Superstar Sleeze

Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenryu vs Riki Choshu & Yoshiaki Yatsu - AJPW 11/30/85 The first match in the classic trilogy between these two teams. We will be doing this stream of consciousness style because I think they will be going long. I have never watched a Yatsu match before. I know Parv has raved about him and I am looking forward to checking him out. We start with the big guns: Jumbo & Choshu. Tentative knucklelock to start. I love a good test of strength to start. Back into the ropes and it is a break. Standard collar elbow tie up. They battle for a top wristlock. I like tests of strength early. Establishes dominance, truggle and creates mini-battles. Choshu gets the first takedown with a fireman's carry and has a reverse top wristlock. Choshu bars the arm and into a front chancery. Jumbo reverses with a double leg and is thinking Boston Crab but Choshu is too strong so Jumbo settles for a Stepover Toehold. Choshu grabs the arm, Jumbo armdrag but Choshu rolls through into the ropes. Jumbo gets a standing double wristlock. Jumbo looks in total control and is looking to muscle Choshu down with an armbar. Jumbo tags out to Tenryu. Pretty pedestrian opening. Just working holds. Good struggle, but not a lot of hate or energy. Lets see what Tenryu does. Tenryu/Choshu already have a better lockup than anything Jumbo/Choshu had. Lots of energy here. Two bulls locked up. Tenryu hits two over head slaps. Choshu starts kicking. Some nice slaps. Yeah business has picked up. Tenryu has wrist control. Bodyslam by Choshu to escape. Tenryu hits a back suplex and gets two. Clamps on a front chancery. Way more energy tag to Jumbo. Choshu has not tagged out yet. Choshu muscles over to tag Yatsu. Yatsu gets a rollup early and then a waistlock. Im interested to see what Yatsu can do. Jumbo waistlock, a couple stand switches. Jumbo gets an armbar takedown. Jumbo goes for the hammerlock/half nelson pinning combination. I have said this in the past I can see why people find Jumbo dry. He can be a very dry wrestler. I happen to like bomb throwing Jumbo and with the right colorful opponent Jumbo can have good mat exchanges. Nice chop exchange. Yatsu bodyslams Jumbo and then snapmare takeover. Tag to Choshu. Choshu figure-4s the head. Interesting that Choshu and Jumbo have been the two wrestlers in the most trouble early. Jumbo fires up. HIGH KNEE! Then he throws Choshu hard into the corner. Here is the Jumbo we know and love! Choshu & Yatsu hit a double suplex and then Yatsu gets an ab stretch on Jumbo. Jumbo walks over to the ropes and then hiptosses Yatsu out. Tenryu whips Yatsu into the railing. I expect a tag soon. Jumbo tags out once he cant get the suplex. Nice whip and back elbow from Tenryu. Tenryu hits chinlock on Yatsu. Much slower pace than most All Japan tags from this period. I was not expecting this. Feels like it has been in first gear. Flashes of heating up but it always grinds back to a halt. Tenryu armbar, Yatsu drags out but Tenryu hangs out. Yatsu nice slaps, but Tenryu wont give up. Yatsu pushes him back into the ropes. Buries the knee a couple times in the ropes and Yatsu takes over. Yatsu is definitely the one of the four keeping shit moving. As soon as I say that Yatsu puts him in a three handled moss-covered Crendulza. Now a crucifix. Tenryu grabs a toehold in the move. I appreciate the struggle. Yatsu tags out to Choshu. Big Irish whip and Kneelift. I love a good kneelift. Big vertical from Choshu and kick out by Tenryu. Choshu is great at making everything feel so big. HOLY SHIT! GREAT Exchange from Tenryu/Choshu. Super heated. They end up on the mat pulling each other's hair. Yatsu/Choshu hit a top rope lariat/back suplex combo and then Yatsu drops the knee. Jumbo saves smartly. Yatsu works a tight headlock. Tenryu needs a tag. Tenryu gets a kneelfit and tags in Jumbo, Jumbo whip and kneelift. Greta job. Im loving all the kneelifts. Jumbo hits another one! He definitely has the best kneelifts. Jumbo with his signature bodyslam. His is the best. It looks like he is trying to bodyslam you through the mat. Yatsu gets the sunset flip for two. Jumbo slows it down with a stepover toehold. I really don't feel like there is an overarching story. Tenryu/Choshu has been heated. Nobody has been in real trouble yet or showed themselves to be really dominant. Jumbo has an inverted Indian Deatlock on Yatsu and they are slapping the shit out of each other. Yatsu grabs the hair and Jumbo STRIKES him down. I can appreciate the work, but there is a lack of progress. I am loving the struggle within holds and having to earn your offense. OH SHIT! Jumbo/Tenryu drill Yatsu at the same time and Tenryu hits a suplex. He is looking for the Texas Cloverleaf, which he turns over. This is the first time there is a real sense of danger. Gutwrench suplex. Yatsu is taking a beating. Jumbo tags in and nice Dory Euro Uppercut. Yatsu overhand chops back. Bulldog by Yatsu. He needs a tag, but Jumbo cutsoff with a double axehandle and then a chinlock. That was good drama. Full on camel clutch from Jumbo. Chosu forcefully kicks Jumbo off of the Camel Clutch. IT IS ON LIKE DONKEY KONG. Jumbo and Choshu start throwing haymakers at each other while Tenryu sneaks in and hits a Backdrop Driver. Yatsu gets an amazing German suplex as a hope spot, but Jumbo saves. Yastu giving a top notch babyface performance, unexpected. Yastu sets Tenryu up for a modified Demolition Decapitation. Choshu finally tags in. Choshu gets in his deep Scorpion Deathlock. I like how he sets it up by staying in the cross and keeping it tight before turning it over. It makes the move seem epic. Choshu sits down on it. Yastu drops the elbow on Tenryu while in the hold as Choshu deathstares Jumbo. He is daring for him to come in. Jumbo enters. Choshu drops the hold. MID-RING LARIAT COLLISON! Jumbo goes down and Choshu goes for Tenryu. Choshu hits a lariat on Choshu as Jumbo just casually walks by back to his corner. What the fuck? Choshu tags in Yatsu. Jumbo is leaving Teryu out to dry. Nice belly to belly by Yatsu for two. Tags in Choshu. SPIKE PILEDRIVER~! MY FAVORITE MOVE EVER! Deep Scorpion Deathlock. Ever since Yatsu hit that German on Tenryu, this match has been gangbusters. Yatsu Bombs Away Kneedrop on Tenryu in the hold. Yatsu gets the Scorpion Deathlock on Tenryu. Cmon Jumbo do something! Choshu back in with the Scoprion Deathlock. Choshu with the trash talk is fucking classic. Yatsu drops the elbow. This is great tag team wrestling. Jumbo needs to help. Tenryu is getting slaughtered. Double suplex by Choshu & Yatsu. MASSIVE Enziguiri by Tenryu and tags to Jumbo. Jumbo is a house of fire, DEATH Lariat by Jumbo. Another one. He is trying to decapitate Yatsu. Backdrop driver. Jumbo is glorious. 1-2-NO! CROWD IS GOING NUTS! Jumbo with a Backlund-like piledriver. Dropkick by Yatsu and he tags in Choshu. Choshu and Jumbo. Fast and furious. Choshu takes Jumbo over with a backdrop driver. You should see Jumbo's face. Crazy! Deep Scorpion by Choshu on Jumbo. Can he turn him over? He did! Jumbo is too strong. Nice Choshu vertical. Jumbo fights off a snapmare. Love it. They work him back in the corner. The bell rings. Probably a draw. Choshu and Tenryu start brawling after the bell. The wrestlers have to separate them. Jumbo beats up Yatsu The first half of the match is pedestrian. It is four strong pro wrestlers having a good pro wrestling match. Once they start beating up Yatsu, it feels like the match is progressing. That Yatsu German on Tenryu (beautiful!) was the turning point. Yatsu/Choshu's heat segment on Tenryu was killer. Then Jumbo's hot tag ruled. Shy of being a great match because the beginning was pretty boring. ***3/4

