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ShittyLittleBoots

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  1. ShittyLittleBoots
    Del Rio had just won the WWE Championship prior to this, and Bryan was of course holding that MITB briefcase, so it was a fun, pretty major, cross-brand meeting. They get a good amount of time & deliver a very good TV-match; Bryan works most of it from underneath, and to no one's surprise, is great at that. Del Rio is also well spirited in this, showing good swagger w/ his work -- I did appreciate him going for Bryan's arm early on with some focus, which ultimately paid off in the end with that Armbar finish of his. ***1/2
  2. ShittyLittleBoots
    This is a very good & nice midcard match. Barrett isn't exactly a highlight reel when working on top, but his work is definitely very solid, and Bryan's crafty babyface performance is just all kinds of awesome. My favorite bits were him chopping Barrett down w/ them leg kicks in one his comebacks, and then him countering Wade's first Wasteland attempt w/ those repeated elbow strikes, getting the Guillotine in & then transitioning that into the LeBell Lock. That's some pretty great stuff there. Felt like the match got better as it went on too; like I said, this was a real strong midcard contest, in which both guys looked really good, and in Bryan's case, great. ***3/4
  3. ShittyLittleBoots
    This isn't the craziest multi-man ladder match that WWE has put on over the years. What I mean by that is that there isn't a huge amount of those holy shit spots that could be put on video packages for years to come, but what I think this has most of those other multi-man ladder matches beat is the flow; right from the get go the thing just flows super well, and it continues to do so for the rest of its runtime. There's no dull moments whatsoever, it's just super fun action with everybody getting some proper time to shine -- one standout was Sin Cara's run on the offense; he looked very good with his flippy stuff, and then the way that said run ended by the hands of Sheamus was absolutely awesome in all of its glorious brutality. The finishing sequence with Bryan & Barrett also rules, and the result is a genuine feel-good moment. The post-match with Bryan getting overwhelmed by the crowds reaction to his victory is some heartwarming stuff as well. So it's a great match + the ending/result is fantastic, which makes it a really sweet deal all around. ****
  4. ShittyLittleBoots
    They had that fantastic match at Bragging Rights the night before, and this sure was an extremely nice follow-up to that one. I absolutely LOVED the beginning stuff w/ Ziggler taking Bryan to the mat, Bryan getting out of his control by picking limbs any chance he got, and the way that whole section of the match ended with Bryan getting tired of Ziggler sitting there, so he naturally just stomped his face. That was some absolutely awesome stuff, and the rest of it rules as well w/ exciting action all the way through. ***1/2
  5. ShittyLittleBoots
    This felt like two younger promising, hungry mid-card talents going out there & wanting to put on a showstealing match. They ended up doing that successfully; it's an absolute banger of a bout, and both guys looked like million bucks against one another -- Bryan's offense is always killer, but it got that extra sauce to it here w/ Ziggler being in his peak bumping & selling form. Ziggler also delivered in the control segments of his own, and I liked the little story they got going early on with his amateur wrestling past coming out & wanting to challenge the world-renowned pro-wrestling technician Bryan on the mat. ****
  6. ShittyLittleBoots
    This is a Submissions Count Anywhere match, so naturally there's a lot of submissions showcased. Morrison & Miz aren't exactly who you would call submission-savvy wrestlers, but I think that added to the thing, seeing them do Dragon Sleepers, Texas Cloverleaves etc -- stuff that you wouldn't normally see from them. Will always remember this match for being the one WWE main roster match where Bryan busts out his good ol' friend in the form of Cattle Mutilation, too. They do good use of the ANYWHERE part of the gimmick as well w/ them going to the crowd, and ultimately ending the match on the entrance ramp. It's very fun stuff all around. ***1/2
  7. ShittyLittleBoots
    Moxley had been talking mad shit about Danielson leading up to this, which made the opening w/ Dragon just easily cycling through his signature spots, kicking his ass, feel all the more better. Moxley taking over was done well, and I loved how he went straight after the cut on Bryan's head when he noticed the blood there. His selling of everything Bryan did was super good too; Bryan blasting him with those deadly kicks, uppercuts n' forearms would be great in any situation, but thanks to Moxley's awesome, character-fitting selling, it was even greater. The finishing stretch with Bryan destroying him with those kicks, stomps to the face & ultimately the LeBell Lock rules as well. Great match. Moxley more-than delivered as the scrappy, violence lovin' street fighter looking to pull off the upset & Dragon was a rockin' babyface to go against that. ****
