[2002-11-09-ROH-All Star Extravaganza] Amazing Red vs American Dragon vs CM Punk vs Michael Shane vs Paul London (Gauntlet)

[ShittyLittleBoots]

There already is a thread for the Danielson vs. London part of this, but I thought the entire thing deserves some talking. Merge this w/ that Bryan vs. London thread if it needs to be done.

This is a GAUNTLET match. The first match of it is Michael Shane vs. the debuting CM Punk. It's good stuff! It actually surprisingly ends up being the longest match of the Gauntlet, but I ain't complaining about that, since it was indeed rock solid. Punk got to look very good in there, and Shane was his usual charming self. Really liked how Punk noticed Shane clutching the arm, which caused him to go work over it. PSYCHOLOGY~! and all that. Shane getting the win by grabbing Punk's shorts was nice too, a classic sleazebag move fitting for the man.

Then out comes Paul London, and I'm definitely here for him & Shane duking it out. It's an all-action scrap, with Shane ultimately viciously beating down London -- only for him to fall into London's trap of acting like he's more hurt than he actually is, resulting in him delivering a quick DDT for the pin. Great callback to their Boston match where Shane faked an injury to small package London for the win. They went under 5 minutes, but all of it ruled. After Shane refuses to shake London's hand, out comes Tommy Dreamer for a pretty lengthy mid-match segment. I enjoyed it to be honest.

Red vs. London is the weakest segment of the match, but it's still good. The best parts were London just roughing Red up, notably with that one pop-up forearm strike in the early going, and then swinging him into the barricade later on.

The final entrant in the Gauntlet is the American Dragon, and unsurprisingly, his & London's match is the best of the bunch. Dragon dominates most of it, and he is so compelling w/ his matwork & hellacious strikes. That finish with him dumping London with that Dragon Suplex & then locking in the Cattle Mutilation was badass.

Extremely fun match all around! Each segment was strong. Had a good time with the thing from start to finish. ***1/2