[10.0] "My hot take regarding the Shawn Kurt trilogy is that this is the second best match over the rematch at vengeance. The match layout was close to perfect in how it was structured. Kurt refusing to go to overtime really played into how beast Kurt was as a heel when he upped the ante in how he was moving. This match had such a big time feel to it with some of the legends of this business being ringside for this match. A job well done all around. ****3/4"
[7.0] "Like their Vengeance match, I thought this was notably better than their far more famous (and wildly overrated) Wrestlemania match. That's mostly because the selling here *mostly* didn't get ignored or eventually abandoned, plus there was always a distinct story that factored into how each fall was set-up and eventually unfolded. They both displayed good urgency right from the start, with Angle showing good aggression and intensity as the bruiser heel, while HBK showed good fire as the suffering underdog babyface. Angle attempted to slow the match down upon gaining control, but that was soon overtaken with both guys going for big bumps on the outside, as Angle was flipped out over the top rope and took a great bump for it, but then he was somehow able to fully recover 20 seconds later in order to hit HBK with an ANGLE SLAM. Seriously? A finisher only 5 minutes in? And one of those 'heightened' finishers at that? AND after he just took a genuinely nasty-looking bump to the outside? That sort of thing is difficult to take seriously, but thankfully this was one of the few truly overkill moments of the match, so at least it was out of the way quite early on. Angle picking up his first fall off of a second-rope Angle Slam looked great, and it featured good logic because HBK had created space by knocking Angle off the turnbuckle (which Angle had placed HBK on) but he was still too exhausted from Angle's dominance to capitalise with an attack or even just move himself off of it, allowing Angle to quickly jump back up there and hit him with the finisher. Angle continued to impress with his intensity and aggression as he refused to let up his pressure despite already being up a fall, and I liked how he generally kept up his focus on HBK's back, which was again satisfyingly logical. HBK really should've been selling his back a lot more by the mid-way point, especially given he took one Angle Slam on the outside and another off the second rope, all while Angle still applied all sorts of other back-targeting attacks. At least I could enjoy that work of Angle's, even if HBK's wasn't anywhere near as good. HBK had to rely on speed and luck with a sneaky roll-up for his own 1st fall, which naturally meant Angle was still able to remain the dominant one as they reset, which was another nice bit of storytelling which also helped further HBK's sympathetic underdog role. Angle finally began going for Ankle Locks in the 2nd half, which I didn't mind despite his previous heavy back-focus, since the Ankle Lock is another finisher that he obviously can likewise rely on to get falls, and I generally just liked his mixture of action from his big power moves to this signature submission (plus all his 'filler' beatdown work). To his credit, HBK was selling the effects of the Ankle Lock quite consistently, as you could see the immense struggle he had when attempting to counter/attack Angle and when simply trying to move around the ring. The result was that HBK's comeback to earn his own 2nd fall felt well-deserved, since it all began with him peppering Angle with a bunch of unanswered strikes (as that was all he could physically manage at the start) in order to build more and more momentum as he then moved to his bigger signature stuff and eventually the Sweet Chin Music. Obviously it was predictable that the falls would then be tied for the final period, so there was a bit of disappointment in that, but the work itself remained fun. Angle athletically countering HBK's moonsault into a body slam and then into the Ankle Lock was very cool and perhaps the best spot of the match, but of course they had to go for a cop-out finish as HBK withstood the Ankle Lock for a wildly long time (not as bad as I recall it being in their Wrestlemania match but still needlessly long) so as to eventually hit the Sweet Chin Music after finally escaping, only for time to then run out just as he went for the pin. The convenient timing of all that is obviously pretty silly, and it obviously just done to eventually set up the cheap booking of both guys as WWE Heavyweight Title challengers in a Triple Threat, but they at least executed it all really well from a technical standpoint. By WWE standards, this match thankfully didn't go too overkill and actually had some good storytelling as it played off of Angle's heelish aggression and HBK's plucky babyface fire, so I'd say this was a pretty good match. ***1/4"
[9.0] "Easily one of the best matches I have seen on Raw, fantastically well paced and full of drama and a nail biting final five minutes, I loved it despite the result!"
