I’ll fully admit i’m a bit behind on “wrestling in the big ‘26” for the most part (outside of the Retinal Wrestling show I saw live two months ago, shoutouts to them) so I wanted to remedy this by trying to play catch up and watch a lot of the stuff I'm interested in at the moment. I also wanted to try and write about it partially as a means to try and hold myself better accountable, or whatever. Obviously I'm gonna start this by watching the ACTION/Segunda Caida-produced Death Valley Days from back all the way in February. This was definitely one of the indy shows that i’ve anticipated since I saw it was announced and, honestly, if there’s one thing that I can put over in general about it is that this show was a breath of fresh air in terms of match times. There definitely have been times over the past few years where I'll watch an indy show, even from companies that I enjoy, and think that maybe a match or more would’ve been better if 5-10 minutes were shaved off. However, nothing on this card felt like it dragged on longer than it should’ve, and there was a good amount of variety to it. That’s a good deal. I like it.
Darian Bengston vs. Ryan Mooney - ACTION Championship Match
Darian Bengston is naturally great and I hadn’t actually seen much of Ryan Mooney since the late 2019 ROH days (shoutout his team with Eli Isom and Cheeseburger, Shinobi Shadow Squad) so this was a fun re-introduction to him. There’s a real fun clash in styles between Bengston’s grandiose, flashy presentation in his maneuvers versus the more grounded, possibly rabid way Mooney works. Bengston obviously shows off when he can with his holds, attempting the Makabe Lock on more than one occasion for example but Mooney manages to break out of them by literally scratching and biting his way out, something I honestly don’t see too much of. Mooney’s offense is definitely not anything to scoff at though, with good strikes and a very nice looking diving uppercut, he pulls some rather smart stuff too like him countering a Cattle Mutilation into a pin attempt and using a nicely applied Calf Slicer later on. I also liked that the finish was basically a conclusion to the idea of the rules of three, with Bengston trying to apply the Makabe Lock and Mooney trying to bite out of it again until Darian makes him bite his own arm to then lock in another Cattle Mutilation for the win. Really fun match, love Darian as ACTION Champion.
Oldman Youngboy vs. Angus Legstrong
This was a match featuring two wrestlers that I had never heard of until it was announced back in February. Well, okay, technically I had heard of Angus but not as a wrestler, mostly just a funny guy that I followed on Twitter. Hope that still counts, I guess? Anyways, this match completely sold me on both guys, it genuinely might be one of my favorite sub-5 minute bouts second to maybe Marvin vs. KENTA from NOAH. Angus’ and OMYB’s presentation in their entrances are simple yet unique, they don’t really need to do anything flashy do they? It begins out the gate with some awesome looking grappling, both men trying to fight each other for an advantage on holds while on the ground and their feet. Loved the moment during this stretch where Angus gets his legs tied up by OMYB, trying to go under and grab one of Youngboy’s legs which leads to him getting a ropebreak. There’s a test of strength attempt that becomes a great looking takedown into a Single Leg Crab attempt from Youngboy, but Angus grabs the ropes. The paintbrushing from Angus while they’re on the ground looked pretty funny, but god I loved that suplex which rolled into a pinfall attempt by Youngboy. Youngboy later hits a beautiful looking butterfly takedown attempt after getting Irish Whipped into the ropes that only gets a two count of all things! It all comes to an end with an awesome looking gutwrench powerbomb that ends up letting Angus roll over into a successful pin. What a match.
I won’t sit here and pretend that I know everything about pro wrestling, although I've been watching for a while but obviously I'm still learning everyday and whatnot. However, every time I’ve watched this match back (and will continue to do so) I feel myself getting a little bit smarter each time. Like my brain is kinda expanding. If I were a wrestler myself, I'd probably use this for tape study. I know it’s high praise, but you should go out of your way to watch this. Watch it on IWTV, if it goes on YouTube or whatever site you may prefer then go there, but you will NOT be disappointed.
Isaiah Broner vs. “Big” Jake Shepherd
There’s definitely a funny contrast in going from the technical brilliance of the previous match, to something which is 100% the opposite in terms of style but it’s also a positive contrast. To put it simply: Broner and Shepherd are two huge motherfuckers and they hit each other with literally everything they’ve got from beginning to end. Much like the previous match, this was also my first time watching a Big Jake Shepherd match and goddamn he’s fun. Total monster, I love him. Both men hit nasty looking strikes, with Broner getting the upper hand in the moment with a forearm strike that probably could’ve knocked anybody else out. It devolves into a brawl on the outside with Broner trying to get him up for what is speculated as a Death Valley Driver but Big Jake gets out of it for not only a suplex but a GROSS looking splash on the outside. Jake’s jawjacking to the camera is crazy, something that you’d see out of some early 90s WCW era-monster like Vader. Jake controls the match a little, with Broner still trying to get him up in a Fireman’s Carry until he grabs Shepherd from the turnbuckle and delivers a MASSIVE looking F5 for the win. Awesome Super Heavyweight action from both guys, literally just fucking coming at each other like two monsters. Broner is somebody I've thought was awesome for a long while but Big Jake is somebody who I'm gonna have to go out of my way to watch more of.
