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Post by puroraisedme on Oct 24, 2023 19:07:15 GMT -5
Every time I go back and rewatch this I always wonder what it would've looked like if Brock or (ideally) Roman won instead of Rollins. Rollins winning doesn't necessarily hurt my enjoyment at all because like Lemming I also do think this is the best match in company history but man imagine if that breathtaking final stretch of the match wasn't interrupted by Rollins and had a clean and decisive finish with Roman winning the belt.
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Post by lemming on Oct 25, 2023 2:49:26 GMT -5
Seth's run in is obviously the weakest part of the match, but I think like Darren says it kinda works for the moment. Gets a huge pop from the crowd and then it's just a quick sprint to the finish from there so the match doesn't really get diluted much. The two main players had already thrown their best shots at each other, so it's not obvious what they could do for the finish stretch if had remained 1 v 1. And there was a lot of (positive):buzz about that finish at the time iirc.
Storywise it turns Reigns' arc into a beautiful tragedy as he wrestles the match of his life to this point (in kayfabe) but is cheated out of his victory by his former close friend at the finish line. Seth had been trying to cash in that stupid briefcase for months while being scared of Lesnar so it pays off that chase too I guess.
I think the follow up booking makes the finish here seem even worse in retrospect. They somehow didn't pay off either Reigns vs Seth or Reigns vs Lesnar while they were still hot. Giving Rollins a long reign and putting Roman's title quest on ice after this match was awful. But I don't hold it against this match for those decisions. With Reigns losing here they could've (should've) pulled a Backlash 2000 and given him a big triumph at the next PPV (either defeating Brock or have him run over Seth). Then the magic from this match wouldn't have been squandered.
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Post by nintendologic on Oct 25, 2023 6:37:56 GMT -5
I hated the finish at the time as much as anyone (I think I stopped watching WWE entirely for like a year afterward), but the booking is far enough in the rearview mirror that I can no longer bring myself to get worked up over it. And it's not like a different outcome would have meaningfully changed the company's long-term arc (someone once suggested that WM30 was WWE's series finale and everything since then has been unauthorized fanfiction and I find it hard to argue against that). Also, I've decided that Seth's cash-in enhances the match from a purely in-ring standpoint. It's just three guys trying to put someone away with their biggest bombs for two minutes, which is about as perfect as a triple-threat match can be. The real genius of the match is that it's essentially three matches in one. You have an extended Brock squash followed by Brock and Roman trading haymakers followed by the triple-threat portion. Each segment goes just long enough to be meaningful without running the risk of overstaying its welcome, and they all come together to produce a match that is more than the sum of its parts.
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Post by fxnj on Oct 25, 2023 7:20:23 GMT -5
I guess I could see the finish tainting the match retroactively if you’re going by how awful Seth’s reign was, but it was still probably the best available finish in the context of the event by itself. It would have been a downer for the event to end with fans shitting all over a clean Brock or Roman win, but the Seth cash in at least created a holy shit moment and ended things with a crowd pop. Also Roman not winning the big one when all signs in the build pointed to this being his coronation arguably added to his character arc.
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Post by [Darren] on Oct 25, 2023 13:25:48 GMT -5
It’s cowardly for WWE to push Roman the way they did and get cold feet and because Roman’s performance was a once in the lifetime thing of beauty it makes it even more frustrating.
I’ve always wondered what it would look like if Seth went to cash-in and Lesnar pinned him instead.
At this point in time, I don’t hate it. I don’t think it hurts the match. It really made the most sense for them at the time.
I’m not going as far to say this is the best match in company history but I would never argue against it. They certainly haven’t come close to something like this since then.
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Post by TheDutifulWebmaster on Oct 25, 2023 14:07:22 GMT -5
I really wish I understood why people like this match so much. I watched it and, using quarter-star increments, I can't even give it 3 stars. I feel like Michael Douglas in that movie The Game, where everyone he speaks to is in on this massive prank. Someone once told me on here that if this match was a mobster movie, it would be The Godfather. And some dude had this at the top (1 or 2) of his 100.
EDIT: Different strokes for different folks and all. I'm probably just spoiled by the boundless expanse of awesome matches that is puro.
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Post by silverwidow on Oct 25, 2023 16:55:24 GMT -5
I don't get it, either.
For "modern" WWE, give me Brock/Cena ER over this 100 times out of 100.
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