CM Punk/Russell Simpson vs Maven/Simon Dean WWE Heat 2005
Lol, before the match, they showed Austin with Simon System protein powder shopped in over his beers. This was before Punk was officially signed. I believe this helped him get hired. Punk works as the FIP and makes a hot tag to Simpson. Maven and Nova pin him with the T-Gimmick. I have to lol at Nova stealing the finisher of a "famous" indie tag team. After the match, they made Simpson eat a protein bar.
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CM Punk vs Val Venis WWE Heat 2005
I believe this is the one match that really got Punk hired. Punk is in good shape, but he's small. They have an indie stand off and hand shake. When Val walks off, Punk chop blocks him. What a dick. He goes after the leg. Ruthless leg work. You can tell they were high on Punk, since he's had a ton of offense in what is usually more or less a jobber match. Val does a series of clotheslines in the corner.
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I remember when he first came into the WWF and he was having these weird, long puro matches on Raw with totally random guys. It was so out of place. Val tried for the Perfect Plex, but his leg gave out. Punk goes back to work on it. Val wins with the Money Shot in what was probably about as good of a Heat match as you'll get.
Matt Hardy vs Christopher Daniels ROH 2005
Matt's original ROH run. I thought it was pretty funny that the ROH crowd were so excited for Matt and shit ALL OVER Jeff just 2 years earlier. They were booing the shit out of him before he even came out. But there, they were so pumped for Matt. I forgot this period was at the height of Matt's juicing period. The match starts off with some chain wrestling. I always thought it was hilarious that ROH fans were supposed to be these super hard to please fans, yet they always pop for the most basic, wrestling school 101 chain wrestling. Matt goes for the ToF, Daniels turns it into a backslide. Koji Clutch! Abdominal stretch battle. It's like Razor vs IRS. It ends in Matt getting hip tossed out of the ring. Split leg Asai moonsault from Daniels. It gets back in the ring where Matt hits the Side Effect. Running palm strike...from Matt. Cravat. God, remember when cravats were the go to move in indie wrestling? Fucking everyone did cravats around 2005-2007ish. Splash Mountain from Matt.
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They trade some moves and Matt ends up hitting a superplex for a close 2 count. He hits another one. And another. And another. Four superplexes. They start a strike battle that ends in a rolling elbow from Matt. Daniels does an avalanche side slam.
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Moonsault from Matt! That he misses, because he always missed it, just like Bully Ray always misses his senton. BME. Matt kicks out. Matt gets his knees up on a lionsault. DVD from Daniels. Punk came out to distract Daniels. Matt gets shoved into the ref and Punk hits Daniels with a title belt. Matt hits the Twist of Fate, but Daniels kicks out! He hits another and then locks in Ice Pick submission for the win.
Matt Hardy vs Homicide ROH 2005
Homicide is tiny. This looks like Kane vs Rey or something. This one also starts out with basic chain wrestling that the ROH fans thought was amazing because TECHNICAL WRESTLING. It ends with an eye poke from Homicide. This pisses Matt off and they get a bit testy. There was a botch where I think Homicide was going for a drop toe hold and Matt though he was going to reverse a back body drop.
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Homicide tope con hilo.
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They brawl on the floor for a bit until heading back to the ring. Homicide kicked the ropes as Matt was getting in. Diving tornado DDT from Homicide. A superplex from Matt. He puts Homicide in the Ice Pick, but they were too close to the ropes. Side Effect!
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Second rope leg drop. ToF countered into a Northern lights suplex. Lariatoooo. Vertebreaker is countered, ToF is countered, KANYON CUTTER! BANG! Splash Mountain. 2 count. Low Ki gets on the apron. Explodaah. Jay Lethal attacks Ki and has a tug of war over a chain with Homicide. Matt rolls Homicide up for the win.
Matt Hardy vs Roderick Strong ROH 2005
Before the match, Gen Next fought with The Embassy. This crowd was all over Matt for some reason. Probably because he came in for 3 matches and has defeated 2 ROH guys. This was also because he had been resigned to WWE and was even wearing his new shirt. Matt heels on the crowd as they were chanting "shut the fuck up". How weird. Two shows ago, these same fans were losing their minds over Matt Hardy and now that he resigned with WWE, he's the worst dude in the world. Yet, they also lost their shit when Punk came back for that one show after he had been in OVW for months. I remember when I was really into Roderick Strong matches, but now I don't want to see him at all. They do some chain wrasslin and then hit the floor where Roderick starts the chops. Oh no, Roderick just chopped the ring post! After some arm work, Matt hits a pretty nasty chop block.
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Figure four. Splash mountain. Matt goes for the ToF, but Roddy hits his first back breaker of the night. Despite Roddy having a bad leg, he easily does things like back breakers, delayed suplexes, and drop kicks. But if you hold your knee after, you're good at selling. Matt went for the leg drop, Roderick tried for a Malenko super gut buster, but Matt shoved him off and hit a tornado DDT. Kind of a back breaker. Gut buster. Sick kick! Matt kicks out! Boston crab, but Matt gets to the ropes. Ice Pick! Two Side Effects. Roddy kicks out. Roderick does a roll up...and wins!
I surprisingly non-gifable match.
Christian Cage/Colt Cabana vs Christopher Daniels/Bryan Danielson
Christian actually got streamers. What a bunch of marks. He had his own bandana. Did Christian and D-Bryne have any matches last year? Cabana and Daniels start out. They have a roll through battle. I just saw Daniels doing this with Cena at UPW. Daniels eventually gets tired of Colt's shit and punches him in the mouth. The Dazzler tags in by booping Chris' head.
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Colt and Bryan do some Euro wrestling that ends in triangle and armbar. Bryan wants Christian. Christian comes in and does some rolling of his own. Because that's how he rolls. Dragon tags out. He doesn't really want some. This is the battle of the Conquistadors. Dragon comes back in and lays Christian out with a European elbow. He does a Ziggler styled headlock, but Christian hits a tornado DDT. Dragon rolls through a wacky pin and starts elbowing the fuck out of Cabana.
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Despite both being heels, Dragon and Daniels aren't exactly buddies. Daniels hit a DVD on Colt. Colt works the FIP for a while and finally makes a hot tag. Daniels drops off the apron, leaving Dragon to get speared.
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Colt hits an Asai moonsault and almost decapitated himself.
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Unprettier is countered into cattle mutilation! Colt breaks it up. Superplex. Now Dragon has a chicken wing on and Daniels puts Colt in the Koji Clutch. No one taps out. Diving headbutt/BME combo, but Christian somehow kicks out.
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Dragon accidentally hits Daniels with an elbow. Christian hits a frog splash. 2 COUNT! Christian pins Daniels with the Unprettier.