[2017-10-21-PWG-All Star Weekend 13: Day Two] WALTER vs Zack Sabre Jr

[ShittyLittleBoots]

An absolutely excellent match, just as expected. Obviously there was a lot of hype for this one w/ Big Dave giving it the full 5, the live reports saying it truly is one of the all-time great matches in PWG & the preview clip of it looking great - and it lived up to that hype. WALTER & Zack beat the shit out of one another in this classic; you got WALTER as the amazing dominant bigger man throwing ZSJ around & chopping him with those sick chops of his - and then you got Zack as the tremendous underdog chopping him down with those great strikes of his + trying to outsmart the bigger man w/ his great mat, submission oriented tactics. Fantastic match. ****1/2

[Cap]

I watched this right before I left town for the holiday and I really loved it. It is in the mix with out about 5 other matches for my top match of the year. I really need to watch it again before I articulate too much about why it is a real contender for match of the year, but it just stands out in a sea of wrestling and that is becoming increasingly hard to do. I think it is probably getting at least ****3/4 from me. I haven't given anything 5 this year yet, but I am going to rewatch this among my top 10 or matches and see if where it falls.

[SmartMark15]

Lots of fun here especially with Sabre ragdolling for WALTER's chops. He didn't even need to be suplexed to bump like a maniac and I thought that was a great touch. Enjoyed how WALTER paced out his selling so that his arms got in progressively worse shape as the match went along. Sabre's quick bursts of energy after a long WALTER beatdown gave a lot of energy and life to this match too. His heel character work peppered throughout was a fun development too.

 

****1/4

[Matt D]

I have been trying to give Sabre more of a shot lately since people I trust are high on his recent work and I shouldn't be holding 2011 against 2017-8. WALTER is a once in a generation talent, mixing size and presence, with deep and complex selling. He has Henrys sense of timing and knowledge of when and just how much to give and the riddle of Aja Kong where its just fascinating to watch wrestlers try to figure out how to solve the puzzle of him.

 

I liked this. I thought it was good and at times great. I loved how Sabres first real offense was because WALTER found himself stuck in some chairs. I thought the finishing stretch was excellent.

 

Where I struggled was in the character of Sabre, who came of as a wrestling savant moron, more concerned about being cocky than anything else. He wrestled the entire match as reactive and that clashed with my perception of him. He seemed to have no strategy and when he did lock in a hold, it was due to luck and reflex and he never capitalized. It was as if this was some video game challenge about how many times he could get up from WALTERs stuff and execute his taunt in his face. Again, thats ok and it can be effective in general, but it wasnt what I was expecting or looking for from Sabre and I struggled a little bit accordingly. I also think, that in an absence of strategy, he shouldn't have survived as long as he did. I am ok with wrestlers with different body types surviving against giant odds if the match warrants it, but it was toughness and not skill that kept Sabre in this, and I just didn't but that.

 

Ultimately, I do think it accomplished what they were going for, but what they were going for was more like 4 stars then 5, and that is absolutely okay. I am guessing this was something of a work in progress for Sabre as he transitioned into a heel and WALTER probably wasn't the best opponent for him in the midst of that progress.