JOSH BARNETT’S BLOODSPORT IX

March 30, 2023

“Speedball” Mike Bailey . . . is one of the last people most would expect to take to this style, and he looks like a natural.

Yuya Uemura . . . makes everyone question just how Tito got his nickname, because he doesn’t look like such a ‘Bad Dude.’

Timothy Thatcher . . . shows that cooperation is for wimps who can’t take boots to the face or get their joints twisted into unnatural positions.

JEFF COBB vs. CALDER McCOLL

McColl’s amateur stylings were fun to watch, even if they didn’t really lead to anything. Then again, up until the finish, it never really felt like they were trying to lead up to something. Cobb’s vertical suplex looked positively nasty, but McColl was back on his feet seconds later. It was fun to see McColl take Cobb to the mat and maintain control, but he never did anything to suggest that Cobb might be in real trouble. The finish comes off like a fluke, with McColl going for the kill with a flying Triangle choke and Cobb slamming him down for the KO.

ERIK HAMMER vs. CALVIN TANKMAN

The idea here seemed to be for both of them to get over by showing their stuff. Unfortunately, with so little time to work with, nothing either of them showed was very impressive. Calvin did have a couple of nice throws, and the suplex did seem to stun Erik for a second, so it got more respect than Jeff Cobb’s suplex did. But the ground and pound attempts toward the end looked pretty bad, and while Erik getting the win off a relatively simple hold like a double wristlock says a lot about how dangerous he is, it’s not the sort of hold that plays well.

MARINA SHAFIR vs. KILLER KELLY

Yes, somehow Marina Shafir had a better match than Jeff Cobb. Despite also being relatively short (a bit over five minutes), the women were able to tell a story. At first, it seems like it’s going to be a squash by Marina; between her judo and striking, she has Kelly at her mercy. But mercy isn’t what she has in mind, and it costs her when she wants to continue the fight on the floor. Kelly takes her down and Marina hits her head. Once the match is in the ring, Kelly takes advantage with a couple of German suplexes. But Kelly doesn’t press her advantage. Instead of continuing to use the throws and get the KO, or at least stun Marina enough for her to go for the kill, she tries to submit her. Not only is she unable to do that, but it gives Marina time to recover. Marina hits a big kick to the chest, complete with a great facial reaction from Kelly, and Marina doesn’t let the match get away from her a second time. She wraps Kelly up and quickly submits her.

KOTA IBUSHI vs. MIKE BAILEY

Aside from a couple of the obvious pro-style aspects to this, namely the stuff on the floor and Bailey’s moonsault knee drop, this wouldn’t look all that out of place in a UWF ring. Their matwork is surprisingly decent, considering neither of them is really known for it. Ibushi nearly countering Bailey’s Triangle into a Liontamer-style crab was easily the most mind-blowing thing on the card up to this point. It’s also nice to see that their pro-style stuff has appropriate consequences. Bailey does the moonsault knee drop to knock the wind out of Ibushi and secure the juji-gatame, and the fact that Ibushi still tries to block it shows how tough he is. Bailey trying to go to the floor to stop the German is a smart way to take advantage of the Bloodsport rules, and Ibushi deadlifting him back into the ring Albright-style for the suplex is even more impressive. And the finish is straight out of a U-Inter match, with Ibushi’s Regal-plex doing the lion’s share of the damage, even if it’s a running knee strike that officially ends the match.

YUYA UEMURA vs. BAD DUDE TITO

We see how both men are approaching the match in the first thirty seconds: Tito wants to use his size and bully Yuya, while Yuya just wants to fall back on his technical skills to win. And that works out just fine for a bit. Tito shows that he’s taking Yuya lightly with bits like the shove to the floor, the slaps, and the big suplex. Yuya shows that he’s clearly the better technical worker by keeping himself out of trouble the few times Tito tries to lock something in, easily wrapping him up with his own holds, and showing off his power by picking Tito up for a big throw.

Yuya thinks he’s made his point when he’s able to escape Tito pinning him down and land a slap of his own to the back. Tito gets angry and slaps him back, which gets Yuya fired up again and he really starts to unload. In quick succession he hits a belly-to-belly, a dropkick that sends Tito to the floor, and then dives onto him. Yuya gets him into the ring and hits a big German suplex. Then Tito counters a second one, rolls into an ankle lock and gets the submission. It literally comes out of nowhere, and not in a good way. If the idea is that Yuya’s inexperience finally caught up to him, or that Tito decided to forgo the bullying routine and take him seriously, they should have done more to show it before the finish. Most of the matches thus far (Hammer/Tankman being the exception) had gotten roughly the amount of time they needed to work with. But this is the first one that feels like it could have used a little bit more.

HARRY SMITH vs. J.R. KRATOS

This is pretty much a waste of ten minutes. Outside of a few nice touches from Harry, like his counter to Kratos’ double wristlock and the suplex countered into the crossface that finally ends this, there’s pretty much nothing to see here. It’s bad enough that their mat segments go nowhere, but they also spend far too long on the mat to get there. Harry tries for a piledriver or powerbomb, and Kratos lowers his base to block it and to force Harry to try something else. A minute later Harry hits the powerbomb and seems to really hurt Kratos. Kratos gets up and hits a jumping knee, Harry hits a forearm, and then Kratos hits a jumping kick before they both slump back down. Then they get up and do a full-on strike exchange. I’d expect that from the likes of Kenny Omega and Will Ospreay; these two should know better. There’s no reason they needed this much time when they clearly couldn’t make good use of it.

