Match of the Week - Fire Ant vs Vin Gerard - CHIKARA Young Lions Cup VI

Truthfully I've never been one to watch much CHIKARA. I've dabbled here and there but it's not a promotion I dedicated a lot of time to. So this review may lack a bit of context, but will hopefully be good for an outsider's perspective. At the same time, this match is very accessible due to how simple (that's not to say bad) the backstory to this match is. CHIKARA as a whole has always had its clear identity within US indies, and that identity plays into the story of the match. Vin Gerard is despised within the promotion for being an antagonist against the masked wrestlers of the promotion. Fire Ant meanwhile came into this tournament as a replacement for Worker Ant. This is the finals of the 6th Young Lions tournament. 

I thought this was a great match with an easily digestible story that is effortless to get into. Prior to the match, Gerard slaps Fire Ant across the face, setting the tone for the entire match. Once the match starts, Fire Ant begins with an aggressive flurry. It doesn't take long from there before Gerard takes control of the match, taunting Fire Ant and the crowd. Early on, we've quickly established the characters and their personalities. Once Worker Ant comes out on crutches to support Fire Ant, the stakes of the match are set out. Worker Ant isn't the only man to come out in support of Fire Ant and the sight of the masked wrestlers from CHIKARA coming out in support of Fire Ant is by far my favourite part of the whole match. It's always a fantastic moment when a heel gets his comeuppance from multiple sources in a single match or moment. It's that sort of touch that heightens the importance of the match while also making it feel unique. Similarly, I loved the moment later on where Gerard hit a powerbomb and tried to use the ropes for leverage purely from the reaction to it. The reaction from the wrestlers on the outside and the commentators put the spot over fantastically.

The emotion of the match is heightened by the character performance of both wrestlers. It's remarkable to see how good Fire Ant is both with and without the mask as Orange Cassidy. It's reminiscent of how effortlessly Sami Zayn went from being a masked wrestler to unmasked while still being a fantastic babyface. I guess being a great babyface just comes naturally to them. 

That's not to say the match is without its faults. Part of this is due to the inherent rules of the match, namely the 20 count on the floor. After Fire Ant hits a sick looking fireman's carry to the floor, it begins a very, very long 20 count to tease a countout finish. Gerard, in fairness, sells this well - both visually and audibly. The problem is it comes relatively early in the match, isn't a believable finish, and you feel every second of that 20 count. That's not a problem in and of itself, but later in the match they repeat a count out spot. After a couple of long STFs by Gerard, including one on the outside, its clear that he's trying to win by countout. It also includes a neat spot where he moves Fire Ant further from the ring. The problem is that I found it brought the pace match to a screeching halt for a second time in this 15 minute match. I don't think this is an inherent flaw of the 20 count either - if the workers know they have a 20 count, then I think the should work around that a little smarter.

Nonetheless, the finishing sequence with Fire Ant firing up is great, and even the no-sell of the Burning Hammer didn't bother me too much based on what we had been shown earlier in the match and the importance of it. Overall this was a thoroughly enjoyable match that is easy to watch and show to anyone. While it may not be technically spectacular, the emotion and story of the match made this feel special and gripping. 

Match of the Week - Austin Aries vs. Nigel McGuinness - ROH Rising Above 2007

At the last Ring of Honor pay-per-view, Nigel McGuinness finally managed to capture the Ring of Honor World Champion after defeating Takeshi Morishima. However a torn bicep kept him out of a couple of shows including Glory by Honor VI. Meanwhile Austin Aries returned to Ring of Honor at the Driven pay-per-view and is now here vying to become ROH's very first two time champion, having previously ended Samoa Joe's two year championship reign back in 2004. I did always love how rare it was for a guy to become a multi-time champion in Ring of Honor, and how important it was made to feel when someone did eventually achieve it. 

