A Long Way From The Super 8

Kaval VS Bryan Danielson - FCW 7/2/2010

CJD: How many times have we watched these two go at it? And still there are matches out there between them that I had no idea existed, such as this one. This is exactly what you'd expect from a FCW debut of Danielson VS Ki and with that expectation I thoroughly enjoyed it. At times it reminded me of their Final Battle 2004 match, but obviously with a more satisfying finish.

JJZ: Bryan has had so many great feuds with so many great wrestlers. The Low Ki feud probably seems unimportant to most people, but it was the feud that made me fall in love with both wrestlers. Watching them wrestle during the early 2000s was the medicine I needed to heal the pain of ECW folding in 2001. It gave me hope back then because they weren't another ECW rip off and this match felt so much like a match from that era. This match is short but tells a nice story and the commentators did a good job of talking about their history. Good stuff Chris.

We Work Hard In The Paint, We Play Hard In The Paint

Tag Team Turmoil WWE Smackdown 2/12/2015

JJZ: So this is match is all about story telling and feud progressing. The Usos part of this match is the best wrestling during the gauntlet but the main vein of this ride is the back and forth of Reigns and Bryan. This is just two weeks before your pick and it's a fantastic build to the singles match at Fastlane. Roman shows great struggle while working his cousins and I love his facials in the corner. I'll never argue his in ring ability but wish he was allowed to play this character more and not the Big Dog shit. Bryan's heelish aggressive work with the Usos is excellent and the Usos are such good faces. Chris I'm really hoping you give the King his crown in your next pick.

CJD: Even when WWE does their best at telling stories, they typically aren't as story driven and focused as this match is. We discussed a little the logistics of whether a gauntlet counts as one giant match or not and my answer is almost always YES! Because of the way WWE television is produced though this felt fragmented to the point where I'd understand picking it apart match by match. But the overriding story is what carried everything so I'd still consider it a long, ongoing match. And what a match it was! This will warrant a lot of rewatches over the years. It's a little slow starting and the ending was a bit predictable but that portion between Bryan/Reigns and the Usos was classic.