This review was commissioned by Andrew over on my Ko-fi account.
It’s something to behold, going back to see just how quickly it worked for Bryan in the WWE. He’s not some undeniable superstar in 2010 as he would become later in the decade, of course, but only a few months into his main roster run and there’s a strong enough following for him already. He’s entering this match as United States Champion, the crowd is warm to his presence, and even the booking as a whole favors him here. After all, the stipulation of submissions count anywhere seems driven to play to his specific strengths as his reputation of being something of a technical wizard was still retained in these early stages of his WWE career.
To that end, all of this is a perfect midcard showcase of these three guys. It might be easy to dismiss this as a classic WWE three-way bout with some gimmickery involved, but pay a close watch and there’s a lot of cleverness here that might surprise you. One thing I especially appreciated, for example, is how relatively patient this feels compared to what the stipulation offers up. That’s not to say it’s a slow match by any means, the fact that it’s a three way means the action is always moving as the workers can cycle in and out. But it does keep its secrets for just a little bit before steadily escalating the chaos and action. The early goings is just worked like a three-way (under submission rules) as they struggle for control in the ring, the babyfaces batter the poor Miz, and everyone tries to pick their spots to get a tap out.
It’s actually quite organic how things eventually spill out to the floor. Morrison sends the Miz out of the ring, ostensibly to keep the ring for himself and Bryan, but he pursues The Miz instead probably still harboring ill feelings over their tag team break up. When the brawl spills out into the crowd too, it feels like a natural escalation of the action instead of a perfunctory adherence to the expectations of the stipulation. There’s so much cool stuff down on the floor and ringside area here too with things like the rolling equipment crate giving Bryan a platform to bump off or and something for Morrison to spring off of parkour-style.
It’s easy to look at this line up and consider Bryan the best worker here, but the thing is that everyone delivers here. Bryan does such a great job of making everything feel grounded and real, of course. His approach here is also a little stripped back from what it might be on the indies or later on in his career. He focuses on a few key strategies, going for either the LeBell Lock as a finisher or for a heel hook that he uses to ground both men. But outside of that too, there’s a scrappiness to his brawling when he’s on the outside of the ring. One can’t help but read into some of the actions here as his contributions as well. Like when The Miz literally kicks out Bryan’s knees towards the finish, that feels so real and visceral in a way so little of The Miz’s work ever does. That’s just speculation though.
What isn’t speculation is that The Miz and Morrison deliver here as well. The Miz stooges for much of this, getting easily outmaneuvered by the babyfaces to start. It takes a lot of work and the hard edges of the arena for him to get any sort of control here. And all the while, he’s the one who first initiates dirtier plays like driving Morrison into the barricades and using the arena railings to assist a dragon sleeper. Morrison, meanwhile, really brings a flashier feel to all of this. The big twists and turns never feel excessive. In fact, he feels more resourceful than flashy when he does stuff like maneuver around the rolling equipment case towards the end.
It all benefits from being so punchy and breezy in pace as well. Never a real moment for this stop, and everyone maximizes the stipulation as well. On top of culminating on the stage, everyone involved busts out some cool submission holds in this that they might not have otherwise. Bryan gets to have a rare fed Cattle Mutilation, Miz has that barricade dragon sleeper, and Morrison even whips out a legal tarantula in the ropes.
Breezy as hell, one of the most watchable and memorable early fed Bryan matches.
Rating: ****
