I’ve always been a huge fan of Kurt Angle in the ring, and I still am. Outside of the ring, well, as Punk once described him he’s a “drunk, sloppy douche.” I can overlook that though, as on camera Angle has always entertained me. He’s consistently one of the best performers in the ring, and almost every match he has is a good one, if not a great one.
Bring up Jeff Hardy to any group of wrestling fans, and you’re almost sure to ignite an argument. Some feel he’s unique and creative in the ring, others feel he’s just a spot monkey without an ounce of technical skill in his glow painted body. I fall somewhere in the middle. I think he can have great entertaining matches (like this one), but a lot of the time it comes down to “Well, I’ll just fall of something really big”. I’ve stated it before, but Hardy is one of those guys that just phones it in if he’s not positioned on the card in the way he wants. Thankfully, he’s facing off against one the best technicians to ever set foot in the ring, and it was the culmination of a tournament for the company’s top belt. “Phones it in” is definitely far from how I’d describe Hardy’s performance in this match.
SPOILERS FOLLOW, so if you haven’t watched the match yet, go ahead and then mosey on back here.
This match does get a bit finisher heavy, each guy getting in plenty of kickouts, and Hardy spends about half of his career in the ankle lock refusing to tap. I know some people hate these matches, saying that they’re unrealistic (LOL) but I think this one was really well done. Neither guy would give up, and every time I was sure the match was over they’d kick out again. It ends up going to a time limit draw (NOT SO RARE EH DEMAIN?) Sure, it’s only a 20 minutes time limit, BUT IT STILL HAPPENED.
The crowd is demanding a finish, chanting “FIVE MORE MINUTES!!!” and Bischoff wheelbarrows his ego inflated head out to ringside gives it to them. And then time expires AGAIN. Bischoff in all his infinite wisdom declares that we must have a winner (spoiler: we don’t get one) and adds another five minutes. They brawl some more, and Kurt gets busted open. The clock is ticking down to zero again, Kurt wearing the crimson mask has Hardy in the ankle lock, but Hardy refuses to tap. Time expires a third time, but this time Bischoff says the medical staff is stopping the match due to Angle’s cut being “too deep” and that the match is a no contest.
BULLSHIT!!! The ending totally blows, especially to what I consider to be one of my favorite matches. It would be the catalyst for a triple threat at Bound For Glory in the finals for the top TNA title with Mr. Anderson filling out the third spot. That was also the night Hardy made his infamous “Hogan Heel Turn” and soured a lot of people to the TNA product who had been getting invested over the last year. That’s a rambling meant for another time though. Hope you enjoyed the match, despite the ending maybe leaving a sour taste in your mouth.