Daniel Makabe/Kaden Talbain vs. "Big Cat" Scott Henson/Sarian Soft Paws [6/14/24]

 

Today is the first time since I started writing this blog 3+ months ago that I haven't managed to account for whatever else I had going on in my life and release a new entry on schedule. I planned on doing so but when push came to shove and I sat down during the time I had allotted myself to write about this week's match, I just couldn't bring myself to do it. In the past 14 weeks, I've had times where I was so excited to write about that week's particular match that I published the entry ahead of time or others where the responsibilities of my everyday life have made it where I literally wrote the entry at the very last possible moment on a Holiday Monday, after having woken up at the crack of dawn and driven home from Seattle in order to do so. Regardless of whatever obligation I have to others or myself to maintain a regular release schedule for this project, today was a day that I just couldn't bear to sit down, watch a match whilst taking detailed notes about it and then in turn, find some sort of greater meaning or evidence of growth within the work presented before me.

As I write this, it is the evening of Sunday June 15th, 2025 and exactly one year ago, my friend of 23 years "Big Cat" Scott Henson tragically passed away, less than 12 hours after he was a part of my final wrestling match in Washington state as part of my retirement tour, otherwise known as "2024: The Year Daniel Makabe Broke." Today was the first time since all of that happened that I finally took the time to watch the match itself, albeit while walking on a slight incline at a reasonable speed of 2.5mph on a treadmill at my local Planet Fitness location. Thankfully there was nobody else situated within that close of a proximity of myself on any other nearby cardio machines as they would have seen me crying as the video file began as Scott, alongside his tag partner (and my friend of 20+ years) Sarian Soft Paws made their entrance together one final time in front of a vocally supportive crowd at Edison Squared in South Tacoma, WA.

 The match itself was pretty good, although definitely not our best as time and age had definitely caught up with most of us and it was pretty clear that none of us were still in our athletic peaks; with the one exception of course being Kaden who remains youthful as ever and could still perform at a very high level to this day if he so wished to do so. The crowd was decidedly worn out, likely by what they had already seen on the show to that point and really had to push themselves to stay on board, feigning enthusiasm as best they could during some of the bigger moments in the match. While there was a lot of familiar faces and fans of mine from over the years who made the trek to Tacoma that evening to bid me adieu, I don't feel like I ever really had that strong of a connection with the new fanbase that SOS had cultivated over the years of running this new venue in a new market, having only ever performed there 3 times prior over the course of 2 years. This was after all 40 miles south of where the lion's share (tiger's share?) of our extensive history with one another took place within the confines of the much lauded Battle Palace in Seattle, WA; a building that you've probably already grown sick of reading about within the pages of this blog by now but one that I will continue to speak fondly of over the course of the 90+ additional entries I still have to write here over the next few years.

I don't want to get too ahead of myself but once I've come to the conclusion of writing this series of blogs about every single match that I had within 3-2-1 Battle, I do hope to continue using this forum as a way of further expressing myself and revisiting important moments in my wrestling life. The thought has crossed my mind of tackling the aforementioned retirement tour that took place between January and July of 2024, which of course would include this match. For those reasons, I'm not going to break this down any further at this current juncture, other than to say that I'm glad that I finally watched it and more so, I'm glad that it didn't colour my memories of that evening in a negative way any further. While we may have not been at the top of our respective games, we were still out there doing what we loved best - performing alongside one another and doing so to the best of our abilities. It was a nice epilogue to a pretty significant period in my life that started literally decades beforehand, included our first foray into Seattle Wrestling alongside one another, in addition to countless other moments, including those that were captured and suitably archived for all to see, as well as those that may have occurred amongst ourselves when the cameras weren't turned on.

I'm thankful for each and every single moment and memory that we shared with one another and for having him in my life for 23 years. Even when he annoyed me or we mutually decided it was easier to ignore one another rather than discussing and dealing with whatever issues we may have had that lead to the period over the last few years where our relationship was limited to interactions backstage of wrestling shows that we were both booked on. I like to think that I never lost sight of how important and influential of a figure he was in my lifetime and in helping to shape me into the person that I've become. He has left a legacy and giant gap in countless individual's hearts, literally the world over and I will forever lead the charge of those who considered him a friend and important part of their lives, to ensure he will never be forgotten or taken for granted.

Watch:
Daniel Makabe/Kaden Talbain vs. "Big Cat" Scott Henson/Sarian Soft Paws [6/14/24]

The Complete and Accurate Daniel Makabe in 3-2-1 Battle! (Part 13) - Daniel Makabe vs Mr. Fitness [11/13/15]

I'm back again this week with Part 13 of the blog which coincidentally enough is discussing a match that took place on a show titled "Friday The XIIIth" and was my first encounter with a longtime 3-2-1 stalwart in Mr. Fitness. As I've previously discussed numerous times, while there was some initial hesitance to work with some of the roster due to their inexperience, Fitness was someone whom had always been incredibly nice and welcoming to us since we met him on that first show that we took part in way back in Feb 2014 and was regarded as one of the more talented members of the roster. It's not totally clear to me with nearly 10 years of hindsight and memory loss but I believe this was either a title eliminator for 3-2-1's Pacific Middleweight Title or a match for the belt itself outright as it was technically held by "Romantic" Romeo Ramirez whom was nursing a knee injury; more on him and the situation at large later though.

One of my favourite things about these earlier matches from 3-2-1 was the guerrilla nature in which they are filmed and presented. 3-2-1 was still figuring out how they were capturing these shows for their own future posterity but in the mean time, all of the matches involving any of our contingent from British Columbia was assuredly being filmed by one of us using "Big Cat" Scott Henson's camcorder; in hindsight, I'm so very thankful that he was as much of a completist and archivist as he was. With that being said, the video for this match picks up with the man himself filming over my shoulder in the makeshift locker room, which received a couple of major facelifts over the course of the 5+ years we ran shows in Evolv Fitness, as "Teenage Kicks" can be faintly heard in the distance and he let me know "I'm backstage with you Dan." As mentioned last time, the lighting has gotten an upgrade in the last month or so which was a nice change from the bare bones fluorescence that illuminated the room previously although in this case, there's one bright red light that can be seen off in the distance that's blaring directly into the camera and reminds me of HAL 9000 from Stanley Kubrick's 1968 classic 2001: A Space Odyssey.

A little basic chain wrestling gets things going between the two of us with my headlock takedown being quickly countered by a headscissors that I was able to outright escape but not before showing off my athletic prowess with a handstand, which definitely makes me reminisce for the days when I was capable of doing a handstand but I digress. Engaging with one another once more, a few quick waist lock switches leads to Fitness utilizing his own version of a waist lock escape by lowering my arms down his body like he was taking off a pair of pants which received an appropriate response from the fans in a bit of a proto ZSJ-ism. 

