This review was commissioned by BeenThrifty over on my Ko-fi account.
There is a delicate balance this match needs to achieve. With this, we hit a key milestone in Umaga’s undefeated streak finally coming to an end. The challenging part of this booking, however, is that the WWE wants to get more from this feud. As we know in hindsight, the famous Last Man Standing still looms on the horizon for these two. So the match has to take into account giving us a satisfying pay off to Umaga’s year-long reign while also leaving enough on the table to get us to the rematch at the Royal Rumble.
In contexts like these, it is always best to stick to the fundamentals—the classic ideas that have always worked throughout time. Here, it’s David vs. Goliath.
Umaga is well practiced in his Goliath role at this point. He’s spent much of the last year squashing both jobbers and the midcard roster of WWE Raw to the point that he’s a believable killer. When he feels fit to display it, there’s a quickness there that’s actually quite stunning in its brutality, but he never feels pressured enough to show it off. Umaga’s not working as “superheavyweight doing cruiserweight” moves here, he’s an actual fucking monster. Methodical without being slow, athletic with being showy.
No element of his work ever betrays the other, nothing about the character gets softened by the in-ring choices. Umaga’s ring work actually adds texture to a very two-dimensional, dated gimmick. Note the way he hits his open palm punches. His fingers are tense, curled in almost a diseased fashion, as if to convey that this monster doesn’t know how to throw a proper punch. He never went through wrestling school and sparred in the gym, they just dropped right into the WWE ring to start wreaking his havoc.
But if we’re talking physical nuance, then John Cena.
My god, the ace comes through again with an absolute powerhouse of an underdog babyface performance. Everything one might look for comes through here. He bumps so big when taking nasty spills over the ropes right to the concrete below. His selling is layered and interesting, for what is ostensibly a straightforward power-based match. Umaga’s not hitting anything too crazy, but Cena’s selling makes it so. The way he gets over the damage to his back, the addition of numb arm selling in the back end to put over a potential stinger. It’s amazing, such an expressive example of the nuance selling can bring to a match.
But there’s also the underlying emotion Cena brings to the bout, which fully informs all the work. Cena works this match smaller than he is. Look at these two standing face-to-face, and the size discrepancy isn’t much to write home about, but Cena makes it so through his performance. His early strategy centers on evasion, sticking and moving, and it’s so impressive how much he gets out of those simple ideas throughout the match. Classic choices such as yanking the top rope down to send a charging opponent flying, or dodging Umaga just enough to send him into the ringpost for a Slaughter-esque bump, work so well to make Cena not only feel small but resourceful as well. Against this type of opponent, just standing and trading won’t work, Cena requires the entire environment around him to make even the smallest comebacks.
Even the finish feels so true to what both men work to accomplish here. Umaga’s gotten so used to just steamrolling into his opponents in the corner, that when our ace pulls out a sudden, desperation counter to get his feet up, it’s something the big man’s not ready for. Just one small opening to stun Umaga and get him off his game for three seconds. It’s all you need.
Cena escapes by the skin of his teeth. Watch his face after the bell rings, he knows it too.
Rating: ****1/4