  8. ShittyLittleBoots
    I really like the beginning with Bryan pretty much running circles around The Miz, and Miz only getting the advantage when Bryan wasn't fully focusing on him as the ref was telling him to back away. Miz's gameplan becomes clear when he gets that one bit of offense there; he gets the advantage by wringing Bryan's arm into the ropes, and after that, he starts doing a big number on Bryan's arm/shoulder. Miz's work over that shoulder is amazingly compelling -- I've always loved this match, but after this most recent re-watch, I am actually pretty blown away by his performance. He wrestled like he had something to prove, and it really is the best single match performance of his career. The whole thing in many ways reminds me of a Bryan Danielson ROH World Title match circa 2006, but the funny thing is that the role of Bryan Danielson isn't played by the man himself -- it's played by THE MIZ. He's excellent here, and Bryan is of course on par w/ his role, bringing the energy up big time in every bit of offense he gets with that vintage explosiveness & intensity of his. His selling of the arm is also pretty much perfect, and I'd actually call it one of his best selling performances ever, even. The arm feels like dead weight, and rightfully so, because Miz truly had a laser-focused target on it. Excellent bodypart targeting & excellent selling. How bout that? I'll always sing the praises for this match; it feels like it's almost criminally "forgotten" in Bryan's catalogue, and even when people discuss Miz's best matches, it doesn't get the full recognition it imo deserves. It would be a top-10 match anywhere in almost any year ever. ****1/2
  9. ShittyLittleBoots
    Doesn't hold up that well on a re-watch almost 2 years later, but it's still worth a watch. This was awesome & frustrating at the same time. Awesome pretty much solely thanks to Danielson, who was excellent as always. Frustrating because of Sawa, who brought the match down quite a bit with his lackluster performance; all of his strikes looked super weak, light as a feather, especially compared to those of Danielson's. Then as Danielson goes after his leg w/ some awesome submissions (absolutely LOVED all those counters he busted out, easily some of the best highlights of this thing), OF COURSE Sawa doesn't sell it at all. He just continues with his quick, shitty comeback bursts. Thankfully Bryan is the one leading on offense for the most part, and it's truly fantastic stuff when he is on the driver's seat, but my goodness, this is a yet another example of him carrying someone to something worthwhile. Makes me wonder how good this could've & would've been had Sawa been at least a bit better. ***1/2
  10. ShittyLittleBoots
    Team WWE is John Cena, Edge, Chris Jericho, R-Truth, John Morrison, Bret Hart & Daniel Bryan. The ending & the result are truly awful, but looking past that, this is actually a very good Survivor Series style multi-man elimination tag. The 35+ minutes they go fly by -- the action is solid throughout, and there's some flashes of greatness in there; Daniel Bryan was absolutely awesome for every second he was in there, and Bret Hart had a really nice short run too. He still threw one helluva punch, and I liked the way they eliminated him, even if you could argue that it made him look dumb. Also a shoutout to the future Ryback in one Skip Sheffield; I thought that out of the Nexus guys, he easily looked the best. Him throwing Morrison around was legitimately a lot of fun. I mentioned the ending being awful, and it sure is exactly that & left somewhat of a sour taste in my mouth, but all in all, the match is very good. ***1/2
  11. ShittyLittleBoots
    What a stacked line-up on paper. WWE delivered so many terrific multi-man tag matches in 2013, and this was no different. Just super fun action from bell-to-bell w/ THE highlight, for me, being Daniel Bryan's superb hot tag -- he was the best hot tag in all of wrestling in 2013, and this was a good reminder of that. Loved Rollins trying to come n' save Harper from his frenzy there, only for him to eat a German Suplex -- I also loved how that gave Harper a bit too much time to recover, resulting in him countering Bryan's running dropkick counter into a hellacious powerbomb. Definitely the best stretch of the match. Punk's hot tag later on was very good too, and so were the last few minutes with everyone getting their signature moves in. FUN! ***3/4
  12. ShittyLittleBoots
