National Pro Wrestling Day
Palmer Center (Easton, PA)
Best 2 out of 3 falls
Drew Gulak and Colt Cabana opened up the 2nd annual National Pro Wrestling Day with an enjoyable 12-minute, 2 out of 3 falls match.
I rarely have this criticism of any wrestler since I generally fall in the “less is more” camp, but sometimes Cabana’s matches are too simplistic. Or to frame it another way, sometimes he relies too exclusively on comedy and cutesy spots where he frustrates to the point where his matches sometimes feel like they don’t actually go anywhere. Gulak – in some aspects – has the opposite problem. He has the basics of solid mat work down but he also has a tendency to go from that stuff to big moves and turnbuckle power bombs in an instant. Cabana might not always do enough while Gulak might sometimes do too much.
This was a classic example of two wrestlers with obvious strengths and weaknesses balancing one another out. The first fall lasts about half of the match and comprises largely of British-influenced pinning combinations and mat work, as well as some neat submission attempts. Cabana is the star here, mixing the right amount of comedy with a bunch of cool-looking and smooth wrestling. They also work a couple of payoff spots into the match, including Cabana’s repeated attempts to slam Gulak and a sequence where both wrestlers try the “crawl through my opponent’s legs” game to varying results. The former spot is used several times throughout the match and really weaves the three falls together.
The submissions here are also well done. I thought the use of the Gu-lock was especially strong and Cabana’s counters of it during the third fall were particularly fun. The match manages to finish strong without resorting to the big-move ending that hurts so many Indie matches. Cabana did a little more than he usual does in terms of offense while Gulak does less, which results in a fun contest.
Cabana and Gulak probably could have added a couple of more minutes onto the match and been fine, which is a big compliment to them. With how many matches go several minutes too long these days on the Indies, it was nice to watch a match that ended with me wanting more.
Mat Based | Watch It | Quality
