Superstar Sleeze

WWE Intercontinental Champion Bad News Barrett vs Dolph Ziggler - WWE RAW 6/23/14 Take a pair of semi-over midcarders and tack on a couple nearfalls and you get "This is Awesome". I remember watching this match and thinking this was one of the most egregious examples of the overexposure of the "This Is Awesome" chant. My beef with "This Is Awesome" chant is that it tends to be the MOVEZ~! that are over rather than the individual wrestlers. If Ziggler was so over. how come Ziggler was not being cheered? A lot of it has to do with how the match was presented and laid out. What did Barrett do that was particularly heelish? Really the only reason Barrett was the heel was because he is the bigger of the two and he would cut off Ziggler. It was a very neutral performance from Barrett and I have noticed over very neutral performances from midcard heels especially Cesaro. It is funny that all these old time great wrestling minds can't put their finger on why these wrestlers can't make it to the next level. I would start right there. Obviously, booking is critical, but if you are talking about things a wrestler can control, it is stronger heel performances. It seems the heels are too concerned with being considered "great" wrestlers, which in the modern context means MOVEZ~! I wanted to review this match because it made one list of top WWE matches of the year I read and I wanted to look at a Ziggler match from before his late year push. I remember ZIggler utilizing the babyface mid-90s Savage formula of taking heat, hitting one counter move and then going home. Of course, Savage would win his match with the big elbow, but most times Ziggler would lose. I think the match would have benefited from that formula. It would afford the opportunity for Barrett to look like a violent bully and for Ziggler to build sympathy for his big dropkick comeback. Instead, it was just I hit a move, you hit a move. There was no sense of struggle or real desire to win. Hell, you can't even claim they had good escalation: The Zig Zag was used as a throwaway transition, which built to a commercial and within one spot, Barrett was up and hitting the Cactus Elbow. Plus Barrett's natural size was totally undermined by the match. Ziggler was countering at will Barrett's offense and it was not like he was using great speed. The selling was generally not good and even when it happened like Ziggler not being able to capitalize the selling felt false (more like frustration) and did not feel warranted based on the limited punishment he took. The finish was pretty awesome with Ziggler going for the Stinger Splash and Barrett hits him with a KO elbow. I think Barrett and Ziggler have great potential, but have their limitations. Barrett really is not a good bumper or seller, which he does not have to be, but it will limit him. Ziggler has the worst punches in the business today and his deadfish/pop-up selling is annoying at best. However, I think even with those limitations, they can construct great matches against other people using Barrett's brute and Ziggler's bumping ability. Tag team wrestling could have taught both these guys a lot. Alas, it is a shame. The match was designed to impress the crowd. You work the audience. Don't let the audience work you. Disposable, mindless match that is fun to watch with your brother on Saturday morning, but not worthwhile on rewatch.

WWE Intercontinental Champion Dolph Ziggler vs Cesaro vs Tyson Kidd WWE Smackdown! 11/14/14 First thing's first, the new Smackdown ring announcer is realest. I may just start watching Smackdown for her. Hot damn. This match is a great spotfest and besides the Money In The Bank Ladder match, I can't think of a better one this year in WWE (reDragon vs Young Bucks, which I saw live was the best spotfest of the year and one of the best of all time). Spotfest is a loaded word after all wrestling matches are a collection of spots. It is your fireworks spectacle in lieu of a compelling story. I think there is very much a place for them on pro wrestling cards (no more than one a card). If you are going to have one, then commit to it. The reason I was so down on Barrett and Ziggler is they had a spotfest, but they were just hitting their stock moves on each other. These three came up with creative, fun, and eye-popping spots. Sometimes they got too smart for their own good like trying a more complicated Tower of Doom spot that looked like shit. However, fun stuff like Cesaro covering Ziggler while in the Sharpshooter or Kidd hitting a Blockbuster on Cesaro onto Ziggler's knees. I also have to say after watching all that 00s NOAH that Cesaro hitting a big boot to start a match and then an exploder is the most NOAH beginning to any WWE match ever. In fact, if NOAH ever had a junior heavyweight triple threat match, I would say it would look a lot like this only with more strike exchanges. I liked the opening part with quick pinfalls by each competitor really put over their desire to eliminate a wrestler and setup a one on one match for the title. They also managed not to fall into the triple threat trap of having one wrestler sell for long periods of time on the outside. They all just kept going at each other with vigor. I would say that is what would separate this match from a lot of other typical WWE matches is the urgency of the wrestlers. The finish stretch begins with a Kidd sharpshooter/Cesaro crossface combo on Ziggler. The storyline behind this was that Authority was setting Ziggler (then the only member of Team Cena) to lose his title because of the stacked odds. While Cesaro and Kidd never formally teamed up, these moments drove home that angle. In an idiotic moment, Kidd breaks the hold to attack Cesaro and gets the Giant Swing. Cesaro hotshotting Ziggler into a kick by Kid was sick. Kidd has some really good kicks in this match. Ziggler hits the Zig Zag, but Kidd being the gloryhound he is (remember the storyline with Nattie) he tosses Ziggler out so he can get the pinfall. I like the respect shown for the Zig Zag. Kidd had a really good string of offense on Ziggler and you really felt him press his advantage with nice kicks. He tries for the Sharpshooter, but it is reversed into a cradle and then ZIG ZAG! Ziggler survives with his championship reign intact. There was no great overarching story and the selling was nothing to write home about, but for a spotfest you could not ask for much more. There were a lot of fun spots that escalated to a satisfying conclusion. Plus Kidd got some time to shine, which is nice and showed some promise. Good shit. ***3/4

WWE Intercontinental Champion Luke Harper vs Dolph Ziggler WWE TLC 2014 Ladder Match Luke Harper may look like Bruiser Brody, but he wrestles like Stan Hansen and the world is a better place for it. He had a total disregard for Ziggler and his own welfare. Having watched wrestling for seventeen years now, it takes a lot to make me cringe, but repeatedly I was wincing in pain with each punishing blow. It was so violent and I even questioned if it was all worth it. I hope it will be because I thought this be HBK/Mankind match for Ziggler. Shawn Michaels needed the match with Foley to establish that he dish out the pain as well as he could take it. It is similar to how in the 80s pretty boy tag teams would be positioned in brutal fights with gnarly heels to show they were tougher than they look and earn credibility with the audience. To keep the Shawn Michaels thread going, matches like The Rockers versus Rose & Somers bloodbath in the AWA come to mind. If exploited properly, this can be that very match. It is so difficult in this day and age to be an asskicker and not come across as a cool babyface. Harper was able to tap into such an uncomfortable violence that he was booed heavily. Yes, eventually there was the obligatory "This Is Awesome" chant, but for the vast majority of the match the people cheered Ziggler and booed Harper. It helped a lot they were in Ziggler's hometown of Cleveland, but regardless, to see such an outpouring of emotion to cheer for one wrestler was so refreshing in this day of "appreciating the match" and other such hogwash. On the rewatch, with a closer attention to detail, I realized how much Harper really destroyed Ziggler for the opening half of the match. It is a testament to Ziggler that when I was watching with my family that I really never felt like he was totally out of it and that he was always struggling. Too often he can rely on deadfish/pop-up selling, but here, I thought more often than not he kept it a competitive style of selling. Harper established the perfect pace for this brutal masterpiece. It never plodded, but they never rushed to the next spot. He was going to let that ladder just fall on Ziggler's head and then climb the ladder to retain his title. Those ladder timber spots were vicious especially the one that clipped Ziggler in the head. The most violent spot of the match was without a doubt the Harper suicide dive onto the ladder where he basically piledrove himself into a ladder. How he did not break his arms and/or be concussed was beyond me. I could barely watch. The Ziggler pop up and scramble up the ladder was perfect, because up until that point he had basically no offense and now the monster has basically impaled himself it was time to take advantage. It was great drama as the Creature from the Black Lagoon rose again and stopped him. Not to be topped Ziggler took some hellacious bumps like on a powerbomb onto a Ladder (the ladder did not break) and then being catapulted into the middle rope with the ladder around his head (concussion city and getting busted open). Ziggler breaking free of the doctors to stop Harper from climbing the ladder was an awesome moment. This should not be lost in the shuffle, but the effort they put into this and how much they were willing to risk made the Intercontinental Championship feel like a big deal for the first time in forever. As I survey the damage, Ziggler is bleeding from the face and fingers while Harper is bleeding from all sort of odd places on his body. You really felt like whoever wins this demolition derby deserves it. Ziggler makes his grand comeback, but what's great is that it is not just one move. He has to keep beating Harper back, first it is a facebuster onto the ladder, then it is DDT off the ladder, then dropkicking the ladder into his face and finally the superkick off the ladder that wins ZIggler the match. The fact that it was Ziggler had to earn every single step by constantly hitting Harper with big shots really you made it feel like he could earn it. Ziggler proved he could withstand the punishment doled out by one of WWE's most sadistic monsters. Harper made him earn this every step of the way delivering one of the most malevolent performances of the year. Harper gave as good as he got as proved by that suicide dive. For Ziggler, we see if the WWE exploits this newfound credibility as a tough, die hard son of a bitch. The negatives are slight. but apparent: Ziggler's punches still look like shit and they did lose a bit of steam towards the end as the spots got a bit more contrived. In terms of a violent spectacle, where the pretty boy babyface not just survived the monster, this match deserves to be ranked among the best ladder matches of all time. ****1/2

