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tloubraininfection · 1 year

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There is something about Joel, but especially about Pedro Pascal`s portrayal of Joel, that feels so fragile. Sure he`s a tough guy, we know he`s done horrible things, he knows how to survive and what a cost of survival is. Yet, there are those moments, when his face softens almost imperceptibly and you can see the pain of his loss clear and fresh as if it happened yesterday. He moves on quickly, but no matter how much posturing he does, there is no way to hide the fact that at his core he is a father, a protector and a deeply loving man.

There is a quote from Fleabag that has stuck with me for a long time (minor spoilers for Fleabag season 2, I guess?). In season 2 Fleabag talks about her late mom and she says to her friend: “I don’t know what to do with it. With all the love I have for her. I don’t know where to put it now.” It makes me think about Joel. We know that he had Sarah when he was only 22, there are also clues that Sarah`s mom left their family picture pretty early on. Yet, I think he`s settled into parenting with ease, it came naturally to him and he was really good at it. Life must have been very difficult at the beginning, being a young single father, working to support himself and his tiny daughter, he must`ve struggled a lot! But being a dad? Loving Sarah? That was always the easy part.

Sarah was Joel`s whole world and he was ready to love his daughter thought 10 of her lifetimes. He wanted to love her though high school and college. He wanted to love her as she grew into a young women finding her place in life, love her as she got her first job and walked down the aisle. He was ready for that love to multiply as he became grandpa Joel. And one day in far future, when he was no longer there, he`d leave her with a legacy of that love, a gift that she could keep and share and build upon.

Instead that love became a shroud.

In that moment time stopped for Joel. He adapted and did whatever he had to do to survive, but he was no longer interested in anything else. Living was for that time from before, living was with Sarah. And I think he would`ve carried on like that until he met his fate one way or another. Instead, by a stupid twist of fate, he ended up with a kid in his care. And he hated it, he wanted no part of it, because he knew. Some part of him knew from the very beginning. So he did his best to treat her like cargo and keep his distance, but she got under his skin and fast. There was something about this loudmouth, swearing, pun-loving energetic kid, this singularity of a person. She could see right through him and that terrified him. He tried so hard not to care, to run away from that connection, but when she asked him to stay, becasue with him she felt safe, he couldn’t help it. It happened despite of himself, despite all the conflict, panic and fear. It was hard and they`ve struggled a lot, but loving Ellie? Taking care of Ellie? That was the easy part.

We can argue about morality of Joel`s decision until we are blue in the face, but one thing we can probably all agree on is the inevitability of it. That decision has been made long before they`d set foot in that hospital. Joel knows the pain of losing a daughter and he`d do anything to never to feel that pain again. And I really believe he wouldn’t have survived losing Ellie, it would, quite literally, break his heart. And that is the selfish part of his choice. But I understood recently, that there is also a selfless part to it. One that is all about Ellie. It was about ensuring her future, because he sees Ellie not as a potential savior for humanity, but as a full person. Person with dreams, planes, hobbies and aspirations. Troy Baker, once said in the podcast about Joel: “He saved the world, it’s just the world was that little girl.” His girl, his daughter, who wanted to become an astronaut, learn to swim, learn to play the guitar and read every Savage Starlight comic. And he believed this is worth saving, she`s worth saving. And he saves her, knowing full well he would have to live with the consequences of this choice, suffer through them. But he has no regrets, he would`ve done it all over again, because she got to live and that means everything.

In Fleabag (same warning applies) after Fleabag says: “I don’t know what to do with it. With all the love I have for her. I don’t know where to put it now”, her friend responds: “I`ll take it. No, I`m serious, it sounds lovely. I`ll have it, you have to give it to me”.

#cause of death: TLOU #just rumbling because Joel Miller #there is something about Joel`s love that turns me inside out #and reminds me of that poem by Ada Limon #"I can't help it. I love the way men love”#will I ever get over Joel Miller?#probably not #I'm gonna love him for a long long time #joel miller #sarah miller #ellie Williams #joel and ellie #tlou spoilers #tlou HBO spoilers #the last of us spoilers #the last of us hbo spoilers

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suffering-and-happy-about-it · 4 years

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A Few Rays of the Light (Favored Ones, Part 28.)

