Last week on The Masked Wrestler Wyldkat secured his spot in last night’s Finals by defeating Stokely Hathaway Jr. With a big outburst, Stokely revealed themself to be Tony Deppen (which I recommend you watch if you haven’t already). After arguably the most interesting episode of this series to date how will they be able to follow up? Before we get into that, let me reiterate my guesses from last week’s edition of this review series. I predict Genkai defeating Wyldkat with Wyldkat being Atticus Cogar and Genkai being Lee Moriarty. Was this a correct guess? Lets find out.
This Week’s Contest
Briefer than the past two week’s retrospectives on the Quarterfinals, we start off this week with Genkai and Wyldkat’s immediate thoughts on the Finals. Genkai, keeping their words brief, simply states that they’re ready for whats to come. Wyldkat, with much more to say, tells us that he knows “…more than he’ll ever know.” about Genkai. They also say that they will “…reveal [Genkai] to the world.” With these final words sealed, its time to ring the bell for the final time this season!
The Match
After a scrum is broken up by the ref, Genkai takes control of the contest by keeping a strong grip on a Wristlock. Wyldkat tries hitting the ropes, a lucha style Arm Drag and even a Scoop Slam but Genkai continued to keep grip on the wrist. After using the ropes to finally break the hold, Wyldkat concedes the hold-for-hold battle and throws a stiff punch at Genkai. Genkai fights back with a lucha style Arm Drag of their own, followed by a Single Leg Dropkick for a two.
Genkai follows through on the ground work they laid with working Wyldkat’s arm by hitting a modified Scoop Slam for two. Wyldkat began to develop their own attack plan as they followed a Stun Gun into the top rope with a Lariat to the throat for two. Pulling Genkai to their feet, Wyldkat pulls off a Stalling Vertical Suplex for a two count. Back to their feet once again, Genkai sweeps Wyldkat to the outside and follows with a Suicide Dive. In response, Wyldkat scrambles back into the ring and hits a Suicide Dive of their own.
Back in the ring, Wyldkat hits a Jimmy King-esque Crown for a two count. Genkai fights back with a spectacular Corner Elbow-Angle Slam combination for a two count of their own. Going back to their cheating ways, Wyldkat attempted a Pop Up Low Blow like last week, but was countered into an STF. After getting the rope break, Wyldkat pulled at Genkai’s mask and followed with a Low Blow and roll up only for two. Following through, Wyldkat hit a Piledriver for a two, which they rolled through into a Crippler Crossface. The hold was broken by a pin attempt and Genkai took advantage, hitting a beautiful Enzuigiri-German Suplex-Twisting Brainbuster combination for the three and the Tournament win in 11:06.
The Reveal
For the final time, we have a loser to unmask but before we go to their identity, its time for the panel to take a guess. Mr. Brickster guessed Colin Delaney, Billy Dixon guessed Blake Christian and Kris Statlander guessed “Hot Sauce” Tracy Williams. All these guesses were wrong. After denying referee Kris Levin from removing their mask, they did it themself to reveal they were in fact Beyond Wrestling gem Wheeler YUTA.
After unmasking, YUTA gave Genkai the stage to accept their trophy for winning this tournament. The moment would not last as YUTA immediately attacked Genkai from behind. Kris Levin would be taken out in an attempt to stop the attack; as well as Brickster taking a Low Blow for his efforts. Finally Tony Deppen, who owes YUTA two kicks to the dick, made the save and ran YUTA off from the ring. And with that, this tournament series is over.
I’ll be honest, in ring stuff aside (which was tremendous), I was very disappointed with the ending of The Masked Wrestler. I anticipated that we’d still find out who the identities of both competitors were but we’re left off on a cliffhanger of “who is Genkai?” I will say I’m looking forward to seeing what we get out of Heeler YUTA. Through the disappointment I do see an interesting “What If” scenario that comes out of not knowing who Genkai is; indulge me if you will.
Don’t reveal Genkai’s identity and have WARHORSE go in blind to who he’s facing for his IWTV Independent Wrestling Championship. If Genkai loses, have them unmask and reveal their identity. If Genkai wins, have them continue to defend as Genkai with each match being worth both the IWTV Independent Wrestling Championship and Genkai’s mask. You could even continue the rules of The Masked Wrestler and have a select panel at each match to figure out who they are. But with that in mind and the show in the books, its time to say goodbye to The Masked Wrestler…for now.