HYBRID S³ [Shoot Style] - Next Episode (Episode in May '19)

Patrick Sabre vs Thiago Gracie - Sabre by Submission -- Rear Naked Choke 8:23
Musashi Okada vs Masa Tokugawa - Tokugawa by Submission -- Flying Armbar 3:50
Ludger Hauer vs David Agony - Agony by TKO -- Discus Elbow 6:33 Match of the Night
Cameron Cruz vs Robbert Van Houtum - Cruz by TKO -- Grounded Punches 4:35
The Bull vs Lane Hollister - Hollister by TKO -- Body Knee 7:17
Gath vs Deadeye Ginger - Deadeye by KO -- Cross Punch 8:16
Matt McDonaghue vs KAOS - KAOS by TKO -- Flying Clothesline 8:53
La Dama Del Silencio vs Jonathan Pranzo - Pranzo by Submission -- STF + RNC 8:15
Bonus Fight:
Yoji Anjo vs Naoki Sano - Anjo by TKO -- Backdrop Suplex 7:57

Thiago Gracie vs Patrick Sabre.

As previously mentioned, Thiago is part of the huge Gracie clan out of Brazil. He was a 12 time Brazilian Jiujitsu champion, but hasn't competed in a few years. He's spent the last few years working in pro wrestling organizations, primary winning by only armbar.

Patrick Sabre is a former American amateur wrestler who missed making the Olympic team due to injury. He is currently working for a smaller Japanese organization MCW, where he once held the juniorweight title. He took some time off for a back injury and just returned as a heavyweight before this event.

Thiago looked very good in this match, playing the arrogant foreigner heel in the match and his angle of only going for the armbar clearly cost him the match. Sabre traded catch wrestling style holds and judo throws with Gracie in a good technical match and Sabre approached it more from a shoot style match approach than an amateur wrestler in shoot style. Finish came from a series of body knees from Sabre that dropped Gracie and he finished by rear nake choked.

This was the first loss by Gracie by submission since Kimura beat Helio in Brazil, but this was clearly a worked match, so the relevance isn't there.


Musashi Okada vs Masa Tokugawa

Musashi Okada is a primarily shoot style wrestler out of Japan and a former national level karateka. He has trained some Muay Thai along with his shootwrestling training in Budo Hybrid Wrestling. He’s a heavy kicker, a middleweight version of Cro Cop from all accounts.

While his opponent Masa Tokugawa is a traditional japanese style pro wrestler out of wrestling organization Lighting Pro, which favors smaller wrestlers much like Michinoku pro. While he doesn’t have an extensive shoot style or combat sports background, he spent his camp in Brazil with fellow competitor Thiago Gracie training extensively in NHB and Brazilian Jiu jitsu.

The match started at a high pace, with Okada taking with mostly kicks, working a clearly shoot style match but he is clearly smaller than Tokugawa who begins to take over the match using variety of strikes, throws and submission and even using some rope running and classic pro wrestling during the match. The end comes by a flying armbar off irish whip.


Ludger Hauer vs David Agony

Ludger Hauer is an older wrestler, nearing his 60s who worked throughout Canada and Europe mostly in organizations like Verband Der Berufsringer and Catch Wrestling Association in once West Germany. He has an extensive amateur wrestling background, competed in strong man competitions and was a carnival wrestler back in the late 60’s and early 70s. Billy Robinson and Frank Gotch both say his catch wrestling ‘hooking’ skills are legitimate and he works an older holds based style.

David ‘Agony’ Eisen is an amateur and pro wrestler, boxer and part time NHB fighter. He has a boxing background having won the Silver gloves in Chicago, and went to University of Nebraska–Lincoln on a wrestling scholarship, where he was second string tackle in football and wrestled at light heavyweight 214 lbs. While a standout in Collegiate wrestling standout, he never placed higher than 5th in his only trip to the NCAA tournaments as a sophomore and Olympic tryouts for wrestling.

After dropping out of college after his second year he started training in NHB and pro wrestling working the midwestern indies under the name ‘David Agony’ before he was directed to NWA professional wrestling former star Danny Hodge and. He’s 4-3 in NHB and has fought for Monte Cox’s Extreme Challenge with all his wins by TKO from ground and pound or standing KO, but all his losses coming from submission.