Thanks for saying this was a 15 minute draw because I honestly was going to say that was the worst finish in history. It looked like they just stopped wrestling. AWA World Heavyweight Champion Rick Martel vs Riki Choshu - AJPW 10/19/85 OUI! OUI! RICKY MARTEL! Comes out to Lets Hear It For The Boy! ***** I can never get enough of Ricky Martel. He wrestles with such an enthusiasm that is just infectious. I loved how Choshu had him in a hammerlock, but he couldn't grab a snapmare so he went for a drop toehold to get out. He also did a great job setting up Choshu's offense by missing big bombs (charge in the corner, reverse crossbody and his slingshot splash). Basically anytime Martel tried to up the tempo he would miss and Choshu would gobble him. Choshu is a great stoic badass with that insane asskicker charisma. He is not good at holds. One of the worst cross armbreakers I have ever seen. Martel saves it when he gets a bodyslam he is still selling the arm. I just don't want to see Choshu working holds. Martel tries to slow it down by grabbing a leg. But when he goes for a reverse crossbody, he crashes and burns. Choshu works some deep Scorpion Deathlock. I love he sets it up and really works to put it on and then turned it over. Feels huge. I didn't like him giving up on it. Martel makes his big comeback with a gutwrench suplex. He starts wrestling Choshu game of power. Martel hits his setup backbreaker, BUT eats knees on the Slingshot Splash. Choshu BLITZES him with a Monster Lariat. Martel rolls out. Choshu smashes his head into the post. He suplexes him back in. Choshu only gets two. I will say Choshu is really over like really over. Choshu goes for the Scoprion Deathlock again. I like this better than the Sharpshooter in terms of how big Choshu makes it feel, but Bret was better at protecting the finish. Martel keeps tapping out which is funny. Choshu just gives up. Martel hits a backdrop driver!!! Then Martel energetically hits a top rope crossbody. Choshu hits a back drop driver for two. Then they just stop wrestling. I was ready to rip them for the worst finish of all time, but someone tells me this was a 15 minute time limit. What World Championship match has a 15 minute time limit? What a ripoff? The beginning was kinda pedestrian. Once Choshu started hitting his big spots, the match picked up. The missed Slingshot Splash/Lariat was a great combo. I thought Martel was too spry in his late match comeback and that selling was blown off. Overall it was a fun match, but weird (Choshu working holds, Martel the power wrestler and a terrible draw finish). ***1/2

Genichiro Tenryu, Mighty Inoue, Takahashi Ishikawa vs Riki Chosu, Animal Hamaguchi, Isawmu Teranishi - AJPW 1/10/85 Fast & Furious! It doesn't matter if it is 1985 or 1995, All Japan six-man tags are wrestled at a clip few can ever keep up with. This is the opening salvo in Choshu's legendary invasion of All Japan that forever changed the course of puroresu history. I have seen some of the follow up Tenryu/Choshu singles and really liked them. I wanted to go back and watch this before I delved any deeper into this legendary rivalry. If you are like me, Inoue is in red, Ishikawa is in purple, Animal is in the singlet and Teranishi is in white. They cut an amazing pace with some many missed moves and attacks. Everybody is trying to win. Of course, the entire match is built around Tenryu/Choshu. I thought there was great symmetry in this match. From the opening trading of Fireman's Carry to how they trade bombs at the end, they presented as equals. Tenryu is one who gets the upperhand early working over Choshu's lariat arm. Choshu hits a backdrop driver on Ishikawa and tags out. Then it is Tenryu who get worked over by Choshu, but Tenry his a side Russian Legsweep to tag out. Tenryu breaks up a Hamaguchi single leg crab. Then Choshu breaks up Ishikawa's Scorpion Deathlock (a nice little FU to Choshu) with a monster lariat. Then Choshu and Tenryu just trade bombs. Tenryu hits a piledriver so Choshu hits a spike piledriver. Choshu gets the Scorpion Deathlock so Tenryu gets the Texas Cloverleaf. There is a great lariat by Choshu towards the end that forces Tenryu to tag out. They end up triple teaming Ishikawa I think and then bowl the ref over to trigger the DQ. There is a small brawl before a standoff between Choshu's Army and the All Japan Natives. A little too fast paced to the detriment of the match because a lot of the match does not stick with you. It made Tenryu vs Choshu feel like the biggest thing in the world and a true Clash of Titans. Mission accomplished. ***3/4

