[9.0] "Wow, a unique matchup that I could possibly get into...love the face paint of both CM Punk and Sting paying respect to each other. MJF running around the arena to avoid CM Punk was hilarious. This match was a lot of fun, and I have really no complaints about it. Seeing Punk and Sting team was a once in a lifetime opportunity. FTR, who I'm usually very critical of, were great in this. MJF did very little except hide from Punk and even disappears at one point from the match. Of course, he almost breaks his neck on a hip toss from Sting to the outside of the ring, so who can blame him? Excellent 6-man tag."
[7.0] "It wasn't a perfect match (there were a couple of noticable botches) but overall it was fun and it was nice to see Punk and Sting team together. Mjf running from Punk was hilarious, Sting and Punk had two great comebacks and Ftr were amazing as usual. Sting is always very impressive considering his age. Darby added to the mix some of his classic athletic and riskful manuevers. The match was super enjoyable and it didn't feel 25 minutes at all since it was paced perfectly. 7/10 - 3.75*/5*"
[8.0] "This was a really fun match, seeing Punk come out in the surfer Sting make up and everything was really cool too. Seeing Punk embrace a different kind of role than usual as a babyface has been a treat."
[6.0] "Line of the night: Tony, "I would like to go back and see how many of MJF's 19 singles wins are tainted." Taz, "I would like you to go back to the hotel." YES! Tony the tool, playing the face, straight-man on commentary but being the cool avuncular suckup with the heel ladies, ie Baker. I don't like glib social climbers, especially those in the wrestling business who never actually physically competed. Anyway, this is a holiday match w/ a legend who has a link with this building's NWA-WCW past. So I expected a lot of Sting, and got more than anyone's fair share. A 62 year-old shouldn't be the emphasized worker in a 25 minute trios match. Nothing was awful, but the pacing was slow and never did the heels have Sting in jeopardy. Overall I'll recommend it for the novelty and to finally see MJF/Punk share-the-ring, or rather, share a run through the Coliseum. 2 3/4 rounded-up"
[8.0] "This was a really great match, but it felt too long and there were some botches. A really well worked tag match with great performances from everybody involved. ****"
[8.0] "Holiday show main event so it was a face showcase. MJF heel antics of avoiding Punk worked well in the match. Sting looked good despite his age, Punk looked great and Darby took the bulk of the workload for the team. Overall good fun match"
[7.0] "It definitely wasn't completely perfect (MJF landing in his head) but this was a dream match in every sense of the word and it was beyond enjoyable. I would show this to anyone who has watched/enjoyed pro wrestling any time in the last 30 years and I believe they would enjoy this, the nostalgia combined with some of the best workers in the business today. Not prefect pro wrestling but was one of my favourite matches of the year as it balanced modern and classic pro wrestling whilst also keeping everything looking like it should."
[8.0] "Really good old-school main event between these six great workers who gave it their all to make this long match a success and it was, some will say it was too long and I can understand that but I never found it boring personally so I won't go as far as saying that. It was an important match with a lot of star power and in the continuity of the rivalry between Punk and MJF, plus Sting was wrestling so I think it's fitting that the last half hour of the show was entirely devoted to them. Even more so when you see how the match was extremely well constructed and structured, everything was super well booked and you feel that a big business mind was behind the production because that's exactly how this match was supposed to be booked. It's a pure feel-good moment from the entrances to the end of the match, with the babyfaces having some exceptional facepaints and the heels all decked out in yellow connecting so well with each other. It's a detail but I liked the colour coding. The action was super well paced, the interaction between MJF and Punk was super well teased even though it never happened and we saw plenty of big spots, the crowd was hot and everyone shone. Not a classic or anything but just a super enjoyable six-man tag."
[5.0] "It was terrible. MJF and CM Punk running around the arena without any countdown, the incompetent Punk continues to show his helplessness, he can't even jump on the rope, but for some reason he tries. Terrible chemistry between the wrestlers, Sting is just waiting for him to act, FTR are the only ones who tried to pull the match to a watchable level. The only thing that got better in the end, and before that there was a burden, which was also stretched for 20 minutes. **1/2"
[6.0] "This was ok. Sting disrupted the flow of the match alot but its understandable. Match was very slow paced making it a bit boring for me in the long run."
[5.0] "Thought that this was absolutely just a total embarrassment to the young guys, i know it was basically letting the faces win so the crowd goes home happy for the holidays but this made the heel team look like an absolute joke. The two old guys and Darby beat the established tag team and one of the best teams in the world and beat arguably the biggest heel in the company. Didn't understand the booking whatsoever"
[7.0] "That was great fun. The kind of match where you're puting your brain aside and just watch. That really felt like an all-star trios match as people were already crazy during the entrances. Kind of fan-service but I don't give a shit, eveybody took his bump and went all out for the right pleasure of AEW fans. Sting is a madman, though."
