Jim Londos vs. Bronko Nagurski in 1938 (and other Dream Matches!)

Welcome back to more Dream Matches! This week I have an incredible find- Jim Londos vs. Bronko Nagurski for the “Heavyweight Championship of the World”- in 1938! Come see how heel wrestlers worked 90 years ago! Then it’s two straight amazing “WTF?” matches from Japan- All Japan sees Abdullah the Butcher and BOTH KAMALAS team up against a native squad of Akira Taue, old man Mighty Inoue, and young bitch-boy Yoshinari Ogawa! And IT DOESN’T SUCK! They go all-out and have a good match! I swear! Then an equally weird one as Tatsumi Fujinami, Masahiro Chono and Shinya Hashimoto team up against George Takano and the SOUTHERN BOYS in 1988 New Japan! Come see Tracey Smothers get fired up against Fujinami- not something I ever thought I’d see.

Looking through American indie sleaze, I found a bizarre “Bone on a Pole” match between two guys doing silly gimmicks- it’s Hobo vs. Manimal! And finally, our PWI #500 for the week sees 2023’s entry, Andre Chase of “CHASE U”! He’s actually an NXT guy until like a week ago, so I have an NXT match where he faces Ridge Holland in 2024! Then I look back at his Pro Wrestling NOAH run as “Harlem Bravado”, as he faces Ricky Marvin!

THE UNDISPUTED CHAMPIONSHIP OF THE WORLD:
BRONKO NAGURSKI vs. “THE GOLDEN GREEK” JIM LONDOS:
(Nov. 18th 1938)
* It’s the Champion of the United States (Nagurski) vs. the Champion of Europe for the Undisputed Championship of the world! “A version of the World Title”, apparently. And Bronko Nagurski may be the single most “1930s Athlete” name I’ve ever heard in my life. He also looks EXACTLY like his name, stocky and hairy. Born Bronislau Nagurski, he’s a Canadian-born NFL player and was a legit superstar for the Chicago Bears, wrestling as a side job, where he’d become NWA Champion once. He’s 238 lbs. versus Londos at 202. Both are in black trunks so I’ll have to take commentary’s word for who is who. Both guys have real “before steroids” bodybuilder physiques- stocky and powerful with huge arms and shoulders. Londos is shockingly at least 44 years old here if the date is correct. He was a HUGE star in his day, and apparently popularized the airplane spin & sleeperhold according to his VERY kayfabed Wikipedia page. This has that “early movie hyperspeed” thing going but I think 0.85x speed is about what it would have been in real life.

Londos repeatedly backpedals out of a lockup (“referee’s hold” back then), suggesting he’s a little more cautious/cowardly than his larger opponent, and they repeatedly switch grips in the lockup, Londos scooting out again. Londos tries a snapmare but gets taken down and again squirrels out. Nagurski manages a top wristlock attempt, avoiding Londos’ attempts to make the ropes and taking him down. Londos writhes a while, the ref kicking the bottom rope away from him, so he has to roll to a crouch and both stand up- they push into the ropes and the commentator compliments the clean break (“That’s quite a treat in wrestling these days!”). Londos pops Bronko with a forearm out of a lockup and backs up with his hands out like “Hey come on, now”, as even in the 1930s you had the heel begging off, and he complains to the referee that Bronko has his fists balled up- Bronko butts him in the chest a few times in the corner, then manages to wring his neck- Londos tries to spin out but ends up on his back like in a spinning neckbreaker, finally having to twist out. Bronko gets hot with a rabbit punch and Londos complains but swings his fist as well, ending up backed into the ropes and abused with shoulder-butts, then loses a forearm fest in the middle. Commentary brings up how it’s the American boys who played football in college bringing in these shoulder-butts and flying tackles as Londos trips him to work the ankle, but gets his arm pulled, then Bronko stands on one foot while twisting the other. He switches to a kneebar while Londos writhes around, finally rolling over to escape.

