Views from the Hawke’s Nest: Review of Free Matches from the Independent Wrestling World Part 2

Consider this article to be a free independent wrestling sampler. I look at (and provide) a number of free independent wrestling matches that give you a taste of a number of different independent pro wrestling companies in the world. I encourage you all to check out these matches and investigate all of these companies more. All of these matches have been legally provided by the companies themselves.

If you’re interested in more free wrestling matches (legally provided), I encourage you to check out my site: FreeProWrestling.com. We have lots of free matches (new match is posted Monday-Friday), and sometimes we are able to get thoughts from the wrestlers who competed in the matches. . So far, we’ve been lucky to have thoughts from Eddie Kingston, Prince Devitt, Sugar Dunkerton, AR Fox, and more! If you like wrestling and you hate spending money, I think you will enjoy it!

PAC vs. Brodie Lee vs. Sami Callihan vs. Rich Swann from 2CW 2012

Sami came to the ring with a spike, which made everyone a little weary. Brodie immediately took Sami down with a big right hand. In fact, Brodie took down everybody right away. Brodie got sent to the outside, and then Callihan and Swann started to go at it. Swann injured his knee and tagged in PAC who killed Sami, doing some of his trademark crazy athletic spots. The crowd went wild for it. PAC and Swann then each took out Sami and Brodie with planchas. Sami ended up back in the ring, and Swann and PAC then each did ace crushers and standing shooting star presses to him. Brodie recovered and did a double chokeslam to the two high fliers. Sami took down Brodie, then Swann superkicked Sami out of the ring. Brodie took down Swann with a Truck stop and PAC hit a German suplex on Brodie. PAC went for a springboard move, but he ate a big boot from Brodie. Brodie went to give a big boot to Sami, but Sami rolled him up out of nowhere to get the win!

This was so much fun and the crowd was going wild for everything. They were very appreciative of everyone in the ring, especially PAC. This is definitely a match you want to watch. My only criticism is that it seems like PAC could have been used in a more special way, but when the end product is so much fun, that’s really just a minor nitpick.
Match Rating: ***3/4

Kevin Steen vs. Claudio Castagnoli from C*4 Wrestling 2009

For the first five minutes, neither man got in any serious offense, but a shoulder takedown by Steen opened the door for him to do some damage. The crowd told Steen to get “mean” so Steen ripped the band aid off of Claudio’s head. Steen started selling his knee (this was right before ROH was teasing his retirement due to knee injuries). Claudio left the match and got a microphone. Claudio made fun of Steen and the fans for not being in as good shape as him. That is definitely true. Claudio asked Steen to just hand over the title or he will end his career. Steen slapped him and rolled him up for a nearfall. Claudio quickly recovered went to town on Steen’s injured knee. Claudio used a chair to do damage too. Claudio locked in a half-crab on the injured knee, but Steen crawled to the ropes. Claudio then locked in the Sharp Shooter! Steen managed to make the ropes again. Steen came back and hit a tornado DDT to slow the giant man down. Steen hit the pumphandle neckbreaker, but it ws on Steen’s injured knee. Steen went to the top rope, but Claudio met him up there. Steen bit Claudio’s head. Steen went for a senton, but Claudio got his knees up. Brogue Kick from Claudio! Alpamare Waterslide: 1…2…NO! Claudio locked in another single leg crab, but Steen made the ropes again.. Claudio went for the Ricola Bomb, but Steen rolled through and locked in the Sharp Shooter! Claudio taps!

I really enjoyed this match. If you have only seen them work the fast ROH style, then this match may surprise you. They worked it slow, but very smart and very crowd engaging. Steen spent most of 2009 selling his knee seemingly, so he pretty much had it down pat in this match. I really miss Claudio on the independents; he is an incredible talent. Both of these men should be making millions in wrestling.
Match Rating: ***1/2

Eddie Kingston vs. Twiggy from Inter Species Wrestling 2011

Eddie Kingston comes out during Twiggy’s entrance music and calls all the fans “pieces of shit.” The crowd cheers him anyway. Kingston runs down the crowd more, and yells for Mike Rotch to hit Twiggy’s music. Twiggy comes out and Kingston immediately jumps him outside the ring. Kingston says he has made the match a “no DQ” match. Twiggy fought back with a CUPCAKE! Twiggy then pulled out a chair and threw it in Kingston’s face but the weapon did little damage. Kingston yelled at Rotch some more, which gave Twiggy time to recover and hit a plancha. They ended up in the ring and Kingston takes Twiggy down with a big boot. Kingston hits a delayed vertical suplex and then yells at Rotch some more. Kingston then hits a FU and moons Rotch. The crowd asks Eddie to whip out his dick. Eddie takes off his belt and whips and chokes Twiggy with it (good thing he didn’t use his dick for that spot). Kingston was going for a superplex, but Twiggy hit a sunset flip powerbomb out of nowhere. Crowd was completely behind Twiggy after that. Kingston catches him with Backfist to the Future, but he pulls up on pinning him, opting to do more damage. That backfires as Twiggy hits three superkicks and a big top rope splash: 1…2…NO! Kingston recovers and kills Twiggy with a lariat: 1…2…NO! Twiggy gets a backslide out of nowhere and picks up the win! Twiggy says he is coming for the ISW title now. Eddie threw a hissy fit after the match and made fun of the fans more.