We quickly move on from the brief encounters of wrist lock reversals and undoing grips like a belt around a waist to a mutual tease of our patented suplexes; my Armtrap German Suplex hold that by this point I had won numerous matches with as well as the Cobra Clutch Suplex which he referred to as the "Muscle Confusion" and was not a particularly widespread move at this point; save for it's usage in the 1990s in AJPW by Dan Kroffat (yay) or Johnny Ace (boo). This is a pretty typical storytelling device I've used over the years when putting together a match; a momentary vignette to establish some reoccurring themes that will be expanded upon further as the match progresses, acting as a thesis statement that caps off an introductory paragraph of an essay; it's basic but generally speaking, it works.

Fitness quickly takes control for a quick shine brought on by some wonky looking punches and dropkick after whipping me off the far ropes. While this sequence started off on a bit of a rocky note, he does follow up with really nice stalling Gut Wrench Suplex, grounding me immediately afterwards with a tight rear chin lock. It's at this point though where there was some clear Muscle Confusion... confusion. While Mr Fitness was clearly one of the better athletes in the locker room at the time with his muscular physique capped off with his "KAYFABE" tattoo that adorned his upper abdominals, he did not have the best memory and would sometimes find himself lost amidst a sea of jumbled up, similar pre determined sequences. 

Still early on in the matchup, his follow up attempts to hit his dangerous suplex variant that would drive me neck first into the mat and surely lead to victory or at the worst a very close call in the form of a nearfall were merely meant to be just that; attempts. However the combination of his poor memory and athletic prowess lead to him shooting me over with two consecutive suplexes, both of which looked messy and clearly unintentional or at a minimum, uncooperative on my behalf. We finally got back on the same page as not really knowing what to do to right the ship, I mostly no sold his previous efforts to the confusion of the fans and announcers alike before a third attempt of his was countered with me driving the both of us towards the ropes, sending him crashing through them and to the hard floor below.

Finally creating some distance and recovering enough of my wherewithal, for the last time that I can recall in my career, I quickly followed him out there by vaulting over the top rope to the adjacent second turnbuckle and hitting a Moonsault out to the floor into the arms of a prone Mr. Fitness. The only issue being I didn't get the kind of spring off of the ropes and turnbuckle that I needed to properly execute the move and found myself landing too low on his body with my head and shoulders driving into the thin layer of padding below, jamming my neck in the process. It's clear that I'm a little worse for wear upon landing and being laid out momentarily by the impact but was still able to continue without much issue due to adrenaline and still being relatively young with not nearly the amount of spots accounted for on my proverbial bump card at that point in my career.

My control segment begins earnestly enough with a nice Butterfly Suplex which was a regular part of my repertoire at this point in my career and is something that I should have held onto longer as it usually looked pretty clean and wasn't something many others were doing. Things progress with me clearly struggling to position him into a Lucha submission that I had recently seen Pentagon Jr of all people execute on a recent episode of the then new and noteworthy Lucha Underground TV show that everyone and their mother on the indies were clearly watching and borrowing from liberally.

Besides lacking some finesse and precision in my execution, the other thing that this segment of the match feels like it's lacking is something resembling connective tissue to help progress things in a more organic feeling manner. It's a control segment that exists simply because that's what you're supposed to do during this portion of the match with not nearly enough struggle from either of us, nor much in the way of selling or appealing to the crowd at large to attempt to help them in feeling more connected to what's transpiring in the ring itself. I would get better at this over time but in 2015, I was still going through the motions a tad; missing the music between the notes so to speak.

A brief comeback from Fitness is shut down with an Irish Whip ending in an Abdominal Stretch which is a hold that I've always loved and for a period of time attempted to use as a finisher back when I was predominantly working backyard shows, an environment that feels pretty counter intuitive to rudimentary, out of fashion submission finishers. I guess that has been a theme though out my entire career though; doing my best to present the kind of wrestling that appealed to me regardless of the likelihood of it landing successfully for the crowd at hand, whether it was a handful of my peers in a private gym or a couple hundred strangers patiently waiting to laugh at a drug peddling fast food clown in an underground venue in South Lake Union. 

On the subject of reoccurring themes from this match, the two of us struggled to find ourselves on the same page coming out of the Abdominal Stretch as my attempt at transitioning straight into a Side Death Roll along the lines of legendary Japanese performers Manami Toyota or Kenta Kobashi went array with Mr. Fitness faceplanting straight into the canvas. Doing my best to make proverbial chicken salad out of the situation, this resulted in way grosser and more vicious looking hold in the long run that I can't even describe all that well; something akin to a Reverse Viper Hold but with an added leg ride used to neutralize him even further.

The second act of the match finally concludes due more to my own downfall, rather than any offensive output of Mr. Fitness' doing. In quick succession, I'm able to bring him down to the mat with my typical top wrist lock with hopes of delivering a jumping stomp to the triceps (speaking of ZSJ-isms); however the manner in which he sold himself down to the mat looked so much more unnatural and uncomfortable than any kind of damage that I could have inflicted myself. My shorthand notes that I took while re-watching this match yesterday reads "Fitness feeds like Homer Simpson on the fire hydrant for the top wrist lock stomp" and if that doesn't immediately put a hyper specific visual into your brain, we likely had very different childhoods.

Continuing my seemingly never ending and somewhat redundant attack on one of his arms by snapping his fingers, I finally take another stab at neutralizing both of his for another attempt at my previously teased German Suplex varietal. Able to counter out to another Cobra Clutch attempt before I transition to another top wrist lock takedown that I escalated further with a Senton attempt in place of my usual stomp with Fitness able to move at the very last moment before I came crashing down onto his outstretched arm. While I do appreciate the bigger visual and requisite bump in order to set up his comeback courtesy of the missed Senton; there's definitely a logic gap present here as who in their right mind would want to land back first onto someone else's elbow that's pointed straight up in the air? 

We get into the third act and inevitable closing stretch of the match with a punch led Fitness comeback that leads to a nicely executed and well received series of back and forth false finishes. He starts things off with a really cleanly hit Fisherman's Suplex complete with bridge before another Muscle Confusion attempt is expertly countered by an arm drag with me sitting out in order to reposition myself for the Jim Breaks arm bar, the other way that I had been predominantly winning matches with at this point; including the big 4 Way Match that I was victorious in a mere 2 weeks prior in the same building. This time however with it not proving successful in submitting him, I transitioned the submission directly in to a pinfall attempt using my free right leg to guide his bodyweight off of his left hip and onto his shoulders for a 2 count which was a neat bit of detail that I appreciated viewing with 2025 eyes. 

