Intro post to understand why we are doing this. TLDR: Ranking every match in 2CW show. The rankings you see are where these matches rank after completing the show you are reading about.

We are back in Syracuse. A show main evented by wrestlers part of the Wrestling contigent of the roster, who aren’t big names, and in a gimmick match that makes no sense. A couple of debuts ont he show as well from Outkast Killaz and Kevin Grace. One of them makes an impact, and I guess you could say the other one does as well but more their face makes an impact.

42. Loca Vida vs. JD Love

The worst Loca Vida versus JD Love match yet. Will keep it short, it is uninteresting. No big spots. No jumping off basketball hoops. No playing with their coolest moments. As close to paint-by-numbers as you’ll get from these two. Disappointed in JD Love, my beautiful boy, who I know can do all sorts of bullshit to delight me. Certainly not on the level of ass of your typical Killer Steves versus AMIL match, but you shouldn’t watch this.

40. Jason Axe vs. Spike Dudley

Spike doesn’t inspire confidence often in the ol’ Squared Circle Wrestling. Every other match feels like a house show for him. Plenty of people are at this event just for him. He’s clearly the biggest name on this show, even if Spike is damn near on every show. I know in my hearts of hearts, saying he wrestles like someone who knows he doesn’t need to put in 100% effort would be unfair. I’m not a cruel man. I just call ’em like I see ’em.

The issue isn’t an effort problem it is a “Give the people what they want without hurting myself” problem. The audience expects an ECW brawler. Doesn’t matter what he was or is, when folks come to their first 2CW show because ECW SUPERSTAR SPIKE DUDLEY is on the poster, expectations are set. Instead, he tries showing he can Wrestle and then having Jason Axe hit a half dozen tame chairshots on him.

Oh and who cares about Jason Axe. He’s homegrown and all that horsepucky, whatever.

36. Zaquary Springate III vs. Gordy Wallace

Two steps forward, two steps back. For those that aren’t big into math, trying to tell you we are back to their status quo. Huge bummer!

Last match was so good. Understood how to bring violence to the equation. For some reason they decided to go straight back to plodding there way through things, trying to get the crowd involved. When I say “they”, I mean ZS3, Gordy Wallace, and the 2CW booking committee. Sure, the boys could have creative control, got to assume the booking team thought a Fan Brings The Weapon match was necessary. Call me old fashion, I think if you are going to keep running gimmick bouts, you got to escalate the intensity. Don’t take steps backwards. If you are going to, mix up the format, throw out some tags or multi-man matches. Add some spice to life. You should already know these two wrestlers are going to a drop a turd based around matches with high “audience engagement”. I’m also the person who thinks crowd work Instagram Reels are ass. It is half-baked improv. That is a whole other discipline! Take me on a journey, don’t talk to Joe Blow in the second row.

35. Kevin Grace vs. Ajax820

Congrats to these two for not offending me in the opener but there is no meat on this bone.

My guy Kevin murders his face here.

Ajax is the most Replacement Level player 2CW has. A real tone setter. The tone is Eh. Everyone else is required to bring something to the table to make it work. Kevin Grace, first time in 2CW, does single thing that will stick in your memory. Barely getting caught by Ajax820 on a plancha and smacking his face on the leg of the guardrail. I’m not above saying I laughed. Busted him up even! And you know a match isn’t delivering the goods when I’m not being irrationally positive towards a match with any blood whatsoever. I’m a mark through and through that shit and I did NOT care.

22. Outkast Killaz (Oman Tortuga & Diablo Santiago) vs. All Money is Legal (K Pusha & K Murda) vw. The Killer Steves (Studly Steve McKenzie & Mr. One Night Stand Steve Kruz)

Since I have watched this match I’ve been trying to think of some sort of cooking analogy for it. Let me throw some out:

• It is like your mom learned she could use salt for the first time
• It is like replacing gluten-free bread with a gorgeous sourdough
• AMIL and Killer Steves is like using arugula for a dairy replacement and Outkast Killaz actually move it to a meal that makes sense. I don’t know, a salad?
• Going from Left Beef, No Cheese to a serviceable Hot And Ready from your dear friends at Little Caesar’s
• Couldn’t find a food, think of another food that is only technically edible that could be improved. Feel free to submit your responses.