@Dylan, MOTY's (or runner-ups) in 85, 86 and 87 for the promotion (w/Tito vs Dream Team, vs Roberts Boston 8/9/86, vs Savage Toronto or Mania III take your pick). High level feuds throughout his run: Muraco, Jake The Snake, Savage, Honky & Rude, zero downtime booking wise. Very over throughout this period, big pops. Consistently one of the top workers in the company. He brought the sprint-y Mid-Atlantic style to the usually plodding, heavyweight Northern style. Had at least good matches with a variety of people. Ultimately, I think what cracks the Top 20 is the hagiography surrounding WrestleMania III. It influenced countless number of wrestlers and wrestling fans in what "good" wrestling is. It is not just Savage's pre-planning, it is Steamboat's execution and a lot of classic Steamboat spots. It is the break neck pace, it is the selling of Steamboat and the rapid fire nearfalls at the end. It is all a portent of things to come that really was never used in a Northern promotion. We all know of the Backlund classics and Slaughter/Sheik, but for the WWF/E and for most of their fans great wrestling begins with Savage/Steamboat. It was the first match to be canonized. I want to strongly emphasize that it is not just the layout but it is Steamboat's execution. Tito Santana would not have had that same match. Tito Santana was a blood feud worker with lots of punches. This was a match that was unique to Steamboat's strengths. Over the course of three years, Steamboat was a consistent and over presence as a babyface in the upper midcard, strong blood feuds with big angles (Muraco hanging, DDT on the concrete and the larynx crushing), good to great matches with a variety of opponents, brought a totally different style to the WWF and an influence on subsequent generations of wrestlers and wrestling fans that is still felt to this day. His biggest negative is a short tenure and he kinda goes out with a whimper and this is why he finished at #18.

Im a big fan of these two in a squared circle together. Them wrestling at Royal Rumble may be enough to get me to go depending on ticket prices. Excited to watch this match.

WingedEagle, Roman Reigns was #21 and Daniel Bryan was #22.

Eddie & Bryan are 23 & 22 for me. Didn't rank Jake The Snake can't stand him when he is in the ring unless it is with Steamboat.

My friends are playing chess and I'm bored. In celebration of the end, my top twenty in alphabetical order: Andre The Giant Bob Backlund Bret "Hitman" Hart Brock Lesnar Bruno Sammartino Chris Benoit Chris Jericho CM Punk Greg "The Hammer" Valentine Hulk Hogan John Cena Mick Foley Randy "Macho Man" Savage Rey Mysterio Ricky "The Dragon"Steamboat Sgt. Slaughter Shawn Michaels "Stone Cold" Steve Austin Tito Santana The Undertaker Who did I miss? Who should I have not included?

Rey Mysterio vs Finlay - Smackdown 3/24/06 I love these two. Finlay is such a bully and he finally has someone to bully in Rey. Stiff clotheslines, stiff kicks, the way he drove him into the apron all nasty. Things starts off chippy and Finlay just grinds Mysterio down. Mysterio over enough that he doesn't need a shine. In 2006, you know what Rey is about so I like this. Finlay is master of torturing his opponent. I really liked Rey first comeback sequence. Good strikes, nice split-legged moonsault (I usually hate that move). I liked when Finlay got out of the way of the 619, Rey hit a nice baseball slide. Finlay catches Rey in the apron skirt and kicks the hell out of him. Nice use of that Finlay spot. Finlay beats the tar out of Rey in the second heat segment. Awesome, awesome. Rey makes a comeback with a wicked kick to the head. It kinda falls apart here a little bit. Rey's comeback is not that hot. Then once he does hit 619, Orton hits an RKO when Rey is sprinboarding, Ref was busy with Finlay. Fun to see Finlay kick some ass and Rey sell his ass off. Worthwhile TV match. ***1/2

Got mine in last night. The more I think about it the more I would have suggested to split it in half. 1963-2001 and then 2002-Present. It just so happens that the name change happens in 2002. But the fact WWE becomes a monopoly in 2001 and then becomes more of a bureaucratic corporation all line up with that. The biggest issue I have is people like Owen Hart who really only have 4 strong years vs The Miz who has been here there a decade. The only people who develop really long tenure tend to debut after 2002. There are exceptions like Bret, Shawn and Hogan. But the WWE is such a different beast after 2002 once the monopoly is fully realized. Not only that it would have made everything much more a manageable. I had the opposite problem that everyone else has. After 60, I was like ummmmmmmmmm who should I include. I needed warm bodies. I feel like whenever I do these I lists that I hate wrestling because I don't have problems leaving people off my list it is justifying them getting on. It is like this dude has a wicked glaring flaw and I just cant overlook it. Positive: I watched a lot of good wrestling and found out weird stuff like that John Morrison was really damn good in 2009. I had no fucking clue. Dude hits hard and works hard.

Shawn Michaels vs Batista - One Night Stand 2008 Stretcher Match Batista went on record before Judgment Day that if Shawn was indeed faking a knee injury that he would hurt Shawn Michaels. Once Shawn revealed that he was indeed feigning a knee injury, it was only a matter of time before the Animal delivered on his promise. Thus this match was made and Batista true to his word annihilated Shawn Michaels. I actually did enjoyed the cinematographic ending with Jericho coming out to rally Shawn and then Shawn hitting a weak Superkick to Batista's stomach before Batista says "I don't love you. I am not sorry." I know a lot of people hate that stuff because it is campy. I always liked it and it is a good play off of the Michaels/Flair match so kudos. Jericho tries to rally Michaels again, but Batistia drives Michaels hard into the steel steps and Batista puts him out of his misery. I like how Batista delivered on his promise of hurting Shawn Michaels. Babyfaces should deliver on promises. I think a match with Jericho against Batista would have been a smart play at this point before Jericho turns full heel. A rare missed opportunity in this feud. Really liked this match. Again we have Michaels establishing Batista's power game. Wildly flaying into Batista's arms and then Batista just throwing him off. Batista just kicks ass and bulldozes Michaels. Michaels gains a reprieve by sending him into the steps and then bashing the back of his head into the post. That's nasty. Michaels even busts out the Owen enziguiri on Batista. He drives the stretcher into Batista. Batista goes for the Batistabomb but HBK applies a guillotine choke and Batista goes limp. Michaels gets Batista on the stretcher probably his best opportunity of the match, but Batista recovers. Michaels takes an insane bump off the post before Batista drives him into hard objects back first. Batista destroys Michaels with a clothesline. Batista charges into the post. This gives Michaels the chance to at least hit an elbow drop, but he is caught going for Sweet Chin Music. Batista goes for the Batistabomb to the outside onto the stretcher, Michaels wriggles free and BANG! Batista falls right on the stretcher. Batista recovers. They play seesaw and Batista whacks Michaels right the chin with the stretcher. The end is nigh. Spear...Batistabomb and the finish is recapped above. No downtime. All action. Michaels has done an amazing job as wrestling as a heel in these two matches with Batista. Even though he is a lot smaller, he has been creative and effective in creating offense for himself. Batista was on fire offensively here just absolute monster. I don't understand the Jericho stuff well because my memory is fogging hoping some video packages will refresh my memory down the line. Honestly, given how Shawn has wrestled as a heel against Batista and the upcoming matches with Jericho, 2008 might be the best year of Shawn's career since 1986. Think about that! WOW! Watch this match. ****1/4