    Looking back on this, it feels a little weird considering how much more dominant Brock got w/ the Suplex City gimmick just a year or so later, and then there's of course Punk's whole MMA stint. It doesn't affect my views on the match at all, but it's just funny to think about how much different this match would be now. Anyways, this is really great. Punk makes for a great badass underdog; loved him utilizing aerial attacks throughout, and that Triangle spot was pretty terrific. Brock also of course delivers big time; his beatdown of Punk is amazing - especially loved him busting out those bearhugs, and him talking trash while delivering that said beatdown rules. His selling is also tremendous -- maybe my favorite singular moment of the whole match is when Punk bites his way out of Brock's hold & then continues with a little kick-flurry which Brock just sells AMAZINGLY w/ that "I don't know where I am" look on his face while still having his hands pretty up, ready for battle. That's some truly amazing wounded-bear type shit. The final act of the match with Punk getting a little too focused on Heyman is also a brilliant way to cap the match off; he pretty much had the thing in the bag, but since Heyman interfered, he had to get his revenge, which allowed Brock to recover & put that final nail in the coffin, so to say. Still holds up as a classic & it surely is one of the finest matches of both men's WWE careers. ****1/2
  13. ShittyLittleBoots
    This was a lot of fun. Especially everything after that awesome Sheamus rampage run is some really good stuff. The absolute highlight for me is Bryan's fiery flurry where he takes out everyone. That ruled, and so did the rest of the match; they very much had the whole multi-man trope going w/ it mostly being two guys fighting in the ring while the rest of the competitors lay outside, but it's still good stuff. It feels like a scrappy fight throughout, and I felt like especially Bryan, Sheamus & Punk delivered great performances. The angle at the end w/ Heyman betraying Punk is executed pretty fantastically too, with Punk's excellent facial expressions really selling the deal. ***3/4
  14. ShittyLittleBoots
    This is better than I remembered. It's not great or anything, but comparing it to their 2012 PPV meetings, it's so much better. The atmosphere is fantastic & as Punk is coming back after a little hiatus, I really dig how they play that ring rust into the match throughout. Jericho is a bit meaner than usual too w/ the crowd obviously being 200% in favor of his opponent -- I can't tell if that's the sole reason, but for some reason(s) he just FELT so much more compelling w/ his work here than he did in most of his other matches during this time period. That little mean-streak sure helped. Overall the match sure is quite 'workrate-y' in its structure and all, but they executed that well without it getting too cute or into the overkill zone, I thought. And in many ways it played into the story of Punk's ring rust nicely. The Chicago definitely helped in the grand scheme of things as well. The February '13 match between the two remains their best, but this is a close 2nd. ***
  15. ShittyLittleBoots
    Punk had been playing some big time mind games leading up to this, so it only made sense for Taker to start all hot n' fiery, and I love how Punk continues those mind games in the beginning w/ them slaps. The whole little cat & mouse game they play is pretty fun. Taker gets a nice lil' segment to kick Punk's ass in slowish, more methodical fashion, and it's solid stuff -- Punk gaining the control by reversing the Old School & then a minute later successfully doing the move himself was a great dick move. Punk on top is pretty good, but maybe not the most compelling he could be. I did really like his cut-offs of Taker's comeback attempts, and talking about those, Taker teasing the dive was such a great moment; I remember in 2013 thinking that there is no way he is gonna do that move, but they got me good w/ the tease. Another GREAT bit was the count out tease after Punk's Elbow Drop -- genuinely one of the better big match count out teases there has been. They kick the thing into its finishing gear after that, and it's all about them big time moves, counters & nearfalls; my favorite moments from that section of the thing are Taker rising from the ground & staring a hole through Punk while Punk had the Anaconda Vice locked in + the Tombstone kickout after Taker bounced off the ropes to do it. Now the match isn't as amazing as I wanted to remember it being -- it's still really damn good, but the wrestling isn't quite as compelling as I remembered. Def 100% worth the watch though, as it's definitely one of Taker's best WM matches, and all in all just a really nice big time WrestleMania style banger. ***3/4
  16. ShittyLittleBoots
    Man, the story they told here is just amazing. Having just recently re-watched all of their previous major matches (MITB, SummerSlam, NOC) also sure helped with that too. Going into this thing, Cena hadn't been able to beat Punk in any of their previous major PPV meetings, and he sold that brilliantly right from the get go w/ his body language. Punk on the other hand seemed cool as a cucumber, oozing that arrogant confidence. That perfectly carries into the match too with Punk being in firm control, always having counters to Cena's attempts at mustering a real flurry of offense. I absolutely LOVED his first way of countering Cena's vintage comeback sequence -- he just ducked that shoulder tackle, making Cena fly out of the ring w/ it. Cena tried to go for that same sequence of moves again a couple of times, and both times Punk had answers to it; him countering the suplex part & immediately following it by locking in the Anaconda Vice was awesome, and then when Cena got a bit further with it & got to the U Can't See Me taunt-part, he just kicked him in the head. I thought that whole thing was absolutely genius tbh. It made the finish make all the sense in the world, because Cena truly needed something completely new & fresh to shock n' stun Punk, and that he sure did with that Hurricanrana. That finish is AMAZING, and the lead-up to it was just straight-up brilliance. Their 2nd best match against one another & one of the best WWE TV matches of all-time. Back then none us knew it would be the last CM Punk vs. John Cena match, but looking back on it, it was pretty much the perfect way to end one of the greatest in-ring rivalries in the history of the company. ****1/2
