wrestling / TV Reports
Sambus’ Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport XV Review
Image via GCW
Loading...Bloodsport presents somewhat of a true Forbidden Door experience, with Pete Dunne, Zack Sabre Jr, Nattie Neidhart, Shayna Baszler, Yuji Nagata, Charlie Dempsey and Josh Barnett all on the card. For those new to Bloodsport, pinfalls do not count, leaving decisions to be made by submission or knockout. That gives a unique flavor to the show, so let’s see how this year’s edition holds up.
Location: Las Vegas, NV
Venue: The Horseshoe
*Emil Jay welcomes us to the show and we get each competitor heading to the ring individually for official introductions.
Josh Barnett takes the mic but passes it to Charlie Dempsey, who seems to get rattled by the fans heckling him. This is where the most dangerous wrestling all weekend will take place, we are told.
Fight 1: Angel Verduzco vs Matt Mako
Verduzco gets Mako in a fireman’s carry and slams him to the mat, before Mako locks in a triangle submission. Verduzco breaks it and gets to his feet. Front handspring into an ankle lock. Knee strikes from Verduzco and a body slam, Mako holds on with a body scissors. Spin kick from Mako, more knee strikes by Verduzco, catches one from Mako and delivers a Fisherman’s suplex. Single leg crab locked in, transitions into somewhat of a cloverleaf, then reaches back into a modified Muta lock. Mako escapes and they return to their feet. They fire up and go wild on each other, capoeira kick from Mako, suplex and he has a full mount to get the TKO.
Winner: Matt Mako
Time: 5:43
Rating: **1/2 – Short and sweet opener to set the tone for the show. Neither man particularly stood out, but they did everything they needed to and worked a fine five minute match.
Fight 2: Joe Dashou vs Ulka Sasaki
Dashou offers a handshake, Sasaki obliges and Dashou pulls him in with an overhead belly to belly suplex! Dashou grounds Sasaki, front chancery locked in, Sasaki transitions into a rear mount and slaps him in the sides until Dashou gets on top again. Knee strikes from Sasaki, Dashou muscles him over with a judo throw and applies an Anaconda vice, which Ulka reverses and tries for an armbar. Dashou looks for a leglock but can’t get it. Kicks from Sasaki, Dashou with another judo throw. Sleeper locked in, Dashou escapes but Sasaki catches him with an errant knee, TKO just like that!
Winner: Ulka Sasaki
Time: 5:17
Rating: ***1/4 – Neat little story told here with Dashou relatively firmly in control, constantly getting the better of Sasaki, only for Sasaki to get that one lucky strike to knock him out.
Fight 3: Zack Sabre Jr vs Ray Jaz
Jaz goes for the legs early, taking ZSJ to the mat. Headscissors applied by Sabre Jr, but Jaz comes back with a rear mat return. Jaz with a banana split, ZSJ transitions into an armbar but Jaz slips out. Suplex delivered by Jaz, and he goes right into an armbar. ZSJ rolls through into a leg crab, doesn’t have a full grip though. Kneebar attempt from Jaz, cross-armbreaker applied instead, but Zack gets on top. Ray Jaz tries for a kimura, Zack controls the head, both to their feet and Jaz nails a belly to belly suplex. Jaz tries to dump ZSJ on the back of his head, Zack escapes and they’re face to face once more. Sabre Jr locks in almost an upside down octopus, grounds Jaz in a tight neck crank headscissor, and Jaz has to tap.
Winner: Zack Sabre Jr
Time: 6:09
Rating: **3/4 – Zack Sabre Jr trading submission holds with pretty much anyone would make decent viewing, and Ray Jaz got to hold his own against one of the best technical workers in the business.
Fight 4: Miyu Yamashita vs ‘Kick Demon’ Janai Kai
I love that Yamashita’s music sounds like something out of Phoenix Wright. OBJECTION! Both women attempt to fire off a few kicks but all get blocked. Couple of slaps and right hands, headlock takedown by Yamashita, front chancery applied but Kai escapes. Scrappy striking and they boot each other away to create some space. Kai kicks but Yamashita dodges some Kai kicks the ringpost, and Yamashita kicks her from behind. Palm strikes from Kai. Sidewalk slam attempt from Yamashita is denied, but she kicks away at Kai, only for Kai to hit a snap suplex. Thrust kick from Kai knocks Yamashita to the floor! Yamashita gets back in at the last second but eats another kick. Mount from Kai, kicked away, misses a spin kick, crescent heel kick from Yamashita catches Kai this time, and that’s it.
Winner: Miyu Yamashita
Time: 5:30
Rating: **3/4 – Pretty even with both women being relatively tentative throughout but getting their shots in where it counted, with the knockout blow once again coming out of nowhere.