The reason I mentioned Nigel's arm injury is twofold. First of all, it is the basis of some of the story of this match. But it's also a catalyst to why ROH fans turned on Nigel in late 2007 that ultimately led to his heel turn during his title reign. ROH had an irritating habit of not pulling the trigger on guys at the right time, letting them lose a bit of steam, and then their title win is less satisfying as a result. Nigel was no exception to this after losing multiple big matches in the two years leading up to his eventual title win. When he got the title, he dared to miss time for injury - even though a torn bicep was a pretty reasonable excuse for missing time if you ask me. Not only this, but Nigel had been getting more and more vocal criticism from ROH fans at the time for his matches. I remember frequenting the ROH forums at the time, and Nigel had many critics based on his over-reliance of the lariat. It also birthed slander names such as Nigel McLariat, for example. 

This match feels like the turning point in fans' perception of Nigel going forward and a point of no return. There is a very noticeable crowd contingent that despises him, and chanting "fuck you, Nigel" and "same old shit". In a bizarre way, it feels like Chris Jericho vs. John Cena from Summerslam 2005 where it basically signalled the end of crowds unequivocally loving Cena and Nigel respectively as the booker intended. 

I've made no secrets about my admiration for Austin Aries as a wrestler. To me, he's one of my favourite wrestlers of the 2000s. He also has the distinction of having one of the most beautiful suicide dives in wrestling history. I say that to say that within 5 minutes of this 25 minute match, Aries hits the suicide dive at his typical rocket speed. Nigel goes head first into the steel guard rail, cut above his eye immediately, and is knocked completely loopy. This match was always hard to watch, but knowing what we know about Nigel's health issues that ultimately led to his retirement makes this even more uncomfortable to watch. Uncomfortable, yet compelling.

Aries can now focus on two parts of Nigel - his head and the already injured arm. There's an ever so slight lull after they get back in the ring after Nigel gets knocked out, which I don't blame them for as they were likely just re-calibrating. Aries becomes incredibly aggressive at this point, even more so when McGuinness taunts Aries after a blocked dropkick. Aries in his prime always felt like he was wrestling with more speed and intensity than just about everyone else. That fits well into a main event title match because I feel like his intensity inherently brings prestige to the match. 

Thanks to the injury issues, this felt like a believable place for a title change. Nigel could have easily dropped the belt, gotten surgery and I don't think anyone would have been upset. Well, maybe some people on the ROH Forums would have found a way to be upset. But thanks to the head injury, it put Nigel in a situation where he's the underdog. One thing I loved was how Aries began to utilise some familiar Bryan Danielson strategy. Bryan had beaten Nigel before via referee stoppage with elbows to the head, and that's something Aries tries to emulate in this match. Fantastic storytelling. 

I love how this match is paced in spite of the issues they had because it felt like everything continued to escalate. Nigel was on the defensive for a lot of the match and that made the big moves he was throwing out feel like the act of a desperate, injured champion. My favourite spot in the whole match is when Aries takes a top rope lariat and falls to the outside in a visually incredible moment. Surprisingly they don't overload the match with false finishes, and the finish itself is smooth as hell. Aries had been countering the rebound lariat in many creative ways through the match, but only through Aries' own counter was Nigel able to find the opening to hit the rebound lariat. Aries sold it by landing directly on his head, giving this vicious match a fitting ending.

In a lot of ways this is difficult to review because I think it isn't a good look for anyone involved given when it took place. A part of me hates that this exists as it does. But on the other hand, it's that head injury that turns this from being just another great ROH title match to one of the more compelling ROH title matches in history. It's not a match I'm enthusiastic to rewatch constantly, but I think it shows the best and worst habits of both of these tremendous, tremendous wrestlers. I think this is their best match together, even moreso than their Supercard of Honor III rematch. I would like to have seen what could have happened in a world where Nigel wasn't injured (they had an okay match at Unscripted II but that was on a much smaller scale than a main event match).  

