Anarchy In The Arena II - AEW Double Or Nothing (28/5/23)

While I didn't think this was as great a match as the original, this still rocked and was the best thing on the PPV, mirroring the feud being the best thing on Dynamite this last quarter.  

For a chaotic match, lets do a chaotic style review.

What ruled:

• The effort on show.  All 8 guys busted their asses in the match
• Bryan finally wrestling for the first time in 3 months 
• The Elite hitting 4 Terminator suicide dives at the same time.
• So much blood.
• Hangman getting a pop for removing an eyepatch
• Matt doing the northern lights suplexes all the way down the ramp
• The Claudio/Matt sequence was a great showcase of Claudio being a beast with the giant swing into the bin and the piledriver onto the pick up truck.  
• I like how Omega and Mox was a pairing that was a through line during the match given all their history.  
• Matt Jackson getting the barefoot thumbtacks spot was bonkers and had me wincing
• Omega using the trash can lid as a shield and then Claudio swatting it out his hand
• The leafblower
• Bryan ordering Justin Roberts to give him his jacket and remembering the time Bryan got fired for choking Roberts out with his tie
• EXPLODING SUPERKICK TO MOX
• Bryan hitting both Omega and Page with the Busaiku Knees
• Mox telling Matt to fuck off like he's Logan Roy when he tried to break up his BCC elbows 
• Matt eating thumbtacks and then having them uppercuttered out.
• Omega and Hangman teaming up again and remembering their great tag team back in AEW's early years
• Wheeler Yuta getting the decisive pinfall and then being hoisted on Claudio's shoulders in celebration.  Despite teaming with three established stars, Yuta no longer feels like the young boy on his team.  

What prevented this from being as great as the original:

• Wild Thing on a loop was a fantastic addition to the first match.  The live band playing it a bunch of times didn't land as well this time.  Maybe if the band was better it wouldn't have been as bad.  
• There was a stronger babyface/heel dynamic last year.  You wanted to see The Jericho Appreciation Society get their asses kicked last year.  This year, BCC are playing the heels but they're too cool to hate. 
• It ends in a Don Callis interference angle.  Given how dominate and brutal BCC were all match, it's a bit of a weak finish.  

All things considered here, the pros outweight the cons and this was a really enjoyable main event that saved the show.  

Ed's Ongoing 2023 MOTY List 

Worst WWE Match Ever - 82 - Andre the Giant vs. Jake "The Snake" Roberts - Wrestlemania V

 82.

Andre the Giant vs. Jake “The Snake” Roberts

Wrestlemania V

This is one of the last matches where I don’t particularly have a lot to say. It feels like low hanging fruit to rag on a match featuring a man who suffered immense health problems later in his life and would unfortunately be a few years from passing. Jake has never been a renowned workrate guy, and while I’ve found myself to enjoy Andre’s prime a lot, unfortunately this is a far cry from that. If you told someone watching this match that Andre would be just four years from death, they’d probably say “yeah, sounds about right”. It’s hard to hold it against the performers, when it shouldn’t have gotten to this point. If you still want your Andre attraction match, don’t make it a nine minute match. There’s nothing they did in nine minutes you couldn’t have achieved in two or three. Particularly when Andre’s offence consists of chokes, nerve holds, and weak looking strikes. So while this match sucks, my criticism is more directed at McMahon for putting this on and giving it the time it got for an unsatisfying finish. The match is sad to watch and is one of those bad matches that gives me no enjoyment, whether ironic or otherwise.  

Andre the Giant is deathly afraid of snakes, which acts like a theoretical equaliser for the much smaller Jake Roberts. Except it makes no real difference until the end of the match. In another piece of classic Andre the Giant mythology, Roberts has said that Damien did bite Andre in real life, leaving his fangs in his shoulder and Andre didn’t notice at all. Big John Studd, recently turned face, is the referee for this match featuring his previous Wrestlemania appearance. Tensions rise which leads to Andre attacking Big John Studd until he’s scared off by Damien leading to the disqualification win for Jake Roberts. There's interference from Ted DiBiase in there which briefly brings the crowd to life which is pretty lifeless when Andre is on offence (which is about 90% of this match).

