ShittyLittleBoots Posted April 5, 2020 Report Share Posted April 5, 2020 This was just about the perfect use of the empty arena setting. It's all about them brutal looking & sounding strikes + the chatter between the competitors. That chatter part could've been big time cringe, but they pulled it off perfectly. Zayn is such a FANTASTIC chickenshit heel -- him talking that trash with his cocky smiley facial expressions while evading Bryan in the beginning half, was such great, great stuff. The build-up to Bryan finally getting his hands on him was superb, and when he finally does catch him, oh boy does it feel fulfilling. From then on it's a complete American Dragon murder-mode festival, and I can't think of many things better. Some DDT4 '09 Danielson & Strong vs. Young Bucks vibes, and that just happens to be one of my favorite tag matches. Bryan is incredible dishing out the punishment at Zayn; I could happily watch Bryan beat the shit out of anyone in that ring, but the fact that it was Zayn in this empty arena setting made it all the more better. Zayn's selling of the beatdown is perfect, especially when it comes down to his verbal selling. He actually reminded me of Terry Funk when it came to that, and I mean that in all the best ways. Not that there could be a bad way to compare someone to ol' Funker anyways. Maybe my favorite singular moment of this whole thing was when Sami got that brief comeback in, he only managed to piss Bryan off more with it -- all leading to Bryan kicking his head off, and then as he wraps his hands around Sami's wrists, getting ready for them stomps, Zayn with his last powers left tries to beg for mercy. Such a fantastic moment that kind of tells the whole story of the match. This was so, so good. Exactly my kind of shit. The beginning with Zayn doing his best to piss Bryan off with his antics, Bryan finally getting his hands on him & delivering an incredible beatdown w/ stiff slaps, punches, knees to the face & mid-section, crossface shots, and more! -- all absolutely amazing stuff. As for the finish, at first I wasn't the biggest fan, but the more I think about it, the more it suits the match. Such simple, yet such an unique match. I knew Bryan & Zayn would deliver something worthwhile, but I'm not sure was I expecting anything like this. I watched it twice in a row and actually had to pause the show after for a good 30-minutes or something close to that, 'cause I had to just really think about what I had just watched. Absolute brilliance from two of the best. To put it in complete cheese, this was two maestros painting a picture the way only they can. ****1/2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul sosnowski Posted April 5, 2020 Report Share Posted April 5, 2020 Dude, cmon. The ending was so flat and awful. And there is no way I could ever rate a match that high that goes less than 9 1/2 minutes. This wasn't Rey and Paicosis in 1995. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShittyLittleBoots Posted April 5, 2020 Author Report Share Posted April 5, 2020 All matter of an opinion. I loved every second of those 9 or so minutes the two went. The length is one of the major reasons why it felt so unique, and it also meant that there weren't any wasted motions. And yep, this was better than Rey & Psicosis :') Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Makai Club #1 Posted April 6, 2020 Report Share Posted April 6, 2020 I thought this was fine. Sami running away from fun. Bryan slapping Sami was good too. Nowhere nearly as good as it should've been though. *** Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShittyLittleBoots Posted December 3, 2020 Author Report Share Posted December 3, 2020 I felt very strongly about this one when it first aired, and while now I don't think of it as highly as I did back then, it's still a great match. A totally unique addition to both guys catalogues, too. It played out accordingly to Sami's heel character with him trying to get out of the match as easy as he could, but of course after all the (awesome btw) stalling, Bryan did get his hands on him & then it was total punishment time. Bryan is incredibly compelling dishing out the said punishment with his always terrific looking strikes, and with this being in front of no crowd & there's no fake crowd noise, the sounds of those strikes stood out. This whole match was all about the sound every strike & move made + Sami's vocal selling and the little bits of dialogue between him & Bryan. I thought those moments where they exchange words were done exceptionally well, as usually stuff like that comes off as total cringe in wrestling. Here that wasn't a problem, as it all brilliantly added to the bout & the story they were telling. Sami's all around vocal performance is absolutely phenomenal, with his screams of agony & begs of mercy reminding me a bit of Terry Funk, even. This is a totally great match for the sub-10 minute duration of it. The finish isn't very good though, as it does feel too sudden, which as a result sucks some juices out of it, but yeah, I still love this. **** Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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