[8.0] "The weakest of their trilogy of matches in 05 and it's still a really good match. Just shows how good both guys were and the chemistry they had together. Not a big fan of iron man matches but this one was paced well and had a lot of falls which is always the direction I think these matches should go in. The draw finish isn't bad but what makes it age bad is that we never got the decisive victory in the feud. Nonetheless a really good match 4/5"
[10.0] "These two legendary wrestlers went head-to-head in a grueling contest to determine who was the better man. The match ended in a draw, with both competitors scoring two falls each. Interestingly, Angle refused to go into overtime, resulting in a thrilling and evenly matched encounter. Although there was no title on the line, the sheer athleticism, technical prowess, and drama of this Iron Man match left fans on the edge of their seats!"
[8.0] "This was an epic Iron Man match. Angle beats on Shawn for the first twenty minutes of this with Shawn fighting from under, then Shawn is able to get a fall around the 25 minute mark and the final five minutes consists of the two attempting their finishers, and when Shawn hits it the time runs out before the referee can count to three and Angle backs down from the overtime. Awesome match with an amazing structure."
[9.0] "This was AWESOME. I admit I'm not big into thirty minute matches most of the time, but we really got a 24 minute match in disguise thanks to some commercials. I'm also not a huge Shawn Michaels guy, but my love for Kurt Angle outweighs that and here the love was in full effect. Angle just beat the hell out of Shawn for 20+ minutes and it was great. Sure Shawn may gotten some roll-ups and attempted comebacks, but Angle was all over him. I don't really get the criticism that in an Iron Man match that they should be fighting for 20 minutes before there's a fall because 1. In Kayfabe any match could at any point and these dudes were going five miles an hour 2. Nobody should ever kick out of a Super Olympic slam even it is done 10 minutes into a match 3. Shawn has flash pinfall which usually happens with upset victories. 4. Shawn tapping out made sense because he has to continue the match to fight on, if he didn't tap and laid in there, his ankle would be majorly fucked and we would have a boring match. Anyways, I do love this match, it's not as good as their Mania 21 match, but I'd argue it's better than their Vengeance match and I still like that one, but I enjoyed this a lot more. I will say that I get if the draw bothers some people, but with some companies nowadays deciding to constantly do Sudden Death, I'm a-okay with this result. Live with it even if it's not satisfying. A very underrated match in Shawn's honestly not that deep catalog. ****1/2"
[9.0] "This has undoubtedly become one of my favorite technical matches. I must admit that technical matches are not my cup of tea, I usually find them very boring and I prefer something more fun and dynamic, but thanks to a stipulation full of pathos such as the Ironman match Michaels and Angle gave life to a memorable clash. It was truly a match of excellent technical quality (and I could not expect anything else from two like them), but it is also rich in history and sychology, and is meticulously structured. I can't give a perfect 10 because of my aforementioned "guilty", i.e. that I'm not a huge fan of technical matches and I hardly give a 10 to matches of this type, but it's still a match I loved, and honestly the draw in the end didn't bother me. In fact, I would have loved it even more if they had gone to sudden death and given us a clear winner"
[7.0] "There's some decent action in this which is expected when you have Angle and Michaels wrestling one another but there's a reason this isn't talked about like their two previous PPV bouts. I will say I appreciated Angle's work on Michael's back, and Michael's leg. Shawn sold both well and you would see the effect on him later in the match when he went for the kip-up he was limping, while his facial expressions were good too selling the pain.***1/2"
[8.0] "I actually quite liked this one until the draw finish. I thought that it being a TV match with commercial breaks would ruin it but I think it actually helped the pacing of the match - at least for someone like me watching it back years now and not having to sit through the actual commercials. Obviously not as good as their WM21 classic or even the Vengeance match but still very good."
[7.0] "A bit disappointed as I was expecting more, and this was no where near as great as their Mania 21 encounter. The first half was pretty average, it slowed down midway through, and picked up towards the last five minutes. Kurt took a crazy bump to the outside, almost landing on his face, Michaels hit a nice counter into a pin fall to get his first point, and the finish was timed perfectly, even though it was a draw in the end. There's a reason why this match is not widely brought up in the Michaels-Angle rivalry, and after watching this match, I understand why. It's largely forgettable and it's a shame. Still decent action all things considered, but it's underwhelming. ***1/2"
[8.0] "Completely disagree with Meltz rating. Yes, commercials really hurt this one, as they usually do for a long TV matches. But guys put it all on the table. Far from a classic WM21 encounter, yet still amazing effort from a both stars. HBK selling was on top, Angle fully controlling the Ankle Lock and giving no crap about Shawn's counters was fantastic too. Everything was fast-paced and fluid, at least what we saw besides commerical breaks. The last 2 minutes easily can be described as one of the most cool minutes of Raw that were ever aired in Ruthless Agression era. Deserve to go top-15-30-50 of your typical "best Raw matches" lists or whatever. ****"
[6.0] "An alright match but the Iron Man format didn't really do it any favors--it sort of confined them to the whole 'trading falls' thing rather than allowing them to just go all out. It also didn't make sense to have multiple falls in 30 minutes when it literally took 20+ minutes to get just ONE fall in their previous two matches. Kind of dumb, but typical WWE booking I guess."
