Special Versus Awesome

 

The DOA Wrestling UK commentator says how refreshing it is to see fan favorites versus fan favorites, without the good guy / bad guy labels. A clash between babyface teams can be refreshing, especially when there's no clear sense of which side is the stronger and better prepared, as appears to be the case in this energetic 2013 battle between Special Edition (Brad Slayer and Kip Sabian, top photo) and Battle Squad: Awesome ("Adrenaline" Danny Chase and "Diamond" Dave Andrews, second photo, with their four-eyed alter egos). It's a match about (we're told) "respect," "honor," and "pride."

For the first half of the match, both teams vie for the fans' love and admiration. Midway through the match they still pause to give their opponents an appreciative handshake. Seconds later, however, BSA cedes the high ground with an unprovoked double elbow drop on cute young Kip and then a double dropkick against Brad, who rushes in to rescue his partner. On the whole it appears that teamwork, timing, and a willingness to bend the rules may triumph over matching aqua trunks and boy-band haircuts. At any rate, even the commentator has to admit that the match has just become much more interesting.

However, even with smart-looking bangs hiding his eyes, Kip knows how to spring a clean reversal and give Diamond Dave some bruises to remember the evening by. Special Edition also knows a thing or two about double-teaming and synchronized attacks, as Danny is the first to find out. I especially like watching Sabian "clean house" shortly after the sixteen minute mark, after Slayer's jaw-dropping counter to BSA's coordinated punishment. This is what makes tag team matches fun (this, and the sight of teammates' foreheads bonked together, which regrettably we don't see here--but, maybe even better, we do see Kip hang Danny in a "tree of woe" and then torpedo Dave into his midsection).

Even so, the commentators are right. This is a great tag team match. And, in the end, after all the hard feelings have been spent in one team's sweaty annihilation of the other, the winners raise the losers' arms in a "show of respect," demonstrating that, despite the balls-to-the-wall finish, all four men are still "a class act."