I really enjoyed this match. I don’t watch CZW or IWA-MS, so it’s rare that I get to see Kingston outside of the PG Chikara atmosphere. Kingston is one of the most enjoyable performers to watch today and his performance here was no exception. Twiggy made for a great spunky, athletic babyface that can sell a beating and then make a cool comeback. I’m surprised he hasn’t been booked in more high profile places over the years, and I now I want to watch more of him in ISW.
Match Rating: ***1/4

Aaron Epic vs. Kyle Matthews from Modern Arts Grappling 2011

Epic comes out with a Beyond Wrestling hoodie. Epic was pushed as a representative of Beyond, while Matthews’s experience with Zero1 was emphasized by the commentators.
Matthews went for a suicide dive early, but Epic blocked him as Matthews was coming through the ropes. Epic got the heat after that. Matthews hit a running kick (that the camera missed) to take down Epic. Matthews hit a superkick for a nearfall. Matthews was going for an abdominal stretch, but Epic avoided it and hit a big lariat for a nearfall of his own. They traded some more nearfalls after that. Epic hit his Fastball Punch: 1…2…NO! Matthews then locked in an abdominal stretch, but Epic escaped and hit a 2K1 Bomb: 1…2…3!

Good match. They may have had too many nearfalls before the Fastball Punch, but that is a small nitpick. If they spaced out the nearfalls and worked the crowd some more, they may have gotten an even better result (but as I said, the match was definitely good). Everything they did looked so fluid, and their timing seemed perfect on everything (liked they had worked each other all the time, but I’m pretty sure they haven’t).
Match Rating: ***

Masato Yoshino vs. AR Fox from DGUSA 2011

You can also download this match here.

Fox goes for a somersault plancha early, but Yoshino avoids it…only for Fox to land on his feet. Incredible. Fox then hits the kick-flip moonsault on Yoshino. Back in the ring, Fox hits a springboard cross-body. Fox was in control of the match after that. Yoshino cut him off with a sling blade. Yoshino went for a top rope dropkick, but Fox avoided it and hit an ace crusher. Yoshino blocked a split-legged moonsault and then locked in From Jungle. Fox escaped and casually hit a 450 splash. Yoshino blocked Lo Mein Pain and then hit his beautiful top rope dropkick. They traded some strikes until Yoshio hit torbellino. Yoshino then locked in Sol Naciente…and Fox taps out!

I really enjoyed this match, and I would be curious to see what these two could do with more time. I’ve really come to see Fox as someone who can be a star someday, so I hope he’s put in as many high profile positions as possible in DGUSA and Evolve going forward. If Johnny Gargano was the breakout main eventer for DGUSA in 2011, I think Fox can be that breakout main eventer in 2012.
Match Rating: ***

Johnny Saint vs. Johnny Kidd from LDN Wrestling 2007

This was Saint’s first match since 1996 when he retired in Japan, which initially ended a nearly 40 year career. Someone from Japan came out to give Saint a gift before the match. It wasn’t explained well enough, but I know Saint competed extensively in Japan (and that he really enjoyed the experiences). Kidd was actually a replacement for Steve Gray, who had back issues that forced him to the sidelines. This match has a 30 minute time limit, with 6 rounds of 5 minutes.

Round 1: Things were mostly even during this round. Neither man had the advantage for very long. It was beautiful as expected.

Round 2: Kidd locked in an abdominal stretch, but Saint escaped. Kidd reversed a rollup attempt and scored a pinfall! 1-0 Kidd!

Round 3: Saint actually had the advantage at several points in this round, coming close to a submission. Kidd locked in several holds, but Saint forced him to the outside of the ring twice in a row. Kidd actually got Saint in the torture rack position at one point, but Saint escaped unscathed. The round ended without either man getting a fall, shortly thereafter.

Round 4: Saint used the great Lady in the Lake and the Johnny Saint Special, which helped him get a fall, very early in the round. Tied 1-1!

Round 5: Saint used a BEAUTIFUL combination to score an early fall in the round, which gives him the WIN: 2-1!

This match, as expected, was beautiful and a pleasure to watch. I encourage all of you to watch this match right now. Saint gets on the microphone after the match and puts over Kidd for already wrestling earlier on the show. Saint then puts over the crowd for giving him a great reception after being away from the ring for so long. Just a very nice moment all around for World of Sport.

Thanks everybody for reading! You can send feedback to Twitter or at my email address: [email protected]. If you are a wrestling personality who would like to be interviewed by 411mania, you can also contact me in either of those ways.

The 411: These are some really good matches and I encourage you to check all of them out. The four-way from 2CW was clearly the highlight of this selection, but as I said, all of them are worth watching. If you want more free wrestling, check out FreeProWrestling.com!
Final Score:  7.3   [ Good ]