Mike's thoughts

Final Battle Review (Sorta)
This tape is a mixed bag, but given how good the final 2 matches are it's a thumbs up show worth getting. I don;t like harping on the negatives, so I'll get them out of the way:

--Acid is sloppy as usual

--The Carnage Crew vs. Shitty Miracle Violence Connection match sucked dick.

--Rave vs. Walters was fucking awful.

--Foley and Steamboat just wouldn't shut up.

--Corino and Punk's entrance times combined for 4 hours and 24 minutes.

Now, onto the good but not great:

--The Special K mixed tag was fun. Probably not even good but all the double stomps were really cool and if double stomps are the shining wizard of 2005 I'll be a happy camper. Angeldust is just loaded with talent, the kid is going to be a star by the end of the year. Gabe keeps putting him with great guys in FIP and he's only going to improve.

--Trent Acid quit.

--Homicide vs. Josh Daniels was the gem of the undercard. I figured this was better than live reports said and it was. Josh was very good here barring an odd choice of a chinlock early where something else would have worked much better. Cide working the arm for his new submission was nice and the match played out really well. *** or so.

--Lethal vs. Weapon of Mask Destruction was a good wrestling match but it would have been better with Generico wrestling as himself. As it was, the good work didn't get much heat because of the gimmick. Lethal's babyface routine is a little corny for my liking, but the match was fine.

--The Punk/Corino tag was good. I didn't really think it was a burial, instead of an opening offensive run the faces goofed off instead. The Gen Next control segments were nice, but unfortunately Punk's whiffing wizard made its return. Punk won with the Anaconda Vice, which got no reaction since it's never won him a thing on the east coast. This happened to Joe too the first bunch of times he used the choke, but if they don't give up on it they can make this a good secondary finisher for Punk. **3/4-***...not great but fun.

Now, the great:
--American Dragon vs. Low Ki: Man...this is probably my favorite match they've had together and it doesn't even have a finish. They haven't wrestled for 2 years so they start out slow, and I really liked how they kept a similar flavor as prior matches but also made you feel like it was about to explode in hatred at any minute. Ki eventually goes to Dragon's bad arm, and finds every heelish way imaginable to work it. The crowd boos him during his control, but in duel chant portions it almost seems louder for him, because kids that boo heels love to be the loudest. Dragon responds to this armwork by stomping on Ki's heel, which was nasty, and then stretches him out. He gets a big superplex and goes for the airplane spin, but Ki counters into the Dragon clutch. Dragon spins anyway and they tumble to the floor. On the floor Dragon beats Ki into the crowd, and gives him an airplane spin in the crowd. That was neat. Then the rottweillers jump Danielson and we have a DQ a little over 20 minutes in. The rottweillers beat the shit out of Hansen and reinjure Dragon's arm. Cool heel segment. The 20 or so minutes this got were really awesome. Throw in a hate-filled final 5-10 minute final stretch they could have easily done and this becomes strong MoTYC. As it is it's just the opening and body of a classic without the final stretch. Far superior to their 3/30 match. ***1/2

--Austin Aries vs. Samoa Joe: This was incredible, on rewatch it's my third favorite Joe defense, ahead of the Dragon one. The full circle storytelling is so great largely thanks to Joe, but Aries does contribute a lot. It starts off hot with Aries charging Joe, going head on, only to get stopped in his tracks in a hurry. That failed, so Aries tries the CM Punk headlock strategy but Joe has counters and this strategy fails too. Aries then tries the Danielson leg strategy but Joe stops this in a hurry as well. Joe just dicks around with Aries as if he's Izzy or something, smiling while he's kicking his ass. He just exudes arrogance and it's great. He hits 2 ole kicks on the floor, and he's having so much fun that he goes for a third, but this is a mistake and Aries stops him before hitting a dropkick version.

Back in, Aries goes for his goofy corner elbow and Joe counters with the choke...another reason to love Joe: He always works cool counters in to lame spots. Aries escapes but still can't get anything until he gets a beautiful rana counter to a powerbomb for 2. Joe went over like he was a fucking luchadore. Aries hits about 5 brutal dropkicks to the face in the corner, but Joe counters finally, catching him with an Island Driver out of the corner for a good nearfall. That was really choice, and a nice play on how Joe usually gets that corner sidewalk slam. The first great nearfall of the match comes when Aries fights off the Musclebuster and hits the 450 for 2.5. Usually I hate finisher kickouts, but Joe was losing here anyway and Aries had pretty much no offense prior to this. The final run is fantastic and I don't want to spoil it, it works so well. They pay off teases of dives, endless teases of the brainbuster that never come close, and finally the story comes full circle when Aries wins. In the end, after abandoning his plan to just go straight at Joe early, he comes back to it and wins with it. In the end, after 20 months it didn't take rope a dope or limbwork or some contrived strategy to beat Samoa Joe...it just took Austin Aries. ****1/4

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