Match of the Week - Team TNA vs. Team Japan vs. Team Mexico vs. Team International - TNA Victory Road 2008

Ahead of a totally legitimate world sporting tournament, for this week's match we look at a different totally legitimate worldwide competition. As part of the 2008 World X Cup, we have for this week a 12 man elimination tag team match, with the competitors below:

Team TNA - Alex Shelley, Chris Sabin, & Curry Man

Team Japan - Masato Yoshino, Milano Collection AT, & Puma

Team Mexico - Averno, Rey Bucanero, & Ultimo Guerrero

Team International - Alex Koslov, Doug Williams, & Tyson Dux

Far be it from me to question the wisdom of Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. But naming the teams Team TNA and Team International give me real Reverend Lovejoy talking to Apu vibes: "be they Christian, Jew or ... miscellaneous". But in all seriousness, I did enjoy the World X Cup concept and think this kind of thing has always had an untapped potential in wrestling. I feel like with a proper commitment to the cause, a wrestling company could produce a truly compelling tournament based on nationalities. Rules are simple - two guys in the ring at once, once a competitor is eliminated they're gone. I enjoyed Don West commenting about the psychology of the match where you may not want to get involved in the match. If you're not in, you can't be eliminated. This does play into the match a little bit, which we'll get to shortly.

First thing's first. Masato Yoshino is outrageously fast. Most famous in the US for that six man tag at Supercard of Honor 2006, and even in that insanely paced match he felt lightyears faster than anyone else. He's worth spotlighting since this match is predominantly focused around him. Of course, as a TNA opening match of a PPV, this is as electric as you would expect. When I initially got into TNA in 2005, it was these sort of quick X Division openers that sucked me into the programming. They were providing a style of wrestling that wasn't easily accessible on TV at the time. Between that and the 6 sided ring, those are always what stood out to me and gave TNA its niche that I, and many others, originally latched onto.

In that regard, this match is not one for thorough play by play commentary. Puma and Milano Collection AT (who had a couple of awesome Matrix-like spots) are eliminated early, leaving Yoshino all by himself on his team. I loved that he never got a tag out for ages in the early going because it makes complete sense that nobody would want to tag him when he could be easily eliminated and take Team Japan out of consideration. I was thinking that would be a cool storyline point, but after he manages to get a pin on Averno, he rolls out the ring and then is no longer the legal man. I think there was some potential for a bit of storytelling using strategy of tags, but they went in the direction of not caring about tags. I don't necessarily think it's bad, as this is better for match flow and they did return to this storyline beat later on.

With 11 eliminations to get through, the eliminations come quick and often, even at a match that lasted over 20 minutes. However it's certainly not a Survivor Series "guy gets eliminated by a suplex" situation as most of the eliminations feel like moves fitting of pinning a guy. But having 12 men in the match does lead to several wrestlers feeling inconsequential. A better example of this kind of match would be the Genesis 2005 elimination match which was a similar length with 8 competitors, which felt like it had more time to breathe. That's not to say that this match is bad by any means, but with 12 men there's only so much attention that can go around even in 24 minutes. 

As well as Yoshino's survival, the other story is that MCMG manage to get the man advantage for Team TNA. Once all of Team Mexico is eliminated and we're left with just Alex Koslov, Masato Yoshino, and MCMG the match focuses on MCMG's tag team prowess. They begin to hit a bunch of fantastic looking, albeit slightly contrived, tag team spots. But it worked because they were the only team with the man advantage, so its logical that they'd be able to use that to set up big tag team spots. 

Eventually Chris Sabin is eliminated, leaving just Alex Koslov, Alex Shelley, and Masato Yoshino. Yoshino manages to eliminate Koslov, and goes from a dire situation where he'd potentially win 0 points for Team Japan to guaranteeing at least 2 points. This match did a tremendous job of putting over Masato Yoshino as well as MCMG as a team. It's kind of scandalous that this would be Yoshino's final TNA performance because I think he certainly warranted a shot, and he was presented as a guy that they had future plans for. Perhaps it wasn't so much a lack of interest on TNA's part, but rather contract, or overseas obligation, I couldn't say. 

Overall I thought this match was a blast and a great example of how you can add a slight bit of storytelling to make an otherwise enjoyable opening spotfest that much more enjoyable. This is an ideal PPV opener that feels important, sets the correct tone, and pleases the crowd. Say what you want about TNA, but this is the stuff that made the promotion a lot of fun around this time.

