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Jamesen Shook Presents "Night Zero"
Thursday, July 16th, 7:30 Eastern

Scenic City Invitational Tournament:
Friday and Saturday, July 17th and 18th
7:30 Eastern

The ACTION Futures Men's and Women's Futures Tournaments
Saturday July 18th
2 Eastern


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I won’t pretend to be an expert on the history or style of BattlArts, a shoot style that has stood the test of time going over 30 years as a beacon of a genre that feels as though it’s been left in the shadows of time. Sure, Bloodsport was a nice Walt Disney presentation of what shoot style is and that isn’t even a knock. Josh Barnett is legit, I won’t ever deny that but his Bloodsport had lost a lot of it’s luster by this year when he announced he would be stepping away from that show going forward. Of course the GCW promoter Brett Lauderdale was quick to state that doesn’t mean the brand is dead, and hey he’s smart to keep that buzz alive.

Either way, shoot style is all but dead in the States. Some people do slick stuff that has been incorporated from that style but for the most part everyone seems more than pleased doing every tope known to man rather than get down and dirty with some Yuki Ishikawa deep cuts on YouTube. Nonetheless, Fuminori Abe has done his part and more in keeping the style alive in Japan and his Fighting Detectives shows have been some of the stand out shoot style work in the entire world and the proceeding disjointed mess is my full thoughts on the latest edition. YE GODS HAVE MERCY!

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1st Match
Tag Team Action
Kosuke Sato and Ryuma Sekimo vs Ali Najima and Hinata Kasai:

This was phenomenal. I was completely new to everyone involved, and then it was told to me by the dear Chris Colvin that Kasai is indeed the son of one deathmatch god Jun Kasai and I perked up! Sadly, he wouldn’t really factor into this match for me at all but hey! Someone new to follow and care about for me. The stars in this one for me were Najima, who is perhaps the fucking slickest takedown machine in ages and one of the most intense young wrestlers I have seen this side of Senka in Sendai, and perhaps the spiritual lovechild of Ricky Morton Ryuma Sekimo. Sekimo displayed selling I’ve not seen on any continent this decade, and I’m having a hard time outside of someone like an AJ Styles or Bryan Danielson that has done better this century so far. Brother committed to the bit, and the bit was “hey, my leg is being ripped off of my body with easy by this Najima kneebar”. Najima gets the dominant win, but Sekimo won my heart. 7/10

2nd Match
BattlArts Rules Match
Yasu Urano vs Manabu Hara:

Another couple of folks I knew nothing about and my research has told me Urano is mainly a DDT and BASARA regular which is odd with the BattlArts tie in. Hara on the other hand? His BattlArts roots go as far back as his career does in 2001, so this feels like a different style fight to me then! Shout out to the boys at Different Style Whites Podcast, one of the low key great pods out there doing shit no one else dares. So the match: it resembled more of a boa constrictor killing rather than a wrestling match. Hara just slowly picked Urano apart until they made it to the mat and he could sink in a submission. Urano does enough to survive early, that leads to a reset and Urano shows off some slick mat work himself that was surely taught to him by TAKA Michinoku when he was training in the Kaientai Dojo. He gets on a cool ass kravat hold and gets Hara down with it, but Hara basically grapevines his legs into uselessness and teases for a kimura to the delight of the fans. Urano gets back on top and thinks he can pin Hara which causes a chuckle. This felt like if shoot style matches occurred in World of Sport or something with level of campiness from Urano but just as it would feel absurdist, Hara would lock on something gross like the crucifix lock that should be stolen by someone with a brain working the States. As fun and even good as this got, it felt like a forgone conclusion with Hara’s history. Urano used the more lucha spirit that BattlArts would conjure and hits a neat senton from the apron into the ring which got the crowd going. Hara ends up where we knew he’d be. 7/10

3rd Match
6 Person Tag Match
Ikuto Hidaka, Itsuki Aoki, and Maika Ozaki vs The Masked Hokakudo, Kakeru Sekiguchi, and Rina Amikura:

Now, onto the fucking bizarre part of this show. I was going to be the responsible correspondent and do some sleuthing but yeah, this felt like something I wanted to keep surface level. Hidaka is a complete and utter legend in Japan, his work in the OG Zero 1 as well as US indie stints in the early 2000s makes him the star in this equation by a million miles. I loved the back and forth right away between Hidaka and Hokakudo, they really went through the lucharesu grappling paces. Sadly, that was the peak of this for the most part. Once Aoki and Sekiguchi got in, things really went downhill. It was like watching joshi in slow mo and even when Maika came in, things didn’t get better. Near the end there was a wild three person spot with the Hokakudo team where Rina put both her teammates on her back piggy style, and they hit a triple deck splash on Hidaka which sent Sekiguchi right onto her head and into a front roll. She thankfully popped up seemingly ok but it’s disgusting. I did like the Aoki and Rina smack fest but it didn’t last long enough for me, why couldn’t this have just been Hidaka vs Hokakudo one on one? 6/10

4th Match
Masashi Takeda and MAO vs Yuko Miyamoto and Thanomsak Toba:

Toba is a trip as the pro wrestler that has full boxing gloves on, because he’s THAT SURE he’s gonna knock your bitch ass out! I have no idea who Miyamoto is and I LOVE the deathmatch god Takeda, as well as MAO which is apparently a controversial take? Listen, I like my wrestling silly sometimes I used to love Chikara so my taste may vary for your liking, but right away this match is too weird not to be beautiful. MAO and Yuko start things off and it’s the usual looking pro wrestling even if the technical rules are BattlArts which is knockout, ten count, or submission and then we get into the really neat mat work that MAO is capable of, and apparently same with Yuko. The simple but effect way these two go through the paces is refreshing for sure, and has been for the card as a whole. It’s dueling kneebars as both men grab the ropes before both Takeda and Toba get tags in.

