In a busy month of professional wrestling that has the G1 Climax (which has been damn good), Bound For Glory, Hell in a Cell, two NXT TakeOvers, and AEW Dynamite, the show that I’ve been most excited about is Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport.
Prior to Sunday, I’ve never actually sat down and watched any of these Bloodsport events. Hell, I haven’t even seen the movie that the show is based off. However, I’ve been keeping tabs on the events for about a year and the opportunity to see Minoru Suzuki vs Josh Barnett for free swayed me to pay $20 bucks for the latest show.
In all honesty, this was a great show. Granted, Bloodsport won’t win the best professional wrestling event of 2020, but the key thing about it was the different approach to wrestling.
Let me make this clear now, if you’re not a fan of MMA then chances are that you won’t come away from the event as excited as me. Bloodsport isn’t your typical indie wrestling, there’s no ring ropes and you can only win by knockouts, submissions, or disqualifications.
The wrestling here highlights the technical and amateur side of the sport, along with MMA, or in the case of Homicide vs. Tom Lawlor, a straight up fight. Don’t expect a Young Bucks style match. In fact, don’t go into this event thinking that this is just another indie show. Independent shows (or NXT and AEW Dynamite) tend to rely on fast action and 1000 moves per minute; Bloodsport does not.
For me, the match of the night was Homicide vs. Tom Lawlor. Like I said, this was a straight up fight from beginning to end that was highly different than anything else on the show. Moxley vs. Dickinson was a great closer as well. I wouldn’t argue with anyone if they felt that the main event was better as it truly was a strong match, but Moxley/Dickinson was surprising slow in the beginning, though it was never boring. Once these guys kicked it into second gear then the match becomes great (in my personal opinion).
The other standout was Lindsay Snow, who won the four-woman tournament. Overall, Killer Kelly vs. Allysin Kay was my favorite women’s match on the show, but Snow has a unique presence about her that screams star. She’s also solid inside of the ring. Snow will easily stand out in a WWE, AEW, or Impact roster. Though any of the four women that competed on Sunday would make a great addition to either roster as well.
Erik Hammer is another name that sticks out as well. His match was opposite of Homicide/Lawlor, with slams and suplexes highlighted here, but both talents also had a fun bout and Hammer's look stands out in a good way.
Nothing was bad on Bloodsport III, but again, it all depends on your taste in wrestling. The only weird thing was the abrupt ending to Simon Grimm vs. Matt Makowski. At first, I figured that it was mirroring MMA, meaning that knockouts could happen at any time. However, every other match-up on the card flowed well and nothing ended as abruptly as the first match.
Overall, I’ll happily shell out twenty bucks for the next Bloodsport event. Again, this won’t win best wrestling event of 2020; however, the night flew by fast (about 2 hours and 15 minutes) and it was highly entertaining.
If you're on the fence, I suggest you check out Minoru Suzuki vs Josh Barnett first. If you’re not a fan of the match or the overall Bloodsport presentation then there’s no point in shelling out more money to see Bloodsport III. If you’re looking for a true professional wrestling alternative then Bloodsport is a strong recommend.