#us indies

[joshimania]

Kyle Matthews vs. Sean Tempers - Nightmare to Remember III, 2/16/13

Great straightforward match with all the right classic elements. The crowd is really into the babyface Kyle Matthews, chanting his name. Tempers plays a great heel and does a good job early on selling Matthew's dominance with wear-down/submission-type holds; escaping to the outside a few times.

Tempers transitions with a Hot Shot and then goes into a very simple, but effective offense. Very heel-ish (chokes and such) and worked a nice leash on Matthews, giving him a number of chances before reeling him back in with an eye gouge, elbow or suplex. 

The final stretch was fantastic. Matthews riles up the crowd with some high-flying offense: dropkick, topé suicida, and diving crossbody for a near fall. Tempers hits a beautiful Northern Lights Suplex hold for 2. Both guys take big bumps: Matthews a hard shoulderblock from behind into the turnbuckle and Tempers a nutshot to the ring cable. I love the way they did the positioning on the top-rope, which eventually leads to a top-rope hurancanrana followed by a frog-splash for a huge two count! I thought that was it!

Nice Tiger Driver for a nearfall by Tempers, before we finish with Matthews superkick/running dropkick one-two immediately followed with a small package for the win. NICE, simple yet extremely effective. For US Indies, the offense was very basic, yet I really enjoyed that. Nothing fancy, they saved the big spots for the end, and delivered a well constructed match that the fans were really into. Will look out for more from these guys/this promotion.

On the down side, the video is rather blurry/shaky so if you're sensitive to that, just be forewarned. 

[joshimania]

Kamakazi Kid vs. Even Worst News Marcellus Brown (FSPW) - 3/3/13

Well, I'm a little pissed since I deleted my notes for this match. Basically this was an average match with highlights being primarily from Brown's heelish tactics (the shin choke hidden from the ref, epic field goal kick to groin, demanding the ref hold his hand up after the match). Brown controlled most of the match with a lot of resthold variations. Match won with a ref bump/groin shot/high backbreaker. 

Also, a bit of an aside, but some horrible camera work here. Please do not use autofocus when doing handhelds as there was a "blind spot" in this match; anytime the wrestling took place in the left-far corner the entire video would blacken. 

I absolutely love Brown's nickname "Even Worst News" complete with horrid grammar. I'd watch him again just for that name alone.

[joshimania]

Mike Cruz vs. Vordell Walker (Vintage Florida People's Title Match) - 1/19/2013

I really enjoyed the intensity of the participants in this match, especially that of Vordell Walker. I've heard his name and am glad I finally watched a match because this guy is a monster, yet can sell very well. Great power offense; Vordell commands a force in the ring that was displayed very well in this match. Loved the stiff shots, the way Walker wrestles like he's a bigger, stronger guy (because he is), knowing when to no-sell and the added oomph of aggression in even the simplest moves.

And then, the leg work. I'll give Cruz credit for taking the big bumps for Walker to put him over as a beast, and while his offense wasn't strong, it worked for his character and the story, trying to find any opening to hit quick strikes and a focused attack on the leg to gain the advantage.

I must admit, I thought Vordell would somehow win this match, because he seemed so much more dominant, even with the leg injury, but I was pleasantly surprised when Cruz got the submission win with a nice roll-through single-leg crab. Great selling by Walker, including being unable to hit certain big spots due to the hurt limb (though I did think he oversold it a bit early). 

If this is consistent with his other work, I could see myself becoming a Vordell Walker fan.