Match of the Week - The Big Show vs. Floyd Mayweather - Wrestlemania 24

Following on from a spectacular celebrity match featuring a cocky boxer this past weekend, our match of the week takes us back to 2008. At the time, this was widely considered one of the best matches featuring a non-wrestler in WWE history. The match came about following Big Show's return at No Way Out 2008, where he came back 100lbs lighter and in the best shape of his life. However, in typical Big Show fashion, he turned heel about 5 minutes into his return as Rey Mysterio had the sheer audacity to be injured, stealing Show's spotlight. In one of the best segments of the year, Floyd Mayweather came in to stop Big Show. Big Show even knelt down to allow Mayweather to strike him. Brave man. Needless to say, Mayweather wasn't used to pulling his punches, so he ended up breaking Big Show's nose. The weeks leading up to this match originally had Mayweather as the babyface, until everyone remembered he's a cocky piece of shit, and it was leaked that he was receiving $20 million for the match. WWE saw the writing on the wall, so he was quickly retconned as the heel of the match. 

That wasn't the only tumultuous part of this build up. According to an interview by Big Show, the original plan going into 2008 was to have a tag match between Big Show and Mayweather against Rey Mysterio and Batista. Prior to No Way Out, Mysterio had torn his bicep right off the bone, leaving Big Show to wrestle Mayweather, while Batista was left shoehorned in a filler match with Umaga. 

One thing that this match does have is it feels fitting for the spectacle of Wrestlemania. WWE steered a little bit away from the celebrity side of things for a while in the 2000s. Wrestlemania 24 followed the success of Wrestlemania 23 with Donald Trump as its headline act - at the time the highest grossing Wrestlemania of all time. WWE went to the well once again, making an outside celebrity the big draw of Wrestlemania. This benefited from the fact that Mayweather was a legitimate world renowned athlete at just about the peak of his prowess - this wasn't some Butterbean situation.

Not only that, the obvious size contrast makes it a fascinating spectacle. Put Mayweather up against a wrestler his own size and everyone would rightfully assume Mayweather would obliterate him. But put him up against the largest athlete in the world makes it far more interesting. I remember a forum I was on at the time having a big discussion about who would win a shoot fight, and is a question that still pops up on r/whowouldwin from time to time. 

Early going starts as you would expect with Mayweather using his quickness to avoid Big Show and get in some body shots. They don't seem to have much affect, but that changes when Mayweather actually manages to get Big Show's chin, which gets an audible gasp from the crowd. I loved the strategy of Big Show going for the hand - it shows that Big Show respects the danger that Mayweather presents, while also being a total dickhead thing to do in his own right.

Given Mayweather's commitment to his own sport, there was a lot of question about how much he'd bump and be willing to take. How can they make a match between babyface Big Show and heel Floyd Mayweather work? And truthfully there's nothing too dangerous - everything looks and feels safe, which is a negative to the match. It's understandable, but I think that more modern celebrity matches have spoiled us in our expectations (think Bad Bunny and Logan Paul in recent times). What Mayweather does have is character and personality. He's such a little shit, but he's also willing to give a lot to Big Show. Show dominated most of this match and Mayweather sold like a madman for him. Mayweather's entourage takes a lot of the big bumps in this match and I loved how they used his henchmen to tease the spots down the line - in particular the big chop.

The finish was simple, but incredibly smart. It worked into Mayweather being a complete prick, and managed to make the Big Show look dominant even in defeat. 

Overall I think this match has aged a bit since it happened. People like Bad Bunny and Pat McAfee have pushed the bar for celebrity matches high since then. You still get your duds even today, and it's easy to see the celebs that are willing to give their all and those who are there for an easy payday and publicity. On the other hand, some things are timeless in wrestling and character work, selling, and spectacle are three of those things. This match certainly feels special and way overdelivered. It can't have been an easy match to plan out given how different they are, and their respective alignments - so it's a testament to everyone involved that this match is the success it is. 

