So hello there, and welcome to a new blog series, in which I am going to look back at some of the best independent pro wrestling matches of all time. With a lot of the great stars we know today always starting somewhere. So I thought it would be cool to look back at some of the great matches from that scene.

One thing to note is that in this season, I will be just reviewing PWG (Pro Wrestling Guerrilla) and ROH (Ring of Honor) matches, with future seasons looking at New Japan, TNA, and the British Wrestling scene as a whole.

So to kick this new series off, I am going to talk about two names, which if you have any knowledge of pro wrestling would be names you would recognise, with Matt Riddle taking on Zack Sabre Jr at PWG’s Time is a Flat Circle Event, in Los Angeles California back in 2018.

Initial Thoughts

So going into this match, I knew It was going to be a great matchup just because of the names involved, as we all know how good Zack Sabre Jr is (Just watch this years G1 Climax 31 to get a feeling on how good he is haha). Also, around this time Zack was killing it in Japan, as stated at the beginning of the match, that he just won that year's New Japan Cup, which isn’t easy to win.

When it comes to Matt Riddle, he was just starting to make a name for himself around this time, having great matches in CZW, WxW, and Evolve, and this match we are going to talk about today, was a start of a series of matches these guys had in 2018, across multiple pro wrestling promotions.

What Happened in the Match

So I had a lot of excitement going into this one, as these two are so technically gifted pro wrestlers, with Zack Sabre Jr being like a cockroach, you can't get rid of him, and can he can lock in a submission hold in almost any position.

With Matt Riddle, he has his MMA background, so you knew he was going to use that to his advantage, with both guys using their wrestling brains to outwrestle each other, and it was a joy to watch. And for two-thirds of this match, it was a technical masterclass in old school wrestling.

But we did get some big moves in between, with Matt Riddle locking in three beautiful Gut Wench Suplexes on Zack, but Zack Sabre Jr, always found some unorthodox counter to get out of anything Matt Riddle throw at him, but you expect nothing less from the counter and submission machine.

We got a cool looking rope break by Riddle, with him biting the middle ropes to get out of a submission move by Zack Sabre Jr. But it didn’t really start to pick up until the very end, with Matt Riddle hitting a powerbomb then a V-Tripper on Zack Sabre Jr, and looked like he was on the way to victory.

But Zack yet again was able to counter into a sleeper, but Riddle was able to get out. More back and forth with both men trying to outdo each other, but it was Zack Sabre Jr who got the win, after doing a unique pin on Matt Riddle.

Final Thoughts

So I really enjoy this match, and it wouldn’t be out of place in a New Japan Pro Wrestling show, but I guess that was the type of match they were going for. But I do think it needed another 10 to 15 minutes, as when it was starting to get going, the match just ended, and I guess I just wanted more, which is always a good thing.

But these two have a series of matches throughout that year, with Matt Riddle winning the Evolve world title, and I bet that match was 10 times better than this one. Nevertheless, this match really made me appreciate Zack Sabre Jr and Matt Riddle wrestling ability more, and now I understand why people rate these guys so much.

So click on the link below to watch this match, as you won't regret it. So I'll be back with episode two, where I look at the meeting between Donovan Dijak (AKA Dominik Dijakovic) and Keith Lee, at PWG’s Battle of Los Angeles show back in 2017, so until then, enjoy my review, and hope you come back soon.

My Verdict: B-

Written by

Stuart Irvine

Click here to watch the match

https://www.bilibili.com/s/video/BV114411w7i8

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