[2008-09-07-Chikara-Style and Substance] Brodie Lee vs Claudio Castagnoli (Steel Cage)

[NintendoLogic]

This is a cage match where the only ways to win are by pinfall or climbing over the top of the cage to escape. I've never cared for escape rule cage matches due to the inherent silliness of winning a grudge match by running away from your opponent. They only really work for me when they're done Bruno-style where the babyface beats the living shit out of the heel and then calmly walks out the cage door. Here, they made it work by keeping the escape attempts to a minimum. Notably, Claudio never tries to climb out himself and only goes up to cut off Brodie's attempts to escape. Overall, this is a pretty fantastic hoss fight where everything feels rough and uncooperative. Both men unleash stiff strikes and take hard bumps into the cage, with Claudio gorilla pressing Brodie into the cage in particular standing out. Brodie's domination in the opening minutes dragged a bit, although I liked the psychology of Claudio fighting from underneath and gradually turning the tide. The diving uppercut off the top of the cage at the end was pretty insane. Strong contender for best match in company history.