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Post by jetlag on Apr 2, 2020 9:58:17 GMT -5
1 Fall Match going 30 minutes. For some reason, they kept overlaying this match with classical music and paintings, which adds to the flair of what you are seeing. I honestly thought this was another borderline masterpiece that easily stands up to any other level of highly respected wrestling match we've known before. Sure, it‘s transparent that these two had their routine and their go-to spots, but you have to keep in mind that back then people couldn‘t rewatch matches and their previous match aired over a year before. This match was more ground-based and didn‘t have the same level of crazy elaborate spots the 1967 match had (although there were still a few spots that any modern audience would shit their pants at if two current workers pulled them off as clean and fast as they did here) but I think the best part about these matches is not the flippy shit they do but the way they will chuck each other hard to the mat with arm throws and headlocks. And there was plenty of that here. Saulnier really wanted to beat that fucking Prince this time and was grinding him down with headlocks and armlocks hard, which lead to some great subtle selling from the Prince as Saulnier was just wringing his head off. It probably says a lot about me that my favourite moment in all this was Saulnier catching the Prince with an extremely well timed and vicious looking headlock takeover in the middle of a criss cross running spot. Saulnier also has a really great crossbody. People probably won‘t like that none of their matches have a finish but I guess that was kind of the point.
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Post by KB8 on Oct 2, 2020 13:23:52 GMT -5
Easy second.
This was amazing. It wasn't just that they were working outrageous state-of-the-art exchanges at insane speed -- it was the build up to that point in the match where they were going all out, with the groundwork by Saulnier wearing the Prince down, that gave those last few minutes in particular a real sense of escalation and meaning. Some of the hold-working was incredible. I probably should've watched their other matches before this to see if they played off anything or made any callbacks, even just to get a feel for how they work together, but it's not at all hard to follow the trail they're leading us down. Best possible 1960s Dean Malenko v Rey Jr. is a very apt description of this (and one I've stolen from elsewhere). Somehow though this might be even more inventive and ahead of its time than 1996 Rey Misterio Jr. It was worked with Saulnier as Malenko grounding our little Prince for about 15-20 minutes, first using an armbar, then moving on to use a headlock. It was paced pretty much perfectly in that nothing was stationary, no holds were applied without a struggle, then every thirty seconds or so they'd bring it up for air and Prince would flip or scramble or roll his way out, sometimes into a rapid quick rope-running sequence, yet Saulnier would inevitably do something to drag him back down to earth. Some of the sequences were absolutely gorgeous and damn near preposterous in their level of difficulty, but they were hitting everything on the money and moving between each step with crazy precision. My favourite part of that 20-minute period was when they wound up in a criss-cross rope-running spot that felt totally organic and Saulnier managed to yank the Prince into another headlock takeover, this time about planting him on the top of his skull. The headlock stuff actually reminded me of the Wild Pegasus/Black Tiger match from '96 where Benoit did not want Eddie up and running about and pulling any of that shit, and like in that match the crowd started getting on Sauliner's case big time. The second parallel is the awesome little bit of selling from Prince when he finally manages to create some daylight, grabbing the ropes for a second to show that even if he's shaken Saulnier he hasn't quite shaken the cobwebs just yet. The Prince's spin kick to the jaw towards the end was a thing of beauty and even if you'd usually want a decisive finish, you can't really complain about 30 minutes of these two just killing it.
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Post by mvz on Oct 15, 2021 1:22:13 GMT -5
Third, ahead of its time and unique.
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