BRM Reviews Style Battle S1E2

[Big Red Machine]

Style Battle S1 E2 (2/10/2017)- Ybor City, FL

FIRST-ROUND MATCH: Sami Callihan vs. Dan Barry- 5.5/10
A mediocre brawl where the winner was never in doubt… aside from those one or two fractions of a second during one or two false finishes where they did make you doubt it.

SAMI CALLIHAN PROMO- okay.

FIRST-ROUND MATCH: Fred Yehi vs. Tracer X- 6.25/10
Well there’s an upset for you.

POST-MATCH SEGMENT- good
Yehi interrupted the post-match interview with Tracer X. They made you think he might be pissed but he put Tracer X over. Tracer X did a great job of showing that he was surprised and honored and kind of awed that this big WWN star was putting him over on the mic after losing this big upset.

FIRST-ROUND MATCH: Anthony Henry vs. Caleb Konley- 7.25/10
They started off with Henry, who got eliminated from the previous tournament via going to a thirty-minute time limit draw with Fred Yehi, going for a lot of quick pinfalls and roll-ups. This was a wonderful little touch. Henry picked up the win in a hard-fought match, which is actually the opposite of what I had expected to happen (I thought having him lose a hard-fought match would make him feel lik even more of a babyface and, like I feel with Yehi right now, make you REALLY want to see him finally get that win next time around).

FIRST-ROUND MATCH: Drew Galloway vs. A.R. Fox- 7.75/10
A GREAT power vs. speed match.

DREW GALLOWAY PROMO- great (although it was pretty much a promo for his feud with Matt Riddle in Evolve, but he came up with a good way to justify why he was mentioning it here).

SEMIFINAL MATCH: Tracer X vs. Sami Callihan- 6.75/10
They’ve done a great job with making this Tracer X kid a babyface you can really get behind. The post-match segment helped with this as well. I could say more about this and how well it was booked, but for shows that are essentially just one-night tournaments, I try to avoid spoilers that will totally kill the show for people.

SEMIFINAL MATCH: Drew Galloway vs. Anthony Henry- no rating, meh segment.
The finish was one of those ideas that is perhaps too “real sports.” While the difference in the leniency of referees is certainly a plausible thing that could affect an outcome, I think it’s better for the promotion overall if the enforcement of the rules is always kept consistent.

DREW GALLOWAY PROMO- good. I like how Gabe is setting the stage for Drew either winning the WWN Title or leaving the promotion, depending on what Drew decides to do, and creating a situation where the promotion will look stronger either way.

13 WAY FRAY: Alan Angels vs. Tommy Maserati vs. AC Mack vs. Alex Taylor vs. Matt Palmer vs. CT brown vs. Ashton Starr vs. Austin Theory vs. Eddie Machete vs. Connor Braxton vs. Jackson Kelly vs. Snoop Striker vs. Xander Killen- 4.5/10
Apparently “Fray” matches are now basically Aztec Warfare. I’m dead sure that in previous Gabe-booked promotions “Fray” matches were just elimination matches. I could be wrong about exactly what they were, but I’m certain that they were never this.
Just in case anyone wanted to know what it would look like if Rhett Titus and Luke Harper conceived a child together, we have Connor Braxton. And don’t tell me I’m being ridiculous because he also clearly has Rhett’s propensity for showboating that usually comes back to bite him.
I really hope that Ashton Sarr’s hair is like that because he lost a match where the stip was he had to wear a really ugly hairstyle. The alternative- that he actually thinks it looks good on him- is not something I want to consider.
More people came in and stuff happened and people were eliminated. This was a big, pointless match between guys I have been given absolutely no reason to care about.

PRE-MATCH SEGMENT- We got a tease that the finals wouldn’t happen because of what had happened after one of the semifinal matches (this is really hard to do while trying to not give out spoilers), but the guy who was going to be handed the tournament said he wanted to earn the win and the other guy came out and said they could have the match anyway so they had the match.

STYLE BATTLE 2 FINALS- 7.5/10
A great match with a very good post-match bit between the two competitors as well.

This show was definitely a lot more enjoyable than the first Style Battle show. That is due not only to the higher quality of the wrestling, but also to the booking which, unlike last time, managed to make me care about guys I knew almost nothing about going into this show. It also felt a lot more connected to the other WWN promotions (well… really just Evolve and FIP), which made it feel a little more important than just another random tournament. I only watched this show because I thought it was only fair to give a booker with a fantastic track record like Gabe at least a second show before deciding that I didn’t like the promotion, but both the booking and the wrestling tonight has ensured that I will almost certainly be watching Style Battle S1E3 (not necessarily the moment it airs, but I’m certainly going to make sure I watch it before Style Battle S1E4 happens).