Series description: Many things were surely fucked up in the year 2038, but no-one ever told anyone how all of it went down. What happened before a group of people left for Seattle to handle personal matters? Why did one girl refuse to leave all of it be? And why there were so many dead in the end?

Quote for the chapter: “Went out one night to make a little round. I met Little Sadie and... I shot her down.” - Crooked Still

Part summary: After everything that happened, you finally were ready to go home. All of you felt ready to set on your journey back.

A/N: x

Warnings: Depiction of torture, bone breaking, depiciton of blood and manslaughter, anxiety, rage, anger, a bit of fluff at the end.

Word count: 3 K

Tagging: @nemodoren @xxgoldenhour @missdictatorme @davnwillcome @pickleriiick @jodiereedus22 @gladiosamicitias @tamkashi @eternallyvenus @avengerssstuff @fangirl-inthe-us @avery-miller @mikah-writes @mad-hatter-98 @sadiaafrin99 @flavorishy @gabymiller

Series master list: H E R E

Joel Miller’s playlist for the bonfire occasions: H E R E

Youtube playlists: JACKSON DAYS | SEATTLE DAYS

Seattle, day three - early evening:

You've never felt so tired when you finally entered the theatre. Jesse was already there since he was the one opening the door for you. Quickly, you hugged him, closing your eyes. It was fucking disgusting to be hugged by you when you were so messed up, but Jesse was happy to hug you back, knowing you were safe and sound. Both of you. But meeting Jesse back in the base rose another suspicion - where was Tommy if Jesse was here?

There were three possibilities for why Jesse was there before you. The first one was that they'd simply found him and brought him back. The second possibility was that Jesse and Ellie weren't able to locate Tommy and gave up eventually. And the third was that... Well... They've found the man... Dead. Before you could ask, you heard a man speaking out to you. - "Damn, girl, you look like shit." - The man's rough voice poke fun of you. It was Tommy with his fucked up leg and his even more fucked up arm. Joel just gave his baby brother a warm look, but you straightaway ran for it, almost bringing him down.

"You fucking stupid idiotic moron." - A relieving sigh left your lips as you dragged Tommy closer to you, tugging on his jacket to assure yourself that he's real. Your brother-in-law just chuckled, bringing you closer. - "I thought you got your fucking ass killed. Oh Lord, are you real?" - You assured yourself, catching Tommy's face in your palms. He was looking like living hell walking on two legs. He was disgusting, but at least, he was alive.

"Not gonna lie, I almost did." - The man answered honestly, sending you a chilling smile. Based on your appearance, he assumed that if he wasn't able to get the job done, you and Joel managed to kill that girl. But boy oh boy, was he wrong. A glance over your shoulder sent chatting Joel and Jesse one clear message - you wanted to fuck them off, so you could have a one-to-one conversation with Tommy. - "How you're holdin' up? Huh?" - Tommy asked and followed you behind the bar, where you had the rest of the vodka hidden. You needed a shot. Or two. Or a whole bottle. You just needed to occupy your mind with something other than Owen's massacred face.

"Short version or the long one?" - You asked back, leading him to the sofa next to the entrance now. - "I'm fucking exhausted, Tommy. This shit... This was a lot. More than I can handle." - An irritated sigh filled the room between you two as you took your jacket off, throwing the bow and the backpack off you. - "I killed a bunch of people, I have a mess inside my head, I probably will never recover from the shit I've done here and I am disgusted with myself. Does that answer your question, huh?" - One of your eyebrows arched up as you threw the cap off the vodka, taking something that could be considered a good gulp.

"I know that feelin'. I had it too... A long time ago. But I'm tired too, I ain't be lyin'." - Tommy laid down on his back, closing his eyes. - "How did that feel?" - He asked suddenly, catching you off guard. What was he asking about? How did what feel? After seeing your confused face, Tommy knew he needs to specify what did he mean. - "Killin' her. After everythin' she has done to us. How did that feel?" - "How would I know?" - You asked back. Without Tommy having a clue, he was lingering over the topic you wanted to talk to him about. The Abby issue. There was no point in continuing - everyone was fucked up in their own way. You needed to leave as soon as possible.

