[2012-07-15-FCW-TV] William Regal vs Dean Ambrose

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[ShittyLittleBoots]

Regal goes after Ambrose's left arm right away, playing up to their first meeting & he is of course great at it. Love the "YOU BETTER TAKE IT HOME WITH YA! " yell by Ambrose as Regal gives him a real cocky nod & smile after doing some brief work over that arm. Then as they go to the outside, Ambrose irish whips Regal into the post, and they sell that big time as Regal being out of it. He does the glassy-eyed "he doesn't know where is" -selling & Ambrose continues to beat him up. It's a solid angle to end the match with - Regal sells it masterfully & Ambrose showcases good urgency + character work of vengeance & low-key desperation. Regal exploding from the trainers arms to forearm Ambrose one last time before the ref ends the match in a stoppage no-contest was awesome. It didn't reach the incredible heights of their first meeting, because of the whole stoppage angle being half the match, but it was still great nonetheless. Great continuity of the arm psychology from their first match, both guys brought the goods on the offense & Regal's selling was really great. ****

[cactus]

As soon as the bell rings, Regal has his sights set on Ambrose's arm. I think Regal might be the most interesting guy when it comes to keeping me engaged during a control segment. The guy is just nasty. Once Ambrose is free from Regal's grasp, he trash talks Regal and the match shifts from a technical contest to a gritty brawl. Ambrose shines during this part of the match. He paces around the place like a lunatic and just looks like a star. Regal gets his brain scrabbled by a ringpost spot and starts fumbling around. His ear starts bleeding and the referee ponders whether to call this one off. Just as Regal lands a lucky forearm blow, the ref decides enough is enough and throws this match out. Regal's selling was fantastic and put over Ambrose big time. 

★★★★

[brockobama]

Adore this match. Simple, emphatic, believable drama and action. It's almost certainly my 2012 MOTY and one of the top matches of the decade. I reviewed this on my blog last year as part of a quick Regal retrospective and I thought that it was the sort of thing his entire career had been building toward.