Match of the Week - AJ Styles vs. Minoru Suzuki - NJPW G1 Climax 2014, 1st August 2014

A few days ago on the discord we were discussing AJ Styles' best match. Me and Ed seemed to agree that the choice was likely his TNA match with Samoa Joe at Turning Point 2005, though other matches were mentioned. Both of us were interested in revisiting his New Japan work, as it marked a career resurgence for AJ Styles after stagnating within TNA. His NJPW work elevated AJ back to the forefront of everyone's mind when discussing the best wrestler in the world, and that is why I chose this match for the Match of the Week. Watching AJ here is such a joy. He's still amazing today, but he's into his 40s at the time of writing - here he's so agile and fluid in his movements, which is a reminder of what a special, special talent he is and was.

My immediate impression of this match is that Suzuki's facial expressions throughout this are priceless. Odd thing to notice first, but I love that he's just an angry old man and he's here to let AJ Styles know it. Within the match itself it's as if he's getting frustrated that AJ would dare to even strike him. He brought the violence to the match, which was complemented by some fantastic selling by AJ. The audible selling of Styles is magnificent. It's the sort of thing I've always lauded Ric Flair for in the past, and I give similar praise to Styles here. It truly put over the nasty work that Suzuki was doing to his arm. This is a prime example of two guys using their strengths to improve the match. Speaking of which, I think this is a feather in the cap of both men considering how wildly different their styles are, that they were able to have a match of this quality.

I loved the limb work, in particular the nasty little touches that Suzuki would do. He wouldn't just put in an arm bar, he'd twist at the fingers, or he'd move to a crossface. He wouldn't just stretch the right arm, he'd start working over the left one if it was available. Every hold he put on worked because of how he mixed it up. This is how you do engaging holds. For a match that concentrates a lot of work on more subtle aspects like stretching fingers, AJ's audible screams helped put it over to the crowd. Visually, this arm work looked stunning, and suitably aggressive for what they were going for. 

This in turn led to Styles himself becoming noticeably more aggressive later in the match. He'd gone from being flashy AJ Styles in the first few minutes, to a guy that had to do the nitty gritty stuff to compete with Suzuki. In turn, that puts Suzuki over even in eventual defeat - he's beaten by Styles, but he forced AJ to come out of his comfort zone and gave him the fight of his life. 

While Suzuki's offence looked fantastic, and certainly warranted the selling that Styles delivered, it's the performance of Styles that puts it over the top. From the subtle way he'd try and regain feeling between moves, to the moment where he stops using it because it was a liability. He made us, the viewer, feel every bit of pain in his arm. 

The best part of this match is the struggle between moves. Each move used feels like either guy has to fight tooth and nail for. In particular the suspense they built up down the finishing stretch for their big moves. I loved Suzuki's strategy of using the ankle lock to bait Styles into a counter that would expose the injured arm, leading to a wonderful tease and struggle in an arm bar. That arm bar leads to a Styles Clash that AJ can't capitalise on due to his injured arm. The finishing sequence had practically no near falls, but the drama and energy was built from the previous arm work that made the finish exciting in spite of a lack of near falls.

One glaring negative is I did think the interference was totally unnecessary. It added nothing to the match, nor did it add any drama - especially coming right in the middle of the match. Instead it just felt like a distraction to a match I was already thoroughly enjoying. 

Overall I had a blast revisiting some NJPW AJ Styles work. This might not be his best match from this run, but it's certainly up there and a match I wouldn't mind watching again and again. An excellent match from two great wrestlers. 

Fenix vs WALTER - wXw 16 Carat Gold, 9th March 2019

If you've ever seen these two wrestle, you can probably imagine what sort of match you're about to see. WALTER is the hard hitting giant, and Fenix is the feisty athletic superstar. While Fenix isn't afraid of WALTER, and they establish early that he's willing to stand up to him, he's certainly overmatched physically. I liked the commentary saying that Fenix presents problems that WALTER hasn't seen before. It's a nice way of making Fenix feel special, while also turning the tables on the usual "how is the small guy going to beat the big guy?" It is very quick before that sentiment is put to bed as WALTER quickly begins to dominate the match as you would expect.

