Last week on The Masked Wrestler, the orange mask wearing Marmalade fell to the silver adorned Wyldkat. After a correct guess by panelist Billy Dixon, the first in show history, Marmalade unmasked to reveal that they were in fact one-half of Pretty Proper: Lady Frost. Last night’s episode was bound to be an exciting as it was the close of the Quarterfinal Round of the competition. I was sure these last two competitors were bound to give it their all to get that last spot in the Semifinals. Did they manage to do just that? Lets find out!
This Week’s Contest
Unlike the past three weeks of shows, last night’s matchup was revealed before the show went live on air via IWTV’s Twitter. We would be seeing the Blueskie in the appropriate blue mask taking on…Stokely Hathaway Jr. in yellow. Blueskie is a four year pro in the wrestling world. They claim that their opponent not knowing who they are is a big advantage because their opponent can’t gameplan and Blueskie can just go out and do what they do best. Blueskie also states that they’re “…pretty confident [they] can hang with everyone.” Their opponent, Stokely Hathaway Jr. is a decade pro in the wrestling world. They are confident in their ability to adapt to their opponent; and in reference to donning the mask, they claim:
…most of the time when I wrestle in new cities nobody knows who I am so its just another day in the office for me.
Two Truths & A Lie
Blueskie
They’re from Cincinnati, Ohio
They’re trained by a former NXT Champion
They’ve been living in Pennsylvania for the past four-years
Stokely Hathaway Jr.
They like animals
They’re Stokely Hathaway
They’re a pretty good professional wrestler
The Match
Things started off more so on the technical side of things as they exchanged holds. However things almost immediately amped up to ten as they begun to exchange leap frog counters and arm drags. In a series first, Stokely begun using springboard maneuvers to get the better of Blueskie, but just as soon conceded to nailing Blueskie with a closed fist punch. Through some fault of their own, Blueskie begun to show a little skin with a Hurricanrana and Dropkick pulling and blowing up the top of their gear.
In two firsts for this show, the action not only spilled to the outside, but also Blueskie managed to hit a Suicide Dive on Stokely Jr. who was on the outside. Soon after Stokely Jr. would return the favor with a slingshot splash to Blueskie who was standing on the floor. After failing to hit the mark on a Push Kick and a Pelé Kick, Stokely Jr. would nail a Running Meteora for only a two count. Stokely Jr.’s attempt at a Running Senton would be met with Blueskie’s knees before a flurry of strikes would lead to a Springboard Clothesline. Once more a struggle commenced between the two, this time on the top rope as Blueskie was knocked off of the middle rope before planting Stokely Jr. back up top and hitting a running Hurricanrana, followed by beautiful Lio Rush-esque Frog Splash for a two count. The match would culminate after yet another struggle for position lead to Stokely Jr. hitting a surprise Cradle Rollup for the three in 7:04.
The Reveal
With yet another contestant standing firmly in the loser’s column, we go to our expert panel of Mr. Brickster, Billy Dixon, and AEW’s own Kris Statlander. Starting this week with Mr. Brickster, get quite possibly the most outlandish guess yet as he guesses Blueskie to be “Michael from The Lost Boys.” After that incorrect guess came Billy Dixon who guessed the aforementioned Lio Rush; a guess that was incorrect. Finally, Kris Statlander would give insight on her guess; saying that she was familiar with Blueskie through AAW, and guessed Tre’ LaMar. For the second week in a row, the panel would guess correctly!
Post-unmasking, Tre’ admitted competing in The Masked Wrestler was a fun experience, and that though he lost the competition, Big Starkz Brand remains undefeated. Tre’ admitted the challenges to competing on the show, with the mask both constricting site and breathing and that he felt he “blue” his shot. In closing, he mentioned that after some thought, he believed he was facing Stokely Hathaway and that he will face WARHORSE some day. For now though, that match will not happen as he has been eliminated from The Masked Wrestler.
With the opening round of this competition coming to a close, I have to admit that this challenges Skid vs Falcor (KTB) for my favorite matchup in the Quarterfinals. Both Tre’ and Stokely Jr. took no back steps in the action once they really hit the gas pedal. I also thought they took the unique road with the match going out of the ring and using more Cruiserweight maneuvers with Springboards and the general use of the top rope. It makes me wonder how much more interesting Genkai, Skid, Wyldkat and Stokely Jr. can make things going forward through the Semifinals, as well as the ultimate conclusion of The Masked Wrestler.