Several WWE and NXT stars will be in action as part of tonight’s Bloodsport XI show from Brooklyn, New York.
Shayna Baszler will make her second appearance in the Bloodsport ring as she battles Miyu Yamashita. Baszler won her first outing in April by defeating Masha Slamovich.
Both Julius and Brutus Creed will be in action for the first time in Bloodsport as Julius takes on Matt Makowski while Brutus battles former UFC fighters and former MLW Champion “Filthy” Tom Lawlor.
NXT’s Charlie Dempsey will return for his second Bloodsport outing as he takes on Royce Isaacs.
Other action includes Josh Barnett himself taking on Bad Dude Tito; Mike Santana vs. Homicide in a battle of mentor vs. mentee, the aforementioned Slamovich vs. Jody Threat in a clash of TNA talent; “Speedball” Mike Bailey vs. Akira; Timothy Thatcher vs. AEW/ROH’s Josh Woods; and Brian Johnson vs. Heddi Karaoui.
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The atmosphere between this show and the Bloodsport Bushido show in Japan is so vastly different. The Brooklyn crowd was small but enthusiastic and happy to be there; we heard chants for a lot of the wrestlers at the beginning of the show during fighter introductions. Masha Slamovich got a big reaction, as did Mike Santana (ex-LAX). Big “SAN-TAN-A” chant. Homicide came out wearing an awesome Yoshihiro Takayama t-shirt.
Shayna Baszler grabbed the mic at the end of the introductions and said the following:
“Hold onto your pants and get ready to dance. This is pro wrestling like you’ve never seen before. Pro wrestling the way it was meant to be. This is Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport!”
The fans then started chanting for GCW. Shouldn’t they be chanting for Josh Barnett?
The ring announcer went over the Bloodsport rules: Fights are won by submission, KO, count-out, disqualification, or ref stoppage. If the wrestlers go out of the ring, the wrestlers must re-enter the ring and the ref will give them to the count of ten to come back in. No biting; no eye-gouging; no hair-pulling; no small joint manipulation (fingers, toes, etc.); no foreign objects; no fighting after the bell. Time limits are 15 minutes with a five minute overtime if necessary. Main event is 20-minute time limit with a five minute overtime if necessary, and the bout will result in a draw if no winner is decided in overtime.
Heddi Karaoui defeated Brian Johsnon via submission
Brian Johnson is from Philadelphia so the Brooklyn crowd booed him. A “F*** the Eagles” chant broke out. The announcer called Johnson a “Catch Can” wrestler. Does he catch actual cans? The crowd was behind Karaoui and chanted his name.
Johnson went for an inverted ankle lock but Karanoui countered it with some llave type submissions. He conked Johnson with a knee that out Johnson on the floor; Johnson came back in and spit in his face. The crowd continued their verbal assault on Philly sports and Karaoui would soon tap Johnson out with inverted crucifix + crossface lock.
The crowd made this match because of how into it they were. Again, the vibes from the previous event to this one, it’s night and day.
Julius Creed defeated Matt Makowski via TKO
“Weapon X” Matt Makowski has fought in Bloodsport before. He’s also fought for PFL. Creed is from WWE NXT and is known for his wrestling background.
Creed took Makowski down with a single leg off the bat. Later he landed a nice waistlock takedown, but Makowski countered with a triangle attempt until both were back on their feet. Makowski was more comfortable striking compared with Creed, who ate a couple short shots. He’d immediately take Makowski down after a few of those shots.
Creed landed a back suplex from a pro wrestling power bomb position, which the crowd enjoyed. Makowski later victory rolled into an armlock which was cool. Creed was out of the hold quickly.
Creed started hammering down shots on Makowski before launching him twice with front suplexes. Makowski returned fire with palm strikes and middle kicks and a running knee. He had Creed in an armbar that Creed cradled out of.
We then saw our first Rampage Jackson triangle-armbar power bomb spot of the night in this match. Makowski no-sold it and went for a superman punch, but Creed caught him mid-air, dumped him back-first to the mat, then drilled Makowski with a seated lariat before assailing him with strikes until the ref called for the bell. Nice outing for both guys. Creed has the “it factor.” This was good.
Masha Slamovich defeated Jody Threat via TKO
Slamovich came to the ring with the TNA Women’s Tag title and the Jersey Championship Wrestling title. She had a nice fan following here in Brooklyn with the GCW-ites.