"Did Joel..." - Tommy immediately picked himself up on his elbows, looking you in the eyes with a furrow. If Joel would do that, there would be no difference for the other Miller. Abby was killed no matter what, that was why you came into Seattle in the first place. In every meaning, the problem would be solved. - "She just wasn't there. I haven't seen Abby since the cabin thing happened." - "Then we need to..." - "We don't need to do shit now, Tommy." - You hissed, stopping the moment before he could go on a wild rant. Before moving to your point, you gulped and looked around.

"We don't need to do shit. Look at what we've already done here, hm? We tore Abby's friends to shreds. We found each of them and killed them. I've seen each of them dead... Except for Nora. We've done enough here, so let's go home, okay?" - This was one of the more intimate, vulnerable moments you shared with Tommy. Normally, it would make Tommy soften. But there was no softening in Abby's case. Oh, no.

"But she is alive, she's a dangerous person to me, you and..." - "Is she? We've taken everything from her. We've killed her family, destroyed her word, we left a message she can't miss." - This made Tommy shut up for a face. Suddenly, you felt like a traitor in his eyes. He was giving you that look for sure. - "We're done."

"You and Ellie were the ones who came up with this in the first place, weren't you? You went to Seattle to get her. We all did. And now, when we're so damn close, you want to call it off? You want to run back home?" - "You aren't listening to me, Tommy." - You squealed suddenly. And he indeed was missing your whole point. - "Yes, I wanted to have the girl dead. I did. But I also see what this had done to me. You and Joel, you maybe are used to this pointless violence," - "Pointless fuckin' violence? Do you hear yourself, girl? I don't recall bein' the one just appearin' in Seattle, massacrin' and torturin' these people. She was the one who didn't have any reasonin' for doin' all of it." - Tommy argued back.

"That's where you're wrong. Abby had some kind of reason, some kind of motivation. And I can see now how far can this obsession take you." - You looked at Tommy who was caught off guard. This wasn't the way these revenge rampages were meant to go. No. Tommy and Joel were surviving for a long time and never in their lives someone just... Let them go. Never. - "She is somehow tied to Salt Lake. Owen told me that they were in Salt Lake... Not verbally, but he knew something only someone from this group of Fireflies could know. I don't know how, but I don't care at this point." - You whispered, putting your palm on Tommy's shoulder.

"We are shitty people. No doubt about that. But... Let's just pack our shit and leave for home. Let's not bringing this thing to an end, I already had my conclusion to the whole story, Tommy. Please. Let's stop ourselves before letting this cycle coming to an end, just like Abby was stopped. Let's be better than we are." - Another broken whisper left you and Tommy surprisingly saw the tears in your eyes which told him that you weren't lying at all. You've done enough, you've seen enough, and it hadn't brought any good. - "I have a life to protect now. I have a man I need to keep safe under any cost... And after I almost lost him yesterday, I don't wanna go to that stage ever again. Ellie has Dina here, who is pregnant and Jesse is in this mess because of us as well. Let's go before there won't be anything left to save." - You mumbled, pleading the man to change his mind.

If you wouldn't have any other choice, you'd leave Tommy in Seatlle in case he wouldn't be able to leave the whole Abby thing as it was. You'd pack yourself and the rest, leaving the other day at dawn no matter what choice was Tommy about to make. It was hard. It was seriously hard to realize such a thing about someone you were looking up to for so long... But you were 100% sure about doing it. Tommy furrowed even more and looked away from you, licking his lips nervously. Then he closed his eyes, shaking his head. - "I don't think I can ever... I wouldn't... I'm sure I can't... I..." - Miller tried to tell you something, but he couldn't get his point across at all.