They pop each other in the jaw with forearms in another lockup, Londos flinging Nagurski onto the top rope, but Bronko fires back with a big tackle that has Londos in trouble as he flies under them. Bronko flips him over twice using a ront facelock, but Londos is able to dodge the worst of two tackles, then successfully trips the bigger man and gives him the same split-leg hold Bronko gave him earlier (PSYCHOLOGY~~), Bronko repeatedly twisting or bending his own leg to counter the twisting until he can finally get under the ropes. Bronko counters a headlock to a headscissors, Londos unable to escape with kipups and complaining of a stranglehold, but finally gets out. Bronko hauls him down with more neck-twisting, but has to escape a hold himself- Londos then resists a snapmare with a wide stance (wrestlers today never do stances like THIS- it looks kinda silly despite being effective) until Bronko gives up. But now JIM is called out for using a stranglehold and is made to break. Londos rolls Bronko over with facelocks but lifts him and both go over the top, but Londos manages a bodyslam for two, then a WHIRLING bodyslam (halfway to an airplane spin), but Nagurski comes back with a pair of big tackles! Jim gets flipped around and then trapped in a headlock, trying rabbit-punches and face-raking to escape, but finally uses a rope-break to pull the arm back NASTILY and do some snaps over his shoulder! BOO! HISS! Bronko sells the right arm and hangs it limp at his side, then fires off forearms with the other and tries to stop Londos grabbing it- Londos finally snags it and hauls him down puts a foot on the shoulder and just YANKS the arm (“He’s got the scent of victory in his nostrils, apparently!”)- Londos does a rolling armbar but gets kicked off again, and Bronko tries and tries but just can’t escape, as Londos presses him and ultimately another “airplane whirl and slam” finally keeps him on the mat for the three (13:30 shown)- Jim Londos is the new undisputed Heavyweight Champion of the World! Of whatever belt this is!

Actually not a bad match considering it’s a billion years old and in skipping/clipped black & white. Londos adequately played up being a douchebag heel- you couldn’t CHEAT cheat in those days so you had to instead offer up dirty breaks, whine to the official, and fight in a cowardly manner. They didn’t quite “play to the cheap seats” as well as later guys did so the commentator had to do some of the legwork on that, but Londos was able to point out “choking”, do his own, escape to the ropes a lot, etc. He even WINS kinda fighting dirty! He grabs Bronko’s arm and snaps it repeatedly while he’s in the ropes, earning an admonishment but earning himself the means to victory, as Bronko can’t use that arm now and has to back off, leaving him vulnerable to Londos’s slams. Good psychology throughout, with “revenge” offense and Bronko using his football skills to tackle Londos around. Londos, aging by this point, never lost another match and other promotions simply started recognizing other champions.

Rating: **3/4 (old-timey but kinda fun)

ABDULLAH THE BUTCHER, GIANT KIMALA I & GIANT KIMALA II vs. AKIRA TAUE, YOSHINARI OGAWA & MIGHTY INOUE:
(All Japan, xxxx)
* Wrestling is WONDERFUL. Kimala II is another, fatter guy ripping off ht efirst one, but All Japan was like “I’m Hardcore, I’ll take ’em both!” so they were a TAG TEAM, and they’re out here with billion-year-old Abdullah the Butcher as a trio of fatties up against a mish-mash of longtime All Japan talent. Taue’s a big star, Ogawa’s a young gun, and Inoue’s in his late 40s here and is teeny. hahah look at this fucking dork Ogawa- some skinny kid in blue shorts with big hair and a fat mouth he hasn’t grown into yet. Abdullah immediately attacks him before the bell and we’re off.

Look at this little bitch. I hope he suffers.

The obesitrons immediately abuse the natives outside the ring, Abdullah committing child abuse on Ogawa (GOOD), but Elvis-haired Inoue smashing Kimala II with a chair thrice- the big guy turns around and gouges his eyes while a bloody Ogawa is smashed into the post. Taue & Kimala I do FAT GUY NO-SOLD SHOULDERBLOCKS, but Kimala wows the crowd by LEAPFROGGING Taue and gets dropkicked through the ropes.