Kasey Owens vs. Adrian Alanis
Everybody loves when two bad guys fight, right? The main crux of the match is entirely based on the fact that both Alanis and Owens are dirty heels and nobody in the building likes them to begin with. Hell, they don’t even like each other! So, of course, they’re gonna try and use every trick in the book to out-shitheel the other man even before the match begins, with stuff like Kasey forcing the ref to check Alanis for weapons meanwhile hiding a pair of brass knuckles in one of the turnbuckles while they’re not looking. The idea starts subtle enough during the match with a lotta hair and tights grabbing, Kasey threatens to punch Alanis in the face when he’s sent into the corner before being pulled off… They try to work clean (mostly due to the ref yelling at them) and there’s some really fun stuff in this stretch. I was a big fan of Kasey reversing a headlock into a Kimura by simply just wrapping his legs around Alanis and rolling him over. Eventually, it just devolves into both men trying to very openly cheat. Kasey heads to the outside to throw chairs and even a crutch into the ring, which the ref tries to throw out until Alanis throws them back in. Alanis gets caught though, him and the ref are yelling at each other over it. Both men try to hit each other with weapons, but the ref takes them, so they try and both do the Eddie Guerrero fakeout spot and only come back to life when the match is threatened to be thrown out. Loved the fact that the brass knuckles came back into play for the finish after Alanis got thrown headfirst into them. Great heel vs heel match, doesn’t feel like it overstays it’s welcome and both wrestlers looked good.
Slim J vs. Tim Bosby
A really fun one here. Bosby is somebody I've been watching here and there for the last year or two and I've been a big Slim J fan since the first DEAN~!! show so it’s always fun to see him here. J was well over with the Chattanooga crowd and definitely looked great as always but Bosby had a definite size advantage over him. There’s a few times where J gets thrown around by Tim and all those moments look gnarly, especially a great moment when Tim managed to pick Slim J up from an armbar to give a big corner turnbuckle Powerbomb and then a belly-to-belly toss which J sells like death. It should also be stated that Dylan Hales plays a good role in this match too, having a moment early on when he gets into Slim J’s face on the outside allowing Bosby to attack J from behind. He’s a fun heel manager that doesn’t feel like a distraction to what’s going on. J’s selling in general is awesome because he makes Bosby look like a real beast with his offense but he does have a lot of great fiery babyface moments on his own. There’s a stretch near the end of the match where he not only counters a Powerbomb attempt into a Hurricanrana but he also hits a beautiful looking Wheelbarrow Flatliner and a Crossbody that only gets him a two count shockingly enough.The peak of the match was absolutely awesome, with Slim J no-selling a German Suplex and ripping his shirt off to lay in some strikes and an Enzuigiri, punching Hales off the apron and hitting a Dragon Cutter for the win. Definitely the longest match on the card but it doesn’t feel like a drag, everybody plays their roles well. I would love to see these two go at it again someday.
Toby Klein vs. Nathan Mowery - Coven of The Goat Rules Match
In a similar way that Broner vs. Shepherd was a tonal shift from Angus vs. Oldman Youngboy, this match was definitely a tonal shift to everything on this that I watched so far. Once again, in a completely positive way. It starts heavy with Klein interrupting Mowery’s entrance by slinging a VCR directly at his head and doesn’t falter for a second. There’s a lot of brawling at ringside for roughly about the first half with Klein choking Nathan out with the tape from the VCR. Mowery gets thrown into the chairs and stabbed with a fork a lot, but ends up turning it while Klein’s distracted by The Rev and uses some antlers he came out with to stab Toby right in the forehead with them. As they make their way to the ring there’s a lot more stabbing and even biting from both dudes, with Toby setting up a door on top of some chairs for a potential spot. Nathan starts throwing some good looking punches which ends up sending Toby off his feet, long enough for a handsaw to come into the equation which Nathan GLEEFULLY uses to cut Klein’s head open with. Dragging him to both ends of the ring, he actually yells out “WATCH HIM BLEED. WATCH HIM SUFFER” to the audience which was an amazing shot. Nathan tries to bring in a bundle of light tubes wrapped in barbed wire but Klein ducks the shot and kicks the bundle into Nathan’s stomach. While they definitely planned on a big spot with the door, Toby ends up accidentally going through it when he’s laid upon the structure… but Nathan makes good use of the situation by lighting his elbow on fire and hitting an elbow drop with it for the win. That was awesome. Overall awesome match. Nathan is somebody who I plan to familiarize myself with more but he was great, and I've been a big fan of the career revival “Mr. Insanity” has had in recent months.
