Samoa Joe vs. CM Punk (ROH - 6/12/2004)

Couldn't find a thread for this. That's extrange, is this the least popular one of the trilogy because the second one is the one Meltzer saw and the third one is the shortest?

Anyway, I'm finally on the mood of revisiting this trilogy. My history with this first match is that I watched it for the first time like, ten years ago or so, I was a teenager and I found it the greatest fucking shit ever. Like, I could only think of a couple or three matches better than this (Misawa/Kobashi at NOAH, Streak vs Career and Bock/Hennig, if you're curious). The whole trilogy is great, but this first match resonated with me a lot, it felt really special. Some years later, I tried to rewatch the whole trilogy again, you know, this is one of those series that you feel you have to watch the whole thing, most like the 1989 Flair/Steamboat stuff. I watched this and was thinking to myself: yeah, this is great, but how did I thought of this as a GOAT contender? I was kinda sad my expectations tricked me this time, and I couldn't enjoy the bout as much. I didn't even watched the other two matches, because of the letdown.

Some more years have passed, and know that I've accepted this isn't the greatest match ever, and that I'm in a Punk and Joe mood now that they're kinda living a second youth in AEW (there's no way they don't collide sooner or later, right?), it's the proper chance for me to make justice to this match once and for all.

And it was so fucking good.

Right now, this is a lock for my next ballot. Not in the higher places (it now sits at #88 and there's a huge chance I find 23 matches that I think are better before next time's GME), but leaving the "top 100 best matches ever" thing aside, all I can do is praise this match. They worked it so carefully and having a lot of fun, setting up and paying off such little things both inmediately and in the long term. The key to this match is both guy's strategies: Joe obvioulsy wants to brawl and go home as early as possible, while Punk wants to slow the champ down and drag him out before actually trying to finish him. Even if you're not familiar with ROH at that time, the commentary duo (which I loved, ideal for a match like this) make a great job telling you that short, intense matches are Joe's bread n' butter, and that Punk is doing the right thing by dictating the pace, putting Joe out of his confort zone. Almost the whole match revolves around both guys fighting for controlling its pace, and they do it wonderfully. They do not stay on long restholds or endless ringside walks just for the sake of filling time: they do those things, yeah, but they use them to the story's advantage and/or give the crowd more entertaining stuff. For example, take the famous sequence of both Joe and Punk trolling a fan: they're having fun, they're filling time, they're entertaining the crowd, but most importantly: after they're finishing with that stuff and while they're laughing their asses off, Punk offers Joe a friendly handshake... and just like that he catches him off guard to put him in another headlock. So: Joe trolled a Punk fan, Punk trolled his own fan in retaliation, but it wasn't just for the sake of it, it was all to put Joe in a false sense of security and continuing his strategy. I LOVE things like that in my wrestling, specially when you're going long.

By the 30 minute mark, you know, after the three consecutives Olé Olé Kicks, Joe seems to be ready for finishing things off. Punk, with masterful selling, was trying his hardest to get back to the ring, and Joe looked cocky and not nearly as tired. So I asked myself: "hey, how will they manage to make another half an hour coherent and entertaining, if by this point the match is leading into climax territory?". You know how wrestling works: basically now Punk will do some cool spots that serve him as an equalizer, then they'll trade some bombs and go home. But they cannot do that with 30 minutes left, so, instead, yes, they did work a Punk's equalizer spot... But it wasn't a single spot (or comeback sequence or whatever), it was a full ten-minute segment slowly dedicated to give Punk the upper hand again. He worked around Joe's legs just a bit, he stayed with his headlock strategy to wear Joe down, and it almost pays off with those exciting sleeper hold spots. Man, at this point, Punk is even fighting more or less toe to toe with Joe in terms of striking, creating a clear contrast between the first half of the match where Punk had to give five shots to Joe while Joe only needed one or two to win the exchange. Things are progressing in the favour of the challenger, and the champion is at uncharted territory. The last twenty minutes of the match are basically the signature spots part. They did them right when the narrative asked for it, and it never became a spamming bombfest. They're selling being tired as fuck so well, and with that they can take their time to set up some complex spots like the Pepsi Plunge or whatever, again, filling time in the smartest way possible.

The last two or three minutes are my least favourite part of the match: after the Pepsi Plunge (and let me say, I really appreciate that Punk didn't go for the cover after returning back to the ring, it was obvious Joe would have kicked out), they do some slap exchanges and run the ropes a couple of times, stuff that looks more generic and doesn't feel part of the story they're telling at the moment (Joe is fucking done thanks to the Plunge, but Punk injured his knees while doing it so both guys are basically at one big move away for losing). There was a low blow by Punk that led to absolutely nothing and it happened right in the referee's face, without repercution. It was all clearly done to make it to the time limit draw, and I wanted more urgency for both guys (specially the challenger), I wanted to fucking get nervous and scream at my computer, but the emotion wasn't there as much. Maybe criticizing the last two or three minutes like this is nitpicking, but I'm convinced those last minutes were super important. I liked the fact that the last nearfall of the match was a simple DDT though, it completely sells the idea that the simplest of moves could end it at this point, but Punk's forced selling to not make the cover in time took me a bit out of the spot (c'mon man you had him right near you, is not like you have to crawl to the other side of the ring). And Joe still kicked out of it, something I would've prefered not happening because it kinda devaluates the Pepsi Plunge and the whole "so tired that one more move will do" idea a bit.

But man, this was an amazing match. Not top tier, but as good as any non-top tier match can get. They worked it almost perfectly and proof of that is that they never, ever, lost the crowd, they put over everything they wanted to put over (Punk's headlocks, some little clever counter-to-the-counter spots, the comedy stuff, the struggle around setting up big moves, anything). Sixty minutes that feel like even less than thirty, if you ask me. A masterpiece of working long matches and a true testament of both guys' level. I'm really excited for the other two, the second one was my least favourite because I don't think another time limit draw needed to be done (I still liked it though), but oh boy I'm convinced the third one will be even better than this one. Don't be afraid by its length, go watch it (ROH has it on good quality on their YT channel!) and enjoy.