Old man Inoue sees the damage done to poor Ogawa and DEMANDS REVENGE! This shall not stand!

Inoue is incensed when he sees the shape Ogawa’s in and is like “I VOW TO AVENGE YOU!” but gets headbutted away while the fatties take turns abusing the boy’s forehead and drag him into the stands again. They take turns beating on Taue in-ring, and he bounces right off Kimala II’s belly, which he begins slapping in joy. Inoue comes in to an anemic reaction and tries a GERMAN SUPLEX of all things, KII easily fending him off and USES THE ASS to bounce him to the corner. NOT SO MIGHTY I SEE! But he rapid-fire punches KII in the face and tags in Ogawa to a pop and they hit a double back body drop! Nice of KII to take the bump, even if he over-rotates so his feet can break his fall on the bump. They curbstomp Kimala II, but he’s easily able to recover on Ogawa and tags out, where Abdullah whips him off the ropes for his throat-thrust & theatrics move. Kimala I hits a thrust kick to the kid’s gut and both Kimalas bite the cut, Ogawa howling in agony (WONDERFUL).

GLORIOUS.

That’s just too much for Mighty Inoue, who charges in with chest slaps that nobody sells, but he resists selling a double-team and now TAUE’s in there so hopefully somebody can sell, and he drops to his SUMO STANCE to hit a lariat on Kimala I for two! Even though I don’t think he should be legal. Inoue uses a leaping headbutt to harry Abdullah, who blocks a shot karate-style and throat-thrusts both him and Taue (who runs in with a boot). Taue hits a back elbow & DDT on Kimala II, KI drawing boos for breaking the pin. Kimala II pops the fans with a dropkick, then hits an avalanche, Taue responding with an enzuigiri. Some SOFT enzuigiris wear down Abdullah and Inoue E.Hondas in like a motherfucker with another parallel-to-the-ring headbutt- Abdullah sells that and another one, backing into the corner where Inoue flips him to the center! Kimala runs in to cheat while Inoue hits a rolling senton, but Inoue ducks him and headbutts his ass to the floor! Then bitchboy Ogawa gets tagged in and the crowd CHANTS FOR HIM! They got ’em! He wails away on Abdullah in sweet revenge, but sadly OBESE KARATE is too much for him as Abdullah just chooses to stop selling and drags him to the Kimalas, who squash him between them and slam him so Abdullah can hit the Big Fat Elbowdrop for the pin at (8:31), Ogawa’s glorious revenge being dashed against the walls of obesity.

THIS WAS AMAZING!! Like I was expecting “amusing clusterfuck” but everyone BROUGHT IT and was going all-out! They abuse Ogawa like the rookie bitch he is, but this serves to actually get him over, then Inoue gets over that he’s the senior and ANGRY about this, so the fat boys end up eating sweet revenge in repeated spots, and Inoue goes on a tear with his E. Honda shit, knocking the obese all over the place.

Rating: ***1/4 (way above expectations- kind of peters out during the last minute as Abdullah just calls for the finish and it’s funny how little Taue did, but had tons of fun moments)

JAPAN CUP ELIMINATION TAG MATCH:
TATSUMI FUJINAMI, MASAHIRO CHONO & SHINYA HASHIMOTO vs. GEORGE TAKANO & THE SOUTHERN BOYS (Tracey Smothers & Steve Armstrong):
(Dec. 7th 1988)
* MUSKETEERS vs. SOUTHERN BOYS!!! Aboynamedart showed me this one- a fantastic weirdo dream match with a bizarre job squad of Takano (midcarder) and some WCW JTTS guys. Takano actually has an interesting history, none of which I’ve experienced first-hand- a Japanese-born biracial kid (his father was a Black serviceman) who wrestled in Stampede as “The Cobra” and even did WWF Junior Heavyweight matches against Dynamite Kid before moving back to Japan and joining New Japan, then SWS after minimal success. The fans clapping along to the Southern Boys’ hoedown music is funny. Seeing Skinny Chono and Babyfat Hashimoto is funny- both are in matching white tights.