This is not a mat game, no these two throw bombs. It’s a boxing pace with Toba pushing the pace, throwing a nice side kick even that gets Takeda fired up to the crowd before hitting a fucking violent double leg takedown into an armbreaker before Toba gets ropes. This is such a great story between the amateur wrestling stud turn deathmatch monster against the pure striker Toba, and it seems that wrestling background is going to win out every time against Toba but he won’t stop trying. That leads to him landing both a headkick and a clean right cross that drop Takeda who looks totally punch drunk as Yuko gets in for Toba. Takeda gets his bearings and gets Yuko in a single legged crab but that leads to nothing but Yuko slinging Takeda with a belly to belly into the corner that leaves him a tangled mess. Yuko seems to keep forgetting no pinfalls because he keeps transitioning into strange positions, and once Takeda just makes it an arm breaker before tagging in MAO. MAO brings the slapping kicks and Yuko just can’t get the squirrely bastard in a good position to squash him like a bug. Yuko teabags MAO, and something tells me MAO isn’t all that mad. He is however once Toba gets back in and peppers him with left and right hands. He weathers the storm, pops off a real nice Michinoku Driver but whiffs a 450 attempt before recovering and dropping Toba with an enzugiri! Takeda comes in to get the crumbs left over. Is Takeda the most well rounded dude alive? Toba and he have a fucking GREAT little moment together here where it’s just the two oldheads at the party slinging haymakers until one can’t do it anymore, sorry Toba. This had shakiness to it but ended great. 7.5/10

Semi Main Event
BattlArts Rules
Minoru Fujita vs Keita Yano:

Another wild clash of styles with the longtime deathmatch star Minoru Fujita taking on BattlArts homegrown Keita Yano. Hell, Yano’s first match ever was against the aforementioned Manabu Hara from earlier in the night. Keita walks out looking like an emo Jason Vorhees, then he takes the entrance mask off and looks like a heroin addict Jake Lee. I don’t hate it. Then Fujita shows up and well, he’s a scarred up fucking mess so that’s dope too. Yano’s thing is stalling I guess because he dicks around for a little bit, then goes for the handshake before deciding it isn’t that important after all.

They haphazardly attempt some lock ups, but mainly Yano isn’t interested. Yano is a total Vampire Freaks user (those old people know what I’m talking about) but he’s also a damn good wrestler and he gets Fujita down and wrenches on his knee, but Fujita is going for throats in the streets. Another neat cravat by a BattlArts kid, he transitions it into a takedown and a strange armlock but that is more a formality to bully Fujita than finish him. Then, Yano starts riding Fujita like a circus ride before going for a leg but there’s a rope break. This makes Yano hungry and so he takes a bite out of the foot of Fujita, totally normal behavior. Both guys jockey for standing submissions but Fujita takes it back to the mat and does a wild, spinning arm wrenching with his legs and hips! It’s fucking awesome, honestly. Yano fights through the arm breaking pain and locks on a wild tarantula hold in the ropes. Yano then stomps the piss out of every extremity on Fujita’s body but that just pisses him off and Yano eats some chops for it. Fujita keeps smacking him and starts getting his face, as if to say “do I smell bitch in Shinjuku?!” Yano takes the arm, drags him to the mat and replies “no, but you can’t do shit because I put you in a Romero Special”. Just kidding, he stomps the back of the knees instead! Fujita manages to hit a goddamned tombstone piledriver and Yano pops up to the his feet and stumble sells through the ropes to the floor and almost misses the 10 count. I enjoyed this, but something about how Yano really no sold most major things and his whole things is “I’m too cool for school” didn’t sit well with me. He has the chops, but it didn’t work for me. Fujita was fine enough, but this felt like mainly a Yano match. 7/10

Main Event
Six Man Tag Match
Fuminori Abe, Yuki Ishikawa, and Shuji Ishikawa vs Daisuke Ikeda, Kazunari Murakami, and Ali Najima:

Najima from the opener rushes the ring to join the legends team of Ikeda and Murakami to a very clear pop from the crowd. Abe and Najima start things off and right away it is a trench war of all time on the mat, with all kinds of reversals with Abe getting control but just for a split second before Najima has his back and then we’re rolling all around, settling into an Abe kimura but Ikeda walks out and kicks his spine in half to break it all up. Abe slaps the FUCK out of Najima, who responds with a slap of the same ilk. This leads to even more mat work and man, these two are fucking SLICK. Abe gets a double underhook, Shuji takes a cheap hot and Abe punts his ass from behind with all the force he can muster. Shuji gets tagged in and Najima isn’t backing down, throwing forearms with him like he’s a monster as well but that gets him shit canned and basement dropkicked by Shuji! Murakami rolls him in for some encouragement but damn, this kid is getting destroyed so far.

The godfather of BattlArts tags in, it’s Ishikawa time and he’s gator rolling this youngster around and honestly playing with his food. Ikeda takes exception and of course this leads to them going back and forth in kneebars and with douchey kicks. This match completely breaks down with all six men in the ring at once and the ref is still cool as a cucumber. Ishikawa and Najima are finally left alone in the ring, and even though Najima throws respectable bombs Ishikawa still drops him after a bit. Then we have a Fujiwara attempt but it’s Murakami that breaks up the pin before getting in and whipping some Ishikawa ass all the way out of the ring! God I love this shit! Chairs are being thrown! All the men start fighting on the outside, with the foreground being taken up by Najima and Abe throwing slaps at one another all the way down a whole row of seats and it isn’t some Power Slap shit either, it’s HATE filled. Then Abe literally kicks Najima in the ass. Ikeda and Ishikawa are stumbling around and throwing each other face first into the ringpost because they’re bored, hell I don’t know but it’s awesome. Ishikawa stands alone in the ring, until Murakami joins him in the center and they exchange pleasantries in the form of open slaps to the jaw. Murakami takes only so much before he cracks some ribs with nasty knees that drop Ishikawa and then a PK kick, and just annoying low kicks meant to sting rather than destroy. Then there’s the arm breaker attempt and Abe LEAPS with a dropkick to his stupid face to break it up, Ishikawa turns that into a leg lock and Ikeda calmly walks in and rakes the eyes!

