Post by MonkeyMan on Jul 27, 2004 13:54:13 GMT -5
Personally, I loved it. Here's a write up I did at another message board explaining why:
I haven't seen too many reviews of Raw yet, but the ones I have seen weren't very generous. But last night, I did something I don't think I've ever done. I sat there and closely analyzed the match. N~Conally, I wouldn't do this, as my ratings are N~Conally more based on how entertained I was rather than the psychology and story telling of the match. I believe that an ironman match should be based on those two elements, though.
First off, there were indeed two problems in the match that bothered me a bit. The first is after Benoit did significant work on HHH's left knee, HHH still hit the pedigree. After work on a knee, you'd think HHH would at the very least modify so that he wouldn't land on the "injured" body part. The other is when Benoit went for the diving headbut. That was really out of place, especially since Benoit was given a "concussion" last week by Batista. However, I'm not taking off from my rating of ***** for these two things. Some say a match needs to be perfect to get a ***** rating, but perfection is an impossible thing to obtain.
Now here is the the biggest reason I'm giving the ironman match *****. The match had absolutely brilliant story telling. With the exception of some of the guys signiture moves that were put in solely to get a pop from the crowd, every move had a purpose. Every move advanced the story. Here's what I took from the story being told:
Each Chris Benoit and HHH went in with a game plan. Benoit knows he has to keep it as mat based as he possibly can. That's his specialty. HHH knows that even though he can't out mat wrestle Benoit, he can out power him. Earl on in the match, it was basicaly HHH pounding down on Benoit with hard strikes. Benoit would then gain an advantage with technical holds. HHH then tried to wrestle Benoit's style, but always lost the advantage. After Benoit got the first decision via the crossface, you could see HHH's desperation. HHH is nothing without that title. He will do anything to obtain it once again. Even Benoit's suicide dive appears to have purpose behind it, since it was basicaly the beginning of the end for HHH's first decision.
At this point, HHH's intensity and desperation really start to show. He's tied with Benoit, but he knows that thus far, Benoit has been the better wrestler in this match. He goes outside where Benoit is resting and used the steel steps to count Benoit out. HHH knows at this point that he must do everything he can to physically hurt Benoit to the point he'll be useless in the ring. Shortly after, with Benoit's back already weakened, HHH nails Benoit with a monster spinebuster to go up three falls to one. At this point, you can see HHH's desperation leave only to be replaced by overconfidence. Instead of going on the defensive, the smart thing to do, HHH decided to beat down more on Benoit. This eventually led to a mistake, allowing Benoit to lock on the sharpshooter and make HHH tap out. That's where Benoit's earlier work on HHH's left knee paid off.
HHH's desperation was now once again evident at this point. He now tried to go on the defensive, but was not successful for very long. The gears in HHH's mind were turning, but he appeared to be thinking too much. He needed to fend off Benoit, but he was also thinking about getting another fall on Benoit to make the gap more comfortable again. But his desperation and excess thinking led to his downfall when he lept off the top rope for a big move but got locked in the crossface. The falls were now even at three each.
The next portion of the match is the part I think many people might take off points for. This is where Flair and Batista come out and get involved. I'm going to have to disagree about taking off for that, though. It continued the story the match was telling. Flair and Batista sensed HHH was in trouble, and they came out to help him. This just shows the desperation of HHH even more. The beginning of the end for HHH was when he accidently nailed the ref. Karma was finally catching up to HHH. At this point, with the aid of Flair, Batista, and a chair, HHH had the win. But there was no ref. Karma had struck HHH. He had cheated to win, but it would not work this time. Another ref came out with Bisch, but it was too late. Desperate HHH and Evolution then started triple teaming when karma finally bit HHH in the ass. Eugene came out and helped fend off Evolution. He then nailed HHH with the same steel chair that HHH had attempted to obtain victory with several minutes earlier. Eugene put Benoit on HHH, and Benoit got his fourth fall will five seconds remaining to win the match.
With all that being said, this match is possibly one of my favorites of all time. Things that would N~Conally cause points to be taken off all had a purpose. They all led to HHH's cheating and shady tactics finally causing his downfall.
One thing I find interesting is that Orton wasn't out there. It could be nothing, but does it signify an Evolution break up? There was visible tension between HHH and Orton backstage earlier. That shuld be interesting if it plays out.