Bringing Fitness into the near corner with one of the most effective equalizers and crowd engaging maneuvers in all of wrestling, that of course being the simple knife edge chop; my attempted Superplex was not meant to be as I was sent crashing down to the mat and left prone for a Top Rope Legdrop by him, resulting in a big kickout with the fans buying it as a likely finish at this point. Going to the well perhaps a tad too many times, another Muscle Confusion attempt is countered with me backing him up into the same corner he had just recently descended from albeit with some force, allowing me to escape. Newly freed, I whipped him to the far corner following in immediately afterwards with a big jumping forearm, transitioned directly to a German Suplex with a bridging pin for a 2 count in what proved to be the final nearfall of the match altogether. While I've always been good at coming up with unique counters and sequences to get in and out of an opponent's signature move, I was definitely guilty at times of trying to shoehorn too many (ie all of them) into a single match which can definitely lead to them feeling repetitive at times.

It's at this point that the aforementioned Romeo Ramirez interjects alongside his Butler as well as the newest member of his entourage in the form of a very large although at this point unnamed Bodyguard. It's times like these that I wish Scott was still around to help me remember the exact scenario with the Pacific Middleweight Title and what this match was for because it's not totally clear to me upon rewatch. Romeo is clearly clutching the title in one hand with his patented bouquet of roses in the other but he also has a large oversized knee brace on and is using a cane to get around. Him and his goon's interest in the match is clearly due to him not wanting to see a clear victor but if it was a match to decide the new champion, I feel like that would have been made clearer.

Speaking of Scott and the random off hand comments we would make while filming one another's matches, as this post match melee ensued he can clearly be heard stating that "Y'all guys were early. You blew the spot" which is not totally obvious by any means but did spark my memory of this being the case although I don't specifically remember what the proper cue for their interference was. It likely would have been another attempt at an Armtrap German Suplex by me or perhaps this was where Fitness was finally due to successfully hit his much discussed Muscle Confusion for one last nearfall but alas, it wasn't meant to be.

Finding myself once again on the receiving end of the bouquet of flowers upside my head, both Fitness and I were left laying as a result of this simultaneous beatdown with a brief promo from the Romantic one that followed. kinda sorta explaining the motives behind his actions. Upon their exit, Fitness and I find ourselves begrudgingly shaking hands with some clear unfinished business that would lead to another match in the near future although I don't recall if we knew the exact when and where of our inevitable rematch at this point. A rousing "Friendship!" chant echoed off the walls of the Battle Palace as we found ourselves exiting together after a rather unsatisfactory conclusion to this match and the show altogether, with this match serving as the Main Event for that particular evening's show.

Despite my hang ups with a lot of elements of this match, I do think it was a nice introduction to a series between Mr. Fitness and I. While we were technically at the top of the cards, both of us had some growing and learning to do over the coming years and thankfully for us, we were afforded such opportunities beginning with an immediate rematch in the coming months. These are the exact kind of matches that I really relish the chance to rewatch and discuss for this project as they offer both some real fond memories and nostalgia for this period in time while also showcasing moments that were obviously learned from. These are the best kind of matches at demonstrating my entire thesis for this project; the logical growth I experienced as a performer that came with working more regularly in front of different crowds with a variety of opponents over the course of many years. 

Watch:
Daniel Makabe vs Mr. Fitness [11/13/15]

The Complete and Accurate Daniel Makabe in 3-2-1 Battle! (Part 12) - Daniel Makabe vs Scott Henson vs Kaden Talbain vs Cole Crazy [10/30/15]

Without much in the way of fanfare or discourse, my next match in a 3-2-1 Battle! ring would go on to be one of my favourite ever in the 6+ years and 100+ matches that will be discussed over the course of the 2 years that I've earmarked to wax nostalgia and write lengthy blog entries about myself. It was one of those nights that was likely made more special and memorable by the other parties involved or the way it made the people around us feel (ie. 'good') or how regardless of how ambitious our ideas were at points, everything managed to go according to plan. An on paper cold, 4 way dance with the winning participant scoring themself the #1 contendership for the Pacific Middleweight Championship, then held by "Romantic" Romeo Ramirez to be contested in the near future; but it almost didn't happen at all.

Friday October 30th was not particularly dissimilar to any other Friday during that time of year when it came to traffic, weather or people's temperament here in Greater Vancouver. The regular crew of myself, Big Cat, Kaden and Drew (Sarian) packed in Scott's car after fulfilling our work commitments for the day and headed south for the Peace Arch border crossing connecting Surrey, BC and Blaine, WA. Perhaps due to bad luck or coincidence or perhaps more likely due to our previously detailed issues with crossing the border (as outlined in a previous entry you've assuredly read by this point), but the four of us found ourselves with an already lengthy wait at the border extended even further by an extensive search of the vehicle and our persons. While we were eventually let go with no further hassle or fanfare, it left us in a bit of a pickle as doors had already opened for the show and we still had a good 100+ miles to traverse before our arrival at the Battle Palace.

As a result, for the first and as far as I can recall only time in my career, we decided the only conceivable way that we could have the kind of match that the fans as well as ourselves had come to expect was to put the match together in full on the car ride down with one of us jotting down bullet points with a pen and paper in the backseat. Putting together a match with your opponents during a car ride to the venue isn't all that uncommon but a multi person matchup such as a 4 way involves so many moving parts that typically it's more ideal to physically do it in a ring where you can block out where certain parties need to be during exact moments, etc. The other elephant in the room was the 4th participant in the match was Cole Crazy whom was already at the venue, patiently awaiting our arrival and thus was not present for this match to be put together. This is where the pen and paper came into play as we essentially formulated the match like a 'Mad Lib', coming up with all the various ebbs and flows, but leaving some moments open for him to be able to specifically interject whatever signature moves of his that he felt fit best or was hoping to get over on that particular evening. I can recall one of us getting on the phone and specifically relaying this message to the people in the building that evening - we needed to be pushed back further on the card than scheduled and to let Cole know that we were planning the entire match en route.

On the subject of planning, the first big set piece that really set things off on the right foot as far as this match went and helped it fit the whole 'weird wrestling' motif that 3-2-1 was continuing to build within the city of Seattle (for better or worse) was the idea of all of us wearing the same gear. Being the day before Halloween, the show was one of 3-2-1 Battle's tentpole shows "Horror Business" with fans and wrestlers alike encouraged to dress up in their best spooky digs. I couldn't tell you whose idea it was initially but amongst the 3 of us (Scott, Kaden & myself) we came up with the plan of all wearing the matching Pink "CM Punk" inspired tights that we had collectively purchased 2 years prior from eLucha for a backyard show, that I had taken upon myself to wear with some regularity for the previous few months; By the way, I just checked - it's been a decade+ and they're still selling a handful of very similar designs for any budding indie or backyard wrestlers. In addition to the ones that we owned, we borrowed a few extra pairs from Drew and Yakuza J for both Cole as well as the referee Jimmy Jameson to wear; bringing a pair of Scott's tearaway pants for him to don overtop in order to have the big reveal right before the match began.

