Time to head over to a new promotion in Canada, and a look at a debut show from NEW.
There’s a new player in the Pacific North West, in the shape of Nation Extreme Wrestling.
They held a pair of shows from the Gaming Stadium in Richmond, BC, and their first evening show (technically their second…) has been put up on YouTube for free. There’s two matches that leap off the page at me like a dropkick to the mush. I’ll be covering them separately, but you can view the whole show below:
The set-up within the Gaming Stadium’s quite swish for an indy – with a video screen in the entrance way. There’s also a big wall of glass close to two sides of the ring, which makes for a very unique set-up… This match starts around 1h 10m into the VOD.
Daniel Makabe vs. Nicole Matthews
We’ve a battle of the “grapple nerds” here, to borrow a phrase from Nicole’s pre-match interview, where she took great umbrage to Makabe’s nickname.
Opening with headlocks and wristlocks, Makabe trips up Matthews as the pair looked for the initial advantage. Matthews rolls Makabe down looking for a leg lock, but it’s quickly escaped as Makabe keeps it on the mat, but his chinlock ends in the ropes with still no clear leader. Matthews counters a front facelock into a Northern Lights suplex, then went back to a leg lock that Makabe just scooted back out of. Matthews comes in with a cravat, but Makabe takes it down to the mat as the pair remained close, looking to grab a body part before they ultimately reset. A reverse waistlock ends in the corner, before both wrestlers went for the hair… Makabe boots Matthews out of the corner, then ran in with a big dropkick that left the SHIMMER alum down on the deck.
A snap, floatover front suplex draws a two-count for Makabe, who looked to home in on a keylock, but Matthews escapes to hit some kicks… which Makabe countered by pulling Matthews down into a grounded toe hold. Getting free, Matthews looks for some forearms, but a judo takedown resets things again as Makabe went back to the chinlock. Makabe tries to keep her down, but forearms take Matthews into the ropes ahead of a dropkick that missed. Matthews returns with forearms, then a rolling elbow into the corner as kicks looked to give Makabe a dead leg in the corner. A dropkick to the leg keeps Makabe at bay, as grounded Dragon screws puts him on the defensive, with Matthews looking to get a submission with a deathlock.
Matthews bridges back on the deathlock, but Makabe moves the leg to break the bridge… but couldn’t free himself as Matthews rolled in with an ankle lock, only for things to shift as Makabe deftly maneuvered into a Makabe Lock. Flipping free, Matthews turned defence into attack as she came in with a modified crossface, then some cravat knees and a nice bridging German suplex for a near-fall. Looking for a half crab you think, Matthews gets caught as Makabe hits a deadlift leg-trap German suplex, before a Euro clutch nearly snatched the win. He stays on top, looking for another Makabe Lock, but Matthews escapes with a kick and another Northern Lights suplex… only for Makabe to go back to the ankle. That ends in the ropes, as Matthews was then lifted up top… but a top rope ‘rana’s ducked out of as Matthews crotches him in the buckles.
From there, Matthews scales the ropes again to go for a spider German suplex… and gets it! Surely Daniel’s uncle Togi should have warned him on that? Matthews frees herself but misses a moonsault, as Makabe gets right back up and looked to home in on the legs… he’s pushed into the corner, but Matthews rolls him through for a half crab, turning it into a STF that ended in the ropes. Matthews tries to stay on top, but has to make do with a roll-up as Makabe went for an armbar… Daniel kicks out, and grabs the armbar again, and nearly loses to another roll-up. A low dropkick to the knee and a roll through takes Makabe back in for a knee bar… and that’s a quick submission to end this war of attrition.
The term “intergender wrestling” has been a controversial one at times – with such matches seemingly easily able to upset and entertain in equal measure. It’s all dependent on where you draw your red lines, as to what you’re comfortable with with when it comes to violence in death matches or sexualisation in matches. This one though, was about as “pure competition” as you’ll get – most of this was searching for holds, with striking being extremely limited and done in the context of setting up for the finish. This might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but if you’re into either Makabe or Matthews, this is going to be right up your alley.
Result: Daniel Makabe submitted Nicole Matthews in 16:14 (***¾)