[2009-06-07-WWE-Extreme Rules] Chris Jericho vs Rey Mysterio (No Holds Barred)

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Superstar Sleeze]

WWE Intercontinental Champion Rey Mysterio vs Chris Jericho - Extreme Rules 2010 No Holds Barred

 

I loved that angle where Jericho disguised himself as a Rey Mysterio fan in the crowd and then headbutted him and hopped the rail and attacked him. My brother and I marked out for that angle. Great promo by Jericho before the match really laying into Rey's commercialism and the deception of the mask. I loved how he said he sat among the Damned. Great line.

 

Much better than at Judgment Day, but now there is more on the line. Rey is pissed and takes it out on Jericho. Jericho does a good job bumping for Rey Rey, not amazing but it is solid. Rey comes outta the gates hot. Throughout the match, I thought Mysetro gave a more inspired performance than the previous match. I liked that Rey got a lot more offense in this one as each Jericho's heat segments were not as long and they weren't as good as the previous match. I liked him hanging Rey out to dry on the top rope. When Jericho goes for the springboard dropkick, Rey has seen this before and dropkick him on the apron outta the air. Nice spot. Again, Rey goes on a hot little run, 619 using the post, bodyblock from the apron and then Dropping the Dime. Like I said really good Rey offense. Jericho's offense left a lto to be desired. He finally goes for the mask and Rey is pissed and DIVES out after him outside the ring. Great spot! Lots of electricity.

 

Now they go back to building around finishers but they have a lot more heat built up from Rey just kicking ass so the finish run feels extra hot. 619 attempt and this leads to the Lucha Style spinning backbreaker. I am glad they went back to that spot because it is great. Jericho powerbombs Rey on a Rana attempt, I liked the one from Judgment Day better, it is like reverse Misawa spot. Lionsault misses and Jericho falls backwards into the ropes. 619 to the back of the head->Rey springboard ->CODEBREAKER. The whole finish run is very late 2000s workrate. No selling just crazy moves out of nowhere, but I will admit I popped for the Codebreaker. Jericho is shocked. He gets a chair, which is a good idea given this is no DQ. This leads to Rey dropkicking the chair into Jericho, but then Jericho gets the Walls, Rey cracks him in the skull (so unprotected head shots were still a thing in 2009) with the chair while in the move. Rey goes for 619, but Jericho unmasks and then rolls up.

 

Lots of 2000s workrate with tons of spots but no selling in between. Like Jericho gets hit with 619 but hits the Codebreaker or Jericho eats the chair shot and still umasks him. Just kills the move before it. I did think the finish was excellent and played into the story. Better than last month, a much more inspired Rey performance but some glaring errors down the stretch makes this fall short of greatness. ***3.4

[Makai Club #1]

I always thought Jericho was at his best when he was on the defensive in his matches, coming up with counters to get one over on the opponents. Jericho pulling out a La Atlantida was fucking awesome. The code breaker of the rope were great as well. And of course, the finish with Jericho countering the 619 by taking off the mask and school boying Rey for the win. I just wish that he didn't no sell the chair shot that trasitioned into the finish. Rey was a house on fire whenever he was on offence though. He was incredible. ****
 

[EnviousStupid]

I think the layout of this match supersedes the emotion and heat of the feud, which puts a ceiling on what they can accomplish here. Most of the meat here is Rey dominating, and it still looks good and entertaining in large part due to how creative his standard offense can be, but it doesn't really come across as hard-hitting like what I'd hope. You can put some of the blame to WWE's move to PG the year before hamstringing rivalries like this of much-needed blood, however Rey has never been the type of wrestler to give a thorough beating in his matches (and he really shouldn't ever be asked to). Jericho's also past the point in his career where his offense looks like it hurts, so he can't really compensate for what Rey naturally lacks. He is a good base here though; taking every dive and consistently feeding into Rey's moves, only ever getting his shit in off of counters. Because of this, I'm not too fussed over how Jericho hit the Codebreaker, the Walls of Jericho, or how he won the match - very sleazy, cheap, easy to hate the heel moving forward. I just wish that Jericho had taken a greater deal of punishment beforehand.