This match highlighted something about myself I never knew: I really love old mean potatoing the fuck out of each other. Murakami and Ishikawa throw shots here like they’ve been fighting each other in bars their whole lives. Ishikawa unleashes a truly gross headbutt that drops Murakami and that gets Shuji tagged in and throwing an honestly weak Saito suplex. That gets redeemed right away with a second that drops Murakami on the side of his face! There’s a rear naked attempt but that changes into a waistlock, a low blow by Murakami and a smack before in comes Ikeda. Ikeda throws some shoot headbutts of his own but a lariat is what sends Shuji down like a redwood tree. He gets up after a few counts, and absolutely levels Ikeda with a headbutt of his own and that one you can almost feel in your feet. Abe tags in and literally runs headfirst into Ikeda’s skull sending both guys down hard! Abe recovers enough to go for a rear naked but Ikeda bites him!

Ikeda and Abe throw some really stiff shots, Ikeda goes to the body while Abe throws punches right to the forehead and they are clearly landing, so Ikeda steals his strategy and gives a receipt before Murakami is back in to throw shots like the Yakuza boss in MMA gloves can. Abe is at the ready though, and he headbutts him so hard that blood starts flowing out of a hardway! THIS IS PRO FUCKING WRESTLING! Abe gets him in an octopus stretch, really ripping at the arm before Najima comes in for the pivotal save and again, the catalyst to six man mayhem in the ring. Abe absolutely cracks Murakami with a headkick but rather than letting him get counted out, he goes for a choke but that just gives Murakami a chance to rip at the eyes! Abe holds on to the choke somehow through this gouging for some time before the break comes, then Murakami smacks the soul out of Abe before unleashing a headkick that sends Abe to the shadow realm! MY GOD THIS RULED! 8.5/10

This was probably the most enjoyable Japanese indie show I’ve seen this year even with the bizarre six man and certain hiccups. The absolute highlights were Najima in the opener, and every goddamned person in that main event six man. I’d love to see more of Kasai, Najima, Hara, Sekimo, and to some extent even Yano if he’s less of a weirdo. Thank god for Abe and his buddies still keeping this awesome kind of pro wrestling alive and well. Until next time, remember to go live bati-bati motherfuckers!

We’re sold a bill of goods as wrestling fans every single second we consume any sort of wrestling product. The inherit distrust that has been involved, the “art of kayfabe” has created a natural and always present rift between consumer and product which isn’t like any other business, sport, or entertainment venture. The lines perhaps have never been blurrier than now, in the post digitalized world we live in where AI creates most advertising we see or ideas that become entities on our screens to gawk at and discuss. In that environment, the most punk rock shit you can be is organic, imperfect, and laid bare to the world.

PRODUCE began it’s life as a multimedia ad campaign at it’s core, all centered around a simple but seemingly impossible venture: what if a wrestling company was ran like a co-op is? What if we had a place that acted more like a farmer’s market than a wrestling promotion, and while there’s absolutely branding and in fact the branding almost has become the selling point in many ways but in that branding lies a dedication to being authentically itself? What if instead of an us vs them dynamic backstage, the “guys, gals, and non-binary pals” as Nick Maniwa puts it had a real say in the card? Furthermore, what if they got to theme said event and put together a show that they believe in enough to put their name on? That seems pretty counterculture, anti-authority to me. More than just wrestling needs an ideal like that these days, but I’ll take that spirit concentrated down to some folks throwing potatoes in the middle of the ring in a dope ass art gallery.

The biggest issue with this medium, and more so the fandom of said medium is we tend to sort of look a gift horse in the mouth a lot rather than digest things in the traditional sense. Jonathan Snowden actually released a fantastic piece about this very thing, and specifically in regards to the tribalism you see online a lot but this also is a by-product of that said performative fandom way of life: good shit gets lost in the shuffle. There’s plenty of fantastic pro wrestling out there, I for one try to be a beacon for that with the stuff I’ve written about places like wXw and other scenes I find under-reported or down right overlooked. I feel that way about this event as well, mainly how it forced fans to THINK about the rules with the usage of yellow and red cards by the referee which has drawn the ire of the Internet. It’s absolutely something I’ll say is an acquired taste sort of thing, and I’d never just shit on someone for hating the idea of penalty cards in wrestling but I also find it funny that in an industry that is traditionally stale on creative ways of presentation, it seems any attempts to push the envelope always get this sort of pretentious scoff in reply. As I always try to be with things in wrestling, I’m going to let it breathe and grow because a lot of the usage of this trope was seemingly either to address dealing with a State Athletic Commission in New York which meant no blood and plunder, or a narrative device to play with the technical bouts put on the card.