[10.0] "This got a LOT crazier than I expected. Everyone in the match did so well and the crowd was very hot, but I gotta highlight Sting, how is he better now than he was 20 years ago' I have been astounded at his work in AEW and this was probably the most he has shown."
[8.0] "This on paper looked like it was a Christmas novelty of a match, and it kind of was, but it was a lot more fun than I was expecting. There are few moments which drag it down a bit, like Punk and MJF not being counted out, Sting clearly gassing out and getting clumsy as a result, Sting no-selling moves in spite of said gassing out, and a bit of a flat ending after so much excitement, but I think these things were counter-balanced by a few nasty-looking bumps and dives, an all-around good performance from Darby especially, and the whole thing coming together as a fun Christmas ending without getting too silly. I'd give it about a low '8', which is probably about two points higher than I was expecting."
[6.0] "One of those fan-service-type matches where the fan-favourite babyfaces got to fight off the dastardly heels, get all their signature spots in, and send the crowd home. I get what they were going for, but it didn't need to be that long, especially with Sting and Punk getting so much focus compared to the far more capable Darby. Sting is very mobile and energetic considering he's SIXTY-TWO YEARS OLD, so despite his offence being very generic and a bit clunky at times, seeing him work so hard was still quite charming, and his connection with the crowd helped elevate his work. I still don't think he's suited for matches this long though, since his 'rolling back the years' charm eventually feels quite forced against the young guns. Punk continues to have ring rust despite wrestling almost every single week since his return. He was another case like Sting where his offence wasn't very smooth or explosive, but he at least worked hard and everything he did popped the crowd. He was obviously far more agile than Sting, but none of his offence could really be considered of a main-event level. The Pinnacle did well selling all of Sting and Punk's attacks, and their beatdown work was solid once they finally gained control in the second half. It's a shame that once again FTR are booked a bit cartoonishly by having to put over past-his-prime Sting and recently returned Punk, since they were a dominant tag team pre-AEW but haven't been given the same protection once in the company. I would still have Punk and Sting get really good hope spots against FTR, but then Darby should be the one whose ridiculous bursts helped overwhelm them and eventually put them away, instead of Sting and Punk doing all the heavy lifting and get all the hot tags as they did here. Speaking of Darby, he was fantastic as always with his daredevil offence, 100% committed bumping, and passionate babyface-selling. Every time he was in the ring he was doing something meaningful to put over the struggle of the match. It's a shame he had to be upstaged by Sting and Punk. ***"
[8.0] "This match gets a solid eight out of 10 for me I felt it went a little bit too long but so much happened into it I thought it was a really good match you can tell which wrestlers are gas to the end and I guess I think I want a hair too long but overall I still feel is a great match."
[9.0] "This was a really fun main event. The Pinnacle continue to be my favorite faction in AEW and I enjoyed their matching yellow gear. I also really liked the matching facepaint from the babyfaces, especially on Sting and Punk. There were also some crazy spots like Sting diving to the floor and MJF nearly dying after an arm drag over the top rope onto FTR on the floor."
[8.0] "Great match, Sting's flying crossbody to the outside was crazy for a 60 year old. Nasty fall for MJF just before it too, slow in places but too cool a dream match to not enjoy."
[9.0] "An amazingly cracking six-man tag, surely one of the best of its kind in recent memories. Very smartly built and structured from top to bottom, with the two extended heat spots being the main key of the bout. Too long for some people probably, but not a big problem for me otherwise. The crowd went berserk for Sting, and his initial hot tag was HOT. Another thing I loved here is that Punk and MJF didn't even make any contact throughout the whole bout, which is going to make their initial match even bigger when it occurs. [****1/4]"
[6.0] "From a historical perspective, this was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life as a fan of professional wrestling. Seeing CM Punk and Sting not only team, but pay tribute to one another with their face paint was genuinely incredible. The fact that they did this with Darby Allin by their side was even better. Especially with throwback-style wrestlers across the ring. The match itself was okay. The timing was off throughout this match, which resulted in both misfires and a few clunky sequences. Nevertheless, this was a display of why I love wrestling. A dream come true. 3 stars, 6 out of 10."
[4.0] "I can't believe this match gets a better grade than the opener. The chemistry between the wrestlers was terrible, FTR were always awkwardly waiting for Sting or CM Punk to hit their moves always a bit late. There were some really clumsy moves by Punk and Sting, Punk is still wrestling like in september, he can't even hit a springboard anymore and it was embarassing. Sting almost ended MJF's career by throwing him out of the ring like a total idiot. I see a lot of people here throwing shit at the Bucks' matches when there are some liberties taken from the tag rules but when CM Punk and MJF run for 20 seconds around the ring without being counted out, when all 3 babyfaces are in the ring at the same time for a good period with the ref not giving a shit, it's ok. Although FTR did all they could to carry the match, Darby hit an amazing tope suicida, Sting was having fun and the facepaints were nice"
[8.0] "Always nice to see Sting in action, the dive to the outside was insane and seeing MJF land on his head was a bit rough. It wasn't an amazing wrestling match but seeing Punk come out with gear inspired by sting and the scorpion death drop was pretty cool. I liked the spot where they all did there signature moves running into FTR while in the corner. Nice feel good match with a happy ending to send the crowd home happy."
