Samoa Joe vs. Austin Aries (ROH - 12/26/2004)

Second. Great little match with a nice story of the outmatched challenger weathering the storm and counterattacking with ferocity to come out triumphant.

I loved this! Aries was superb in this. I loved how his strategy evolved in the match from bum-rushing to leg work to desperation lunges to gritty shit like eye gouges & fishhooks. That last minute is so thrilling. What I loved the most was how Aries really threw his weight behind every forearm and dropkick. You really got a feeling of Samoa Joe's size and Aries' desperation with each blow. Superb pro wrestling.

ROH World Champion Samoa Joe vs Austin Aries - ROH 12/26/04

CM Punk mentions that Aries was not even in ROH a year ago and that is really key. Generation Next was the beginning of the Second Wave of US Indies workers. This match is an extension of the 90s US Workrate style with more puroresu influences because Joe is such a disciple of King's Road & Hahsimoto. That is not present here. Aries wrestles this match like an undersized Chris Benoit. He is pugnacious and he throws himself into every dropkick and forearm. I love how he lunges into everything. He really feels outgunned compared to the dominant asskicker Samoa Joe that is 21-months deep into a championship reign that is seemingly interminable. Also, love how Aries changes strategy three times in this match. My favorite thing about Flair is his ever-evolving strategy. Here we see that with Aries. At first he tries the bumrush approach, but the bigger Joe stops him in his track. Then in an escape of a hold, he manages to wrench Joe's knee in a nice, quick touch that can almost be missed. Joe misses a kneedrop and its the same knee. Now Aries goes to work on the knee. It is solid work including his power elbow. Joe quashes this with some wicked Kawada-like head kicks. That's the key is that Joe does not blow off the knee work rather he stops it in time before it takes too much of a toll. The reason Aries does not go back is that Joe knocks him so loopy over and over again with kicks and facewashes. Aries resorts to desperation offense. Just hurling his body at Joe whether it is a forearm or a dropkick you believe Aries throwing every single ounce of his body against Joe and more often than Joe is just absorbing and returning the pain. Then Aries ups the ante and starts to get nasty. He gouges Joe's eyes to avoid the Musclebuster so he can hit a 450 splash. He fishhooks Joe in a submission. The fishhook is such an underutilized gnarly move. He is doing every thing to win. It feels gritty and nasty. Aries to his credit is absorbing a lot of punishment including an Island Driver. He wriggles free of the choke and in a MuscleBuster is just able to wrestle Joe down with a Crucifix. Aries ROCKS Joe with a massive forearm! Aries absolutely SMOKES Joe with a wicked kick! Aries Nails a BRAINBUSTER! That was his third attempt of the match and it finally hit. 450! 1-2-3! New champ and a massive upset. It is feels thoroughly earned. Joe was in command the entire match. Aries got his hope spots in and never died. He just kept chipping away. That last minute was just a thrilling onslaught. Excellent work all around two men that played their roles to perfection. ****1/2