Josh Barnett's Bloodsport 8 3/31/2022

Josh Barnett's Bloodsport 8 3/31/2022

They have a very nice crowd here as it is packed. Josh welcomes us to the show and Suzuki/Dickinson have some words.

Masha Slamovich vs. Janai Kai

The stream cut out and I'm not sure who won this one. It wasn't too good and I don't know why they started off with this.

Ninja Mack vs. Yoya

Ninja Mack does a bunch of flippy stuff and it will be interesting to see what he does here. He unmasks and takes off his ninja stuff. Yoya grabs him by the throat and is taken down. Yoya knocks him down with a suprise kick. Yoya chokes him but mack throws him and both roll out. Mack belly to belly suplexes him and misses a capoeira flip.

Mack leg kicks him and Yoya does a flip for the sell on it then rolls out. Yoya backdrops him then rolls him into an ankellock. Yoya pick up Mack and then runs off the apron with him and both crash outside onto the cement floor. Yoya gives him a deep single leg crab and Mack does a tornado kick for the knockout win.

I liked the finish but I wish they would have sold the fall outside more. It was a little long and dragged in the middle.

Bad Dude Tito vs. Royce Isaacs

They wrestle on the mat and Royce hits some bad punches. Royce leglocks him then Royce gets out and hits some kicks and punches. Tito rolls out and Royce does a nice spinning suplex down. Tito germans him then Royce switches and hits one. Tito then germans him and Royce gives him one. Tito rolls him into a kneebar then stars pounding on him. Royce capture suplexes him then Tito rolls him into a guillotine.

It was alright and the finish was a little sudden. I liked the suplexes but it did take a few minutes to get rolling.

Alex Coughlin vs. SLADE

They are aggressive from the start and Alex takes him down. Alex hits some slaps and Slade hits a hard back club. Slade hits some hard mounted forearms then Alex ankle picks him. Slade grabs him by the throat and they trade hard forearms. Alex hits a nice saito suplex then gets chokeslammed. Alex hits a nice deadlift german then lifts him up and hangs him with a sleeper. Slade smiles while in the sleeper and Alex wins it.

This was short but I liked it. They started off well with some aggression and speed, they were stiff, they didn't get too cute and the finish was decent.

Simon Gotch vs. John Hennigan

Gotch fluries him and Johnny throws some hands back. Johnny rolls him out to the floor. Johnny leg sweeps him and loses something off of his gear. Johnny does a nice roll over Gotch's back and leglocks him. Johnny does a nice flip over Gotch while he's on his knees. Johnny mounts him with forearms then slaps him. Johnny does a nice cartwheel into a lariat. Gotch then suplexes him and hits a hard grounded knee.

Things slow down a little and Johnny armdragged him down.  Johnny then wins with a guillotine choke out of nowhere.

It started off well then really died off in the second half. Johnny did some cool athletic stuff here.

Zeda Zhang vs. Marina Shafir

They barely connect early and trade a few shots on the floor. Shafir leg kicks her. Zeda hits a leg kick and does a really nice takedown while hanging on her backwards. Shafir lifts her al ittle from the mat and slams her then does a better deadlift body slam. Zeda rides her back for a choke then Shafir does a nice slam on her to get her off. Shafir hits her and grabs her by her ankle to put her down. Zeda gets a choke on her then later, Shafir gets rolled but keeps a headlock on.

Shafir pops out of a mount and grabs her leg. Shafir has her for like a perfectplex but Zeda takes her down. Shafir does a neat arm and head triangle with a wristlock  and gets the win by submission.

There were some nice counters and wrestling here. Zeda didn't bring a lot to the table but I think it was better than most people watching it realized. 

Timothy Thatcher vs JR Kratos

Kratos takes him down from behind. TT hits a knee to his ribs then is taken down. TT bow and arrows him then mounts and pounds him. TT picks up Kratos, then Kratos drops his weight on him. Kratos nearly deadlift suplexes him. TT works a chinlock and Kratos hulks up some and drops him with a forearm. TT hits a headbutt and drops Kratos. Kratos bleeds hardway from the headbutt then lariats him and puts him in a head and arm choke.