WWE Champion CM Punk vs John Cena - WWE Night of Champions 2012 I chose Motley Crue/KISS over this on the same night in Boston and I dont regret that decision one bit. Paul Stanley is fucking hilarious live. That was definitely a Top 5 concert for me. Never have seen this match before, this is one of the last big time WWE matches I have never seen before. I am pretty sure it goes to draw and I am 100% positive Punk retains so we will see. I love the chemistry these two have together and I think this feud is better positioned to succeed with Punk as the heel. Punk turned heel at RAW 1000 to set up Punk vs Rock at Rumble. Punk is wearing Yankees Pinstripe trunks in Boston, fucking love it...*****. I love their NWA Championship style openings to their matches with the headlocks. The defined face vs heel lines help immediately. We see Cena win early opening tests of strength with a Fisherman Suplex. On the next exchange, Punk hits him with a hard back elbow that rocks Cena. That is a great subtle heel move. He did not wrestle his way out of trouble. He chose to the easy, dick way out of trouble. If you ever watch Bret, he always made use of the hard back elbow or something similar when he was playing the subtle heel. Cena is never one for a long shine. We go to heat. Punk is great at using elbows in this match. I loved his use of knees in matches prior, but the elbows look great here. There is a great dropteohold by Punk that he rolls seamlessly into a MutaLock and I love that Cena actually uses his strength to power out. That was an awesome sequence. Punk does the suicide dive so much better than Rollins and way better than Ambrose (who has the dirt worst) because the trick is you need to land over your opponent to make it look like you are going through him, the kids nowadays are stopping short and it comes off lame. Punk jaws with Cena's Dad, which they dont bring up on commentary which is weird. Cena hits a baseball slide and gets a modicum of revenge through sending Punk over the barricade into his family. The transition back to Punk is lame just a kick to the arm. I think it was supposed to be higher to the head. The match kicks into gear when Punk goes for the G2S and this lights a fire under Cena's ass. Here comes the Shouldertackles. Nice weight shift on the Protobomb. Punk has Cena scouted. Cena has Punk's complicated neckbreaker scouted. Cena hits a MACK TRUCK LARIAT on that counter. GODDAMN! Punk punts Cena on the Five Knuckle Shuffle attempt. suicide dive at one point that was fucking insane! Both Punk and Cena end up getting their trademarks in the neckbreaker and the Protobomb. But when he goes for the 5 Knuckle Shuffle Punk reverses into the Anaconda Vice by pulling him into it. This is awesome. Reminds me a lot of their badass 2013 RAW match. The countering and how Cena has to earn each part of his comeback is so good and has to bust out all sort of crazy spots like the Suicide Dive to keep Punk off balance is great. This goes into the STF and then a Crossface. This is a general weakness in WWE is these transitions into the next submission move are way too easy. Cena powers out and they do their usual yay/boo stroke exchange. I will say these two are probably the best at it because it comes off organic and like they are actually trying to win the exchange. Punk wins with a leg lariat and then his trademark knee in the corner. Short-Arm Clothesline...Macho Man Elbow...Theres some wrangling into a Cena STF...Punk hits a Flash G2S once he is in the ropes...I check the time they got a long way to go it looks like. Up until this point, the match was near immaculate and just great counterwrestling. Then it petered out. Punk hit some stomps and a lukewarm clothesline for a cover attempt. He slaps Cena this wakes him up. Now he hits the Protobomb and the 5 Knuckle Shuffle in short order (No You Cant See Me, he just hits it) and then an F-U for 2! So now they are one for one in kick outs with plenty of time left. Cena misses his top rope legdrop (I like he saves that for after the first F-U so he has something because Punk has nothing). Punk does a head kick and gets two. Punk whiffs on the moonsault, which I kind of like. He was trying something he never does and his accuracy is off. Makes other moonsaults mean more just think he should have done it earlier now they are trying to work to crescendo but they are petering out. Then it is another Go 2 Sleep kickout and Rock Bottom kickout. FU kickout. Then they do a German Suplex from the top where both shoulders are down. I was like...ahhhhhh...I was confused how they would do a time limit draw without a time limit so the finish was still a surprise to me. I really liked the beginning of the match with all the great counterwrestling and I think the match-up is better served with Punk as the heel. Each man going through finish sequence was great but then they filled more time and it was not all that great. Felt like a NOAH match just went 5 minutes too long. I hope RAW 2013 is just as good as I remember it because I think it is the body of this match with a better finish. Cena is 0-2-1 against Punk in big matches. ****1/4

WWE Champion CM Punk vs Interim WWE Champion John Cena - Summerslam 2011 Triple H as Special Guest Ref EDIT: For some reason, I have always liked this match more than most. Lets see how it holds up for Greatest WWE Match Ever Project. The finish presumably is why this match is not talked about more as an all-time great match. I remember people thinking I was crazy for thinking this match was not that far off of the Money In The Bank match. The Money In The Bank match had all the extracurriculars that lend itself to bolstering the match, but pound for pound it is closer than I think most people would say. That might just be me because I really like this style that has become the Cena signature formula with his extended comebacks. Also, I felt the actual work had a little more heat to it. Both men were more aggressive from the get go. Cena's chain wrestling this time had a real snap to it and I loved the single leg/back heel trip followed by "You cant wrestle". Dont ever change, douches. The barrage of one counts hammer home the eveness, how much both want to win and how much they don't want to leave it up to chance with an inexperienced ref in there. I love, love a match that spends the beginning establishing a stipulation by doing something unique like that. (EDIT: Good observation by 2014 me). Again, Punk is the first to have sustained offense working over the ribs really well with knees. At some point, Lawler declares it is impossible to wear down Cena. You can beat Cena, but you can't wear him down. Shut the fuck up, dude. Cena powers out of an abdominal stretch. As much as I liked the novelty of the MITB, this is right up Cena's alley. Punk puts him at an disadvantage and he works hard to crawl out. The flying high knee by Punk on the shoulderblock was glorious (EDIT: Yes, yes it was). Punk's bulldog countered into the Protobomb (EDIT: Punk hit a massive knee and tried for the bulldog but Cena struggled hard to block it and muscled with raw power into the Protobomb) and Cena countering Punk's kick (EDIT: Play off the MITB match) to apply STFU was so badass. The sequences were smart and organic and as good as if not better than most of the MITB. Watching it back, still shocked how little play this match gets. (EDIT: I agree. You can make the case this is the better in-ring match but this match does not have the same heat or big match feel). They depart from the Cena comeback story to have Punk hit a suicide dive that takes out both men, but once again reinforcing that HHH has declared one champion he corrals them both and sends them back in the ring. Great use of HHH. Cena busts out an explosive dropkick (Brunzell level power EDIT: Fucking awesome dropkick!) from his bag of tricks. Punk knows him too well, he needed something safe, but unexpected to take advantage. (EDIT: That badass dropkick earned Cena his 5-Knuckle Shuffle). They do the Flair/Steamboat bridge and get a WOAH from the crowd. Some things are truly timeless. Booker T's commentary is not one of them. (EDIT: I popped for my own sentence). (EDIT: Loved Cena's chest splash into the corner, great finish sequence) Punk's cutoffs using his knees are so fuckin awesome. (EDIT: The one Punk knee that blocked the Legdrop from the Top was badass and Punk earns his bulldog from the top rope) They do lose me for a second with Cena catching Punk off the top into STFU and then Cena hits FU only for two. (EDIT: I think what I didnt like is that the Cena popped up after the bulldog. I think Punk missing the move would have served them better and they do the Do-See-Do on the FU-G2S-FU that I am not fond of.) After Cena misses the legdrop, Punk hits G2S only for two, good symmetry. Punk busts out the Macho Man Elbow for the first time, but only for two, but sends crowd into a tizzy. I loved, loved the red hot finish with Cena hitting huge strikes only for Punk to catch him with step up knee and into G2S. HHH counts the three, but whats that Cena's foot is on the ropes. We all know the rest. (EDIT: The start of this match is much more aggressive by both men. Cena has some great counters like the single leg takedown and the gutwrench suplex. The pace is a bit quicker. Everything feels more urgent. The transition into the rib work could have been more emphatic, but I liked having a true heat segment in this match compared to the previous match. Cena's comeback where he comes up with unique ways to overcome Punk's cutoffs is genius. I like it how climaxes with the STF. The Punk suicide dive and HHH bringing them in was a great "leveling the playing field spot". That Cena dropkick leading to the 5 Knuckle Shuffle was awesome. Great Punk cutoffs. The symmetry down the stretch was awesome, really great finish exchanges. The Macho Man Elbow was huge at the time, really smart for Punk to co-opt Savage's finish. Also it shows that Punk needed a little something extra and something Cena would not expect. Cena's boxing was awesome and those Punk knee cutoffs were glorous. G2S with the foot on the ropes exposing HHH's inexperience was an interesting finish that could have went somewhere if the company was not so inept.) I feel this match is unfairly tarnished by the post-match shenanigans than content of the work. The match is much more similar to their rocking 2013 match, with Cena earning his extended comeback. They did lose their flow a little bit after the dropkick and before the first FU. (EDIT: Way too harsh. They did not lose their flow.) It became a little too back and forth. (EDIT: Way too harsh, they could have had better transitions but this was not My Turn, Your Turn) Cena throwing those big bombs at the end looking to win only for Punk to hit that knee was just too sweet. (EDIT: Great striking battle) It does not have the same feel as Money In The Bank to really push it over the top, but Cena and Punk really have amazing chemistry. It is sad they never did a street fight or a more violent brawl version of their match. (EDIT: I still really enjoy this match and implore others to check it out. I think it is below MITB because it just doesnt have the heat or big time feel of MITB, but the in-ring work is really strong). ****1/2

