[1993-08-29-PWFG] Bart Vale vs Joe Malenko

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Graham Crackers]

Vale has nothing on Malenko when this goes to the mat which adds this great striking and takedowns vs mat technique dynamic. Vale was really good at this point so whenever he was throwing strikes or using his strength it looked awesome.

[Phil Schneider]

This was great, this might have been Bart Vale's last professional wrestling match, and it was a heck of a swan song. Joe Malenko, much like Dean has a standard match, and it is up to his opponents to insert themselves into it. Vale does a really nice job of working into a Joe Malenko match, and adds some Bart Vale touches. Malenko comes up with some just awesome ways to twist and turn Vale's bodyparts, but Vale also has great counters and reversals.

[Loss]

There were some amazing pretzel-like submissions from Malenko that I don't even know how to describe. Vale's footwork is also pretty tremendous. My favorite PWFG match thus far. It's been a tough style for me to get into because of the lack of heat in most matches, but maybe I'm slowly coming around.

[PeteF3]

This sort of ended as it was getting going. Rare for me to say this about any shootstyle match but I felt this could have gone longer.

[garretta]

Yet another upset, although Vale wasn't nearly as far ahead as Flynn was earlier. Still, Vale was pretty clearly having his way until Malenko managed to trap both of his legs and slap on what looked like a half-STF. Vale had nowhere to go, so he tapped.

 

It's a shame that this was Vale's last match; he seemed comfortable working the mat in a way I hadn't remembered him being before, and it's not easy to look comfortable trading holds with someone like Joe Malenko. With that mat ability plus his striking skills, Vale could have gone far in shoot-style; he already had, due to his series with Fujiwara.