Slamovich went for a headlock takeover early on but Threat blocked it and sprawled so deeply; she basically did a split with her sprawl. It looked great.
Veda Scott joined the commentary booth for this and immediately the match felt more important, more professional.
Threat took Slamovich down hard and went for an armbar. Dueling chants broke out with 60% for Masha and 30% for Jody I’d say. They went back and forth for dominant position until Slamovich threw her with a single-arm suplex and followed with an amrbar attempt of her own. We got out second Rampage Jackson triangle armbar power bomb spot after this.
Slamovich went for a hook kick but faked threat out and locked Threat in an armbar instead. Tricky. Threat would counter into a rear naked choke, then took Slamovich to her feet and launched her with a back suplex and followed up with a hard boot to the face. “Was this it?” That was the feeling on the crowd’s mind in this moment. Total peak point. Threat went for another back suplex but Slamovich elbowed out of it, then slapped on a choke sleeper of her on. It was in nice & deeply, too, but Threat powered out of it and got to her feet, though Slamovich seemed to have expected this, because she’d grab Threat’s arm and drill her with a wrist-clutch suplex, an immediate running knee and a few hard elbows before the referee stopped the match. Great match with a cool finish.
Royce Isaacs defeated Charlie Dempsey via submission
This is WWE NXT Charlie Dempsey’s second Bloodsport. Isaacs is a Bloodsport OG. The crowd was way more behind Dempsey than Isaacs throughout this. “Fickle!”
Dempsey made ample use of the crossface to control Isaacs on the ground. Isaacs was the powerhouse of the two and was able to power his way out of many of Dempsey’s techniques. The grappling pace between these two was good, fast, organic.
Dempsey used a an inverted Muta Lock with a cravat; Isaacs countered with a modified ankle lock until Dempsey kicked his way out of the hold. The crowd appreciated the effort and started chanting “BLOOD-SPORT!”
Back on the mat, Dempsey had Isaacs locked in a front facelock until Isaacs countered with a top key lock. Dempsey coutered that and tried a stacking pass to get up to Isaacs face. He went for an armbar but missed it, then tried to bridge out of Isaacs’ side control, but no dice for Dempsey; Isaacs is too strong. Dempsey eventually slid out and locked on a headscissors and went for an armbar until Isaacs locked Dempsey into an upside face lock, almost north-south position.
They’d then pummel for leg and ankle control on the mat. Neither could one up the other. The two started slapping the piss out of each other while the crowd lapped it up. Back on their feet, Dempsey would lay in a big European uppercut and a sequence of barroom strikes—right hands, stomps—but Isaacs refused to lie down, grabbed Dempsey by the neck and threw a number of knees before laying him out with a Falcon Arrow before locking in a front facelock guillotine choke. Dempsey looked close to tapping, but he himself would power out and hoisted Isaacs over his head with a Northern Lights type suplex before cinching in a step-over double-wrist lock. Isaacs got to his feet, but Dempsey used a butterfly suplex and rolled into the same hold, not giving up positional control. He quickly slid into a Fujiwara armbar, grabbing Isaacs’ arm from a different angle. He’d do the same again, moving from Fujiwara armbar to leglock before moving back into an STF hold. Isaacs again muscled out and suplexed Dempsey before locking in a rear naked choke with one hook in. Dempsey looked like he was going out, but he’d then grab Isaacs’ three fingers (which does not fall under illegal joint-manipulation; grabbing one or two fingers would result in DQ) and got back to his feet. Was he going to break out? Nope: Isaacs would then land his signature deadlift full-nelson-to-German suplex and followed with an STF of his own. Dempsey blocked the facelock grip, so Isaacs flipped his hips to the opposite side while keeping the step-over toehold cinched in and grabbed Dempsey in almost what you’d call a Bulldog Choke, just not from the usual angle; Isaacs peeled back at Dempsey’s neck and shoulders and it looked brutal. Dempsey tapped; Isaacs wins!
What a match. This was excellent. The crowd unfortunately booed the finish, so I assume they are more WWE fans than Bloodsport fans. If you follow all of the Bloodsport cards, you know Isaacs has been on a majority of them and always delivers the goods. Again, this was GREAT pro wrestling. I think most fans would agree with me when I say we probably need a rematch. Very nice.