  17. ShittyLittleBoots
    Their Royal Rumble match was already disappointing, so the expectations weren't high for this 2nd meeting between the two, but even then, this was extremely disappointing. Like I said, the expectations weren't high, but I sure wanted it to be better than it ended up being. Punk pretty much dominates most of the match, and sadly & disappointingly, he just isn't interesting at all with it. Very uncharacteristic for the man, and then there's The Rock who just pretty much brings nothing to the table. If I had to say one thing I liked about this, it would be the count out tease after Punk's Rock Bottom -- that was some nice drama & worked well within the stipulation of the match. Other than that hot minute or two, the 20 or so these two went felt like 40. Not a good match at all. The Rumble match is far superior, and that one is certainly nothing-to-write-home-about either. *3/4
  18. ShittyLittleBoots
    Definitely MUCH better than their 2012 PPV matches. I really like Punk's heat segment on Y2J here; he is awesome with his facial expressions throughout, and he has a nice gameplan in going after Jericho's neck. His work over that neck w/ the cravate, those leg drops, neckbreakers etc is pretty great. That whole section is most certainly my favorite part of the whole thing. Jericho's full-on comeback isn't really interesting at all, and as that bit gets done, they essentially kick the match into its final act w/ it being more even and big moves & counters being bust out for them nearfalls n' all. Didn't care for that stuff too much - it's not bad though, and I do think that Jericho's last GTS counter into the Walls of Jericho was pretty neat. Good match for sure & like I said, miles ahead of their bad PPV matches of the past, even if it's carried by Punk's awesome work on top for the most part. ***1/4
  19. ShittyLittleBoots
    I love the hype video package for this match, and Rock's pure babyface promo before the match is also really great. The match itself is pretty far from great, but it's not bad. I liked the fact they went after their respective weak spots -- Rock had a worked up mid-section going into the thing, so Punk tried to wear him down by targeting it. Makes sense, and Punk's work over it was definitely very solid. Then as he makes one mistake & seems to tweak his previously injured knee, Rock sees that and starts returning the favor by delivering a stomping to that knee. Rock doesn't really fully commit going after it though, and as the match becomes more even, it becomes more about the big moves & counters. It's okay I guess, but definitely very, very, very forgettable stuff. I 100% liked the first half (or so) much more w/ the slower build & all. Gotta mention that it's also a shame that the announcing table crumbled under them when they were going for that big spot of the match in Rock delivering a Rock Bottom to Punk through it. Overall I think it's a solid match, but it's also very disappointing at the same time -- it's only memorable for the result + for the fact that it's Punk vs. Rock. It was very fun to go back & watch it though, as I hadn't seen it since 2013 prior to today; as far as me getting worked up about wrestling goes, this match & its result is up there w/ the best of 'em. Was a massive (still am) Punk fan back then, and while I knew that Rock was 110% sure winning the belt, they got me good with that finish after The Shield interfered. Then a couple of minutes later I'm triggered so bad as Rock pins Punk after that People's Elbow. Good times :') **3/4
  20. ShittyLittleBoots
    This was solid fun. Punk took some big bumps and the whole dynamic of him being the weasel heel against the terminator like act that was Ryback, was pretty fun. Nothing overly memorable, but a good TV-match for sure. ***
  21. ShittyLittleBoots