WWE Champion John Cena vs CM Punk - Money In The Bank 2011 For one month, wrestling was cool again. Much like WWE right before this time period, I had been going through the motions. Sure I watched every single week since Wrestlemania XIX, but I was in funk. Just like that CM Punk woke me and the WWE the fuck up and I have never really looked back having gone to two Wrestlemanias since then. It was because of the Punk angle that I started investing more time watching older footage and now even when the product gets depressing or mundane there is always Piper/Snuka, Islanders/Striker Force, Flair/Luger, All Japan and 8 million other things to be watched. So as I try to remember the 21st century haze that I lived through, I figure what better match to start with then the match that rekindled my love for pro wrestling. As much as I love WCW, it is like when WWF bought WCW they inherited all their stupidity when it came to booking: random burials, discontinuities, lack of clear direction, last minute booking, and bad finishes but without any of that panache that WCW brought to stupidity. There was usually something charming about WCW's idiocy whereas WWE is just mundane and depressing at times. Well for one night, they got everything right. I loved the dichotomy between the crowd and the announce team. The announce team openly cheering for Cena, Mr. WWE with Lawler openly questioning why the crowd would be loyal to Punk. Cole did an amazing job putting over how colossal this match is. By the time the opening bell rings, even three years removed from the match, this match feels like the biggest match since Rock/Austin at Wrestlemania X-7. The term "big match" feel gets thrown around but it is amazing how colossal the whole event feels. Cena is just so solemn. He is portraying so well from the get go how much pressure he is under and how big the match is. Not to be outdone, Punk's cool swagger reminds you the most dangerous man is the man who does not give one fuck. I do not think this match would work in front of any other 21st century crowd except this one. They were able to take advantage of the natural molten crowd heat deliver a slow-build championship match, which has never ever been the forte of the WWF, except for a smattering of them during Bret Hart's heyday. Both men are very cautious at the outset, which proves under his cool exterior CM Punk does care very deeply about this and his bravado may carry him so far. I like how the pepper in big bomb teases like a Punk roundhouse, Anaconda Vice (EDIT: didnt come off that great in my re-watch), FU early to keep everyone on their toes in between well-worked chain wrestling. It is not the best chain wrestling in the world, but it is better than what usually passes for chain wrestling in the WWE. I actually liked how back and forth it was because it really established them as equals. (EDIT: I liked how they worked in and out of headlock because it made the sequences breathe. I liked how in the first movement sequence that Punk won gave the crowd their victory. The second movement sequence gives the crowd a pop for Punk doing You Cant See Me and the double finish tease. Things feel more calculated and mechanical this watch, you can see Punk calling long sequences in the headlock.The crowd heat is still tremendous and spot selection is smart. Cena got more offense than I remembered at the beginning, Sting-style Bulldog, Big Clothesline and fisherman suplex, which I think is smart to establish Punk as the underdog and keep the crowd hot for Punk. I am kinda surprised action marks like Meltzer rated this so highly because there is a lot work in and out of holds.) The first transition is brilliant as Cena gets caught going for a home run early and pays via a Punk DDT (EDIT: Punk hit a back suplex out of a chinlock and there was no DDT, Cena gets dumped outside and then kneedrop happens. A stronger transition would have be much better) and then a knee drop from middle rope on to neck. Punk looks to hit a cross-body but it is a bit low and it looks like it could have jammed Cena's leg. Cena kicks out and immediately retreats to the apron to tend to his knee. Planned spot or not, it is brilliant work by Cena. (EDIT: Thought the same thing all these years later. It looks like really smart improv on Cena's part. The suplex by Cena from the ring to the floor is such a huge spot.) It is time I bring up my quibble of the match. I really liked the layout, but the execution was sometimes suspect (Punk not landing on his feet on the FU and seeming to be a bit off in general on spots) and the lack of struggle (transitions in & out of submissions) was very noticeable. There was token resistance by Punk before he was suplexed over the top rope all the way to the floor by Cena. The selling and bump by Punk were incredible and were the main focal points of the spot. However, all the details count and maybe it is because I have watched so much NOAH at this point, but you got to sell you don't want to go over the top rope too. Where was the struggle and tease to really build that spot to the next level. The match was almost too neat at some points is all. (EDIT: Yes that what I meant by mechanical is that it is too neat. I liked overarrching layout of Punk working from underneath, but I think it is inefficient. There are some superfluous spots. ) Even though struggle within a move was not always there. The struggle over the course the match is what drove this. Punk really had to earn his offense to keep Cena down. (EDIT: I do think this is the strong suit of the match is that Punk has to prove himself to Cena in contrast to the Summerslam 2013 D-Bry match where Bryan felt like Cena's equal from jump.) It really felt like you were watching a star being born because Punk was not backing down. He was never discouraged every time Cena had an answer (Edit: Like Cena using his raw power to counter the G2S with a gutwrench suplex) but Punk kept pressing. I love when Cena knows he is about to get a big heel reaction for something and he just plays it up as it's just Johnny being Johnny. Nothing is a better example of this then when he goes for the Five Knuckle Shuffle and the crowd boos furiously only for Punk to kick him in the head and hit a suicide. What an ingenious crowd pleasing spot! Cena had answers, but Punk kept coming. Then Punk hitting those stiff, stiff knees to the jaw to Cena when he was leaning on the ropes were probably my favorite moment (EDIT: Great context as this was after Cena had gone for the FU). Neither Cena nor Punk is particularly stiff and that made those knees really stand out. (EDIT: Punk springboard clothesline was a great nearfall surprised I didnt mention it) Finally, finally Punk seems to have Cena on the ropes, but again Cena has an answer this in the form of the STFU (EDIT: Cena ducking the kick and picking the ankle was awesome). I loved Cole cheering for a Cena tap out victory added so much to the atmosphere (EDIT: There were 2 STFS actually and each one was awesome. This one was created by a finish switcherroo into an STF and then leads to Anaconda Vice, which I mentioned as poor submission struggle, which it was.) Cena hits the first FU, (Edit: which was a flash FU) but Punk kicks out, which triggers a big pop. I have to say it, but fuck, I hate the catch you midair powerbomb, it has never looked good (EDIT: Not only is that always a bad spot, it was particularly bad version of the spot). (EDIT: The back half of this match is far superior to the front half. I was surprised how almost pedestrian the front half was with the crowd, commentary and story bailing them out of a pretty much tepid start). The follow-up to second FU with a super FU had a pretty lame set-up. I take it back the best spot of the match is Punk finally hitting Go 2 Sleep only for Cena to roll out of the ring. His expression said it all. The championship may have eluded his grasp. Vinny Mac and Johnny Ace worried that Punk is edging closer to victory come out as an insurance policy. Given the storyline, you got to do the Montreal Screwjob tease while Punk is in the STFU, but Cena DECKS Johnny Ace. (EDIT: GREAT SPOT!) Cena says NOT THIS WAY! Punk says YES THIS WAY when he hits him with a Go 2 Sleep to win the title. Love the Del Rio tease and the blowing a kiss to Vince! (EDIT: What a great finish!) In retrospect, this match is the inverse of the 2013 RAW match (EDIT: Another match I need to rewatch). Punk had Cena's number and it was Cena's last hurdle before going to Wrestlemania to face Rock to exorcise his demons. In the 2013 match, Cena had to prove to Punk that he was on his level as Punk had an answer for each of his moves, but eventually Cena would "unlock" his moves and go on to finally vanquish CM Punk. In this match, Cena was the King and Punk needed to prove he was on the level of the champion. Punk with dogged determination withstood all of Cena's best shots and finally hit the Go 2 Sleep only for Cena to roll out of the ring. You get the fun chaos at the end and when the fracas ended it was Punk blowing a kiss to Vince hightailing it through his hometown crowd. I would need to watch the 2013 match again, but Im pretty sure I liked the work in that match more. However, this match just has so many extracurriculars to deny it the highest praise. (EDIT: Disagree, the front half is just not high enough quality to still call this *****) They worked a very novel match in front of a molten crowd with great commentary. (EDIT: I dont think it is that novel) It all culminated in a fantastic finish. (EDIT: Yep it did) I know I bitched about a couple things above, but this perfect confluence of match, opponents, crowd and finish overwhelm any minor complaints. (EDIT: I agree the wrestlers, story, crowd, and commentary bolster what would be otherwise just a great match into a classic, but this is not a ***** match like I thought. Both men were so stolid early on. I understood they were selling caution, but it felt very mechanical artificial. Once Punk kicked Cena in the head for five-knuckle shuffle the match kicked into high gear, but before that it felt bereft of emotion. The finish run was electric. Punk felt like he was letting it all hang out and Cena became his Everest. The extracurriculars with Vince and Johnny Ace were done perfectly. Still a classic, just not the greatest of all time) ****3/4