Shawn Michaels vs Chris Jericho - Judgment Day 2008 Tremendous match again. The storyline played out a little different than I remembered and I loved it. So Chris Jericho calls bullshit on the knee injury that Shawn Michaels "sustained" in his match against Batista. Shawn Michaels keeps up the charade long enough to actually convince Jericho that Michaels is "truly injured". Jericho is willing to call this match off on the RAW before this PPV out of respect for Michaels. Michaels tells Jericho he was right all long and he feigned the knee injury to win the match against Batista. Jericho is incredulous. He refuses to believe Michaels. Michaels hits him with Sweet Chin Music and then acrobatically leaves the ring to prove his knee is fine. Brilliant! Credibility and trust mean so much in this world. Jericho is totally befuddled now in what to believe. When you mess with a man's ability to discern the difference between reality and illusion you truly destroy his sense of trust and understanding of the world. This was the perfect impetus for Jericho completely reinventing himself as a man who is obsessed with honesty because he truly no longer knows what to believe. Brilliant! Nominally this is face vs face remember because Jericho has not officially turned heel yet. Jericho is also Intercontinental Champion, which I totally forgot about, but the title is not on the line. I love the beginning because it starts with Jericho targets the leg like he still cant believe that Michaels is NOT injured. I love this. It also gives a chance to Michaels to prove he is totally fine. They do some great face vs face workrate wrestling at the beginning. When Jericho goes for the leg again, Michaels slaps the taste out of his mouth. Draws a little blood too. Michaels has a great shit-eating grin on. Now it is on! Jericho hits a hard back elbow to escape a waistlock as a receipt. Michaels targets the left arm using that same hanging armbar over the ropes that I loved. Michaels does a great job beating the shit out of the arm. I love Jericho fighting back at the same time. Struggle! Michaels goes for the top elbow early, but Jericho gets the knees up and Michaels injures his ribs. I have complained in the past about Jericho's issue with control segments. No such complaints here. He was vicious and laser focused on the ribs. Ab stretch (beating on the ribs with punches too in the hold), punts to the ribs and a great gutbuster. Jericho is vicious and angry. Love this. Jericho is throwing Shawn around. Shawn shoves Jericho off on the bulldog sending him hard into the buckles. Flying burrito...kip up...rib selling...Walls of Jericho! Perfect targeting for the ribs. Great selling from Michaels. Great spot...Jericho goes for his springboard dropkick but Michaels moves, Jericho lands on apron...BANG! Sweet Chin Music. One of the best hope spots ever. Exactly what Michaels needed to get himself back in this match. Michaels has been great at setting up these momentum changes. Michaels only gets two because it takes too much to get him back in. Michaels does a top rope elbow, his ribs be damned, and he sells it great. Michaels tunes up the band, but Jericho keeps falling down repeatedly much to the frustration of Michaels. Finally he gets up, CODEBREAKER! If that was the finish, I would rate this through the moon. That would have been a great mirror finish to the Shawn vs Batista match. I marked out so hard for that spot. Michaels gets the Crossface, which does not really fit in the match. Jericho hits these fucking awesome kneelifts and then hangs Shawn out to dry on the ropes. Awesome, awesome. Lionsault, Shawn gets his knees up, Jericho STOPS SHORT! Walls of Jericho, Michaels wriggles into the cover, 1-2-3! I think they wanted Michaels to win to further the Chris Jericho snapping and then heel turn. But goddamn that Codebreaker with the mirror symmetry would have been glorious. Jericho looked awesome here. The best he has ever looked on offense in my opinion. Shawn selling the ribs was great. Another spectacular match. ****1/4