Chono attacks Takano before the bell and these rookies just TEE OFF on him, beating his ass while the fans chant “George-u!”. Hashimoto nails a chunky back elbow and some double-teaming, but Fujinami DEMANDS SMOTHERS and whips George over- Tracey & Tatsumi slug it out but the Southern Boy is snapmared around a bunch, but he won’t sell for Hashimoto and the Boys just plaster him with double-shoulderblocks, wowing the crowd as Tracey starts getting SCRAPPY, stomping and dancing and looking aflutter. Steve hits a back elbow and is like “… now what?” and goes for a chinlock as his best idea. Chono comes in and they circle each other a WHILE- Steve gets some forearms in a corner break but Chono just twists his neck snapmare-style but standing up. Steve looks very hesitant and clumsy here, unsure of what to do. Tracey & Chono do an international, Chono hitting a knee and holding him for Hashimoto’s kick. Tracey thrashes around but we’re back to square one, but the foreigners hit a triple dropkick and HHAHAHA THE DREADED FAILED SHITCAN BUMP! Poor Hash. Just tries so hard to flip backwards but he’s too squat and has to do the “tumble down the ropes” of shame. Takano hits a suplex and Hash is triple-teamed again, and Tracey lands the superkick. He’s PUMPED UP again and back elbows Chono, then holds him up for Steve’s missile dropkick- the fans are into all of the Southern Boys’ double-teams. Steve holds an abdominal stretch then drops down so Tracey can slingshot in with a dropkick, but a double back elbow has Chono just stand there like “I’m done selling that fuckin’ move today”, so Takano just snapmares him down to MAKE him bump and fights for the pin three times.

Chono & Takano get FIGHTY with a chopfest, Chono rakes the eyes and tags in, but Takano LANDS ON HIS FEET from a Fujinami backdrop and double-legs him into a huge slam and the crowd loves it, hahaha. Poor Fujinami has to tag out right away as Smothers gets double-teamed, but stops selling AGAIN and fires back on Chono- these two hate each other legit or what? But then Chono wins another international with the same knee and small packages him for three (14:10). Takano works Chono’s leg and Steve adds a Boston crab and they make a wish using his legs. He escapes a figure-four but eats a 2nd-rope missile kick from Takano, who is kneed from the apron by Hashimoto, provoking a big slapfight until Chono tags and the fans love a big in-ring shodown between the two big guys. Takano wins with a big wheel kick & missile dropkick, but runs into a knee and eats his OWN wheel kick. They botch a back body drop (both bump) but Hash dumps him when he tries a flying headscissors. Steve brawls with Hashimoto while Tracey can be heard shouting “Kick his ass!” from the floor- Hash fights back and hits a DDT, Chono & Fujinami hit a Spike Piledriver, then Hash nails another wheel kick, and Fujinami finishes with the Dragon Sleeper at (18:10). That was applied LOOSELY, haha- I wonder if they needed to tell the kid to give up. This ends the match, I think Takano being too hurt from the bump or two pins just ending it.

Just a messy, fun match, everyone fired up and acting pissed off. Tracey was NOT in a selling mood, just jumping around and ignoring stuff left and right to get his shit in, possibly because he was jobbing first. Dude was fighting like he found Chono completely beneath him and ignored all his stuff. Poor Chono had to take like 15 minutes of offense from everyone, too. Takano came off the best of everyone, but felt like he was being “saved” for his big flurries, as he was the most over with the fans. The crowd loved the Southern Boys offense, though- US-style double-teaming at a rapid pace had them popping even for “drop-down to set up the other guy’s move” stuff. Fujinami was almost on a night off, doing the “Main Eventer in a Trios Match” thing of hanging back unless it was important.

