Eddie Kingston vs. Brodie Lee, CHIKARA It’s How You Play The Game (3/25/2012)

This was for Kingston’s CHIKARA Grand Championship title.

The name of the show is fitting in a way CHIKARA’s media themed shows rarely are, as this is Brodie’s last night in town, soon to depart for developmental. As such, he obviously won’t be winning the title, and it puts the slightest pall over the proceedings. Fortunately, it’s Eddie Kingston vs. Brodie Lee. This is both a must-see slugfest between arguably the two best heavyweights in independent wrestling at this point and a first time match with a ton of history and build up in CHIKARA, from their time together in the Roughnecks and Brodie’s gripe about having to leave the 12 Large Summit with an injury.

This is hurt, to some extent, by the atmosphere. I say that as a former long time and once-devoted CHIKARA fan. It’s the sort of match that deserved the Arena, or the New York venue. It’s not a church basement sort of a match. But, I get the feeling that this came about earlier than expected because of Brodie’s departure, and this show was booked. Again, you work with the tools you have.

Ultimately, that doesn’t matter all that match. None of that does. It’s Eddie Kingston vs. Brodie Lee, and while there are maybe contributing factors into it not being some absolute barnburner all time war, it still absolutely whips ass. Brodie Lee is the best big man of his generation and delivers a phenomenal beating. While CHIKARA commentary or story would never acknowledge something so real and something that isn’t some intricate comic book ass fifteen year backstory laden story of their own making, the two men in the match acknowledge and work to what’s actually going on. Brodie taunts Eddie and the fans about where he’s going. Eddie pisses him off by derisively calling him “entertainer”. Brodie’s mean as hell, he has a perfect right hand uppercut, but he gets a lot of simple stomping and dropping limbs across Eddie’s body too. It’s not as gutsy or emotional as his work selling a leg, but Kingston puts forth a great exhibition on how someone should sell an attack on the chest. Always wheezing, rolling away for space, rolling out over the apron like he might throw up. Another perfect Eddie Kingston selling performance in a much more low key sort of way.

They turn it up, and it’s good. It’s less interesting to me than the first half of the match, but that’s not an insult to the work they’re doing. Brodie lands a lot of great boots, Eddie dumps him on his head and swings for the fences. There’s maybe a thing or three too many at points. As rock solid as all the work is, it’s still a little hard to buy into certain things here, given everything we already know going in. Eddie eventually topples the Big Rig and hits a northern Sliding D for the win, lacking some of the punch and bombast of the regular version.

While it’s hardly the epic it could be, I cannot imagine someone not leaving this at least satiated to some extent. It’s a very satisfying pocket defense, great smaller show stuff. There’s a bully and the bully eventually fucks around and finds out. Not quite a pay per view level epic, but a great television main event. A heated early defense in a long reign, and as fitting an end as there could be to Brodie’s CHIKARA tenure given the departure of his greatest rival and his original running buddies. Perhaps a novelty to newer fans, and one absolutely worth seeking out.

***1/4

Jon Moxley vs. Mr. Brodie Lee, AEW Double or Nothing (5/23/2020)

This was for Moxley’s AEW World Title.

The best match in the history of the AEW World Title. The only great match in the history of the AEW World Title.

It’s the natural evolution of their matches in EVOLVE and CZW a decade ago, in a way that their WWE matches were never able to be. I liked those matches well enough for what they were, talent always finds a way and all that, but almost every WWE “brawl” feels like a put on in a way that this didn’t and lacked a sense of proper chaos like this had. It isn’t WILD in the truest sense, it’s just a brawl that gets out of control and never falls back into it, but it’s so much fun. They get to use the surroundings too, but it never feels like they need the props to make the match good, so much as that they are going to fight everywhere and these wooden casino props are heavy, so they may as well use them to try and hurt each other too. It’s an extension of the match, rather than something tacked on to try and elevate it. The match itself is delightfully uncomplicated. They want to hurt each other, they hurt each other, and Moxley is slowly overwhelmed by the size and ferocity of his old foe’s attack, before being forced to do something extraordinary that changes the match.

The most refreshing thing about it is how Brodie Lee gets to feel important again for the first time in eight years. The character sucks, his Dark Order get up is absolute trash, but underneath it all, he’s still Brodie Lee. He’s the best big man of a generation and once again walks that tightrope perfectly between being a bully and doing a lot of really cool things on offense. Moxley is a presence and certainly carries his own weight, but it felt really really good to see Brodie unleashed for the first time in such a long time.

Following the big Paradigm Shift through the small Big Ramp, Brodie is about taken out, but they make a pair of decisions that help this a lot, and make a wonderful contrast to the mistakes of Cody vs. Archer earlier in the night. Similarly here, Moxley has to unload multiple version of his finish. Brodie kicks out at one following a Paradigm Shift in the ring, leading to Moxley now attacking the cut that’s opened up. A second lifting one leads to a two count. Instead of going two in a row, it’s now two different big kickouts that maybe people didn’t expect from Brodie, given how he’s been treated elsewhere for years. Is it a little excessive? Hey, yeah. Maybe. But it’s Brodie Lee, I’m not going to get mad an attempt to elevate Brodie Lee a little bit.

Instead of simply repeating himself until it’s boring, Moxley makes another far more interesting decision that both helps the match and helps out Brodie a little more, and he chokes him out for the win. Brodie gains a little something, and Mox loses nothing, because his defining feature has always been the sort of grit that makes something like this match and this finish work so well.

Not just a great goddamned fight, but a great goddamned fight where everybody comes out looking better.

***1/4

 

Sami Callihan vs. Brodie Lee, EVOLVE 8 (5/21/2011)

This was a first round match in the inaugural Style Battle tournament, but you can absolutely ignore that because it was stupid and I’m not going to talk about it.

Of main importance is that this is one of the better Sami Sprints during this peak run, finally working with someone on his own level instead of having to devote his energy to both his own performance and towards elevating someone else to his level (Walter, Alex Colon, Adam Cole, take your pick really). Like most of the best things ever, this is not all that complex. Sami is smaller than Brodie and has to chop him down. It’s not quite as guttural or severe as Sami vs. Walter from two months prior, but it hits all the same notes.

What this lacks in pomp and circumstance, it makes up for by being a little more thoughtfully put together, in addition to all the hard shots and cool head drops. Walter was a baby bull, but Brodie’s at the peak of his powers and adds in all these wonderful little touches to accompany Sami’s. Everything has to be a struggle for a guy like Sami Callihan, so Brodie helps him out. He’s always shoving him away or blocking moves two or three times before Sami can hit them. He’s especially good at fighting off any application of the Stretch Muffler. By the final third, anything Sami gets in, even just getting his hands on Brodie and moving past his superior reach, feels like a victory. The result is an actual victory feeling like that much more of an accomplishment. Sami gets him down and gets him in the Muffler and kicks him in the head, mainly in the left eye, until Brodie surrenders. Sami chops down another tree, hard work overcomes a natural gift. Simple pro wrestling. 

This shit almost never has to be hard or complex or, god, wasteful, and at this point, nobody understands that better than Sami.

***1/2