[5.0] "This was fine. Whilst it's not as boring as the Vengeance match, it's not as exciting as the WM 21 match. And the match is just solid. Angle attacking the back, then moving on to the ankle. HBK did nothing memorable. This was just there. **3/4"
[8.0] "Das beste Raw-Match für mich in diesem Jahr. Iron Man Matches sind verdammt selten und noch seltener passend zu einer Fehde, doch bei dieser Fehde hat es natürlich wie die Faust aufs Auge gepasst. Es ist meiner Meinung nach "nur" das 3. stärkste Match ihrer tollen Fehde, wobei es sicherlich fast gleichwertig zu sehen ist mit ihrem Match bei Vengeance, aber es ist trotzdem ein fantastisches Match gewesen. Das Finish war sehr gut gewählt und der perfekte vorläufige "Ende" dieser großartigen Fehde. **** 1/4"
[9.0] "Nach ihren Großartigen matches bei Wrestlemania und Vengance hatten man sehr große erwartungen an dieses Iron Men match zwischen Michaels und Angle. Meiner Ansicht nach blieb es ein stück hinter den Erwartungen! Trotzdem war es sehr stark!"
[8.0] "HBK und Angle schaffen es hier, wie ich es mit meinen hohen Ansprüchen an die beiden aber auch erwarte, dieses Match so zu gestalten, dass man ein anderes Match sieht als ihre beiden Klassiker vorher. Hier gibt es dann auch ein sehr gutes Match der beiden, aber eben keinen weiteren Meilenstein. Was mich ein wenig stört, ist eine Sache, an der aber viele Iron Man Matches kranken, nämlich dass es plötzlich Falls nach Aktionen gibt, wo sie in den anderen Matches noch auskicken konnten und das dann hier nach weniger Matchzeit... Das soll aber nur ein kleiner Kritikpunkt sein."
[8.0] "Angle gegen Michaels III - kaum schlechter als die beiden Partien von Mania und Vengeance des selben Jahres. Wieder unglaubliche Moveabläufe, wieder verbissene Intensität und wenn mir vorher jemand gesagt hätte, dass man einen Moonsault in einen Angle-Lock kontern kann - ich hätte es nicht geglaubt. Das Finish wirkt auf der Uhr ein wenig arg konstruiert, aber trotzdem bleibt das natürlich im Free-TV ein wirklich dickes Brett."
[9.0] "Das "schwächste" Match ihrer 3er Serie von 2005, allerdings heißt das auch nur "schwächer als 2 wirkliche Klassiker". Das Match ist sehr gut, zieht sich trotz der 30 Min Länge nie und die letzten Minuten sind einfach verdammt spannend. Der Draw war damals vielleicht etwas unbefriedigend, aber im Nachhinein betrachtet ein guter Schlussstrich zwischen 2 der besten Techniker die es gibt/gab."
[8.0] "Unterhaltsames Iron Man-Match, in dem beide Ausnahme-Wrestler schöne Aktionen zeigen, um an den nächsten Pinfall bzw- Aufgabe zu gelangen. Das Draw-Ende stört mich zwar ein wenig, denn IMO hätte HBK das Ding gewonnen, wenn ihm nur ein paar Sekunden mehr geblieben wären. Aber auch so ist es ein verdammt gutes Match und ich finde es sogar besser als die Varianten Angle vs. Joe und HBK vs. Bret Hart!"
[10.0] "Ich fand das Match total spannend. Lag wahrscheinlich auch daran, dass ich das Homecoming kaum erwarten konnte^^ Aber meine Erwartungen hat es voll erfüllt. Hätte mir sogar noch ein Sudden Death gewünscht."
[8.0] "Ein gutes Match, dass meiner Meinung nach aber nicht mehr an die Matches von Wrestlemania und Vengeance rankam! Problem war hier allerdings auch, dass die Anforderungen an dieses Match, ähnlich wie bei Joe vs Angle, schon nicht mehr menschlich waren."