The key aspect of this match is Fenix's mask, which WALTER goes after very early into the match. I'm torn on this, as this happens to be the best part of the match - which I'll go into a bit later. But it also serves as my main gripe for the match. It doesn't feel earned. Going after the mask is presented in wrestling, and in this match, as this extremely personal and vindictive act. I think going for it so early into the match sort of devalues that concept because it didn't feel like the preceding moments warranted it. The commentary team tried to play it off as WALTER being frustrated that Fenix got the better of a couple of exchanges, but those exchanges were brief and ultimately didn't build any momentum for Fenix, nor did they give him a near fall. 

To give an example of this concept done right, I'd go back to Rey Mysterio vs Chris Jericho from Extreme Rules 2009. That feud hadn't totally centred around the mask, but it had been hinted in promos. When Jericho goes for the mask at the end of the match it makes sense because he'd been pushed to the limit by Rey, and it was his last desperate move. That felt earned. WALTER going for the mask just felt like a move that didn't need to happen in this match, and they didn't give me a reason to believe it was necessary.

Beyond that, I had a couple of niggly issues with timing where it felt like WALTER waiting just a half second too long while waiting for Fenix to hit a move. When I say it's a niggly issue, I mean miniscule but I thought it worth pointing out.

Gripes aside, this is a terrific sprint between two wrestlers I'm a big fan of. I was surprised at a) how short the match was and b) how long it felt watching it. That's not to mean that they packed too much in, because a lot of it felt like it had time to breathe in those spots. Unfortunately I did feel that was offset by a beginning which seemed brushed off as if they wanted to jump right into the middle of the match. This again plays into my original issue about the mask spot. Some of the highlight spots were Fenix's escapability and the unique counters he had; WALTER clubbing Fenix out of mid-air;  and an absolutely beautiful top rope power bomb. 

I mentioned earlier how I was torn about the mask tearing earlier because while it's my main complaint about the match, it also leads into my main praise about the match. This match feels special because of how authentic the later mask stuff was. Fenix's mask coming off after the ace crusher felt so smooth and natural and threw me off when I watched it. The cleverness in this spot is how it delays Fenix getting the pin, causing WALTER to get enough time to kick out. It plants the idea in the fan's minds that Fenix could have won, but just got unlucky. It also adds to the strategy of WALTER going for the mask as it ultimately saved WALTER in this moment, and helped him finalise his win. The mask stuff continues to push this match, as a fan provides Fenix with a replacement mask. This may or may not have been a pre-planned spot, but I don't care and in either case it came off as a genuine and heartfelt moment from the fans to Fenix. All this escalates to the conclusion of the match which felt like a logical progression to the story they were telling.

This match left me wanting more and to see them wrestle again, so in that regard it was a success. I went into this thinking that it would be a typically great match from two people I enjoy, but I was surprised in the direction they decided to take the match. The mask spots changed the dynamic of the match which made it feel unique, and how it was incorporated makes this match stand out. Overall despite my issues, I thoroughly enjoyed this, and would love to see more between these two.

Match of the Week - Matt Riddle vs. Timothy Thatcher - NXT, 27th May 2020

Coming just days after the second ever Fight Pit match, the Discord chose the original as this week's match of the week. As WWE was still wrestling with how to handle pandemic era shows, Matt Riddle and Timothy Thatcher gave what I would consider to be the highlight match of this time period.

Right off the bat it's worth pointing out some things. The first is that this is an aforementioned covid-era match, which I've found to be difficult to evaluate because there's some inherent parts of wrestling that are different from most matches ever (for example playing off the crowd). It also makes the audible part of wrestling from the competitors far more important. Some wrestlers took to that, others did not. 

Secondly, it's weird to hear Mauro Ranallo on commentary again. It feels like that's a whole different era of wrestling, not just two years ago. 

Kurt Angle is the special referee for this match, which is fitting because one of the matches this reminds me of is Angle vs Samoa Joe from TNA Lockdown 2008. Not just because of the cage match setting, but in terms of what they were going for. The Lockdown match is much more divisive than this one, but I've always been a fan of it. When I first watched the Fight Pit match, I was extremely impressed and I'm happy to say that it has held up remarkably well. Especially given its era, where I have often been reluctant to go back to rewatch matches.