Shawn Michaels vs Batista - Backlash 2008 SGR: Chris Jericho I want someone to watch this match and then look me in the eye and tell me that Shawn Michaels is not a GOAT contender. Goddamn he was fucking awesome in this match. Maybe I am mistaken, but I have never heard anyone talk up this match. I figure it gets overlooked for the phenomenal series between Shawn Michaels and Chris Jericho that this very feud spawns. Before, I get into the match, I want to point out how great of a job they did here with the storytelling. I am an avid fan of soap operas and I think this one of the few times in the last 15 years that WWE really nailed soap opera storytelling. The Ric Flair retirement is a big deal and is going to affect wrestlers in different ways. It was great to spin a feud off of that event. You have Batista who is pissed, almost in mourning, that his mentor is no longer around and it is all Shawn's fault. Shawn says it would have been a disservice to the Nature Boy to let him win. He won the match fair and square and it was time for Nature Boy to ride off into the sunset. Then you have Chris Jericho with his career renaissance as a shit-stirrer, claiming that Shawn is a gloryhound and revels in the fact that he is the man who retired The Greatest of All Time. Then Jericho goes one step further to claim that Batista isn't grieving Ric Flair's retirement, he is angry that he did not get the honor to do it himself. This is great shit! It continued to be amazing throughout the rest of the year. Kudos to all those involved! There are many facets that make this a great match but I think the one that is the most essential is the grittiness and the amount of struggle in this match. Struggle is something that WWE has lacked throughout its history. WWE matches tend to be every neat. I am in control and then you are in control. Wrestlers don't force their opponents to earn their offense more often than not. I have learned to love other aspects of WWE, but at the end of the day this will be why All Japan or JCP/WCW will always rank ahead of the WWF/E overall. I thought this match had that sense of struggle. That real burning desire to best your opponent in an athletic contest. On top of that, this is nominally face vs face, which I always think is a very unique and implicitly interesting matchup. It can go in so many directions. You don't know who is going to play the heel in the match and how it will evolve. In addition, I think Shawn Michaels does incredible job playing to Batista's strengths. You mix this all together you arrive at what is match of the year contender for WWE in 2008. Shawn does a great job early on establishing the power game of Batista. He is trying to attack Batista head on and makes no headway. Batista is shaking him off and just charging. Shawn chop blocks and then switches gear immediately to attack the left arm of Batista. A lot of reviewers would make a point to let you know Shawn and Batista fucked up the initial attempt at the short arm scissors. People make mistakes. We are human. It is how you react to the mistakes that matter. Shawn drives his knee repeatedly into the tricep of Batista. He forces his will on Batista to apply that short arm scissors. In fact it is better that it happened this way because he had to EARN the short arm scissors. If you have ever watched a Shawn Michaels match against Davey Boy Smith, you know why he uses this spot. This spot ultimately to establish the power game of his opponent. Interesting wrinkle here, Batista deadlifts Shawn, but they tumble over the top rope and there is even more wrenching action on the arm. As Batista is selling really well, Shawn shoves him bad arm into the post. After that, it is Dick Murdoch-like clinic on torturing a man's arm. It is tenacious and gritty. Batista is trying to use his power game to regain control, but due to a bad wing, he cant capitalize and Shawn with pitbull determination continues to attack the arm. I loved his hanging armbar over the ropes. This what I am talking about with struggle. Batista is fighting back, but Shawn is fighting through it all. Batista finally string together some power moves like the Samoan Drop and the Oklahoma Slam, but when he lifts up Shawn for the BatistaBomb, his arm fails him and Shawn comes down with the Crippler Crossface. Excellent! I marked out. It was right there when I realized I was watching a classic unfold. Batista makes the ropes and Jericho forcefully yanks Shawn off of Batista. Staredown. They do a great job making Shawn earn his comeback sequence (even though it is not a comeback in this case). Kip-up-SPEAR! Great spot. Shawn knocks Batista off the top and hits the Elbow Drop. Tune up the band and SPINEBUSTER! Loving these hope spots for Batista. One arm Ultimate Warrior rope shake and One Arm thumbs down. Batista is totally committed to selling the arm. Batistabomb, Shawn wriggles free, but twists his knee or perhaps he loses his smile momentarily. Jericho backs Batista off. Michaels gets up and BANG! Sweet Chin Music. Great finish that plays into Jericho's new honest man character that would unveil in the coming weeks. Batista's power game vs Shawn's attack on the arm was a glorious story. Batista sold so well and Shawn was very selfless in establishing Batista's power game that everything melded perfectly. The home stretch was awesome with the big Batista moves stopping Shawn short. Shawn realized even with all his strategizing that Batista's power was too much so he had to dig deep in his bag of tricks and pull out a shady move to get the win. Highly recommended to watch. ****1/2

WWE Intercontinental Champion Rey Mysterio vs Dolph Ziggler - Summerslam 2009 Rey is so good at creating tension within moves. He is so small that you never know if he will land his move or it will be turn against him. There are a couple great cradles that Ziggler sat down on or Mysterio won control. This feeling of going either way really adds to the match. I thought this match was built around a succession of nearfalls throughout. Ziggler set the tone early with the powerslam, cover and then a cradle. Ziggler lost at the previous PPV and was here to win. Mysterio's moonsault at the beginning was breath-taking and I liked his rana from the apron. Ziggler hits a bucklebomb to take over. Ziggler is not very interesting on top. Chinlock city. Mysterio peppers in hope spots. Then the match is very similar to Savage/Steamboat from Mania III just a barrage of a pinning predicaments. Where the drama comes from the frequency of pinfall covers and they do it in such a way that is not from finishers but rather just interesting cradles and counters. The 619, missed splash, amateur cradle was a great nearfall for Ziggler. Ziggler looks for maybe a super gutbuster from the top but Rey hits a top rope frakensteiner to win. Just a really good match. Ziggler had/has a good look to him. There is a lot of nostalgia looking at Ziggler with the bleached hair and animal print. He didn't show me much here. I felt like Rey was holding his hand. I think Ziggler would grow into being a great bumper, which was NOT on display here, but really never was able to have a presence in the ring on offense. Rey did a great job building drama down the stretch with a barrage of nearfalls. ***1/2

World Heavyweight Champion John Cena vs Chris Jericho - RAW 4/20/09 These two just don't have chemistry. Their matches are just so normal. There is no spark when they get in ring together. I was hopeful at the outset because Jericho bumrushes Cena and it felt like it could be a hot sprint but then it just settled down. Jericho can be good on top but with Cena there just isn't much. Cena does his comeback sequence early but FU is reversed by a DDT. Best spot of the match is Jericho gets causght in Firemans Carry when he goes for vintage springboard dropkick but pushes Cena into steps. Basically it takes Cena five tries to hit the FU and that's after he gets hit with a Codebreaker. Jericho missed Lionsault and needed two attempts on Walls of Jericho. He got the Walls after Cena missed the legdrop which was his response to the FU not getting the pin. There was some electricity with the Walls and then STFU. After that they go for a superplex and Edge interferes and gives Cena a one man conchairto before their matc at Backlash. Good match nothing more nothing less. ***

John Morrison vs Evan Bourne - WWECW 4/14/09 Holy shit! What did I just watch? This was amazing! A WWE match with actual struggle! Wow! Morrison has way more of a vicious streak than I remembered. The way he jerked Bourne around in the Crossface Chickenwing was great. He used the ropes well, hanging Bourne up and then driving the knee in there. Strong strikes. That knee when Bourne was on the apron was great. Bourne is a great white meat babyface. He can sell his ass off, plenty of good hope spots and then what I was impressed with can bring the damn fire. Bourne hit a couple wicked left hands and then that clothesline. Little dude can pack a punch. They kept this exciting without losing babyface/heel dynamics and resorting to just a lot of spots. They really showed Morrison as the much larger aggressor beating the shit out of the little dude. Bourne having to make a comeback and did so by punching the bully in the mouth. The finish was great with Bourne getting to show off his aerial moves and Morrison taking them well. When Bourne went for the Shooting Star Press, Morrison met him up top and hit Moonlight Drive from the top for the win. It felt like a real struggle to win this match. Bourne was constantly fighting through offense and Morrison was brutal. He was reigning down elbows at one point. You can watch Bourne cover up and Morrison whacks him in the back of the head and Bourne yelps. WWE matches in this timeframe are good at escalation and they are very neat. They have figured out to blend in each other's moves. They know how to incorporate missing, blocking and finally hitting, which is much better than today's lets hit everything mantra. But what this match had that most of WWE matches have always missed throughout their history as a company is a real sense of struggle. Amazing hidden gem of a TV match! ****1/4

