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| Sorry, gents, but I can't co-sign on this move Photo Credit: WWE.com |
In theory, the Go 2 Sleep is a fine move. It's a vicious knee strike exacerbated by the fact that the victim is accruing downward momentum to be halted by an upward-moving blunt object, namely the knee of KENTA, Hallowicked or in this case, CM Punk. If it were able to be pulled off well, I wouldn't be writing this post.
The thing is, I've maybe seen it executed well a handful of times. One of those times was by Punk to Snitsky. You know what happened? It apparently knocked him the fuck out. Since then, I'm not sure I've seen Punk pull it off well, and really, I don't think I've ever seen Hallowicked do it well. KENTA, it's hit or miss, but you have to remember, in Japan, they really don't frown on potatoing a guy as much as they do over here.
So yeah, when you have the other guy's safety in mind (and you always should, mind you), G2S doesn't really work. A lot of times, the victim ends up landing on his feet and ends up having to lean into Punk's knee to make the move work. I don't know about you, but when you have to lean into a move in order to make taking it look credible, that's when I think you need to find a new finishing move. Again, fake is a four letter word in wrestling, but at the same time, I think I need to call a spade a spade here.
This isn't really a criticism of Punk's, per se. I still think he's a fantastic worker, one of the best in the company if not the best (although Rey Mysterio, Dolph Ziggler, Daniel Bryan, Christian, Drew McIntyre, Chris Masters, William Regal, John Cena and Goldust all would have something to say about that proclamation... damn, the WWE has a LOT of good workers, doesn't it?). I also am not the kind of guy who will call someone a shitty worker because he builds towards a bad finisher. I also give him points for trying to add something to his moveset that was big in Japan and might have had a shot to get over over here. Judging by how far in the minority I seemingly am when it comes to this move, I'd say he picked well. And as a personal conceit, I also really, really, REALLY love shouting "GOOOOOOOOOOOOOO TOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO SLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!" like a hyperactive Japanese announcer on speed-laced espresso when someone does it.
However, you don't know how happy it made me when he finished off ReyRey with the super-sized Tajiri kick on RAW this past week. I know half the free world uses a kick to the head as a finishing move at some point in their lives, but at the same time, that almost-Muy Thai-looking kick looked somewhat original. It also looked way more effective at putting someone down organically than the G2S did to me.
Again, I know I'm in the minority here, but I wouldn't lose sleep if the Go 2 Sleep was retired for good in wrestling, or at least if Punk retired it from his arsenal. I have a thing against moves that look bad, and I'm sorry, but the G2S looks BAD with a capital B to me.
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