Welcome back to Paradigm Pro Wrestling. One of the more underground promotions famous for their range of technical excellence, UWFI rules bouts, and the more extreme side of wrestling. After their exceptional show at The Collective, I’ve had my eyes on this company. Now, they have graced us with a series of contender fights mixed in with other hard-hitting matches and general chaos all following the UWFI rule-set. In this episode we’d see, Big Beef Gnarls Garvin vs Lord Crewe, Jordan Blade vs Janai Kai, Lexus Montez vs Tommy Kyle Dean, Isaiah Broner vs Crash Jaxon, and a main event match of the Hoodfoot Mo Atlas taking on Flash Thompson for the Heavy Hitters Championship, all presented by J-Rose. It was a packed show so let’s get into it.
Before we get into the action though, let’s clarify the rules we’re playing by here. Victories can come from knock-out, TKO, submission, and by having more points than your opponents by the end. You won’t win by DQ, pinfall, or count-out. There’s no frills or pageantry, just knock your opponent down, try to tap them out, or Suplex them on their heads. If your opponent goes for the ropes or gets knocked down, then they lose points so try to drain those 15 points fast. You can only use open strikes to the head and neck, can’t use dirty tricks so keep your dick kicks at home and stay in the ring as you can’t intentionally leave at any time.
Lord Crewe defeated Big Beef Gnarls Garvin via Rear-Naked Choke
We opened with a pure slugfest. Gnarls Garvin is a massive monster whilst Lord Crewe is a madman with hard strikes and a harder edge due to his proficiency in bare-knuckle fighting. These two weren’t going to hold back and one would probably leave in a body bag. After a tense opening of dodges, Garvin took Crewe down with a wrestling takedown to show his power advantage. Crewe struck back with shots to the kidneys so Garvin backed him into the corner, forcing a break. Garvin planted Crewe with a spinebuster but Crewe used this to his advantage and barred an arm, forcing Garvin to the ropes. They continued to feel each other out until Crewe made the mistake of trying for a German. Garvin was too heavy and reversed into a German on Crewe, deducting some points from him. Crewe threw some Muay Thai knees and the pair struck at the other’s head until Crewe jumped on Garvin’s back, locked in a rear-naked choke, and put Garvin to sleep. Just like that, Crewe proved no matter how big you are, you can’t do anything once the air is taken from you. An excellent opener that set the tone of what we were going to see no matter how unhappy Garvin was about it.
Jordan Blade defeated Janai Kai via Ankle Lock
Our first contender’s bout was next as Jordan Blade and Janai Kai looked to show what they were capable of. I wasn’t familiar with either competitor in the fight but the promo clips certainly showed they were more than credible fighters about to go to war. Kai is a black belt in Taekwondo whilst Blade is a gold medal power-lifter and experienced jiu-jitsu fighter, would speed and striking trump power and a willingness to break ankles? We’d soon see. Blade came in fast with a takedown and tried to get the ankle early but Kai kicked Blade away. Kai kicked back and the pair quickly traded strikes and knees, neither appearing to have the advantage until Blade once again took down Kai and launched strikes at her head. Blade scored a third takedown and took heavy knees to Kai’s back, then threw her away with a gutwrench Suplex, draining Kai’s points. Kai fired back with fast strikes that stunned Blade but her kick was caught and Blade took her down into a mount and tried for an arm breaker. Kai reversed the mount and struck back again but Blade shifted the position off a Kimura lock and forced the ref to back both up. Blade baited Kai in and tanked a barrage of kicks and strikes to snatch the ankle and forced Kai to quickly tap to the Ankle Lock. The Ankle Breaker had scored her first UWFI rules win. This took a much faster approach than the previous bout with some harder shots and a lot more punishment. Blade is one hell of an intimidating presence and Kai has a fire you can’t help but get behind. Both fighters killed it here. Blade wants Chase Holliday, Paradigm, you know what to do.
Isaiah Broner defeated Crash Jaxon via Spinning Back Elbow Knockout
Next up was the second of tonight’s contender’s bouts as Isaiah Broner, looked to knock the lights out of Crash Jaxon. Both guys seemed fairly evenly matched but in UWFI rules, that can change in an instant. Broner brought his boxing game with him as the pair instantly clashed with heavy hands. Jaxon took the fight to the mat and tried to trap an arm, causing a rope break and draining Broner’s points. He scored a second shock by catching and throwing Broner with an overhead toss and drained another point from Broner. Jaxon charged and ran straight into a spinning back elbow. He hit the mat like a sack of bricks, knocked out and Broner got a very impactful win. The momentum shifted in a second as all it took was one strike and Jaxon was on his back. Broner withstood the early assault and scored an emphatic win over a game opponent. Broner doesn’t seem to like anyone as he had Jaxon rolled out of the ring to celebrate and sent J-Rose back to cut his own post-match promo, putting the Hoodfoot on notice as he’s coming for him next.