[8.0] "Seth Rollins killed Sting, therefore Sting killed MJF. Loved this old school six man tag, good ol' RASSLIN and the fans in Greensboro went wild. FTR must have been ecstatic being in there with the Stinger. Just hope MJF doesn't need much time away, that could have been really bad for him."
[6.0] "It was decently worked but way WAY too long. There were multiple times when I started to fall asleep from how boring it was. The middle was filled with so many rest holds and body slams. The finishing stretch was exciting (hopefully MJF is okay) and Sting jumping off the top was a cool moment for sure. There was some good stuff mixed in but a lot of the match felt like padding. Decent but too long. [***]"
[10.0] "Sting is 6 years older than LA Park. And he had his working boots on. This is just a great and fun tv match. From the Face paint tribute to the Faces of Sting. To FTR having beautiful chemistry with Sting and Darby. To Darby selling like Ricky Morton. Just a lovely match."
[9.0] "Given the guys in this match it's no surprise that this was an old-school slow-built 6-man tag with a lot of heat and less moving parts for the sake of a more solid throughline. FTR are incredible at this kind of pacing, and of course you have Sting who came up in that style while Punk has studied it a lot. They center a lot of the match around MJF's refusal to match up with Punk and they do that in interesting ways that allow the match to keep going (the stands chase and hiding behind the table Darby knocked him over mostly). The FIP segments Darby & Sting have as well as Sting & Punk's hot tags string the match along perfectly, and FTR has intense chemistry with all three faces here while being able to work different against each one. 25 minutes seemed long when entrances began but they paced this perfectly, and the final stretch was immense, even if it had too little Darby for my tastes. Punk is a very smart worker these days I've noticed, he really gets a lot out of a little; Sting is the same but he has no choice because he's almost 63 and is covered by being a legend that's over as fuck by default. MJF getting tossed and nearly shattering his skull aside, this match was basically flawless in doing what it needed to do and getting over while progressing the Punk/MJF feud in a way that they could reasonably have their 1v1 at Revolution. FTR are the backbone of the match though, despite being 3v3 instead of 2v2 it's still a great showcase that they're arguably the best heel team on the planet. ****1/4"
[9.0] "What a good trio Sting, CM Punk and Darby Allin make, it is like the past, present and future although Allin is already the present but hey, how great both of them and well, MJF a shit."
[8.0] "This was a very old school type of 6 man tag match which admitedly is not something I usually like that much but this was still very good. It's awesome to see Sting still in there, the magic has never been lost, he's great. Looking forward to MJF vs Punk whenever that is. ****"
[2.0] "Disappointing. Fucking disappointing. This is the exact word to describe this match. It was slow-paced, tedious and pretty dumb, to be fucking honest. It was so boring that it got me bored in the first five minutes. Seriously, this is just a repetition of what happened in the first thirty seconds and that's fucking it! At least we got two cool spots at the end, but it doesn't compensate for the sleepy feeling they got me. And to think I was actually excited for this. **"
"7.75/10 is my rating for this match. This match was pretty good but I can't rate a match more than this rating I gave when mjf the whole match was missing, it had some good spots but sometimes it was so slow and boring especially the first minutes."
[10.0] "How great was this' I think this is one of Sting's best matches because everyone worked hard to make the greatest hits look amazing. FTR are great, Punk and MJF seem to be having fun developing their feud, and Darby was killing himself like usual."
[8.0] "Let us talk about how great the CM Punk inspired face paint Sting had on was. I also loved surfer Sting Punk. I really enjoyed this and it was good to have a completely differently paced trios match to what we would normally get in AEW. Every element worked really well."
[8.0] "The match was good, neither great nor poor, just good, teaming sting and cm punk was one of the most dreamy events that took place and MJF kept its character as always, the fun moments of the match were really good."
[9.0] "Another amazing match here, starting with Sting coming out with CM Punk inspired facepaint and Punk basically cosplaying 80s surfer Sting. MJF plays the cowardly heel superbly, even seeming to annoy his teammates with it, and the match is worked well to hide Sting's limitations and make him look as strong as he ever did. This must be up there with the best ever 6-man tag matches, as it gave everyone a chance to shine both as wrestlers and characters, and never descended into total chaos as so many do. Also, Sting is 62 years old, and doing stuff that people half his age would struggle with."
[7.0] "Fun match, although I think it ran too long and I didn't care for the ending stretch. Pinnacle probably should have won this match, but all in all it was fun. MJF and Punk laid the groundwork for their match, Darby and MJF killed themselves to sell the match. FTR carried the brunt of the in ring as expected. Solid overall."
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