Punk vs Joe ROH

They're pretty good.

Yes, they live up to the hype. Joe vs. Punk II is an excellent match, probably the best match in the series, and the 3rd and final match at All Star Extravaganza II is fantastic.

Yes, the first two are a draw. But they are both awesome matches.

The first two are 60 minute draws, and it's the reason that the story surrounding them was so good.

Punk had been trying to get a shot at the World Title for a long time. He finally got one in Dayton, and he tried a different gameplan than anybody else had used against Joe. Instead of just trying to wrestle the man and to try to avoid all of Joe's strikes, Punk decided that he wanted to test how long Joe could go. In Punk's mind, he had much better conditioning, so the longer the match, the better chance he had. Punk kept the match at a slow pace in order to keep Joe from hitting his quick and explosive offense. As time began to wear on a bit, he absorbed some of Joe's strike attacks, because he had worn Joe down a bit, thus they were less effective.

Punk let Joe hit him a bit, the old Muhammad Ali "rope-a-dope", to try to tire Joe out more. What Punk didn't expect, though, was for Joe to be as well conditioned as he was, so Joe hung right there with him. In the end, they threw whatever they had left at each other, and Punk hit a DDT, but the time expired before he could get the pin.

In the second match at Joe vs. Punk II in Chicago (Punk's hometown), it was pretty similar. Punk went with less rope-a-dope because Joe was much better conditioned than he thought, and instead just tried to keep the pace where he liked it and where Joe couldn't get a flurry and put him away fast like he did everyone else. The psychology this time was that after their first match, they were more aware of what the other guy could do, so they countered things the other was successful with in the first match and so on. This match ended with Joe at the advantage. He hit the Muscle Buster, but before he could get the pin, time ran out.

The third match was set with no time limit. Obviously the 60 minute limit was not long enough to contain these two, and at the request of both men, they were granted a no time limit match. However after a great match, Joe was able to finally beat Punk, getting him with the choke and making him pass out a little after the 30 minute mark.

It's a fantastic series that every wrestling fan owes to themselves to see.

Joe was a face at that point, and Punk could go either way. In the matches themselves, they were both pretty much full on faces.

Yes, everybody expected both men to move on to big things.

The matches are from 2004. The first one is from the "World Title Classic" show from June 12 in Dayton, OH. The second is from the "Joe vs. Punk II" show from October 16 in Chicago, and the third is from "All Star Extravaganza II" on December 4 in Jersey.

The psychology in the first two were excellent. The wrestling itself? Kind of boring to be honest. I agree though the third match was pretty good. If you're into a match with great psychology, slow pace and very simple stuff like a top rope rana and DDT being some of the really big moves as well as a lot of headlocks then you will love the first two.

Out of anger and frustration late in the match. It's part of the storyline and the psychology.

the third match is the one where Punk gets bloody early and is dripping the entire match. his whole face and hair are just red. you had to have seen it or at least clips from it.