"I will guard this fucking door with a shotgun to stop you if necessary." - Was all you answered without a hint of any emotion before taking another swing from the bottle. This was the point when Tommy finally broke the whole revenge thing, assuming you're probably right. This was enough. He himself had his revenge in a way, just like you told him you had yours. Abby got the message for sure by now. And if that wasn't enough for her or to stop her from coming, neither of you would be merciful this time. It was irony, to talk about mercy and leaving behind when you murdered the whole party from the Baldwin cabin, except the person you've come for and aside from the pregnant Mel. But it was showing mercy in one wicked way or another. And at that, Tommy finally nodded his head.

You were leaving Seattle the next morning, never coming back.

While this conversation was taking place, another emotional mess storm was started just in the other room between Joel and Ellie. At first, the girl was talking to Jesse about the quickest route home - but as she saw Joel coming closer to them, obviously meaning to talk to her, she wiggled her eyebrows and asked him to look out for Dina for a moment. When Joel nervously entered the theatre hall while fidgeting his fingers, looking around, Ellie was sitting at the stage, having a guitar leaned into her thighs. She noticed the incoming man immediately, although she seemed to be mentally far away from the place.

"Hey, kiddo. You doin' fine?" - Joel mumbled nervously as soon as his brain understood that he would have to be the one to speak first. Which was quite new to him, but all he could do was to get along with it. - "How ya doin'?" - "You already asked me if I'm fine." - Ellie answered and started to tune the guitar so she'd have something to divert her attention during the whole conversation. - "I've done some... Nasty and fucking disgusting things today. I just need to get a hold on those feelings inside my head." - She answered back, plucking the first chords.

"Yea, listen, I'm... I'm sorry, 'kay?" - Joel said abruptly, looking at Ellie's face while she didn't give him a single small gaze back. - "I was thinkin' a lot since we came here. This is all my fault." - The man sat down on one of the seats, looking at Ellie who was mindlessly playing some chords. She still didn't want to look at the old man because she felt that she wasn't ready. These few days were tough - and the more each of you fell into the hot pile of mess Seattle was, the more she became to be aware of all of this being tied to Joel's past in some way. Maybe even to hers, maybe not.

"Totally agree with this one. This is on you, old-timer. But we all came here because we kinda wanted to, so that's contradicting the fact that you've fucked up." - Ellie agreed emotionlessly, sighing at the was her own words were sounding. This was some nasty shit. And she could be like that. A stubborn brat who wasn't emotionally capable of forgiveness. But that was also the brat who Joel took as his daughter, so he knew this for a fact.

"I'm not talkin' only about Seattle. I'm sorry for everythin' that happened. I'm one helluva selfish fucker." - Joel sighed, remembering the passion Ellie screamed those words with at you. Finally, Joel recognized the song - an alteration of Take On Me. She wasn't sticking to the original chords, but hell, it still sounded good. You would've loved it. Finally, Ellie at least cracked a smile. - "I've thought about it too. About the whole Salt Lake situation... And it was fucked up, what you've done. It's fucking gross no matter which point of view I take to look at it. And I'm not even starting on how mad I was at you taking my chance to save some lives. Shit..." - Ellie shook her head during the intimate confession, licking her lips before looking at the man. - "But it was also fucked up from them to do that without at least telling me, or, in the better instance, asking me. And the more Y/N talks about it... The more I see the issue. Marlene wouldn't give the vaccine out to everyone either way. Yeah, it would save a few, but this thing wouldn't get outside the fireflies. I was so dumb, thinking that my life would've mattered..." - "But it does matter, girl. Cant, you see?" - Joel jumped into her speech abruptly.

The girl stopped playing and looked at him annoyedly, telling him that she wasn't done. Joel slowly sat back to the seat, not watching Ellie without a word.

"I was fucking stupid for thinking that my life would've mattered in one case only. If I'd die. But now I'm here and I can see... What I mean for all these people. I finally feel that I belong and that I matter. I made differences here, Joel, thanks to you." - With that, she looked into his eyes. - "I'm not over it, no, I am fucking not over it. But I'm working on myself, I'm trying to overcome the hate." - She told Joel just before someone else entered the hall. It was you, having the infamous bottle of vodka in your hand. While neither of them came back to the situation, there was a sense of sincerity and a kind of safety in the air, starting the connection between Joel and Ellie for real this time.

