Look, I won't beat the dead horse about how I don't love hour-long matches, or the other dead horse about how I don't love Danielson working long in general, so instead I'll just say that I thought this was great. Actually I'll at least draw attention to both dead horses for a second because I was thinking about wrestlers I'd be most content to watch work an hour-long match at this point, and I actually reckon Danielson has more broadways that I'd want to re-watch (like, three or something) than anyone else, so that's an interesting - and perhaps somewhat ironic? - turn of events that you can tell the family about. Knowing beforehand that a match is going an hour will usually put it at a disadvantage with me because I'm already kind of dreading it, even if I like the wrestlers who are actually in it. I've personally never worked an hour-long match before (or indeed any match), but I imagine it would be hard to do one without merely killing time to some degree. And time-killing can be fine and all that but it's not always the most engaging. Maybe the biggest compliment I can pay this is that I really don't remember any periods of it where I thought they were just killing time, or at least periods where if they WERE killing time it actually felt like it. Nearly everything they did had some sort of payoff, or at the very least felt to me - a singular, gentle viewer with his own take on the story they were telling - like it advanced the story they were telling. It was a story with different chapters and they moved from one to the next in interesting ways, added layers so it wasn't just a case of "this part of the match is finished, now it's time for the next one," worked things in a way that wouldn't have had me expecting it to go to a draw in real time, just really good stuff. Danielson was outstanding and it might be one of his finest performances. He worked this like a guy who believes he's the best in the world and I loved all the jumping jacks and general horse shit. He milked the knife-edge chop like his name was Fit Finlay or Eddie Guerrero and when Page finally lands that first one it feels like a shotgun blast. Danielson as mean shooter bastard is my favourite Danielson and this was the Danielson we got for large stretches. He went after the leg for a minute or two, then shifted to the midsection, then finally to the arm in the back half, but none of those shifts felt haphazard or like he was just doing shit. Loved the bit where he had Page in an ankle lock and booted him full force in the ribs. They sort of tease working towards the finish about half an hour in, then they do the reset with Page taking the shoulder bump on the apron and getting some JUICE~. The midpoint with them checking on Page could've gotten long in the tooth but I thought Danielson was amazing at getting legit fuckin heat by acting like a prick. Back half was excellent. Danielson selling the leg, doing one-legged bastard jumping jacks, all of it. Page having to go into deep waters and not knowing if he can survive, especially against a guy who's done it a hunner thousand times, just real good wrestling storytelling shit man. Brilliant match.
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