[10.0] "Phenomenal storytelling disguised as a bare-bones match. The story starts immediately: Regal targets Ambrose's long-injured shoulder with the precision of a veteran who knows he must exploit every weakness just to keep pace. Ambrose snarls that Regal will have to rip the arm off to win, and it sets the tone perfectly, poise and cruelty from late-career Regal clashing against Ambrose's raw, unrefined grit. What follows is intimate, violent, and layered. The queer-coded subtext of their feud, the way these two are drawn to each other with a mixture of attraction and destruction, makes the animosity magnetic. When Ambrose finally takes control by sending Regal headfirst into the post, it's devastating: Regal sells it like his body simply can't recover anymore. Watching him stagger around with vacant eyes is harrowing, a perfect foil to Ambrose's half-year of wrestling through his own shoulder issues. Where Ambrose has youth to push forward, Regal only has frailty. The finish is brilliantly cruel. Ambrose rams Regal's head into the exposed buckle, leaving him bloody and concussed, unable to continue. The referees wave it off, and though Ambrose stands tall, the victory he craved is denied him, Regal's body simply won't allow it. Ambrose wins the war but is robbed of the validation he desperately wanted. The match is slow, sparse in moves, but every moment is charged with meaning. The strikes, the holds, the silences... all of it matters. It's not flashy, but it's vivid, brutal, and unforgettable. ****3/4"
[8.0] "[4.0*] This is currently rated as William Regals best match ever (maybe it will drop 0.02 and lose positions after my rating), and I made sure to watch their first encounter before watching this one, and it is indeed one hell of a match, better than both with Benoit in my opinion. Ambrose starts off selling his fear of having his arm hurt again, which is a pretty cool touch, and this is exactly where Regal targets on this match too, with another phenomenal limb-work and selling by both guys. The non conclusive ending is something I am okay with when it has some kind of blowoff afterwards, and at least to me it is clear that they were supposed to have another match to end the trilogy, which unfortunately did not happen."
[10.0] "one of the best matches in the career of either guys, the story of Ambrose being the new guy desperate for approval and Regal being the veteran not giving him approval is a classic, and William forces Ambrose to be the best wrestler he has ever been. (****3/4)"
[8.0] "The thing i liked in this match was the ring psychology, ambrose at the start wasn't selling pain on his arm, was selling fear, that's why he could still lift the arm to do things, but regal capitalized that just like the first match and worked ambrose's arm again, but dean this time knew that he had to make everything possible to win so he do things like bite regal, exposing the turnbuckle and popping his shoulder back. When the things seems to finally work for dean regal gets busted open because of the exposed turnbuckle and the match finishes in a no contest, ambrose got extremely pissed because of the result and attacks regal with a regal stretch and a running knee, regal's selling was extremely on point. (4.25*)"
[7.0] "This was a very good match. It started out with a mixture of good technical wrestling and nice brawling. You even had Dean Ambrose's arm stuck in the ring steps, which he later popped back in like Mel Gibson from Lethal Weapon. When the match slowed down was after William Regal's head hit the post. He sold it like he had a concussion. After that, Ambrose just beat on him, even hit his head against an exposed turnbuckle, causing the side of Regal's head to bleed. This is when the trainers got involved, and even though Regal tried to fight on, the bell was called and it went to a No Contest finish. There was a nice post match brawl with Ambrose trying to attack Regal, but the FCW wrestlers got involved. This would end up being the last televised FCW match, and to my recollection, it was never followed up on in NXT. The finish wasn't that great, but outside of that, this was very good. ***3/4"
[8.0] "I'm not usually a fan of DQ or No Contest finishes, but this was great. And it felt so real! William Regal, it goes without saying, is a legend. He was ruling the first half of this match and controlling things in an old school way. When Dean Ambrose took over, things got crazy. It was a great way to build him up as a heel, by beating down this beloved veteran. This match was short, sweet, and got to the point."
[6.0] "I have this match at *** stars out of five. I wanted to like this match, I was looking forward to it. Regal stretched Dean, then there was punching and kicking and it was over in a very unsatisfying decision. Not my thing at all."
[4.0] "As a technical lover I gotta say this was not good at all. Regal had some good spots in the begining but that was it. It also had a trash ending so I really don't get the ratings here. The whole match was just bad. **¾"
[8.0] "Sort of a precursor to the Kassius Ohio match in NXT and maybe a notch below but still a pretty captivating and believable ugly brawl. Regal at this time had a fantastic career behind him while Ambrose/Moxley would have at least two world titles ahead of him."
