by Daniel Johnson
Rexx Lawless vs. Joel Bateman
This bout from Beyond Wrestling emanates from the CZW Academy and according to commentator Denver Colorado is the first in a series taking place there. The part of this match that really impresses me is Joel Bateman’s selling as he is cut from that classic Ricky Morton mold. Sure, he doesn’t have Robert Gibson waiting for the hot tag and is nowhere near as cute as Ricky Morton, but still.
Bateman and his opponent, Rexx Lawless start off by trading strikes, which ends when Bateman hits a second rope dropkick. Immediately after this Lawless starts pummeling Bateman, which occurs time and again throughout the remainder of the bout. Rexx breaks up the monotony of this by hitting a spectacular stalling vertical suplex.
Bateman manages some offense when he kicks a charging Lawless in the face, but quickly enough succumbs to more pummeling. As Bateman continues to gather sympathy from his fellow wrestlers he is punished with a mixture of strikes and rest holds. Rexx even does one of two Kevin Nash poses featured in this gif to set up a charging attack into the corner, but Bateman dodges it and hits Rexx with a flying kick followed by some flying head scissors and a stiff looking knee to the face (also flying).
Bateman’s offense just isn’t enough to put Rexx down. Bateman takes an ace crusher after attempting a top rope maneuver followed by a combination chokeslam/powerbomb for the loss.
All in all a more than decent match with Bateman playing the sympathetic face perfectly and Rexx nearly matching him as the merciless monster.
Categories: Wrestling Clips
The Johnson Transcript 
Leave a Reply