Eddie Kingston vs. Josh Woods

"I will say that I always enjoy watching guys paste each other with hard stuff, even at the molasses pace of Eddie Kingston's current era. Woods looked good, especially with the arm work. Just average, really. People know they are told to like Eddie and he just walks around, hiking his pants, to punch a guy as his comeback. NICE TO SEE THE CODE OF HONOR AFTER THE MATCH."

[7.0] "I love that Eddie is one of the few wrestlers in AEW/ROH trying to keep something from the old school. This makes him stand out from many, and in this case, Josh Woods was a great match for him as an opponent. He also has a down-to-earth style based on grappling and a few big moves, so it turned out to be a good modern Kingston fight, where Eddie paired up with his opponent and tried to make sense of every action. I can't say that Eddie is a super big pro at this, but his work is quite solid and consistent. Sometimes it seems to me that he is unreasonably trying to copy the old-fashioned approach instead of trying to combine the best from different times of wrestling, but I definitely have respect for a man who in the modern world is trying to sell DDT as a big spot. Woods still a good tough guy"

[6.0] "This was a decent, solid match that primarily served the purpose of giving Eddie Kingston a needed win after his long absence. While the match felt a little rushed, perhaps due to time constraints, it was effective. It featured a couple of good moments, and Josh Woods looked competitive, managing to give Eddie a respectable fight before Kingston secured the victory."

[9.0] "Underrated match in my view, though admittedly I'm a big Eddie Kingston mark. It was a strong warm up for his title match at Winter is Coming and Woods was a capable opponent, it's a shame he doesn't get more shine but he looked good here as well. Just a tough fight between tough guys."

[6.0] "It was a nice honor-style exhibition that built Eddie ahead of his AEW big gold bout at Winter Is Coming, but this would've benefitted from happening at Collision instead of an ROH PPV. 3 out of 5 stars!"

[6.0] "I didn't even know this match got added to the card when I started to watch the Zero Hour, saw Premier Athletes, and wondered "where the hell is Josh Woods? I want to see him wrestle". Well, thankfully they got him a singles match on the main card with Eddie freakin' Kingston! I honestly didn't even know he was a former Pure Champion, but he shows it as he starts off with some real wrestling, grappling, and holds. Not long before he hits the mat and tries to wrap Eddie up with 4 limbs in an arm bar too, but Eddie blocks it. Big release belly-to-belly to Eddie is impressive by Woods. I wonder if Woods can branch out to more professional wrestling and do a little more. He looks to be in incredible shape, so you'd think he could add some more to his repertoire. (And this is not a knock on him or his in-ring. He's clearly very good at what he does! ) Woods' chain of two belly-to-back suplexes to Eddie that ends in a bridging pin attempt is the match highlight for me. Big fan of Eddie the guy and the talker. We all know his shortcomings in the ring, but he can still have really good matches. He does a good job here of working and selling. He can grapple a bit as well as strike. An exploder, suplex, then DDT combo finishes off Woods. Overall, a really good, no-nonsense match. Could have been a TV match tho, which would have had the added benefit of showcasing Woods to a bigger audience."

[3.0] "A really strong showing from Woods - I'd be interested to see more of him in the future - but this did nothing for me whatsoever. Having the World Championship contender struggle so significantly in an exhibition match didn't make Eddie look a threat, nor did ending a second consecutive match of his with a pretty average looking DDT. I don't see why this needed to be on the card, and it was the low point of the night by some margin. Filling this out retrospectively, so excuse the lack of detail."

[6.0] "This was a lot of fun and I would have liked to see it get a few more minutes, there was never much gravity or tension to the match as Kingston winning was never in question, but both men bring a sense of authenticity to their offence and selling which I find really engaging. Kingston got the win with a snap DDT in something of an abrupt finish, but this was a good time for 10 minutes in between some better bouts on the card."

[6.0] "Better than average Eddie Kingston match. I've never been a fan of his, but Josh Woods brought out the best in him. Honestly, a 6 might be the top limit that Eddie can earn from me, but this was entertaining. Eddie's brawler style matched well with Josh Woods technical prowess to create something that exceeded my expectations. With that being said, did this 9 minute match really need a spot on a big-show like this?"

[6.0] "This was good. Probably Eddie's best singles performance since returning. Great selling from him here and from Woods who also looked quite good. Some awkward moments towards the end and im not a fan of Eddie using the DDT as a finisher but for the most part the action was really good here and both men put in some solid work. ***1/4"

[7.0] "Very surprising even match! Eddie made sure to give Technical Beast a whole lot of offense. They beat each other up, suplexed each other a lot and at the end Eddie got to look strong. I wonder if all the arm damage Josh did will play a factor in the championship match for Kingston, hopefully it does. For a shorter match with zero build this was quite awesome. 3.5*"

[6.0] "The very subpar commentary is super noticeable in this slower match. Woods looked really strong. Eddie is much better here than he has been in recent weeks/months. Not a fan of the DDT as a finish."

[8.0] "Enjoyable match between eddie kingston and josh woods really top performance wot nice showcase for what eddie kingston is capable of for the in ring performance and good job from josh woods as well pretty entertaining match"

[6.0] "A match that felt like they did not have enough time to give Eddie Kingston a win on Collision so he got a win here. At least Josh Woods looked competitive and gave Eddie a fight."

[7.0] "Despite the obvious winner in this match, these guys were able to get me i to the action with the structure. This felt like ROH in the best way with all of the focus being on the action taken seriously. The kayfabe reason of Kingston wanting a tune up before his AEW Title match is enough for me to buy into the stakes of him needing a strong win to prepare himself. I liked the styles clash with Woods looking like a killer, focusing on suplexes, knee strikes, and arm work. Even during a strike exchange Woods was eating chops and returning his own forearms to Kingston's arm to continue wearing it down. I also didn't connect the dots before that Ki gston has been using the DDT as a finish because he needed to build up a move that he could convincing beat Samoa Joe with. ***1/2"

[6.0] "A decent match for Eddie after a long absence. Although the card itself wasn't particularly compelling. It's obvious that the match was only needed for Kingston to put in a claim to the current AEW champion. A solid match with a couple of good moments."

[5.0] "Decent match. Nothing special but not much bad to say either. Just another wrestling match lol. Eddie may look like your uncle but he can wrestle. I think he's one of the best sellers in the business. That being said this match was still boring. Felt like kind of a filler which is surprising considering Eddies facing Joe for the AEW title next week but maybe he's saving it all to have a great match in that one."

[8.0] "This match played to Eddie Kingston's strengths. Smaller venue, hot crowd, physically outmatched by his opponent, but ready to fight like hell to take them down. Josh Woods is fantastic, and I hope he continues to get on big shows like this, he always delivers."

[8.0] "The best Eddie Kingston match since his return to AEW. Josh Woods was the perfect opponent to help Eddie get ready for his match against Samoa Joe. Eddie seriously brought it all here. He was throwing his chops like a madman and was wrestling just as well as Josh was the entire time. There was nobody carrying anybody here, which felt like the problem with Eddie's last few matches. Just a really hard hitting affair. Very good stuff."