Brutus Creed defeated “Filthy” Tom Lawlor via TKO
F4W’s very own sports broadcast journalist Tom Lawlor came out looking like he’d just gotten off the Lex Express, decked out in USA flag fight shorts, a USA eagle shirt buttoned once at the bottom and tied for good measure, a red, white and blue top-hat, all to the tune of “Coming to America” by James Brown. We love ya, “Filthy.”
Brutus Creed is also from WWE NXT and is brother of Julius who we saw earlier. Brutus is the beefier of the two. The brothers previously held the NXT Tag Team Championship in the past. Could Brutus outdo his brother in his Bloodsport debut?
Brutus went for a double-leg takedown early, but Lawlor blocked it. He’d slap on a front facelock and jump Brutus into his guard, but Brutus deadlifted Lawlor off his neck with a suplex. He’d then start throwing either hammer-fists or what could also have been called a Wahoo McDaniel-esque chop to the head. After a few more, they were clearly hammer-fists. He’s a big, scary boy.
Lawlor went for the guillotine again, and again Brutus slammed him to the mat. Lawlor must have anticipated this, though, because he immediately locked Brutus in a triangle choke and threw some elbows at Brutus’ skull as he was caught prone in the position. Brutus wrestled out of it, but Lawlor’s jiu-jitsu arsenal is endless and he kept catching the younger fellow in holds. Brutus’ strategy against this was, well, brute force, slamming Lawlor agan with a Samoan drop. But again, Lawlor was able to catch Brutus in either an armlock or a crucifix, something to throw Brutus’ gameplan off. Brutus answered the attacks with a torture rack slam. The crowd then started chanting for Brutus. WWE crowd in the house, apparently.
Lawlor slapped Brutus in the ears; he wanted to keep the fight on their feet instead of on the mat, where Brutus was just too powerful.
Brutus then tried–well, actually, I have zero clue what he was attempting. He tried running up the ring post as though there were turnbuckle pads on it in an attempt at doing something “cool,” but Lawlor immediately caught him in a rear naked choke.
Again, Brutus overpowered Lawlor and again slammed him hard to the mat. He’d then go for that running basement lariat that his brother Julius used to beat Matt Makowski earlier on tonight, but Lawlor dodged it, then Brutus in a crucifix from the top and started laying elbows in. He’d roll Brutus over and keep the crucifix locked on as Lawlor continued throwing elbows in this Gary Goodrige UFC 8 style spot. Brutus actually rolled out of this, backwards, cradled Lawlor, then deadlifted him into and teased a cradle suplex, but Lawlor broke free and started peppering Brutus with palm strikes. He’d then chop Brutus down with kicks and knees. Brutus was fading; he tried a waist lock on Lawlor, but Lawlor countered out and threw an Inoki enzuigiri kick to the back of Brutus’ head.
Lawlor was able to throw Brutus with a back suplex and followed that with a low running dropkick to the face of Brutus before unleashing a flurry of strikes before cinching in the double-wrist lock again. Brutus then gator rolled out of it, held onto Lawlor’s waist and crushed him with a standing Doctor Bomb before nailing him with that seated running lariat we talked about before, the same as brother Julius used. This earned him a massive upset victory over Lawlor, another Bloodsport OG. The Creed Brothers are now both undefeated in Bloodsport.
This was really good. These brothers are perfect fits for Bloodsport and I hope to see them show up on more shows down the road.
Homicide defeated Mike Santana via submission
Two hometown heroes fought in this one. Santana entered through the audience and got a huge response. Both got loud chants. This had a bit of a main event feel.
Compared with the pace of the last few matches, this was heavy, methodical, mean. The fans were chanting “both-these-guys!” before anything even really happened.
Santana went for an armbar early on, but Homicide rolled towards the edge of the ring and grabbed the ring apron to try and smother Santana with in order to break the hold. Homicide took a moment outside of the ring to collect himself before re-entering.
Homicide played bully throughout this. Santana wrestled with superior mat technique but Homicide wrestled as the seasoned veteran, the one with even more unexpected tricks up the sleeve. He caught Santana with some hard European uppercuts before Santana blasted Homicide with a slap. Woah.
Santana caught Homicide with a short single-leg dropkick to the face before the two got into a slap-off. Santana would roll Homicide into a back armbreaker before Homicide countered, earning top position but not able to lock in a hold. Santana collected himself on the floor as the ref counted.