I agree with FXNJ I dont see how people like this more than Punk/Brock, yet it seems this match is greatly preferred. I liked the extracurricular story of the match of Daniel Bryan, career Indy guy beating The Man at Summerslam for The Title, but the actual match narrative was not as engrossing as Punk/Brock's take on David vs Goliath. WWE Champion John Cena vs Daniel Bryan - Summerslam 2013 Daniel Bryan heeled himself hard in my household when he came off as an angry, little nerd troll in the buildup. John Cena is in it for the fame so lame and such a boldface lie. Bryan's championing of wrestling comes off as so whiny. John Cena is a great champion and a damn hard worker. I know they were playing off internet stereotypes and it was the right call, but I became such a Cena fan after his great response that absolutely owns nerd troll Bryan's argument. Bryan would have turned himself heel with the audience in any other situation besides being against Cena. Summerslam 2013 was the last traditional PPV I ordered before the Network. I was excited for both this and Punk/Lesnar. I came away that night thinking Punk/Brock was the clear match of the night and was shocked Cena vs Bryan was preferred. I recently re-watched Punk vs Brock came away thinking it was even better than I remember. This match is exactly where I thought it would be in my mind. It is a great match because of everything around it not really because of the match itself. Whereas Punk vs Brock put together a killer narrative that crushed from beginning to end. This match was really driven by Bryan the career indy wrestler challenging the undisputed Man of WWE. Their respective rises parallel each other. Both won their first World Championships in 2005 and each became the face of their faction of wrestling fans. It was in 2005 that Bryan overcame Joe, Punk, AJ and Low-Ki to be the Man of the Indy scene. I would argue at the beginning of the indy scene Bryan was 5th place to those men in terms of popularity and kayfabe positioning. But with Joe & AJ firmly in TNA, Punk in WWE and Low-Ki's self-implosion, Bryan became the face of Indy wrestling therefore "good" wrestling. Whereas Cena through sheer force of will became the Man of WWE and therefore the ultimate villain of "good" wrestling fans. To be clear, Cena had many great matches in this time period. That outside story bolsters this match. The actual match is great dont get me wrong, but I dont feel this overwhelming sense of greatness. Cena has a huge wrap on his left arm, I thought it was staph, but it was something else and basically his elbow had become swollen as a baseball. Typical Cena style chain wrestling to start which chicken soup for the traditional wrestling fan's soul as it reminds me of NWA Championship style. I loved that Cena resisted the Mexican Surfboard and kicked Bryan off. I thought they should have come back to it. It is nice reminder that certain moves you really need to wear down your opponent and earn. Bryan had not earned this hold yet. They each tease their Finishers: YesLock and F-U, but neither can apply them. Cena shouldertackles Bryan off the apron hard into the announce table. Cena is whipped into the stairs but Cena does a suplex off the stairs to "You Still Suck" chants. Tough crowd. Early narrative seems to be Cena is favoring the elbow, but also trying to show it still works. Bryan is getting overpowered, but has a couple fancy counters. I thought the best part of the match was the short Cena control segment. Cena used that big ol meaty hands and just tees off on Bryan. Powerbomb gets two. Bryan was the Cinderella story. This was Cena's time to channel to Bret Hart and play the subtle heel. I dont think Cena controlled enough of this match. I think down the stretch there was too much sympathy for Cena. Nice hope spot/cutoff segment they ran with Bryan looking to land kicks and quicken the pace, but Cena was using power and evasion to maintain control. Underutilized story is that since Bryan relies on speed to land his blows that this is high-risk they shouldnt always land. Cena goes through his comeback sequence but gets distracted by the crowd. He eats a kick on the 5 Knuckle Shuffle. They do their submission teases and come back to it. Cena goes for the F-U, Bryan lands on his feet. Bryan gets a missile dropkick. This is where they lose me. There is plenty of action, but I dont feel like there is much connective tissue or logical progression. Bryan targets the arm for a little bit, we get Cena going for an STF and then Bryan does an STF. Then Bryan goes for a bunch of German Suplex bridge pin attempts. Cena goes for FU again, but he just took a bunch of Germans and Bryan wrangles him into the YESLock and then a Guillotine Choke. Flash F-U gets two and it is Cena's first sign of life in a while. At this point, I think Cena has been re-positioned as the babyface. He was taking the brunt of punishment, persevering and when doesnt get the pin there you feel for him. Cena is going for his top rope legdrop and Bryan is a tenacious pitbull just fighting uphill to gain control. Cool spot is the Spider Superplex and then Diving Headbutt. I really liked that as a nearfall. Cena powders wisely to catch a breath. Cena smashes him on the suicide dive and then hits that Legdrop onto the Head he does and this one looked WICKED! Only two. Super F-U, Bryan fights it off, I thought maybe they were going for a Styles Clash, but really they wanted to drop into a Boston Crab maybe or maybe a Powerbomb, anyways, it was almost a fucking Ganso Bomb with Bryan's head just inches from the mat. That could have been bad. STF vs YESLock both men make the ropes. Bryan who is the Energizer Bunny of Pro Wrestling comes flying with dropkicks on the 3rd one CENA HITS A MONSTER TRUCK LARIAT AND JBL CREAMS HIS PANTS! It was fucking great! They do another double-KO which was unnecessary Cena's lariat already levelled the playing field. Cena catches Bryan at one point and you feel like it is the End. Cena sells it so well because he talks some trash and it is a typical Cena finish. He hoists him up, but Bryan rolls into a cradle. Hits a wicked kick to the head and then the KENTA Running Knee for the win. Had he ever used that before in WWE? I dont remember it. I liked it. I will say this also the angle afterwards is an all-time great angle. They may have bungled the aftermath only to accidentally to right the course in time for Mania, but this angle with HHH/Orton/Bryan after Summerslam is up there with Funk/Flair from WrestleWar '89 as one of my all-time favorite angles. As a match, nothing felt consequential until Cena catches Bryan coming off the ropes and looks like he is going to hit the F-U to win by the way that was fourth to last spot and about a minute or two of match time left so that's not good. Up until that point, it was a lot of move trading. It was still exciting, but it was not a sticky match. I couldnt really remember the order the spots were in because the order didnt matter. The order should matter. You could take any of those spots I listed above and mix up the order and come away feeling the match is the same. In a truly classic match, you cant do that. So thats what holds this match back from all-time great status. Three things keep me high on this match: great action, Daniel Bryan's Cinderella win and the Authority (HHH & Orton) immediately ripping it away. ****1/4

World Heavyweight Champion Sheamus vs Daniel Bryan - Extreme Rules 2012 Two Out Of Three Falls I really liked the dueling chants of "Daniel Bryan" vs "18 Seconds". Very creative by the babyface fans. This match comes on the heels of the infamous 18 second loss by Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania that launched the Yes Movement into the stratusphere. First Fall: Power vs Science in this match was the obvious story to tell. Sheamus has one of the deepest offensive arsenals in US history. He reminds me a lot of Greg Valentine in how stiff and snug he works, but he has a lot of Bret Hart in him with his diverse offensive onslaught and his great credible selling. Sheamus is definitely one of the best WWE wrestlers of this generation. I like Daniel Bryan in WWE more than ROH for the most part. I think he is more committed to the character and storylines and less focused on throwing as many bombs as possible though in WWE he does tend to blow off selling for his explosive comeback. As a KENTA homage act, he is pretty good in WWE. Since he is not a babyface in this match, we do not to worry about his KENTA tribute act. Sheamus established the power game early with shoulder tackles and side headlock takedown. BROGUE KICK~! Tease! I love it. Perfect play off the Mania match. Sheamus scores the first big move with a rolling Fireman's Carry and then applies the Cloverleaf, but Bryan makes the ropes. Bryan uses his speed to briefly get the advantage so Sheamus wisely powders to break his rhythm. This works as Sheamus catches Bryan and drives him hard into barricade. I didnt like that Bryan went back on offense so shortly after this. That felt like an emphatic spot that should have giving Sheamus definitive control. Sheamus heads to the top rope maybe for a Battering Ram, but we will never now as Bryan knocks him off the top rope. This leads Bryan's heat segment. Bryan is great as a heel here nothing fancy, lots of stomps and torturing the arm like he is Capn Redneck Dick Murdoch (though not as focused as Murdoch). Sheamus is great about peppering in hope spots. I loved his running knee. Sheamus overcommits a lot in this match and charged into the post. Bryan hit a wicked kick into the buckle into Sheamus' face. Bryan gets a nearfall off this. Sheamus blocks the top rope Frankensteiner. Battering Ram! Sheamus now with a nearfall! They tussle over finishers, Celtic Cross vs LeBell Lock. Again, Sheamus' passion gets the best of him as he rams into the ringpost. Now Bryan really goes to town on Sheamus' shoulder ramming it into the post and wrenching around the post multiple times. Bryan relentless rifles Sheamus' bad wing with stiff kicks even in the ropes and the ref is forced to call for the bell because Bryan has lost his mind. I thought Bryan really sold how crazed he was trying to break Sheamus' arm with these kicks so it made the DQ more palatable, but it is still not my favorite finish. Second Fall: Not surprisingly, this is a short fall. Bryan explodes out of his corner like a bat outta Hell with a dropkick the face. Wrestles him down to the ground with the LeBell Lock really tight after some struggle. Sheamus passes out. This is the same Ironman psychology of getting yourself DQ only to win the next fall. Tied 1-1. So far I thought this match was great but has not met my lofty expectations of a Match of the Year Contender. Third Fall: Excellent fall, a real rousing finish! Quicker than I expected, but this was high level stuff. Since Sheamus passed out at the end of the 2nd fall it was unclear if he was even going to be able to continue. They milked this really well and huge kudos to Bryan for really putting over how cocky he was and that he had it in the bag. Bryan comes flying in just like the 2nd fall only this time he eats a BROGUE KICK~! to the mush! AWESOME! 1-2-NO! Sheamus needed that home run shot! It was pure desperation but it is what he needed. Rocking Bryan's head is the only way to mount his comeback. Sheamus had some wicked body shots. Bryan had a wicked, wicked kick to the head for his last nearfall! I loved how Bryan missed both the diving headbutt and a dropkick in the corner before Sheamus could consolidate his advantage with Celtic Hammers. I am a big believer that missed moves should be how transition in control can be accomplished. I liked how it was two big missed moves and then a barrage of Celtic Hammers that won Sheamus the day. Makes it feel earned. Irish Curs Backbreaker and Brogue Kick ends the match in favor of the Celtic Warrior! Once the shoulder hit the post, this match clicked into a high gear. Bryan was the great crazed, cocky challenger that took his lucky break and milked it for all its worth, but he got caught with a big Brogue Kick at the beginning of the third fall which was a great way to start Sheamus on the comeback trail. I loved all the missed moves and the economy of Sheamu's fiery comeback. I thought the beginning of the match was great, but was not quite at the same level as the back half and so I didnt think this was MOTYC level, but still this is a feather in the cap of both men. ****1/4