JOHNNY BLOODSPORT vs. ROYCE ISAACS

The fact that this is so watchable makes the Harry/Kratos match seem even more baffling. There’s no way the former Johnny Nitro should be a good fit for this sort of match, but he sure looks like it. He adds some smart little touches like clearly having his hands up to block Royce’s knee strikes, rather than no-selling. Both men are good about giving the other openings and taking them when they appear, so the escapes and counters they use for the various submissions all look natural. The Texas Cloverleaf escape is as close as they get to doing something obviously cooperative, and even that looks pretty good. With Johnny’s flexibility, it’s feasible that he’d be able to twist himself out of the hold like that. Johnny’s kicks have always been a big part of his offense, and on the few occasions when he’s able to connect with them, Royce puts them over in an appropriate manner.

The only real questionable things here are the way the bigger spots are treated. Royce hits two rolling Germans, and Johnny blocks the third, hits a knee, and then goes to ground-and-pound. Royce hits a wicked piledriver and goes to a Dragon sleeper, only for Johnny to roll out of it, get to his feet, and hit a spinning neck breaker into a front headlock for the submission. One would think Johnny getting dumped on his head like that would have a longer-lasting effect. But, as disappointing as those bits were, they don’t completely tear down what these two manage to build up.

JON MOXLEY vs. ALEX COUGHLIN

Josh Barnett may be the namesake of these cards, but from the way he carries himself, Moxley looks like the undisputed top guy. The way the match plays out is more or less a clinic in that regard. Moxley challenges Coughlin to be aggressive and then has no problem sucking up his strikes, escaping his attempts to work the mat and getting him in a kata-gatame and then a Triangle choke. But Moxley decides to get cute after Coughlin’s attempt to slam him down to escape the Triangle doesn’t work. Moxley pushes him to the floor and then does the Triangle again while Coughlin is standing on the floor, giving himself a higher base. However, he underestimates Coughlin’s strength, and on the second try Coughlin slams him down to escape, doing it on the apron, which is even more dangerous than the one he tried earlier.

Coughlin smartly takes advantage of the opening, hitting a couple more throws and trying to use Moxley’s stunned state to submit him. Moxley manages to fight back just enough to get out of them, even if he has to bend the rules a bit and pull hair. The double KO spot they work is much smarter than Harry/Kratos because it makes sense why each would be down: Moxley from getting slammed to the mat again, and Coughlin from the pressure of Moxley’s choke. That makes moments like Coughlin shrugging off a Death Rider and the hockey-fight exchange stand out even more; neither feels as grounded in the match's internal logic. Moxley essentially dares Coughlin to step up and beat him. He gives Coughlin opportunities to be aggressive and fight his way back into the match, but every time Coughlin manages to make something happen, Moxley has to absorb the damage, recover and escape from whatever hold Coughlin puts him in before he can shut him down. Coughlin’s only chance to win runs through his ability to slam and throw Moxley, and once Moxley is able to keep him grounded, he never has another chance.

Even when Moxley’s win seems like a foregone conclusion, they tease that Coughlin still has some fight left. After Moxley gets the bulldog choke, Coughlin starts to power his way to his feet and apparently has Moxley in position for a Burning Hammer. But his body gives out on him first, and Moxley finally puts him out. And losing the way he did puts over Coughlin as much as possible: if he can put up this kind of fight against Moxley on short notice, then what’s it say about what happens when he has proper notice against almost anybody else?

JOSH BARNETT vs. TIMOTHY THATCHER

If one is a fan of matwork, then this is something they won’t want to miss. However, Barnett and Thatcher’s idea of ‘matwork’ isn’t the same as most other people. It’s not flashy or elaborate. Those quick and fluid motions that look virtually effortless, just toss all of that out the window. One of them will grab a hold and the other will flail, kick, slap or do whatever they need to get some distance, or they’ll grab on to the first limb or body part they can and start wrenching to either escape or turn it into something of their own. There’s nothing that even vaguely hints at cooperation. Thatcher countering the STF to the Fujiwara armbar isn’t because Barnett is ‘feeding’ him his arm, and the same when Barnett uses the ankle lock to escape the kimura.

They even work the same sort of strike exchange as Smith and Kratos and make it work by selling the effects of each strike they take, and there’s a nice touch with how the strikes allow Thatcher to hit a backdrop suplex; Thatcher’s initial attempt fails because Barnett is too big and is able to block it, but after a series of kicks and European uppercuts, Thatcher has the big man stunned enough to take him over.

The adage that everyone has a game plan until they get hit in the face seems especially applicable in this match. One never gets the idea that either Thatcher or Barnett is thinking two or three moves ahead. They do what they need to do in that very moment to either keep the advantage or to try to get it. The one exception is the legbar that Thatcher used to make Barnett tap, but it fits in perfectly with how they’d been working. Thatcher originally wanted the Fujiwara and Barnett started rolling out of it. Thatcher saw the opening and got hold of the leg while Barnett wasn’t in position to do anything. Some might take issue with the idea that Thatcher's opening that leads to his win comes from taking a powerbomb, but it follows naturally from what happened earlier. Barnett had already used a backdrop and an Exploder. By that point, Thatcher had already shown he could absorb that sort of punishment, so it's believable that he'd be willing to take one more bump like that if it gave him an opportunity to capitalize on the opening afterwards. This is yet another example of why Thatcher would have been such a natural fit for the old shootstyle promotions, and Barnett proved to be the ideal opponent for him in a setting like Bloodsport.

Conclusion: These Bloodsport shows are always a lot of fun, and this was no exception. There were a couple of rough spots, but there’s more than enough good stuff here to warrant checking it out.