Greatest Match Semifinals: Rock/Austin vs. Styles/Daniels/Joe

[Everlong]

SquaredCircle's Greatest Match of All Time!

(2) The Rock vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin, No Disqualification, WrestleMania 17



VS

(2) AJ Styles vs. Christopher Daniels vs. Samoa Joe, Unbreakable 2005



VOTE NOW for which you liked better. Voting will last six days. In the event of a tie, the winner will be decided by which match had more people commenting in its favor.

[Everlong]

Actually shocked Rock/Austin has made it through ANOTHER round, with hardly any vocal support throughout this whole tournament. Crazy.

Two #2 seeds facing off in the semifinals, the winner heading to the grandaddy of em all. Have at it!

[VaderBomb]

The triple threat is a much better match than Rock/Austin as far as technical skills and storytelling goes.

[Everlong]

Yeah as much as I enjoy the aura around Rock/Austin I don't think this is even a close contest. I'm taking the triple threat, it's the best work ever produced in TNA and arguably the greatest triple threat ever. Rock/Austin shouldn't have made it out of the last couple rounds, IMO, but this is the most clear-cut choice yet.

[KaiserGlider]

Nope. I'm voting Rock/Austin.

The triple threat is more of a spotfest and I do think Rock/Austin told the better story - a total war between two men who were absolutely hell-bent on walking away as champion, with Austin having to sell his soul to the devil to be able to beat The Rock. Crowd, commentary, and atmosphere are much better in Rock/Austin as well. The finish has received criticism, but in my opinion the finish of the triple threat isn't anything special either. It's just Styles pinning Daniels in a bridge after reversing Angel Wings - it doesn't really seem special after everything we've seen in the match up to that point. By comparison, Austin decimating Rock with a shitload of chair shots is a much better and more memorable finish (at least for me it is).

AJ/Joe/Daniels is better technically in terms of the creativity of the moves and the pace at which they are delivered, no doubt about that at all. But Rock/Austin is also very good work-rate wise, it's easily one of, if not the greatest brawl of all time. That, in addition to the outstanding commentary by JR/Heyman and the electric atmosphere of the Houston Astrodome make Rock/Austin a bigger and better match in my mind. Lots of love for the triple threat, but I can't vote for it here.

[Hanley!]

How is Rock vs Austin still in this thing? It should have lost every round so far. It's in competition to win the title of greatest match of all time, when it wasn't even the greatest match of that night. It probably wasn't even the second greatest of that night. I really don't get it.

The match was good. But the finish was badly paced, badly timed and badly received. Austin's heel turn was one of WWE's biggest booking mistakes of all time, and that's from a business standpoint as well as a critical standpoint. It was maybe the worst way to end arguably the best wrestling show of all time.

The story told wasn't particularly good. Austin siding with McMahon was one of those twists that surprised people because it really made no sense and came out of nowhere. The feud leading up to the match really didn't play into the match all that much either - all the Debra involvement and everything. Austin's apparently desperation to be champion wasn't really the story leading up to the match. They just shifted gears on the night itself. Hell, even the stipulation of the match changed on the night itself.

Basically outside of it being the main event of one of the most critically beloved shows of all time, and being a match between arguably the two biggest wrestling stars of all time, the only thing this match has strongly in its favour is that it was a good brawl.

And while it was a good brawl, but it wasn't anywhere near the best brawl of all time. You don't need to look any further than our semi-final matches to find a better one: Austin/Hart is far better in that respect.

The triple threat is the easy option here. Unlike Austin/Rock, this is actually somewhat unique. It's the best TNA match and the best triple threat match going. I don't think I could call Austin/Rock the best in any category. Technically and athletically it's miles ahead of Austin/Rock. From a storytelling point of view, it's at least on par. It's paced much better, and it finishes stronger. I actually really liked the countering of the Angels Wings into a pin. It was unpredictable and it actually came at the climax of the match, rather than five minutes after it.

I really don't know how Rock/Austin keeps winning, but it's never been more obvious to me that it should lose than here.

[lyonssv]

That triple threat match is a thing a beauty. It has my vote.