King Steventon

Yeah, I think the reason Benoit was so great and is so heavily praised (deservedly so) was because of his pure intensity. He made every match seem like a battle and always looked like he was fighting-tooth-and-nail for the win.

As far as endless near falls and finisher kickouts go, I think they are good in the right context. I liked them in HBK/Taker because if there was ever a time to go all out, that was it. That said, I think if there had been any more finisher kickouts in it, it would have been borderline ridiculous.

Sometimes the best near falls come from more than just finisher kickouts. I rewatched the Homicide/Corino match from BFSE and I remember the first time I watched and I saw 'Cides missed tope into the barricade, I thought he could have legit injured himself and they were going to end the match quickly so he could get help. So when he kicked out it was a legit "OH FUCK" moment for me. Same goes with the countout near fall in HBK/Taker which I thought was a maybe better near fall than any of the finisher kickouts. I legit thought he was hurt and they were doing a quick finish to get him help, then he started to rise and I was on the verge of yelling "GET UPPPPPP" at my laptop.

__________________