This match started out with a classic wrestler vs striker match up, with Agony trying to use his boxing and Hauer locking up and attempting a few submissions, but it soon transformed into the most incredible demonstration of throws and suplexes outside of Gary Albright. Both wrestlers set a high pace, with both trading massive german, high crotch and dragon suplexes with Hauer trying to finish after with submission holds, and Agony just continuing his throwing assault and mixing in his boxing skills.

The finish came unexpectedly after a discus elbow strike by Agony which got the 10 count on the older wrestler. Easily the best match of the night and would be the first 5 star match outside of NJPW, All Japan or WWE since 1994 if it wasn’t for the finish.


Robbert Van Houtum vs Cameron Cruz

Robbert Van Houtum is quite the enigma. Originally an amateur wrestler, he is probably the best olympic style wrestler out of the Netherlands in nearly 100 years. The Netherlands isn’t known for wrestling, more kickboxing and judo, but Robbert took bronze in the Freestyle Worlds last year and was on his way the olympics before he moved out to Japan to start training in Pro wrestling. Originally wrestling at 74kg, he is much heavier in this event. He’s also has the requisite submission skills for a mixed fight event, training with a shootfighting gym in Japan.

Cameron Cruz is a Australian kickboxer who participates in pro wrestling matches like Maurice Smith or Gerald Gordeau. He trains out of a combination NHB and pro wrestling school and also has a good kickboxing record and won a Shootboxing match in Japan last winter. He’s also probably the most athletic competitor here with a background in rugby.

Despite his amateur wrestling background, Robbert showed good kickboxing skills, trading punches and kicks with the aussie, but Cruz’s punches had more power. Robbert couldn’t seem to keep Cruz down or work any of his ground skills though he didn’t seem to make a concentrated effort with it. As the match went on, Cameron seemed to find another gear and finished the match with heavy punches from on top.


Lane Hollister vs Bull

Lane Hollister was a home-town guy for this match and had massive face crowd reaction throughout the fight. Hollister has no fight sport experience, but trains with Cameron Cruz the kickboxer in this event and with a NHB and shoot style gym. He mostly competes in shootstyle matches.

Bull is a freelance wrestler who is seen frequently in the the independent leagues and in Joshi in Japan. While a masked wrestler, she does not work like a luchadora at all, working a heavy punching and brawling style. She hasn’t done shootstyle, but her manager says that this should be a good match for her skills. Only her manager was at the pre-fight press conference and Bull only appeared

The match started off quickly, with Hollister attempting a mixture of strikes and submission holds on Bull, and with Bull responding with hard punches, elbows and knees, both on the ground and standing. Her elbows and punches on the ground sounded especially hard where I was at in the crowd. Bull came out strong, dominating most of the exchanges, but whenever she’d try to build up full momentum towards a finish, Hollister would counter with an armlock or leg lock. Around 4 minutes in, Bull drew blood with elbows to the back of Hollister’s head, which just seemed to fire up the crowd and Hollister.

As the match went on, Hollister started winning more and more exchanges with Bull, with Bull seemingly having issues keeping Hollister down. While each traded knockdowns for a ref count, the end came for a tiring Bull after she was knocked down with a striking combination that ended with a series of body knees. Bull was unable to beat the 10 count, although it looked like more from fatigue than from damage.

One of the best matches of the night and an amazing comeback for the young shootfighter.


Gath vs Jeb Deadeye Ginger

Stephen Czarniak is full contact karate fighter, kickboxer and a pro wrestler performing under the ‘Gath The Death Dealer’ name in newer Japanese DDT organization and shootstyle org BattlArts. He’s a multiple time Karate champion and has beat UFC fighter Patrick Smith in full contact karate and lost a split decision in Kickboxing against K-1 Japan champion Masaaki Satake recently. His gimmick is of a European occultist and wrestles in facepaint and small foam horns in his hair.

He was brought in as a trainer at DDT, but did a modeling photoshoot which made him immensely popular in the teen girl magazines. He began seconding sometime after, did a few matches in BattlArts as a test, then has been wrestling for DDT ever since.

