Sunday, April 8, 2012

Eddie Edwards vs. Christopher Daniels

Eddie Edwards vs. Christopher Daniels - TV Championship Match - ROH on HDNet 1/31/11 - 9

I liked the grounded Edwards grabbing one of Daniels' arms mid-cartwheel like, "Fuck that fancy shit -- come here so I can tear your arm off!" Eddie threw some hard elbows looking like Nick Denis out there. EE took a big bump off of a Death Valley Driver. Daniels methodically targeted the neck. I loved the superplex. CD sold it like someone just poured sriracha in his eyes. Uncharacteristic moonsault off of the apron by EE -- rough landing going shins-first into the metal rail. Unreal spot where Daniels was on his hands and knees on the apron and EE came off of the top with a nasty double foot-stomp that squished CD like a bug. Final seconds saw the Achilles Lock countered into a Koji Clutch as the time-limit expired. Although battling through injuries EE didn't want to accept a decision and demanded five more minutes. The guys were too busy clobbering each other on the outside that they were almost both counted out. Eddie facially was doing a fantastic job late registering the physical toll on him and exhaustion. Daniels' Angel's Wings can sometimes come off looking tepid but here was executed and sold like a big KO slam similarly to a particular violent MMA one. Daniels' first singles title in his long storied ROH run. He celebrates post-match as the crowd goes nuts. Amazing story thread as Edwards had been built as a guy who fights through being hurt but his own hubris was his downfall costing him his most precious prize. I could see this argued as one of (if not the best) matches in the history of the ECW Arena. It's clearly ahead of anything ECW itself produced in that building by a fairly substantial margin. I recently got all of the CZW stuff from '06-'11 and while I've seen some jaw-dropping spectacles there's nothing approaching this level of craft.

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