Chris Bey Looks Back On Standout Matches With Hammerstone And Shane Strickland, Finding California Indie Hidden Gems
The Watch List takes a look at what matches you should be watching while you’re at home and they come recommended by your favorite professional wrestling stars.
WrestleZone recently spoke with IMPACT Wrestling X Division Champion Chris Bey, who looked back at some classic X matches as well as some of his own recent work.
“From that era, if people haven’t seen one of the greatest triple threat matches of all time—Samoa Joe, AJ Styles and Christopher Daniels. If you haven’t seen it, there’s also another triple threat match with Chris Sabin, Petey Williams and AJ Styles that’s pretty rad.
“As far as my own matches, there’s one on IWTV that I had with Hammerstone from MLW. I had a match with Hammerstone at Without A Cause and I dubbed it as my favorite match of 2019. It’s an amazing match, Hammerstone is a great performer and he had just got back from Japan so he was hitting that next level. I’d just finished up a loop here in the States, so we were both at our best and that stands out as one of my best matches.
“I’ve had so many cool matches at this point. I had a match a couple of years ago that people still like with Shane Strickland, Isaiah ‘Swerve’ Scott in WWE now. I’ve got some cool stuff online, me and Jake Atlas, me and Karrion Kross, so if you just go on YouTube you’ll find some but if you want one specifically, I’d give you that Hammerstone match.”
As much as people talk about the California independent wrestling scene, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla gets a lot of attention on a national level but it’s not always reciprocated with other promotions. Bey says that while PWG does have an impressive roster, it’s mostly comprised of outside talent and says fans should look further into the local indie scene to really find some great content.
“100% A lot of those guys, like you said people jump to PWG but with PWG being as great as it is, it’s also a lot of outside talent. If you go and check out any regular California show, there’s a million guys who are hungry and come from incredible schools, wrestle their asses off and perform with the best of them and they are just salivating for those opportunities as well. Definitely check out some indie shows in California and you’ll get way more hidden gems than you’d expect.”
We added some of Chris Bey’s match recommendations to the list; you can check out some more full-length matches from his career and TNA history below. The WAC match between Hammerstone and Bey can be seen on IWTV (subscription required) at this link.
Petey Williams vs. Chris Sabin vs. AJ Styles
TNA Final Resolution — January 16, 2005
AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe vs. Christopher Daniels (X Division Championship)
TNA Unbreakable — September 11, 2005
AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe vs. Christopher Daniels (TNA World Championship)
TNA Turning Point — November 15, 2009
Chris Bey vs. Shane “Swerve” Strickland
BotW Live at the Hive — September 9, 2018
Hammerstone vs. Chris Bey
Future Stars Of Wrestling — December 14, 2018
Chris Bey vs. Jeff Cobb
Without A Cause 2020 — January 19, 2020
WATCH More: FTR Pick The Classic Matches That ‘Define’ Tag Team Wrestling, Recall Their Feud With American Alpha
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