TT backdrops Kratos then Kratos rolls out of a fujiwara armbar. He piledrivers him and hits a superman punch to a downed TT to win it.

I didn't like this at all. Kratos should have been in control the whole match and instead was controlled the whole match. TT didn't do that much shoot stuff and the finish was garbage.

Mike Bailey vs Yuya Uemura

Mike tries for kicks early then Yuya does a nice take down slam. Mike hits a high kick. He mounts Yuyua and hits some slaps and elbows then Yuya does it back. They end up rolling onto the floor and Mike kind of hits his head on the floor. Mike hits some high kicks when he gets back in then hits some knees to a grounded Yuya. Yuya lifts him up for a waterwheel drop then fujiwara armbars him. Yuya then armbars him and wins it.

The first half of this was slow, boring and a waste of time. Then they picked it up in the second half and it ended up being better. I'm disappointed as I expected more from Mike here.

Jonah vs Josh Barnett

Jonah throws him early then lays on him for a while without doing too much. Josh hits some leg kicks and gets body slammed. Josh hits some kicks then gets a bolo punch and a senton. Jonah hits a big forearm then Josh fires back and Jonah headbutts him. Josh hits a nice spinning heel kick and does a nice headlock and single butterfly suplex. He then heel hooks Jonah from the single leg crab position and Jonah taps.

This wasn't too good. Jonah just did very little until Josh took over and won it. Jonah basically should have copied some of Vader's old UWFI stuff here and instead, I don't know what he was really going for.

Biff Busick vs Jon Moxley

Mox does a nice takedown early from the side. Mox pounds on his back and Biff locks in a guillotine. Mox then STF's him then holds his arms while he hits some foot stomps. Mox hits a nice back drop then some forearms and elbows. He then knees him and Biff falls out. Mox then suplexes him on the floor and Biff is bleeding.

Biff fires up with chops and Mox facekicks him. Mox then puts him in a camel clutch and crossface chicken wings him. Mox hits some strikes on him and Biff hits a big slap. Mox flips him off and they trade slaps then Biff half nelson suplexes him. Biff then euros him and mounts and pounds him. Biff puts on a bulldog choke and takes a big lariat. Mox then pounds on him with elbows. Biff holds his arms and hits some stomps then gets a half nelson suplex. Mox then hits his paradigm shift ddt and chokes him. He then moves to the bulldog choke and hits some knees to the head. Biff flicks him off then Mox hits a running stiff knee to win it.

Now this was some good stuff. They didn't waste a lot of time, they were stiff and they did some cool stuff here. The crowd was super hot, Biff bled everywhere and there's not much more you could really ask for here.

Minoru Suzuki vs Chris Dickinson

Not too much happens early and Suzuki rolls out of a submission to the floor. Suzuki has an ankle lock for a little and misses some mounted palm strikes. Chris slaps him from the mount and Suzuki just gives a look. The crowd chants "you f*cked up" and Chris mocks them and acts cocky.

They trade forearms and chops/slaps. Chris hits a knee to the gut then Minoru takes him down with a leg lock. Chris hits some chops while in the leg lock then they trade hard chest slaps. They then slap each other and Chris falls down. Suzuki hits a slap flurry and drops him then Chris hits a spin kick to the gut.

They trade more slaps and Chris hits a step up enzugiri. He then suplexes him and hits mounted elbows for a referee stop.

This wasn't as good as it should have been. They didn't do much for most of this match up until the finishing stretch, then the finish was kind of sudden.

Overall thoughts: There's a line being between realistic and being entertaining. Sudden knockout and stoppage finishes can work, but they really have to be done certain ways so they don't fall flat. You can't plan finishes in MMA, but this is wrestling and you can plan finishes here. Some of the finishes and matches might have been good in theory, but a lot weren't good here in reality. I think going forward, people on these shows have to understand that you can have faster and more action packed shoot matches. I think people on this show also have to understand that if you are going to do a sudden finish, the move that leads to that finish has to be stiff and done well so people can buy it. And I think the next time this is on a Wrestlemania Weekend, they have to not put people like Minoru Suzuki in spots where the expectations are high, but the work is going to be limited due to them having to do other matches.