Dean Malenko vs. Eddie Guerrero

[8.0] "[****] Dude, an absolutely awesome fucking classic! These two were dancing in the ring, but with such raw power and vicious, bone-snapping impact. Goddamn! I usually think of Eddie Guerrero as a high-flyer first, but seeing his technical mastery on display here was unreal. This was also my first proper look at Dean Malenko, and holy shit "The Man of 1, 000 Holds" is the real deal. He showcased incredible power, an effortless moveset, and proved he can dictate a grueling grappling clinic like almost nobody else in the business. Just astonishing work from bell to bell. If this is part of their legendary series/trilogy, I am going to devour every single second of it!"

[9.0] "I believe this is the match shown on the 8/1/95 episode of Hardcore TV. Pretty much like their other matches, the technical wrestling is great and they show a lot of chemistry, it's a little over-polished for me to give it a 10 but you have to respect the skill and influence that comes from this series."

[9.0] "A magnificent match. I found it better than the one from the following week which I really like. I still love the chemistry between these two. (4*1/2)"

[7.0] "Solid if not unremarkable encounter between two men who know each other quite well. There is the added novelty of this being Dean Malenko's final shot against Eddie and the TV Title IF he loses, and the backdrop is his hometown of Tampa. Though this match is tightly worked and technically sound, these guys have had better matches together. There is not a lot of room to breathe between moves. As spectacular as the moves may have been in 1995, they both forego selling in order to keep the pace up and get the bloodthirsty crowd on their side. In any event, it's a formidable match and a worthwhile chapter in the Malenko vs Guerrero rivalry! ***3/4"

[6.0] "This is taking place in Malenko's hometown of Tampa and this is his last shot at Guerrero's TV title. The opening minutes are quite dull and quite a few fans are turned off by this, but Eddy starts to win them over by countering a monkey flip by landing on his feet. As much I find the fans who pelted this match with boring chants insufferable, Guerrero and Malenko didn't give them any reason to care about the match. This match is full of sequences that would make great GIFs that would get plenty of views on Twitter, but there's not much in the way of story-telling or anything to get emotionally invested into. It's so incredibly dry, that they were lucky that their execution was perfect otherwise I would have hated this. It is frustrating that they had plenty of room to add some story elements or a clear face/heel dynamic, but they instead just do a match that feels like a showcase of their in-ring talents. It's a technical spotfest in that sense. The only bit of story-telling we get during this match is that Malenko is able to roll Eddy up for the victory and Guerrero lays Malenko out with a cheap shot as he goes for a handshake, signifying that this feud isn't over yet."

[7.0] "A fine match for a crowd that didn't appreciate what they were seeing. It's a shame that ECW has this reputation for finding great technical talent when their crowd treated them like this."

[6.0] "I was worried about how much I would enjoy this after their first ECW match, which was fine but ultimately quite dull; luckily, this was quite good. It got off to a bad start as their technical work, while impressive, totally turned off like half of the crowd, who were sadly just mindless drones looking to see people hit each other with weapons (this was an ECW show after all). Both guys eventually picked up the pace and brought out a nice variety of speedy and creative high-flying moves and some exciting pin attempts. It was good to see them mostly ignore the detractors in the audience and simply have the match they planned on having, since it definitely ended up working. ***1/4"