AWE2 | Mario Tambakis V Riekerd Bornman | Official Footage

One of the most anticipated matchups of the year South Africa's superstar Riekerd Bornman makes his AWE debut against the seasoned and dangerous Mario Tambakis.

[@mariotambakis1468]

I agree 100%, my elbows should've been called and I should've been fouled out for the 2nd round and. Its not my intention to elbow foul but Riekerd is a big lad and his posting backpressure was phenomenal. He honestly kept lifiting my elbow up, and me taking that deep grip to ensure he doesn't toproll me meant I had to reach up and around a taller hand. But that's why we have referees in the 1st place and barely any calls were made so I opted for the controlled start similar to a WAF referees grip and Tim (head referee) and Riekerd accepted. Guys also please understand that the AWE is in its infancy right now and is only going to go up from here. The referees and the promoters are coming up with a more hybrid ruleset to give not only a good outcome to athletes but also a great viewing experience for the spectator.

[@lasnibotha1555]

Wish AWE warned us that they wouldn't be following the rules given, or that we had the WAF ref's grip option. Multiple rounds were started before the competitors had closed their hands, always carved in, starting with elbows off the front of pad etc. Down ref didn't exist. But it's also a good lesson to a certain type of competitor: You have to play the game/dirty, not rely on refs. Probably not good for viewership if fans want to see good fights: you saved 5 seconds with shoddy refereeing and rushed starts, then you lose 4 rounds of potentially epic matches. This is the reason why so many of the European armwrestlers refused to compete in WAL for years, and they repeatedly said so themselves.

[@gavinhay6627]

I appreciate your honesty Mario.

[@JohannStoltz]

@@gavinhay6627 Just sad for a young boy to realize that the only way to win this game is to cheat...nothing against Mario...he played the game well..... it's bad refs.

[@awakedreamer5321]

AWE should have said to us who bought the PPV that the referee was blind, it was not a cool move by the organizers, I would have donated for the cause too if I knew 🙄

[@levansaginashvillisliver454]

@@lasnibotha1555If you spent as much energy training for rhett as you did crying about this match you might have won😂😂 Go train your hand the stronger man won

[@zahidqadri5075]

Mario's elbow of the pad in every single at it is being ignored beautifully

[@j.r1920]

Exactly lmao wtf was this reffing

[@nakodares5982]

Down ref has to call this better

[@GripChief]

A brutal first match for Riekard given how new he is. But i thought he did pretty well, put in a great effort.

[@fitpro2278]

He looked way more like professional athlete than the other guy

[@joelvanittersum3083]

The strength from Riekard is definitely there he just needs to get more used to the ready go’s and the set up’s. as an arm wrestler myself I can 100% tell you that pulling in practice is completely different then pulling in an actual competition. Once Riekard gets used to competition pulling he will be a force to reckoned with.

[@kallepinomaki1]

Mario's Super flying floating elbow is a thing to behold!

[@carpenterjim7906]

Even we could see Mario's elbow come up in the second round. And the flying elbow in round one...

[@davezoom-yb8pm]

@@ggs5628 Keeps lifting it up and starting off the pad

[@niccoloricardi4827]

I'm sorry, but the refereeing is just abysmal. Mario's elbow tip is off the front of the pad in almost every start. Then jumps like crazy and they don't call it. And as far as his complaint of the knuckle being covered in round 3, at least from this footage it seems perfectly visible (check 10:56).

[@zahidqadri5075]

Reffing is messed up

[@Nelis1324]

yeah, needs better reffing. Everything else is great though!

[@hanzo52]

Apparently floating the elbow in the center of the table in the start is not visible to the judge

[@denda2643]

This refs ego is in the way imho.

[@youtubeconnollyfamily]

Ryan, the way you turned your wrists in that second match against artem was insane. All that dedication and training paid off. Very impressive.

[@ilovecrazyhops]

Worst blind referring possibly even worse than Bart wood or bill Collins. Bornman was absolutely robbed by Mario "Flying Elbow" Tambakis!

[@crunchycrackers7364]

Travis could beat any guy in the world with these elbow fouls not being called lol

[@thedrew24]

KZbin algorithm boosting comment 💪 ... Mario had to find that one lane to break through that huge strength of Bornman! "ONE MORE YEAR!" it seems many naturally strong new pullers seem to lack strong pronation, Mario seemed to attack that well!

[@gilbertmoreno5423]

Should of been reviewed 2nd round. Elbow was clearly up from Tambakis

[@DipankarGhosh007]

High posting toproll works most of the time, especially against newbies. It's such a technical move, once the hand is gone, doesn't matter how much bicep strength u hv, it almost always a losing battle. Mario figured out quickly what to do, his experience showed on the table. My deep respect to riekard, he is a probable phenom in the making. In a year or 2 he would be so much more dangerous

[@StrAniG09]

second round looked like an elbow foul from Tambakis

[@billyshupe5239]

​@@ggs5628😂 damn

[@Adhiel-]

The event may have been cool but the refereeing sucks so much

[@Jdm5299]

Quality is insanely high 👌

[@DantGryet]

Never thought I'd say this, but i think the women that reffed Vic states this year were more competent than the ones at this event, and thats saying something.

