3-2-1 Battle! began as an offshoot (or continuation) of a promotion called Seattle Semi-Pro Wrestling (SSP for short), that ran monthly variety/wrestling shows at "Rebar" in Seattle. My group of friends and I had become familiar with some of their performers from our days backyard wrestling in the prior decade and had been invited to take part in some of these shows in the past, however they were typically midweek and the shows would take place on a "ring" consisting of colourful puzzle shaped foam mats (which we were very familiar with from our backyard days as they adorned the ringside area of the venue we used regularly from 2002-2006), on a hard wooden stage; that's it. It was somewhat of a precursor to the current trend of no-ring wrestling shows that have become popular in independent wrestling over the last few years but at the time, we wanted nothing to do with it.
Fast forward to the fall of 2013 and 321 was organizing a one off show in a warehouse in the Georgetown neighbourhood of Seattle, in an actual ring (~!) that we were invited to take part in. I unfortunately was unavailable that weekend as I already had plans to go to a two day festival/showcase of bands put on by Dirtnap Records in Portland, OR (still some of the best shows I've ever been to), but my friends Drew & Scott went, having a singles match with one another. By all accounts, that show was a big success and the follow up was soon organized, occurring a few short months later on a cold Saturday night in early February, in an underground (literally) boxing gym in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle.
My initial foray into 321 was with some of my closest friends whom I came up with, having initially trained with All Star Wrestling in Surrey, BC in the summer of 2003, but preferring the backyard community that we had become an integral part of for the better part of the previous decade+. To be perfectly honest, our initial interest in working for 321 in the first place was merely using it as a platform to have the matches we had been having against one another for years, except in front of a paying audience, one that was particularly enthusiastic and energetic. I've made this point dozens of times over the years in interviews, but 321 Battle started with their own built in fanbase; people looking for a fun night out where they could drink cheap beer and watch a colourful cast of characters beat each other up for their entertainment. They weren't pro wrestling fans; They were explicitly 321 Battle fans. As someone who was accustomed to mostly working for the other wrestlers on the show or the occasional group of friends who would check out a show here or there, the idea of getting to have the matches that I wanted to have in a non-traditional setting for people who mostly appreciated effort, while still being able to be very casual with my pro wrestling "career", was really appealing to me.
My partner Drew Sarian and I had known one another for years, as he had joined VCW (Van-City Championship Wrestling; our backyard promotion) in the fall of 2004 and in time became a core member of our roster - but this was early into our foray as a babyface team - the "Rain City Coalition", formed in order to counteract "Fur & Loathing", the team of Scott Henson & Kaden Talbain whom had been a unit for years at that time and continued to be for practically the entire 6 year run of 321 Battle now that I think about it. Leading up to this show, Drew and I had an ongoing disagreement over what to use for entrance music, something that I'm sure you will find shocking to hear but I find to be really, really important. I had made a few suggestions, all of which were fun, upbeat songs: "Bizarre Love Triangle" by New Order, "Love at First Sight" by Kylie Minogue, "Teenage Kicks" by The Undertones (store this one away for the time being; it becomes pretty important in the near future); unbeknownst to me, Drew had his own song in mind that he provided to the sound man that evening - "Sussudio" by Phil Collins. Unaware until literally the moment we were coming through the curtain, I did my best to grin and bear it, being the best fiery babyface that I could be while the flaccid electronic drums and synths blared in the background and I died a little on the inside.
At the time in early 2014, we were all pretty gung ho about the current trends in pro wrestling; New Japan Pro Wrestling had risen to popularity in the western world thanks in part to monthly streaming PPVs that we would often stay up late to watch as a group as well as all the latest hot Indie shows, PWG, Evolve, etc; We would even take the occasional trip to Los Angeles to attend PWG shows as fans. One thing that is glaring to me looking back at these older matches is how we unabashedly let our influences colour our wrestling as there are numerous instances of spots/sequences that we would straight up lift from matches we would have seen the previous month on a hot wrestling show from halfway around the world. At the time it felt pretty innocuous as after all, we were just having fun doing our little matches in front of crowds who didn't have the same reference points that we did. In hindsight, it can be fairly cringe-worthy at times to revisit but I guess we all have to start somewhere.