Fight 5: Royce Isaacs vs Shane Mercer
Greco-Roman knuckle lock to start, Isaacs goes for a kneebar but relents when he can’t get it. Guillotine from Mercer, Isaacs gets a mounted position but stands up, only for Mercer to pick the legs. Mercer lays in some body shots, they go 50/50 on leglocks, before Isaacs gets a rear mount. Body scissors and elbow strikes by Isaacs but Mercer takes control. Side headlock attempt from Isaacs, Mercer pushes him away and Isaacs blows off steam around ringside. Back in, Mercer scissors the leg, but Isaacs muscles him up with a German suplex! Kneebar locked in snug, heel control, but Mercer kicks him away. Pump handle suplex from Mercer! Moonsault and Battery fallaway slam!! Capture suplex by Isaacs, and he rains down elbows, locking in a cross-armbreaker but Mercer won’t tap. Isaacs rears back and holds on tight but Mercer rolls over, muscles him up, fireman’s carry into a neckbreaker, rear choke! Anvil elbows from Mercer, Isaacs gets up with him on his shoulders, VICIOUS Death Valley Driver! Dragon sleeper!! Mercer taps!
Winner: Royce Isaacs
Time: 9:05
Rating: ***1/2 – That built into a rocking match, and while it requires a little suspension of disbelief (Moonsault and Battery in a shoot-style match is mad), they did a great job at making the struggle engaging. They threw some absolute BOMBS in there. Really good stuff.
Fight 6: ‘Crazy Kid’ Masashi Takeda vs Pete Dunne
Dunne is using his old Bring Me The Horizon entrance music from his indy days on the Brit scene. Takeda tries for an armbreaker, Dunne rolls through and looks for one of his own. Dunne bends the arm of Takeda backwards and stomps the elbow; Takeda seems to shrug it off. Rear mount from Takeda, rear choke but Dunne elbows out of it. Headscissors applied by Takeda, Dunne bridges out of it. They both deliver a few shots to the chin, quarter nelson by Dunne. Takeda looks for a Kimura, switches to a cross-armbreaker, Dunne gets a heel hook to break it. They slap each other and then demand each other get to their feet. Bit of posturing ensues, and they slap the heck out of each other. Big slap from Takeda rocks Dunne. Cross-armbreaker locked in by Takeda, Dunne slips out the back door and locks in a rear chinlock. Exploder by Takeda to escape a kimura attempt! More slaps exchanged, big right hand from Takeda! Big boot knocks Takeda back. Wild strikes from both guys, knee to the jaw from Takeda. Joint manipulation from Dunne, into the triangle choke with elbow shots. More joint manipulation, more elbows, and Takeda taps.
Winner: Pete Dunne
Time: 8:31
Rating: *** – Takeda shrugged off a fair bit of offense there, like failing to sell the stomp to the outstretched arm, which was a shame. I doubt it came as a surprise for Dunne to win (even in a post-Vince world, I’m sure there are politics that come into play when a WWE contracted superstar competes here) but there were some neat ‘nearfalls’ for Takeda with some of those strikes catching Dunne off-guard.
Fight 7: Erick Stevens vs Fuminore Abe
Fast-paced start as both men jockey to gain control. Stepover toehold, Abe gets the facelock applied too and transitions to the arm. Stevens goes for an armbreaker, Abe kicks away at him. Triangle applied and Stevens slaps the head of Abe. A little joint manipulation too. Body scissors applied on Abe. Headbutt from Stevens while he has the kneebar in, and Stevens is bleeding. STF from Stevens this time, now a crossface but Abe escapes and gets a cross-armbreaker. Stevens flexes while he has Abe on the mat, and Abe is bleeding from the mouth, spraying blood! Stevens chokes him out but Abe reaches back and basically gouges the eyes, ref is lenient! Front chancery, Abe controls with an octopus hold, Stevens fights out with a head and arm throw. Abe starts stomping away at the face of Stevens. Almost an anaconda vice from Stevens, headbutt from Abe, full mount and a ton of rapid headbutts! That’s it, Stevens is out!
Winner: Fuminore Abe
Time: 6:39
Rating: ***1/4 – Much faster pace in this than our previous matches, and it featured a number of neat striking moments as both men did not hold back. I used to like Stevens’ work in ROH and FIP so I got a kick out a seeing him perform well here.
Fight 8: Charlie Dempsey vs Timothy Thatcher
Dempsey grounds Thatcher, Thatcher kicks him in the back but Dempsey gets the leg tied up and wrenches back for a cravat hold. Thatcher looks for a bow and arrow stretch, gets it! Dempsey gets out of it, uppercut to the underside of the arm. Thatcher starts to work on the arm, gets kicked away and they square up to each other once more. Side slam from Dempsey, Thatcher boots him in the face, bends the arm back and gives it a swift, hard knee to the elbow! Dempsey with a knee to the gut and goes for the cross-armbreaker, Thatcher rolls back though and locks in a half crab. Dempsey counters, hooks the heel, then wrenches with an Indian deathlock. To their feet, they trade uppercuts, and Dempsey nails a gutwrench suplex! Thatcher looks for a kimura now, Dempsey locks a headscissors in and wrenches the arm too. Thatcher on top, slaps and punches, now kicks to the back, and he goes back to the single leg crab. Cravat hold throw from Dempsey, Thatcher knees to get out of it. Dragon screw from Dempsey and he continues to focus on the leg and knee of Thatcher. STF from Dempsey, Thatcher is fighting it. Back suplex from Thatcher to break it! Uppercuts and slaps all round, Thatcher ends up falling to the outside. Back in, they trade more European uppercuts, backslide by Thatcher but Dempsey comes back with a German suplex. Forearm to the back of the head! Dempsey almost gets the chickenwing, delivers elbows to the back of the head, and now goes back to the chickenwing and Thatcher is forced to tap out.
