I learned that this match happened after someone on Twitter tweeted that they want to see Joey Janela vs. Zack Sabre Jr. inside a GCW ring. Janela replied that it has happened before at Blitzkrieg! Pro, and he told Brett [Lauderdale] that he wants it again this summer. I just had to go to YouTube to watch this match.
Joey Janela vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
June 2nd 2017 in Enfield, CT
B!P Disorder & Disarray
At the time of this contest Zack Sabre Jr. is the Evolve Champion, PWG Champion and RevPro Champion. Commentary boosts Zack Sabre Jr’s accomplishments and state that he’s the best technical wrestler in the world.
This is a styles clash between the two but Janela plays ZSJ’s game, trying to beat ZSJ in his own game. Every time Janela tries something on Sabre, Sabre locks in a maneuver on Janela that has never been seen before.
About ten minutes into the contest, Janela gains control of the match. He starts working on the back of Sabre. A few back body drops, forearms to the lower back and whips into the turnbuckles. Janela starts to turn it into his type of match with some forearms and chops. Sabre goes after the arm of Janela.
Janela hits a crossbody off the top rope and locks in a crossface. Sabre gets out of the submission by twisting Janela’s arm. Janela comes back with two brainbusters, but can’t put Sabre away. At this point the match has been going on for over 20 minutes and both men are exhausted. They both resort to striking eachother with slaps, forearms and uppercuts.
Right before the 25 minute mark, Sabre hits a tornado DDT and a PK. This only gets a 2 count. An announcement is made that there’s 5 minutes remaining. You can now see this match going the time limit.
Sabre is destroying Janela’s arm. Janela locks in a figure four but Sabre twists the ankle of Janela. Janela keeps the hold locked in. Sabre reaches the ropes but Janela pulls him back to the middle of the ring. Sabre slaps his way out of the submission. Both men start slapping eachother, but this pisses off Sabre and he goes after the arm. He attempts an armbar into a kimura into a triangle. Janela gets to the ropes to break the hold.
An announcement is made, there is one minute remaining in the contest. With a sense of urgency, Janela goes to the top and attempts a moonsault. Sabre catches him in a triangle and quickly transitions to his arm. He has one arm captured while pulling back on the bad arm. Janela is trapped. There’s 10 seconds left and the crowd starts to countdown. It seems like Janela is gonna hold on til the time limit hits but he counters the submission into a pin attempt. Janela gets the surprise pinfall victory with zero time left in the match. A great swerve at the end when it was looking like the match was going the time limit. ****
For a match that was 30 minutes long, it sure didn’t feel like it was. Both men keep the viewers and the live crowd intrigued the entire contest. With this match being 8 years old, it would be great to see these two lock up again now. Both men have improved greatly since then.
PWPonderings 