Tough Spot

Taylor Reign vs Brad Honeycutt, Catalog 18 - Balls to the Wall (MuscleBoy Wrestling)

The first third would suggest that this match is a total squash, with indie import Brad Honeycutt destroying prettyboy Taylor Reign. To be sure, Reign is forced to endure a lot, surviving even a piledriver (first GIF), a sure finisher on any other day of the week. Then Taylor executes a split-second turnaround (third GIF), moving so fast the eye barely sees the switch and gaining a great advantage over his opponent. Suddenly, we're looking at an even give-and-take battle that turns everything I ever thought of Reign on its head.

Considering the tight space, Brad oversells like crazy, but his excess keeps the energy high, whether giving or taking. Taylor is less emotive, but he gets the job done. He looks fantastic, as usual, and, more importantly, shows unexpected fire in his attacks on Honeycutt, which spice up the final two-thirds of the 29-minute battle. This is not the first time Reign has proved his mettle - he took on pro-wrestling Wunderkind Travis Bennett in Catalog 1, and recent matches against Derek Bolt and Scrappy McNair were hardly kiddie rides - but his spots in this match are more challenging (and more lightning fast) than any he has previously attempted. His character arc hits a new high point in this match.

In his MBW debut at the end of last year, Honeycutt made a big impression. In my post on that match I praised his physique, but more particularly admired his ability "to transform a fight into a story" - a bit of magic he repeats in this match with Taylor's help.

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