Euro Fury: Tetsujin Shoot Style

Tetsujin Shoot Style

 

November 20 2015

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6JOc_BRqWQ&feature=share

 

This is available for free on YouTube after the Sunday Falsies announced they’d be doing a second show. This dropped on YouTube a full year after the original Tetsujin show happened. Beauty in Combat. We’re in Liverpool at the Black-E. This is a one night tournament featuring an array of UK talent. The gimmick was that it took place under shoot-esque rules and a worked shoot style. It was done in association with wXw so there are several German based imports on this show including Walter and End in a “Superfight”. During tonight you can only win by knock-out or submission. No pinfalls. Fuck pinfalls. This is real work.

 

Quarter Final

Zack Gibson vs. Jack Gallagher

Jack is a genuine shooter so he comes out here in a gi to oppose Gibson’s pro-wrestling trunks. Immediately he looks like a tournament favourite. These guys are familiar with each other, which makes life easy and Gallagher is particularly exceptional at mat work. When Jack is hitting the legsweep to get a headlock takeover it does make it feel more legitimate. Both guys do good work in making the whole thing look like a shoot. Gibson looks out of his depth a few times, with Jack’s MMA experience allowing him to transition into submissions easily. Gibson has to hit a big spot, which is a deadlift powerbomb. This sets up the Shankly Gates but Jacks slips out and hooks a choke for the win. The chemistry between these two allowed them to get into the meat of the match quickly and while it was almost completely heatless it was fairly enjoyable.

Final Rating: ***1/4

 

Quarter Final

Tyler Bate vs. Chris Brookes

Fight Club Pro are repped hard here with two lads from the Midlands. Tyler opts to wrestle in pants and only pants. It makes him look like one of Dalton Castle’s boys on their day off. Brookes is much taller and has a size and reach advantage. Tyler has a massive thighs advantage. The atmosphere remains totally weird and you can hear bartenders clinking bottles around in the background. It’s almost as if no one really knows what to expect or how to behave. This extends to the wrestlers and at one point Brookes holds his own hand behind his back absent-mindedly after Tyler has transitioned to his leg. Tyler occasionally resorts to wrestling moves like German suplexes and uppercuts. Brookes gets a submission and we move on.

Final Rating: **1/4

 

Quarter Final

Dan Moloney vs. Chris Ridgeway

Moloney is also from Fight Club Pro. Ridgeway is starting to get exposure across the UK and rightly so. Dan adopts a shoot stance and gets quite aggressive. When they try and strike it out the slaps don’t work at all. Moloney mounts and punches Ridgeway in the back of the head and the ref has to stop the match to count. That doesn’t work for me. Just stop it. If he can’t protect himself then call it. Eventually the ref does and it’s over.

Final Rating: ½*

 

Quarter Final

Trent Seven vs. Dave Mastiff

More Midlands lads. Trent is Fight Club Pro and Mastiff is a super heavyweight. Logically he should squash almost everyone because of his size. Trent has tactics and it mostly involves grabbing a hold and leaning on Dave to stop him using his power. It works to a degree and Trent is the best at getting reactions because he’s so naturally funny and charming. Mastiff doesn’t seem to be interested in the concept and all the mat grappling goes nowhere. Eventually Dave grabs a facelock and knees Trent repeatedly. He follows with a gargantuan German suplex and some ground and pound until the ref stops it. The last minute or so was terrific but everything that preceded it was merely passable. Mastiff looked like a monster in winning. He’s the big bad guy for the semi-final line up.

Final Rating: **1/2

 

Semi Final

Dan Moloney vs. Chris Brookes

There’s a massive Fight Club Pro vibe now with Matt Taylor-Richards as the ring announcer and two FCP wrestlers against each other. If Joel Allen was the referee we’d be ‘all in’. Moloney slides into work rapidly with wild missed strikes and a clothesline. It makes something that was already weird even weirder. Brookes takes him down with a kneebar and gets the tap out. This didn’t work at all.

Final Rating: ½*

 

Semi Final

Dave Mastiff vs. Jack Gallagher

Mastiff’s vicious win over Seven has given Jack a mountain to climb and a much needed heel/face dynamic, which the Liverpool audience doesn’t want to buy into. Watching this show reminds me of New Japan’s run of ‘shoot style’ shows and how hard it is to get people invested in something that’s basically MMA but worked. Professional wrestling is that already but with added entertainment value. Mastiff has the right idea, hitting big strikes and watching Jack milk the count. The structure, with the ten count, doesn’t ring true compared to MMA where you’re either out or you’re not. The mesh of boxing and wrestling is too weird. Gallagher catches Mastiff in a choke and advances to the final. Mastiff’s heavy strikes were a highlight here.

Final Rating: **1/2

 

Superfight

Big Daddy Walter vs. Tommy End

This has a big match vibe to it and both guys know what they’re doing. Walter uses his size while Tommy brings the strikes. It’s an intriguing contest that exists somewhere between MMA and wrestling. Again the ten count for a knock down interferes with the process and makes the action choppy. The rules have hindered the boys. Tommy works with them anyway and uses leg kicks to keep Walter off-kilter. The only time the ten count really works is when End catches Walter with a big roundhouse and if it wasn’t for the ten count the match would be over. Walter hits a massive powerbomb and the ref decides to call the match instead of counting to ten. These rules and refereeing decisions are killing these matches. The striking in this was fantastic but the structuring didn’t help.

Final Rating: ***1/4

 

Final

Chris Brookes vs. Jack Gallagher

Half the crowd have latched onto Jack being from Manchester and are now actively booing him…but not cheering Brookes. Gallagher’s technique here is simply outstanding. It looks like a shoot due to his approach to moves and the way he feeds Brookes comebacks. WWE signed Gallagher based on his sports entertainer persona but they might be quite excited to discover this maverick shooter persona hidden away within the package. It’s weird how Jack’s unorthodox approach gets heat here with the Liverpool audience preferring he stand up and fight like a man. The weird rules result in a double down as both guys try to sell the harsh nature of a one night tournament. Then Jack wins with a flying armbar out of nowhere for the submission.

Final Rating: ***

 

 

5.5

The final score: review Not So Good

The 411

Tetsujin is certainly different. It harks back to early UFC shows where they had tournaments and yet the meshing of rules didn’t work for me. If knock outs were simply when someone was knocked down and no longer responded, which happened at times, and they got rid of the ten count it might be more effective. This is perhaps why the promotion never took off and a year later there’s still no follow up show with the ‘champion’ having signed for WWE. It was interesting to see something so unique, which allowed genuine tough men to showcase their skills. Most of them incorporate those skills into professional wrestling but it was nice to see a show constructed of shoot style. My biggest complaint is that the rules didn’t work to allow the matches to flow correctly. If they get that sorted Tetsujin could be on to a winner. They’ve announced a follow up show and their Twitter account is following Jeff Cobb and Matt Riddle. Watch this space.