World Heavyweight Champion Sheamus vs Big Show - Hell In A Cell 2012 I love Power Wrestling! This match is straight from Bill Watts playbook of two big uglies throwing hammocks and each other. Power wrestling is so refreshing in the WWE, which is so highspot-oriented. The year 2011 was a great year for Power Wrestling with the push of Mark Henry & the Hall of Pain and his matches against Sheamus, Randy Orton and Big Show. The Hall of Pain was a grand spectacle of anti-workrate. Sheamus vs Big Show representing the closing of the triangle. What if the other two best power brusiers in the WWE wrestled? I loved the story going into the match, so simple, so elegant, who is the toughest SOB and who has the best KO shot: Brogue Kick vs KO Punch. Good shit! The match itself is better than any of Mark Henry's output in 2011, which is say a lot because I love those aforementioned Mark Henry matches. This match is all about timing. The hope spots and cutoffs are so well-paced. The selling is executed to perfection. It is all about the gradualism and Sheamus never dies thus never undercutting his own comeback. Sheamus is the best brawler in WWE and usually has considerable size and power advantage. This is all negated by Big Show's mammoth size and Sheamus is a fish out of water. They do a great job establishing this. Big Show picking up Sheamus while Sheamus has a headlock clamped on Show was such a great visual. It made Sheamus look small, which is weird. I love how Sheamus tried to meet Big Show head on with a ton of body shots to no avail. He is a valiant champion and is going to back down from the challenge. It establishes Show as an Everest worthy of climbing. Show absorbs the blows. He registers them, but fights through them. Loved the short knee and all the big overhead chops. Eventually Sheamus goes for the knee, but Show wisely powders. This is another great aspect of the match is how well the outside the ring is used in King of the Mountain spots. Sheamus is knows he is at disadvantage and attacks Big Show when he is vulnerable when Show is trying to re-enter the ring. Sheamus makes some headway, but Show throws him hard to the outside. Again, the outside the ring become critical. Big Show becomes the Biggest Nick Bockwinkel constantly playing King of the Mountain. Sheamus has to take hard falls to the outside. Big Show gets to rest and has the high ground OR he go outside and throw Sheamus around. This is when the Bill Watts style comes in as Show ragdolls Sheamus into barricades and announce tables. Sheamus does such a great job of selling. You believe he is beaten up and worn down, but he is not out of it. Show wisely has not hit him in the head so Sheamus' hope spots are all credible. Sheamus tries his best to mount comeback but meets a big boot from Show or a bearhug. Show gets two big nearfalls in the form of a Vaderbomb and a chokeslam (he had to earn that Chokeslam it took three attempts). I liked how Sheamus' comeback proper really began from Show missing moves like an elbow drop and then slamming himself into the post on a charge. Then Sheamus repeatedly drove him back into the ringpost. Awesome! White Noise! Solid nearfall! So with all this out of the way, it is put up or shut up time! Thats when it becomes KO Punch vs Brogue Kick and I wont spoil it from there. Loved this match so much. Great power wrestling with awesome timing on the hope spots and cutoffs. Sheamus wrestled so well as an outgunned, game babyface showing great fire in the hope spots. Big Show was such a force of nature and excellent in his cutoff. Show also did a great job registering the hope spots but not bumping. I thought when he did bump they could have built it a bit more. I think they could have done a more interesting finish. I am not going to hold this against them but I think teasing each finish (Brogue Kick, KO Punch) would have been great. Anyways, this feels so different than so much of 2010s WWE and it is worked so tight. The pinnacle of the early 2010s bruising, power style wrestling in WWE. ****3/4

World Heavyweight Champion Sheamus vs Dolph Ziggler - Smackdown 6/18/12 The year 2012 was such a great in-ring year for Sheamus. It was the year I turned the corner on Sheamus and he became my favorite wrestler on WWE roster. He hits really fucking hard and has one of the deepest offensive arsenals in North American wrestling history. He reminds me a lot of Bret Hart because he has such an array of stock spots he can pull from and because he loves to grind his opponents. Both Sheamus and Bret Hart work great on top just grinding their opponents. Of course, Sheamus has a lot of Greg "The Hammer" Valentine in him with all the stiff shots. So of course, the kid of Greg Valentine and Bret Hart would be my favorite wrestler. They really missed the boat with Sheamus presenting him as one of their hammy, Dad joke entertainers. He should have been in Denim & Leather and shades. Kicking ass and doing respect promos like Bret used to do with a little more aggression. It is a shame. Really fun TV main event and a reminder that Dolph Ziggler can be a part of great matches. They do a great establishing Sheamus' power advantage. He is just bowling Ziggler over and throwing him around at will. Ziggler is trying to use the dropkick as a hit n run strategy. I really liked how Ziggler established the high ground in the ring and as Sheamus was coming in he hit a dropkick. Smart move. However, he forsakes the high ground and jumps into Sheamus' arms who hurls him into the barricade. Really good psychology. I liked the use of Vickie Guerrero to distract Sheamus just long enough for Ziggler to hit a jumping fame-asser from the stairs. This gets over the heel psychology but also Ziggler adds some oomph by using the stairs so it shows that Ziggler needed the stairs to overcome the size advantage. I liked how suffocating Ziggle was on Sheamus. He was constantly peppering him with shots or using the sleeper. The Dropkick to the head on the apron was great. I like how Sheamus' comeback was earned. Lots of great stiff shots. The best spot of the match was when Ziggler tries to cut him off at the top rope and Sheamus just swats him out of the air with a thunderous forearm. It looked sick! Sheamus kicks his ass all over the ring. Ziggler tries to go after the leg and Sheamus just MANS UP AND KICKS HIS FUCKING HEAD OFF! Great finish! Efficient, strong psychology from both men and entertaining throughout. I could watch this style of pro wrestlng forever and never get tired of it. Loved this! ****

WWE Champion CM Punk vs Chris Jericho - Extreme Rules 2012 Street Fight Overshadowed because it is on the same card as instant classics John Cena vs Brock Lesnar & Daniel Bryan vs Sheamus. In fact, Extreme Rules 2012 is in the running for the greatest card WWE has ever put out. This is a great street fight. It is not as great as other two are, but few matches are. This match is still a killer match. Another thing that hurts this match is the build is kinda lame. Jericho is going after Punk's family for their substance abuse issue and that eventually Punk will succumb to his genetics. My issue with these angles is not that they are tasteless but rather I just dont buy them. It feels forced and artificial. Also, I dont think they are that interesting for a grand arc. I know the WWE well enough to know these angles dont lead anywhere. They are just a 3-4 week program to fill time before the street fight. In a good Soap Opera, this would have a consequence on Punk's next storyline and Jericho's next angle, but they wont and they didnt. Very rarely do I find things like this tasteless it is more that they bore me because the writing is so bad in the long-run. I really liked the first 2/3rds of the match. It felt like a throwback street fight where both men were out to hurt and maim each other. Especially Punk who is the pissed off, wrong babyface out for revenge. He should be the one bringing the fight to Jericho and that's exactly how it is. It is nothing but strikes and thats how it should be. Then he moves onto weapons perfect. He really kicks Jericho's ass. Jericho uses the ref as a human shield to poke Punk's eyes. GREAT HEEL MOVE! I dig it! Lots of Jericho's dropkicks and weapons shots. Again that makes sense given the personal nature of the feud. Punk's family is ringside in Chicago (crowd was wicked hot as expected). Jericho does the great heel move was exposing the metal barricade dropping Punk on it. Jaw-jacking with the sister, she does a great job hauling off and smacking him. He becomes incensed and lunges for her and Punk plays the protective brother perfectly and jumps him. He goes bezerk and in the moment of the match bodyslams him on the announce table board. Just a great visual. Jericho back drops out and then uses the Kendo stick to take back over. I thought around here they lost some of the energy they had built up. Jericho hit a chinlock. Even more egregiously Punk went for an inside cradle. No, no, no. Avenging babyface in a street fight should not be eeking out a victory or winning by technique. I thought they went for too many nearfalls. Punk stumbling into a Codebreaker or Jericho taking the Macho Man elbow only for them to a Codebreaker on a chair and the Macho Man Elbow to the table just undercut things. They could have missed the first iteration to make the second iterations mean more. The nearfalls felt forced too. Like they knew it was too early to go home but they were throwing out counters into nearfalls to fill time. There were moments where the fire was there. Like the fire extinguisher to Jericho, Macho Ebow through the table and Anaconda Vice. I liked how Jericho got out of the Vice with the Kendo Stick, but again the the follow up was not that great. It was Jericho incredulous that he couldnt win and just looking like a dude left holding his dick. Punk reversing the G2S into a catapult into the exposed turnbuckle into a G2S was a strong finish. There bit too much selling from Punk to really believe in such a rapid comeback, but the comeback was hot. The beginning of the match was really strong and wrestled how a street fight should be. The finish stretch was hit and miss, but more hit than miss. Overlooked because how stacked the card is and the poor build, but dont sleep on this match. ****

Samoa Joe vs "American Dragon" Bryan Danielson - PWG 4/17/04 It has always smacked me as peculiar that Joe and Danielson have never had an epic together or at least one that is considered canon. Each man has classics with Low-Ki and AJ Styles. Joe had his series with Punk and Danielson had a classic with London. I would say these two (maybe Punk also) are the most beloved wrestlers of the hardcore wrestling fans. I saw that there is an ROH Title Defense by Joe against Danielson at the peak of Joe's powers but I dont see it as widely praised, which surprises me. Before, I watch that match I decided to watch this match to get a feel for their chemistry. This match is a mid-tempo rocker that you just love to groove to. It is not your favorite song on the album nor is it the hit single. However, when you get tried of the obvious tracks, you come back to this one again and again just to groove. This one contrasts nicely with the frenetic workrate style we see in the early 2000s in matches amongst Low-Ki, AJ Styles and Danielson. Now those matches had a lot of struggle and urgency to them, but they are balls to the wall. This is a kickass match, but it is wrestled at a pace where everything breathes. It helps they go to a 30 minute draw so they don't rush anything. I love how lo-fi this is compared to the highspot-heavy style of the 2010s. This match is much grittier. The holds are earned and tighter. Hell there are holds! There is not a lot of running. The strikes are used to inflict pain and set up the next move. There are missed moves! Those missed moves have consequences. They have a little bit fun at the beginning of the match with the title of the show "The Musical" and play off West Side Story with some finger-snapping. The chain wrestling is great as I said everything is tight & earned with lots of struggle. Danielson hits the first big highspot and one of the few of the match a springboard somersault to the floor. One thread throughout the match is Danielson is constantly trying to suplex the bigger Samoa Joe to no avail. His first mistake was trying to bring Joe into the ring the hardway with a suplex but he didnt have the leverage and Joe threw him from the ring to the floor. Always a dangerous spot! You can really see Joe's Japanese influences in this match especially from New Japan those Tenryu-style punches, Otani's facewash and a great Hashimoto-style Legsweep to stop a Danielson hope spot. This extended Joe heat segment just has a great groove to it. It is not up-tempo, but it is engaging in the same way you like to watch Bret Hart grind someone down. Danielson eventually does get his suplex in the form of a superplex and this puts him on the comeback trail, but when he eats a foot on the diving headbutt the playing field is levelled. They really kicked ass on the outside. There is not much in the way of highspots. It is about just hitting your opponent as hard you can and trying to win the match and that style is always over. At the 25 minute call they say 5 minutes left and you know it is going to a draw, but thats fine. Joe puts Danielson through the ringer of some tight submissions but Danielson survives long enough for the time limit expire. The game Danielson wants 5 more minutes, but Ricky Reyes I believe punks him out and we just get the draw. Solid booking as Joe was on the run of a lifetime as the dominant Ace of Ring Of Honor, but this shows Danielson can hang. Another thing I want to shout out these two fill 30 minutes without a lot of their trademark spots or nearfalls and still are engaging. That's really impressive. Like I said this a mid-tempo rocker that really grooves. Dig it! ****