The addition of Outkast Killaz so clearly adds the pizazz you need for this…not stale match-up because that would imply it was ever fresh…bad…sure, bad match-up. I’m not a wordsmith, apologies. They work fast, they work stiff, they are everything the other two teams aren’t. Their version of “ideas” typically involves dropping someone on their neck.

13. Dizzie vs. Slyck Wagner Brown

These two deliver the goods! The dude who looks a real ass Pro Wrestler and one who got Clockwork Orange’d with backyard wrestling highlight vids, then thrown into the ring. Throw in their assumption that they gave him a steady diet of Wendy’s while his eyes were peeled open. Not fat shaming, fat appreciation, dumb ass.

Another analogy, chock-full of them this show: Slyck Wagner Brown is organic peanut butter, you know the one that separates and you gotta stir, and Dizzie is Smucker’s concord grape jelly. It is delicious.
They complement each other so well. Spoiler: this is an important match-up in the context of early 2CW. Every moment of offense from Dizzie is an idea that springs into his brain the moment it happens. Everything he does feels organically inorganic. Catching a kick and doing an overhead snapmare driver is not a normal move to do, but Dizzie hits it like it was the only possible thing to have done for him in that moment. Donate that noggin’ to science. He’s perfect.

Slyck is more your pro’s pro. Best chops in 2CW, a promotion that has Eddie “Eddie Edwards” Edwards. The crowd treats them almost as a bit. He pelts Dizzie around the ringside with them at one point, I screamed with joy. And he’s got a great tope! They tease a dive early in the match where Dizzie runs out the way; they pay it off, and SWB wrecks his ass. Modern wrestling has fully gaslit me on topes. I have almost begun to think “they have always been bad, I just have rose colored glasses”. NO! If you good dives in 2-C-F’n-Dubya, you can have good dives in AEW. There are no excuses. Get your head out of your ass, and throw your body into these dives, end up in the first row if you have to.

What was I saying? Yes, SWB is a pro. Everything he hits is pretty clean. Great base for some of Dizzie’s stupid ideas. There is one moment that he does to set up his stretch muffler, the best job I’ve seen of him actually setting the move up instead of doing it out of nowhere, where does a video-game ass combo on the leg before snaking it in. Looking real kick-ass.

4. Isys Ephex vs. Eddie Edwards

Hate to write about matches I dig. Mostly because I’m a basic person. I’m a wrestling neanderthal. Two dudes hitting each other hard and not doing the same thing for more than 5 seconds, my brain lights up. I don’t need fake overarching narratives that nerds can wax poetically about childhood trauma for 5,000 words. I’ve lived too much of a blessed life for that anyway, I suppose. Apologies.

Do want to say before we get into it, what’s up with a 60-minute time limit? Last match was in-n-out under 15 minutes. What does the longer time limit change? This is 2CW. We are not dealing with high IQ fans. There is a logic you could go with, if you know going in you have 60 minutes versus 15 minutes, you’ll approach the moment-to-moment differently. You aren’t rushed into anything. You can wear someone down. But also, the fans aren’t going to think about that, and based on how we go, these wrestlers weren’t putting a metric-ton of thought into that idea. Sure, they milk some moments a bit more because they can, but that is not in-ring logic. They don’t milk because of strategy, they milk to get these jabroni marks on their feet.

If you read my last 2CW post, you know I was a fan of their last match. Pure, dumb, indie jock wrestling. This is a lot of the same but with 15% more edge. There are moments of pure stank. Full of piss and vinegar. Things like a basic running back elbow that creams Isys. You see them trade headbutts, the smashing of the brains, baby!

To top it off, the finish is pure pandering. Playing off teasing the finish to the last match and changing course. It is the most simplistic version of creating connective tissue between the matches. I’ve got a caveman brain so this clearly and obviously worked for me.