Back in the ring, Homicide jumped Santana into guard, but Santana immediately threw a few shots. No one really had the upper hand; it was almost always tit-for-tat.
As they fought near the ring post, it looked as though Homicide snuck in a low blow, but the ref may not have seen it. Santana seemed to be fine, though, because he then back-rolled up to his feet and caught Homicide with a jumping cutter–he “didn’t get all of it,” as the saying goes, but it looked fine in the end. Santana followed up with a huge power bomb before putting Homicide in a choke sleeper, two hooks in. The fans did a “this-is-awesome” chant.
Homicide countered with a guilltione of his own. Santana rocked him with a headbutt. Homicide answered with an exploder suplex, then pulled Santana in for a cutter of his own.
Homicide did a flatliner and then put Santana in an STF for the finish. He then put the ref in his guard. A few more refs came out and broke things up. The fans kept chanting “let-them-fight!” Homicide is your winner. The crowd booed. Homicide was waving it off. I don’t know what happened but it came off awkward.
Josh Barnett defeated Bad Dude Tito via KO
Bad Dude Tito is another longtime Bloodsportsman and this may have been his highest profile bout to date. Barnett came to the ring wearing two spiked gauntlets, ready for both a Bathory gig and/or a fight.
They pummeled hard at the bell and Tito was the one able to win the positional battle, tossing Barnett to the mat and attempting head control as Barnett quickly collected himself and fended the muscled Tito off.
Barnett was able to break free and take Tito to the mat himself, but Tito used a front facelock to flip Barnett onto his back with Tito taking full mount position. He’d transition to armbar but couldn’t lock it in, which allowed Barnett to roll out and take side control with a kesa gatame hold before Tito slipped out, going for a kneebar of his own.
They fought towards the edge of the ring, and Barnett would eventually launch Tito off his chest to the floor. Tito stormed back in the ring with a flying punch, then took him down back into side control and tried attempting a key lock from the top before moving back to mount and raining down hammers.
The two wrestled in this mangled 50/50 guard, struggling for leg control and dominant top position. Barnett hammered down on Tito with strikes. Tito would responded with a deadlift wrist-clutch suplex to the very large Barnett.
Tito then moved to a head-and-arm choke before Barnett reversed the hold into full mount and went to ground-and-pound. He threw hard elbows into Tito’s ribs.
Barnett launched Tito with the classic Billy Robinson double-underhook suplex, but both he and Tito were back on their feet immediately and were throwing hard hands before shredding Tito with a Akira Maeda-style rolling roundhouse kick for the KO. Really good stuff, as per usual. Respect Bad Dude Tito.
Afterwards, from out of nowhere, Former WWE & NJPW superstar MVP appeared in the ring. He said he and Barnett had been friends for a long time, and that MVP started fight training with Barnett back in California 11 years ago. He said he’s now a black belt in BJJ, and his contract with his current company is up soon. MVP said his retirement is coming up and he’d like to fight Josh Barnett before it happens. Barnett said he’d accept a fight with MVP regardless of what company he belonged to, be he a lone ronin warrior or not. Barnett said it was he who made the call to bring MVP in, and so of course he will accept the challenge. “Any time, any place, anywhere,” Barnett said. “This is where The Hurt Business cashes the most checks,” Barnett said of Bloodsport. The crowd chanted for MVP. “You don’t this guy,” Barnett said of MVP. “Just wait until you see the real MVP.”
Timothy Thatcher vs. Josh Woods: double count-out
Thatcher is the first fighter to defeat Josh Barnett at Bloodsport. There were two big chants for him before the match. Both he and Woods are tailor-made for Bloodsport. Woods was one of the very few highlights of late Sinclair-era ROH.
Woods seemed to out-wrestle Thatcher early on and slightly dominated position control. Thatcher was able to lock in a standing armlock as he stretched Woods’ jaw the opposite way. Woods was able to shimmy out of Thatcher’s hold, then pass his seated guard by quickly stacking Thatcher before hopping into top control. Very smooth move.
Thatcher countered out with wristlock control and was able to sit up into an armbar attempt. He used his knee to control Woods’ spine and overall body position. Woods did a good job at defending attacks and was able to escape to standing position.
Back on the mat, Thatcher zoned in on Woods’ ankle/shin/leg area, squeezing it, smashing it, yanking on it. Woods tried rubbing his forearm bone across Thatcher’s nose.
