For Your Consideration: Daniel Makabe for Best Technical Wrestler

As we close out 2024 and enter award season, I started running through who would be the leading candidates for the Wrestling Observer Newsletter’s Bryan Danielson Award for Best Technical Wrestler.

Bryan Danielson: the man for whom the award is named
Zack Sabre Jr.: the winner of the award for seven consecutive years before Danielson reclaimed it
Hechicero: one of CMLL’s international breakout stars this year
Chihiro Hashimoto: joshi workhorse
Daniel Makabe

Wait, Daniel Makabe, the indie wrestler?

Well, why not Daniel Makabe?

Let me tell you why Daniel Makabe is as deserving a candidate for the Bryan Danielson Award as any of the aforementioned wrestlers.

Acknowledging the Criteria

The description for the Bryan Danielson Award states: “This is for having the ability to use high-level technical wrestling moves within the context of building a great worked pro wrestling match.”

It is, rather appropriately, a vague description for the most artistically oriented award in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter’s catalog. The keywords are “high-level technical wrestling” and “great worked pro wrestling match.” The focus should be on the work, not the presentation, not the commercial appeal, and not popularity.

That matches Daniel Makabe’s vibe just fine.

Daniel Makabe: Wrestling Genius

Daniel Makabe first came into prominence outside of the Pacific Northwest through his three matches against Timothy Thatcher from 2017 to 2019 in 3-2-1 BATTLE!, a defunct promotion based in Washington. In the era of independent wrestling where one-note, cartoonish gimmicks seemed to garner the most attention, those gritty, grinding, punishing matches were like manna from heaven for a fan like me, who would wear the grapplefuck badge proudly and who started writing about wrestling because he wanted a reason to watch more UWF and UWFi matches.

Makabe followed that trilogy by winning the 2019 Scenic City Invitational. When asked, southern independent wrestling promoter Dylan Hales explained why he booked Makabe for the SCI: “I believed that [Makabe] was the best wrestler in the world, and I think he demonstrated that at the SCI.”

From there, Makabe traveled to England to face Carlos Romo for Breed Pro, to Germany to wrestle in the AMBITION Wildcard tournament for wXw, and to Alabama to face Curt Stallion for New South Alpha Three. However, he wouldn’t be absent from his home base for long. Makabe, along with Artemis Spencer and Nicole Matthews, was a standard bearer of the Pacific Northwest scene. (Makabe would be quick to remind readers here that he is proud to be from New Westminster, British Columbia, and not Seattle, as many would assume since his primary promotion was 3-2-1 BATTLE!)

Despite the praiseful word of mouth, winning the SCI, tours with wXw, and profiles from SlamWrestling and Seattle-based indie rock radio station KEXP, Makabe never seemed to break out the way that you’d expect someone as talented at professional wrestling as he was. The end of the era of the touring superindies like Ring of Honor and Evolve Wrestling and the reversion back to regionally focused indies certainly made it harder for any wrestler to reach the same level of notice. And the Pacific Northwest scene is underappreciated, even though wrestlers like Darby Allin, Nick Wayne, Swerve Strickland, and oh yeah, Bryan Danielson have emerged from it. (Strickland is billed from Tacoma, but his first matches in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic area. Danielson is Eberdeen’s favorite son, but his first matches were in Texas and Japan. Nonetheless, I’d count both as sons of the PNW.) It could be that the COVID-19 pandemic broke Makabe’s momentum; as Makabe acknowledges, travel restrictions in British Columbia forced him to stop traveling and even training. After wrestling 65 matches in 2019, Makabe’s output was reduced to 25 matches in 2020, most of which were in January to March 2020, and 27 matches in 2021.

And it could be that Makabe, true to his backyard wrestling and punk rock roots, isn’t doing this for fame. He’s doing it for himself, as he told Blake Morneau at Rags Music: “I’ve never wanted to be a TV wrestler. I’ve never wanted to have a contract. I never really wanted this to be my job. I think it would take the fun out of it. And first and foremost, this is art for me.” He also told Martin Douglas at KEXP, “You know, I think music has influenced me in that I’m much more drawn to smaller rooms.” Concurrent to his pro wrestling career, Makabe’s also been a guitarist in hardcore bands like Hanging Heart, Griefwalker, and Taxa and toured with Fucked Up and The Halluci Nation on the “Here’s the Unity Tour of Canada.”