    By the end, this comes off as a total heavyweight main event clash w/ a lot of bombs + nearfalls & both guys having to dig down deep to their arsenals since their usual signature moves weren't doing the deal. It's pretty great, and I also like how we got to that point; from the get go, they go with the narrative of Punk being one step ahead of Cena at every turn. They tell that story wonderfully throughout, as it's usually only when Cena resorts to his raw power that he gets any kind of a flurry going, but it's mostly Punk having a counter to everything he did & being that one step ahead. Then, as implied, the match eventually becomes more even w/ lots of bombs and solid nearfalls. I really liked the fact that both of the guys had to start coming up with different big moves (Punk with the Moonsault, Cena with that top rope German) since the GTS, AA etc weren't getting them the win. Now the match is maybe not as great as I remembered, but it's still great. Tells a great story from start to finish, and as usual with Cena & Punk, the action is very compelling. As far as their PPV matches go, I'd put this ahead of the SummerSlam '11 one. ****1/4
  22. ShittyLittleBoots
    Everybody knows about the match these two had at Over the Limit, so this kind of goes somewhat forgotten at times, but I've always thought that it's brilliant. It's completely different from that said OTL bout of theirs, as it should've been; going into it, the feud between the two had been growing deeper & more heated, and the thing had a No DQ gimmick attached to it, so it only made sense that they beat the absolute shit out of one another here, to put it bluntly. There's lots strikes throughout & both guys deliver big time on the offense delivering those strikes -- all the chops & kicks look superb. Especially Bryan went really kick-heavy here, even more so than usual, and I loved it. They also take good care of that no dq gimmick w/ them hard chair, and especially kendo stick, shots. Now there's also that special guest referee gimmick with AJ Lee, but that doesn't take anything away from this, as they handled that in a way where it didn't come into the way of the actual match quality, I thought. Fantastic feud-ender. ****1/2
  23. ShittyLittleBoots
    The meat of the match is Punk's attack on Bryan's leg vs. Bryan's brutalization of Punk's ribs. It's just absolutely fantastic stuff; both guys are extremely compelling doing damage to one another, and the selling is really great throughout. Early on I loved how 'cause of the damage Punk had done to his leg, Bryan was slower than usual with his classic comeback sequence, which allowed Punk to gain the control back. Really love the whole idea of Punk pretty much dominating the early going w/ his focused attack on a specific bodypart, too -- in the indies, The American Dragon made a name for himself off of that shit, and here he is getting schooled by Punk. Felt like that thought came to his head when Punk had him on that leglock too, as he very angrily forearm'd the absolute shit out of him to get out of the hold. When he finally fully gets back into the thing, he sees a target in Punk's mid-section, and oh boy did he go to town on that. Him just wearing Punk down with submissions & kneeing + kicking the wind out of him was terrific, and like I said, the selling was great. Punk sold brilliantly & it created for some superb moments like him essentially sacrificing himself w/ that Macho Man Elbow Drop, and him recovering slower than Bryan after he got himself out of Bryan's Dragon Sleeper. Some other great moments in this all-timer of a match include Punk going back to that leg w/ that Dragon Screw followed by the Figure-4, "I have till 5" w/ a cheeky little smile; mocking Bryan's old ROH shtick, Bryan pulling the kneepad on his bad knee down & going to town on Punk with them knee-attacks on the corner. I really could just say that everything about this is just great. The day it happened I recognized it as something special, and here, years later, it still holds up as something special. One of my absolute favorite matches to ever take place. *****
  24. ShittyLittleBoots
    This starts off hot, but much like at Mania, once Jericho properly takes over, things go dry. He was good at receiving the ass-kicking from Punk early on, but once he was working the heat, it just wasn't interesting at all. They really lost me at about the bit where Jericho starts pouring beer on Punk, and everything after that just drags badly. 25-minutes for a match like this was just completely unnecessary, and it truly felt like they didn't have enough material for that duration. They get me back for a second w/ that awesome Elbow Drop through the table, but everything after that is once again pretty damn uninteresting. I was ready to call this better than their disappointing Mania meeting during the first 10 minutes or so, but like I mentioned, things quickly got very dull & remained dull for a very long time. **
  25. ShittyLittleBoots
    My favorite things about this was the opening section w/ Punk kicking Jericho's ass in every department, and then the finishing stretch w/ the Anaconda Vice stuff, which was legitimately pretty great. What happened in between was such a bore though, sadly. Jericho isn't interesting at all when on top + the whole DQ-stipulation created for some cringe "drama" w/ Punk contemplating DQing himself and all. They pretty much move into a "workrate-y" section in the last third of the thing too, and it's just not good -- that kind of stuff is something that Jericho was always bad at in the 2010s, and it certainly isn't something CM Punk is the best at, either. Disappointing match. **1/2
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