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[2000-04-01-NWA Wildside-Hardcore Hell] A.J. Styles vs Eddie Golden (Ladder)


Loss

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I wanted to like this more than I did. It was a good match though. The opening minute with the fast-paced exchanges was the best part of the match and made me want to see them in a straight-up wrestling match against each other. Eddie Golden can go! This lost me after a ref bump. I think that's unnecessary in this type of match, which is usually designed to have a more decisive finish. The table didn't break when Bailey shoved Styles off the ladder, which never bugs me, but what did bug me is that they planned a spot for a manager to put AJ Styles through a table. I love Jeff G. Bailey, but he's a non-wrestler. Once the booking kicked in, this became really disappointing, but when it was just two guys having a match, it was pretty good. ***

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A really good match in 2000 standards that has dropped a bit just based on the familiarity everyone has with the ladder match concept in current day eyes. AJ looked on point here and hit almost all of his moves really smoothly. Golden played the great 80’s territorial heel role well. That is what this match has going for it the most is the clear face/heel structure that is lacking in many ladder matches where it is all about the spots. Bailey intervenes and allows Golden to win here keeping the slow burn of AJ’s redemption alive. ***

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  • 2 months later...

I thought this was pretty disappointing for a ladder match. AJ looked scared of the ladder and missed some of his moves which was understandable. Eddie Golden was alright and played his role good. It's just the match didn't feel like it got going. Even though the finish was botched, I really liked it. AJ drops the title and Eddie gets it. Didn't mind Jeff Bailey's interference.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I have seen to many ladder matches in my life to get excited about this. The match was solid and except the spot where the table did not break they did not do anything stupid, which I suppose is a plus for an indy TV ladder match. The "RKO OUT OF NOWHERE" spot made me laugh (though I suppose DDP did this version of the diamond cutter before).

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...

Quick promo from Jeff G. Bailey where he says that the belt, which is rightfully his, is coming back because ’24 Karat’ Eddie Golden is going to send A.J. Styles back to what he does best, cheerleading for his lover Chance Williams and hustling down infront of Ramrod and the Mineshaft! Styles rushes into the ring and they have a hot opening sequence ending with A.J. slapping on an armbar. Huracanrana, Golden with a back elbow though as he tries to slow his opponent down. A.J. reverses a whip to the corner, Stinger splash, Golden moves out of the way but Styles lands on the middle ropes preventing himself from careering into the turnbuckles. Unfortunately he then slips off the ropes and Golden is left standing there like a plum while A.J. regains his footing. Reverse crossbody countered into an ‘Ace Crusher’ and Golden heads out the ring to collect a ladder. He places it on the ring apron only to be met by a Styles baseball slide dropkick which sends it crashing into him. A.J. sets it up in the middle of the ring, slowly climbs, but Golden is able to cut him off with a rough looking ‘Rude Awakening’ neckbreaker off the ladder. Golden is an even slower climber than Styles, enabling A.J. to recover and push the ladder over, resulting in Golden crotching himself on the top rope. Bailey slides a chair in the ring to Golden, and when A.J. climbs the ladder again he cracks him in the back with it. Both men are down but A.J. is back to his feet first and props up a table between the guardrail and apron. He goes to suplex Golden from the ring over the top rope and through the table, however he blocks it and lands one of his own. The action is cut for an advert break and when we return Golden counters another Styles ladder climb with an electric chair. He misses an attack off the top and Styles grabs a couple of steel chairs from the outside, opens them up and lays the ladder across them. A.J. slams Golden on the ladder, heads upstairs but misses the ‘Swanton bomb’ with the back of his head/neck landing flush on the ladder. We then get a really lame ref bump as Golden picks up the ladder and swings it at A.J.; the problem being that he swings it the wrong way. He should’ve swung it clockwise so when A.J. ducks under he hits the official, as it was he swung it anti-clockwise, A.J. still ducks on seeing the ladder coming, but it takes out the referee before even getting to him. Golden is still holding the ladder and Styles with a dropkick to it. He falls to the canvas with the ladder landing on him and A.J. with a big splash off the top onto both. Styles climbs the ladder and just as he unhooks the belt, Jeff G. Bailey is in and pushes the ladder over. A.J. takes a tumble over the top rope and onto the table he’d set up earlier. Bailey lays the belt on his charge, wakes the official and on seeing him with the title he declares Eddie Golden the winner. Post-match, Golden powerbombs Styles through the table which should’ve broke on the previous bump when he was pushed off the ladder.

 

I hate slow climbing! When the match is ten to fifteen minutes in and the wrestler is ‘tired’ I can understand it, but not so early when they’re still fresh. It looks like you have no urgency or are just delaying things, waiting for your opponent to get back up so he can stop you. Either way, from a kayfabe perspective, not good. The opening wrestling exchanges here were great, but I couldn’t get into the ladder portion. I don’t know if that was due to that slow climbing or because it was a lot of ‘you climb/I climb’. The ref bump was bad and while I didn’t have an issue with Jeff Bailey pushing over the ladder, in hindsight and reading the other comments, he really should’ve called for one of this charges to do it. It almost makes him look too strong and I couldn’t imagine Cornette or Heenan say ever doing that spot.

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I really liked AJ's speed in the early part of the match, as well as Bailey's irritating promo. It seems like they tried to work in as many ladder spots as possible and didn't sell the painful moves enough. It was too bad about AJs slip-up early on in the match. I would have preferred Jimmy Golden to Eddie Golden. Eddie's post-match powerbomb added a nice bit of insult to injury. I agree that the ladder climbing was too slow and that the ladder positioning was distractingly off. The ref bump was not great. Bailey's interference worked well enough for me. Still, overall this was not one for the ages. **

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  • 3 months later...

2000 AJ continues to unimpress me. That smoothness and crispness isn't there yet and there's consistently spots that look rough. By the time he gets to his WCW cameo he looks a lot smoother and by 2002 he's great so he clearly improves quickly. I really disliked how they made bumping off the ladder feel like absolutely nothing here. AJ especially would bump off the ladder to the mat and sell it like he was selling a regular back drop. Overbooking at the end didn't help anything but I had lost most of my interest in the match by then anyway.

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  • 1 month later...

I had high hopes for this considering the stip and the guys involved, however this was underwhelming. Styles slip on the ropes as bad and the ref. bump looked more funny than brutal. The table not breaking on the final bump hurt this too. I thought Golden was alright, but he wasn't particularly great.

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  • GSR changed the title to [2000-04-01-NWA Wildside-Hardcore Hell] A.J. Styles vs Eddie Golden (Ladder)

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