To blatantly exaggerate there is very little better than good wrestling, except for when it’s good wrestling for good causes.
On February 14 this combination was achieved with the Iron Match put on by Beyond Wrestling. Tony Deppen and Trish Adora wrestled a very good, engaging, enjoyable one hour of wrestling that once again did the impossible, made me enjoy an Iron Person Match.
It wasn’t perfect, I could nitpick and critique, but sometimes when you enjoy something to a certain extent you let it go, you let it slide away, you just take in all the good it did and leave it at that. That’s how I feel about this match.
It wasn’t perfect, but darn on that particular day I watched it I felt it was exactly what I was looking forward to and its symphony hit the notes I wanted.
Deppen was a delight in this match. His trash talk, cocky attitude, and doing all he can to be an unlikeable prick were spotlighted to the point you started to feel he believed it. Deppen KNEW he was the superior wrestler, and he did not approve of this competitor who took up the challenge and constantly kept demanding she show up and prove she belonged.
Trish Adora?
SHE KNEW she belonged, she didn’t need to prove shit, but she was going to shut this punk up all the same. She went toe to toe with Deppen and even succeeded in getting the very first fall in the match with the Lariat Tubman (THE BEST NAMED MOVE IN WRESTLING BY THE WAY). The more eyes that get put on Trish Adora the better. She’s talented, charismatic, unapologetic in who she is and what she stands for and all of it is wonderful. I hope great things continue to come her way.
Iron Man matches are hard to make me enjoy. Jeremy Wyatt and Fred Yehi succeeded in spades last year. This match didn’t reach those heights, but it didn’t need to. All it needed to be was an hour where the action felt consistent, very little felt wasted, and it had a competitive feel throughout between the two competitors. It achieved all these categories. The solo commentary did a good job of putting over and narrating to us throughout the match as Deppen and Trish Adora spent the majority of the match grappling and struggling with mat work. Trading holds, putting on submissions, and trying to prove who the better wrestler was. It could be argued that maybe they should’ve gotten off the ground quicker, more often, and mixed things up more with different types of suplexes, slams, etc. but the minimalistic approach worked.
This was an hour-long match between two wrestlers both trying to outwrestle each other but not use up so much energy that they put themselves at a disadvantage. I personally enjoy the grappling game. Under lesser wrestlers, it can admittedly be a chore, boring, a lot of nothing going on. With these two it felt like a constant movement, constantly changing up, constantly play chess with each other, and trying to guess what the other was doing before they ever did it.
In the world of COVID (I’m getting tired of typing variations of that) you got to do things to get eyes on your product and your wrestlers if you are choosing to hold events. The independent scene is getting more and more depleted as wrestlers are getting signed up just as they are getting started. Events like this, even if they aren’t your particular cup of tea, are great ideas if promoted and hyped correctly to draw eyes and attention. Throw in that both were wrestling for respective charities and I can give this match a positive recommendation.
Deppen was representing Grateful Garments which provides clothing and other resources to victims of sexual violence to help them on their path to healing.
Trish Adora represents the Harriet Tubman Women’s Shelter which operates seven days a week and 365 days a year and can serve up to 175 women per night. Even if you have no interest in watching this match it would be worthwhile to check up on these two charities and consider donating as doing a bit of good/helping out with a bit of good in this world is far more important than any star rating that we could haggle and argue over.
Good wrestlers, good charities, and a good match.
How can I not approve of any of this? Also, while I do enjoy the work of Deppen I must confess I mainly write this article in hopes of getting more eyes on Trish Adora. She is incredible and the more eyes on her and her championship (Pan Afrikan World Diaspora Champion) the better. I hope she continues to earn more and more opportunities because she puts in the work, has the talent and drive, and is just a delight to watch in the ring. To not leave Deppen out he has a great ground game and is one of the better wrestlers still on the independent scene. He never appears to take any match half-assed and works well with a variety of opponents. While I was not personally a fan of his two-hour match with Jordan Oliver (tastes vary) I give him respect for the ambition and effort he put into it and at the very least he succeeded at getting discussion and curious eyes on him for that performance.
This match was a wonderful idea that was put together after The Collective, came about quickly but smoothly, and worked as well as they could’ve hoped both presentation-wise and the actual wrestling. They promoted it, they hyped it, even made merchandise for it, and then they delivered. A good match or a good event is nothing if you don’t get eyes on it, and much effort was put into putting eyes on this match so I sincerely hope it succeeded. I sincerely hope their respective charities earned some money from this event, because performing good wrestling is wonderful, but putting forth effort toward doing good in this world is something that’s truly special.
Even if you have no interest in this match, I suggest you figure out what good you can contribute to this world and do so.
Times are hard, let us all make it a little less so okay.
