[3.0] "Well, this was a disappointing mess. Adam Cole looked like he shouldn't have been out there like at all, even though he was cleared. This makes me upset seeing Adam Cole like this, can't believe this was once a man who dominated the NXT title scene. Matthews deserved better than this crap."
[7.0] "A bit overbooked, but a genuinely good wrestling match. Ring psychology 101. Buddy Matthews did a phenomenal job of pushing Adam Cole to his breaking point, methodically challenging him to remember who he is. Cole, meanwhile, sold his behind off and delivered a fantastic all-around performance. The story was compelling from start to finish, and the action more than delivered. 3.5 stars, 7 out of 10."
[8.0] "Buddy Matthews best singles match to date, Adam made him look like a million bucks. So much so that a portion of the crowd was rooting for Buddy and against Adam. Great story told throughout the match concerning Adams ankle injury, and the impacts of that injury resulting him to be fragile. Great high impact technical wrestling showcased in the beginning sequences. Spots focusing on Adams injury, Buddys overwhelming strength and then eventually Adam rediscovering his own fighting spirit was very good. That kick out at 1 was completely unnecessary though. The pacing and structuring of the match were excellent for a short tv match, keeping the crowd invested and engaged. Buddys athleticism coupled with Adams mastery of pro wrestling made for a great return for Adam."
"not only did they just trade moves in typical AEW fashion, but Adam Cole sold his foot and ankle injury repeatedly by using superkick after superkick, as well as doing his move out of the corner where he jumps down onto his injury. this absolutely sucked. buddy should come out with a shovel and his opponent should use it on him every time as a visual metaphor at this point."
[2.0] "Something of a disaster but kind of understandable given this is Cole's first match back. Still sad to see and the crowd turning on him wasn't a good sign either. He'll probably turn heel yet again which is unfortunate because he does have a real comeback story to tell."
[1.0] "Matches structured like this are one of AEWs biggest flaws imo. I get playing into the ankle injury, but man this was so overbooked and so corny. This accomplished nothing positive, and made Buddy unnecessarily look like a dweeb. The selling from Adam Cole was so weird here in the sense that he was about to walk away from the match, but was able to nonstop super kick, kick out at 1, hit multiple panama sunrises, and win the match? Egregious booking"
[5.0] "Buddy looks excellent. Adam looks like shit. Fun match. The ankle was overbooked here and in no world does Buddy lose to Adam, except in Tony Khan's world."
[5.0] "This match was fine I guess, but Cole's very rusty and this story with MJF is actively making me not care about his return. Buddy did a good job at least."
[0.0] "It took me more than a week to leave this review because I was recovering from the hefty blow that the subtlety hammer had inflicted on me. This was complete and utter useless garbage. Did you know Adam Cole was coming back from a bad ankle? You might have missed it. We had the worst excesses of MJF and Adam Cole, with uninteresting pre-tape promos and NXT face melodrama, all shaped around a bad match. The work was dull and the 'storytelling' was horrible - I don't want doctors, I don't want mid-match promos, I don't want people discovering the real them. Buddy Matthews came across like a complete bum here."
[2.0] "1/5. This match was bad. The crowd getting behind Buddy is all that really needs to be said. All this match did was bury Buddy, and the postmatch doesn't make me too excited for what's next with Malakai. The kickout at 1 spot was the nail in the coffin for me."
[8.0] "I have absolutely no idea why this is rated the way it is, I don't care, but I have to write out something so my score is counted. I mostly do it to document, and record my own ratings. This was great and fantastic ROH/high octaine stuff for the most part and I have no clue what people are trying to do saying Cole looked "out of shape" how are we still talking about this?"
[5.0] "An alarming piece of business that'll only make the next chapter of this story more challenging. Physically, Cole's performance isn't the sharpest but for obvious reasons, that can be excused. However, his game's lack of subtlety remains a significant issue, taking a route here that actively damaged himself. Cleveland didn't buy their presentation of this matchup, actively rooting for Buddy as a once Devil dealt with the demons of a year-long layoff. In fairness to Cole, it's a baffling opponent for him to return to, outwardly highlighting his flaws. The result is a bit of a mess, even with some decent action emerging along the way. **1/4"
[2.0] "I'm sorry, but Adam Cole looks ridiculous and I couldn't believe what I'm watching, as I witnessed an out of shape, skinny, from an injury returning Cole repeatedly kick out of finishers that should've put him away. None of this made sense and it made Buddy Matthews look incredibly weak. Just bad..."
[3.0] "Cole had to get a new bone or something so performance issues are expected on his return, but this was still really bad from a story perspective and just being the usual Cole kind of match where it's completely excessive. Usually he's in main events when he does that but this was an opener of a heatless match to build to a different feud."
