Colt Cabana vs. CM Punk 12.07.02

Where: Philadelphia, PA
Back story:

CM Punk and Colt Cabana both came from Chicago around the same time, yet CM Punk made his ROH debut first. At Unscripted, Cabana comes out and complains that they are on equal levels yet Punk is getting booked by ROH and Colt is not.

In-Ring Action: They start with a collar and elbow tie up. They go back and forth for a little bit with some solid but typical opening match tie ups and reversals. The announcers talk about ow Colt and Punk drove together for 13 hours from Chicago to compete in this match. There is a minor blown spot on a monkey flip attempt by Colt Cabana and he misses landing on his feet as he planned. I'm okay with blown spots as I feel that no blown spots make a match feel a little too choreographed. Once again, it was very minor.

Punk and Colt reverse some complex arm drag spots against each other. Once again, not to be negative, but Colt is moving a little slow. It's expected since even back then, doing an ROH show was a big deal since they could provide semi-regular work. I feel Colt decided to be solid and safe as opposed to a riskier high impact style. Probably a smart move since he's not established enough to have bad matches.

Punk eventually takes advantage out of a test of strength into a hurricanrana. Punk then does a ropewalk around the ring into an arm guillotine over the top rope. Punk then works over the arm with a falling armbreaker and a springboard senton onto the arm. Unfortunately after working over the arm with some nice moves Punk abandons that strategy.

Unlike Punk, Colt has built up a solid offense that focuses on Punk's back. He hits a frogsplash to Punk's back, a slingshot snap suplex, and some other good moves. Colt eventually gains an advantage and clotheslines Punk over the top rope. Colt then follows with a pretty slow looking springboard moonsault to the outside. Colt is a big guy and a great athlete, but I don't think high flying is his thing. Technically it is done right, but there is a certain type of explosion that his high flying doesn't have.

Punk's high flying does look a lot cleaner as he hits a nice reverse crossbody off the top and then hits one of his signature moves, The Pepsi Plunge for a two count. I think it used to be his finisher, and while a nice mid-match move, the Go 2 Sleep is far superior. Punk then goes to another crossbody that is caught by Cabana into a bearhug and then a very nice fisherman ddt type maneuver. After a super stiff clothesline by Cabana the crowd starts to get into it. Punk is selling having back pain but while Colt is setting up Punk for another move Punk reverses for a cool reverse hurricanrana.

Punk later hits a shining wizard for a near fall, and we can see we're reaching the go home point in the match. Colt later regains the advantage after Punk makes the mistake of putting his head down after an Irish whip and Colt hits him with a forearm. By the way, I used to hate this spot when I was younger and thought it was real because you have these veteran wrestlers who are great talents and they make this same basic mistake every match. It works for Punk because he is young, but I have always found that spot to be silly.

Colt then sets Cabana up for his finisher and yells out , "Colt 45!" I thought this was a smart move because most of the crowd has never seen Cabana, so they wouldn't know his finisher when he hit it and wouldn't react. By Colt calling it out beforehand the crowd knows that whatever he is trying to do now is of importance. After 2 reversals by Punk Colt hits it for the three count.


Winner: Colt Cabana by pinfall in 12:28. **1/4

After the match they shake hands, but Gary Michael Capetta comes out and says that at the 12/28/02 show, Colt and Punk will have another match where the winner gets a full ROH contract and will be flown to the shows while the loser will still have to make the 13 hour drive from Chicago. Punk says that if he wins he'll trade in his plane ticket for cash, and he and Colt can split it and drive together. The crowd applauds, but Colt says he wont do the same because he hates flying. Very funny. Colt establishes himself as a heel here, even though I'm sure many people in his position would do the same. Remember, a true heel feels justified in his actions, and Colt is justified in wanting to compete or a better mode of transport. It's Colts attitude and the way he acts like he's too good to drive with Punk that gets his heat. Great psychology by ROH to mention the driving together during the match and how tiring it is being in the car that long.

All in all, the match was good, but I can tell that Punk and Colt were probably just redoing a match that they did another time in another indy fed. It was solid, but the opening minutes weren't that impressive. The ending really picked up, and over time both men would show that they were working hard on improving as both now work for the WWE. Colt Cabana is Scotti Goldman on Smackdown, and CM Punk is the World Champion.


As always, any comments and suggestions are greatly appreciated. Reviewing matches isn't easy, but it's fun putting my opinion out there.