Talk about it here.

 

PWG Title Match

Super Dragon vs. Samoa Joe

This match did a great job referencing their first match at The Secret of the Ooze, but lacked the atmosphere to make it an overall great match. Very good match though that surpassed the hard-hitting aspect of Reyes vs. Strong, and I loved that SD went to Joe right away - it made wonder if SD studied how Austin Aries had dethroned Joe just several weeks earlier in ROH.

I also loved a stretch of bad-ass moves by SD in a short time, ending with him doing a tope con hilo where he landed ass-first on the concrete. I'm sure that bump was worth it. That said, that bump made his selling of his injured back a bit more believable when he found the adrenaline necessary to successfully execute the Burning Hammer on Joe. And the finish, while deflating, was great storytelling and karma based on how the previous match between these two ended.

Rating: ***3/4

- Interesting to see what PWG were doing in 2005. Based on this match, I prefer them then to their 2016/7 offerings.

- Also only the second Super Dragon match I've seen. The first was a belter (w/Steen vs. Bucks) and lots of people say good things

- Reminds me that really stiff chops were the in vogue trend of the year. That was Kobashi and NOAH's influence, I believe. Also better than 2017's 'everything has to be on the apron' trend.

- Interesting to see the crowd really pop for both guys dives, it was still very much a novelty for guys this big to fly to the outside.

- Few dangerous head drops, great strike exchanges. I didn't mind the countout finish.

- All round very good match. 2 for 2 for Super Dragon.

 

****

This was an interesting matchup. I haven't followed Super Dragon's career as closely as I should have, but I know about enough about him that he makes for an outstanding foil for Joe. They did some really cool stuff, and Dragon gave as good as he got when it came to the strikes. They were building to something good-to-great until the count out. Joe's tope was awesome.