[8.0] "Surprisingly good chemistry between these two. Good match to spotlight Buddy Matthews ahead of the Continental Classic. Were finally nearing the conclusion of the Adam Cole/MJF saga. The lead up to Worlds End should be intriguing, as long as everyone remains injury free. If the storylines in AEW/pro wrestling are too complex to keep track of (theyre really not) maybe just stick to watching sports entertainment for kids instead of complaining online and bumming everyone out. Good graps."
[8.0] "The very definition of a 4* match. Had good spots, had story development, made both workers look good. Im so much more invested in what happens next for Adam Cole and for HoB after this match. I hope this match signals a HoB tweener/face run, I hope this match signals a Buddy Matthews C2 entry, I hope this match signals some development in Adam Coles story that isnt the same cookie cutter MJF heel story that weve seen multiple times before."
[0.0] "DUD. This is one of the worst matches ever conceived and its not because one of the guys literally had his ankle shattered and wrestled after a year, its the overbooked mess it is. The needless drama with the ring side doctor, the walkout. The heel getting cheered over the supposed babyface throughout the match this is a complete disaster."
[3.0] "A lot of talk about the booking but as a match this was just really bad stuff. Cole has the best excuse in the world for having a bad match coming back so people should give him time, but the layout of this was awful. AEW needs to chill on the kickouts at 1."
[2.0] "As a match, this was a below average, skippable affair. As a redebut of a wrestler expected to be a main event player, this was utter garbage. Adam Cole looks terrible. He has no muscle, he is painted orange, and his ring rust is glaring. Buddy Mathews was working in slow motion to try and make Cole look vaguely athletic, but he did not succeed. The closing stretch here was, like most things Adam Cole touches, annoyingly over booked. Stop with the finisher kickouts and doctor stoppages in random TV matches. It's hockey and lame."
[7.0] "I really enjoyed the storytelling in this match, and it was balanced well with actual in ring action between two solid workers. Buddy looked really strong here, and I hope this leads to them putting him in the C2 possibly, as he hasn't really had any singles love since coming to the company. For him to be more over and get better reactions from the crowd than Adam Cole should tell AEW how entertaining Matthews is on all levels. As for the injury of Adam Cole, I hope this leads to him losing against MJF, and it forces him to work for it rather than beating MJF in their first match."
[5.0] "Good back and forth encounter that showed a lot of good signs for Adam Coles first match back in over a year, but definitely got a little more from the match that what was necessary. Both Cole and Buddy Matthews have a tendency to over salt the soup from time to time and toward the closing stretch, there was quite a bit going on. Between Cole working the injury, but still managing to hit multiple Panama Sunrise destroyers and a fair amount of superkicks, combined with arguably one-too-many kickouts from both guys, it brought my enjoyment of the match down ever so slightly, simply because all of it was unnecessary. Both men are good workers though so the action was still enjoyable, but Matthews calling Cole a bitch for leaving when he was potentially injured is a bit out of character for a member of the House of Black, but maybe they are going to tie it into something bigger involving Malakai Black, who confronted Cole post match in what was actually a great visual, with Matthews and Cole shaking hands before the lights go out and Matthews was replaced by Malakai. Even though this is just a gap feud before Full Gear, I am more interested in Cole v. Malakai than Cole v. MJF. Good teaser for that, if slightly overdone. (**3/4)"
[3.0] "This wasn't good and it might have set Adam Cole back as a babyface even more, which sucks because he is coming off some real hard times that should make him a huge babyface but he's caught in between some awful booking with the MJF feud that was better left forgotten."
[4.0] "i get the story that theyre trying to tell in this match. And it sucks for me to say this because i was so excited for this match and for Adam coles first match in almost a year and half. But the in ring was decent and everything else was awful. I didnt like this what so ever. They made both guys look completely stupid especially buddy. 2.50 stars"
[2.0] "I feel bad for Adam Cole because the man is clearly a standup guy but he has been booked into a no-win scenario and his wrestling style doesn't exactly help get people on his side. Just an absolutely bizarre way to lay out this match. People claiming Buddy should have won though? Let's be real."
[8.0] "Really enjoyed this, what are people wanting from a tv opener? A hard fought match where Buddy looked like a million bucks - Adam was always going to win so why not make the other guy look as good as you can in the process? hyped for Adam vs Malakai!"
