Review: #584 Golden Boy/Gorilla vs. Joker/Quinn (UCW)

For those of you that read my stories, you know I'm a fan of tag team action. It's more challenging to write, but I try to do at least one a year. I love the psychology and the action of a really good pro wrestling tag team match. And under the layer of UCW-style chaos and crazy, Austin/Axel vs. Joker/Quinn turns out to be a really good pro wrestling tag team match.

It's a UCW tag team extravaganza.

Things start great. The classic face and heel team dynamic is established. The men are in reasonably matching gear - red vs. pink/black. And the teams could not be more different, both physically and attitudinally. There's even a ref, which actually concerned me a little, but it plays out well. More on him later.

These differences create a ton of tension immediately as the heels make their resentment of Axel (and by association, Austin) known. They can't wait to hand him a loss. The nasty boys even nickname the faces, calling Axel ‘Golden Boy’ and Austin ‘The Gorilla’. Makes sense, as Axel is the face of UCW and the well-built Austin is clearly the muscle in the ring.

Yeah, the heel tag team knows what's up. Speaking of names, just based on theirs, Joker and Quinn make perfect sense as a team. The wacky duo are an ideal contrast to the perfection of the gorgeous Gorilla and the gifted Golden Boy. In high school terms, the smaller, tattooed and rougher heels are the outcasts facing down the football jocks. So even though they're the bad guys, a part of you wants to see them destroy the more privileged pair.

The Gorilla brings the muscle to this match.

The bigger they are, the harder they fall.

Red vs. pink.

You do get to see a lot of punishment of both Golden Boy and The Gorilla. I love it. One of my personal tag team preferences is to see the better team handle the better individuals. I feel like tag team wrestling should be presented as a skill, so even though The Gorilla and Golden Boy are arguably the stronger, superior wrestlers, the heels can overcome that with smart tag team strategy. And you see that dynamic a lot.

All four guys are great here, but I'll call out two of them. The Gorilla is one of the best things going in underground wrestling right now. From head to toe, he's amazing looking, but he's also a really good wrestler. Now, he can add tag team stud to his list of accomplishments. He's expressive, smart and a terrific seller.

The other standout for me is Joker. I'm not familiar with him, but he's been around for years, so maybe I'm the only one who was surprised he was intriguing, fun and skilled. I can't be the only one who's impressed, though. The hairy cub feels like the heel team leader and he really does a great owning the moment. He shows a ton of personality and is just highly entertaining. Out of the four, he ended up as the top dog.

Oh Golden Boy, such a gullible goody two shoes.

The ref monitors the action, but does
little to actually enforce any rules.

Ah, there's the UCW style.

Action-wise, it's a great combination of classic and crazy. If I was worried about the ring environment changing things, this match is a sign that the UCW house style is still alive and kicking. It's weird to see a ref in a non-title match, but luckily the guy is suitably useless and ineffectual. He's mainly there as a prop, enabling the heels to showcase more of the tropes of tag team, like the ref distraction and the sneaky double-team. Phew.

There's a ton of talking in this match. The soundtrack never really stops. Joker and Quinn remind us that they're the underdogs throughout, loudly selling the power and prowess of their opponents. It makes their moments on top all the more satisfying. It also keeps things very UCW.

Joker reminds Golden Boy that he's back in
UCW with some home-grown humiliation.

Joker can wrestle when he needs to.

Classic tag team tactic, done with a UCW flare.

In the end, I love a great tag match and this qualifies. What a blast. Joker and Quinn steal the show with skill and strategy, while The Gorilla makes an ideal face-in-peril that I'd watch any time, anywhere.

What are other bloggers saying?

WRESTLING ARSENAL: MY FAVORITE UCW MATCH EVER

RINGSIDE: THIRTY MINUTES OF PURE AWESOME

So that's my take. What's yours?

Alex