What becomes apparent quickly is how they went out of their way to make this feel special and different. In pro wrestling, coming up with new stipulations is usually a difficult task. Most of them suck. My main critique of Rollins vs Riddle from Saturday would be that they felt like they had just a standard cage match so it didn't feel worth the stipulation. Whereas this felt worth it because it was a different style of match you'd typically see from WWE. They weren't just having a regular match but with an alternate coat of paint - they used the stipulation to present something special.

While they were clearly leaning into an MMA influenced match, make no mistake this is an excellently worked pro wrestling match with all the typical ebbs and flows you'd expect to see. Right from the get go there's an emphasis of aggressive grappling, hold exchanges, and strikes. Almost immediately they establish how the cage is a factor, including the most memorable spot of the whole match where Thatcher loses a couple teeth and gets his mouth bloodied following a kick from Riddle. I thought the visual of Thatcher with blood in his mouth and Angle holding his (fake) teeth was remarkably well done considering these things are usually hockey. Also on the subject of the cage, Riddle's use of it is phenomenal in this match. Not only when he's on offence, but he constantly used it as an out of Thatcher's submission holds. The stuff on top of the cage is nice as well - it's a well designed structure in that the platform is big enough to move on, and it's the perfect height to where you believe someone could fall off at any time.

I think this match is a great example of how even mat wrestling can portray hatred and violence when presented in the correct way. While I've often shared my frustration at wrestlers chain wrestling at the start of a match when the match is presented as a personal feud, this is a far cry from that. These two clearly wanted not only to brutalise the other, but prove they're the better man. There's a certain grittiness to the match. It feels grounded and intimate, making it feel more personal as a fight. Even aesthetically, the dark, empty NXT arena worked superbly here as opposed to the sometimes over-indulgent 2022 WWE presentation.

This is one of the best matches of covid-era WWE. I touched earlier on how important the audible side of wrestling was at this time, and these two deliver huge in that regard. Obviously the strikes look and sound incredible all the way through. Not only that, but the struggle you can hear between the submissions and grappling. I also want to point out something they didn't do because a lot of these covid-era WWE matches, particularly the big main event style matches, loved to make melodramatic stories complete with bad acting and dialogue. There's none of that here, and I'm happy to do the odd thing and praise them for not doing something. 

Match of the Week: Jeff Hardy vs. Kurt Angle - TNA No Surrender 2010

Flanderisation is a wonderful piece of TV tropes terminology to describe someone whose endearing qualities become a source of parody as writers continue to escalate their personality. It stems from the problem that a lot of Simpsons characters felt after the golden age of the show ended. Homer went from a lovable idiot to a sociopathic delinquent. Ned Flanders went from the well-meaning Christian neighbour to religious zealot. However the term isn't limited to the Simpsons as there are countless other examples (most of the Friends cast in later seasons would be another). And yet I find it oddly fitting to the direction of Kurt Angle's career.

Almost everyone loved Kurt Angle vs Chris Benoit from the Royal Rumble 2003. At the time, it was mind blowing to see a match with that sort of finisher-counter wrestling on a major wrestling promotion. We'd seen major WWE matches with big finisher kickouts, such as the Rock vs Stone Cold, but nothing like Angle vs Benoit where the transitions between the finishers were as integral as the finishers themselves. It went on to be the template for the "WWE main event" style that still exists to this day. Kurt Angle would use that formula to develop his own style that became trademark for him: heavy counter wrestling and finisher kickouts. And while Kurt Angle remained mostly a popular and well regarded wrestler, there were certain parts of the internet that tired of this formula. Longtime residents of Wrestlingclique.com may remember this match was quite infamous at the time. I'd say it was one of the more divisive matches in the forum's history. For a long time, the subject of Kurt Angle had been the source of many debates (particularly in comparison to John Cena). And once this match happened, a lot of people used it to confirm their hatred of the Angle formula, while others maintained this was a match of the year candidate. 

That's why I chose this match as the Match of the Week. It's been a long time since Kurt Angle was a regular wrestler on TV. Gone are the days when he'd have a match with Amazing Red on Impact and have him kick out of the Angle Slam. It's with this removal from context that I'd like to look back on Angle and to see if this match truly was as contentious as it should have been, or if this was a symptom of a long bubbling discrepancy across the forum. 