While we tried to convince him to ref the match in just the tights themselves, he was a tad too bashful to agree to that with all of us coming to the compromise of him wearing them over his standard black referee pants instead, which in hindsight may be an even funnier visual. Nonetheless, all of the pre-match ceremony of the other 3 participants (and the referee) dressing as "Daniel Makabe" for Halloween, with me selling my displeasure for the whole situation got over big with what was potentially the largest crowd ever in that building up until that point, leading to a "This Is Awesome" chant before the match had even begun which was likely another first (and last?) for my tenure in 3-2-1.

"Which one's Daniel Makabe?!"
"Everybody!!" *clap clap, clap clap clap*

Things finally get under way with the then still cohesive unit of Fur & Loathing (Henson/Talbain) chilling out in opposite corners allowing Cole and I to briefly chain and get things going. Briefly teasing that they were apt to mirror our opening stanza, they instead showed their true colors (stripes?) by attacking us and getting things going with them playing the numbers game. It doesn't last long before I'm afforded the chance early on to shine big as some misdirection leads to the two furries colliding midair with a double clothesline with me quickly pouncing on them with multiple simultaneous submissions: a forced Triangle Choke with the Big Cat's hind legs wrapping around his own partners neck and arm as well as a complimentary Abdominal Stretch on Cole Crazy. This in itself would help set the stage for what was to come in the closing stages of the match as well as helping to establish my submission prowess in general.

In what had to have been Kaden's idea because it's entirely too absurd, the next set piece began with the two of us attempting to exchange headlocks with neither garnering any success due in part to being distracted by our tights not fitting the way that we were used to. "These Are Too Big!" proclaimed Talbain with me acknowledging in return that "Mine are Too Tight!" before the two of us came to the 'logical conclusion' that the two pairs had likely been mixed up due to "Laundry Day in Canada!!" before partially disrobing in order to switch them with one another accordingly. With both parties now satisfied in their individual sets of pink starry tights, we rejoiced before mutually flipping one another the bird to express our displeasure with one another in a manner that we absolutely lifted from a Mr. Show sketch from years' prior known as "Spite Marriage" that we would constantly reference privately before immediately going into one of our patented intense and prolonged sequences of shoulder tackles, leap frogs, hip tosses and armdrags with Talbain narrowly avoiding a 3rd one in order to bail out of the ring and catch his breath.

Things pick up big time at this point with Cole Crazy briefly showing off his striking acumen on Scott leading to the Big Cat tucking his tail between his legs to join his partner on the floor. An attempted dive by Cole is broken up by Talbain leaving him prone on all fours for me to come charging out of nowhere and hit a huge Tope Con Hilo onto Fur & Loathing landing right in front of the now raucous crowd. My brief moment of glory would be fleeting as I attempted to follow up with my patented tandem diving dropkick onto the Furries who were seated next to one another in two folding chairs, akin to the biggest and best one that I had hit during our Seattle Streetfight at that year's "Battlemania," 6 months prior.

However this time it was not meant to be as a now recovered Cole stopped me dead in my tracks by holding onto my ankle whilst I was setting up for the big leap, providing the previously prone pair enough time to recover and hit successive Death Valley Drivers on me - the first of which being executed by Henson on to the apron of the ring, with me feeding directly into the second one performed by Talbain whilst on the floor through the two open folding chairs the duo had previously been sitting on. Thankfully for me this sequence was designed to take me out of the match for the next few moments as it was one of the more painful moments that I can recall during a career containing a lot of painful moments.

A particularly smug look on my face immediately after successfully hitting a wild Tope Con Hilo on Fur & Loathing. Blissfully unaware of the immeasurable amount of pain I was about to be in following two Death Valley Drivers on to increasingly hard surfaces.

At this point in the match we included a logical control segment for the Furries to serve multiple purposes: slowing the match down a bit while giving me some time to rest, establishing them as a dominant tandem with the ability to dictate the progression of the match using their numbers if they chose to do so while also garnering some sympathy for the plucky underdog babyface Cole Crazy who found himself on the receiving end of numerous cleanly executed double team maneuvers. However with each successive bit of tandem offense came the seams holding together the Furries slowly starting to unravel further with each taking turns attempting a pinfall with the other gesturing and emoting their displeasure for the other's actions. This was after all a 4 way match for the #1 contendership of a singles title and not a standard tag match where they were free to dominate and win as a tandem. This all lead to the inevitable moments where both parties had seen enough and proceeded to bark and hiss at one another before lambasting each other with increasingly firm forearms as 3-2-1's color commentator Murray Grande screamed with glee that "They're fighting like Cats & Dogs! They're fighting like Cats & Dogs!"

By now the Furries had come fully unglued, all the while executing a series of moves on another to render all remaining parties in the match stunned and prone including a still lifeless Cole Crazy whom was conveniently laying in the near corner. This allowed me to scale the top rope and hit a perfectly timed Double Dropkick with me landing with a Senton onto Cole in a sequence that I executed a handful of times over my career, having lifted it directly from SoCal Indie Wrestling Legend, Super Dragon. From here on out it was absolute mayhem with multiple cascading sequences of maneuvers hit perfectly on one another with entirely too much action to call. Sometimes when you find yourself planning these kind of matches, you'll arrange sequences like these that will inevitably cross the line into excess or even more likely find a member of the match being off with their timing or execution; with either scenario being cause for a flat reaction from a crowd, struggling to keep up with all of the action in the ring. In this case however, there must have been some magic in the air as all four of us were truly on our 'A game' with each bump, sell and feed coming off as hoped and the response from the capacity crowd at the Battle Palace growing bigger and bigger with each additional sequence that expertly built upon the one before it.

While this match would definitely fall into the category of a spotfest it doesn't necessarily mean that it lacks narrative or logic. There's a nice flow between each and every vignette with people on the receiving end of an increasing amount of damage selling things accordingly before interjecting themselves once more into the fray to inflict some of their own. I also love that every party is afforded a little chance to shine and take control of the match, further establishing themselves not just for this but additional future encounters on 3-2-1 Battle shows; especially now that they were going to be occurring bi-monthly with hopes of all four of us continuing to be featured players within them.

The "Big Cat" hits multiple big lariats, a move he used to refer to as the CRITICAL in our backyard days, a reference to the Fire Pro Wrestling series of video games; with all 3 of us selling and bumping for each one in our own unique manner. Kaden shows off his exceptional bumping and selling, as well as some of his comedic chops before taking control himself with some big suplexes and a dominant series of Axe Kicks and Forearms on Scott and myself. Cole Crazy goes wild with a seemingly never ending amount of running European Uppercuts into all 3 corners that contain his foes as well as breaking up a German Suplex that lead to a bridging pinfall with an expertly timed Sprial Tap just before the referee's hand slapped the mat for a 3rd time. And then I took control by subduing all 3 opponents into their own individual corners with hard chops before bringing them crashing back down to the ring with 3 successive Superplexes; this moment having been inspired by then indie stalwart Roderick Strong, albeit not executed nearly as quick or intense as he would have done so - but successful nonetheless.

"Suplex City!" *clap clap, clap clap clap*
"Suplex City? More like Suplex County!"