World Heavyweight Champion John Cena vs Shawn Michaels - RAW 1/12/09 This is during that ridiculous "Shawn is poor" angle where JBL has control over Michaels because he is his "employer". Whatever. Shawn & Cena both had big MOTYCs this year (vs Taker, vs Orton, I Quit), but overall I would say these were subpar years from two of the all-time greats. Michaels was stuck paling around with HHH against Legacy and Cena had a long feud with Big Show. This match bolsters their resume of the year 2009 while not as good as their 2007 classics, this is a high quality TV match. Going into this match, what is interesting is neither of these men have impressive offensive arsenals. In fact if there is a common complaint about these, it is the very fact they are both limited offensively. Well they cant just lie on the mat and sell for twenty minutes, somebody has to hit a move. It was nice to see Cena in control for long, long stretches of time in this match. Cena usually has very short shines and long heat segments. Shawn forced him out of his comfort zone to work on top and it was a nice change of pace. I also thought Shawn wrestled very Ric Flair like in the early going, which means he tried many strategies early and as each one failed he would go to a new one. Early on, he tried to outwrestle Cena, but you can see from one big elbow from Cena that Cena's power game would negate any advantage Shawn would have on the mat. Then Shawn tried to crowd Cena in the corner with chops, but you cant get into a strike exchange with Cena and eats a BIG back body drop. Cena tries to go for a suplex and Shawn scoops him into a figure-4. This seemed to be Shawn's best strategy. Don't try to chain Cena but rather go for submissions that will win. Once Cena got out of this, Cena had another flurry before missing his top rope leg drop and then Shawn applied the Crippler Crossface, again Shawn looked poised to win before Cena got the ropes. It looked like Shawn had a winning strategy, but then Cena rolled off some power moves and a bearhug to cement his control. I thought this was a really damn good front half. The back half was them melding their comeback sequences really well. You can see a lot of mirroring. The Flying Burrito vs Shouldertackles, Flying Elbow Drop vs Legdrop from the top, FU vs Sweet Chin Music. The way they got extra mileage out of these moves where by blocking them, missing them and then finally hitting them. The finish stretch begins with Shawn finally hitting the top elbow after three tries. He tunes up the band but Cena slides around and then FU! 1-2-NO! Cena picks up Michaels and BANG! Sweet Chin Music! Shawn does the dramatic fall on top of him in a heap cover. Lets Go Cena chant with no Cena sucks, so weird. Cena goes for FU, but Michaels wriggles free, STFU right in front of JBL who pushes the ropes to Michaels. Michaels shoots him a glare. Cena is distracted by JBL and BANG! Sweet Chin Music 1-2-3! The beginning of this match was really interesting. The back half was good blend of their comebacks. I didn't like the FU->Sweet Chin Music->FU attempt and STFU. I think that hurt the finishes even moreso than the dramatic kickouts. I think they could have done a better job incorporating JBL throughout the match and Shawn getting pissed about it. Still a really good match. ***3/4

CM Punk vs John Morrison - Smackdown 8/14/09 This was built around the fact that Morrison has a two match win streak over CM Punk going into this match. I loved the first match, didn't know about the second. This match takes place two weeks before the Punk/Hardy Summerslam ladder match. Didn't think this was quite as good as their first match but still very enjoyable. Loved the chaining at the beginning and how they ended up in a knucklelock. Punk stomping the hands and the kick to the midsection was great. I totally marked out for Morrison dropdown trip on Punk. GREAT USE OF THE DROPDOWN! Morrison follows up with a springboard moonsault for two and a Tidal Wave for two. Great shine! Loved it! Punk kicks out Morrison's leg on the apron, nasty back bump. Punk hits a kneedrop from the top rope to Morrison prone on the apron that's how you transition into a heat segment. Great work after the break here. Liked Morrison reverse cross body hope spot. I dig Punk's figure-4 on the head reigning down elbows as a good control hold. Morrison again showed good strikes, kicks, elbows and even a hard hitting clothesline. If he was not atrocious promo he may have actually had a chance. Well, he needed the company behind him too. Standing Shooting Star Press and then top rope crossbody. I liked the combo of new school and old school. Shining Wizard nope Punk just kicks the leg. NICE! Love Punk's strike combo, those slaps are great. Punk goes for Go 2 Sleep and when Morrison struggles, Punk drives his head into the turnbuckle and lets him down to hit run up knee and bulldog. I like that. You know your opponent has some energy left take the time to do it right and wear him down more. Morrison needed a blood feud with a monster to really get him over because he is such a pretty boy. The crowd is chanting for Morrison. I think this is his peak. Shitty Tornado DDT, sad. Starship Pain?!? Nope. Oklahoma Roll by Morrison and JR marks out. Punk is like it was two and Morrison obliterates him with a knee to side of head. This was my biggest problem with the match. After that, Punk should have been KO'd, but as Morrison goes up for Starship Pain, Punk crotches him and then picks him up from the Tree of Woe into Go 2 Sleep to win. I just feel that Knee was a KO blow and that Punk being able to recover so quickly was to the detriment of the match. Overall, again another hotly contested match with lots of action. These two rock together! ***1/2

World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk vs John Morrison - Smackdown 6/26/09 Wow! I was very impressed by this. Morrison must be bumming. They were giving out world championships like candy between 2009-2011 and like everyone of his cohorts got a crack at it but him. I think it was because he was positioned as a face. He would have gotten a reign if he was a heel. I remember him being very Kofi-esque, wicked light without much to hook your attention. He was hard hitting here and had some really nice spots. Punk is a great pro wrestler. I don't say that enough. He is truly good and he works really damn hard. The opening chaining here is some of the best chaining I have seen in the WWE from this time period. Great waistlock takedown from Punk and then a nice double leg from Morrison. Punk goes for a roundhouse and Morrison ducks but connects with a full extension back heel kick to the head. It was really something to behold. Punk hits this awesome, awesome snap powerslam. Great torque. I don't think I have ever seen him hit that. Good work on the back and really nice German suplex too with a nice bridge. Again something you don't see too often from Punk. They really pulled out all the stops in this match. Punk goes for the sunset flip powerbomb off the apron so Morrison drops to his knees. OW! Wicked! Asai Moonsault to Punk. I thought Morrison hit a damn good clothesline at one point and started reigning down the elbows. Muthafucka came to play. Great spot was Morrison goes for a Shining Wizard and Punk catches the knee and seamlessly rolls into a single leg crab. Mark out city. Damn Punk is good. Good struggle over the G2S leads to Morrison getting Low-Ki's Tidal Wave for two. Good nearfall. Starship Pain, no Punk crotches him and hits a Super Reverse Suplex!!! WOW! I wont spoil the finish. Reminded me a lot of those 90s workrate matches from Nitro. I mean that as a compliment. The match is exciting because of a lot of unique and interesting spots, but what makes it all worthwhile is that they are well-timed and well-placed within the structure of the match. They aren't throwing things out there. Also look what I am popping for, powerslams, German suplexes...it is not modified this and let me sit around for an hour waiting for you to get into position. This is the type of workrate I enjoy and really goes to show you that both of these dudes were damn good. Punk really looked like a leader and a star here. ****