[@Airestotle09]

We need a rematch 9 months later Bornman has evolved 10fold

[@BlessedFallout]

What an idea to do the event in an octagon!!! Wow

[@youtubeconnollyfamily]

Also, great to see that young kid in the sport. So much potential with him. Honestly, he did better than I thought he would in his first ever super match against a very good arm wrestler.

[@herbertneuner899]

Great job Riekard!

[@Aw4Nerds]

Great stage setup and overall promotion. I can see AWE attracting more viewers and/or new fans more easily than others. Just get one super heavyweight high-level match and AWE will rise to the top.

[@Armwarriorscanberra]

Super Mario wins 🎉. You taught him how to win bro well done.💪🏼

[@JohannStoltz]

you spelled cheat wrong.

[@valitsemllaluokanavahyvaks3556]

Riekerd seemed very invested in the match which is a good thing seems like he wants to take it serious. Riekerd is like a mixture of Devon and Matt Mask. This kid should go to Canada and train with Devon, Mask and Beerman.

[@nahyanrajee198]

9:40 why is it riekards responsibility to make sure his opponent does not foul? What are the reffs for then?

[@user-hn9qw7ou8d]

The better man won!

[@davezoom-yb8pm]

5:11 ..lifting ..tsk ,,,Keeps lifting it up and starting off the pad.

[@snowy6944]

The ole bagent flying elbow

[@gavinhay6627]

Why is Mario allowed to have his elbow off the pad in the set-up ?

[@j.r1920]

DUDE Every single match Mario’s elbow jumps completely off the pad gaining better position.. actual BS Ryan if your going to have events like this don’t cheap out on the refs cause this is horrible.. my small town local events have better reffing then this. EVEN RYAN SAYS BIG ELBOW FOUL And they don’t call it

[@gatewayarms9519]

Mario did deserve the win, but the refs hosed Bornman early. Should’ve been 4-2, maybe even 4-3

[@frederico9288]

Don’t think it’s possible to complete an armwrestling event without some kind of refereeing controversy

[@gustavogustavo7262]

very nice

[@rmcm2078]

Kinda too tall an order for Rick, I mean, Mario is no joke, def didn't need to deploy the flying elbow every time.

[@Kwangson12]

Why the "B" in Tambakis looks different from the "B" in Bornman?

[@unit2617]

That ref needs to go to Specsavers

[@unit2617]

Mario's elbow was off the pad multiple times in every round but the ref gives a foul to Riekerd for complaining. The ref was a chump

[@wesleyb1458]

Come on how is Mario complaining about any starts like round 2 when he is the much more experienced of the athletes that’s almost always going to get the advantage in the set up. He missed that start if Reikard ever gets the better start that’s on him

[@hernanvaldes9788]

Good win for Mario

[@RaviShankar...]

@5:40 1st round, Mario's flying elbow......no foul and then on a series of fouls by Mario Ref is very communicative but not supported by his assistant, bizzare

[@timbeardsley9643]

Mario second round elbow off the start is an inch or more above he gains advantage from this and pins no fowl Mario wins how the f is that not seen

[@lacallenicaragua2903]

I don't understand why they don't call foul when they raise their elbow

[@solitarium01728]

ταμπακης!!

[@matthewstewart5008]

Rookie vs the national 🥴

[@southcoastfishingadventure3098]

Terrible work by referees here.. If all the elbow fouls by the ozzy bloke were caught, Bornman would of won 6-love

[@1979augistine]

Elbow completely off the pads multiple times .....yeah AWE needs to work on the referees watching and calling fouls and im certain they will

[@Corriemcphee]

Reffing/ rules wtf. Mario elbow fouled every round. Ref grip change during rd 2 changed the whole outcome. Close your own hands should be the whole match. Not change to ref grip closing hands. I enjoyed watching all the matches but i didn't like the way rules where utilized at all.

[@spotos5154]

S

[@BlessedFallout]

Terrible referee. Tambakis elbow was in the air and not on the pad most of the time.

[@deborahclark6570]

as McGregor would say..who da fook are these guys???😂

[@JohannStoltz]

Why would an experienced arm wrestler like Mario do this against someone thats doing this for the first time ?. Worst refs i've ever seen.... I'm hope you are very proud Mario.

[@levansaginashvillisliver454]

When someone is posting so hard in the setup that the other athlete cant even keep their elbow down this might also be called cheating😂

[@navardowallace-gill8073]

terrible ref

[@mikeveine]

Terrible reffing

[@jw3807]

This far side referee is blind. The dude in the left starts with his elbow off the pad every round! How does he not see it?!?!