Apologies for a shorter review, there’s not a great deal I want or feel the need to say. Thankfully there’s only a couple more matches in this list that are the same.

On the plus side, I’ve always been a fan of the aesthetic for the Wrestlemania 5 entrance way. So that’s nice.

Up next - a much more in depth review of nepotism, fellatio, and shampoo? 

https://discord.com/channels/1007269901859307631/1059557356238811227

WWE Night of Champions Review - 27/5/23

Or as it will forever be known in WrestlingClique lore, this is Blood Money IX

Seth Rollins Vs AJ Styles

To the surprise of no-one, I didn't enjoy this.  This match did nothing to address my two chief concerns going into the title decider of 1) Seth Rollins character still stinks and doesn't suit a world champion and 2) Seth was 100% winning so how would I fall for any AJ Styles nearfall during the match.   Seth Rollins dressing like Kat Slater and still acting like a buffoon this week didn't adhere me to him becoming a world champion again and I didn't bite on any AJ Styles nearfall,  More concerning is that I didn't even think the in-ring action was that up to scratch for what I expect out of these two.  Perhaps I've been spoiled with the last two weeks of the Best of the Super Juniors with the likes of Mike Bailey, Lio Rush and Titan performing high-end, fast paced action, but I felt like this match was running on 0.5 speed and there was zero intensity to what they were doing.  There was nothing about this that made it feel like it was high stakes or the biggest match either man has had in years - maybe if I'm being generous the suplex on the apron by AJ was a bit out of the ordinary, but that's about it.  WTF was up with that first curb stomp attempt where Seth just kinda stepped on AJ's hair.  This was two directionless guys fighting over a consolation prize.  This should have been Rollins Vs Balor and then it would have felt much bigger.

Becky Lynch Vs Trish Stratus 

Now for a match I have plenty of positives to talk about because I thought this was a blast.  Two great saudi enforced ring gears here with Becky in her Kill Bill getup, which suited the story to a tee as she's out for revenge, and Trish in gear that had 'THANK YOU TRISH' on that back that I found to be hilarious, obnoxious heel work.  While not everything was executed well in this match, I loved the effort and willingness on show here.  Becky coming out all guns blazing attacking Trish from the bell showed more personality in 1 second than we got in the entire Rollins/Styles match.  You gotta hand it to Trish.  She's not interesting in coming in for an easy nostalgia paycheck.  She's here to do something with a bit more depth to it and go back to that heel character that worked so well for her in 2004, but against better wrestlers.  She looked like she was having the time of her life out there catching up on the nights she missed out on in her career.  When she put the fish hooks into Becky and had her Treehouse Ned Flanders forced smiling I was howling with laughter.  She just gets it even if her coordination lets her down at times.  I think maybe it's better to retire the Stratisfaction now because the last few times she's done it, it hasn't come off well.  She absolutely nailed the Chick Kick though, just use that instead.  That thing she did through the ropes grabbing Becky with her legs was very impressive too, just a shame Becky bumped like a cartoon character into the post.  Trish's 'little things' were great all match, and the hair pull shortcut to escape the disarmher was such a good way to continue the match.    Putting her with Zoey Starks as her heater/apprentice is a booking move I'm way in favour of because Zoey can go in the ring but has no personality so Trish will be a great guiding hand through her first program.  Oh and the cherry on top, Becky got her nose busted open right at the end.  I loved this, looking forward to their rematch.  This got soooo close to my MOTYC list, but there were too many rough edges to get it on.  

Gunther Vs Mustafa Ali 

Remember when Ali challenged Theory for the US title in his hometown of Chicago and Theory just beat him?  When Ali came out and they showed the video package of him visiting Mecca and I saw how much the crowd were into him I thought fuck my boy Gunther is in big trouble here.  As much as I like Ali, I didn't want the great Gunther reign to end here because I know Vince has no trust in Ali and this would be a booking decision to appease one crowd so he'd drop the title straight away.  Thankfully Ali is WWE's Tim Henman and he just loves to let these partisan crowds down.   We got a concise version of the great Gunther match formula.  Ali got chopped, he bumped like crazy (how good was that big boot off the apron?) he got his hope spots in and I was worked by the 450 splash, but ultimately Gunther was too strong for him and he put him down with the powerbomb right before the 10 minute mark.  Again, another blast on this show.