"Hey, you two. Sorry for interrupting the moment, should I leave now?" - You asked, pointing your thumb to the door you've just closed. - "No, I fucking missed you all day, baby. Come here." - Ellie told you with a smile, having the man smiling as well. Now, when they started to do something with their relationship, Ellie and you had the chance to repair yours again. It wasn't broken that much, but there was still some noise going around and some talking which needed to be done.

With a cheerful attitude and a swinging bottle in your hand, you walked to the stage, sitting next to the girl. She looked quite surprised when you started to wiggle the instrument to of her hands, catching it in your arms. - "Come on, you never played guitar." - Ellie cracked when you finally seized it, pushing her away with a burst of honest laughter.

"I can do things you don't even know about, honey," - With a concentrated expression, you tried to hear if the chords are tuned right. - "This sounds good. What are we playing? Any suggestion, dinosaur?" - Well, this just made Ellie laugh too. Could you know about the thing that had happened in Wyoming? When Ellie and Joel had visited the dinosaur museum? Or were you just shooting in the dark? If you were calling him names just to fuck around with him? In that case, this was sweet as hell.

"You can play whatever you feel like. It will all sound majestic, I'm sure of that." - The man answered tiredly, slipping down on the velvet seat. All he wanted to do was that he wanted to go to sleep. Yet it was a pleasure when he watched both of you sing some songs. Ellie was pushing her fingers into the chords to unfocus you, while you were trying to crawl away from the girl. Both of you were looking so... Happy and calm. As if you were still at home and you were just toying around during one of the bonfire occasions.

But soon enough, the time when you yawned loudly has come. Joel didn't say a word since you were an adult woman who was capable of deciding on her own, but it was time for you to finally go to sleep. Your body and mind had to be exhausted, there was no other way around it, and the sooner you'd catch some sleep, the sooner you could wander off to one of your dreams and finally get some good sleep you were missing since you came to Seattle. After you drank the rest of the vodka, you walked to the man on unsteady legs, offering him your palm in the process.

"Gross." - Ellie mumbled under her breath, watching both of you with a nasty smile after that. - "Fuck you too. I need a comfy pillow." - This was all you said before dragging Joel off to the small room in the entrance hall. You didn't even hesitate to go to sleep - you just crawled into the sleeping bag, making sure Joel was next to you before you closed your eyes. It was refreshing to know that in early the other morning, you'd finally set on your way home.

You both fell asleep for less than two hours before you've heard something going on in the entrance hall. You thought that maybe, just maybe, it was Ellie and Jesse, who had just some loud discussion. Without further hesitation, as you did previously, you climbed on Joel's lap, catching his mouth while waking him up, trying to make him understand that now, he has to stay quiet. Because no matter who was in the other room, you didn't know these people by voice. No matter if those were just some bandits, you knew that this situation requires slow and quiet approach.

#joel miller x reader #joel miller #joel miller imagine #joel miller x y/n #the last of us #tlou #ellie williams #ellie and joel #ellie the last of us #dina the last of us #tlou dina #dina something something #jesse the last of us #tommy miller #tommy miller the last of us #the last of us part two #the last of us imagine #the last of us part 2 #naughty dog

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closetofanxiety · 6 years

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Show Review: Constitution State Wrestling

Last night, I went down to beautiful Groton, Conn. (”The Nuclear Submarine Capital of the World”) with Mark, Mike, and Joel to see a show put on by an indie promotion that was totally new to us. It was, in many ways, a prototypical Local Indie Experience. Let’s count the ways:

National Anthem

This, in many ways, is the earliest and most significant sign that you’re attending a Local Indie as opposed to a National (For Lack of a Better Term) Indie (the national anthem might be played before a Shindie, too, but that’s another subject entirely). Local indies always make everyone stand up for the national anthem, national indies do not. The local indie maintains, at least in vestigial form, a connection to the idea that this is a sporting event, and sporting events begin with the anthem. In this case, the anthem was a pre-recorded instrumental track, but people clapped after it was over anyway.

