Is it a bandwagon if you go after the fuss dies down? Anyway, we’re taking a look at a match that got quite a bit of (delayed) buzz, with Whitewolf Wrestling’s A-Kid facing his biggest challenge as Absolute Champion so far, coming up against Zack Sabre Jr.
The show’s from Madrid and comes without commentary. Still, it gives you less distractions as the venue’s very ornate. It kind of reminds me of a bigger version of London’s Bush Hall, just without the breakable chandeliers. This one’s up for free on YouTube if you’re not a subscriber to WhiteWolf’s on-demand, or even wXw NOW, where this also appears.
Triple W Absolute Championship: A-Kid (c) vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
We’ve got overdubs here, with crowd noise too… which doesn’t quite fit, but it’s not egregious. At the time of this, A-Kid also was one half of the ATTACK! tag team champions, so he’s a kid with two belts.
Hey look! ZSJ’s able to use Idles without his entrance being magically replaced by a montage! At time of writing, the video’d been up on YouTube for over 3 months too…
A very WWE-sounding bell ring gets us underway, with the the short-wearing Sabre instantly going to his usual game as he grabbed a front headlock, taking Kid into the ropes as the opening feeling-out period seemed to have a little more bite behind them. Kid and Sabre swap Japanese strangle holds for a spell, with A-Kid looking like he was able to get the upper hand… at least until Sabre found a way out.
Sabre proved to be his own worst enemy as an attempt to stretch the hold more just gets Kid free and into the corner, where he comes out with a little more aggression as he started a shoving match with Zack… that ended badly as he’s taken down and pulled around. He’ll learn! He also escaped, but Zack’s in the ropes as the pair surprisingly were even. Zack goes for a surfboard arm stretch, turning it into the move formerly known as the Young Boy Killer before he rolled Kid to the mat for a two-count. A-Kid clearly favoured his shoulder for a while, but still tried to take down Sabre, only for Zack to again free himself with ease. A-Kid tries again, entering Sabre’s guard as he looked to work over the leg, but Sabre frees himself and flips off the Spaniard as he worked into some headscissors as the crowd chanted “this is awesome”. Easy crowd, huh?
After the submission stuff went nowhere, Kid tries to out-strike Sabre… and gets decked with a big forearm. Oh boy. He tries to fight back, but a slap to Sabre ends with Zack double-legging him and going for a leg grapevine, which he switched into some armwork as he just grabbed another limb while on the mat, prompting the Madrid crowd to chant “tap out” at A-Kid. We’re back to the paintbrushing palm strikes, with Sabre dishing out a killer blow, before catching Kid’s attempt at a 619 in the corner.
Yeah, Zack bends him like he’s Stretch Armstrong, going back after the leg as A-Kid had to thank himself for being so close to the ropes. More strikes just see Kid bounce off the mat with another hard forearm, before Sabre tries to twist off Kid’s arm, forcing the champion to run into Sabre with headbutts as his options were limited. Kid tries to throw chops with his good arm… so Zack just stomps on that too. At this point A-Kid may just be restricted to headbutts… a front headlock from Sabre’s countered with a Northern Lights suplex, but Kid takes too long to follow up and he moonsaults into an arm triangle as he again has the ropes to thank. In a weird way.
Sabre keeps on dominating, easily brushing away Kid’s attempts at a comeback before he ran into a monster of a dropkick, before some more strikes again ended with Sabre going back to the arm, this time with an overhead kick. Somehow though, Kid turns things around with a Northern Lights suplex and an armbar… but Sabre needs to rely on the ropes this time as the champion began to build up some momentum. A Northern Lights suplex is good for a near-fall, but Kid’s attempt at a Pele kick whiffs as Sabre grabs the leg and goes back into a single leg crab, bending him in half, before cloverleafing the hold for extra torque. That Rolodex of holds continues, until Kid again gets to the ropes as Sabre’s switches again proved to be an undoing of his.
MORE PAINTBRUSHING PALM STRIKES! Oh God yes! They give way as A-Kid leathers Zack with a clothesline and a bicycle knee, before catching his challenger with a Spanish fly out of nowhere! Kid heads up top but his leap misses – and almost goes from bad to worse as the plastic “canvas” saw his feet skid outwards upon landing. A counter to a running uppercut sees Kid backslide Sabre for a near-fall, before he heads up top again, landing a frog splash that saw him recoil over Sabre, delaying the pin as he collects yet another two-count.
Zack stops that momentum with a Dragon screw and a pair of MURDEROUS PKs, but Kid still has something left in him. Something that Sabre tried to drain as he sparked another exchange of palm strikes, this time ending with a superkick. Kid tries to take Sabre up for a superplex, but he’s caught in a front facelock… then escapes and lands an enziguiri as he instead connects with a Spanish Fly! One superkick after landing… and A-Kid completes the unlikely victory! ****½
My goodness… having only ever seen A-Kid as a tag team wrestler, this tremendously opened my eyes. While the usual indy question of “is (fly-in) really going to win the title on his first night in?) was always in the back of my mind, this was one of those matches that managed to make you forget about all that, while never once coming across as A-Kid “surviving and winning by a fluke”. Block off 20 minutes of your time and watch this – it’s totally worth your while.