The festivities started off with a six person tag with indie stalwarts and stand outs alike with Dark Sheikah, Gabby Forza, and Emersyn Jane going against Nixi XS, Janai Kai, and Jordan Blade. All six brought the intensity even when things seemed to kind of break down in the middle of the match and for a first show of a promotion, it’s understandable they’d be nervous. Nixi showed that she has a strong personality that is intriguing and room to grow, Janai Kai is someone I keep waiting to be signed somewhere so she just furthered that perception to me, and Jordan Blade who was awesome in the bruiser role for her team just tossing people around like sacks of shit. Gabby is really awesome and hitting a stride right now, and she looked really great here, Emersyn I hope really gets more Stateside bookings because I’ve known how awesome she is from my European dip in the toe this year as really having a great believability a lot of people don’t on the American scene for the women. I dug the post match angle with Sheikah and Gabby all about the stupid gnome hat, let this end in blood down the road! 6/10

I knew nothing of Oni King before he’s Express Lane main event, and I knew how Dominic Garrini kicked fucking ass as part of Violence is Forever with Kevin Ku so this absolutely piqued my interest. Then Pioneer Works sang Zombie in unison like it was the World Cup and I was dialed in even more. Oni came out to heavy hometown fan fair seeing as he’s from the Brownsville area and that was cool, then the bell rang and they beat the ever loving hell out of each other. This felt intense and vicious with every strikes, every take down, and every resilient buck back to their feet. For going less than 5 minutes, it felt like something worth while and gave me enough meat on the bone that I want to see what Oni does going forward. I love how simple this was and I’m sure that was by design due to limitations with Oni or whatever, but it worked because these dudes have known legit backgrounds and they’re huge, so when they did the old back and forth shoulder block spot it actually ruled. It’s amazing what just bringing the simplistic strikes can do for a match, more of this on cards going forward instead of shitty Dragongate cosplay stuff. 7/10

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Darian Bengston has arrived as a star on the indie scene. He was already rising well before this match with Zack Sabre Jr but after June 29th, he’s certifiable. What made this match special is what it wasn’t, which was anything you see on TV currently anywhere. The story was about who was the best grappler, closed fists were not legal and they weren’t even either man’s inclination anyways. They just got on the mat and showed off what is possible today, and it’s the same sort of awesome shit that was happening in England in the 70s and 80s, what has been going on in Mexico for generations, and thankfully what a very small group of people are keeping alive. I loved the importance of moment, how each reversal felt like it was earned from every possible sign of struggle imaginable. There were hand fights, there were snide shoves between holds in frustration of knowing this is a big stage and the opening match of the actually pay-per-view, so to put your necks out there and not commit is a waste of the canvas given. I love both of these guys for what they did most in this one which was the little things, Darian wouldn’t just reverse ZSJ he would counter his entire strategy and throw it back to him and it just comes off like the 4D chess they’re trying to convey. No one’s acting wrestler, even though Darian is an accomplished thespian as well they are and have lived this way of wrestling, the mat first. There’s every sort of arm hold, shoulder manipulating clutches, European forearms that would make Dory Funk Jr blush, and through it all the crowd was along for the ring, going up and down the roller coaster made special for Brooklyn on that night.

It’s rare when I feel like someone is an equal technically to Zack Sabre Jr. Usually, at best people hang with him. I think most of the New Japan roster will attest to that, and those that kept having classics with the man are now the top stars over there or on their way. He touches things and leaves them golden, and after this match Darian Bengston is an equal to Zack Sabre Jr in my eyes and it’s not even something I hestiate to state. He was right there when an arm wringer dropped down into a wrist clutched Regal like neckbreaker sends a tender shoulder down hard and the crowd knows why that matters. The joke going into this one was the whole Americans are like dogs being read Shakespeare in terms of understanding “tekkers” and well, there’s at least one kid from Waterloo, Iowa that can roll with the best of them. The handshake post match between the men felt like more than just a way to leave things, and we are told ZSJ will be producing a future event I am READY! 9/10

“Hot Sauce” Tracy Williams and LeBron Kozone had just a stiff as hell battle in the second match. I’ve always found Tracy as one of the very best wrestlers that have never gotten a fair shake at the high levels of TV wrestling. He is huge now too, so let us hope this whole PRODUCE thing works out for him. He was amazing in this, standing toe to toe with a bad man in Kozone who I would not be surprised breaks out not just in his new home of MLW but the larger indie scene. He is just so good at what I’d describe as scary athletic big man stuff, in the ilk of Claudio Castagnoli and Jake Doyle, huge dudes that can do the impressive power stuff while also doing it in the ring outside of that as well. I appreciated that both men clearly got together and agreed to just stiff each other to hell. I loved that in the end, the story was technique over brawn is the order of the ecosystem happening in this promotion. 7.5/10

Julius Smokes and Man like DeReiss were made for each other. DeReiss comes out doing his “0121” bars and Brooklyn is all kinds of here for it, and Julius is showing off that crunk unc energy to make it so much more classic than usual. Rich Swann really impressed me here and his resurgence from being all but outcast from the industry for whatever reason I’m not exactly aware of, but he had a great match with DeReiss. That isn’t to say there wasn’t enough bullshit in the equation, we got a Referee Adam Gault breakdance spot right off the bat, Julius broke it down for us like it was 02 again before hitting a damn dropkick!? Insane! I’ll be honest, I don’t know why this isn’t getting more love. I loved the fire of Swann with the solid right hands and the really great selling of all the devious shit DeReiss and Smokes tried on him. They hit a really solid flow near the end where they were just hitting everything they do to perfection and the Pioneer Works crowd were losing it. DeReiss should have been on TV, so this hopefully helps him in that venture, and I especially love how much he dove into the card penalty system and sold it as it should be like a fine or something. New things are only valuable as long as the performers treat that rule as gospel, especially on night one. I found this a really good mix of Dragongate type work rate which is always going to be part of Swann’s identity and almost Memphis levels of heel bullshit by DeReiss and Smokes, all the while DeReiss keeps up with the lucharesu pace. DeReiss enters himself into the Royal Ranbo coming up soon on PRODUCE 3: Azucar on August 3rd. An indie promotion PROMOTING FUTURE DATES?! 7.5/10

Now, we get the first of two musical performances from famed director Abel Ferreira and I’ll say two things about these performances: it was this strange mix of what I’d best describe as free jazz and I’m not hating but the odd part was that mixed with Lou Reed level lyricism that just comes off really jarring. Now, when I say that you gotta keep in mind I’m an old early 2000s punk rock fuckwad that loves shit like Leftover Crack, obviously from this article title The Clash, Fear, and whatever other complete gutter music I could get my hands on so I dug it…the first time around. I can’t even really describe that second performance as anything other than what I’d imagine you’d have gotten from putting a camera, a lot of ludes and coke, and some instruments in a room with a spiraling Hunter S. Thompson. It was almost eerie at one point, Abel looked like he just totally went to another dimension on DMT and hey brother, if anything I’m jealous!

