2016 Ongoing MOTY List: Riddle v. Hero II

Chris Hero v. Matt Riddle EVOLVE 71 10/16

ER: I liked this, but not as much as their first match. This felt like kind of an overproduced sequel to the already great original. Both guys are so good, but they're sometimes too good, their moves and strikes sometimes look too brutal, and the longer matches go the more they can feel like overkill. This felt a little overkill-y to me. Hero looked on point, all his cool combos looked great, the rolling kicks and worked punches, all awesome. Love the battles over the piledriver. Wish they would have lingered longer on mat stuff as I love how these two oppose each other on the mat. Hero starts yanking on Riddle's foot, calf and toe, but Riddle gets to the ropes quick. Riddle gets the bro lock but Hero also rolls to ropes. Much of this was strikes and moves, which they do great, but seemed a little more neverending than their first match. We had tons of great moments just because of who they both are, though. Hero sandbagging Riddle cockily on a german, only for Riddle to power through it was so good. And that's the thing, pretty much everything these two looks good (though I'm maybe the only person who wishes Riddle would drop the springboard knee, that move always seems so wedged into his matches). I think both matches are good and merely a matter of style preference, with some layout preference as well. The first match ticked off a lot of my boxes, this one could have been trimmed a bit. But good wrestling is good wrestling is good wrestling.

PAS: Yeah this was more of an Ishii match, then a Fujiwara match, and I am always going to prefer something with more cool submissions and torturing. Still this was a very good Ishii match. I loved that first huge elbow on the outside which knocked Riddle into the seats. It felt like a KO shot which should change momentum, and it was treated like that. I also loved Hero milking the 10 count and catching Riddle over confident rushing in, it is the exact thing you would expect a wily veteran to pull, it reminded me of an Arn Anderson or Finlay spot. I also really liked the finish, Hero unloads the whole arsenal and instead of Riddle going back on offense, the damn just broke. Excellent stuff, and a great set up for the rubber match.


2016 MOTY MASTER LIST