Rating: *** (just a fun, scrappy brawl- some miscues and no-selling but everyone was acting like they were FIGHTING and most stuff was tightly-executed)

PWI 500 GUY: THE HOBO (Brandon McCord, aka Robert Baines, Boss Baines, Brandon Taylor)
#500 appearance: N/A (#497 in 2015, #445 in 2015, #473 in 2017)

-Brandon McCord debuted in 2010 as “The Hobo” and has wrestled mostly in California since then, never making it- debuting as a gimmick is a bold choice. He was a fixture in Championship Wrestling From Hollywood, eventually changing his named to Robert Baines, then Boss Baines. Looks like he’s in the “wrestles maybe 5 times a year” side-job genre.

BONE ON A POLE MATCH:
THE HOBO vs. MANIMAL:
(Championship Wrestling From Hollywood, Nov. 24th, 2013)
* Few things spark joy quite like traipsing through a sea of clumsy indie matches between forgettable guys and finding something like a BONE ON A POLE MATCH between a homeless person and a bestial caveman. Manimal is a throwback to the obesitrons of ages past- a big, pasty fat guy with a scraggly beard and a one-strapped Flintstones singlet with no shoes. He used to go by variations of “The Bull” in various feds starting in 2001, but switched to this in the 2010s. A bone is actually strung up on a pole. The Hobo is decked out in baggy pants and an oversized jacket with a belt clumsily added, and Christmas lights on the giant made-at-home pauldrons, and appears to actually be dirty- I appreciate the attention to detail. Hobo is from HOBOken- they thought of everything!

It’s a giant slugfest to start, the Hobo winning with biting and headbutt spam! Thank god- I was worried they’d shatter the illusion and go for a collar & elbow tie-up or something. And to play up the psychology of the stips, the Hobo immediately goes for the bone, but Manimal catches him from behind- he’s tempted to get his bone on as well, but changes his mind and charges in, taking an EPIC sell off a boot- haha the fatass flipped ass over teakettle! The Hobo puts the boots to him, Manimal snapping back on all the sells and gets choked out, and a bunch of turnbuckle shots sets up a dropkick. It’s explained that these two were once friends, but a betrayal caused the Hobo to hit the bottle- he again tries to grasp the bone but gets dragged off and beaten up- Manimal bites him and spits off the “piece”, chokes with his foot, but they fight over a suplex and MANIMAL goes over. The Hobo hits the worst ever legdrop on the apron, but Manimal runs him into the ring apron. Manimal finally climbs for the bone, but the Hobo greets him up top and wins the slugfest, Manimal taking a big bump off the second rope! The Hobo sees his chance and finally gets the bone, but telegraphs his swing and gets punched coming out of the corner. Manimal chokes up on the bone, but gets slugged and drops it, letting the Hobo hit a backdrop suplex into a Rock Bottom (lol Manimal telegraphs HUGE on his “crouch down and leap all the way up”) … covering for “1” before just deciding to slide off and “sell”. hahaha did he forget the finish and instinctively go for a cover on one of his big moves? But then he DOES go for the cover, getting two- was he trying to protect his move? But then THE HOBO HAS THE BONE! He catches Manimal coming at him with a gutshot, then golf-swings at his “head” (ie. a foot away) with the bone, scoring the pin at (7:19).

Stupid, wonderful fun. Doesn’t take itself too seriously yet Manimal is there bumping around and thrashing off of every shot. He actually worked really hard here, and looks better than The Hobo, who managed to bugger the Rock Bottom thing (looking like he stopped the pin deliberately) and whiff on the finish. The funny thing is the crowd was largely disinterested (not even popping for the procurement of the bone), nor the announcers taking it remotely seriously, instead making “bone” jokes and dissing the wrestlers.