After that match, Don’t Die Miles came out to cut a promo as his opponent had been removed due to health reasons, leaving him without a fight in the series. He wanted to address that and called out Bobby Beverly. He wanted a fight but he wasn’t going to get it this week. Beverly came out, shunted Miles, and after scraping Beverly’s jaw with a kick, got dumped out of the ring. That seemed like a warning shot for a fight to come.
Lexus Montez defeated Tommy Kyle Dean via Spinning Back Elbow Knockout
After Don’t Die Miles got his moment, we went into the final contender’s match of the episode. Lexus Montez was taking on Tommy Kyle Dean. Dean had been hand-picked by Dominic Garrini and holds a black belt in Taekwondo making him perfect for taking on another heavy striker in Montez. The pair started carefully, blocking heavily and Montez got TKD with a leg grab. TKD came back with a flurry of kicks and ate a series of Muay Thai knees into a guillotine. TKD escaped and used the mount to hammer down some ground-and-pound blows, then the pair traded ground game holds and Montez got to rain down some elbows. Montez continued to try and keep TKD grounded with elbows and strikes but he eventually made it back to his feet thanks to a rope break. TKD scored a down with a head kick and Montez forced another rope break with an ankle/heel hold. Montez tried to catch Dean with a jumping knee but Dean was in the ropes. The pair continued to trade with Dean trying to use his kicks and Montez striking any way he felt like. A corner break was forced, then Montez got the snap win with a spinning back elbow. It wasn’t quite as sudden as Broner’s win but it was just as deadly. This was an enjoyable striking contest with Montez getting the win despite his cocky striking game. His post-match promo basically demanded people put respect on his name and after a win like that, how can’t you?
Heavy Hitters Title: Hoodfoot Mo Atlas defeated Flash Thompson via Overhand Right Knockout
Last but not least, the main event. It would be the Heavy Hitters Champion and master of the full-body durag, the Hoodfoot, Mo Atlas defending his title against Flash Thompson. The last time I saw Thompson in action, he dissected the injured knee of Cole Radrick, what was he going to do to the Hoodfoot? Not to mention, Hoodfoot was the guy to retire Erick Stevens, could Thompson do anything against someone like that? Well, probably, he is a Golden Gloves champion. The pair opened the contest with some heavy hands and kicks, then Hoodfoot tossed Flash away like a ragdoll. The heavy hits continued, then Flash forced Hoodfoot to use a rope break by going for his devastating kneebar. Neither man let up on the vicious striking, then Hoodfoot threw Thompson away with another toss. The striking rounds continued as neither man let up in the slightest, taking gratuitous amounts of shots to the head. Flash stunned Hoodfoot with an uppercut and tried to build to a combo, but Hoodfoot snapped out of his daze and ended the fight with a very heavy knockout right. Thompson went down hard and the match was over. Hoodfoot retained after taking a ridiculous number of strikes. What a way to end the first episode.
Walked in
Called my shotNow @ParadigmProWres gimmie what I want
1st episode up on @indiewrestling #DTA ? #KING #IRunShit pic.twitter.com/75coe12hkP
— ?Isaiah Broner (@IsaiahBroner) December 24, 2020
At least it would have been but Hoodfoot called out everyone coming for him, putting them on blast because none of them could step to the monster in the ring. He was ambushed by his future opponent, Isaiah Broner, who took the Heavy Hitters title and started a brawl that forced the pair to be pulled apart. Something tells me this isn’t over between them. That ends an excellent first round of action. Next week it’ll be, Matthew Justice vs Robert Martyr, Ron Mathis vs Aaron Williams, Don’t Die Miles vs Bobby Beverly, and Flash Thompson vs Jeffery John. The UWFI action is only just beginning so keep it tuned to IWTV to watch the action and to SteelChair for my takes on the action.
Next Wednesday on @indiewrestling at 10 PM ET / 7PM PT – it's the 2nd episode of #UWFiContenders!
? @ThrashJustice v @TheStretcherRM
? @RonMathis13 v @PlanetWilliams1
? @DontDieMiles v @BobbyBeverly
? @flashthompson83 v @IamJeffreyJohn #IndianaInokiism #ShootStyle pic.twitter.com/clLjM6XPka— Paradigm Pro Wrestling (@ParadigmProWres) December 24, 2020
All images courtesy of Paradigm Pro Twitter, Isaiah Broner Twitter,