Bloodsport 9 – Mar 30

Bloodsport 9 – Mar 30

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*Live from the Ukrainian Cultural Center in Los Angeles, CA.

Welcome to my live coverage of Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport 9 – part of the GCW Collective. Show kicks off at 7PM.

Emil goes over the Bloodsport rules and the fighters.

The participants for tonight are named: Erik Hammer, Calvin Tankman, Killer Kelly, Marina Shafir, Mike Bailey, Kota Ibushi, Bad Dude Tito, Yuya Uemura, Harry Smith, JR Kratos, Johnny Bloodsport, Royce Isaacs, Alex Coughlin, Jon Moxley, Timothy Thatcher, Josh Barnett

Josh Barnett explains that they have gathered the toughest and baddest. This is the hardest hitting event in pro wrestling. I can’t argue with that.

I’m literally shocked about the quality of names on the undercard of this show.

We reviewed the Santino Bros show earlier today, but it is always surprising how the audience at the collective really changes from show to show. This show is starting at 4PM Pacific time, which I presume is just easier than the 11AM start time for Santino Bros.

Jeff Cobb defeats Calder Mccoll by referee stop in the first match. McColl has an MMA background with a winning record while Cobb is an Olympian amateur wrestler, so this match isn’t as lopsided as you might thing based on name recognition alone. Cobb used a one arm powerbomb where McColl’s head bounced off the canvas. The force of the powerbomb knocked McColl out, so the referee called fro the bell. Match was around 7 minutes.

Erik Hammer defeats Calvin Tankman in the second match. Hammer is a much bigger guy, but Hammer has a superior submission game. Hammer used a double wrist-lock for the submission victory in less than 3 minutes. Hammer is now 4-0 at Bloodsport.

Marina Shafir defeats Killer Kelly in the third match. This is a pretty cool match. Shafir is undefeated while Killer Kelly is going for her first win. This match has the best grappling so far as both women struggle to get an advantage in the first minute. While Killer Kelly is super intimidating, Shafir is going straight at Kelly with tons of aggression. Action spills to the floor and Kelly used a double leg take down to get things back going her way. Shafir had all she could do to answer the 10 count. Multiple vicious throws from Kelly have Shafir in trouble. Shafir takes back over with a palm strike and a bg kick to knock Kelly off her feet. Marina used a leg and arm choke for the submission win over Kelly. Really great 5.5 minute match.

Kota Ibushi defeats Mike Bailey by knockout in the fourth match. We haven’t seen Ibushi lost to Okada in the final of the 2021 G1 Climax. Ibushi looks good given how much time he had to take off due to injury and contract issues with New Japan. Bailey got caught with a couple of high kicks and a knee strike, but he came back with some strikes of his own before taking Ibushi back to the mat with a cross arm breaker followed by his back flip double knees. Ibushi knocked Bailey out with his Kamigoye Knee Strike. The match came in under 7 minutes.

Kota put Mike Bailey over after the match posing with him before having fun with the crowd.

Video package honoring Erik Paulson as the Josh Barnett Bloodsport Lifetime Achievement Award Winner. Chavo Guerrero comes out with Amy Rose to present Erik Paulson with his award.

Bad Dude Tito defeats Yuya Uemura by submission in the Fifth Match. It is so weird to see Yuya in anything but black trunks and black boots. Uemura hit Tito with a throw, dropkicked him out of the ring, and then hit him with a dive. Bad Dude Tito locked in an ankle lock submission and secured the tap out victory. Match lasted about five minutes.

Davey Boy Smith Jr. defeats JR Kratos by submission in the sixth match. They use Davey Boy Smith Jr. in the graphic, but refer to him as Harry Smith. Kratos has always been a big dude, but it looks like he’s slimmed a bit. Well this was the longest match so far on the card, but probably the least exciting so far. DBS got the win with a crossface.

Johnny Bloodsport defeats Royce Isaacs by submission in the seventh match. After I thought Johnny was dead from a really nasty looking piledriver, Johnny Bloodsport somehow powered through and got the submission victory to a kimora lock. The match was about eight minutes.

Jon Moxley defeats Alex Coughlin by referee stop in the eighth match. Moxley beat the hell out of Coughlin and then put him in the rear naked choke. Coughlin somehow managed to lift Moxley up while Jon maintained the choke. Mox never let go of the choke. and Alex eventually passed out for the referee stop. The match went about 6.5 minutes.

Timothy Thatcher defeats Josh Barnett by submission in the main event. Thatcher used a knee bar to get a surprising submission victory in about 13 minutes.