Back on their feet, the two traded hard strikes. Thatcher’s European uppercuts are starch-stiff. Woods later used a snap back suplex and held onto the the waistlock. Thatcher used a beautiful double-wristlock takedown to maneuver out of it. Woods ended up feet-first on the floor, and the two got into wild fisticuffs on the apron. Sloppy and violent and in the best kind of way.
The fell to the floor once again just moments later. Fans chanted “BLOOD-SPORT!” Back in the ring, they traded more hard strikes. Woods caught Thatcher with a big hammer chop; Thatcher responded with an Inoki enzuigiri to the head.
Woods locked in a rear naked choke close to the edge of the ring, but again they both fell to the floor. Woods reentered, but Thatcher tried dragging Woods back into the ring. Thatcher shouted “Get back into the ring!” and the two were back in the ring trading live rounds again. The two then rolled out onto the floor for a fourth time, where they fought to a double count-out which elicited massive boos from the audience. The two had a scuffle before Woods stormed backstage. I thought this was great, but the the crowd insisted on chanting “BULL-SH*T!” for the finish.
Shayna Baszler defeated Miyu Yamashita via TKO
Yamashita came out with her hair dyed red. I’m not sure how recently. This was Baszler’s second Bloodsport appearance. She came to the ring in her BJJ gi and black belt. Fans chanted “this-is-awesome!” before the ring announcements. I suppose the idea of this match is awesome, but yeah. Yamashita had a few “MI-YU” chants sounding before things kicked off.
Baszler bullied Yamashita early on. She fought from top position or standing position and caught Yamashita with a few low kicks. Yamashita was able to get back to her feet and throw a sharp spinning roundhouse kick that missed but startled Baszler. Yamashita did the “bring it on” gesture.” Respect Miyu Yamashita.
Baszler again muscled into top and side position and used her “bully-jitsu” as I call it, a mixture of high-level BJJ techniques mixed in with elbow scrapes across Yamashita’s face, wrist locks and knees to the face as Baszler posed for the crowd.
Yamashita fought off Baszler’s straight ankle lock attempt and went for one of her own. Yamashita has such independence with her legs that she was able to kick her way out of Baszler’s clutch and eventually moved herself to a rear chin-lock from behind.
Baszler often reverted to her Snakepit training and would often manipulate Yamashita’s joints to break holds, in a legal way in the Bloodsport context. Yamashita looked better and better on the ground, but Baszler would often have a hard answer for Yamashita’s ground attacks.
Yamashita threw Baszler with a release back suplex; Baszler answered with a Regal Plex and followed with a knee to the head. Yamashita pleaded with the referee not to stop the match.
“Come on!” Yamashita shouted in Baszler’s face, her Japanese konjō (guts, courage) shining bright.
The two traded hard kicks, each one a bit hotter than the next. Baszler was able to catch Yamashita in an ankle lock from one of the kicks, though. A fan tried making a joke about Kurt Angle which was really loud and fell completely flat on the broadcast. Just . . . why?
Yamashita then parkour’d herself off the ringpost with one leg and threw a kick with the other, catching Baszler right in the face. Huge response from the crowd for that. Yamashita threw another kick, but this time Baszler caught it and spun her around, then caught her in a Satoru Sayama-like tombstone for the TKO victory. Another excellent Bloodsport fight. The two shook hands and the crowd chanted for GCW afterwards.
Baszler got on the mic and said the fans either know her or “they don’t know sh**.” She then said she owed everything in her wrestling career to Josh Barnett because of how he helped her train pro wrestling after MMA. He told her that no one would understand why she was doing this, but that 20 wrestlers on the Bloodsport show know exactly why she’s doing this. She ended saying that if you hear Josh Barnett’s coming to town, be ready because they’re ready to tear it down.
Final Thoughts: This was an excellent pro wrestling show.
Dempsey vs. Isaacs was the highlight for me, but any of the matches could have taken best of the night depending on one’s taste. The overall wrestling quality was high, and fans didn’t try taking over the show until much later into the card, when they were tired.
If you’re already a Bloodsport fan, this is a must-watch. If you’re checking out this one because you’re a WWE fan intrigued by Dempsey, Baszler and the Creed Brothers’ appearances, this is a great starting point, especially since it is starting to feel like Shayna Baszler will be an important cog in this fight machine going forward.