Bryan Danielson vs Nigel McGuinness - ROH 6/9/07 This is a No.1 Contender's Match for Takeshi Morishima's World Heavyweight Championship. I watched their series out of order. I thought their 2006 match was wrestled in slow motion and is one of the most overrated matches I have ever seen. I really enjoyed their 2008 match as much more character-driven. This match is in the middle of those two. I thought the urgency and the violence was there. However, I thought they were not letting things breathe. One thing this match really has going for it is that the molten crowd which red hot from opening bell to closing bell. This meant they would pop the crowd with highspot after highspot but the transitions just were not there. I would say if there was a story to this match it was Nigel's Lariat against Danielson's tenacity. Danielson proved to be Nigel's superior on the mat three times. I liked how two of the three times Danielson grabbed a limb as he was escaping Nigel's hold. I also really liked Danielson giving noogies to Nigel's ear when he was in guard. I would say my issue with the opening chain wrestling was that it was too loose. They let each other out of the holds too readily. A good example of this is Nigel does some nasty arm work. They pop the crowd huge with this. I have seen this spot before it is gnarly but it will get crickets for the most part if the wrestlers arent over. This was a hold that got a pop like a highspot. These dudes are over, which I love. It didnt lead anywhere. It was just a highspot for a highspot before you knew it Nigel just lets him out and not it is Danielson's turn to do a submission hold. At one point during all this, Danielson smacks the shit out of Nigel. So Danielson is the heel. I can tell that, but it is a very uneven heel performance. He wants to be one of those badass heels, which really arent all that great. For the most part, Danielson wrestles the match straight and with great intensity but when he does want to add character he draws from a vicious, sadistic heel, but I just feel like he is not fully committed to the character or really fully committed to getting Nigel over as a babyface. In reality, Danielson dominates this match. He does so by being relentless on offense. Nigel's only real offense for the first 20 minutes are lariats. He uses the lariat three times effectively as a hope spot. They do a good job sort of establishing that Nigel's one advantage is that he is larger by using the shoulder tackle early. Nigel hits a Short-Arm Clothesline shortly after that smack and this leads to them going outside. Again, I just felt that Danielson just said "Nope my turn" here. Nigel hits another lariat and does a very impressive dive into the crowd. Again, Danielson just comes charging with a forearm to Nigel. Nigel shouldnt have given his opponent so much space, but Danielson is starting to feel very Dynamite Kid like. He sort of has this chip on his shoulder and he is refusing to show any weakness. Danielson hits a wicked suplex on the guardrail which hurts Nigel's back and this is Nigel's best selling. I totally get why this match is lauded. It is fucking non-stop action. I really liked it from that perspective. Danielson does a phenomenal job working the back. It is just intense and urgent. It is really good. I think where Danielson thrives is offense and sustained offense at that. Nigel goes back to the lariat. He just reigns them down because honestly nothing else has been working for him. Power is his best bet at this point. Again, there is just weird spot selection. Nigel executes this really tight single leg crab that looks excellent and the next spot is Danielson hitting a Super Back Suplex because he dropkicked Nigel in the head during his headstand spot. There was nothing emphatic. It was just keep moving. The Crossface Chickenwing was TERRIBLE! That move is deadly and Danielson basically just released it and Nigel hit Tower of London. Talk about shitting all over the Crossface Chickenwing. I really liked the finish run, which is not surprising because the whole match is really just a finish run so why I didnt like about the earlier stuff was that it didnt finish the match so the fact this actually led to the finish made the spots a lot more palatable. Nigel hits a lariat off ropes that leads to a great nearfall where Danielson gets his foot on the ropes. Heat was unreal for this. Danielson hits an enziguiri and now both men are down and the playing field is levelled. Whoever pulls the trigger first next wins. Danielson hits these insane nasty shoot headbutts that bust him open hardway. Nigel is rocked. Nigel tries to fight off Cattle Mutilation but Danielson reigns down the elbows and flips into Cattle Mutilation for the quick submission. Epic Finish! Action-packed match and I liked this a lot more than today's version of workrate because this is hard-hitting and the setups are reasonable. I thought what hold this match back from greatness were the transitions were not very good and the match felt rushed. Danielson working this match as a tough guy heel showing no ass definitely hurt Nigel's performance, but didnt hurt my enjoyment of the match. Nigel is not the greatest babyface of all time and Danielson did him no favors in this match. As a workrate match, there is zero downtime and a ton of highspots so it whips right by and the execution of the spots are tremendous. ***3/4

Imagine telling Gabe & The ROH locker room in 2002 that this company will last 17 years AND Jean-Pierre LaFitte will win the title in the 17th year. So bizarre and so happy for him!

I havent watched much of anything outside WWE religiously. My WWE 2019 Match of the Year is Becky vs Sasha Hell In A Cell...halfway through I said to myself "I am watching the Match of the Year" and I never think that. It was glorious, great violence.

AJ Styles vs Bryan Danielson - ROH 11/9/02 You know it is amazing how much verbal marketing matters in pro wrestlers. Once AJ Styles got branded as a high-flyer he has never really been able to shake the tag. AJ is a very impressive high flyer, but that's not really his bread & butter. He is a meat & potatoes wrestler that focuses on executing moves crisply and with his own signature flair (think of his forearm or kneedrop). AJ has a strong core of fundamentals which is his strong striking (best working punch of his generation) and wrestling (he is a former amateur wrestler). He busts out a Spiral Tap or a dive to the outside as a highspot, but that's not who he is. It is funny I feel like in almost every match it is a surprise on commentary that AJ can go on the mat or wow AJ is standing toe to toe and trading bombs. How did we go a whole decade of watching the best wrestler of his generation and we were constantly shocked AJ Styles is good at other things besides diving/flying? The opening grappling of this match is fantastic. It is not paying lip service to chain wrestling. This looks like a shoot. This is some damn great grappling. How Danielson just grabs an arm and then flips him over and AJ bridges to avoid the pinning combination but it is still in the double wristlock was insane. I was marking out for the whole thing. It was really strong work. It set the tone for the whole match. The whole match was intense and it was a struggle. Everything was done with urgency. I thought this was a better version of the AJ Styles vs Low-Ki Title match from August. It is a very similar layout. Lots of quick transitions, a sense of competition but done with struggle as opposed to "my turn, your turn". I thought the finish was stronger and some of the spots were better, but I think it suffers from that same problem of all action, but no hooks. I really like those big mid-match moments that feel like turning points. They are little climaxes on the road to the major climax. This lacked that. A great example of this issue is after the first Styles Clash. AJ is incredulous he kicked out and goes for another cover out of disbelief. Great move, puts over that he believes in his finish. Little things like that protect the finish. The next move is a Dragon Suplex by Danielson. How did we get there? A standing switch. I am all for the standing switch early, but late you want that big transition that is going to be memorable. Oh shit that was the game-changer, instead of just a standing switch. The hold on the bridge after the kickout by AJ deserves a big shoutout! I liked the follow up Cattle Mutilation (I hate the move but it was the right time for it) and love how they didnt stay in it long and Danielson converted into a tight Oklahoma Side Roll I actually bit on that as the finish. Danielson goes up top and AJ scores some big rights. These are great working punches a staple of AJ Styles. Again, I would have liked to seen a better transition than AJ having to shake the ropes to get Danielson in position for the Clash. Then they do AWESOME stuff like AJ ramming Danielson's head into the turnbuckles repeatedly as Danielson desperately clings to the ropes. Once AJ forces Danielson to release, Danielson is too low to do the move safely & properly so instead of looking like a tool AJ muscles him up into a powerbomb, smokes him, resets and hits it properly & safely. That's great pro wrestling and dedication to the craft! I am nitpicking shit, but there's a reason why this match doesnt build completely to that ultra-hot crescendo and I think it comes from too many momentum shifts even if they are well-earned. That second Styles Clash how AJ EARNED it from ramming Danielson to release, the powerbomb and then hitting the move was tremendous pro wrestling and there are many examples of tremendous pro wrestling in this match. I think it ultimately falls short because in the middle it is a blur of action. You have AJ scoring dropkicks and evading the guardrail/hitting a superkick while Danielson is snapping off drop toeholds and popping AJ's shoulder out like Malenko/Rey GAB '96 (I love that spot so much). Danielson's arm work was fucking great, but short-lived. You had AJ taking a great bump off of a European Uppercut. You had Bryan transitioning out of the Quebrada/Slop Drop into a Northern Lights. There was a lot of strong stuff, no downtime, but like that Ki/AJ match and Ki/Danielson from King of the Indies '01 it is very noisy. I hope that makes sense, but thats how I feel. I feel this was the best of the three because the finish was so strong and there was a little more hate behind the shots (at one point Dragon gets a nasty cut from above the eye and I dont know why and Danielson goes for the eyes at one point). I think there is a little more emotion in this match than the other two I am comparing it to. I guess what I am saying is the work was outstanding but it just didnt fully coalesce into a classic that really moved me emotionally. I am rambling at this point (and I think that kind of does this style match justice), but I feel this match and the other two I have discussed capture the sporting element of pro wrestling really well. As a sport, pro wrestling should not always have not nice & neat narratives. Sometimes there is going to be a lot of action, but not a lot of impactful turning points. That's what I am trying to get across is that this style is still true to the sporting nature of pro wrestling that something like a men's floor exercise match or a overly cooperative stand around you hit me, I hit you match is not being true to sporting nature of pro wrestling. I hope that makes sense because I really enjoy this because I think it is innovative, unique and with some tweaks could be really awesome. ****1/4

