A Rangy Brawl

Gangrel. Much loved in Coastal Championship Wrestling. And been around in wrestling for 35 years. Nice bloke too, it seems. And yet recently on CCW and MLW, I haven’t been too sure about his work.

Well, I’m sure now. Because CCW played to his strengths here. No DQ. A student versus teacher vibe. And Jacob Fatu.

Fatu has such quality. He has fantastic wrestling talent. He has intensity. And he can brawl.

They met in February when Jacob Fatu debuted for CCW. He didn’t have a calm night, Grangrel tasted his own blood and Fatu lost by DQ after allowing his anger to boil over and pushing the ref.

And here they were again. This promised to be quality entertainment. Pure fun.

Check This Out…

Gangrel whacking Fatu upside the head as he decided to dive through the middle ropes.

Both of them going on a walkabout of the CCW room, the MidFlorida Credit Union Events Centre – ooh, fancy!

Gangrel introducing a trash can to Fatu’s cranium.

Both combatants looking at the CCW drinks area and deciding they shouldn’t destroy it.

The commentary comment about Tupelo, where the storied concession stand brawl took place; exactly right.

Fatu being backdropped, from such height through a cheap-looking plastic table. Gangrel had some power, getting him up in the air; Fatu must have come down hard.

The Chop Shop opened, but Fatu wanted to sort circuit it by a headbutt, which then opened Gangrel up.

That allowed Gangrel to hype the crowd up, grimacing through the crimson mask (only really an eye mask on this occasion) and pumping his fist in determination.

Then Fatu uncorked some stunning moves, we’ve seen them before from him but they always look so impressive; Handspring Moonsault for a long 2 count. Another Handspring Moonsault for an even longer 2 count.

A sweet Fatu Superkick followed.

Don’t forget his Coast To Coast with 2 chairs. That’s 2 chairs! How could I forget?

It Wasn’t All Fatu Though

Oh no, Gangrel even hit the jumping DDT he calls the Impaler, I think, but was too close to the ropes. Now I think it was because this happened during a CCW ad break, frustratingly.

But, after a sweet Bulldog onto a chair, Gangrel pulled off the move of the night.

Tell Us More…

He used a distraction, but then hit a Canadian Destroyer off the top.

Yes, off the top.

Well, that set things up perfectly for the Impaler, which always looks so brutal, so much height does he achieve. And the pin.

You Said Distraction…

That would be Brian Brock. With a trashcan. He went for Gangrel, but after it bounced off Fatu’s bonce, I’ll bet he wished he’d never bothered.

All that remained was for the Vampire Warrior to get him out of the ring and take advantage of the pin.

What’s Brock’s Beef?

Did his manager, Lean Lew Spectre speak in his ear?

Does he just not like Vampires?

Is this a problem from the past that we don’t know about?

Did he just want to join in the fun?

Because it was fun. Tons of fun. It didn’t go long. It didn’t go ridiculous. It went as we wanted it to.

Both wrestlers had a simmering enmity. The furniture was compromised. They almost destroyed a drinks area. And some great moves were pulled out.

G & F are friends now, after slugging it out when the bell had rung to end the match. But Gangrel made a believer out of me here. For Fatu, I already was.

And that goes double for CCW.