World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk vs Jeff Hardy - Night of Champions 2009 You can tell a lot about match from the beginning. This was started as a clunker and ended as a clunker. Really weird beginning. Jeff Hardy looked like he was in a daze and just didn't have a fucking clue what to do. CM Punk also in a weird mood wrestling circles around Jeff literally and then asking him what he was going to do to him. Very odd. They do the finisher teases again. Then they do some nice bumps to the outside. Punk misses a suicide dive. Then Jeff Hardy takes the Pillman bump from the top rope to the barricade. I thought they would settle into some sort of groove, but not really. Punk had some nice kicks, but they do a clunky front suplex from the buckles. If there is one limitation, Hardy has it is his inability to hit good strikes. This match called on that too much. He runs through his comeback sequence. Then they do the miss your spot, hit my spot, miss my spot, hit your spot. Which is admittedly better than hit my spot, hit your spot because at least there is a semblance of transition, but I didn't feel like Punk/Hardy really built a lot of drama in this match. I did think Punk had some really good offense here, I like his kicks/slap sequence, busting out Low-Ki's Dragon Sleeper/Camel Clutch combo. There was just something about this match where it didn't feel like it built to a fever pitch. Whereas in the previous match, there was a great sense of escalation, here it just kinda was stuck. They did a good job with the Swanton Bomb, first it was missed and then Hardy ate knees. There did feel like there was an overreliance on Twists of Fate. Punk hits Go 2 Sleep to get two. He is in shock. Good pop for the kickout. Punk goes for the cover two times more. Then leaves with the title. Hardy brings him back in and hits the Swanton for the win. I am a big Jeff Hardy fan, but this just didn't feel climatic. There was some good stuff, but never really clicked for me. I remember loving the ladder match from Summerslam, so we shall see. ***

World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk vs Jeff Hardy - The Bash 2009 So watching the video package, CM Punk has not gone full Straight Edge preacher mode heel yet. Basically, we are in the "Yeah what I did was scummy, but all is fair in love & war" portion of the heel turn. I loved CM Punk's line of "Nowhere in the contract did it say, you cant cash it in on Jeff Hardy." He is a really good wise ass. Terrific match as Jeff Hardy now has someone who can wrestle with him. I thought this came off great. The match is all built around finishers which I love. I thought the escalation and pacing of the match was pitch perfect. Good, basic chaining to start. Punk goes for G2S, but Hardy counters into a crucifix, nice. Hardy goes for the Twist of Fate, but Punk shoves off. Hardy sends him to the outside on the charge. Hardy gets in his early big spot flying over the ropes onto Punk. He crashes and burns hard on Poetry In Motion into the barricade great spot to set up the Punk heat segment. The Punk heat segment is simple, but effective which is how I describe Punk a lot. One of the big differences between Punk and Edge is that Punk actually feeds his babyfaces. Edge lets them starve. Punk misses an elbow and then a charge. This sets up Whisper In The Wind and the first cover for Jeff Hardy. Hardy runs through his comeback sequence and has Punk in position for the Swanton. Punk rolls out, but Hardy is a Punk-seeking missile and hits him with a clothesline off the apron. The finisher teases have been really well done in this match. Not to be outdone, when Hardy goes for his vintage dropkick in the corner Punk pops up and catches him on his shoulder in position for the Go 2 Sleep, but Hardy wriggles free. Punk kicks Hardy's arm hard, run up knee and Bulldog. This is a great way for Punk to insert what was previously his bayface comeback sequence as a heel. Hardy was a roll, he tries for the him run when he does not get it, he still capitalizes enough to regain control. Punk unloads with some really damn good strikes but misses the backfist and TWIST OF FATE! We have our first finish hit! Hardy misses the Swanton Bomb. 1-2-NO! GO 2 SLEEP?!?! HARDY INSIDE CRADLE!!! 1-2-NO! Punk blasts him with a nice roundhouse kick to the head. Go 2 Sleep...TWIST OF FATE! SWANTON BOMB! 1-2-3!!! I knew Hardy wins the title back so I actually popped for this and totally bought into it. Turns out Punk's foot is under the ropes. They restart the match. Punk's eye gets poked when Hardy elbows out of the G2S and then Punk kicks the ref in the back to trigger DQ. I guess Hardy wins at the next PPV whatever that is called. Thank God for Wikipedia. Was Dusty booking in 2009??? Lots of Dusty Finishes, jeez. Like I said just great traditional pro wrestling escalation. They pepper in big spots through out the match. Built their match around each other's finishers, first it was avoiding them and then Hardy started to land them. Notice Punk never hit Go 2 Sleep. Hardy always managed to escape. Whereas once Hardy hit Punk with the Swanton he did get the 1-2-3. I think this was a perfect match #1 in thee series that they can really build off of. ****

World Heavyweight Champion Edge vs Jeff Hardy - Extreme Rules 2009 Ladder Match The swan song for the Edge character he is most known for. After this, he would be injured within and then brought back as a babyface to finish out his career, which was an odd fit for him. It is fitting his last major match as a heel is against Jeff Hardy in a ladder match. Unfortunately, it is a very boring ladder match. The three spots that stood out were Twist of Fate in mid-air (didn't look that great), both falling off a ladder and breaking ladder, and then Hardy front suplexing Edge on the hinges of the ladder, which looked wicked painful and wins spot of the match. The finish was creative with Jeff pulling Edge through rungs of the ladder so he was trapped and forced to watch his archrival ascend the ladder and capture his World Championship. Very pedestrian. The CM Punk cash-in was great and I loved the CM Punk vs Jeff Hardy feud. Loved so much we bought Summerslam that year and I look forward to rewatching that match and the matches that lead up to the Summerslam match. Avoid this match and watch the Judgment Day one.

