Josh Barnett's Bloodsport 9 3/30/2023

Josh Barnett's Bloodsport 9 3/30/2023

Calder McColl vs Jeff Cobb

Cobb throws him off early and Calder waistlocks him. Calder rolls into a kneebar but can't get him down. Jeff grabs a headlock and suplexes him then they roll out to the floor. Jeff takes him down and Calder flies at him with a hurricanrana but then takes a big powerbomb down. Jeff pounds on him and it ends. 

The finish was the really only thing special here.

Erik Hammer vs Calvin Tankman

Erik shoots in and is caught. Calvin is on top, hits punches then throws him. Erik rolls out and hits some knees to the gut when he gets back in. Calvin does a nice uranage and Erik pounds on him from the back. Erik grabs his arm and rolls then wins it with a kimura.

It was short and fine. They kept it moving the whole time.

Killer Kelly vs Marina Shafir

Marina trips her and Kelly pulls her hair to get out of a full nelson. Marina sits on her back and they get up. Marina does a nice hip throw then fireman's carries her. Marina then face shoves her and Kelly goes out of the ring. Marina hits knees on the floor and Kelly double legs her, making her fall on the floor. Kelly germans her and Kelly upkicks her. Kelly hits another german then ties her up like an abdominal stretch with both arms. She cravates her and hits knees then Marina kicks her right in the chest.

Kelly hits some slaps then gets slammed. Marina climbs her back and rolls her into a reverse triangle for the submission.

They kind of botched the finish as Kelly submitted twice here and only the second one was counted. This was one of the better Marina Shafir matches I had seen and I enjoyed this more than some of the other stuff on the show.

Kota Ibushi vs Mike Bailey

Not much happened early until Ibushi fell out of the ring. Ibushi hit some kicks and knocked him down then bullied him with more kicks. Mike came back with kicks and tried to armbar him. Mike then did a stiff moonsault double knee. Ibushi pulled in Bailey while he was outside of the ring and gave him a vicious deadlift german. Ibushi backdropped him then hit a v-trigger for the knockout win. It was boring early and was not much of a classic, but it was still entertaining. The german from Ibushi was awesome.

Chavo Guerrero came out to give Erik Paulson an award.

Yuya Uemura vs Bad Dude Tito

Yuya was pushed off the apron on the lock up to start then Yuta got in and took him down. Tito does a suplex then Yuya does some nice throws. Tito cartwheels into a headlock then Yuya belly to belly suplexes him and dropkicks him out of the ring. Yuya then dives on him outside. Yuya then germans him then Tito rolls his second german attempt into a knee bar. Tito grabs an ankle lock and wins it.

It was short but entertaining.

Tito piefaced Yuya after

Davey Boy Smith Jr. vs JR Kratos

DBS does a hammerlock takedown early. JR knees him in the ribs on the mat. DBS throws him then JR headscissors him. DBS hits some knees to the head from the north-south position then hits a big knee to the ribs. JR misses a slap and they trade forearms. JR takes a hard knee and DBS hits elbows. DBS hits a stiff knee then powerbombs him. DB hits forearms then takes an enzugiri. They trade forearms on their knees then get up and trade forearms. JR goes for a suplex but is put into a crossface and DBS wins it.

It was long and slow and aside from some nice knees, there wasn't a ton going on here. 

Johnny Bloodsport vs Royce Isaacs

Royce has a Streets of Rage jacket on. Johnny does a nice escape early and blasts him with a nice shot. Royce does a nice suplex and they wrestle some. Royce does a nice deadlift german then does another. Johnny knees him then hits some elbows. Johnny does a swing kick from the mat then does an indian deathlock style move. Royce reverses it into a choke then Johnny does a nice armbar. Royce puts him in a texas cloverleaf then Royce hits a stiff piledriver. Johnny gets out of a grounded dragon then gator rolls him into a guillotine for the win.

It was a little boring early like a lot of this show but then it got better soon after the and the second half was good. Johnny was fun here trying to throw his capoeira stuff in.

Jon Moxley vs Alex Coughlin

Alex trips him and they do some mat wrestling. They slap each other and Mox trips him. Mox takes him down and Alex is pushed off the apron. Mox then triangles him on the mat as Alex is outside. Alex picks him up and slams/powerbombs him on the apron. Alex then does nice Karelin's lifts and wishbone rolls him. Alex calf crushers him.

Alex does another powerbomb an they punch each other in the clinch. Mox hits headbutts then chokes him. Mox does a double underhook suplex then they start slapping each other. Mox does a jumping knee then pounds on him from behind. Mox puts him in a bulldog choke as he bleeds (of course he is bleeding) and Alex picks him up on his shoulders. Mox flips him backwards and rolls him into a choke and wins it.

Easily the most entertaining thing so far. It was short and concise and both looked real energized here. I liked Alex's suplexes and powerbombs and everything Mox did outside of the slaps was good.

Josh Barnett vs Timothy Thatcher

They roll on the mat and TT gets out of an ankle lock. TT gets some punches in the ribs. TT knees him in the ribs and surfboards him. Josh does a suplex then TT single leg crabs him. TT hits mounted punches and keylocks him. Josh goes for a bulldog choke but TT slips out and knees him. TT puts him in an AT lock but Josh grabs the ankle to get out and goes for an STF. TT puts him in a fujiwara armbar then Josh hits a stiff saito suplex.

They each leg lock each other and roll to the floor. They trade forearms and euros. TT enzugiri's him then backdrops him. Josh Saito suplexes him. Josh powerbombs him but TT holds onto the arm and armbars him. Josh rolls and TT kneebars him to win.

The first part of this wasn't too exciting but the second half was better with some of the submissions and reversals.

Overall thoughts: Shoot style isn't really the most exciting style and is the hardest style to do because of the limits. The show didn't have stand out great matches like past editions did, but overall, it was probably better. They really should have done more strikes here and you know if you are having a show called bloodsport, you probably should have some blood.