Another big four person set piece followed, one that we had directly lifted from a 4 way match from a backyard show that all 4 of us had been on (it was actually the show were we first met Cole in the Spring of 2007) with none of us actually having been participants of the match itself. Cole's whip into the corner on Scott is met with a big boot/paw to the side of the face leading to a Sunset Flip by Scott, a diving Harashima inspired Double Knees by Myself, a deadlift Half Hatch Suplex by Talbain and a Standing Moonsault by Crazy; 4 moves hit in short order for 4 individual nearfalls, leading to a huge "This Is Wrestling" chant from the increasingly appreciative crowd. 

At this point we continue to lay some ground work for the inevitable finish with multiple attempts by myself at capitalizing on a stunned opponent with a rear waist lock takedown directly into a Jim Breaks Armbar with each individual attempt broken up by another party in the match. Thing break down again with the Furries taking charge of the match using their strength in numbers with a cheap shot on myself and a massive double spinebuster on Crazy to fully take him out of the match altogether. However Kaden's attempt to steal the victory for himself by school boying his feline partner is the final chink in their armour needed to seal their fates.

Another shoving match ensued between Scott & Kaden before eventually attempting to make amends by hugging it out, leaving them susceptible to my interjection by awkwardly forcing them to the mat in that position with their legs laced together. Turning them over onto their stomaches while still intertwined by their tangled tibias with no other parties able to rudely interrupt me as they had done so previously, I was finally able to successfully lock in the Jim Breaks Armbar on the Big Cat for the huge submission victory. This was an instance in my career (and believe me, there have been a few that played out exactly like this one) where advancing further in the progression of the submission, which in this case involved sliding the sole of my right foot further up the body and applying pressure on the back of the head and neck of my opponent, directly lead to the person on the receiving end of the hold finding themself in so much discomfort that they wanted out of it more than anything and giving up almost immediately.

Met by deafening "Daniel! Daniel!" chants, I found myself as the new #1 contender for the Pacific Middleweight Title with hopes of continuing to build momentum from this victory. If I recall this match was originally slated to open the show but was instead moved to right before intermission, which happens to be probably my favourite position on a wrestling card that you will sometimes hear referred to as the "First Half Main Event." I can distinctly remember 3-2-1's play by play announcer Cody Von Whistler coming through the curtain immediately afterwards during the ensuing interval to let all of us know that in his eyes it was the best match in the history of the promotion and that all of our peers had their work cut out for them for the rest of the evening. The show as a whole was one that overstayed its welcome as our near 18 minutes of non-stop action turned out to be only the 3rd longest match that evening with the two immediately followed afterwards going 21 and 31 minutes respectively, doing their part in draining the energy from the crowd leaving the main event for the 3-2-1 Solid Steel Championship the unenviable task of taking place well after Midnight in front of a dead crowd. This definitely created some further tension in the locker room and if I recall may have in turn lead to shows being agented moreso than the had been to this point with match times and more direction being given to wrestlers up and down the card.

I would go on to have many better matches in 3-2-1 Battle! but up until this point, this one was easily one of my best in my first full year of working for the promotion. Regardless of how many bigger names and more seasoned veterans that I got to ply my craft against as the promotion and my standing within it grew, this match will forever have a cemented place in my heart due to the history involved with all of the participants, the unique scenario of how it all came together and maybe most importantly how it did such an amazing job of merging an insane spectacle of moves with story telling and irreverent humor. Certainly at this point of my tenure with the promotion but in all honesty maybe more than any other of the hundred or so matches that I would have there; this match defined what was so special to myself and a whole host of others about that weird and wonderful time in our lives.

Watch:
Daniel Makabe vs Scott Henson vs Kaden Talbain vs Cole Crazy [10/30/15]

The Complete and Accurate Daniel Makabe in 3-2-1 Battle! (Part 11) - Daniel Makabe vs Asis Nowarranty [10/14/15]

This week I'm back with a one off match that wasn't particularly significant on paper but actually featured a couple of firsts for me in 3-2-1 Battle and generally speaking, holds up as relatively fun and inoffensive. It was the first and only time that I can recall that a show emanating from the Battle Palace took place on a Wednesday night, an experiment that the powers that be tried out due to a lot of the wrestlers and production team alike, working regularly in various local bars and night clubs. The thought process being that a lot of their friends and industry connections were unable to make it out to the regularly scheduled Friday night shows and thus this would give them an opportunity to check one out and in turn maybe help grow the brand. While that never really came to pass, what did end up happening instead was the expansion of 3-2-1's schedule from shows monthly to bi-weekly, which would continue from this point onwards until the end of the promotion in March 2020.

It was also the first show with some continued progression when it came to production, adding some additional jazzed lighting as things improved slowly but surely from the shows just a few months prior that featured the particularly unflattering fluorescent house lights paired with inexplicable music playing constantly in the background during the matches themselves. This was all of course in addition to  the signature 3-2-1 Battle! live commentary which I haven't really dug into much over the course of this blog but was something that while I was initially skeptical of, turned out to help expand our fanbases' knowledge of the product and wrestlers' themselves. Upon rewatch, I do not recognize the voice of whomever the ring announcer for this particular show was but he sounds very professional and does a great job of setting the table, including a fine reading of a nickname that I toyed around with at the time as a nod to one of my favourite pro wrestlers of all time, The Destroyer; that of course being "The Sensational, Intelligent" Daniel Makabe. 

I was still in the period where I hadn't quite settled on consistent entrance attire, which would be the case until later this year/early the following year. At this point however, I would enter in whatever random hoodie I happened to be wearing that day be it of a band or the American Apparel varietal. In this instance I was wearing the classic varsity style BANE hoodie, maroon in colour with gold font; something that a US customs agent once pointed out to me as likely being a ripoff of the USC Trojans famous colour combination. What I didn't realize at the time was that the lead singer of some of my favourite Seattle hardcore bands, John Pettibone (Undertow, Himsa, Heiress) was in attendance on this evening and the obvious nod to the 90s Boston Hardcore greats indicated by my choice of entrance attire was something that caught his eye. He informed me of this years later when we became friends, sometimes grabbing a coffee with one another before 3-2-1 shows at the nearby 'Espresso Vivace', a regular stop for the lion's share of us Canadian wrestlers whenever we were in town, for many years to come.

Not to bury the lead but this was also the first and only time that I ever had a one on one match with Asis Nowarranty, a young Seattle based grappler who was very inexperienced at the time; in fact his Cagematch bio notes that this was only his 5th match ever, although I do believe their results of these early 3-2-1 shows are a tad incomplete so that may not be completely accurate. Regardless, he was a protégé of a few of the wrestlers whom were helping put together shows at the time, namely Draven Lawless and the previously mentioned El Chango Blanco, having trained regularly in Jiu Jitsu before making the transition over to Pro Wrestling. Although there was definitely a stretch around this time that I was not particularly enthusiastic about integrating myself into working with a wider selection of the varying states of "professionally trained" roster, he was someone that I saw some potential in due to his athleticism and combat sports background. With that being said, I have a core memory of showing up early for this Wednesday show, having taken the day off work in order to participate in it and struggling to track him down in order to put some ideas together as he was preoccupied with his crew of friends who were in attendance that evening instead. This wasn't the first nor would it be the last moment in my professional wrestling life where an opponent and I had differing views on an appropriate amount of care and attention to put into a match beforehand but it is what it is; or should I say, was what it was.

