(Almost) 5-Star Match Reviews: Claudio Castagnoli vs. Konosuke Takeshita – AEW Battle of the Belts III

One of the most perplexing things surrounding today’s wrestling scene is why AEW continues to keep ROH alive. Most of the diehard fans who specifically like ROH shifted their attention elsewhere: either to AEW proper, New Japan, PWG, NXT, or even WWE’s main roster. Many commentators have called ROH a zombie promotion, an entity that doesn’t have a proper raison d’être. It isn’t even formally considered ROH’s developmental territory, even though lots of fans consider it as such.

And yet from time to time a surprise appears from this dying fed. In this case it was a match between one of the most tenured and respected wrestlers to ever grace the American independent scene against one of the biggest rising stars from the Land of the Rising sun. And when they clashed for the first time they were praised to the moon…but was that praise genuine or just in-the-moment temporary excitement?

The Story

Takeshita signed with AEW in late 2021 and made his TV debut in early 2022 as an impressive Japanese wrestler with plenty of heart and athletic skill. His loss record in AEW was mixed, however: though he won a few matches against jobbers and lower-card guys he struggled to win against established guys like Jay Lethal, Jon Moxley, Eddie Kingston, and Hangman Page. But despite losing his performances were praised by many people, especially his match with Hangman. Over time, enough people were convinced that this guy should challenge for the ROH World Title, at the time held by one Claudio Castagnoli.

This was Castagnoli’s first title defense after winning the title two weeks earlier at ROH Death Before Dishonor and it was Castagnoli’s first world championship of any kind. Castagnoli was a member of the Blackpool Combat Club as well and was a babyface as a result. So we had this match between two good guys without any story between them beyond ‘champion versus challenger’ and little on-screen build. This was effectively a cold match designed to sell itself purely on the strength of bell-to-bell action. But was this enough of a high bar to deserve overt and almost excessive praise?

The Match

This took place on August 6, 2022. It was rated ****3/4 out of five by the Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer.

This is for Castagnoli’s ROH World Championship. They shake hands to before the bell and when it rings they rush each other. Both guys miss big strikes and when they do a classic leapfrog spot Castagnoli catches Takeshita in midair. Takeshita escapes a slam and tries a German suplex. Castagnoli gets to the ropes to escape leading to a stalemate. Then we get some mat grappling, chain wrestling, and tests of strength. I admire Takeshita’s guts here but he’s clearly outmatched against a guy Kevin Owens once called “a human horse”. Takeshita bridges out of some covers and tries the classic monkey flip spot and both guys go down while their hands are still clasped together. But instead of doing another flip out, Castagnoli counters into a big monkey flip of his own, which leads to loud applause from the audience.

We get some more technical wrestling as Takeshita lands a hiptoss but not after much effort. Thank God William Regal is on commentary for this match because he’s providing tremendous insight into small but important practical details that you don’t always get from the usual commentators. Another smooth grappling exchange leads to a shoulderblock from Castagnoli and then he blocks a hiptoss with a waistlock slam, only for Takeshita to spring out with an armdrag and lands a dropkick.

Takeshita misses a plancha to the floor and Castagnoli drives him into the side of the ring. Takeshita hits back with a big elbow but once back in the ring Castagnoli sidesteps and lands a forearm to the small of his back plus a Sheamus-style Irish Curse backbreaker and then a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker for two. Castagnoli follows with more kidney shots and a back suplex for another near-fall so he follows with a multi-limb hold while putting more pressure on Takeshita’s back. Castagnoli transitions to an arm-trap dragon sleeper but Takeshita fights to his feet. Both guys attempt suplexes until Takeshita lands a vertical leading to a double-down.

Castagnoli gets up first and drops Takeshita big a boot followed by a backbreaker into a back stretch. Takeshita elbows out so Castagnoli switches to an underhook lock to further target Takeshita’s back. Takeshita blocks a corner charge and lands a diving headscissor and another elbow. He ducks more clotheslines and starts flying around the ring with a clothesline of his own. Castagnoli blocks a back suplex but Takeshita ducks down to send Castagnoli to the floor. Takeshita follows with a topé con hiro and then goes for a dive back into the ring but Castagnoli cuts him off with an uppercut in a corner and hits an avalanche gutwrench suplex. One, two, Takeshita survives.