Bianca Belair Vs Asuka

I don't have a tonne to say here as these two very good wrestlers had yet another very good wrestling match.  I didn't think this was as good as the Wrestlemania match, but still full of charm.  They've set the stall out on these two that they're both as talent as each other and this is probably the biggest test Bianca's ever faced during her long reign, but Wrestlemania proved that Bianca just has the edge.  Asuka therefore has to slip further into evil clown territory, go for the braid more and look for a killer mist spit that will seal the title for her.   There was an absolutely gorgeous counter from Asuka to transition a KOD into an Asuka lock.  The finish was really creative with the mist into the hand and then rubbing the mist into Bianca's eyes as she goes for the KOD.  This was the result this match needed as Bianca has nowhere else to go with this title reign and needed some adversary.  Asuka on the other hand would have been dead in this new gimmick if she lost a 2nd time to Bianca.   

Rhea Ripley Vs Natalya 

Swaggering about in a garish new hat Natalya seemed to say 'look at me Jeddah, I've got a new hat'.   I love that Dominik is now the only one that wears oversized t-shirts in the saudi womens matches.  Rhea beats up Natalya and pins her in a little over a minute.  Fucking awesome. 

Ed's Ongoing 2023 MOTY List 

Not quite, but that was perfection.  

Cody Rhodes Vs Brock Lesnar 

Not as good as the Backlash match because there was no blood, Cody didn't win and the crowd wasn't as into it as Puerto Rico was.  I also have a big issue with the finish because the babyface fading in a submission rather than tapping is so, so overplayed and a weak attempt at protection, and actually looks pretty dumb when it's a submission that isn't a choke.  Why would you pass out to a kimura?  If Cody can survive 4 minutes in a Kimura when he's got an injured arm then he needs to ask Vince if he can trade to UFC and win that world title instead.  Everything else about the match was cool.  Cody looked like a god on offence rattling off his Cody Cutters and Crossroads, and the cast gave his double axe handles and punches extra oomph.   I enjoyed Cody going for that rollup victory again only for Brock to survive it this time, and my eye caught that Cody kept scratching Brock's back while trying to escape the kimura, producing lines of white in Brock's purple back.  I'm not too disappointed in the result because this feels like a rivalry that will have a 3rd match probably with a big stipulation behind it.  That's the one Cody has to win.  

Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens Vs Roman Reigns and Solo Sikoa 

The crowd are so into Sami Zayn it's incredible, and equally incredible is Roman getting wound up with the crowd's love of Sami so he starts shit talking the crowd.  I thought they played off Sami's reactions really well and built up to a great hot tag with him.  Owens and Roman have always been good opponents for each other, and the stunner rebounded into the spear was a great spot.  I loved Owens giving him a spear back later in the match too.  Michael Cole says it doesn't matter how Roman has reached 1,000 days, you just have to hand it to him for getting over the line in his title matches.  I wanna rip what little hair I have out.  No Cole, you don't have to hand it to him, stop burying the story here and diluting Roman's heat.  Fans should be livid that Roman keeps cheating to retain the title against top babyfaces, but WWE commentary keeps playing it down.  I can't imagine Mike Tenay saying 'you know what Don, you just gotta hand it to Jeff Jarrett, he deserves to be world champion after those guitar shots'.  

That aside, the Bloodline story continues to deliver when it matters most in key moments, and just like they nailed the Sami turn at the Rumble, they nailed the Jimmy Uso turn here while Jey continues to be the best actor in the company with his conflicted, stockholm syndrome personality.  In the end this was more about the angle than it was the really good tag match, because this might be the end of Owens and Zayn's part of this story as they celebrate with tag titles in the face of Roman, while we move onto the total dissolution of the Bloodline and see if Roman is able to retain the title now without The Usos help.

Not one of the strongest PLE we've had this year out of WWE, but still a good one.  

Worst WWE Match Ever - 83 - The Alliance vs. The Mercenaries - Survivor Series 1990

 83.

