Blake Christian vs. Lio Rush (Replacing Jonathan Gresham)
Building on their GCW rivalry, Black Christian and Lio Rush demonstrated impressive character work and in-ring storytelling. Rush proved how his speed and agility are unmatched, running circles around Christian. All the while, he taunts Christian in a sea of dueling chants from the audience between Rush and Christian. Still, Christian met his speed, following and correcting Rush’s evasions, demonstrating that he’s a worthy rival for The Man of the Hour. Christian landed a counter head kick, to which Rush responded by taking flight off the turnbuckle and landing kicks of his own. The in-ring storytelling on display is excellent, as the chemistry behind their fluid back-and-forth reflected their long-term rivalry. Their dueling styles communicate volumes, as Christian periodically would match Rush’s speed with his own punishing stiff hits. His chops and kicks would regularly get as big a pop as Rush’s velocity, knowing full well he’d be in trouble by Christian’s repeated grounding attempts.
Lio Rush fired up, Photo Credit: Darwin Baez
As Christian used his strength to gain control, Rush’s freeing spears helped him gain momentum over the bout. But Christian came back with a springboard cronus heartbeat to the back of Lio’s head. The stellar back-and-forth continued was halted by Christian, delivering a fantastic Spanish fly and springboard 450 Spanish off the turnbuckle, but Lio kicked out anyway, amazing the crowd. Rush returned with biting poison rana and his Flying Hour, but Christian kicks out and responds with Fosbury Flop and a tombstone piledriver.
Black Christian (up) Lio Rush (ground) Photo Credit Nick Karp
The tombstone gave Christian the opportunity to pin Lio Rush for the three count, taking the victory in an incredible fight. The in-ring storytelling of their rivalry was compelling. Lio Rush and Blake Christian have fantastic chemistry, and I’m excited to see how far their rivalry will go.