Jamesen Shook vs. Tank - TWE Championship Match
This is an interesting one. Especially considering the finish. It isn’t a real movez heavy match, but I liked both guys working the other’s arm until Tank got himself to the ropes for a break. They try a Test of Strength until Tank kicks Shook in the balls with subsequent jabs and a wind up eye poke from Tank, which looked particularly hilarious. Tank tries to bite Jamesen in the forehead while on the ropes, but Shook takes over with some nicely executed blows including a ten count segment that gets interrupted before the last punch by Tank grabbing out of it. Shook tries to headbutt Tank but it clearly doesn’t work, leading to Tank headbutting him a few times in return. I was a big fan of Shook’s selling in this, much like Slim J’s, there’s a moment after a headbutt in particular where Shook stands on wobbly legs and moves to the corner that looked awesome. Then came Tank feigning a knee injury, which I'll admit in my initial watchthrough absolutely had me for a moment. Tank does an awesome job in selling it and the moment where he shows it was a ruse by running and hitting Shook with a lariat had me on the edge of my seat. Then Shook rolled up Tank and y’know what? I honestly really liked this. Tank showed that he was willing to try and do anything at all in order to win, but Shook was able to out-maneuver the veteran in order to keep his title. Awesome match, props to both guys.
Karl-Greco Malenko vs. Matt Mako - BattlARTS Rules Match
Holy shit, man. I wanna start this by saying that Karl looks absolutely fucking amazing here for somebody at his age, and while I had only seen a small amount of stuff from him during his BattlARTS days he definitely looked like he had not missed a step here. The match starts with a Muay Thai clinch, both guys trying to knee each other in the chest until Malenko brings it to the ropes and executes a great looking headlock takeover into a full on headlock, which Mako has to use one of his rope breaks for. There’s attempts at strike-and-kick exchanges until Mako tries to grab the waist of Karl from behind but Karl does a good looking inside trip to try and get an armbar. Mako tries to take control of the back of Malenko while on the ground but Malenko rolls over for a second to try and get a Kimura but Mako rolls back over to adjust into a Twister lock, a hold I don’t think I've seen before, which looked absolutely gnarly. They try to work over a leglock on each other with some slaps to the head while on the ground, building to Malenko and Mako incidentally rolling into the ropes. In a humorous turn of events, Malenko is the one to end up on Mako’s back and wraps his legs around it while stretching his arms out until Mako manages to get up and force Karl to go for a kneebar. Matt does manage to turn over and get some shots in, as you do. Mako ends up pulling out a particularly nasty looking hold when he not only gets Malenko into an armbar but actually grabs one of his legs as well to pull it upwards leading to another ropebreak. Mako tried to punch Malenko in the head some more while on the back, but Malenko had an answer for it by turning it around into an extended rear leglock and it actually made Mako tap out! What a match.
I’ll fully admit that this is the first time I've written about shootstyle, it’s one of my weak spots admittedly in terms of my wrestling watching so I hope I did a good job here but this was awesome. Loved the youth vs. veteran story being told, along with the particularly nasty looking holds. God bless BattlARTS Rules.
Mad Dog Connelly vs. SLADE
Connelly and SLADE are two lunatics who can produce great stuff on their own and what they produce here together, especially in such a short amount of time, is nothing short of awesome. It starts off with heavy forearm exchanges before it morphs into a wild brawl on the outside, with Mad Dog grabbing SLADE's eyes and even biting his head which looked nasty. This whole section on the outside is nasty, they’re both good at making it look like not some technically proficient wrestling match but some kind of ugly looking fight. A total car crash that you can’t seem to look away from. ESPECIALLY when they start just demolishing each other with headbutts, there’s a beautiful looking shot of Mad Dog repeatedly bashing his head into SLADE’s under the SPO memorial banner (RIP) and busting open both SLADE and his own forehead. Both guys take each other out with lariats, and slowly get to their feet to stare down before SLADE tries to chokeslam Connelly… which leads to him headbutting out of it to deliver an excellent Gutwrench Suplex that SLADE completely no-sells like a goddamn beast and chokeslams Mad Dog anyways. It wraps back around to the beginning where they start exchanging forearms again until Mad Dog tries to go for a Hangman’s choke that gets stopped by SLADE forcefully biting out of it. He gets pushed off after, and, of course a man as crazy as Mad Dog Connelly has no other choice than to grab the chain he came out with, slug SLADE right in the head with it AND choke him out with it for the win.
What a match. It’s a real adrenaline rush from start to finish, so much violence packed into maybe about five-or-six minutes. Two guys throwing everything they can to kill the other man, to me it’s one of those matches that is a personification of “dudes rock.” Mad Dog and SLADE are two of my favorite guys on the American Indies right now, both men bring an equally unique level of violence and intensity to what they do that isn’t seen by a lot of wrestlers out there. It’s awesome.