Not much is known about Jeb Ginger. He is a giant of a man, over six foot six and around 325lbs. He was described as a boxer and has a professional boxing record in the Texas region, with all his wins by KO or TKO, and a few losses all by DQ. Blackjack Mulligan formerly from the NWA orgs in West Texas has heard of him fighting in mixed brawl matches in west Texas. According to the Texas Athletic Commission his boxing license was revoked a year back.

The match started out measured, Gath working over Jeb’s legs like the PKA karate vs Thai boxer matches from the 1980s, trying to take away the larger boxer’s mobility. While Gath landed numerous kicks, strikes as a few pickups, Jeb was clearly the heavier striker, his punches landing hard and frequently. In particular, Ginger’s body punches seemed to take the wind out of the karateka. There were more than a few times, where Gath could not follow up after knocking down Ginger due to having to catch his breath. However, under his gi, Gath had his midsection taped up before the match started, so this may have been a factor too. The leg kicks of Gath did have Ginger hobbling and moving slowly around the ring, but didn’t get the finish.

The finish came after a number of knockdown counts by the ref on Gath, when Ginger caught Gath as he was facing away, causing a huge cut and the ref stopped the match.


Kaos vs Matt McDonaghue

The second masked wrestler in this event, Kaos came to Hybrid from a wrestling organization known as the Soakoliseum, where he is known as a punch heavy brawler. Despite being a brawler, he was working a choke backstage during the workouts and has some powerful suplexes.

Matt McDonaghue is a boxer and NHB fighter from Boston. A former national guardsman, he was trained by "Mr. Punishment" Dick Patterson, who was an early NHB pioneer having fought in the Pittsburg ‘Tough Guy’ mixed style matches in the 80s and in mixed matches in Japan. Unlike some of the boxer brawlers in this competition, he seems to have a more variety in his attacks from what was seen in this match and backstage preparing for his first match.

This match started out as a sprint, Kaos working a throw to submission in the opening moments that descended into a boxer vs brawler match, with both being unafraid to work their classical boxing skills with the jab and cross and big axe handle smashes. This was one of the most technical and entertaining striking matches I’ve seen in a shoot event since Tony Halme vs. Bitsadze Tariel. On the ground, Kaos looked more to submit his larger opponent while McDonaghue was looking more to punch.

Both ended up very winded midway through the match and while Kaos was just as tired, but seemed to not let his affect his offensive output. But as McDonaghue grew more tired, he resorted to heavier and harder shots. Bnear the end of the match, McDonaghue resorted to resting his hands on his knees trying to catch his breath and the end came from a running clothesline and like The Bull, seemed to be unable to make the count due to both punishment and fatigue.


La Dama Del Silencio vs Jonathan Pranzo

Although not as tall as the 7 foot she is billed, Silencio is the tallest competitor in this event. She’s wrestled mostly for AAA and CMLL for a number of years, and known for a brutal, roughneck style. While she is known in the lucha groups in Mexico, she hasn’t worked for in Mexico for a number of years.. This is around the time that Inoki similarly took a back seat in NJPW to promote with PRIDE and K-1. Rumors were he was working with a Mexican wrestler to fight against Becky Levi or another joshi wrestler with a shoot background in a NHB event in Japan. At the event, she seems to only speak Spanish and mocked her interviewers on camera during the pre fight presser (not shown on the ppv) while her translator answered the actual questions. According to those in the Lucha community, no one has heard from her old trainer for a few years after she left Mexico.

Jonathan Pranzo is a new wrestler for the Ohio Valley organization, wrestling under his real name and is a bit of a dark horse in this tournament. He hasn’t wrestled very long, and is known for having a classic American wrestler style. He played division 3 college football and has no martial arts or amateur wrestling background. His physique is unreal to see in person and he has the aura of a major star and the prototype of the next generation of star for a major wrestling organization like WWE or WCW. In interviews, he insists his strength, size and determination will win him matches.

Despite not having a shoot style or combat sports background, Pranzo looked good in this match showing some technical striking combined with a power wrestling style that reminded me of Lex Luger in NWA. This match was the most interesting match on the card, with La Dama seemingly confused by the rules of the match, as she attempted multiple pins during the match and Pranzo launching himself off the top rope multiple times in the match, which caused some booing from the crowd.

Fatigue was again a factor in this match as La Dama’s endurance faded as the match went on and Pranzo won by combination leglock and choke.