Priest and Billington vs The Cowboy Way was just the perfect storm for a great match. The Cowboys have been blazing a trail all through Europe and it’s been wild seeing them wrestle teams like Jun Akiyama and fucking Ahura in wXw, have a mini feud of sorts in RevPro with Eddie Kingston and whoever babyface shows up to the show it seems, and then there’s Priest and Billington who have been a ROH contained entity but this was in many ways their indie coming out part and boy did they have a rager. It’s been discussed a lot that Thomas Shire is from the AJPW cloth through his training with Dory Funk Jr and even going for there for a time, and he is such a perfect new age version of that King’s Road spirit. Then on the other side you have a similar proxy in Billington who is in so many ways the conduit of what made Dynamite Kid great in the ring. He’s quick, he’s smooth and precise with his snap suplexes and vicious strikes. He’s what any child of the 90s tape trader revolution would probably have forged in a sandbox scenario for the heir of Strong Style junior’s greatness.

This really had what you look for in great tag wrestling and the main reason is they made the tags the gimmick it is meant to be. Double teams felt impactful and mattered in the larger story of the match and a yellow card gets a big reaction from the crowd and Priest yet again sells it. Priest and Billington truly hit an avatar state with the teamwork stuff that they were almost giving Arn and Tully mirages, complete with pulling on the rope for leverage behind the ref’s back! Manders is so underrated for his selling, and he takes this double team ass whipping like a champ crawling around like he’s Anakin in Episode III or some shit. Billington is more than happy to break his kneecap with various leg locks that keep him far away from Shire in the corner. I mean they rip Manders’ boot off his punk ass but he leaps to the corner and Shire’s hot tag is FANTASTIC, completely with a UFO on Priest that leaves him and Shire thanks to the dizzying effect down for a reset. The fire smolders rather quickly though when Priest drops him on his neck, then Billington runs in for a nice German/lariat combo for a near fall because Manders finds a second wind, and his boot.

Then came the forearm and chop fiesta we all knew was bound to happen and it delivered! Priest let the heroes feel good about themselves before chop blocking Manders and getting him locked in a crossface and single legged crab combo before Shire saves the day and sets up Billington for a decapitating lariat for a finish. INCREDIBLE! It’s the perfect first tag match to then announce a big 16 team tag tournament with down the road, I can not wait for the Rock N’ Roll Express Tag Team Invitational on December 27th and 28th. 8.5/10

Liiza Hall had her major indie ascension moment next up when she went up against Billie Starkz, filling in for Deonna Purrazzo who was hurt and it definitely did not disappoint. Hall is just so good at mat wrestling that even in points where it felt like things either went to shit or just didn’t get a good reaction she just went to her bread and butter and took it to the mat. It says a lot that Hall hung with one of the next big TV stars from AEW and it felt natural. She showed a shit ton of attitude as the heel as well, kicking the shit out of Billie while she was down selling or as transitions into holds that aren’t just haphazard grappling that you tend to see on all kinds of shows. Everyone over at the Lion’s Gate dojo should be very proud because it feels like Liiza is on her way to stardom, very cool. 7/10

A dope vignette set the stage for the next match set to Something in the Way by Nirvana and it set the scene of a teacher vs student affair between Jersey Championship Wrestling Champion Charles Mason against the living legend Amazing Red and I was blown away by this one. For whatever reason I’ve only watched Mason a handful of times probably but after this performance, I’m sold. He didn’t let up one bit on Red, beating the shit out of him most of this match. Even though it was for the JCW title, this felt more about earning your mentor’s scalp when you believe you’ve reached beyond their reach. Red doesn’t get enough love for how tough and stiff he is because man, he takes that Mason beating and BRINGS HIS OWN and it rules a lot. Of course that starts from him doing a tope through the fucking first two rows and man, Brooklyn loved it! They don’t care about their own personal safety they want good wrestling! Mason can’t believe he got a yellow card for biting Red’s face off, it’s pretty funny. Red shows real deal, Rey Mysterio levels of fire after the cannibal bit, and it feels right. All hail Justin Credible’s cool finisher. Mason calls his shot and adds his name to the Royal Ranbo match on August 3rd for PRODUCE Azucar hell yeah. 7.5/10

There’s a huge disconnect in the internet fandom in so many ways but one of the biggest issues is the disrespect given to the total fuckery element on wrestling cards. I’m not talking hardcore shit, or wacky gimmicks exclusively or any of that. I’m talking about the idea that not every match is here to be an instant classic, to create this insane discourse about what a headlock should be. I’m talking about the need and want for a total spectacle and that is exactly what Mad Dog and Beastman against EFFY and Mance Warner was and I loved it. It began in the most ECW way ever with SDL and Allie Katch getting in a face to face about who the baddest bitch is and then the fight began. Beastman looked like he was either drunk or completely unaware of how his joints work but it added to the fun for me. This was simply Mance and Mad Dog looking to beat each other half to death, EFFY taking some disgusting bumps because he’s EFFY and he has no other level but all the way up, and like I said Beastman just threw around EFFY in almost an unsafe way and stumbled but it worked for me. He did do a mean ass Bonzai Drop that caused me to pause.