This is the for a shot at the TNA World Championship, with the winner going to Bound For Glory for the title against either Mr Anderson or the Pope (wow, that is weird to think). If Kurt Angle loses, he's promised to retire.

Immediately what springs to mind is how little they let the match breathe. Taz and Tenay talk about Angle's strategy to try and ground Hardy, but that holds little weight when them almost immediately chuck that out the window in favour of throwing bombs. 

I like both these wrestlers on the whole, but can fully acknowledge how flawed both are. There is absolutely no structure or story to this for the majority of the match. This is both men showing their worst tendencies and playing wrestling in their backyard with the finisher kickouts. The best way I can describe it is two guys that thought "hey, why do we need a beginning and middle when we can get to the finish"? Within 6 minutes, Jeff had hit two Twist of Fates and Angle had hit a top rope Belly to Belly and an Angle Slam. Within 10 minutes Hardy hit a Swanton from the top rope to the floor. Hilariously, Taz comments on how the fans weren't reacting to the finisher spam by saying that half the fans are going crazy and I don't think half understand what they just saw. 

That's not to say that the pace is necessarily a bad thing - for example if the match is a sprint. Kurt Angle vs Rey Mysterio from Summerslam 2002 is a match which is a frantic sprint from start to finish with all sorts of big moves and creative counters. What separates this is that nothing is as intricate as Rey vs Angle. Those two had moves that flowed into each other perfectly. This match is just move move move move with no structure or nuance. The formula isn't there anymore, it's just a hilariously jarring bundle of big moves.

The second flaw is that this isn't a 10 minute sprint. This is a 30 minute match. Even if this match was 15 minutes, it wouldn't have been good but at least it would have been understandable. There is barely a transition in this match. The best way to describe this would be playing a wrestling video game with unlimited finishers and kickouts. I was less than half way through the video of this match, and Jeff had just hit two consecutive Swanton Bombs for near falls, and within 30 seconds Angle was back on the offence. Minutes later, Jeff is in an Ankle Lock and Taz is begging him to tap out and live to fight another day. Does my review sound incoherent and without structure? Does it sound like I'm just listing moves? Well, that's pretty much how I felt watching this. There's no struggle - Hardy is barely selling it and baiting that he might tap. Again, this is barely over half way through this match. 

I dare to say this is even an Angle formula match. One of the things that made those early 2000s Angle matches fun is the various counters. There was a struggle to actually hit finishers that made the eventual finishers more satisfying, and the kickout feel more important. This match, for a 30 minute draw, has zero struggle between moves, it felt. It got to the point where this match felt like an elaborate piss take from each guy to see how much bullshit they can pad into a match and still get a "This is Awesome" chant from the fans. 

At the twenty minute mark, they go to a time limit draw for some arbitrary reason. Afterwards, Eric Bischoff comes out to announce this match must continue so we get 5 more minutes. On restart, Angle actually employs honest-to-God strategy. He goes immediately after the ankle of Hardy to work it over once again. It might have only lasted a moment, but I'm glad that after 20 minutes there was some semblance of storytelling however short it lasted. After that 5 minutes expires, Bischoff declares that they need another 5 minutes (as opposed to just removing the time limit, I don't know?). Ironically it's these overtime periods that are the only parts I found myself enjoying because it felt like there was strategy and selling of the exhaustion. It's almost like the match was backwards - instead of the bulk of the match used to set up the finishers, the finishers were used to set up the story of the match. Bizarre stuff. Towards the end of the second 5 minute period, Angle gets busted open in a nasty way. Once Angle gets the final ankle lock in, then finally Jeff begins to sell it like he's in peril, making the last 30 seconds or so quite dramatic. Of course the time runs out, and this time there's no restart which gives us our draw. 

On the whole, I can't say I enjoyed this. It felt like the worst habits of both men. However I won't lie and I'll say that the last ten minutes were significantly better than the rest of the match. The first 20 was about as bad as an example of psychology in wrestling as you'll ever see.