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Regal's promo was superb. There's just something about the way he carries himself that makes you want to believe everything he says - and his whole "old villain" persona is perfect at this stage in his career. The fact that he's doing what so few wrestlers in North America do and actually aging gracefully is wonderful; he's turning the fact that he's past his prime and not in the best shape into an integral part of his character, rather than trying to pretend that he's as good as he always was. That said, he's still ten times better than half the regular roster anyway.
The match itself, wow. Maybe the best match I've seen all year. It was exactly what I want from a wrestling match - a good mix of styles, two very complimentary performers, some innovative spots mixed in with solid technical wrestling - and real technical wrestling, not indie-fied "hold/counter-hold/applause spot" choreographed bullshit, but dirty, sloppy grappling, raking the eyes, reaching for whatever body parts you can find wrestling. Throw in some great spots, innovative counters, the big show of strength spots from Cesaro (sometimes all of those things in the space of a few seconds), and Regal playing his role of the veteran with a point to prove to absolute perfection...it doesn't get better. And that finish was incredible.
It shows that you don't need the amount of bells and whistles and gimmicks that WWE tend to put on self-consciously "big" matches to make people care about them. You don't need self-indulgent sequences of finisher spams and lying on your back for five minutes only to hit a finisher "out of nowhere" to build drama. People are more than prepared to get emotionally invested in a story told solely through wrestling. Cesaro realising that he might have gone too far after the double stomp, and being reluctant to bring himself to hurt Regal any further...that was a strong, emotionally resonant moment, and the entire match built perfectly to that point.
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