Rate: Joe vs. Angle V (Strong Style in a Cage)

[KLRA]

How do you rate this match?

[Steveweiser]

Four and a quarter - loses half a point for all the rope breaks during the MMA phase of the match, and loses a quarter point for all the stolen WWE submission moves, but the rest of it was world class, especially Joe's lariat.

[ghettooverlord]

I didn't see the match but I hated it. (No, I am not the one who voted "Less than one star".)

[comahan]

There was just an epic feel to it. The whole build to it. And then add to that the crowd was super hot for it. Id give it 5, but just like with movies, I save 5 for only the best of the best of the best like, ever, and while this was extremely great imo, it wasnt that.

****3/4

[mysterydriver]

I don't really like to rank matches outside of "I hated it, I didn't like it, I liked it, I loved it" but if I had to give it a "star" ranking, I'd go with 4 Stars.

I didn't like everything about it, but I sure enjoyed most of it.

[KLRA]

Okay, you might all disagree with me here, but this match is getting the full five stars from me.

The pacing of the match was really superb. I always say that the best matches build on themselves, and this match did. It started out with a small feeling out period, then progressed to hitting the highlights of some of the classic parts of their matches from before where they had success and then moved on to the two of them doing everything they possibly could to get the win.

As I mentioned in the title of the thread, this match harkened back to the days of strong style, which was basically MMA in a wrestling ring. Which was what we got here. I believe they did a great job of blending the two together so that it didn't come off as contrived.

I also like the very subtle shift towards the end of the match where the two stopped basically putting on a MMA sparring session and reverted back to their bread and butter: professional wrestling because they knew that they would not be able to beat the other guy with any MMA moves because they were both too well versed in it.

I also like how the weight difference between the two fully came into play in that it was both a big hinderance, and a big help to Joe. Frank Trigg noted it on commentary that while Joe outweighed Angle and thus negated a lot of the offense that he could use on a guy his own size, because he was facing someone that outweighed him it took out a dimension of Angle's game.

Speaking of commentary, the normally atrocious commentary of TNA actually HELPED this match along as the added third man of Frank Trigg helped balance out Tenay and West. A lot of this was due to the fact that Joe and Angle were wrestling a match that was out of their league, so the expert of Frank Trigg was able to call the match the way that it was designed: almost as a shoot. This trio really added drama to the match.

My only small gripe is the sporatic selling of Joe, but I think you can put that down to this was at it's heart a professional wrestling contest. Thus the 'emotion' of his career being on the line meant that everything (including pain) was secondary.

After a very so-so pay per view, these two absolutely burned the house down in a perfectly designed match that played to each man's strengths (and weaknesses actually, as those were able to be buried) perfectly.

Like I said, I have no qualms about this match getting a perfect five star rating as these two put on an absolute classic.

[GaTechGrad]

4 stars.

I was a little worried that it was going to be a complete UFC style match at the beginning (two guys rolling around on the ground), but it turned into a more of a pro-wrestling style as the match went on.

[domrep]

I gave it ****3/4. Overall, this is probably TNA's best match in company history. Better than Joe vs. Daniels vs. Styles I just because there was a lot more at stake.

[KLRA]

Apr 13, 2008 22:01:13 GMT -5 GaTechGrad said:

4 stars.

I was a little worried that it was going to be a complete UFC style match at the beginning (two guys rolling around on the ground), but it turned into a more of a pro-wrestling style as the match went on.

That was my favorite part of the match. I was completely pulled in by the psychology of the fact that the men were completely even in MMA (due in no small part to Joe's weight being a hinderance on Angle), so they eventually had to forget that part of the game and go back to professional wrestling.

[Hensley]

***3/4

The MMA bits at the beginning really didn't gel with me. The stiffness was there though, and that was good. The reversals, and stiff shots were superb. Nowhere near perfect, I think, but it was close to ****.

It's a year and half LONG overdue, but finally Samoa Joe reigns supreme in TNA. Where they take him from here only Lord knows, but hopefully they don't screw up.

[Bishblast]

I must see this match... is it better than the rest of their (IMO) disappointing rivalry?

[comahan]

Apr 13, 2008 22:31:56 GMT -5 Bishblast said:

I must see this match... is it better than the rest of their (IMO) disappointing rivalry?

I definitely think so, but I was really high on their initial two matches (especially #2).

Although, as you might can tell by this thread, the opening stages of with the MMA esque stuff either pulled people in, or alienated them.

[Bishblast]

I just read Keller's review, and he made it sound kind of revolutionary and innovative in some ways...

I've really gotta see this match, not that Keller's word means that much, but it's getting overwhelmingly positive feedback.

I will not say that their previous matches weren't good, they all were... I was just really expecting something of a bonafide classic every time they met... and from the sounds of it, this has the makings of one.

[KLRA]

To me this is the classic match that they always should have had. The match truely evolved the entire time like all great matches. Like you could see them in their literally thinking, "What do I have to do next? What do I have to do to beat him?"

[Timmy8271]

3 Stars. I liked it towards the end and they stopped with the fake MMA stuff. But no way is it 5 stars. Maybe if this was the first match they had and it was a year ago.

[Celgress]

Four star; was great, but just not top notch IMHO.

[domrep]

Reading feedback on other sites, people either hated it it or loved it. No in between. Sad too, because it was wrestling in its purest form.

[KLRA]

I think I need to add in that I am, have always been, and always will be an uber-MMA mark. So the fact they went with that approach really made my interest in the match even better, as it was combining two of my favorite things.

[comahan]

Apr 13, 2008 22:57:31 GMT -5 domrep said:

Reading feedback on other sites, people either hated it it or loved it. No in between. Sad too, because it was wrestling in its purest form.

Agreed.

[Dragonfly]

I will be honest, I'm not a fan of straight MMA in the least. No offense to anyone, but I just find it boring. "MMA influenced" wrestling on the other hand... any time a match is described as "MMA influenced," I usually end up loving it good. This match was no exception. An easy four and a half stars. It would have been a five-star affair they would have done this last August. People would be taking TNA more seriously if they did more things like this and last year's Texas Death Match and less things with the word "reverse" in it.