2024: The Year Daniel Makabe Broke (Through)

In February, Makabe announced that he would retire in 2024, making this year the last year he would be eligible for any of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards. With only 16 matches in 2024, Makabe’s case for the Bryan Danielson Award this year might seem scant compared to Hashimoto’s 62 matches, Hechicero’s 125, and Sabre’s 131. (Even Danielson, who also retired – as a full-time wrestler – this year, had 38 matches.)

The criteria, however, doesn’t stipulate that a wrestler needs to have an extensive body of work to be considered. The quality of the work is most important, and Makabe’s variety and caliber in his 16 matches make him as deserving as any other candidate for this award.

Here are five key Daniel Makabe matches this year that form his case for the Bryan Danielson Award:

Makabe vs. Zack Sabre Jr., Prestige Roseland 8: The 7 Year Anniversary Show

Let’s start with the Makabe match with the highest profile from the year. I would hold this up as the archetypal grapplefuck match, full of feints, subtle body movements to create space on defense and offense from both men, and an escalation in tension and violence, trading friendly grappling for outraged striking as Sabre gets annoyed that this supposed nobody is able to meet him hold for hold on the mat. Makabe replies in kind and is able to rock Sabre with his Big Unit punch, one of the great punches in wrestling, but Sabre has done too much damage to Makabe’s arm for Makabe to capitalize. Sabre only manages to beat Makabe by playing possum at the end, springing his trap to drag Makabe to the ground. Sabre can only force Makabe to submit after locking up Makabe’s arms and legs.

This gif captures the fluidity of the work that Makabe and Sabre do together in this match.

Makabe vs. Timothy Thatcher, ACTION DEAN~!!!

While there were flashier matches on DEAN~!!!, Makabe vs. Thatcher was the match that rewarded the viewer who watched without distraction the most. In the finale in their years-spanning feud, Makabe and Thatcher focused on limb submission and selling. Here, Makabe shows off the special element that makes these grappling-focused matches compelling: he’s always probing for advantage, whether he’s fighting from above or below, never accepting the hold. That constant motion lends the match the verisimilitude of a real fight. Makabe also shows here that he’s able to throw big bombs, hitting Thatcher with three Big Unit punches to finally put Thatcher down and their feud behind them.

Watch on IWTV

Makabe vs. Kevin Ku, Scenic City Invitational Tournament 2024, Night 1

In his final match* (pending whether Makabe ever gets a match with Bryan Danielson, the only person he’d come out of retirement to face), Makabe decides to let it all fly, from hitting a high-impact move like a Death Valley Driver to bleeding profusely to flying to the outside:

Admittedly, it is not the smoothest flight, but it shows that Makabe was still willing to test his limits even at the end of 20 years. This match showed that Makabe can balance blood, striking, and grappling as well as camaraderie and violence. Makabe and Ku may have started with a hug, but Makabe shows off his great Big Unit punch once again as he punches Ku in the side of the head to finish him off.

Watch on IWTV

Makabe vs. Judas Icarus, 365 Pro Wrestling

Makabe vs. Sabre and Makabe vs. Thatcher are proof that Makabe is a grapplefuck master. In his match against Judas Icarus, Makabe shows that he can also wrestle the faster-paced, flashier, more stereotypically indie wrestling main event style. Since this is billed as a title match for 365 Pro’s Global Title, Makabe shows urgency and intensity from the start, going for his Makabe Lock (a seated Cattle Mutilation) on Icarus early. Makabe also wrestles with a meaner edge here; the sequence where he bounces Icarus’s throat off of the bottom rope to launch him to his feet to set up his Big Unit punch has a much grittier feel than how he uses the Big Unit in his other matches.

Makabe vs. Nicole Matthews, Dusk Pro The Year Daniel Makabe Broke: Stage 14

Our last match is the one most emblematic of Makabe’s punk rock, stripped down aesthetic. Held in the Lions Gate Dojo in front of one person, Makabe and Nicole Matthews improvise their way through a match, capturing the struggle and mental battle in grappling that reminded me of when I would grapple in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. This is a match with a high degree of difficulty: to make a match this compelling without relying on cheap tricks or on audience participation requires someone who can demonstrate the “ability to use high level technical wrestling moves within the context of building a great worked pro wrestling match.”

Appreciating the Wizard of Queens Park

I am under no illusions that Daniel Makabe has a chance to win the Bryan Danielson Award this year. However, I would encourage voters to consider recognizing one of the best, most underappreciated indie wrestlers of his generation in his last year. If Daniel Makabe even scores one vote this year, it would be enough.