Any championship bout provides its fair share of pressure, but squaring off at the summit of "Blackout 5" must be a daunting prospect for any battler.
Pat Stay vs. Charron was always going to be a step above the strange debacle that was Daylyt’s title challenge. The history between the Pat and Charron is palpable, and they are both energetic performers who tread the line between self-awareness and direct aggression.
The battle has since been the source of this half-hour’s wave of controversy involving Hollohan and a potentially decision-changing cameo that never took place. But I’m going to factor that out. Every battler has to take risks, and some are dependent on factors outside of their own material and performances. Charron took the plunge, and it backfired. I can only review the clash in front of me. That Hollohan moment isn’t in it.
Charron’s first, thankfully, featured a hefty dose of directness amid the braggadocious wordplay, breaking down Pat’s style neatly without forgetting to entertain. His setups are, as is a habit of Charron’s, a little forced, but the punchlines were on point and had the crowd very much onside from the get-go.
Pat immediately rebuffed Charron’s intensity with some silly humor in a seamless flip about testicles, and he rode the notable momentum Charron brought to the opener with some fantastic scheming and a rock-hard statement of intent. Contrary to what I said in my prediction piece, the atmosphere feels like it’s Pat putting more into his performance. He’s as direct as Charron, but he see-saws his dynamic — between aggression and demeaning humor — in a far smoother ebb.
Charron had superb reactions in the second and brought back “LOOK AT ME WHEN I’M KILLING YOU” to great effect. He was also responsible for some impressive contortions in the faces of Daylyt and Murda Mook, and despite a few very minor stumbles, his energy was incessant and the crowd was fully on board. Alongside his writing, which is as robust as it has been for a while, his structure was far stronger than his recent output, even including his rebuttals, and he ended on a high with an acupuncture bar that reminded me of early Charron in the best possible way.
Pat threw away his second a little — his performance was fine, and his writing was entertaining, but his flips starting out the round and subsequent angle of “you smell” were both a little light for a title defense. There was the faintest hint of a choke, and he reeled off some great comedy but wasn’t really incisive enough until the closing third of his round. It was at this point he picked up speed again and combined his direct deconstruction with attention-deficit verges into flow and retro-gaming swagger puns. This minute of material may be the reason he took the chain home. Pat’s second round started entertainingly but packed enough of a wallop at its business end to qualify as a title-worthy round.
Charron’s closing round amped up the stakes considerably, and Hollohan’s absence didn’t diminish its power. Accusations of Pat pushing his little sister down the stairs led into deeply personal confessions that landed amid even more personal jabs at the champion, who looked decidedly uncomfortable for the round’s duration. His freestyles about Hollohan’s stage ban, riffing on Pat’s ‘Mad Right Now’ mantra, were impressive, well-placed and backed 120% by the crowd. Cleverly, he used a battle against Pat Stay, who has become renowned in his title defenses for introspection and laying out a personal backdrop, to unveil his own struggles with autism and then springboard into a devastating final barrage. Win or no win, Charron pulled out a classic battle round here.
Pat immediately returned fire with a flip dismissing some of the claims in Charron’s brilliant bowout, focusing on Charron’s insecure persona. It was a slick closer, but it’s the first time I’ve seen a Pat Stay title defense closing round pale slightly in comparison to his opponent’s. It wasn’t by any means a bad round, but it lacked wind in its sails measured against his previous closing rounds. Had his first two verses not showcased so much of his versatility and fluid writing, Charron might’ve had him.
Charron missed out on the title because Pat called him on many of the repetitive structures he used, and placed them in stark contrast to his own idiosyncrasies. Charron had to take some drastic steps out of his comfort zone content-wise, but for the most part, fell consistently into his four-bar framework. A title match in Toronto is Pat’s comfort zone, and he takes a similar approach each time. And it always works. He used that reliability as a tactic here: his polish was the point. Charron delivered great material piece-by-piece, whereas Pat delivered a start to finish piece of work in which the finish was a little open ended. His seamlessness lent gravitas to his aggression and a dose of reality to his humor. He just knows how to win a title.
Ultimately, the judging went the right way, but despite Charron’s apologies on Twitter afterwards, he did not appear shaken at any point and stands as the most pertinent challenge Pat Stay’s KOTD title reign has faced. Topping off with a Murda Mook callout, it’s pretty clear that even if he didn’t quite deliver with as much polish as Pat he’s set for a formidable 2015. This is the best title match in a long time, and I for one would love to see Illmaculate step up next, as is being talked about.
Photo by Zach Macphoto for KOTD.
See all of our coverage on this battle (including the lyrics) here.
Did the right guy take the chain home? Who would you like to see come forward for a challenge? Let us know below.
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