The match proper gets underway with a fairly basic trading of mirrored standing headlocks with both instances containing the headlockee shooting the headlocker off the ropes, ending with them being met with impactful shoulder tackles that send them crashing to the mat. Asis' inexperience is clear from the get-go with him applying his headlock on the incorrect side, with me frantically signaling him to at least hit the tackle correctly on the left. Although he was fairly green, his previous experience and athletic aptitude carried over into some early exchanges of holds with him showing that he was clearly adaptable and pliable within a chain wrestling context, which isn't always the case with inexperienced wrestlers. Another typical sign of inexperience in these early exchanges is someone not feeling comfortable just existing within a hold and selling it or the moment; always feeling the need to constantly moving on to the next reversal even if that means not selling or feeding in a conventional manner. But being young and flexible also means that it's usually not too awkward or painful to have to get back on track which was the case here, including after an exchange that featured a flipping hammerlock reversal that I stole from Doug Williams a decade+ prior to this match and must have incorporated into hundreds of my matches by this point.

Things pick up fairly out of nowhere with me upping the intensity and taking the role of the aggressor in this match with a firm slap to conclude the early feeling out process, catching Asis off guard. What follows immediately afterwards however is a very brief control period of his with a reversal off a whip into a nice tilt-a-whirl headscissors that I sell by powdering straight through the ropes to the floor in lieu of taking a bump and rolling out immediately afterwards. Whatever reprieve I may have benefitted from in this moment was short lived as Asis flew out of nowhere with a big crossbody dive that I had to quickly adjust my positioning for in order to catch; with most of this sequence occurring off camera unfortunately. The sudden explosive moment of high flying into the crowd itself was enough to catch all parties involve (myself included) off guard and garner a "Holy Shit" chant; truly these crowds were some of the most receptive that I ever got to wrestle in front of in all my years.

The bulk of this match consists of a lengthy control sequence on my behalf with the young Mr Nowarranty being on the receiving end of an extended series of increasingly gross and flexibility defying holds. A gnarly looking top wrist lock stomp out of nowhere gets things going with him selling it particularly well, beginning on his hip as opposed to flat on his back as most opponents whom had felt it in recent memory had done so. I followed up immediately with a nice Romero Special, a move I only ever utilized a handful of times on opponents significantly smaller than myself as well as an incredibly painful looking Reverse Viper Hold which was a move I had lifted years prior during my backyard days when my fandom of Minoru Fujita whom had used it with much success, was at its peak.

Things stay fairly stagnant during this period of the match with not a ton of dynamics integrated although the fans seem mostly invested nonetheless. The exhibition of "cool holds" continues with a neat behind the back grip to liven up an otherwise pedestrian grounded chin lock as well as a submission I directly lifted from Kazuchika Okada during his early run as a top heel in NJPW when he let the influence of his early Toryumon/Ultimo Dragon training shine through in his work. I'm not sure he ever had a name for this one but it's what can best be described as a double wrist clutch reverse Abdominal Stretch/Neck Crank of sorts and was one that I used for years many after "The Rainmaker" had retired it. Innovative submissions aside, the match definitely could have benefitted from me having the foresight to give Asis more opportunity to show some fire and that he was more than just a a warm body for me to tie in knots; clearly he wasn't the only party involved whose inexperience was showing on this particular day.

 

The third and final act of this sub 10 minute match begins with an impactful looking running Dropkick in the corner which gets one of the bigger reactions up until this point. It's immediately following by Asis finally showing some life and mounting a comeback with a series of clotheslines that I bumped and fed for accordingly; something that I got particularly good at in a few years time but was merely 'okay' at in this match. His attempted follow up Diamond Cutter/Ace Crusher/RKO/etc is momentarily countered by me shooting him off into the ropes with me trying to return the favour with a clothesline of my own ducked and him successfully hitting the aforementioned maneuver for his one and only nearfall in the entire match. 

An incredibly random post comeback grounded attack to my arm that felt like something you would do with no sense of logic or reason in a video game is followed up with Asis heading up top onto the then very loose and flimsy ring ropes with me almost immediately cutting him off. Joining him up there and wasting little to no time, I hit him with my first Top Rope 'Rana in the Battle Palace, known in certain circles as the 'Dan Spike.' This was a name that I initially chose due to its absurdity as it references fellow sometimes Canadian, Chris Jericho whom used the move with some regularity in the 1990s but obviously doesn't roll off the tongue nearly as nice. It was a recent conversation that I had with a friend of mine whom followed my entire career, both backyard and pro, where we discussed the likelihood that I used the move more often and effectively than Mr. Irvine ever did although in this instance, it wasn't particularly well executed or impactful looking; in all honesty it's probably the worst one that I've ever done in my life.

The closing stretch proceeds in relatively short order immediately afterwards as an attempt to lock Asis up and execute my patented Armtrap German Suplex leads to an ensuing ugly struggle between the two of us with desperate back elbows thrown to both my mid section and face. Finally hitting one last big European Uppercut to soften him up, the end comes in the form of a dead lift German Suplex with a bridge for a 3 count that feels somewhat out of nowhere; with the fans initially offering a fairly tepid and mixed reaction in part. This almost felt like a bit of a TV style squash match on my behalf and definitely could have benefitted from a better built crescendo, offering Asis at least one more big nearfall during the final act. Although if memory serves me right, this may have been a byproduct of him not having enough big moves in his repertoire; something that would be rectified in years to come as he grew as a performer. We did manage to conclude the evening with a bigger reaction from those in attendance with the classic cheat code of the winner doing his best to put over the loser by acknowledging their effort and abilities as a performer, even if it's as simple as raising his arms for all to see.

While this was a fairly uneventful match, it would thankfully only be a few short weeks before I was right back in Seattle to ply my trade and further master my craft. One of 3-2-1's big annual shows was right around the corner in the form of "Horror Business", a Halloween themed show with its' Glenn Danzig inspired moniker. While this would be the first one of these shows that any of us Canadians had participated in, it may go down as the most memorable as it would feature one of my all time favourite  matches that I ever had in the history of the promotion.

