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.
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.
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.
No comments:
Post a Comment