ROH World Champion Low-Ki vs AJ Styles - ROH 8/24/02 Lil Sleeze could have been somebody and went to this show as this was ROH's first show in Boston and I believe their first show outside of Philadelphia. Interesting they chose Boston over NYC. However, the year 2002 is the only year since 1997 I didnt watch pro wrestling in fact I completely fell out of it so I was completely unaware that two of my future favorite wrestlers were tearing the house down in Wakefield. Low-Ki had just won the right to be the inaugural ROH Champion and this is his first defense. People forget how integral AJ Styles was to ROH they always see him as a TNA guy, but AJ was positioned as a main eventer at the level of Ki, Daniels and Danielson. He was a tag team champion early with Amazing Red and had the honor of challenging for the title here in its first defense. AJ and Ki were basically married to each other in 2002. They worked two matches in ROH, a myriad of matches in TNA and a Z-1 match in early January 2003. These are just the matches I know about. I am sure there are others. Low-Ki is my pick for best wrestler on Planet Earth in 2002, he was having an insane year and AJ Styles was already great in 2002 as well. I have found this pairing to always be great, but to never be classic. In TNA, I chocked it up to short, Nitro-style matches and in Zero-One it was more of a touring exhibition match. I was really hopeful that ROH match would be the lost classic due to ROH's environment conducive to producing instant classics. Again, I got another great AJ Styles vs Low-Ki match, but one that falls short of being classic. I thought what this match does well is play up the eveness of the two rivals and split the offense 50/50 without being "my turn, your turn". It is very competitive in the actual sense of the word and there is a lot of struggle throughout. There is a lot of fighting through offense and earning the next move. I thought the best story woven through this match was that the Champion Low-Ki has a slight lead on AJ throughout the match. The opening amateur wrestling/MMA ground sequence are really well done and you see AJ hold his own, but the Champion is slightly better. Then they move to strikes and again this is Ki's wheelhouse (Ki busts out the Inoki ground kicks and he has one amazing kick to AJ's head while in a headscissors that caught me unawares). AJ is no slouch. AJ has a great kick and a really great elbow/forearm, but this is Low-Ki in 2002 who is one of the all-time best strikers so again AJ falls behind. That's when you start to get that urgency out of AJ. He can feel the match starting to slip through his fingers so he starts taking risks like the kip up rana. He is trying to use the element of surprise, but the first time he gets a swift kick to his back for his trouble, but the second time he gets it. This throws KI off balance and affords AJ his first real advantage by following it up with suffocating strikes. From this perspective, I thought the match was great and it was an interesting take on pro wrestling. This is the type of psychology I wish we saw more of it because it is nuanced and breaks up the obvious two formula those being limb-based psychology and traditional babyface/heel psychology. We see this narrative play out the rest of the match that AJ could only sustain short flurries before Ki would return to control. AJ was lunge into turnbuckles or go for dives but eat a kick to the face. All these desperation moves that come up short because he couldnt consolidate anything, which is due to the fact that Ki is such an overwhelming force of nature. I think this story needed to be either paired with another story or more fleshed out because it left me unsatisfied ultimately because I didnt feel like there was a real hook. What's that thing I am going to remember about this match? Thats why transitions are so important. These were not the typically bad transitions that I rail because they were earned but they were NOT emphatic. There was no turning point to the match. It was a noisy match is what I would say. There were things I didnt like such as Ki doing Kawada Kicks and AJ hitting a modified slam directly after. The second time around where AJ fires up and goes insane with strikes I liked more it felt like his Fight or Flight mechanism was engaged, but thats kinda what it was no real strong transitions just noise. Another thing I thought was interesting was the escalation, there was not much. It was high intensity from jump with the mat wrestling and then the strikes. These two are fucking stiff and the offense was executed great. There really was not much ramp up, it was just a high level throughout. AJ's big move was the Spiral Tap which crashed and burned. He never really got a strong nearfall and Styles Clash was only teased once early in the match when Ki tried his own nip up rana. That was interesting. Ki got two Dragon Clutch sleepers before hitting the Ki-Krusher. Interesting match reminds me of Ki vs Danielson from 2001 where it is unique take on pro wrestling, but falls short of being completely satisfying. ****

Low-Ki vs Amazing Red - ROH 6/22/02 Save me Low-Ki! The first five minutes of this match are FUCKING GLORIOUS! Just super high-end balls to the wall pro wrestling. I have seen their matches in random indys and TNA prior to this. I want to say it is UCW, they do this matrix sequence that they do here, but they do it better in UCW. So check that out. It still comes off cool & fresh, but that UCW one is crazy. Ricochet & Ospreay eat your hearts out. The work is tight and it is urgent. I loved the knucklelock spot where Ki is just overwhelming Red with elbows while holding onto the knucklelock then how he sends Red flying is great. Red's desperation leg sweep and standing Shooting star is awesome. That reversal into a Kappo Kick POPPED ME HUGE and the ROH fans lost it too. Red got a great dropkick as a comeback to Ki's back handspring leg kick. They lost a little steam in the middle in part due to a couple miscues (back handspring leg kick should have connected it didnt Red, Red didnt bump, right decision, re-fed and Ki hit a kappo kick. It took the wind out of the sails of the spot and a dragonrana went off the rails too) and I thought Ki started to hit Red too hard in the head so it made Red's comebacks incredulous. That Ki Krusher into the corner and Red just fucking fell to the outside. Everyone was chanting Holy Shit to the Super Ki Krusher that finished that match, but brutha the first one was the real insane one. Red was crazy! Incredibly fun sprint! Check this out. ***3/4

Open The Dream Gate Champion Naruki Doi vs Bryan Danielson - DGUSA 9/6/09 Bryan Danielson is on his Indy Retirement Tour and like all good rockstars (*cough* Motley Crue *cough*) this is a fake-out and 2010 ends up being his real Indy Retirement because of the infamous tie choke-out. Dragon Gate USA is Gabe's promotion after he left Ring Of Honor, but before he started Evolve I believe, he leveraged his ties with Dragon Gate, which was at peak American popularity. Naruki Doi is one half of Speed Muscle (see I know things about Dragon Gate) and I do believe he is the muscle because Yoshino is the leaner of the two. Open The Dream Gate is the Top Dragon Gate prize not to be confused with Open The Freedom Gate, the top DG USA prize. I think thats all we need for context. The match sucks. I am watching a bunch of matches for a new project that I dont want to jinx by announcing what it is and so I was going through a bunch of Observer Match of the Year Contenders (Thanks Mookie!). So this made the list. Normally, I can kinda see why someone would really love a match even if I dont like it. I am hard pressed to figure out why this match would rate highly (I can understand someone saying this is good or even great, but to call this a Top 100 contender is baffling to me). Meltzer gave it 4.75 stars. I can understand somebody who likes the workrate style giving this around ****, but 4.75?!? Bizarre. The reason I say that is I didnt find this very impressive from a pace or highspot perspective. I have seen balls to the wall spotfests where I am like I get it. This isnt for me, but I get it. This was worked at a standard pace and featured routine highspots. I think that is my problem with Dragon Gate is that their highspots tend to be more modified slams or do a normal move with a spin. To quote Shania, it don't impress me much. I much rather watch a Kota Ibushi or a Ricochet wow me aerially OR a KENTA go a million miles per hour and kick my head off. Rather than doing a modified slam. The Muscle Bomb is an egregiously bad finish. I thought Bryan was reversing into a victory roll, but decided nope I am just going to tuck my chin and fall. Why do the move to yourself? It was dumb. The moment I realized I was watching a really bad match was towards the end. I was coming up with ways of trying to write a positive review in my head while I was watching. Then Danielson is hitting his MMA Elbows to Doi on the top rope (granted he already hit ~15-20 on the ground and this put Doi out basically, it has been established that this move is deadly). Doi absorbs about 5 of these doesnt really do anything to counter and next thing you know Danielson is taking some sort of lame slam that is essentially just him doing a bellyflop to himself. So yeah fuck this match. I can give more examples. Danielson does his second anklelock has it in for a while too. Doi's next moves is to run a million miles an hour hit I believe a dropkick and then definitely a full speed canonball in the corner. It was ridiculous. That was the fundamental problem of the match there was no hook. Nothing was sticky. There was no take home message. Nothing mattered. The limb psychology was nonsensical. Danielson was trying his hardest to sell the leg. I mean he was basically wearing a "Kick Me" sign on his knee. Honestly, he should have just screamed at him to hit him in the knee. It was ridiculous. Doi was so oblivious. The one redeeming part of the match was at the beginning Danielson tortured Doi's arm in a way that would have made Dick Murdoch proud. That was a very, very strong control segment. Other than that, this match sucked out loud. The bulk of the blame is on Doi. it is clear Danielson had an idea of what he wanted to do and Doi was blowing off selling and blowing off Danielson's selling, which I think new level of sucking. Like everyone blows off their own selling, but I dont think I have seen a wrestler IGNORE when their opponent is selling and basically begging them to work a body part. This was bad.

ROH World Champion Nigel McGuinness vs Austin Aries - ROH 12/29/07 How many concussions did Nigel receive in this match? Holy shit! This has to be in the Top 10 Hardest Matches To Watch. I couldn’t stop cringing. The fans were turning on Nigel because he had the audacity to take time off as the Champ yo heal a bicep injury. He deserves a fucking medal of courage for this performance. So Nigel was playing up this chump character by going to the safety of the ropes when ever Aries went for the arm. Aries has enough and slaps the taste out of his mouth. Nigel powders and soaks in the jeers. He has his back to the ring. Aries comes fucking flying out of the ring like has shot out of a canon to wiping Nigel out. Nigel’s fucking head SMASHES into the guardrail unprotected. He has this mast gash over his right eyebrow and is clearly fucking of it. This is FIVE minutes into the match. So he wrestles the rest of the match 18-20 minutes concusses out of his fucking mind while the fans screaming for Aries to fuck him up and Aries REPEATEDLY rocks him with elbows, slaps, punches and knees. It was disgusting. This was brutal to watch. They did get a rhythm going after five minutes after the initial blow to the head. This match easily could have been dueling arm psychology built around each man’s submission finish but Aries wouldn’t stop going for the head. Complaining about the match structure seems frivolous given Nigel’s head trauma but it was a total clusterfuck. Nothing made sense they were just throwing shit out there and trying to pop the crowd with dangerous shit (Aries took a couple nutty bumps) and highspots. I couldn’t stop cringing. They wouldn’t eventually use this to play into the Danielson match from 2008 match I love. Wrestling fans thought Nigel was the heel for being a pussy after this match...bad look for wrestling fans. Happy Nigel is still with us and collecting a paycheck from WWE. Dude deserves a medal of courage he is All Man in my book.

