Sledge vs. Timothy Thatcher from PREMIER Wrestling 2013

 

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Thoughts from Bill Thompson:

For those not aware, I’m quite high on Timothy Thatcher. He’s not only my wrestler of the year for 2014, but at this point in time I consider him to be easily the best wrestler on the planet. He’s versatile, extremely believable, and can get a great match out of just about everyone. Basically, if someone is in the ring with Thatcher they should, at the very least, be able to have a good match.

Enter Sledge, a guy I’ve never heard of before. I know what you’re thinking; after the last paragraph and the first sentence of this paragraph Bill is about to rip into Sledge. That’s not going to happen because Sledge is perfectly serviceable in this match. His only sin is being a tad too slow and lacking the fluidity that is needed to hang with Thatcher on the mat. The slowness becomes a factor during the few moments when one can see Thatcher visibly slowing himself down so that Sledge can catch up to him. The lack of fluidity is noticeable when they bust out hold for hold mat exchanges where Sledge is very clearly not able to execute at the same level as Thatcher.

The above being said, Sledge manages to work around those negatives pretty well. He supplements in things like short Forearm Shots to Thatcher’s ribs when they are moving through hold exchanges. It’s a small thing, but it helps to hide Sledge’s inability to keep up with Thatcher. Sledge puts a lot of emphasis on his power moves, a Half-Hatch Suplex and a Release German Suplex. Those moves are built to and when Sledge pulls them out they carry a great deal of import. He may not be on the same level as Thatcher skill wise, but Sledge shows a lot of smarts in working around his limitations to get the best out of himself in the match.

If anything the reason this match doesn’t become great is because Thatcher isn’t able to accommodate Sledge. He does somewhat, but Thatcher wants to do his thing and he feels that he can drag Sledge along for the ride if need be. While Thatcher’s immense amount of skill allows for a good match to emerge there may have been opportunities for a better match had Thatcher worked to Sledge’s strengths more. This is something that Thatcher has been getting better at doing, but here he wants to be the ring general so badly that it hurts the match.

All things considered I’ll tale a good Timothy Thatcher match any day of the week. Sure, he’s capable of much better than this match, but a good match is a good match regardless. This is a short match too, which greatly works in the matches favor. Both men get in, hit the marks they want to hit and quickly get out. Had this match kept going for a longer amount of time it wouldn’t have been anywhere near as enjoyable. All Thatcher fans should check out this match, but those looking for a quick good match to check out should give Thatcher versus Sledge a go as well.

Cheers,
Bill Thompson