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It’s great to see someone relate that sort of inner struggle through simple body language instead of cartoonish expressions, lingering camera shots, and hamfisted commentary.īest of all, this temper comes back to bite Gagne in the ass while also working in his favor. He’ll ball his fists up and let them swing limply by his side, clearly fuming at what Carpentier’s doing to him but doing everything in his power to not just haul off and deck the guy. In some ways, though, the most interesting stuff comes in the moments where Gagne chooses not to get mean and to cheat. That plays out the way you’d expect, with the champ walking all over the American until Gagne crosses some line to not even really get ahead but just to even the playing field again. With that in mind, all these elements serve to illustrate a simple, compelling story: Carpentier is this good-looking, innovative, mega-talented world champion and Gagne’s a guy who’s only a little bit worse but who’s gonna get nasty about it sometimes. He’ll angrily lash out with an illegal strike before gesturing toward the ref and crowd “yeah I did it, you fucking saw him go for my leg!” Gagne’s no slouch in this match but he’s tremendous at showing how a bit of pain can act as a wedge that drives him further and further down until he’s an ineffective, frightened shell of himself. He’ll yelp in fright when Carpentier shoots in toward his leg again, even before the champ’s actually touched him. He does the usual thing of selling the pain of walking around on a leg that’s just been tweaked in a bad way but more than that he relates the ways in which a person’s entire disposition would naturally change in response to this sort of pain and this sort of attack. In particular Gagne does an amazing job of setting the stage in the first fall. Both men pull out bits of selling in this match that are as good as any I’ve ever seen. That enrichment, of course, comes in the way of selling, which is stellar here. Even when things aren’t actively popping off or these guys aren’t fighting over some hold, there’s always a gesture towards the possibility of something or the enrichment of what came before. Gagne will dash toward the ropes with a fakeout as these two circle each other following an extended sequence on the mat. As he’s got his man trapped in a headscissors for a while, Carpentier will shake out the hand that Gagne twisted in a wristlock a few minutes before. They also do well to pepper in bits of interesting work whenever there’s a dry spell. With the rippling sinews of Carpentier’s torso and the Midwestern determination etched across Gagne’s face, these guys are practically radiating as they fight over even the simplest holds. I’ve never seen such a gripping struggle over a top wristlock. The fact that these men do such a thing is noteworthy on its own but the skill with which they do it makes it all the better. They elevate everyday pains, heighten the hurt, take the universal suffering that is having a corporeal form and craft drama from it, drama that is painfully familiar.
![edouard carpentier edouard carpentier](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Fb4zYoZOU_8/maxresdefault.jpg)
You know how it feels to get your wrist bent backward, so these guys turn that experience into a three act play.
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Twisting arms, torquing necks, crashing rib-first into a solid object, all of these are things that happen all the time in real life and even the most oblivious layman can sympathize with them. Just about everything these guys do here, especially on the mat, would make sense to someone who had never seen wrestling before.
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By and large I refute that argument and point to a match like this as evidence to the contrary. A few of the complaints you’ll hear about technical wrestling is that it’s boring and inscrutable, nothing more than an arid exhibition of techniques that makes no sense to even seasoned wrestling fans. It’s everything you could want from a mat-based match, from its technique to its aesthetics to its internal narrative.įor starters, it’s shockingly easy to follow. (reviewed ) Utterly stunning match, certainly one of the finest I’ve seen of this era and one of the finest I’ve ever seen period. Édouard Carpentier (c) vs Verne Gagne Two out of Three Falls Match for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship (depending on who you ask) International Amphitheatre, Chicago, Illinois, United States Watch: YouTube Édouard Carpentier vs Verne Gagne – NWA Chicago () 1000 Matches (Supposedly) Better Than John Cena vs Umaga from Royal Rumble 2007.1000 Matches Better Than Shawn Michaels vs The Undertaker from WrestleMania 25.