Getting to Know Matt Sydal and Flyin’ Brian Pillman Vol. 1

Matt Sydal vs Jimmy Rave (ROH 10/2/05)

Oh yes, tis the night kayfabe was broke for Kenta Kobashi in Ring of Honor. Two underheralded guys in my opinion on the undercard in front of a pretty nice crowd in Philly. Okay, no crowd in Philadelphia is necessarily nice. If you don’t like Prince Nana in jeans and sneakers then you might be a sadist. Sydal looks SO small. WRESTLING!

Damn, this is really fun. Jimmy Rave playing a southern junior is super duper enjoyable. It works so well in front of this crowd. When he jars with the crowd, pulls at the hair and slows the action down with a full-nelson you can’t help but smile. Don’t confuse those traits with the inability to bust out neat stuff like his sweet and nasty ripchord Saito Suplex. Sydal outworks him in the early part of the match but the aforementioned suplex gives Rave time to shine as a heel. Sydal is also really good at taking all the offensive and his face just garners sympathy. A little cutie. Rave works in a nice cutoff off a missed enzurgerie and follows up with a stomp to the back of the head. Real good stuff. When Sydal actually starts coming back he instantly goes for a big move that obviously won’t win it but he really didn’t have any other choice than to use the opening he has to switch some momentum. His counter of the Ghanarhea, obviously both men worked together for it, looked sweet even if it was quickly followed up with a brainbuster. Sydal’s pinning maneuver was wonky and awesome all at the same time. Yes, sir. For my liking things may have been a little too “lets go and trade momentum” towards the end but it was still fun throughout.

Honestly, neither men disappointed me at all but Rave looked more like the guy I might eventually have to go to bat for as far as GWE is concerned over Sydal. At the same time, Sydal was pretty good as a babyface and the match really wasn’t worked in a way to establish an upper echelon face performance.

Beating the 10 Count: Short and fun with Rave showing heel chops.

Jack Evans/Jimmy Yang/Matt Sydal vs Alex Shelley/Abyss/Jimmy Rave (ROH 2/27/06)

Watching this because I have the DVD of Tag Wars 2006 so why not give it a go. This is the finals of a tournament. Not sure if it was more than four teams but regardless this is the finals with the semi-finals opening this show. As you may note this is only a few months after Sydal and Rave’s match from Unforgettable. We are post the big Steel Cage Warfare match between Generation Next and The Embassy yet this feud still lingers. I have no sense of ROH history so things may have been more intense after that match than I know.

This is bad wrestling. You get pretty good performances out of the two guys I was expecting good performances from in Rave and Sydal. Loved Rave being absolutely disgusted and anguished by Jimmy Yang’s slap. And the little FIP segment with Sydal was enjoyable. Probably the most enjoyable aspect of the match. Jack Evans was fun for what he was but really this needed way more to be any good. Yang was incredibly clunky, Abyss was Abyss, and Shelley didn’t really show much and wasn’t nearly good with his between moves stuff as Rave. They tried to pack a bit more towards the end, not really surprising, but it still didn’t make up for anything really. If Abyss had gone for a dive I might be changing my tune but that didn’t happen so even YOU’VE GOTTA SEE THAT PART curiosity factor is eliminated. Woof.

Beating the 10 Count: Move on. Not good. Slow and clunky.

Evan Bourne vs Paul Burchill (WWE 4/28/09)

Apologize for the crappy VQ.

If my Cagematch research is correct, there’s a good chance it isn’t mind you, this is from Superstars in Madison Square Garden. A lot of Bourne’s resume will be made on TV matches which from what I have seen have been consistently good.

The consistently good idea has not been ruined. Bourne worked underneath for most of the match and was excellent in that role. There was some elite selling of his leg on display which seemed justified given Burchill’s pretty rugged workover and how he STUCK IT into the mat. Not seeing much of Burchill I can’t tell if I jive with the idea that he should have been bigger than he was but he definitely really awesome as the imposing force.  Bourne’s comeback felt twice as emotional because of how messed up his leg seemed. The ending is superb and really shows how Bourne “gets it”.

Beating the 10 Count: Bourne showing awesome selling after a Burchill beating.

 

Flyin’ Brian Pillman vs Barry Windham [Taped Fists Match] (WCW 5/18/91)

From the very first SuperBrawl. Goodness I have seen so little WCW. A taped fist match is as simple as it sounds in that both men have taped fists. Nothing else is really special about the stipulation. As good a time as any to mention the startling lack of Windham I have seen.

Fun match for sure. It is pretty short but I have a hard time calling time a detriment to most matches. Simply it is the story being told and they use the time alotted to them. The use that time well. Windham looks like a giant prick in this. At one point he is hugging the corner trying to get the referee to pry Pillman off his back and when he does he throws a kick with his long legs. Pillman simply looks like the underdog but he sure is plucky and takes it to Windham every chance he gets. We see a little color on both dudes and there is a context that I lack but at the same time it felt unnecessary giving the silly end. FEELS like intensity is needed but hindsight makes it weird. Both men brought good stuff to the table with plenty of heat, good punches, and big bumps. It is an easily recommended match given the short length and fun work.

