Independent wrestling. Not a WWE wrestler working for OTT.
The build to this match purposely polarised the audience and depending on your sensibilities, you had to simply pick a side. What is most interesting is that a VERY large portion of Ireland’s crowd here chose Starr, not their Import Killer.
He was now seen as OTT’s Import from the WWE and quite frankly, he had his crowd turn on him thanks to the passionate, truth bombs aimed his way from David Starr. Whether in the long run this story arc proves that Starr is the devil convincing others he doesn’t exist, there is scope for it as Devlin immediately severed ties with OTT following the result of this match.
OTT’s fans made their bed. Now they get to lie in it.
The match itself was every bit of epic as the build. I simply can’t even begin to detail it all, other than to say they killed it, the crowd were electric and we got huge emotion and story for our viewing pleasure. I loved it.
We got Devlin thinking about using his title, only for Starr to spit on and low blow him. Then Devlin low blowing him in return. They both tried to use the package piledriver multiple times before eventually Starr won the title with his Han Stansen lariat.
Starr is carried around the arena with his championship in what looks like a triumphant happy ending, but there is an eerie feeling that this is a false prophet and I love it.
Commentary were absolutely berating the ‘sheep’ fans for going along with Starr and that adds more layers to our cake. Is Starr to be trusted? Who are we as wrestling fans to spit out and
chew our heroes when the next shiny toy comes along? Even under the premise that they are doing it for the good of the independent fans.
Maybe we will realise when Starr’s mask comes off and he rules the OTT world with an iron fist. Who will be the hero then? Imagine the pop when the prodigal son returns…
Many thanks to my Secret Santa, I wanted to see that match for some time and boy did it deliver!
Merry Christmas WSBF fans!
WINNER – NEW OTT WORLD CHAMPION, DAVID STARR BY HAN STANSEN
Prediction:I assume this was Dom as he handed me his login to watch!
Nerd giving: Brum
Nerd receiving: Shafi
Match: RoH World Champion Bryan Danielson vs RoH Pure Champion Nigel McGuinness at Unified 2006
Brum: I picked this match because when I saw it, it was the best wrestling match I'd ever seen. I've not seen it in at least a decade and don't really intend to in case it doesn't live up to memory. Selecting it here means I get to enjoy it vicariously through someone else without the risk of nostalgia spoilage.
Shafi:This match is something of a myth to me. I remember reading so much about it back around the time it happened in Fighting Spirit and Powerslam magazines. I had never watched an RoH event or seen either of these men wrestle, but this contest was depicted as one of the best, most hard-hitting matches of Danielson's incredible reign and served to bring a lot of attention to Nigel as well. So, it is something of a surprise that it has taken me thirteen and half years to finally watch this match, thank you secret Santa!
Perhaps the biggest accomplishment of this match is that it makes guys called Nigel and Bryan appear cool for the first time since the creation of names themselves. However, these two men are not just fighting over whose parents loved them the least, it is also a unification bout for both of Ring of Honor's singles belts. The rules of this contest include the stipulation that each wrestler can only break a hold or pinfall by getting to the ropes 3 times each.
Let's start with the negative. This match looks like it was filmed on a potato in PORTRAIT mode. The way the commentary has been mixed in made it sound like the match was happening in my front room, but the commentators were at the end of the street.
These are both really grating compared to the polished product of WWE or AEW, but I soon forgot about both when things got underway.
The match starts off very technically before Bryan slaps Nigel and elicits a "YOU GOT BITCH SLAPPED" chant from the Scouse crowd. Nigel then returns the favour. The story of this match is that Bryan keeps going for submissions which Nigel has to use the ropes to escape from and thus using up his rope breaks, if Bryan can do this 3 times then if he gets another submission Nigel won't be able to escape in this way and will be forced to submit.
Bryan quickly forces Nigel to use the ropes to escape twice. Nigel comes back with a Tower of London which Bryan kicks out of by putting his foot on the rope and using one of his breaks. Bryan breaks down Nigel with submissions and Nigel fires back with hard hitting lariats and power moves. The contest is finely poised.
Both wrestlers are desperate to win, and their ambition knows no bounds, and this brings us to the biggest spot of the match. Bry and Nige are outside the ring and Bryan grabs Nigel by the wrists and pulls him towards the ringpost. Nigel's head smashes against the ringpost FOUR times and his forehead explodes in a fountain of crimson as he does nothing to protect himself.
In 2006 this spot would have blown my mind almost has much as it did Nigel's but in a post-Benoit, post-Shibata world where we know so much about CTE this makes me incredibly uncomfortable.
Nigel is thrown into the crowd and Bryan goes into the ring and hits a top rope somersault into the crowd which gets a huge pop as both men disappear amongst the chairs and sweaty scousers. Both men beat the count and Bryan locks in Cattle Mutilation. Nigel cannot use the ropes to break the hold and starts to fade as his head pisses blood all over the canvas.
Miraculously Nigel manages to temporarily escape the hold by rolling through. However, he goes from the frying pan to the fire as he rolls himself into a crucifix position as Bryan starts raining down elbows to his head and with his arms trapped he is unable to protect himself.
After twenty elbows Nigel is unconscious and defenceless and the ref has no choice but to wave the match off and declare Bryan Danielson the undisputed RoH champion via referee stoppage.
This match was really good and I liked the story surrounding the rope breaks and the tactical use of submissions. In 2006 this match would have been a 10/10 for me, in 2019 with some of the uncomfortable spots and the way wrestling has evolved it's still a solid 7.5-8/10.
Prediction: If I had to guess who picked this match (which apparently I do) I would guess Dom as he had a massive hard-on for Bryan and RoH in 2006. He loved the American Dragon more than his girlfriend at the time and he's got the t-shirt to prove it. Have a good Christmas and I hope it doesn't all end in tears!
Two very satisfied Nerds here, will that trend continue. You'll have to wait for part 2 to see...
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