Dojo Pro Review (Episodes 1-5) [SPOILERS]

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Dojo Pro is finally here and ready for the masses, people! The season was filmed over the course of a couple ‘secret shows’ in Nashville earlier this year and are now available to binge on Amazon Prime. The basis of Dojo Pro is that you have to earn your way to the title by working up the ladder of competitors. The wrestlers are ranked 1-12 with the 12 seed having to face 11 then the winner of that match moves on to face the 10 seed and so on with the outright winner getting a crack at the ROH Television Championship. Right away, I liked this setup. Fight, win, move on – it’s simple, but oh so satisfying.

Kevin Ku vs. Kerry Awful: We get things going with two SUP staples which is always a good call in my book. The match is exactly what you’d expect between two guys that match up well and have great chemistry. What was really cool to see was the pre-match interviews with Ku and Kerry.

Ku lifts the veil just a little bit and we get to see how much of a likable guy he is behind all that kick-assery. Kerry is well….Kerry…and shows the depths that ‘The Dog-Face Gargoyle” will go to prove that he deserves the same amount of respect that his Dojo Pro opponents have received. Awesome stuff here y’all. Ku gets the win via submission and becomes the first Dojo Pro white belt. Again, very cool that the inaugural match had two SUP guys in it. Also, we want to give a shout out to the poor fan that Jeff Cobb attacked post match. Seemed to be a cool guy.

Gunner Miller vs. Kevin Ku: Match #2 has Ku defending his newly acquired white belt against THE hoss himself Gunner Miller. These two have faced off before and the chemistry was there for sure. Ku looked super tough at times, but Gunner was not gonna be out done.The Captain gets the win via knockout (ouch) and moves on to face Wheeler Yuta. Awesome pre-match stuff with Gunner as I’m always a proponent for the UTC football team getting a little shine. Fun fact: Gunner is one of only five UTC players that have multiple pick-6 games in their career. If you don’t know football, I assure you that’s impressive.

Wheeler Yuta vs. Gunner Miller: This one got a little heated in the pre-match interviews which was a nice touch with what Gunner had going after the Ku match. By the time we got to the match, Gunner seemed locked in and ready to keep rolling along. Miller looked strong throughout and picked Yuta out of the air with a gnarly spear then followed that up with a big boy Jackhammer. Instead of going for the pin, Gunner looks for another knockout, but Yuta is ready and reverses. Bing bang boom – Yuta hits the elbow drop and becomes the proud owner of the white belt. Even though Yuta was the higher seed, this was a huge win for him where he showed off his heart as well as his intelligence.

Corey Hollis vs. Wheeler Yuta: I love grimy Corey Hollis. He’s just so easy to hate, but I find myself rooting for him so there’s that. The pre-match package with Hollis was aces as it conveyed his journey so well. Corey made this match dirty and I thought he was gonna move on after smashing Yuta’s hand in the turnbuckle. Alas, it wasn’t meant to be as Yuta fights through the pain to get the submission victory and become the first person to successfully defend the white belt.

Joey Janela vs. Wheeler Yuta: Joey Janela is a legit television star even if television doesn’t know it yet. Not only does the guy have ‘the stuff’ but he also has a ‘Drive’ jacket, which is so fucking mint. It’s a tough call, but I would say this was my favorite match so far. As mentioned in the pre-match interviews, Joey gets a bad wrap as solely a death match wrestler. Now, there’s no denying he’s not afraid to die in the ring, but the guy can go with just about anyone in the game right now. These two put on a damn fine wrestling match that hopefully Janela’s naysayers take the time to watch. These two fought their tails off but after a low blow/super kick combination, the Bad Boy claims the white belt and moves on to face Brandon Cutler.

Part 2: Episodes 6-10
Part 3: Episodes 11-12

John Mosley is the independent wrestling and TV aficionado of the SoBros Network. He graduated from ETSU with a degree in Radio, TV and Film along with a minor in Film Studies. Since graduating he’s done pretty much nothing but watch, film, edit or commentate for local wrestling promotions and is the current color commentator for Resolute Wrestling. #Preds #Titans #DefendOrVacateConor – Follow on Twitter: @SoBroMose

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