[6.0] "Hard to rate, Cole was obviously kinda rusty and I think he shouldn't get flame for that. Buddy Matthews did a very great job in this match, basically carrying this on his own. The original plan of the match is decent and I think both of these guys sold really well this idea, I was into the match from beginning to finish. HOWEVER, this was too long, too annoying in the end. Putting over Cole is not a problem, but booking Matthews to loose over Adam looking THAT weak is a problem. I just pray the injury angle will be gone soon and that Cole will prove he is still one of the best of this business."
[3.0] "Just really weird. Idk this whole match was just structured really bizarrely. They establish early on that Cole's ankle is a weak point for him, and Buddy eventually starts going to work on it. It gets to a point where the doctor checks on him and starts escorting him to the back because of how much pain his ankle is causing him. This is when the match starts to shit the bed. Buddy gets on the mic and lambasts Cole, and calls him a bitch. Why is this happening? I don't know. Cole then gets back in the ring and starts beating on Buddy but his ankle is still causing him pain. How will our hero overcome this? Apparently by just forgetting to sell his ankle. For the final 5 minutes of the match, Cole's ankle which was previously established to be pretty hurt, so much so that he had to be escorted out by doctors, is now just magically healed. What? The match goes on for a bit after that and it's not particularly good. Cole does one of the worst fighting spirit spots I've ever seen after he kicks out of a curb stomp at one and then he wins the match not too long after that. Pretty bad on all accounts and a very poor showing from Cole. *3/4"
"6.0. This comment section is critiquing this like it was a ppv main event. The match was uninspired, but it was executed well and, most importantly, it furthered the storyline. Sometimes, that's enough."
[2.0] "Sorry, this sucked. Cole looked horrible both physically (especially next to Matthews) and from a psychological standpoint. The spot where he no sold a superplex to hit a brainbuster over his knee was awful, and the selling of his ankle following the intervention from Doc Samson was dreadful. It was like he was going out of his way to do moves that involved no selling the injury. His offence is terrible in general. The one count following a curb stomp, the laughable hockey fight spot... There was so much here that I disliked. It definitely does not help when Cole in no way looks or wrestles in a manner that appears like he could have a hope in hell of beating Buddy. Not only is he significantly smaller, but he isn't faster, he's less athletic, his strikes are weak, and he has no advantage in technique either. He didn't even try to come up with an intelligent gameplan in an effort to make it convincing that he could hang with Matthews. He does absolutely nothing to make up for his size disadvantage, and consequently the whole thing comes across as ridiculous and sorely lacking in credibility. Matthews didn't look half bad and saved this from a lower score, but Cole was abysmal here on all levels. You know something has gone very wrong when the crowd is siding with Buddy Matthews of all people over the supposed main event babyface returning from a career threatening injury... This was rotten."
"Never would I have to believe that Adam Cole would be this washed. One of my own saddest days. All he had to do was avoid clichés like kicking out at 1 and make his Canadian Destroyer (The Panama Sunrise) important like Baron Corbins End Of Days or Kenny Omegas One Winged Angel in the sense that its a FINISHING MOVE that gets rarely kicked out of. Considering Coles own stature and size, he should wrestle less like a Konosuke Takeshita or a Kenny Omega but more like something his own style in the sense that it still be an underdog but he pulls out some fire out of his own ass. Its sad because he has a great moveset as well, but, he loves to abuse the Superkick. He has moves like The Backstabber, The Neckbreaker, The Pump Kick, etc. He should take advantage of that. Adam Cole desperately needs a reevaluation of his own wrestling style. Im totally not drunk at the time of writing this."
[5.0] "This match felt very basic and undercooked for two absolutely incredibly talented wrestlers. Cole having his injury and moving slower was to be expected, but it felt like they didn't want to have a really believable match in place of it. The kick out at 1 on the curb stomp (which I'm mixed when it comes to those types of spots, but I really didn't like that one), the selling of the ankle like death followed by shortly afterwards by two Panama Sunrises, and the fact that crowd was quite behind Buddy and booing most of the time Cole was on offense, I just struggled to enjoy the match. I hope that Cole vs Malakai Black will be a lot better."
[5.0] "This might've been the carry job of the century sadly. Buddy Matthews was doing everything in his power to bring this match to be something interesting but he just couldn't. There's no world where he should lose this match. Tell me, doesn't Adam Cole losing make everything about his return more interesting? Buddy will continue to be the most underrated wrestler on this roster."
