[2017-03-11-AMIBITION 8] Timothy Thatcher vs Jeff Cobb

[Jetlag]

For those of you who don't know: AMBITION is a pseudo-shootstyle tournament wXw runs once a year.

 

This was quite good, like you'd expect from these two. The grappling was positively PWFG and had a ton of physicality, and they went to tell a story, with Cobb obviously being the surperior wrestler and just an impossible to move beast on the mat, while Thatcher could win with submissions. I loved all the spots where Thatcher was overwhelmed by Cobb's Cobbness, such as Cobb easily shrugging off his attempts at a butterfly suplex or Thatcher getting squished by a basic waistlock. Also, at one point Cobb just cradled Thatcher into a pretzel. He really should make that move his finisher because it was freakin awesome. The finish was actually exciting and they played off their previous matches in the tournament.

[brockobama]

Think I'm just going to copy and paste the thoughts from my blog here:

 

"I got this huge smile on my face when I thought back to the first round and realized what match was coming next. Making his entrance, Thatcher is likewise beaming, which gives me hope for these two California boys. Feeling each other out, they circle around the ring, Cobb having the advantage most of the time, though Thatcher's mood would indicate he's anything but worried. Repeatedly Thatcher goes for the big man's arm, but Cobb's size is too great an obstacle to get much going, and he's likewise able to avoid an ankle lock. Leaning on Thatcher, Cobb continues to use his size to his advantage, brilliantly escaping a cross armbreaker at one point. Thatcher is quite vocal here, jovial and talkative, drawing a number of laughs from the audience. Both men force a few rope breaks as the match progresses, each of them showing signs of fatigue, as this is certainly the longest match for the night [EDIT: at least in the AMBITION tournament]. A HUGE gutwrench suplex sends Thatcher flying, as does a fairly bananas deadlift German, but he thinks quickly and uses his positioning to trap Cobb in a double wrist lock when he crashes down on the second suplex, forcing him to tap. Thatcher drags himself to the corner, slumped up against the pads, clutching his neck. His face turns from pain to joy. He chuckles at himself softly as he works his way back to the middle of the ring. Thatcher extends his hand and Cobb takes it, Thatcher bowing as he does so. The crowd applauds for these men and their performances. As Thatcher is announced as the winner, he points at his opponent, shouting his friend's name into the air. Delightful, delightful stuff here, interesting and entertaining all the way through as it unfolds. Go out of your way for this one, folks."

 

What I love about this match is the fact that it's two guys giving it their all in the spirit of friendly competition. Understandably some people aren't into that; they want more hate or more grittiness or less toothy grins. I totally get that, and I feel that way myself much of the time. Once you delve into the "wrestlers who just want to have fun and just love doin' cool spots" deep end, it's easy to lose track of any sort of realism or meaning. As much as I liked the tournament, you got a lot of that during 16 Carat. But AMBITION is this whole other thing, in which guys with some form of legit background come together to test their mettle against like-minded opponents. It's still more self-aware than, say, Mid-South in the 80's, but that sense of competition is still there and competitors can still delight in it. I know I certainly do, watching this match. It's very enjoyable to see two long-time friends do their thing in a relatively shoot environment in front of an appreciative crowd.