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| You think you've seen the Briscoes vs. everyone? THINK AGAIN Photo Credit: Scott Finkelstein |
2013 is here, and we still have basically every major independent show ahead of us excepting CZW's Ascension. That means we still have myriad possibilities for wrestling matches to happen on various cards. Some of them would be repeat matches, others would be matches that are ones that have been built to happening or are destined. Here are six that are either being built to, or that are somewhat out of the blue first-time matches that should happen before December 31 of this year.
1. ACH vs. Kyle Matthews
Spoiler alert, ACH and Matthews are going to be two of the top three in my A1W 100 ballot come March/April. They're in close proximity to each other. Well, they're kinda in close proximity. Georgia and Austin are only 14 hours away from each other, which is closer than Austin is to New York and about equidistant between the Big Apple and the Dirty Dirty. I get the feeling that if these two ever got together, either it would be the best match on the circuit barring a surprise Daniel Bryan exit from WWE, or I'd hype it up so much that it could never reach my expectation. But since I'm generally a positive dude, I will expect the best.
2. Sami Callihan vs. Jessicka Havok
I really get the feeling that CZW is building to this. The main event of their anniversary show is a mixed tag with these two on opposite sides of the ring. They've talked about wrestling each other. Fuck, I've talked about them wrestling each other. On one side, you have the hardest hitting, baddest-assed wrestler on the indies right now, and on the other is Callihan, who is probably a close second at the very least. Enough with trying to find a challenge for each of these wrestlers within their genders. Let them clash and burn down everything in a five mile radius. Figuratively, of course.
3. The Hooligans vs. the Briscoe Brothers
You say the Briscoes have wrestled everyone. I say Ring of Honor hasn't even scratched the surface of who they could bring into their fold. There are a ton of teams out there that could give the Briscoes a run for their redneck kung-fu money: Kings of the Underground, Kentucky Buffet, Washington Bullets, the Flatliners, the Canadian Ninjas... but there's one team that I think matches them in I-Don't-Give-a-Fuck-ness, and that's the Brothers Cutter. The beareded hosses from the Central States fly around with a familiar reckless abandon, and are almost evolutions of the Briscoes. It would be interesting to see how crazy they could get in the ring against each other, and honestly, if the folks in St. Louis Anarchy are reading this and are not thinking about booking this match in the next year, I'm not sure they're doing it right.
4. Fred Yehi vs. Drew Gulak
These are both guys I've discovered in 2012 from different sources, but they both work in similar milieus. They go hard to the mat and sprinkle in some high-risk stuff to go with their grasp of pacing and psychology. Yet, there's innate differences between the two. Gulak's style is clean, very rooted in European catch. Yehi feels like a guy who has a rougher edge, probably from years of doing backyard with some Greco-Roman amateur stuff mixed in. I've heard rumblings that some Northeast promotions are looking at bringing Yehi in. To me, this match is a no-brainer.
5. Eddie Kingston vs. Scot Summers
Everyone should wrestle Eddie Kingston, especially giant tattooed madmen who would be first on the callback list to play deranged serial killers in movies. If you think I'm badmouthing Summers, then you don't know him very well. The man embraces his role as the avatar of Anarchy, and he could be the one guy who can push the limits of where Kingston can bring his strong-style hybrid brawling. I think this match could be the most fun brawl of the year if it were to happen.
6. Trent Barreta vs. Jon Davis
I mentioned this yesterday, but if there were a fit for Barreta in the major indies, it would be DGUSA/EVOLVE, a company that runs NYC, has connections with Mikey Whipwreck, and has the arsenal of hosses that would par well with Barreta's crazy bumping style. Uhaa Nation, Sami Callihan, and even Shingo Takagi would work well, but I think the match Barreta was born to wrestle outside of WWE is against Davis, a menacing figure who has captivated the promotion in the last year. Give these guys ten minutes before intermission on a card where Johnny Gargano is defending the title against one of the DGUSA natives, and you get magic. I think people need to trust me on this.
1. ACH vs. Kyle Matthews
Spoiler alert, ACH and Matthews are going to be two of the top three in my A1W 100 ballot come March/April. They're in close proximity to each other. Well, they're kinda in close proximity. Georgia and Austin are only 14 hours away from each other, which is closer than Austin is to New York and about equidistant between the Big Apple and the Dirty Dirty. I get the feeling that if these two ever got together, either it would be the best match on the circuit barring a surprise Daniel Bryan exit from WWE, or I'd hype it up so much that it could never reach my expectation. But since I'm generally a positive dude, I will expect the best.
2. Sami Callihan vs. Jessicka Havok
I really get the feeling that CZW is building to this. The main event of their anniversary show is a mixed tag with these two on opposite sides of the ring. They've talked about wrestling each other. Fuck, I've talked about them wrestling each other. On one side, you have the hardest hitting, baddest-assed wrestler on the indies right now, and on the other is Callihan, who is probably a close second at the very least. Enough with trying to find a challenge for each of these wrestlers within their genders. Let them clash and burn down everything in a five mile radius. Figuratively, of course.
3. The Hooligans vs. the Briscoe Brothers
You say the Briscoes have wrestled everyone. I say Ring of Honor hasn't even scratched the surface of who they could bring into their fold. There are a ton of teams out there that could give the Briscoes a run for their redneck kung-fu money: Kings of the Underground, Kentucky Buffet, Washington Bullets, the Flatliners, the Canadian Ninjas... but there's one team that I think matches them in I-Don't-Give-a-Fuck-ness, and that's the Brothers Cutter. The beareded hosses from the Central States fly around with a familiar reckless abandon, and are almost evolutions of the Briscoes. It would be interesting to see how crazy they could get in the ring against each other, and honestly, if the folks in St. Louis Anarchy are reading this and are not thinking about booking this match in the next year, I'm not sure they're doing it right.
4. Fred Yehi vs. Drew Gulak
These are both guys I've discovered in 2012 from different sources, but they both work in similar milieus. They go hard to the mat and sprinkle in some high-risk stuff to go with their grasp of pacing and psychology. Yet, there's innate differences between the two. Gulak's style is clean, very rooted in European catch. Yehi feels like a guy who has a rougher edge, probably from years of doing backyard with some Greco-Roman amateur stuff mixed in. I've heard rumblings that some Northeast promotions are looking at bringing Yehi in. To me, this match is a no-brainer.
5. Eddie Kingston vs. Scot Summers
Everyone should wrestle Eddie Kingston, especially giant tattooed madmen who would be first on the callback list to play deranged serial killers in movies. If you think I'm badmouthing Summers, then you don't know him very well. The man embraces his role as the avatar of Anarchy, and he could be the one guy who can push the limits of where Kingston can bring his strong-style hybrid brawling. I think this match could be the most fun brawl of the year if it were to happen.
6. Trent Barreta vs. Jon Davis
I mentioned this yesterday, but if there were a fit for Barreta in the major indies, it would be DGUSA/EVOLVE, a company that runs NYC, has connections with Mikey Whipwreck, and has the arsenal of hosses that would par well with Barreta's crazy bumping style. Uhaa Nation, Sami Callihan, and even Shingo Takagi would work well, but I think the match Barreta was born to wrestle outside of WWE is against Davis, a menacing figure who has captivated the promotion in the last year. Give these guys ten minutes before intermission on a card where Johnny Gargano is defending the title against one of the DGUSA natives, and you get magic. I think people need to trust me on this.