Castagnoli lands a ten-revolution giant swing for two and hits two running corner uppercuts. He goes for a third but Takeshita counters into a corner yakuza kick. Castagnoli reverses an Irish whip in return but Takeshita hits first with a gorgeous Blue Thunder Bomb for two. Another boot from Castagnoli sends Takeshita onto the apron and then the two men struggle in a corner. Takeshita blocks a superplex with a lifting DDT onto the top turnbuckle. Takeshita follows with what looks like a frog splash for two. Castagnoli blocks a running knee. Another counter chain ends with Takeshita trying another flying clothesline but this time Castagnoli lands a big uppercut for two. Sharpshooter by Castagnoli. Takeshita crawls towards the ropes. Castagnoli traps his arm and switches to a crossface and rolls away from the ropes. Takeshita rolls into a pinning predicament for two. Castagnoli kicks Takeshita’s face but Takeshita hits back with a German. Castagnoli no-sells and lands a lariat. Takeshita no-sells that and lands both a second German and a lariat of his own. One, two, Cesaro survives.

Takeshita gets up first and hits an elbow combination. Claudio hits back and goes for a pop-up uppercut. Takeshita counters with a backslide for two followed by a bicycle knee and a Brainbuster. One, two, and – no, Castagnoli kicks out. Takeshita removes his elbow pad and lands a Misawa rolling elbow. He goes for a powerbomb but struggles due to the damage to his lower back. Castagnoli flips him over but Takeshita rolls into a sunset flip. Castagnoli kicks out and lands another running uppercut followed by a double stomp to the gut. Castagnoli goes for the Ricola Bomb. Takeshita counters with a hurricanrana for another near-fall.

Another strike and charge exchange ends with Castagnoli hitting Takeshita with a Death Valley Driver. Takeshita lands more elbows but Castagnoli answers with a springboard uppercut. Castagnoli follows with another lariat, Danielson-style arm-trap elbow hammers to the head and collar, and a successful Ricola Bomb. One, two, and three! Castagnoli retains!

Winner and STILL ROH World Champion after 19:59: Claudio Castagnoli

You can watch the full match here.

Review

Once upon a time I had an interesting discussion with John “Bradshaw” Layfield and during that conversation he mentioned the expression “motion without movement” and I’ve been compelled to use it whenever possible given how accurate a term it is to describe much of the wrestling scene these days. It’s a perfect term to use here: this was a good match but not worth such heaping and overwhelming praise.

The effort was clearly there and both guys put on an impressive display of athletics and nearly-perfect timing. But despite being physically impressive this match didn’t have any heat or tension to it. It was the ultimate cold match, a generic encounter between champion and challenger that was closer to the straight-laced elements of ROH’s Pure Division from back in the day. That’s fine if you need a filler match on a big show or something to bring the crowd up after a big angle or something that takes the air out of an arena but not for a show-closing main-event.

While the live crowd was decently loud and invested in the action, noise alone doesn’t mean the match had good storytelling. There was little build to any big spots. Castagnoli was in control for most of it and wrestled as both a babyface and heel at the same time, which in turn made him shine as the champion but did little for Takeshita. From what others have said about Takeshita in general, he’s usually capable of showcasing so much more yet here his wrestling was subdued and muted. Takeshita did shine towards the end once he started making his comeback (which also featured inconsistent and selective selling of his back).

But once he did it left the first half of the match coming across as inconsequential. Rarely did it feel like Castagnoli’s combined efforts were actually having an effect on Takeshita. It didn’t look like Takeshita was really in the underdog role he was cast to play, which left his fire, shine, and comebacks, coming across as wooden and artificial. Wrestling is very much about feeling as it is about execution of techniques yet this match only had the latter for the most part.

Final Rating: ***1/2

This is a solid match if you want to see Claudio Castagnoli do his usual thing and shine as the human horse that Kevin Owens once described him as, but beyond that it doesn’t feature all that much compelling. There was no heat, no genuine tension, no sense of sequence-to-sequence narrative, and no in-ring story. I know some people enjoy action-driven move exchanges and AEW has certainly marketed itself to that audience successfully. But when almost every show features at least one such match the wrestlers need to do more to stand out from the crowd. When everything is praised no one truly stands out.

To call this some kind of drop-everything, must-see, historic classic is a stretch at best. Both men are capable of better and in Claudio’s case in particular he has shown better in the past. His NXT match with Sami Zayn in 2014, his singles match with John Cena on RAW in 2015, and much of his work in the original ROH all stand out much more than this. As for Takeshita, I hope to find a true career best performance of his soon, especially since so many people seem to agree that he’s one of the most underappreciated and underutilized wrestlers active today.

Thanks for reading.