Watch:
Daniel Makabe vs Asis Nowarranty [10/14/15]

The Complete and Accurate Daniel Makabe in 3-2-1 Battle! (Part 10) - Daniel Makabe vs Tommy vs James Diesel [9/25/15]

Another month has gone by and 3-2-1 is starting to feel more and more like a regular promotion with myself and the rest of the Canadian crew fully integrated into matches with the primarily Seattle based roster as well as the regular progression of stories, shows and bigger matches being set up down the line. This was the opening contest on the monthly September show emanating from the Battle Palace, the last month before 3-2-1 would switch to running bi-weekly shows from there on out until the end of the promotion 4.5 years later, with the odd exception here and there. It was for the number one contendership for the 3-2-1 Battle! Solid Steel Championship, still in the grasp of El Chango Blanco who in the interim had successfully defended it against "Big Cat" Scott Henson and would challenge the winner of this match in the main event of another one of 3-2-1's bigger "tentpole" shows, October's "Horror Business."

It's the first time I've gotten to discuss another couple of old backyard pals of mine in the form of my two opponents here, James Diesel & Tommy; who soon would add the surname Lawless to join fellow roster member Draven (another backyard alumni) and ring announcer Led in the extended family that I believe has lineage dating back to the Rebar days of the promotion but is not a history I'm specifically familiar with. I was however familiar with both competitors, having met the two of them back in 2007 when they were regular members of BXCW, a bit of a sister promotion to our backyard group VCW that we ran multiple shows in correlation with mostly in and around Everett, WA - about 25 miles north of Seattle proper.

James was very similar to my most recently discussed opponent Cole Crazy, someone whom he worked with a great deal in the past. Both of them started out working backyard shows as teenagers, showing a bit of a natural aptitude for wrestling itself but never getting properly trained before making the transition to working these bigger and more publicized 3-2-1 Battle shows in Seattle. There were clear shortcomings in his overall skill set but he was a really nice, soft spoken guy who took direction well and had some creative ideas of his own that he could interject. He had built up a nice following of his own in the years prior, even holding the Solid Steel title for a stretch of time right before 3-2-1 made the jump from the no-ring shows at the Rebar to where we found ourselves in 2015, running regularly at Evolv Fitness. Tommy on the other hand made a bit more of an attempt to "make it" so to speak, having moved to the East Coast in the early 2010s, working semi regularly for independent promotions in the Tri-State area before settling back in Greater Seattle just before this match took place and reintroducing himself as a larger than life character in the 3-2-1 Multiverse. I can't recall working one on one with James prior to this point in time but I definitely had a few memorable interactions with Tommy back in the day (where he used the alias "Jazon Steal") that we actually revisited and referenced in this 3 way here although no one besides our closest friends would have known that.

The match itself starts off hot with James jumping Tommy before the bell or traditional decree from the loud and interactive battalion could echo throughout the room. The two exchanged strikes in the corner while I sat back almost bemused at what was unfolding before my very eyes. This was on paper a cold match with no previous history or interactions from the 3 of us, albeit with the aforementioned promise of a title shot for the biggest prize in the promotion, headlining what was likely the 2nd most important show of the year at this point. I do think that we overall did a good job of working it as such with a variety of narratives unfolding sporadically as the match progressed, albeit very rapidly. The first of which being pretty much right off the get go as after being brushed away a handful of times by Tommy, I fired up with a series of European Uppercuts before taking him down to the mat, first to snap his fingers in a moment akin to a then popular indie wrestler from the UK whom I'd rather not address by name in this current day and age. It all amounted to a rather tepid reaction from the crowd, which I guess in hindsight I deserved for liberally biting the spot from someone whom in hindsight was so problematic.

However it's immediately followed up with a fun tandem version of my now well established stomp to a opponents' arm that I've neutralized with a top wrist lock with the now since recovered James Diesel joining in to aid me by pinning Tommy's arm to the mat with his foot while I circled the ring, doing my best to hype the crowd up for the inevitable impact of the sole of my blue Asics wrestling shoe driving his uncomfortably stretched triceps into the canvas. It's these kind of moments, when worked logically into the context of the match, that I think really make a 3 way a unique and interesting match to watch; as much of a burden as they can be to put together and execute successfully from a wrestler's standpoint a lot of the time.

From here on out this match never really slows down, moving from set piece to set piece with each person taking the lead at some point and showing their potential to win it outright. What follows immediately is James and I sharing a Gentleman's agreement after successfully dispatching of the much larger opponent, trading holds in a brief sequence of chain wrestling. That is of course until the sleeping giant awoke to interject in a moment of comedy with a series of hammerlock reversals unfolding before his eyes; although he's wearing a Deadpool mask in this match (something he would eventually drop shortly thereafter) so you can't exactly see his eyes to begin with but alas. After multiple pleas in attempt to stop him in his place, Diesel and I decide it would be best to give the scientific grappling a rest and once again combine our powers to try and subdue the beast, only for our attempted double clothesline to be ducked with Tommy executing two incredibly hard lines on us simultaneously instead; with me catching his forearm right in the face caught perfectly on camera as I come up "selling" my injury afterwards.

Tommy's control is brief as his attention is drawn away from a momentary grounded chinlock on myself by Diesel in the near corner. Managing to avoid getting choked while sitting on the top rope, he neatly transitioned to a hanging Triangle Choke over the top ropes with his back resting on the apron, which was quickly broken up with a flying dropkick out of nowhere as the pace begins to pick up. Firing back up onto the apron where I caught a charging Tommy off guard first with a shoulder block to the stomach and then with an old Nigel McGuinness trick I stole years prior of snapping the top rope back so that it rebounds into the eyes of an already stunned and prone opponent. All of this was in order to set him up in a bent over position where I connected with a Top Rope Cannonball to his back.

The cannonball was a move that I had only ever seen performed by another old backyard wrestling friend of mine from Ohio named Russ Myers, who would fold his body as tightly as he could, arms clasped around his shins and come crashing down from high above onto the chest of a usually much larger opponent. This version of it was inspired by early 00s indie standout turned ROH booker Delirious who performed a top rope splash onto the exposed backs of opponents, referring to it as "Shadows Over Hell" and was the big explosive moment that I needed to finally bring the big man to the mat, leaving all 3 of us down and out; resetting things for the final act of the match.

While there are a few big moves hit for near falls in the closing stretch of this match (albeit one or two that aren't particularly visible from the angle the uploaded version of this match was filmed from), the real driving narrative centers from my attempts at successfully locking in the Jim Breaks armbar that I had previously dispatched multiple opponents with in recent months. James' attempts at locking in a llave inspired variation of a Texas Cloverleaf is thwarted as he's dragged down to the mat with my initial omoplata to set up the famed double arm hold. However that submission is immediately broken up by the grasp of Tommy's massive hand around my throat. At this point he was unable to successfully execute his patented massive chokeslam however as I was able to counter it with a flying armbar that was then transitioned to another omoplata in hopes of finally locking in my patented submission finish; only to be cut off by James Diesel's foot upside my face in the form of a superkick.