All of that is to say that this match isn't all that bad overall; it's actually pretty good if not a tad overlong. There are highs and lows from the crowd as they're on their feet at moments such as a hot opening sequence between myself and Kaden - something we used to challenge ourselves to add more & more steps to; all the while finding themselves uninterested and silent at later segments, giving no heat whatsoever for some of the big false finishes. But everyone in the match looks pretty strong in there at times, hitting some good looking offense, while lacking energy/intensity during the home stretch; Kaden being the exception to this rule as he was always the best athlete out of all of us and never really fades during the match.
This was also the first time that Drew and I were able to use some of our tag moves/combinations that we had came up with, all of which were named after different Gordon Lightfoot songs... because we're colossal nerds. "The Canadian Railroad Trilogy" (our version of a Motor City Machine Guns esque quick sequence), "Sundown" (a combination Armtrap German Suplex/Superkick) which was particularly brutal on this night and "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" (our take on the classic Midnight Express 'Veg-o-Matic' with a top rope Senton replacing the typical Leg Drop), which was made somewhat difficult by the particularly low ceiling that evening; most of them coming off pretty well & executed cleanly.
After the fact, all parties involved were really happy with this match. A particularly enthusiastic attendee came up to let us know that it was "the best US independent wrestling match that [He] had ever seen!" which was a wild compliment to receive, but not one that went unappreciated - we literally would quote it for the next decade whenever recalling this evening. Afterwards, I dragged everyone down the black to the corner of Pike & 10th in front of the legendary Seattle concert venue Neumo's to get Seattle Dogs; Hot Dogs with Cream Cheese and Grilled Onions, a popular late night snack available from street vendors before we joined some of the other wrestlers at a nearby IHOP that had legitimately the slowest service I've ever experienced at a restaurant in my entire life; We didn't leave said IHOP until nearly 4:00am.
The following day was Super Bowl XLVIII (Seattle Seahawks vs Denver Broncos) which we considered sticking around to watch somewhere locally with our friends. That thought was quickly squashed as I barely managed two hours of sleep on a hard wood floor that smelled like cat urine. I woke up at the crack of dawn and found myself wandering around the West Seattle neighborhood we were staying in, appreciating my surroundings as the Sun shone down on a dewy February Pacific Northwest morning. If I recall correctly; Scott was the only one of our crew pushing hard to stay and watch the game while the rest of us quickly vetoed any notion of that idea - picturing the struggle of getting out of the city amidst the crazy traffic that was inevitable, regardless of whether Seattle won or lost (they won; big time). I was happy to watch one of the biggest moments in Seattle sports history from the comfort of my own home in greater Vancouver that evening; content with my debut for this new (to me) company; not knowing when or if I would get to do it all again.
******
Thursday, June 13th, 2024. The day before my final match ever in Washington State - literally a decade after my debut there. For the first time in what felt like forever - some of my oldest friends - Scott, Drew & Kelly (Kaden) came over to my place in New Westminster to watch some old matches to help shape our ideas + thought process in putting together one final match with one another. This match from February 2014 is the first thing that we watched on Youtube that evening and while I don't know that it necessarily gave us any specific spots, structure or textural elements that we would end up using the following evening - it felt nice to revisit what at the time felt like just another match; a simple moment in our lives that in time would prove to be so much more influential that we ever could have imagined. Influential not just on my life as a whole but on all of our lives individually and maybe more importantly; on our friendship (both in good ways & bad). In this moment, none of us knew just how impactful the following evening in Tacoma, 36 miles south from where it all began a decade prior in Capitol Hill, would be - for one of us more than others. While my lifelong obsession and passion for pro wrestling has definitely impacted me negatively at times, I'm so incredibly thankful that with all this footage documented, it has allowed me the opportunity to look back on time spent with some of my best friends and remember just how far we've come.
Watch:
Daniel Makabe/Drew Sarian vs Scott Henson/Kaden Talbain [2/1/14]
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