Time to dip into the IWTV archives for a match out of Everett earlier this year, as Without A Cause celebrated their first anniversary. What’s that? Makabe-Deppen 2? Yes please!
This one comes from the VFW Post 2100 in Everett, Washington, and it’s a match between two guys who’ve ended 2019 with some buzz – and we’ve a rematch from their classic during this past August’s Scenic City Invitational too!
Daniel Makabe vs. Tony Deppen
WAC edits out the intros, but not Tony Deppen blowing his nose onto Makabe’s handshake. Lovely.
Makabe makes sure to give Deppen his snot back as he moved to a Greco-Roman knuckle lock, then into a wristlock before some headscissors took Deppen down. Deppen rolls free and grabs a toe hold, as the pair nearly switched between holds on the mat. A backslide from Deppen’s good for just a one-count as Makabe rolled through into a stand-off.
A side headlock from Makabe ends up with him clinging on, taking Deppen to the mat before they got up for shoulder tackles and leapfrogs, which led to a gorgeous fake out as Makabe’s lucha roll saw him grab Deppen on the way through on the way to a Makabe lock attempt. I had to rewind that a few times to just to figure out what happened, as another flurry ended with Makabe pulling a punch.
From the restart, Deppen pulls up Makabe to avoid an Octopus stretch, before the pair seemed to struggle over a gutwrench suplex. Instead, Makabe gets free with a hattrick of armdrags, before some chops wrecked Deppen in the corner. Deppen thought he’s floated over Makabe, but Daniel stayed his ground, before his latest attempt at a forward roll to kick-out Deppen’s legs ended up with Deppen leaping up and stomping on him. If you’ve seen the SCI match, you’ll have roared like I did for that one.
Deppen follows in with a knee drop for a two-count, before he looked to get his own back with chops and chinlocks. A stomp to the head does it too, before Deppen F-bombs his way into a Fireman’s carry that he lost, before he tried the roll-into-taking-out-the-knees spot… which Makabe blocked as he went for a submission instead. Deppen’s back with forearms in the corner, then a running Meteora before a 1999 Jericho-esque pin didn’t get the job done. From there, Deppen heads into the crowd and gets into it with a fan, as security ended up calming things down… while Makabe managed to recover and throw some forearms at Deppen.
Another roll through sees Deppen catch out Makabe with a kick to the knees, sending Makabe rolling outside… but Deppen’s attempt at what I guess was a Golden Triangle moonsault was rudely abrupted when Makabe caught him with a German suplex on the apron. Lovely stuff. A low-pe con giro follows as Makabe wiped out the front row to boot, before a missile dropkick back inside finds its mark for a near-fall.
Yeah, the audio here’s skipped like a second ahead, so our commentator has turned into Nostradamus, predicting moves before they land. Ah well. Makabe keeps going with an Octopus stretch, but Deppen gets free… and ends up eating European uppercuts before Deppen kicked away the baseball punch. A death valley driver nearly gets Deppen the win, and that kick-out clearly frustrated him. Makabe pulls down Deppen’s knee pad as the pair trade headbutts, before a shot to the knee and the baseball punch – tagged the Big Unit punch here – weakened Deppen for a German suplex that nearly took the win.
A tonne of standing switches led to Deppen tripping Makabe, but it repeatedly backfires as a Euro clutch got Makabe a near-fall, before Deppen kicked out and rolled in with a STF that ended in the ropes. Makabe’s back with an inside cradle as Deppen was composing himself, before Makabe looked for another Euro clutch, and rolled into a Cattle Mutilation, then swivelled into a seatbelt clutch a la Timothy Thatcher… and that’s enough to get the win! Some glorious callbacks to their SCI match here, with plenty of little things for wrestling nerds like myself to hoover up and delight in. While things maybe were a bit too frenetic at the end, this was a grand ol’ match that you’ll not regret spending the time on. ****¼
Right, who’s doing Makabe/Deppen 3? You’d better be based in Europe, is all I’m saying…
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