[8.0] "I guess I am the high man on this match - I thought it was great! I guess people don't like the idea of match being built around Cole's foot injury, I would agree the use of the doctor was heavy handed and it no doubt turned the crowd, but that was the obvious story to tell and I thought it was otherwise well told. Outside of this the match was given a lot of time and I though Cole looked good considering his time away ***3/4"
[3.0] "This wasn't a good match. I won't hit the alarm button on Adam Cole he is coming back from a very bad injury but this whole match wasn't good. I thought Buddy Matthews looked okay, but the match was very slow - pace. I didn't like the spot where they teased Adam Cole getting hurt again. Then after Malakai Black came out after the match and now next week they'll be facing off. Overall just not a good start for Adam Cole in a feud with MJF that makes no sense now because he's a face and MJF a heel. Just a lot of confusion going with Adam Cole at this moment in time."
[3.0] "I was really hoping for a big, epic comeback match for Adam Cole, going up against one of the most underrated wrestlers today, but that just didnt happen. This match was insanely slow-paced (especially for an average Adam Cole match) and there was genuinely probably more downtime than in ring action. rest holds, ankle sells, and just overall confusion made this match a tough watch. Buddy's selling was still on point, and Cole seems to have at least something left in him, but one thing is crystal clear after this match, it doesnt look like cole is ready to be the top babyface again. At least not yet."
[4.0] "Wow, yeah, this was horrible on several levels. I mean, after being on the bench for over a year, Cole should be returning to 6 minute wins against guys who don't make him look like a flabby pipsqueak. It would give him a chance to get back into ring shape while winning back an audience who gleefully counted him out during the injury angle. As is, he looked slow & sluggish, only sold the ankle when it suited and pulled off the cringiest spirit spot of the year **"
[5.0] "At least five minutes too long and all the overbooked bullshit really didn't help. Cole's return has been mishandled apart from the reintroduction pop he got at Wrestledream. They have not done a good job of making the story with MJF make sense and him rejecting the Undisputed Kingdom one week only to team up with them the next only adds to the confusion. That bleeds into the crowd reactions because it didn't take long for a large portion of the audience here to start cheering for Buddy as he was clearly carrying the returning babyface (? ) through this match, which is to be expected for a guy coming back from 14 months out, but again begs the question why did this go 15 minutes? I'm looking forward to Cole vs MJF at Full Gear a lot less than I was as I now fear the overbooked nonsense we'll be put through will be even worse than MJF's match with Jay White at last year's Full Gear. Based on this match Buddy should be the one getting the singles push, he's really good but also just another guy lost in the mix in 2024 AEW."
[7.0] "A really good return for Adam Cole which played around the injury that kept him out for a year. Buddy Matthews is good in roles like this, and this builds to Cole facing Malakai Black in an NXT offer match next week. One knock is that it did go a bit long, but Cole needs in ring time, and it was good to see him after so long away."
[3.0] "The match between Adam Cole and Buddy Matthews was pretty underwhelming. Cole looked visibly out of shape and struggled to keep up with Matthews, who seemed more energized and focused. The storyline about Cole's ankle felt forced and didn't add much to the overall match. Key moments, like the attempted superplex and the brainbuster over his knee, were poorly executed and didn't look convincing. Matthews did a decent job holding his own, but it wasn't enough to save the matcch from being bland. The post-match appearance of Malakai Black was fine, but I have no clue why it happened, but it didn't make up for the lackluster performance in the ring. Overall, the match lacked the excitement and intensity fans, including mysefl, were hoping for."
[7.0] "This was good, in-ring wise but above all story-wise with the famous story of Matthews finding Cole fragile, this match being precisely there for Cole to prove that he's not fragile and that he's definitely back. That's why the angle where he has to give up the match and then comes back was great, not to mention the whole story about his leg during the match. Cole didn't wrestle with fear and Matthews always delivers in these singles matches. Two of my favorite wrestlers who are still proving why they are."
[5.0] "As far as the match goes, it was slow. Mostly due to storyline with Coles ankle and losing his fighting spirit. After being called a bitch, Cole comes back into the ring and defeats Matthews and thinks him for bringing his fighting spirit back. The match wasnt very good as they clearly were aiming for storyline here instead of going all out. Then after the match, the lights go out and Malakai Black appears to set up Cole vs. Black next Wednesday. Overall, pretty bland match for these twos standards, but I can understand why they did it."
[3.0] "If this is what Adam Cole can offer in 2024, then I don't think he's needed. I can appreciate this is his first match in over a year, and I can appreciate that this is a slower one to ease him back into wrestling, but it just doesn't work. Adam is feeble and boring in every spot he's involved in. The only thing that feels new from him is an absolutely abysmal fighting spirit kick out spot. Those should be reserved for massive moments, climactic shows of strength, not during a comeback match against the bafflingly bland Buddy Matthews. I checked out from then onwards, but everything before felt like a by the numbers high stakes Adam Cole match, except slower and much less enthralling."
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