Callum v Matt Fletcher 9 (CvMF9) - wrestle4afee

FFE Wrestling have been slowly updating their collection of legacy wrestle4afee matches by uploading them to WatchFighters. One such match caught my interest: a battle between British underground wrestling legend, Callum, and Matt Fletcher (not to be confused with simply Matt, a different wrestler), another Brit who had also made quite a name for himself across different British underground studios.

Callum and Matt Fletcher have fought each other 10 times as far as I'm aware—so they know each other pretty well. I'm writing about this ninth encounter in particular because it's the only one that takes place in a mat room; all the others take place in a ring. While I do love the pro style, grappling is my number one. It's also their longest fight by almost 10 minutes. As I was summing up whether or not I wanted to purchase the match, I realised I already own it—purchased way back before wrestle4afee closed.

The match begins with Matt and Callum, clad in Speedos, approaching each other in the center of the room. A shoving match and shit-talking soon follow, paired with a particularly intense nose-to-nose showdown. They're both cocky with good reason—they're both formidable opponents with heaps of experience.

One of my favorite ways to begin a match

From what I know of them both, Callum is the more experienced fighter. He's appeared in significantly more videos for both wrestle4afee and FFE Wrestling, as well as a number of other UK-based productions, notably UKWH and Spotland Scrappers. He's even crossed the pond for a match against Krush. Matt, however, is no slouch. Although his filmography isn't as extensive, he has still appeared in several videos for wrestle4afee and FFE Wrestling, also extending his reach to a smattering of UKWH and Spotland Scrappers.

Callum has significantly more grappling experience based on what I can gather from their match history. That's not to say this is going to be a walk in the park for him, though. It's clear from the offset that these two are well-matched opponents.

The match is full of reversals like this one

CvMF9 showcases well the two things I think a wrestling rivalry needs to succeed: an even match, and two opponents who hate each other's guts. The latter is particularly evident as the match progresses past the 20-minute mark, which is where the action noticeably takes a more thrilling turn. There's rarely a moment where either of these two are idle. They treat us to plenty of headscissors, sleepers, hair grabbing, and strangulation as their desperation to win rises.

Callum looks cozy

Callum putting everything into choking Matt out

Nearing 30 minutes, the sweat on their bodies starts to glisten under the lights. Callum and Matt turn the dial up on their roughness once more as they smack each other and roll across the room. They quite literally fight tooth and nail. There's one claw move in particular that almost convinced me Callum was trying to gouge Matt's eyes out.

As the tension continues to build, so does the exhaustion. There were moments where I could literally feel the aches and pains as each man takes a little longer to recover with every move. Even the person applying the move sometimes needs a moment after all the effort they've been putting in.

There aren't too many matches I would classify as 'grueling', but this is definitely one of them. Callum and Matt put on a good show for us viewers.

With little to no energy left, they still fight on

Towards the end of the video I was caught by surprise in a very good way. As some of you may know, I love it when two people try the same move on each other at the same time. I made a whole post about it. So when Callum and Matt locked up in a mutual headscissors that's well over 6 minutes, I was completely enthralled. It's easily one of the hottest moments in a match I've seen in recent memory. It's very fitting, too. There's nothing left in the tank to try and escape, so they try to outlast each other. Their pained groans really sell it.

Someone's gotta give

The match is far from perfect. There are occasional glimpses at the camera, as well as the odd view of the cameraman's socks and belly as he points the camera down at the battle. I assume this was filmed by the late John Cotterill, who does a fine job of capturing all the action in a single take.

Overall, Callum v Matt Fletcher 9 is a highly entertaining battle of attrition between two of wrestle4afee's most ferocious bruisers. It's got headscissors, strangles, shit talking, claws, and plenty of other moves that are sure to keep you interested throughout its duration.

Callum v Matt Fletcher 9 (CvMF9) has a runtime of 45:09 and can be found on FFE Wrestling's Watchfighters here. It's also still available on wrestle4afee's GetWrestle page, but I'm not sure if purchasing it from there would work since w4af has been inactive for a number of years.