We take a look at a much talked-about main event from Limitless’ last show, featuring Daniel Garcia defending the title against JD Drake.
Since the pandemic started, Limitless have been doing their shows from the American Legion Post 84 in Orono, Maine, with the locker room usually on hand to act as the crowd and provide atmosphere for their “The Road” weekly shows.
Limitless World Championship: JD Drake vs. Daniel Garcia (c)
Garcia beat Christian Casanova for the title back in March – after he’d signed for WWE… Casanova had only just held the title for three months after Anthony Greene vacated it upon his signing with WWE. Given that the only other holder of the title was MJF, it’s fair to say that in its two year run, the Limitless title has been pretty good as far as signposting that a contract is in your future…
Garcia had Kevin Blackwood at ringside – those two have become a bit of a unit in Limitless, always seconding each other – and we start with Drake backing Garcia into the corner. They take it to the mat, but Garcia’s backed into the ropes as he tried to take the sting out of the match.
Drake takes down Garcia with an armdrag, but the champion’s attempt to counter a hammerlock ends up on the mat as the ropes quickly save Garcia… who’s then kicked in the back as Garcia tried to swipe back at Drake out of frustration. Drake lands the first real big shot, hitting a back suplex as Garcia went for a side headlock, before he dropped the leg on Garcia as he went for an armbar.
Garcia tries to counter out of a wristlock, but Drake keeps hold before rolling the champion down for a kick to the back, forcing Garcia to powder outside again to try and compose himself again. Back inside, Garcia chops Drake, but it has little effect other than just annoying the big man, who blocks an armdrag before trying to stomp a hole through Garcia on the mat.
Garcia runs into an armdrag as he tried to rile up Drake, before he went to the ear… but Drake shrugs it off and returned with a dropkick as he started to fall into Garcia’s traps. A missed chop in the corner allows Garcia to trip Drake. A low dropkick keeps Drake down, but Drake’s up before one as Garcia was finally able to try and wrestle Drake on the mat.
Drake fights out of a front chancery, but just gets Garcia’s boot raked across his face as “Red Death” then tried for a German suplex. Drake clings to the corner as Garcia poked the proverbial bear with kicks and chops, only to get swatted down. Garcia’s right back up with a kick, before he cornered Drake with elbows to the midsection.
More body blows keep Drake on the back foot as he’s dragged to the mat. Drake flips off Garcia amid a front chancery, so Garcia just kneels on the hand before he swivelled Drake around for a grounded abdominal stretch away from the ropes. Drake gets back up and shrugs off a chop to the back, but Garcia scurries as he avoided the receipt, only to get thrown down as he went for a mounted sleeper. The pair trade kicks as they tried to give each other a dead leg, but Drake goes high and takes Garcia into the ropes, tying him up a la Andre the Giant… leaving that chest open as Drake tried to chop the tattoo off of Garcia’s chest.
Eventually Garcia’s untied, but Drake continues the offence with a slam and a falling headbutt, before a slam into the corner and a face-washing boot left Garcia down for a Vader bomb. Garcia’s able to kick out at two, so Drake goes back to a slam before he Vader bombed his way into a triangle armbar. Drake manages to slip free, with another exchange of strikes leading to a lariat from Drake, before a rear naked choke dragged down Garcia into the middle of the ring.
Garcia’s able to drag himself to the ropes, but he just turned around into some more chops from Drake, who demanded that Garcia “earn this ass-whippin’”. That’s the cue for Garcia to fight back throwing Kawada-style kicks before Drake effortlessly hauled him up for an X-Plex. A missed back senton almost had Drake in trouble, but he’s right back with a Shining Wizard as Garcia needed the rope to save himself from the pin, with a rear naked choke from the challenger quickly following.
Garcia manages to escape the body scissors and rolls back as he nearly pinned Drake… following up with a kick into the corner and a DDT out of it as Garcia upped the tempo. A mounted guillotine from Garcia is next, but Drake counters out of it and deftly dumps Garcia with the Drill Bit! Drake’s not able to make the cover though, and can only watch as Garcia rolls to the outside to avoid a pin attempt.
Drake followed him outside for a chop, then quickly rolled him back in for a Vader bomb… but he can only get a two-count from it before a second Drill Bit was stopped as Drake’s leg gave out. Kevin Blackwood popped up on the apron for, reasons, and gets clotheslined… before Garcia’s tossed outside. Blackwood hides under the ring and clings onto Drake’s ankle as Garcia caught Drake between the ropes… but again, it’s shrugged off as a lariat took down Garcia.
Drake swings again, but Garcia ducks and takes down Drake into a knee bar. Stomps to the ankle, then a DDT to the knee leads us to a heel hook, with Drake rolling towards the rope as Drake’s arm goes limp while trying to get to the ropes… and that leads to the referee stoppage.
This was a mighty fine match, with Drake refusing to play into Garcia’s games early, but that missed chop into the corner gave the champion an opening as he began to work over Drake’s knee – and with some help from Kevin Blackwood – proved to be the window of opportunity that the champion needed to retain the title. Get this one on your watchlists!
Result: Daniel Garcia defeats JD Drake via referee stoppage to retain the Limitless Wrestling World Championship in 23:40 (****¼)