Anyway, I'm interested in what all of you think. Do you agree? Disagree? Either way, I'm intereted in seeing people's opinions on this match.
I haven't seen too many reviews of Raw yet, but the ones I have seen weren't very generous. But last night, I did something I don't think I've ever done. I sat there and closely analyzed the match. N~Conally, I wouldn't do this, as my ratings are N~Conally more based on how entertained I was rather than the psychology and story telling of the match. I believe that an ironman match should be based on those two elements, though.
First off, there were indeed two problems in the match that bothered me a bit. The first is after Benoit did significant work on HHH's left knee, HHH still hit the pedigree. After work on a knee, you'd think HHH would at the very least modify so that he wouldn't land on the "injured" body part. The other is when Benoit went for the diving headbut. That was really out of place, especially since Benoit was given a "concussion" last week by Batista. However, I'm not taking off from my rating of ***** for these two things. Some say a match needs to be perfect to get a ***** rating, but perfection is an impossible thing to obtain.
Now here is the the biggest reason I'm giving the ironman match *****. The match had absolutely brilliant story telling. With the exception of some of the guys signiture moves that were put in solely to get a pop from the crowd, every move had a purpose. Every move advanced the story. Here's what I took from the story being told:
Each Chris Benoit and HHH went in with a game plan. Benoit knows he has to keep it as mat based as he possibly can. That's his specialty. HHH knows that even though he can't out mat wrestle Benoit, he can out power him. Earl on in the match, it was basicaly HHH pounding down on Benoit with hard strikes. Benoit would then gain an advantage with technical holds. HHH then tried to wrestle Benoit's style, but always lost the advantage. After Benoit got the first decision via the crossface, you could see HHH's desperation. HHH is nothing without that title. He will do anything to obtain it once again. Even Benoit's suicide dive appears to have purpose behind it, since it was basicaly the beginning of the end for HHH's first decision.
At this point, HHH's intensity and desperation really start to show. He's tied with Benoit, but he knows that thus far, Benoit has been the better wrestler in this match. He goes outside where Benoit is resting and used the steel steps to count Benoit out. HHH knows at this point that he must do everything he can to physically hurt Benoit to the point he'll be useless in the ring. Shortly after, with Benoit's back already weakened, HHH nails Benoit with a monster spinebuster to go up three falls to one. At this point, you can see HHH's desperation leave only to be replaced by overconfidence. Instead of going on the defensive, the smart thing to do, HHH decided to beat down more on Benoit. This eventually led to a mistake, allowing Benoit to lock on the sharpshooter and make HHH tap out. That's where Benoit's earlier work on HHH's left knee paid off.
HHH's desperation was now once again evident at this point. He now tried to go on the defensive, but was not successful for very long. The gears in HHH's mind were turning, but he appeared to be thinking too much. He needed to fend off Benoit, but he was also thinking about getting another fall on Benoit to make the gap more comfortable again. But his desperation and excess thinking led to his downfall when he lept off the top rope for a big move but got locked in the crossface. The falls were now even at three each.
The next portion of the match is the part I think many people might take off points for. This is where Flair and Batista come out and get involved. I'm going to have to disagree about taking off for that, though. It continued the story the match was telling. Flair and Batista sensed HHH was in trouble, and they came out to help him. This just shows the desperation of HHH even more. The beginning of the end for HHH was when he accidently nailed the ref. Karma was finally catching up to HHH. At this point, with the aid of Flair, Batista, and a chair, HHH had the win. But there was no ref. Karma had struck HHH. He had cheated to win, but it would not work this time. Another ref came out with Bisch, but it was too late. Desperate HHH and Evolution then started triple teaming when karma finally bit HHH in the ass. Eugene came out and helped fend off Evolution. He then nailed HHH with the same steel chair that HHH had attempted to obtain victory with several minutes earlier. Eugene put Benoit on HHH, and Benoit got his fourth fall will five seconds remaining to win the match.
With all that being said, this match is possibly one of my favorites of all time. Things that would N~Conally cause points to be taken off all had a purpose. They all led to HHH's cheating and shady tactics finally causing his downfall.
One thing I find interesting is that Orton wasn't out there. It could be nothing, but does it signify an Evolution break up? There was visible tension between HHH and Orton backstage earlier. That shuld be interesting if it plays out.
Anyway, I'm interested in what all of you think. Do you agree? Disagree? Either way, I'm intereted in seeing people's opinions on this match.
