No One Man Should Have All That Will Power

Will Hobbs (c) VS Sam Adonis - APW Worldwide Internet Championship 2/1/2019

JJZ: I'm going to start the review with a quote from Les Brown. "Just because fate doesn't deal you the right cards, it doesn't mean you should give up. It just means you have to play the cards you get to their maximum potential." This was an extremely hard challenge for me. Not because Will Hobbs isn't a good wrestler, but because I just don't have enough quality content out there currently. He thankfully got signed up very quickly by AEW so almost all the matches I found were on the shorter side in empty arenas. It didn't showcase this man the way I would like. A man that is wrestling in honor of his brother who took a bullet for him. Him and his brother had a dream together of being a manager & wrestler duo that was ended even before it started. Taking the motto Will Power to a whole new level for me. So what I share with you today probably won't make a Best of Will Hobbs compilation but it is a call back to the 80s and early 90s. A true cheap heat heel shining up a plucky underdog baby face. This match honestly is something I haven't seen in a long time. Sam Adonis is a throwback back to the Iron Sheiks and Nikolai Volkoffs of the wrestling world. Really poking at people's feelings in the real world. And Will Hobbs is their Hulk Hogans and Hackshaw Jim Duggans fighting for what's right in the world. I hope you can see what I see in this match baby cakes.

CJD: You know I've watched a ton of 80s Mid South and Texas. Well everything about this match reminded me of some sort of Butch Reed VS Rick Rude fever dream and I fucking loved it. This is my first time seeing Adonis and he reminds me of Sweeney or Magnum CK in that he's not just doing some ironic tribute gimmick, this guy is the real deal. Bonus points for being a big physically intimidating dude who's just a little bit soft enough that if I was there live and had a few beers I'd probably start yelling at him that I could kick his Trump loving ass. Which I absolutely could not. Hobbs was running the ropes and hitting his shoulder tackles and clotheslines with the explosiveness that they became highspots. Also thank you for that thorough backstory on Hobbs and your journey to landing on this match. You often credit me as the wordsmith of the FanCam Connection but this week you took me on a narrative arc that had me hook line and sinker my friend.

Lamb Of Cobb

Jeff Cobb VS Will Hobbs - APW Universal Championship 4/14/2018

CJD: Hobbs is a hot name in wrestling right now so let's see if he can give PIF the rub with a little run with the Misawa Dick Togo Santo Outercontinental WWKD Championship. You picked last weeks match to show Ricochet against a top name, this week I'm doing the opposite and showing Cobb against at the time a top local talent on the rise. This match feels like a real struggle. Ironically reminding me of a classic NJPW heavyweight bout even though Cobb rarely has matches like this in Japan. You can correct me if I'm wrong since you've been Mr NJPW for a little while now. But this is how I want Cobb to be presented everywhere, and Hobbs does a great job conveying the challenge in front of him and how bad he wants this. Fair warning this is one of those videos that ends VERY abruptly after the finish, which is a shame because I'd loved to have seen the reactions and post match.

JJZ: I fucking love Jeff Cobb. I was just thinking that he was kinda forced into his role as a top independent wrestler. If you think about it he really started making a name for himself when the indy scene had so much top talent. Then very quickly everyone got signed and the road to the top was clear. Now don't get me wrong he definitely deserves it. Cobb would stand out in any group of wrestlers. So I love you sharing a match of his with a younger less familiar wrestler. This Hobbs fella is a thick cut of beef so just looking at a picture of the match you'd think this would be a straight forward hoss fight. But it ain't! I'm eating up the slow technical start that leads into the bigger spots. They did such a good job of setting a base that everything towards the end came across like it could end the match. Nice pick baby cakes!