Wow whenever I’m higher than ShittyLittleBoots or SmarkMark16 on a workrate match I feel weird but I enjoyed the hell out of this asskicker. GHC Jr Heavyweight Champion KENTA vs Davey Richards - ROH 4/3/09 This is probably the height of both KENTA and Davey Richards as workrate idols in their careers. KENTA’s last year probably and Richards first year until the Elgin match in 2011/12. My Davey Richards memory is that he Main Evented aN ROH Show in Detroit in 2009/10 and I forced my best friend from college to go with me. He loved Davey Richards still talks about how much of a badass he is. The best moment is I can’t remember who but somebody does a dive into the crowd into the section to our right, wipes out chairs and fans cleared out. My friend, who never been to a show before goes “Do the fans know that will happen?” And I go “No, I honestly don’t know, that could have been us.”. His expression was priceless and he just repeated “That could have been us” and then just screamed “Holy shit! This is so fucking cool.”. My friend didn’t become a fan but it is totally down to go a show whenever now. That’s my Davey Richards story. Theres always been a backlash against Richards from the anti-workrate which I get. This is a very workrate-Heavy bomb-throwing Match. It would fit into the CrossFit genre so to speak BUT this was NOT full-fledged 2010s workrate bullshit. There was no standing around waiting for movez and it was not overly cooperative. It was not glorified men’s floor exercise routine. It was an asskicker. They just kicked the shit out of each other. The kicks looked primo and it was just a relentless onslaught of stiff kicks. If you going to do a psychology-bereft spotfest this is the style I like a macho, shit kicking. The first five minutes got me excited because Richards actually tried to be a heel and KENTA tried to be a face. KENTA’s response to that first kick to the back by slapping the taste out of Richards mount was such a power move and I dug it. Richards has don’t well to establish he was the heel and it was cool he let himself be punked out by KENTA. The shine was great and I liked the dragon leg screw transition to heat. Of course KENTA made a One Million Mile An Hour comeback ending an illusion of a lost classic but it was a thoroughly entertaining asskicking match. I really liked the strike exchange and pretty much anytime there was kicking. I liked how economical the finish run was. Richards evades G2S twice, hits his big move to zero heat which made me laugh and the G2S win. Tight & efficient. No downtime, just two hard-hitting dudes rifling each other I dig. ****

ROH World Champion Samoa Joe vs Austin Aries - ROH 12/26/04 CM Punk mentions that Aries was not even in ROH a year ago and that is really key. Generation Next was the beginning of the Second Wave of US Indies workers. This match is an extension of the 90s US Workrate style with more puroresu influences because Joe is such a disciple of King's Road & Hahsimoto. That is not present here. Aries wrestles this match like an undersized Chris Benoit. He is pugnacious and he throws himself into every dropkick and forearm. I love how he lunges into everything. He really feels outgunned compared to the dominant asskicker Samoa Joe that is 21-months deep into a championship reign that is seemingly interminable. Also, love how Aries changes strategy three times in this match. My favorite thing about Flair is his ever-evolving strategy. Here we see that with Aries. At first he tries the bumrush approach, but the bigger Joe stops him in his track. Then in an escape of a hold, he manages to wrench Joe's knee in a nice, quick touch that can almost be missed. Joe misses a kneedrop and its the same knee. Now Aries goes to work on the knee. It is solid work including his power elbow. Joe quashes this with some wicked Kawada-like head kicks. That's the key is that Joe does not blow off the knee work rather he stops it in time before it takes too much of a toll. The reason Aries does not go back is that Joe knocks him so loopy over and over again with kicks and facewashes. Aries resorts to desperation offense. Just hurling his body at Joe whether it is a forearm or a dropkick you believe Aries throwing every single ounce of his body against Joe and more often than Joe is just absorbing and returning the pain. Then Aries ups the ante and starts to get nasty. He gouges Joe's eyes to avoid the Musclebuster so he can hit a 450 splash. He fishhooks Joe in a submission. The fishhook is such an underutilized gnarly move. He is doing every thing to win. It feels gritty and nasty. Aries to his credit is absorbing a lot of punishment including an Island Driver. He wriggles free of the choke and in a MuscleBuster is just able to wrestle Joe down with a Crucifix. Aries ROCKS Joe with a massive forearm! Aries absolutely SMOKES Joe with a wicked kick! Aries Nails a BRAINBUSTER! That was his third attempt of the match and it finally hit. 450! 1-2-3! New champ and a massive upset. It is feels thoroughly earned. Joe was in command the entire match. Aries got his hope spots in and never died. He just kept chipping away. That last minute was just a thrilling onslaught. Excellent work all around two men that played their roles to perfection. ****1/2

Kensuke Sasaki vs Hiroshi Tanahashi - NJPW G-1 Climax 8/14/04 Kensuke is going through a mid-life crisis busting out top rope corkscrew sentons and rolling cradle (came out terrible), hell at least it is different. Tanahashi does plucky young upstart well stealing the Northern Lights Bomb after getting his ass kicked at the beginning. Tanahashi is very inspired Keiji Mutoh offensively to this day, (all that legwork) but you can really see it in this match. There are a lot of things Tanahashi does better than Mutoh such as selling and psychology, but in terms of offense this is a very 90s Keiji Mutoh match. This is a pretty straightforward asskicking match from Sasaki, who beats the piss out of Tanahashi. I forgot how much I enjoy watching Sasaki kick ass, but on top of that he hits three dives so there is good variety. Tanahashi does hit 'n' run well and times is comebacks well. Very smartly, Sasaki never hits Tanahashi in the head so Tanahashi's comebacks make sense. I thought they got sloppy down the stretch and it did take away from the finish. The finish is part of the match's charm so I won't spoil it, but this is a great veteran vs young lion match that Japan does so much better than America and at the height of Inokiism this is a throwback to the 90s and Choshu-ism. ***1/4

I am surprised you all liked this match as you did. This seemed to get praised at the time as part of the Mutoh 2001 Renaissance, but I thought the 2001 match was much, much better. This match was filled with so many odd, odd choices. This felt like one of those Cena/Owens matches where it was just my turn, your turn but just with more pop up to it. Oh and Mutoh didnt fuck Kawada over. I could tell they were going for the Ganso Bomb and I think Mutoh had a mini-freak out. He is NOT Misawa and wanted to take it more safely. Then the second attempt he did the Ganso Bomb, but it was a safer version than the famous Misawa one. Of course, it didnt finish. It was a normal powerbomb that finished. AJPW Triple Crown Champion Keiji Mutoh vs Toshiaki Kawada - AJPW 2/24/02 Mutoh 2001 loves to work the knee. Kawada loves to sell the knee. This should be easy. At minimum it should be great and their ceiling is match of the decade. Somehow, they deliver something that is just peculiar. I hesitate to call it bad, but it is not great that's for sure. They did have a classic in 2001 so they have it in them I have seen it, but this match was not it. This reminded me of the Kawada vs Hashimoto match which I wanted to love so badly, but was just weird at times. This was just plain bizarre. The match was riddled with pop-up no-selling. I don't mean like I am nitpicking like for a good twenty minutes they just do pop-up no-selling. I mean you could just call that a no-sell was coming. It felt like Cena vs Owens at times in how they would use one wrestler's offense to create another's offense. Mutoh just got done hitting his standard 90s offense Back Handspring Elbow and Power Elbow. Then he can just sits. I am like ok. Kawada suplexes him. Mutoh pops up and Shining Wizard so that Kawada can do the All Japan fall out of the ring sell. That's just a microcosm of the match. They pretty much do this style for the next twenty minutes. It is just bizarre. I don't know what they were trying to accomplish. It being 2001 Mutoh there are 8 million dropkicks to the leg and dragon leg whips, which I love. I know it bothers a ton of people because it is so repetitive. It is actually the repetition that I like. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Then when the pattern breaks it becomes interesting. So I approve. I did think that's best part of the match. Kawada's selling in the moment was great per usual. However, he would keep no-selling and then he would be running around and kicking Mutoh in the head. The other thing is there were way too many Shining Wizards. I love that the idea behind the knee psychology is that the opponent struggles to get back to his feet and BANG SHINING WIZARD! But that should be a knockout blow not constantly blown off. I loved that Mutoh who is usually terrible at selling decided he was going to sell his own figure-4 (Kawada did reverse the pressure for a while). I am like neither one of you want to sell, but now you decided you are going to sell something that no one sells besides Flair in the 80s. The match was so bizarre. The cardinal sin of the match is not the weird pop-up no-selling head kicks and Shining Wizards, it was when Kawada did his glassy eye sell of the Shining Wizards. He died and it made it so that I couldnt believe in his comeback. I bit on the Moonsault because it seemed like the logical conclusion after a barrage of Shining Wizards because it was one level up. but when he kicked out. I knew Kawada was winning. It was so lame. Mutoh hits another Shining Wizard and Kawada sorta blocks it, but Mutoh sells like he is hurt. It was an incredibly lame transition. Then Kawada did a bunch of powerbombs including a Ganso Bomb. On the first attempt, Mutoh had some second thoughts and deadweights him. Mutoh is NOT Misawa and wanted to take the move safely. He hits the Ganso Bomb but it is safer than the Misawa one and of course just like in the Misawa match it is not the finish. Powerbomb wins the match for Kawada and he wins the Triple Crown for the fourth time. The curse of Kawada continues as he gets injured a month into his reign and is forced to vacate it. This match defies rating. It is utterly bizarre.