Beating the 10 Count: Short but real entertaining FIGHT!

Flyin’ Brian Pillman/ El Gigante vs Barry Windham/ Arn Anderson (WCW 6/11/91)

Okay, sometimes I really wish I knew “context”. A tag match just seems so odd after SuperBrawl. Supposedly there is a stipulation involving someone leaving WCW. Not exactly sure how it works but whatever. Pillman and Gigante is an absurd team.

Short match but I’m not complaining one bit because while we did not get a lot of content we did get a helluva sprint. Pillman works the whole match for his team which is probably for the best cause Gigante looks like a bit of a turd. Pillman shows a ton of explosivity against the bigger heels. Arn is so gosh darn good. Eats offense so well. His reaction to getting dropkicked from the top to the floor is absolutely priceless. The Pillman and Windham feud would easily be noticeable even if there wasn’t any commentary. Pillman was not holding back with his overhand chops and Windham and a gnarly looking punch coming out of a headscissors.  Pillman and Gigante at one point combine to make some sorta MEGA HUMAN! Highly disappointed with the camera work on the finish. Didn’t get to see the move that set up the pinfall but I did see Gigante be dumb.

Beating the 10 Count: Sprint that highlights Pillman and Windham.

Flyin’ Brian Pillman vs Alex Wright (WCW 6/17/95)

IT IS THE SUMMER SPECTACULAR THE GREAT AMERICAN BASH! Brian is a little older and has a bit less tiger print on his bum. I have seen one Alex Wright match but it was from 2000. Not exactly prime sampling.

My favorite stuff of the match probably takes place in the first four minutes. Felt like an old school competition with some high level athletes. Loved the sequence involving the Wright cartwheel followed by the Pillman headscissors takedown. Felt very classic. Eventually after the respectful stuff ends up not paying off both men start getting progressively more aggressive with a definite switch in the attitude of the match happening with Pillman yanking Wright to the outside and overhead chopping the tar out of him. This is when the match drifted away from me. Wouldn’t call it bad but the appeal wasn’t there. I think that is in large part to a lack of emotion from Wright but also Pillman’s offense didn’t seem convincing enough to display anger. This would be less of a complaint if I had not seen him and Pillman bash each other a few years ago. You do have some wild spots such as Pillman’s deadlift gutbuster maneuver and Wright suplexing Pillman to the outside. The suplex was minimized by the angle of the shot. It looked a lot like two desperate wrestlers but it did not quite feel like two desperate wrestlers if that makes any sense. Things like Pillman’s exhaustion preventing him from running at the ropes SHOULD get a reaction from me; I love that sort of stuff but here what came prior hadn’t gained my emotional investment to really pop me. Still pretty fun but feels like there was some heat lacking and pacing a wee off. The finish is annoying because it harkened back to the opening moments more than the “we are desperate men who will hurt ourselves”.

Beating the 10 Count: Good grappling, weird “intense” section, mileage will vary.

Flyin’ Brian Pillman vs Ric Flair (WCW 2/17/90)

So much wrestling I have not watched. If you think I have seen a ton of arguably the greatest wrestler ever then you would be wrong. This is a non-title affair on Saturday Night. A show that REALLY needs to be added to the WWE Network. No one cares about Nitro.

Wow, this is some real good stuff with one real dumb moment. Pillman is your young cat trying to show his abilities against the best the sport has to offer, the champ. Pillman shows a ton of fire early and even wins a chop exchange that was pretty brutal looking. Fantastic that it is his aggressiveness in chasing Flair on the outside that leads to an eye poke. Not only an eye poke but Flair chucks Pillman’s head at the guardrail. Heat is then put on Pillman. I really feel a wrestler who can change speeds and make a slower section of a match compelling has a huge advantage over other wrestlers and that is what Flair does. Sure, he’s not throwing a million moves at Pillman but his knees look crushing and when he is cheating during the Figure-Four everyone is screaming. When Pillman is able to reverse the Figure-Four he is able to reverse momentum and speed things up. A match built on a natural advantage of a wrestler based on pacing gets me every time it is done well enough. The horrendous moment comes when Pillman does a sunset flip and Woman does a terrible job cheating to break it up. Luckily that was not the very end. Pillman’s springboard clothesline looks crazy here cause he comes in like a heat seeking missile versus getting some arch on it. Probably could have ended up really badly. In the real end, Flair wins but because he is a whiley heel vet and not because his valet smacked a guy giving him the advantage. Pillman is so good at showing passion which helps a ton. You have established roles with a changing pace to meet those roles, just bloody great.

Beating the 10 Cout: Great match between the young buck and veteran champ.

 

This edition of “Getting to Know” is a little different in no one suggested the pairing to me I just decided on Pillman and Sydal. Right now I couldn’t tell you which one I would consider “better”. Pillman probably had the best match against Flair of this bunch but it is against Flair. Sydal’s Greatest Wrestling Ever ranking, if he gets on my list, would probably have to be boosted a ton by indie gems where Pillman’s are at least easier to find. Overall, both were more than enjoyable to watch.