At the end of the day, I look at this one as a well done match that really acts as an angle for a future match. I loved the four way yellow card spot with the double down spot where Beastman ate his, and they just all went back to fighting like assholes. Because of the yellow and red card silliness here, we get Mance vs Mad Dog in a bloody war on the next show in Jersey, with Nick fucking Gage as the ref, and for both of Mance’s Wrestle Revolver and IWTV belts. I choose to have fun still with my wrestling, and I allow myself to go along with the ride. I also cracked the fuck up at Mance pleading for the mic and Gage just blowing him off. 6.5/10

The big 10 man tag between Janela, Gringo Loco, Cole Radrick, Matt Mako, and Bam Sullivan against Lee Moriarty, Marcus Mathers, Top Team of Terry Yaki and Jay Lucas, and Marko Stunt was surprisingly good because you’d expect it to just go off the rails off the bat. Sure, there were moments of confusion or missing of the mark but I think it really came off well and fine way to introduce a lot of roster members on a debut show for future consideration. Again, I try looking at things as a build type scenario rather than judging every single thing in a vacuum for star points. Even if you did look at this with those rose colored glasses, this delivered. I was really impressed at how each person felt like they had a moment of importance in this match yet it still felt logical and meaningful. Janela and Lee had a fantastic start with some solid rolling around just to remind everyone that Janela isn’t a slouch as a wrestler. Lee however, is a class about most in that category and of course, this ends in a change of approach for Janela after a little bit. I really enjoyed the bits of Bam Sullivan in this one, I didn’t know much about him like with Charles Mason earlier in the night and I’ll be keeping an eye out. I think if I was to give MVP nods of this huge cluster, it might very well be Top Team as a whole. They really stood out as singles but also when they’d hit their double team stuff because they’re so smooth. I’d also say the same about Matt Mako, who is maybe the most versatile guy on the whole scene with his mix of MMA and pro wrestling training. He also hit an Orange Crush in the match so he deserves all the kudos imaginable. This had a similar energy to a lot of the PWG final day of the BOLA weekend multi-man with all the losers and that comes with the good and the bad of course. I found this a lot less ridiculous than most of these multi-mans are these days on indies so that’s a plus. Marko and Gringo had a really fun back and forth that resembled a minis match and that’s not a knock, it was awesome. I appreciate that although there were some tons of guys standing around kind of spots, they didn’t become overshadowing to the match and it kept to the usual tempo of a tag based match. Very intriguing to see during the writing of this article that Marcus Mathers is already gone from PRODUCE 2 and we’ll see if he’ll be back and I’d only assume it’s part of the plague that is WWE ID that’s on the indies. Perhaps places like PRODUCE will avoid that issue altogether but we can only cross our fingers I guess. 7/10

Lee gets a post match promo and he says on July 16th, he’s going to defend the ROH Men’s Pure Title against Jonathan Gresham in the main event and I’m already jonesing! Two weeks is too long to wait for something that good and I’m thankful I shelled the money out for the season pass. Then Andre Chance came out to put over the young guys, and he has an offer for them to think about their future and join the U. I love that this is a big ol shit on the WWE ID system and for good reason, that platform has done nothing but harm indie wrestling and I GUESS populate the EVOLVE roster? I always have liked Andre’s work so I hope he gets to really show his abilities here.

The vignette before Gresham vs Abe was incredible. Gresham’s road through his stroke and to being back in wrestling with this entire new lease on life was really well presented here, with awesome imagery of him in the Octopus mask looking at himself in that perfect example of how he views his life now. Wrestling is part of that life, not the end all, be all and that frees him. He now knows that it’s about doing what you love about this industry, not sulking in the hate of what you can’t control or vibe with. I felt the meaning of this through the screen and that deserves a lot of love. Whoever worked on all these vignettes is amazing, and especially this one came across as a perfect synopsis of who Jonathan Gresham is. We also get some epic early YouTube MV type recap stuff with the proper nu metal song as the soundtrack.

I didn’t know a damn thing about the band Jigsaw or their song Sky High but man, that live performance that sent Gresham to the ring moved me deeply, and when the camera zoomed into his face it seemed like it moved him too. LETS GO I WANT TO RUN THROUGH A WALL!

All night, the commentary of Walker Stewart and Tom Lawlor was superb but it wasn’t any better than it was for this one. Lawlor was in his element with all the various grappling and striking greatness that was on display between both men and it was in droves. This could have been labeled “BattleArts x-x-98” on some seedy YouTube clone and I would have bought it. With just the Gresham hand shake extension being met with a side kick by Abe, shit was on. First, it was a back and forth arm control battle with both men showing off slick hammerlocks and various takedowns with arm manipulation always the goal. Gresham gains early control and makes things light hearted, as much as you can when you’re got a band’s shoulders locked in your legs causing a slow, separation of things that should stay together but Abe fights through and gets up to his feet to throw mean kicks.

There is a stalemate that at first glance felt awkward but upon reflection, was brilliant. Gresham and Abe sort of stood sideways looking at each other’s feet in what I can only assume is each waiting for a misstep literally and figuratively. Then, there’s a flash of action with a mean Gresham dropkick and evasions from Abe that become roll ups and strange leg locks. Abe takes to the floor to gather himself and do some breathing exercises with the fans in a great moment of levity. Gresham shows that respect he had when Abe kicked his hand away, his values didn’t change in the heat of competition and Abe paid him with a full nelson attempt and further grappling back and forth before Gresham locks in a figure four and the way he gets to it is just classic struggle based wrestling. All this work on Abe’s knee is sold masterfully, doing the whole wounded animal bit but it feels genuine because he commits. That’s the key to any of this shit, committing completely to what is going on. This was a masterclass of what the tendons of pro wrestling were, are, and will always have to be. Sure, the flashy dives and gross headbump finishers are wild and can even be interesting, but without the knee selling, without the mat work and the dedication to the simplistic it has no value. The biggest spots were probably the rolling German suplexes late in the match left Abe drooling, grasping for the solace of the ropes. This match was all tendon and for some, they won’t get it and that’s like punk rock or any other art form: it’s their flavor profile and that’s fine. However, there’s some of us that have been waiting for something that harkens back to the days of old, when the tracking lines didn’t go away even if you fucked with the tracking. Not to mention, this old geezer fan that likes to think I’ve seen quite a lot lost it to the finish and can’t think of one that’s gotten close to this one in quite some time, if ever. This was part Maeda, part Fujiwara, part Inoki, and part Ishikawa. It was a mixtape of all the reality based pro wrestling has forged over these last 50 years. A compilation of all the places where the lights are a little dimmer but the magic somehow makes it feel somewhat brighter. 9/10