[8.0] "JR macht es gleich klar, dass Ambrose sein Arm vom letzten Aufeinandertreffen noch angeschlagen ist. Regal weiß das und foltert Ambrose systematisch. Die ersten 10 Minuten geht das so und es zieht sich überhaupt nicht. Der Charakterwork von Dean währenddessen war auch richtig gut. Als Regal gegen den Pfosten geschleudert wurde, nimmt das alles eine ganz andere Richtung an. Regals Ohr wird hart angeschlagen und das führt dann schließlich zum Ende des Matches. Starke Performance von beiden, tolles Wrestling, die Mimiken und Charakterzüge sehr glaubhaft durchgeführt, sehr gutes Match(****)."
[8.0] "Good brawling match. Pretty brutal and intense. Story of the fight and it`s booking were really interesting. Even the end of the match wasn`t disappointment for me, because put everything in its place. Some kind of hidden gem on the old FCW show. ****"
[9.0] "Regal goes after Ambrose's left arm right away, playing up to their first meeting & he is of course great at it. Love the "YOU BETTER TAKE IT HOME WITH YA! " yell by Ambrose as Regal gives him a real cocky nod & smile after doing some brief work over that arm. Then as they go to the outside, Ambrose irish whips Regal into the post, and they sell that big time as Regal being out of it. He does the glassy-eyed "he doesn't know where is" -selling & Ambrose continues to beat him up. It's a solid angle to end the match with - Regal sells it masterfully & Ambrose showcases good urgency + character work of vengeance & low-key desperation. Regal exploding from the trainers arms to forearm Ambrose one last time before the ref ends the match in a stoppage no-contest was awesome. It didn't reach the incredible heights of their first meeting, because of the whole stoppage angle being half the match, but it was still great nonetheless. Great continuity of the arm psychology from their first match, both guys brought the goods on the offense & Regal's selling was really great. ****"
[10.0] "This could be a contender for best Regal match ever if it had a proper ending. For Ambrose, only the previous Regal match surpasses it in terms of singles matches. The stuff with the ear was absolutely brilliant."
[9.0] "Was für eine Schlacht. Regal bearbeitet auch hier wieder Ambroses linken Arm, der kann aber dann doch zurückschlagen und Regal stark bearbeiten. Die Ringpsychologie ist hier auf höchstem Niveau, dazu passt das Blut perfekt rein. Regal hat es noch drauf und Ambrose hat das gewisse Etwas, das ihn ganz nach oben bringen kann. Der Abbruch am Ende und der durchdrehende Ambrose sind auch perfekt. Leider deutet im Moment nichts auf das eigentlich nötige dritte Match hin. Stark auch hier der von Dusty und vor allem JR."
[9.0] "Auch ich fand dieses Match verdammt stark. Die Bearbeitung von Regal zu Beginn ist auf Grund des ersten Matches natürlich vollkommen logisch, und auch, dass der Veteran am Anfang die Überhand behält, ist passend. Der Wendepunkt in Form des Rennens gegen den Ringpfosten war wieder logisch und wie Regal die Gleichgewichtsprobleme sellt ist ganz, ganz große Klasse. Das Ausrasten von Ambrose widerrum passt perfekt zu seinem unorthodoxen Charakter und das Finish sowie das Aftermath waren sehr gut inszeniert. Nebenbei liefern Dusty Rhodes und JR am Kommentar eine sehr gute Leistung ab. Starkes Teil."
[9.0] "Regal geht sofort wieder auf die Schulter, die er vor etwas über einem halben Jahr verletzt hat. So simpel kann eine Story wiederaufgegriffen werden. Es geht aber insofern noch einen Schritt weiter, als dass Ambrose schon besser auf Regal eingestellt scheint, auch wenn dieser über längere Strecken dominiert. Nachdem letztes mal das Ringpolster hergenommen wurde, muss dieses Mal die Ringtreppe herhalten, um Ambrose weiter zu schwächen, richtig genial. Dann die Aktion währenddessen mit dem Ringpolster, das Blut, das eingestzt wird, es ist einfach alles logisch und richtig gut. Finish lässt dann auch platz für Aufeinandertreffen Nummer 3, 9 Punkte."