Traditional Survivor Series Match

Boris Zhukov, The Orient Express & Sgt Slaughter vs. The Bushwhackers, Nikolai Volkoff & Tito Santana

Survivor Series 1990

Quite fitting that on the show that provided us with an all time historic wrestlecrap moment finds itself with representation here. While not as infamous as the Gobbledygooker, this match is probably every bit as terrible.

One of the best things about modern WWE that we often take for granted is the improvement in traditional Survivor Series matches. If Wrestlemania gives wrestlers superhuman powers to kick out of stuff they shouldn’t, Survivor Series is the show where wrestlers cannot survive the most mundane offence. Thankfully WWE are a lot better for this now, but even as recently as the early 2000s, guys were jobbing to scoop slams, clotheslines, everything under the sun.. It takes less than a minute for Boris to get eliminated by a single flying clothesline. Dudes are getting eliminated left and right to immediately set up a 4 on 1 situation with Slaughter versus the babyface team. For example, the Orient Express would go on to have one of my favourite WWE tag matches ever just two months later at the Royal Rumble. But if you’re expecting anything from them here, I’ve got some bad news.

I mentioned a couple weeks back about feeling guilty about putting on some Bushwhackers matches, given Butch’s recent passing. I’m afraid to say that there’s times where I watch the Bushwhackers and think it’s the lowest point in wrestling history from a workrate perspective. Maybe it’s a sign of the times, but these guys can be very difficult to watch. Their offence looks like shit, they are so over the top cartoonish, they’re slow. It’s grim. Slaughter manages to easily defeat Volkoff and the Bushwhackers in some quite terrible wrestling. Despite quick eliminations, somehow this match is boring me. 

That leaves Tito Santana and Slaughter. Tito, to his credit, actually brings a slight energy and workrate to this match very briefly. This is comfortably the only tolerable part of the match, which makes it end on a relative high point. Adnan ends up getting Slaughter disqualified unintentionally despite Slaughter never feeling like he was in any particular danger. So on top of very bad wrestling, we’ve got illogical booking. 

Every time I watch this, I cannot help but think how ridiculous, terrible, and long winded Slaughter’s promo is before the match. My dude’s throat must have been killing him by the end of it. This is of course during Slaughter’s heel turn as an Iraqi sympathiser that would eventually lead to him shocking the world at Royal Rumble 1991 to win the WWF Championship from the Ultimate Warrior. I won’t pretend to be an expert of this era of WWF, and my exposure to Slaughter during this time period is limited mostly to this, the Royal Rumble, Wrestlemania, and the shockingly great Desert Storm match with Hulk Hogan. But I know enough to know that deciding to use a real life war as the basis of a storyline is about as tasteless as you can go, from a company that is renowned for some pretty tacky shit. 

The only reason this match isn’t higher is because I had no expectations for it in the first place, and I thankfully didn’t have to exist through this in real time. But make no mistake, this is one of the worst examples of these early traditional Survivor Series matches.

Up Next - there’s times when I look forward to these reviews because I’ve often got a lot to say. Next time, not really, as we go to Trump Plaza for a sad match between two legends. 

https://discord.com/channels/1007269901859307631/1059557356238811227

Worst WWE Match Ever - 84 - John Bradshaw Layfield vs. John Cena - Great American Bash 2008

 84.

New York City Parking Lot Brawl

JBL vs. John Cena

Great American Bash 2008

Ah, the infamous JBL is Poopy feud. In the midst of a quite horrible 2008 return, JBL renewed his rivalry with John Cena stemming back from 2005. JBL’s 2008 return was pretty awful on the whole, and would only get worse and worse as the year wore on. Despite this, he imposed himself on the Raw main event scene for the majority of the year, mostly as the most credible heel who could actually give CM Punk a much needed victory through the summer.

John Cena and JBL did have a phenomenal match in 2005 in their I Quit match. And people have always had fond memories of the John Cena vs Eddie Guerrero parking lot brawl from 2003, so you’d be forgiven for having some optimism for this match.