Public Venue

Unlike a National Indie, which will be in a bar or a rock club or a private fraternal organization’s event hall or a Catholic church with an absurdly Catholic name (New York City national indies only), the Local Indie show will take place in a high school gym or a town hall or a rec center or some other building they can get with a discounted rental fee because of political connections. In this case: Ella T. Grasso Technical High School, a magnificent example of 1970s brutalist school architecture. It was an air-conditioned gym, though, which you wouldn’t expect on the Connecticut shoreline, so kudos to the Constitution State Wrestling folks for that choice.

Advertising and Local Celebs

It’s not a Local Indie without a program, and this show had a program listing the entire card, providing some detail on the two main events (there can be only one main event in reality but whatever) and listing all the local sponsors of the show. As a bonus, there were also signs leading to the venue that just said “Wrestling” with an arrow pointing vaguely in the direction of the school. I cherish these signs of Local Indiedom! There was also a woman from a rock radio station on hand, whose duties were limited to introducing herself and then, later, introducing the women’s match. It’s not a Local Indie without an appearance from a random local celeb: TV meteorologists, disc jockeys, mayors, and others are all perfectly acceptable.

At Least One Wrestler Who’s in the Military

In our case, that was “The Soldier of God” Ronnie Ribbs, which is absolutely one of the best Local Indie names I’ve ever heard in my life. Ronnie Ribbs! “Soldier of God” is a little weird, though. Kind of a Taliban vibe there. Also, since that’s a lot of verbiage to put on your ring gear, that meant Ronnie Ribbs had the acronym “SOG” on the seat of his red, white, and blue trunks which, if you didn’t know what it stood for, could be a little embarrassing. Anyway, he was introduced as a soldier in the U.S. Army, always good for a patriotism pop at a Local Indie. Groton, though, is a Navy town, and when Ribbs was rolled up by opponent “Sensational” Scott Levesque with help from cheating heel manager “High Class” Rich Bass, a guy behind me said, “Just one more reason the Army sucks at everything.”

Event Name That is Not a Cool Pop Culture Reference

Constitution State actually fell down on the job here, as this event did not appear to have a name at all. But a key distinction between a Local Indie and a National Indie is that the latter will usually go with some impenetrable hip pop culture reference (or, worse, just use numbers for each show, like they’re the UFC), whereas local indies are still committed to calling things, like, “Final Showdown” and “Summer Smash Up” and “Brattleboro Brawl” (Brattleboro local indies only) and, of course, “SEASON’S BEATINGS.”

Random Ex-WWE/F Guy

In this case, that role was filled by Gangrel, who really should be getting some of the indie wrestling nerd attention being lavished on PCO. Gangrel is a blast to see live; he gets insanely into it, and takes bumps that are ridiculously bad ideas for a man of his age. He was in the main event here, and the crowd was pretty exhausted by the time it started, but he got them right back into what was really kind of a straightforward brawl with southern New England bad guy Trigga the OG, accompanied, of course, by evil schemer “High Class” Rich Bass, who I’ve never seen before. The crowd was NUTS for Gangrel. When he won, the pop was huge, although it was slightly disappointing that only Joel chanted “Fang and bang! Fang and bang!” Gangrel loved that though. He pointed to Joel and did the throat-cross-into-the-hook-’em-horns thing.

Local Wrestling Academy Students’ Match

Often, this is a battle royal, but thank God that was not the case here. Instead, we saw Matt Taven trainees Joey Bones and Todd Harris, the latter working a “rich prick from Newport” gimmick. Both guys were decent, show real promise, and, notably, had really good gear. Invest in yourselves, aspiring wrestlers! You’ll stand out from the pack.