A lot has already been said in the wake of this show about impact and what exactly the promotion even is. So many over or under sold it in various ways and to me it comes down to this: re-education. PRODUCE is a way to look at wrestling as a canvas to create, and part of that is going back to the beginnings. The two technical matches of the show, along with Lee Moriarty’s performance in the big 10 man is what PRODUCE will be known for. Liiza Hall’s rise is what PRODUCE wants to be, an elevation point for talents the other places seemed to have missed. Adam Abdalla in various interviews going into this show talked about how he and Jonathan Gresham kept thinking of how they wanted to use talents they felt were either completely overlooked by the other places or misused, showing a fresh coat of paint of what the independents can actually be rather than a funnel for WWE or AEW. It doesn’t have to just be a place to do the same, usual formulaic TV wrestling that all the wrestlers and fans are told gets you jobs. It’s a workshop for the creatives that do this because they want to get better and push the boundaries, all the while doing more than just holding a wrestling show with a long intermission with nothing to do. Instead, how about a live concert, or an art showing? PRODUCE is powerful as an idea not because of what it is, but because of what it makes sure not to be.

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I got the bug. Not the wrestling bug, shit I got that seriously like 30 years ago when I saw Rey Misterio for the first time. No, I mean the bug for The Chains. I’d known of NHB for a while, had even watched some of the matches and was always impressed but I never got it fully. Then Tank vs Jaden Newman in the Pitfighter off-shoot blew my fucking mind and ever since, I’ve fallen completely into the rabbit hole and as we get closer to NHB 100 it felt right to finally dip my toe into reviewing this stuff and putting it out to the masses. Therefore, I did what must be done; rolled one up and proceeded to fire up the first ever No Holds Barred event back in January of 2020. What follows is my account, and ONLY my account. Enjoy, or don’t I’m not your dad.


The opener was a panderer’s dream with Tessa Blanchard vs Nick Gage. To really grasp why this ever even happened, you’d have to have been around in 2019 when AEW was a fresh idea that really swept the scene while Impact Wrestling was looking to bridge the gap and landed on intergender wrestling somehow. Of course, that naturally led to the red flag Tessa Blanchard becoming a massive focus. I could sit here and pile on, and considering what we’ve found out about her character as a person it’d be absolutely warranted she’s simply not worth it. All you need to know is she beat Gage for one because she straight up said she wouldn’t lose, per Danny DeManto himself and also she became Impact World Champion like a week later. A glimpse into a totally fad-driven part of wrestling in January of 2020, next.

Homicide and Casanova Valentine was an ode to the fan of the walk and brawls of the Memphis and early ECW days. Was it fantastic? Not really. A whole lot of stabbing foreheads, not many bumps but that’s not what you’re looking for in a Homicide match in 2020 anyways. The finish was amazing though with the “waterboarding with bleach” over the towel for the ref stoppage comically late. Tremendous bullshit, and that’s a compliment!

Alex Colon and Jimmy Lloyd decided it was enough of the fucking around, ultraviolence would befall the White Eagle and I feel like that energy never waned after this. Right away we get disgusting tack bat shots, a Baron Corbin swinging flat liner followed by a Tiger Driver ONTO A BOARD OF CUT UP CANS! There’s a great line after this “this isn’t pro wrestling, it’s Saturday Night Fights!” and then Jimmy brings out a saw blade board. He flip bumps into a barbed wire board for shits and giggles. Colon does a tope through the chains into a DDT on the floor! Jimmy takes that saw board chest first from a meteora because we’re gross I guess. A gusset plate board? Jimmy’s gonna Gonzo Bomb Alex on that for NOT A FINISH? Ok, this is the NHB I know and love today. A barbed wire bat shot as Jimmy ascends the big board up top and a fucking Spanish Fly sends them both into a barbed wire board for the finish! This ruled!

Then, there’s the first of many in the history of perhaps the biggest feud in NHB history: Eric Ryan vs John Wayne Murdoch. I was shocked when I found out this goes less than 11 minutes, because they cram in a LOT of wild shit here. Right away we are shown a razor blade board, all kinds of boards with the cut up cans which were very favored in this era apparently. Denver Colorado almost ruins this for me on commentary, but it becomes easy to drown out when these dudes carve each other up like Thanksgiving turkeys for the fans’ amusement. I love that they start this off like a fist fight, Murdoch hits a shoot head butt though right away and the gussets come out in full force. It can’t be a Murdoch match without some gusset disfigurement right? A death valley driver into a fork board! This match isn’t even 2 minutes in at this point, the boys don’t get paid by the hour clearly. A fan donates his chair to Murdoch and Eric wears it as a hat with velocity. Ryan finds a chain, starts drilling Murdoch with it and whipping him then we are told it’s covered in forks as well and Murdoch’s finally leaking. Ryan starts throwing used weapons into the crowd which really gets this crowd into a frenzy, just in time for Murdoch to eat a gusset right into the face thanks to a Ryan yakuza kick. A rolling senton gives Murdoch the advantage, how I have no idea. They have a headbutt contest on the apron before falling through a door to the floor with a really gross splat. Ryan swings a full door and it hits Murdoch in the fucking HEAD! Murdoch wants more, so what does Ryan do? Shreds the door into splinters with repeated shots, and CTE ain’t got shit on these dudes!

