Big Van Walter (c) vs El Generico
wXw Unified World Wrestling Championship
05/19/2012
Turbinenhalle, Oberhausen, Germany
(reviewed 09/09/2018) Bigger and better than their last match, though this one takes a while to really click. The first twelve minutes or so are bog standard Walter beatdown stuff, which is just fine with a great babyface like Generico, but it lacks a certain momentum. Thankfully Generico makes the transition into standing up to Walter’s physicality and the match kicks up a few notches leading into the finishing stretch. Still, while the relatively short run time helps to keep this from being boring, the final product doesn’t leap off the page like the idea of Walter vs Generico would suggest. It shares many of the qualities of other great underdog wins in wXw but doesn’t quite match those moments for energy. That doesn’t make this match bad but it keeps it from being anything more than pretty good.
HOW DOES THIS COMPARE TO SHAWN VS TAKER FROM WM25: This is the classic sort of contest in comparing wrestling matches. Walter/Generico putters along at a slightly-above-average rate before ramping up nicely at the close. Shawn/Taker starts well, achieves real greatness for a decent stretch in the middle, but then slides downward from there as The Acting kicks in. Should the higher average win out or does peak performance matter more? I can never really commit to either side and have to struggle with this question constantly. Here I’m inclined to side with the frustrating peaks. I like Walter/Generico well enough but I fear that it won’t stick with me the way the best stuff from Shawn/Taker will. It’s far less annoying as a match overall, but indifference isn’t necessarily always an improvement over annoyance.
VERDICT: Worse than Shawn Michaels vs The Undertaker from WrestleMania 25
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