World Heavyweight Champion Edge vs Jeff Hardy - Judgment Day 2009 Amazing Jeff Hardy babyface performance here. I have said in the past that the Hardyz were just a updated version of the Rock N Roll Express. I think here Jeff Hardy shows what a white meat babyface in 2009 could do. He does not look like a Steamboat or Morton but sure can wrestle like one. I loved the early armdrags keeping Edge off balance. Nice climax on his shine with the dive over the top. He goes for too much too soon with the Whisper In The Wind as he crashes and burns. Edge shouldertackles him in the back off the apron. I don't say this a lot, but Jeff Hardy carried Edge's boring ass to a damn great match. Edge's version of a heat segment is doing Metal Horns, breathing heavy and stomping the back. Hardy was putting on a selling clinic, good hope spots like a crossbody or inside cradle, but also missing moves like the crossbody from the top or dropkick to cut himself off. Jeff Hardy was pretty much wrestling himself. Jeff Hardy busts out the Sharpshooter of all things. Jeff looked really technically sound in this. Some of the armbars got a little loose early on because he was playing to the crowd, but I mean this ain't RINGS. Armdrags were deep and his babyface offense looks good. He works this into a Twist of Fate for two. Good use of your secondary finish in the middle. They work through some great sequences here: Hardy goes for his dropkick in the corner, gets up looks for powerbomb, but Hardy gets a sunset flip for two. Then does a sunset flip powerbomb for two. Jeff Hardy is rocking. Hardy escalates the violence. Barricade tight rope run into eating spear. Hardy is feeding for Edge like a champ. Then they work a great apron sequence where Hardy jumps out of the way of a spear to hit a legdrop on Edge who is in the ropes, Twist of Fate on the ropes, springboard legdrop for two. Really fucking nice. He gets Whisper in the Wind and then Poetry in Motion on the outside. Matt Hardy blasts him with a cast. Edge rolls him in but only gets two. Hardy avoids the spear so Edge hits the buckles. Hardy goes for the Swanton, but has been knocked loopy by the cast shot and the delay is long enough for Edge to hit his DDT off the top rope. Amazing Jeff Hardy performance, awesome babyface offense and selling early. Then he bumps huge late and escalates his offense so well. Very well paced. Everything ran through him. He was the one generating the energy not through just offense but also feeding for Edge. Just a terrific performance from him. I thought the finish was great. Matt Hardy thing wasn't necessary but as a Jeff Hardy fan I do like he was protected. I am actually pretty excited for the ladder match rematch. This may be my favorite straight Edge match ever and he didn't even really do anything in it. If you are a Jeff Hardy fan watch this, if you are not check this out and see what Jeff Hardy can do when he brings his A game. ****

WWE Champion Randy Orton vs Batista - Extreme Rules 2009 Steel Cage Match I actually liked this a good bit! I feel like Orton vs Batista was actually an underutilized feud even though it was an obvious one given their Evolution past. I am not the authority on this time period so maybe they did run a program before this. I am surprised Batista won and later found out he had to vacate due to injury. Im really hazy on the details. When did the injury happen? What was the plan for a Batista title reign? A HHH program? A Cena program? Orton was the top heel on RAW, Smackdown had Punk, Jericho and Edge, but RAW was very thin. Was Orton going to regain anywhere and feud with Cena? Orton vs Cena seemed like the natural progression. As for the match, I thought the best part of this was that it was short clocking in at 7-8 minutes and how committed Orton was to being a chickenshit and escaping the cage. As soon as the bell rung, try to escape. As soon as he got any sort of separation, try to escape. He came up with some good ways to create opportunities. I liked the leapfrog and Batista runs into the cage. The smash Batista into the cage, hit his backbreaker and try to escape. I loved his standing dropkick. This was a damn good Orton performance. Batista was good as the power wrestler throwing Orton around. I wish he was a little more violent, but still lots of good slams. The best part is Orton really has Batista down and he goes to escape the cage, BUT he gets greedy and deviates from the strategy. He instead goes for the punt, but WHIFFS! He done gone fucked up. Batista goes for the Batista Bomb and after some wriggling hits it. I love it. Orton is so committed to escape to win, but when he has that golden opportunity he wastes it on trying to end Batista's career instead of winning the match and that costs him the match. Good story, lots of energy, great Orton performance. ***3/4

CM Punk vs Umaga - Extreme Rules 2009 Samoan Strap Match Great David vs Goliath Match here. Umaga is such a great monster and CM Punk does make for a great plucky underdog babyface. Umaga hits a massive reverse elbow to gain command. Good back n forth with missed moves. Punk hits the run up knee to stop Umaga on 3rd corner, but Umaga sends him flying on the bulldog. Umaga misses the headbutt. I like how they each missed something there. Umaga hits a big Samoan Drop to go into the heat segment and then beats him down with the leather strap. Umaga hits his headbutt and is in total control. Umaga pulls Punk's arm up against the post and then slams into the steps. Unfortunately, this doesn't go anywhere because it was the start of something that looked like it could be cool. Umaga hangs him out to dry. Nice superkick by Umaga. Umaga is such a complete monster. Great offense, but also can bump and show vulnerability. He is excellent in this role as a gatekeeper so that CM Punk could his earn his stripes before his big push the next month. Punk being on the outside impedes Umaga's progress. Punk hits a springboard clothesline for a hope spot because when he goes for a Go 2 Sleep, he eats a heel kick. Umaga misses the splash in the corner and Punk pulls the strap so that Umaga ballshotted himself. CM Punk chants start up. He was definitely over. Run up knee and bulldog. Punk gets three and then Umaga DESTROYS Punk with the spin out slam. GREAT CUTOFF! Best spot of the match! Umaga gets three corners, but Punk wraps himself in the ropes and Umaga charges but goes over the ropes. Punk gets three corners, but Umaga is on the outside and yanks him and breaks Punk's momentum. Punk uses the strap to make Umaga take the Vader bump. Punk gets three, Umaga charges, GO 2 SLEEP! Excellent strap match. No downtime. Umaga was convincing on top, but also fed Punk good spots. Punk was great in his resiliency and persistence. Punk feels like a star. ****