[2021-11-13-AEW Full Gear] CM Punk vs Eddie Kingston

[ShittyLittleBoots]

This shit rocked. A totally lovely fight that right from the entrances fit the story the two had built perfectly. Kingston's pre-bell backfist, Punk doing the CENA, a legitimately amazing Takayama-Frye scrap, Eddie doing the GTS taunt & eating one himself right afterwards, Punker rocking the crimson mask, bless up. This shit rocked. ****

[urbanecowboy]

This is a story of two different perspectives. These two men had two different matches with each other at the same time. They told a more nuanced story in 11 minutes or so than the Elite could tell in an hour. 

 

This match made me feel stuff. I like when matches do that.

 

CM Punk is fighting to win. Eddie Kingston just wants to fight. Punk is out of touch with Kingston’s perspective but he thinks Kingston is out of touch with his reality because wins don’t matter to him. Punk sees that as a failure to him. He feels the need to hold Kingston to higher standard than the rest because he sees potential in him. Kingston believes he’s been singled-out and judged unfairly for years.

 

The build to this was on-point and the match nailed every beat. There’s some great post-match footage as well that color it even deeper. 

 

I know it’s a work but Eddie Kingston made me wanna see CM Punk get his teeth kicked in. 

 

I love that this match is so heated without a true heel/face dynamic. The match is all about perspective. There’s many layers in particular but I like to focus on how neither man is wrong but the viewer's perspective changes what you see. Just like both guys have different perspectives. Kingston does not care about winning. He just wants to beat up Punk. Punk thinks that everyone can have their differences and if they settle it in the ring like men then everything is all good. 

 

It works because there’s an undeniable connection Eddie has with the fans. Punk has a similar connection but Punk has a selfishness about him that is both a part of his charm and his biggest flaw.

 

 

The match is here. Punk is sporting shorts for the first time in AEW but what stands out to me is that they are white shorts. White is a blank canvas for color. 

 

I love that Kingston goes for a cheap shot on Punk before the bell and honestly, I wouldn’t have complained if we got a no-contest and it never even started. 

 

But alas, 

 

These two proceed to have a clunky, awkward brawl. It’s so refreshing to see something like that. Most brawls nowadays are furniture rearrangement and just building to contrived spots. This match felt real in a way few can. Punk really leaned into being an asshole here. 

 

I’d also like to point out something here that NOBODY seems to be getting. For those not aware this show is taking place 16 years to the day of Eddie Guerrero’s death in the same city in which he passed away. There were many tributes throughout the night but in this particular match the crowd was chanting “Eddie! Eddie! Eddie!” for Kingston but as we’ve learned CM Punk is a self aggrandizing asshole who takes it upon himself to do an awkward tribute. This only causes Kingston to become more pissed off. 

Punk’s John Cena spot was the one hit at self-awareness that Punk might’ve shown and I really wish Jim Ross read the room and didn’t talk through it. 

 

The most over guy in the company, who many people were just happy he was back, was getting GENUINE boos by the end of the match, not in an ironic way but as a response to the person he decided to be in this fight. That is a testament to CM Punk to walk that line but also to Eddie Kingston to become that person that can have that raw emotional connection with a crowd. Truly masterful stuff. 

 

As modern wrestling fans we often look for great matches and look for great booking but Eddie Kingston made us want him to win. Eddie Kingston was able to make wrestling the way it should be for 11 minutes and the result was one of the absolute greatest wrestling matches I have ever seen.

 

Punk goes for a handshake after the match because the guy is so oblivious and in his own head that he misses the entire point.