The interwoven nature of this multi person matchup persisted as Diesel's attempt at hitting his own version of CM Punk's then forgotten "Pepsi Plunge" was redirected by Tommy's own attempt at interjecting; with me narrowly avoiding whatever he had in mind, only for him to be hit by what's best described as a Pedigree from a Tornado DDT setup by James in a unique bit of offense. What follows next will forever be the moment that I will forever associate with this particular match as I successfully break up James' pinfall attempt by dragging him off, neutralizing him with a step over toe hold on one leg while I frantically removed his kick pad, shoe and sock eventually snapping his toes in a vicious manner which received an appropriate reaction from the now fully invested (and disgusted?) capacity crowd. 

Alas it was all for not as an attempt to quickly follow up on the perverse metatarsal focused attack with another signature match ender of mine, the Armtrap German Suplex was broken up by Tommy whom was finally successful in executing his huge Chokeslam, rendering me all but eliminated from the match altogether. A now shoeless James Diesel finding himself cornered and hobbling in the wake of the giant, valiantly attempted one last superkick which while it had been previously effective in dispatching my attempts at dominance, was now proven futile in his current state. A now enraged Tommy simply brushed off the pathetic bare foot attempt and countered by hitting his own version of a crossed arm, sit out Dominator style move for the win.

While there wasn't a ton of stakes involved in this match besides the winner moving on to bigger and better things, I have a real soft spot for it; specifically how it was structured and idealized with a lot of fun moments put together in nice and easy, very watchable encounter. It's probably one of the shortest matches that I would end up having in my entire 6 year run with the promotion although it doesn't lack in action, humor or repeat watchability. James and I would cross paths a handful of times over the next few months in a couple different settings including another 3 way match with Tommy replaced by an alternative familiar face. Whereas it would be another few years until I found myself on the other end of the squared circle with a then unmasked Tommy Lawless, whom would be unsuccessful in his attempts at winning the illustrious Solid Steel Title. Regardless, I would find myself back in a 3-2-1 Battle ring in Seattle in just a few short weeks' time as the promotion experimented with upping the ante and loading up the schedule with even more "Weird Wrestling."

A couple of weeks prior to this fairly inconsequential 3-2-1 Battle! show was another weekend that definitely held a bit more significance even if it was only to a small group of people here in Greater Vancouver. The final ever "VCW vs The World" weekend of backyard shows took place on September 4th & 5th 2015 in the gymnasium of a Catholic Elementary School in Burnaby, BC; I truly can say that I have no earthly idea how Scott managed to find and rent this venue but it was one that we held multiple events at over the final couple years of us doing so. It would be the final time after all these years that the crew of us would get together to hold such an event, having gone through various incarnations with the core members first gathering in the Henson family backyard in the summer of 2001 to hold weekly matches on their rented Trampoline that we modified to include barely functional posts and ring ropes. Years later the "vs The World" concept that had begun in 2005 would be ported over to 3-2-1 Battle! with an annual show featuring a variety of the friends we had made over the years now finding themselves working in front of the Battalion one night and then in a more lowkey "secret show" environment the following day, reminiscent of our backyard roots I speak of regularly and hold so dearly in my heart. 

On the first night of this particular show, I found myself teaming with two long time friends in Alex McConnell and Chris Goodwin; both hailing from Hazel Grove in the Northwest of the UK (just outside of Manchester), whom I had first encountered upon our maiden voyage abroad to take part in the now notorious series of British Backyard events known as Heatfest in 2008. It was upon that trip that one of the more obtuse and down right crass inside jokes amongst our friend group was born when settling an argument about what the worst job on earth was: being a "jizzmopper" at The Lusty Lady, an infamous (albeit unionized) adult establishment in downtown Seattle or working at the Disney Store in a mall with the inevitable unanimously agreed upon answer being jizzmopper at the Disney Store.

Nearly a decade later, we found ourselves taking inspiration from that seemingly innocuous exchange that took place in a central Manchester shopping mall and thus our tandem's alias was born, with us dawning matching ring attire and personas inspired by the WWE's Shield faction; complete with our own custom entrance theme that we recorded with one of my bandmates who doubled as an audio engineer. Beginning with the NATO phonetic alphabet reading of "Juliet. India. Zulu. Zulu." before the familiar guitar riff rang out to a room full of surprised and confused onlookers; the one night only trio of McGoodwin & Makabe entered as a unified front known simply as "Jizzmoppers." Our opponents that night was a trio of long time friends of ours with no other real connection to one another: "Cockstrong" Chris Frank, "Greasy" Allan Creasy and Australian Backyard Legend, whom actually resides in Sudbury, ON - Siege.

While the main event of night 1 provided some memorable action and fun memories with my group of friends, my encounter on the following afternoon was one that meant so much more to me as it was going to be the retirement match of one of my oldest friends and former roommate of many years; UK Backyard Legend. whom actually resides in Vancouver, BC - Yakuza J. The two of us had a ton of history with one another, dating back to first meeting at a local independent wrestling show in 2001, backyarding for many years, getting professionally trained with one another alongside the aforementioned "Big Cat" Scott Henson and countless other memories and experiences. There was even a point in our lives in the mid 2000s where we had considered moving to Southern Ontario with one another in hopes of working more regularly on the independent wrestling scene there due to its close proximity to promotions in Eastern Canada as well as the Midwest and East Coast of the United States. 

All of that never came to pass however and even though I stand by the fact that he was the most talented individual out of all of us with easily the most potential to "make it", Yakuza J would only have a handful of matches outside of our backyard community with only one trip down to Seattle to take part in a 3-2-1 Battle! show to his name; as part of a Battle Royal on the first show back in February 2014 where our tenure with the promotion all began. In the interim he had gotten married and moved on to bigger and better things in his life and while I can only imagine the mark he could have made on pro wrestling had things worked out differently, I can't fault the man for the life decisions he made in hindsight. With all that being said, I'm thankful that we had one last kick at the can with one another in another match that went unseen for many many years that I subsequently was able upload to YouTube earlier this year for any and all interested parties to see. It's another glimpse at my primary influences at the time and how I longed to be able to work in the coming years; thankfully J was as equally adapt at working the mat in a rugged and hard fought manner as I was and was up for the challenge.

It's hard to believe that this significant chapter in my life, which essentially took up the first decade+ of my adulthood came to an end nearly 10 years ago at this point. As I've stated multiple times already in the relatively short lifespan of this blog, I'm so incredibly thankful that all of this was documented so thoroughly both via photos and videos and that I'm able to share it all with you; reflecting upon it all myself in the process. It was truly the genesis of the many years that followed and it's crazy to see how far we came from wrestling in backyards and gymnasiums to underground "Battle Palaces" in a foreign country to being a recognized face as someone who excelled on a worldwide level, even if it was at a niche of a niche within the world of independent wrestling. I owe it all to Scott, Justin and countless others who came in and out of my life; influencing and inspiring me to achieve the kind of heights that I never dreamed were remotely possible.

Watch:
Daniel Makabe vs Tommy vs James Diesel [9/25/15]