Rating: *1/4 (surprisingly inoffensive, especially with commentary treating it like a joke)

THIS WEEK’S PWI #500: ANDRE CHASE (aka Harlem Bravado):
#500 appearance: 2023 (#305 in 2011, #281 in 2012, #354 in 2013, #332 in 2014, #342 in 2015, #500 in 2023)

-I… wait, what? A guy who is not only #500 SIXTEEN YEARS after his debut, but that’s actually his lowest number ever? And he’s a 2026 WWE guy? What kind of career did this dude HAVE? Here’s where my near-total ignorance of the modern wrestling scene outside of AEW is a hindrance, haha. He actually debuts way back in 2007, and forms the Bravado Brothers with Lance Bravado (Andre goes by “Harlem” here)- they quickly move on to Ring of Honor, working as a midcard team for 5-ish years. In 2012-13 the duo even show up in Pro Wrestling NOAH, acting as jobbers during their stay as they wrestle 20+ matches per year while also doing US indie dates. There’s a LOT of U.S. indies and no ROH dates for ages, and he’s doing solo matches as Harlem Bravado as late as 2020 in random indies, again trading wins and losing to guys who are recognizable now. You can tell he was a 2000s darling because 90% of the YouTube clips for “Harlem Bravado” are 8-36-second clips of a single wrestling move he did. You ONLY see this with wrestling of that era- people getting so excited over just one move that they share only that.

In 2021 he got hired by WWE of all places, ten years into his career, becoming a part of the NXT brand under his real name as Andre Chase. He jobs a lot at first, then forms “Chase U” and dresses like a fraternity member with Duke Hudson as his tag team partner. Looking at things, it’s like he and his team trade a LOT of wins- never dominant but never total jobbers? They win the NXT Tag Titles in 2023, at least, and become a top team in the league for a year or so, winning the majority of his own matches. And after being a stalward NXT guy for like six years… he was just released in the WWE Post-WrestleMania Bloodletting of 2026. TIMELY!

NXT TITLE #1 CONTENDER MATCH:
ANDRE CHASE vs. RIDGE HOLLAND:
(NXT, Nov. 19th 2024)
* So this is Ridge Holland! He looks like a very “WWE Would Want Him” kind of guy- squatly muscular in plain maroon trunks. Chase looks like a total douchebag in his “CHASE U” gear, sweater and bright red shoes, which is probably the point. He’s somewhat tall, lanky and bird-nosed, looking pretty harmless. The majority of the small crowd seem to be in his “U” sweaters.

Chase throws a bunch of punches to start, Holland showing how green he is by doing the exact same sell off of every move, flinging one arm back. He goes into the turnbuckles but hits an overhead belly-to-belly suplex. I’m thinking that move seems a bit dangerous for a guy as twitchy and green-looking as this, then go “Ridge Holland” sounds familiar and Google him and… yup. He throws another BTB, some bad forearm shots to the “face”, then two more BTBs, but wastes time pulling up the pads on the floor so Chase escapes a powerbomb out there and hits a very “2024” “barely graze them with a cannonball off the apron” move. He does a “touchdown” signal with the fans, but we’re back from break with him selling (“It’s been all Ridge Holland”) and a flying Ridge misses. Chase with a low-contact swinging neckbreaker, but Ridge comes aback with a clothesline, knee, and gutwrench lift into a DDT drop for two. Angry, he goes to get a chair, and when the ref takes it, boots Chase in the nuts and hits one of those lifting cradle DDTs (The Redeemer), but the ref is pulled out by Chase U’s Duke Hudson before three! Holland & Hudson brawl in front of Chase U’s Thea Hail (who followed Duke out) and things get embarrassingly loose (those punches whiff BAD as Ridge is selling out of time with the actual moves like he’s being hit with a cattle prod) and tries a powerbomb on the exposed floor, but Ridge charges him right through A MILLIMETER THICK PIECE OF CARDBOARD NXT SIGN OH MY GOD!!!

