I can’t even begin to analyze this match with any form of justice. The back and forth, constant counters and reversals, and full speed action from GO just make it a real gem. Hardly any downtime during holds, which is one thing that just kills matches for me in WWE, and constant displays of arrogance and one upsmanship. You can tell that about three quarters of the way through the match both men are exhausted, which lends itself to the desperation from each to pick up the win. A few times Punk literally looks like he’s spending the last of his life force just to get his shoulder off the mat.
A time before TNA and WWE, when these guys were hungry to prove to the world and themselves that they deserved to step into the history books and both were arguably at the peak of their in ring capabilities, Joe and Punk prove that there’s a lot more to wrestling than what you get spoon fed on national weekly TV.
~Heisenbealer