However, this match - and the aforementioned JBL is Poopy feud - is symptomatic of its time, and the difficult transition WWE was in the middle of making. One of the iconic images of their 2005 I Quit match is the incredible blade job by John Cena, which added a layer of violence to the match. However, in the summer of 2008 WWE was making a transition to a new PG focused era which would create a sharp change in both storylines and wrestling style, particularly in a seemingly big blood feud. Interestingly, this show features the last confirmed intentional blade job in WWE (Shawn Michaels vs Chris Jericho). After this, blading was banned from WWE. Correct me if I’m wrong, but all subsequent instances of blood have been hard way, or at least that is what WWE have claimed in instances such as Brock vs Roman, Brock vs Undertaker Hell in a Cell and, infamously, Brock vs Orton. 

This is all to say that tone is the biggest issue concerning this match. It’s a feud featuring “JBL is Poopy” but this match features multiple attempts on a competitor’s life. They are literally trying to murder one another, but blood is too far for the match, and nobody seems to treat these ridiculous over the top spots with any weight. Is this a blood feud, or is it a joke? 

The first thing that stands out when putting this match on is the lack of commentary during the parking lot segment. We’ll see this in future entries, but matches without commentary are difficult to watch unless you’ve got extraordinary circumstances like a raucous crowd. It just makes the match uncomfortable to watch. There’s a reason movies have soundtracks, and sports have commentary. Because shockingly, watching two people do stuff with only natural sound effects is extremely boring especially in this case where neither are the most compelling wrestler. If this had commentary, I probably wouldn’t even consider putting it on the list. I’m assuming this was a design choice because the match is clearly pre-recorded, at least in some portions. I think that’s a weak argument because it would be easy to implement commentary, but it’s the only justification I can think of. 

To kick off the match, John Cena ambushes JBL and tries to run him down immediately. Cena then channels his inner Kane by electrocuting JBL’s balls with jumper cables. This is where you start to feel the vacancy left by commentary. The Kane and Shane McMahon spot only worked because you had JR on commentary screaming about how barbaric it was. Whereas here, it’s not even in the top 3 most ridiculous spots, and there’s no commentary to complement it. 

In a second attempted murder Cena launches a keg at JBL full force, only for JBL (with the aid of a convenient camera cut) to move out of the way. WWE’s editing of this match was not good at all. When watching it, it feels like one of those cinematic covid matches that didn’t hit the spot. 

The spots between the attempted murder feature the two men with some weak trash talk; heavy breathing; listening to the ref constantly asking them if they want to quit; and bumping around the cars like it’s a 1999 WCW Hardcore title match. Speaking of the referee, this is another overly concerned referee who constantly tells the competitors that they’re taking it too far. This is one situation where commentary is desperately missed, because they should be going apoplectic on commentary when we see attempted murder number 3. The poor referee has to do the job that the commentators should be doing by talking about how barbaric this is. 

JBL takes out a gas canister and douses a car in gasoline with Cena locked inside. Thankfully there’s crew members on hand to put out the fire, and after another convenient camera cut, Cena is seen exiting the now extinguished car and is back after JBL. Cena, not content with the attempt on his own life, tries to one-up JBL by trying to impale him with a forklift, before taking JBL out to the stage. The commentary team is now awake, ending the uncomfortable silence and the conclusion of the match feels more like a traditional falls count anywhere match.  

To go along with the weird tone to the match, Cole and Lawler are commentating the match as if we haven’t just seen a violent attempted murder. Hell, after nearly being set on fire, Cena is laughing at various points. Eventually JBL throws Cena off the stage into the windshield of a car. That’s enough to give Bradshaw the win, and another loss in a year seemingly filled with them for John Cena. Tonally, this match is a total mess, and despite the ridiculousness of the spots that make it “entertaining crap”, there’s too many problems to not include this on the list.

Up next - we go back to the start of the 90s for another traditional Survivor Series match.

https://discord.com/channels/1007269901859307631/1059557356238811227

Cody Rhodes Vs Brock Lesnar - WWE Backlash (6/5/23)

Before we get to the match, it's necessary to talk about the show itself.  This was another home-run premium live event from WWE this year who continue to crush it for their big shows even if the week to week TV is skippable.  The big talking point on this show was the hot crowd with Backlash being held in Puerto Rico, their first major WWE event since New Years Revolution in 2005.  'Hot' crowd is doing them a disservice.  This is an all timer crowd that we'll probably be making reference to 10 years from now.  San Juan were even better than Chicago for Money In The Bank 2011 because they weren't just passionate for one wrestler and that carried through the event (although Bad Bunny came off like Elvis in Memphis) - they were passionate for every second of wrestling they could get that night.  The reaction to the ring announcements for Bianca Vs Iyo in the opener let you know you were in for a special night. 

