Timothy Thatcher vs. Eddie Kingston - BEYOND Wrestling: Uncharted Territory, 10/10/19

 

Disrespecting Eddie Kingston is worse than any other physical harm you can inflict on him. 

You could work a body part, you could slam him on thumbtacks, you could piledrive him straight on his skull. 

But God help the man who disrespects the Mad King. 

This is a fun match for me because I was really high on Tim for a few years before his WWE run and for his WWE run, and Eddie’s worked his way into the conversation of my top 25 all time in the last five years. So it’s nice seeing them intersect at a point where their careers could NOT be going any differently, working just a straight up mat based wrestling contest, sans any pomp or frills. 

The match itself isn’t anything spectacular, but it’s a good, solid exchange of holds and limb work. Namely, Tim focuses almost all of his attention on Eddie’s arm. Eddie’s selling is, per usual, excellent. They don’t take too many chances or risks with anything though, and playing armchair psychiatrist, part of me feels that it was probably due to this being the period of time where Eddie was seriously going through some shit in regards to his career. I’m probably projecting, but Eddie just never fully seems into some of his matches during this time period. 

At the end of the day though, Eddie only 50% motivated is still better to me than a lot of other guys. 

But back to how I started this review, “Disrespecting Eddie Kingston is worse than any other physical harm you can inflict on him.” It’s my favorite parts of this match! Eddie will be succumbing to Thatcher’s limb work, and being the bastard scoundrel he is, Thatcher often likes to add insult to injury, especially after the middle finger Eddie threw his way early on. 

So anytime Thatcher would have Kingston perhaps moments from tapping, he’d do a little gesture like smushing his boot in Eddie’s face or slapping his head. 

Wrong move, cowboy. 

Each time he does this, it’s almost like it’s Eddie’s power-up, because he finds a way out of the hold and starts laying into Thatcher with big strikes. It’s basic, but it works! And it feels realistic coming from two dudes like this, so extra points added for authenticity. 

In the end, Thatcher is too much for Eddie to overcome. The arm work catches up, and this time, instead of letting his anger get the best of him by insulting Eddie, he uses that momentum to turn his limb work into a surprise crucifix pin to get the three count!

Fun finish, fun story. Again, nothing spectacular or otherworldly, but this would’ve made a fine B-Show tv main event. 

MATCH RATING: ***