Artemis Spencer vs. Tony Deppen (ECCW Ballroom Brawl XIII N2 1/18/20)

Match Reviews

Featured photo from @early90spants

This is a match that’s far more creative and exciting than it is good. Deppen and Spencer definitely went out of their way to try and put on something really memorable for everyone in attendance that night and I think that they succeeded. The problem is that the ambition to experiment and try things with the no disqualification stipulation led to some misfires and a general feeling of things not really gelling together organically.

For example, the opening moments of technical exchanges looked great and it made sense for Deppen to be the first to grab a weapon after making the decree that no weapons would be allowed. But some of the spots with the chair just didn’t work out, especially the one where Spencer tries to set Deppen up on the top rope with the chair on his chest. Although it had the correct end result–Deppen throwing the chair into Spencer–it just came across as too contrived and it took too much time to come together.

But this is still Tony Deppen and Artemis Spencer so they’re going to do some great stuff. Deppen absolutely throws himself into his dives here. Just fully tossing his weight into Spencer on multiple dives all throughout the arena. Looked awesome every time. Spencer, for his part, was on offense for the best and most creative spot of the whole match. He tricks Deppen into catching his leg in the chair which Spencer used to then destroy Deppen’s testicles and knee. An amazing spot honestly but one that got near zero follow up towards the end.

There’s a better match buried in here maybe if they didn’t have to work with stipulations or if they had a lengthier story to work off of. But for what we have, it’s a fun indie-style spot match with a lot of creative setpieces to dazzle the eye.

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