The fans go “Holy shit!” even though the paper’s so thin it wobbles when people touch it, but CU’s Riley Osborne flies off the top with a cannonball, hitting Ridge AND Thea. He completely ignores Thea being hurt and brawls with Ridge, flying into him and getting press-slammed to the floor. But Chase finally wakes up and is infuriated, and it’s a FEATHER-LIGHT SLUGFEST, each guy almost making contact many times with sissy punches and Chase hits a Russian legsweep, the perfect move for an enraged man. He does the Garvin Stomp while spelling out “CHASE U” with the fans as Holland makes sure to lightly sit up and slide down with each stomp so they look more like harmless pushes, and a falling Rock Bottom gets two. They clunkily move around up top and Chase hits a Running Ligerbomb for two. The crowd chants “This is awesome!” (Stop cheering at big move kickouts! THESE PEOPLE ARE WATCHING WRESTLING INCORRECTLY!) as he goes for the Jobber Cross-Body, but Ridge rolls through and deadlifts him up, hitting another Redeemer for three (8:42 shown). hahahaha after all that interference and Chase U saving the day, he still jobs?

This looked really bad and fake- like the moves so clearly don’t make contact it’s as bad as the indie stuff where guys help each other twirl. The selling here was BAD, with Ridge smoothly lifting himself up and sliding down off of moves and everyone whiffing all their strikes, and sometimes selling way out of time with what others were doing. I couldn’t believe Holland was like 35 here; he seems very clunky and inexperienced, herky-jerkily moving guys around in lifts and constantly trying to readjust stuff. I am not surprised he hurt Big E with his suplex. Chase seemed okay but didn’t exactly have much to work with. The goo-gah around the match was better than the actual bout.

Rating: * (as business-exposing as cooperative flippy stuff with all the shifting and openly trying to move around one another)

ugh. The “half-setup” Korakuen Hall set. Really ugly setting for matches, as a giant divider comes down and has a screen against it with a few fans on a bench.

RICKY MARVIN vs. HARLEM BRAVADO:
(Pro Wrestling NOAH, 2/14/2012)
* Though this would be a funny one. I was gonna joke about how young and harmless Harlem looks and then I see his 6’2″ ass a full head taller than Marvin, who is PUNY. Harlem’s in white & pink trunks while Marvin’s in black tights.

The match is so ROH that Harlem immediately hits a tope con hilo to the floor. He scores a missile dropkick, but gets crotched in the other corner and stands there fakely so that Marvin can hit a surprise rana. Marvin misses a 619 but scoots in another one using the momentum between the other ropes- he Lionsaults onto knees and Harlem hits the “thigh-slap” enzuigiri and a tornado DDT, but YOU CAN’T POWERBOMB MARVIN! A lot of open cooperation on these moves. Marvin does the upside-down flip off the ropes but gets dropkicked, and Harlem does a terrible release Death Valley Driver for two. Marvin chases him to the ropes and trips him to set up a Lionsault for two, then they shove the ref into each other and Marvin hits his own thigh-slapzuigiri and goes for a slingshot DDT, Harlem openly reaching his arms up to catch him and takes a very smooth non-bump. Like, he hits the ground via his ASS on a DDT bump. The Generic Trading Forearms spot leads to a Marvin German. He scores two superkicks and a DVD of his own for 2.9 (lol why did Harlem do his own if that’s a big Marvin move?) as the crowd has utterly died. Sabu Moonsault gets three for Marvin at (4:19).

Wow I was not expecting this, haha. Sooooo much open cooperation during moves and guys carefully standing there for the other guy to hit a thing, scooping them up and helping them along. And it didn’t really have a “story” at all- it was just “I try a thing then you try a thing” with tons of insta-counters and the other guy starting offense. What’s funny is a lot of people were acting like AEW was the future of wrestling when this 2012 NOAH match looks exactly like a lot of Dynamite matches- helping each other twirl and slappin’ thighs aplenty with no facial reactions, intensity or story being told. The crowd was dead, probably because they’re watching two jobbers fight and trade MOVEZ with no story.

Rating: * (very phony and just trading a ton of moves in 4 minutes until one randomly wins)