Winner: Charlie Dempsey
Time: 10:40
Rating: ***1/2 – This was absolutely their wheelhouse with a strong submission game, and both men looking on top form. Thatcher is still very good in the technical department, and Dempsey is becoming a workhorse. Great technical graps, hard strikes and intensity for the full 10 minutes.
Fight 9: Nattie Neidhart vs Shayna Baszler
Nattie comes out with Chris Bey, Tyson Kidd and Davey Boy Smith Jr. Nattie tries to get an early advantage but Shayna boots her away. Baszler chooses to sit on the mat and invites Nattie to make the next move. Nattie picks the leg and rolls into an ankle lock. Clubbing blows from both women, Shayna tries a Kimura, Nattie responds with elbows to the abdomen. Baszler boxes the ears briefly to break the leglock, and she looks for a SHARPSHOOTER but is just messing with Nattie. Nattie moves to avoid a stomp on the elbow but Baszler follows right up with a knee to the jaw. Nattie back up with a suplex, stomps the head and applies a spinning kneebar. They grapple for leverage, Nattie turns over and locks in a sharpshooter! Baszler catches her with a rear naked choke though! Nattie rolls back and gets a chinlock, maybe more of a choke. Clubbing blows across the face to cover up Baszler seemingly blading. Baszler on her feet with Nattie on her back…and Baszler charges off the side of the ring, taking out a bunch of Nattie’s crew. Baszler prevents Nattie from getting back in the ring, and Nattie reverses, shoving Baszler back into the steel steps. Nattie makes it back in the ring, as does Baszler…wait, no, she didn’t make it in time! Ref has counted her out!
Nattie charges anyway and they both come to blows, only to be broken up by the Snakepit and Dungeon members around ringside. Crowd aren’t happy about that result and the timing could have gone better.
Winner by countout: Nattie Neidhart
Time: 8:05
Rating: ***1/4 – It’s insane how infinitely more watchable Nattie is in this setting and this is the most I’ve enjoyed one of her matches in quite some time. I don’t think the finish worked as well as they hoped, but we were probably unlikely to get a clean finish here anyway. Up until that point though, this was great.
Fight 10: Josh Barnett vs Yuji Nagata
Time for some Blue Justice! Mutual respect is shown with a fist bump. Kicks are thrown, kneebar applied by Nagata, Barnett rolls into a mount and they come back to a standing base. Bloodsport is now trending #2 in the US! Armdrag from Barnett, headscissor applied too, but Nagata escapes and looks for a kimura. Barnett works out of it, gets tripped to the mat and Nagata looks for the cross-armbreaker but can’t get it. Kick to the face. Barnett fires off a wild high kick, doesn’t connect with it though. Body scissors from Nagata, more attempts at the cross-armbreaker are thwarted. Barnett takes Nagata to the mat with a scissor leg takedown. Nagata manages to break it and kick him away, rolling to the outside to recover. Back inside, Barnett goes right back to the leg but Nagata stomps his way out of it. EXPLODER by Nagata! Rolling kick! Wrist-clutch exploder! Nagata locks in a crossface but Barnett rolls out of it. Kick is caught , headbutt, Nagata tries an enziguri but it’s caught, and Barnett transitions into a waistlock. Nagata grounds him…Fujiwara armbar! NAGATA EYE ROLL. Barnett tries to fight it…manages to kick his way out. Kicks from Nagata, caught again, lariat from Barnett! To their feet, they trade blows, and now Barnett connects with a rolling heel kick, following up with a series of forearms to the face (the same way Nagata won 23 years ago in the Tokyo Dome) and that’s the TKO.
Winner: Josh Barnett
Time: 13:40
Rating: *** – By this point, we’d already seen a ton of armbreakers, kneebars, and body scissors so the early goings weren’t as effective as they might have been in isolation. Once they got to the bigger spots from the Exploder onwards this picked up, and the callback to their match over two decades ago was a nice nod to the past.
*Mutual show of respect from both guys after the bell.
*Josh Barnett takes the mic and reflects on the past 7 years of Bloodsport. He says they’ve done everything they wanted to accomplish, and that’s why Bloodsport is shutting up shop. That gets an audible gasp from the crowd. He says has his reasons, but wants to go out on a high while they still have integrity, and so this is it for the foreseeable future. Barnett makes his thank yous and hopes that maybe one day in the future they can do this again.
And on that bombshell and slightly dour note, Bloodsport comes to an end, seemingly for the final time. Thanks for joining me folks, see you next time!