The match I had circled on this show as something I needed to watch was Cody Vs Brock.  Not only did that sound like such a perfect combination of roles and styles on paper, red-hot babyface vs heel monster of all monsters, a modern day Sting Vs Vader, as well as a welcome change from Brock being in there with the big heavyweights, but Cody is in such an interesting position booking wise coming off the loss to Reigns that whichever way Vince decided to go with this result felt significant.  If Cody wins here, then things look good for him to still be the top babyface in WWE, if he was to lose then those are back to back bodyblows that in the viewers eye I'm not sure he could have recovered from to feel like a top star anymore.  I was strongly willing on Cody to win this match because he had everything to gain AND lose from this match whereas the result means nothing to Brock really - his spot is sown up until he's sick of the paycheck.  Whenever you have that level of personal anticipation for a match, and then it delivers, you end up really high voter on it so I wouldn't be shocked if some of you are surprised I haven't gone with Bianca/Iyo or Bunny/Priest as my favourite match of the night.  

This was the good version of Brock formula match, the one that doesn't just plug his opponents into the role of eat suplexes and F5s and we're done in 5 minutes.  This was the one that allows his opponent time to shine and for themes to develop.  I love Cody diving at Brock during his entrance to set up the pre-match beatdown.  Brock was a coward in his original attack of Cody on the post-mania Raw, so it felt just and deserved for Cody to get his own back and bash the steel steps into him multiple times and crack a chair over his back.  It's also a believable way to make the match more of a even playing ground as in a fair fight there's really no way Cody should be beating Brock.  Cody doesn't even have a technique advantage over Brock like Bryan used to good effect - the only advantage he has is his brain, his in-ring IQ to set up bear traps for Brock to stumble into.  

Brock catching the third disaster kick to deliver a mid-air german was a great cutoff spot, bettered 30 seconds later when he catches a crossbody and flings Cody behind him with a giant fall away slam.  I totally expected Brock to just do the simple, expected transition to the F5 in that spot but instead he broke out a fall away slam which was tremendous to see.  He goes into some typical Brock stuff with the back to back to back to back germans, but during this we get a glimpse of that fantastic Brock selling in between the germans where he's breathing heavy, red faced, pacing around slowly, still winded from Cody's attack.  He's got Cody down but he's not on cruise control.  

Of course we have to talk about Brock bleeding hard way after diving face first into the exposed turnbuckle cable.  BLOOD IN PUERTO RICO~!  All these guys and girls wearing white gear during the night and not bleeding - pffff.  Forget Carlito and Savio Vega, Brock gifted us with the real tribute to Puerto Rican wrestling.  I can't help but think of how much of a buzzkill it would have been if anyone else bled on this show and the refs had to halt the contest - Brock is literally the only one who could get away with gushing like this for WWE.  That second pop when the crowd see the blood start to pour from his forehead was excellent and then Cody not needing a second initiation by punching and kneeing Lesnar in the forehead was brilliant to see,   When Cody did the back to back Crossrhodes I thought that might be enough to win it, but then we go into Brock's version of overtime (passing the 10 minute mark) as he recovers to hit an F5s.  You really did fear the worst when that hit that because he's done it so often to just brush aside his opponents and win.  Great kickout by Cody.  Brock's face is a picture when he locks in the Kimura and the hard cam can pick him up screaming at Cody with blood all over his face, I'm gutted I couldn't find the better angle of it as my photo for the review.

Here's one criticism of the match though - I really didn't like the finish.  It didn't even come off like a clever fluke of a pin.  Cody just rolled forward, Brock didn't react and it was an anticlimactic finish as Cody raced to the back.  I think an audible should have been called to come up with something a bit better than that once it's turned into a bloodbath, but maybe, hoping against hope, that means Cody will eventually beat Brock in a non-fluky way to finish this feud up.  Lame finish aside, I think this is my favourite Brock match since the Finn Balor one 4 years ago.