A Comedy Match That Isn’t Funny

I like comedy wrestling. I know lots of people don’t, but that’s why they make different kinds of ice cream. However, there’s a Chuck Taylor/Orange Cassidy comedy match, and then there’s a Local Indie comedy match, which is basically like a Three Stooges short mixed with some inexplicable Attitude Era flourishes. In this case, it was the awesomely-named Necromancer (short, stout guy with Papa Shango face paint and no apparent ability to speak to the dead) vs. 2Buff w/ The Buffdad, a legitimate father and son duo whose gimmick is that they are not, in fact, buff, but that they constantly do that thing where they put their hands behind their heads and swivel their hips, kind of like a Chippendale dancer would do on an episode of “Designing Women.” Laughs were notably absent, at least from the four of us. Mercifully, this match was broken up by James Ellsworth, who was booked as a random ex-WWE guy but is now, once again, an actual WWE guy. What must he have thought, staring out at the 250 or so people in a high school gym, knowing that in three nights he’ll be facing Asuka on live national television in front of maybe 12,000 people. Anyway, Ellsworth issued an open challenge, and another classic Local Indie thing happened: some loud music hit, and a guy walked out to answer the challenge, but instead of the “Oh shit you gonna get it NOW” reaction from the crowd, there was puzzlement, as no one knew who the challenger was. It didn’t help that he looked like just A Dude in red basketball shorts and a white t-shirt. Later we would learn that he is Wildman Kongo and he would go on to have a bad match with James Ellsworth in front of a tired crowd.

Excitable Fans

Hot crowd, especially before the intermission! At the start of the lone tag team bout, which pitted Brutal Bob Evans and “Tough Tim” against two guys called Riot City’s Most Wanted who looked like indie wrestlers circa 2003, one young fan became so enraged at the heels that he jumped the rail, the first time I think I’ve ever seen that at a show. He was about 11, though, and his friends quickly pulled him back over, so we were spared the sight of Brutal Bob having to PROTECT THE BUSINESS by breaking a child’s jaw. Local indie fixture the Fogman was also there. He’s not really excitable, necessarily, but he’s a fan. We talked to him during intermission and, I mean, he’s an OK guy. He’s his own biggest fan, but what’s so bad about a little self-confidence?

A “Ladies’ Match”

Never a women’s match or just “a match,” on a Local Indie it’s always a LADEEEEES MATCH, the segregation compounded here by having the radio station woman do the only thing she did all night by announcing the competitors, Isana and Jawsolyn. The regular ring announcer was a rockabilly guy, complete with Rev. Horton Heat necktie and suede shoes. He was fine. Isana is a big lass but mobile and specializes in suplays, while Jawsolyn’s gimmick is that she is a shark. That should have gone over better in a coastal town, but people were mostly politely indifferent to this match which, in fairness, was slow and clunky.

One National Indie-Caliber Match

Increasingly, the people who promote and book Local Indies are fans of national indie wrestling, or Japanese wrestling, or British wrestling, or what have you. In this, their tastes diverge from those of their fanbase, which mostly consists of normal, blue collar Americans who just want a fun night out instead of weirdos arguing about BOLA lineups on Reddit all night or people who will slash your tires if you so much as say a disparaging word against Kenneth Omega. To try to satisfy their own creative longings, the promoters and bookers usually put one match on the card that could be on the card of a PWG show or Beyond show or AAW show or whatever. This is normally received by the Local Indie crowd with the same quiet endurance 205 Live is received by WWE crowds, but tonight was an exception. Matt Cross and JT Dunn, meeting for only the second time ever, had a tear-down-the-house 20-minute match that had the good blue collar people of America’s Nuclear Submarine Heartland going absolutely nuts and bananas. This was, indeed, a great match, one of the best I’ve seen all year: neither guy worked heel, but both of them wrestled as though they were actually trying to win an athletic competition, which is rarer than it should be in pro wrestling. Dunn dominated the first half of the match by keeping Cross on the ground and softening him up with wear-down holds to try and create openings for hard strikes. In the second half, Cross was finally able to take to the air, and made his spectacular offense seem credible and devastating. There were, by my count, three “This is awesome” chants, a “Both these guys” chant, and a “Fight forever” chant. People LOVED this match. YOU SEE, VINCE? PEOPLE ACTUALLY LIKE WRESTLING WHEN ok I’m not going to start with that. But it was nice to see a normal American wrestling crowd go nuts for a match that would not be out of place in Reseda or wherever the hell PWG shows are now.

#show reviews #indie wrestling #indy wrestling #Constitution State Wrestling

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