This match is a great example of what is possible when the narrative of a match is simply who can survive when both entities are tough as nails? What depths will someone go to actually finish a fight with no rules or regulations? That answer on this night was a makeshift Boston crab complete with repeated stomps to the back of Murdoch’s bloodied skull before the ref says “maybe death isn’t the answer after all”. FUCKING A!

Post match DeManto comes in the ring on the mic and says both guys are the hardest workers in the business and basically endorses them as top dogs in NHB going forward. We see that he wasn’t joking with both guys locking up yet again on the upcoming NHB 100 show.

In yet another “it’s a sign of the times” spectacle, Killer Kross wrestles Tony Deppen. Talk about underrated dudes in the biz today, Tony might be right at the top of the list. Kross is as polarizing as I’ve ever recalled a wrestler being people either love his stuff or find him boring as hell. For me, it just depends what he’s doing and who it’s against but this is early on in his rise before even his move to NXT or WWE. He’s over though, and he’s local which I think helped him here also. Deppen makes this, from the jumping off the bar spot following a sick tope, even to taking a fucking wild Awesome Bomb from the ramp over the chains into the ring. Kross isn’t BAD but he’s very one note to me so he doesn’t interest me.

Necro Butcher is a piece of fucking shit, I’m not going to glorify the dude but I also am a firm believer in calling it for what it is though. The man is a deathmatch legend and perhaps that’s the biggest exact dichotomy that permeates the deathmatch world: much of it is built on complete scumbags. SHLAK isn’t a saint by any means either but he’s like the prototype for a deathmatch killer for those of us that remember Wifebeater in real time. I gotta give credit to Necro for the painfully long and awkward Freebird entrance and my GOD he looks rough. As if Necro got hit with some shrinking laser from Dr. Doofenshmirtz or something and yes, I’ll laugh at his misfortune. Larry Legend calls him “the godfather of deathmatch wrestling” and let us RELAX on that one but I get it, gotta promote the match brother!

Then Necro sort of hugs SHLAK down to the mat…its not good. Seeing two dudes that made their living off throwing dangerous shit at people and bleeding try to actually work is bizarre. SHLAK then changes gears by dropkicking Necro through the chains and now we get a fight. There’s a lot of shoving each other into posts and other equally uncoordinated noise but it works with them. They’re the anti-matter of professional wrestling. SHLAK finds a plastic bag and naturally, Necro is the one to suffocate him with it! I spot Mittens in what I can only describe as a trance that I imagine was induced by seeing these guys fumble the fuck around. Necro unloads that classic shot punch and SHLAK is happy to trade and they do, it’s fucking great! Then we get the sit at the bar punch exchange that Necro definitely was godfather of at least and it rules! If only this actually had been the death of Necro like it was structured, but here we are.

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Dan Maff and Mance Warner wasn’t going to follow what came before, that was a truly different kind of thing altogether but again, when you put yourself in the early days of 2020 it was a big one. Maff had come back trying to nuzzle back into the fold after revelations of his past had come to light but seeing him throw some potatoes against a young Mancer was worth a look to some people. Watching it in 2026, it’s more a time capsule glimpse into what Mance Warner was before the complete player I believe he is now. He was all toughness and no subtly, no worries about tomorrow because today is the only thing worth thinking about to try and garner a reputation and find yourself on the top of the industry. So in the White Eagle, he had a fight with a much older and weathered man and took a disgusting spear half into a door and the rest, mangled by the chains. All in all it was a fine enough match, but wasn’t ever going to top what had come before and would follow.

Low Ki vs Masashi Takeda is your first ever NHB main event and it isn’t a wonder why. Takeda was already considered a Japanese deathmatch legend, and everyone desperately wanted Ki to get his shit together long enough to get handed the flowers he deserved. This starts like a super basic match with a really aggressive lock up and you’re wondering, is this really happening? It’s so basic in fact that the fans kind of shit all over it when it becomes a shove into the chains fest for a bit with some chain wrestling to boot. The thing is though, Takeda kicks ass on the mat and is an actually good wrestler so eventually the fans buy into it. On a night built on blow and sinew, the fans actually buy a good grappling based pro wrestling match and that’s really cool to me. Does it last? Of course not, this is No Holds Barred motherfucker! It spills out to the crowd, Takeda eats a chair punched into his face and the stiffness rating goes up a notch.

Ki throws nasty kicks to stay in the game and then does this wild springboard into a reverse double stomp off the chains that I still don’t understand. Why does he have to be the biggest douche? Takeda hits a picture perfect German suplex and a PK kick sends Ki back into 2002 mentally but he doesn’t stay down. That resolve is neat, but then Takeda gets the comically large scissors out and no one is neat when those come out. The scissors end up kicked out of the ring and I’m shocked that the crowd didn’t shit all over it, but then again maybe they didn’t see it? Takeda finds the scissors again thank GOD and we get further teasing of them rather than the goods, until Ki does a capo kick and Takeda stabs himself then gets his hands tied behind him from Ki’s gi. Takeda spits even in this peril, and Ki snaps his fucking pec with a kick and then goes up to the board above the ring post and nails a GROSS double stomp to the back of Takeda and that’s fucking it! The crowd HATES this, and for pretty good reason in my view this was a much less than match than a lot that had already happened.

Gage walks out to go face to face with Ki and tells him he wants to go at it. COVID would change that up, and of course Ki being Ki didn’t help. That leaves Takeda and Gage in the ring. Gage says he loves the fans, they’re why he’s still doing this shit and if anyone wants to fight he’ll be in the parking lot! Jesus, Gage is so fantastic because he is what he is regardless. The fans clearly LOVE Takeda and start chanting for him over whatever the rant Gage is about and he finally has to laugh and address it. What a damn first edition and this is just the beginning of these kinds of rewinds because NHB has gotten into my system and it’s bad, folks.

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