Ed's Ongoing 2023 MOTY List

Jonathan Gresham Vs Speedball Mike Bailey - Impact Wrestling (4/5/23)

Feels like ages since I've written anything for the blog.  In April I got married and went on my honeymoon (thank you for the well wishes on discord!) so I had nearly a 3 week stint of not watching any wrestling while I focused on more important matters.  I've tried to catch up a bit on recommended stuff I've missed, but nothing has grabbed me or felt interesting enough to write about.  Until now.

This week's episode of saw Speedball Mike Bailey and Jonathan Gresham have their 4th and (for now) blowoff match in their rivalry.  Gresham won the first match back in February with a roll up, Bailey responded with tapping out Gresham in a figure four at the Sacrifice PPV in March, and last month Tre Miguel spoiled the third match with a run-in to set up the recent 3 way X-Division title match in Canada.   While I'm annoyed that Impact, even in the midst of Josh Alexander going down with a serious injury, are reluctant to let these two fantastic wrestlers be near the top of their card, I am still down to watch two of 'my guys' go at it over and over again.  I really wish there was more of a story here than just a 'mutual respect' series matches because matches like that lack juice to take them to the next level, but there was at least some......idk tetchiness? here from Gresham who took umbrage at Bailey squeezing his hand too tightly in the handshake.  While both men are techinically babyfaces on this roster, Bailey is the pure as snow babyface, and Gresham is the guy that leans a little bit heel and is more desperate to win.

Where my interest really peaks in this match is when Gresham performs a couple of hard hitting arm drags and Speedball takes a little longer than normal to recover from them and starts shaking out his hand.  SPEEDBALL STARTS SELLING A LIMB THAT ISN'T HIS LEG~!  I've seen Speedball do his leg sell match match routine more than I've seen Gunther do his 'chop the ring post = hand sell' match, I've seen it more than I've seen Jon Moxley gush blood on national TV, I've seen it more than I've seen someone join the Bullet Club (happy 10 year anniversary btw).  Don't get me wrong, Bailey is amazing at working that style of match, but I've seen him do it so many times that it doesn't excite me because I know all the beats that are about to happen.  This excited me.  The hand injury meant that A) Bailey could still bring the textbook Speedball offence with 100% efficiency because his legs were in great condition and B) Bailey had a weakness that Gresham could attack

And attack it he did.  Gresham did some nasty joint manipulation work on Bailey's hand that the crowd went along with, 'oooo'ing and wincing in unison as Bailey's hand bent in positions it's not supposed to.  It pays off nicely when Gresham forces the hand down for a pin, and even though it's obviously not going to end the match, the idea is that it's forcing Bailey to weaken his own arm by pushing back on Gresham's weight to escape it.  I'm all about nerdy shit like that.  It really paid off at the end of the match where Gresham caught Speedball in the Octopus Stretch and Bailey had to immediately tap out to it.  Limb work matches are nice, but they really feel like they're worth your time when they connect up with the finish like this.  Gresham comes off like a total genius because his clear strategy worked; he didn't approach the match by worrying about neutralising Speedball's offence, he approached it by playing to his own strengths and what would aid his own moveset.  I prefer it in football when managers are brave and approach games thinking that about how their team's game can hurt the opponent, rather than worrying too much about what the opponent can do to them and so they self-sacrifice their attack and change the team in the hope of nullifying their opponent.....and half the time it doesn't work anyway.  I see so many wrestlers take on Bailey and switch up their own game to just attack his legs, and I'd much rather see people take the Gresham approach here, just be themselves against him and let Bailey worry about their game.  It's definitely more exciting that way from the fan perspective.      

Can you tell Tony Pulis used to manage my team? The scars run deep.

In keeping with all their other matches, this only scratches the surface of what these two are capable of and doesn't flirt with getting on my MOTYC list, but it's such a joy to see them stretch their legs for 10 minutes and still be the best thing on the show.   Carve out 10 minutes of your weekend to watch this, it'll be better than the Coronation.