{"id":27559,"date":"2024-01-11T08:30:23","date_gmt":"2024-01-11T08:30:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/?p=27559"},"modified":"2024-01-10T21:06:07","modified_gmt":"2024-01-10T21:06:07","slug":"match-review-aigle-blanc-vs-mustafa-ali-apc-20th-anniversary-january-06-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/reviews\/match-review-aigle-blanc-vs-mustafa-ali-apc-20th-anniversary-january-06-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"Match Review: Aigle Blanc vs. Mustafa Ali (APC, 20th Anniversary, January 06, 2024)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>This time we head over to France as Mustafa Ali\u2019s first match after his WWE departure saw him take on Aigle Blanc\u2026<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"788\" height=\"444\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/lYOzETcfeO4?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-GB&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<p>We\u2019ve another quick turnaround, this time from APC\u2019s 20th Anniversary show at the Studio Jenny in Nanterre\u2026 and the hard cam\u2019s in a different spot than the last time I saw something from here\u2026<\/p>\n<p><strong>Aigle Blanc vs. Mustafa Ali<\/strong><br \/>\nUnsurprisingly, Ali got a monstrous reaction here\u2026 even more so when he handwaved the mention of WWE in his ring announcement.<\/p>\n<p>Both men played to the crowd at the bell, but Ali\u2019s always going to get the better of the reactions as we started with Aigle looking for the arm of Ali, working a wristlock only for Ali to get free and score with some armdrags. Aigle manages to get back in with a headlock takedown and an armdrag of his own, showing Ali he was going to have a tough first match back in Europe\u2026<\/p>\n<p>Ali began to mock the crowd for cheering for Aigle\u2026 which prompted Aigle to tease walking out for some reason. We resumed with Ali snapping in for a Magistral cradle, picking up a two-count, before Aigle stuck back with a flurry that led to a two-count for him.<\/p>\n<p>Dualling chants ring out as Ali edged ahead\u2026 and celebrated on the corner like he was Shawn Michaels. Getting a little ahead of himself, was Ali\u2026 and the French crowd were ready to turn on him for it. Aigle returned with a hammerlock, clinging on as Ali tried to escape\u2026 we\u2019ve a drop toe hold and some showboating in return from Aigle, as that proverbial feeling-out process continued.<\/p>\n<p>A springboard headlock takedown sees Aigle begin to push ahead, but ALi\u2019s not too far behind at least until Aigle broke up a brief submission attempt to go and parade in the corner a la Shawn\u2026 mocking Ali as he went. The next exchange sees the tempo pick up again, with a tijeras from Ali taking Aigle into the corner, before headscissors from Aigle led to a role reversal.<\/p>\n<p>Aigle\u2019s shoulder tackle led to him flipping over a dropdown from Ali, leading us into a stand-off. Things get a little rough in the corner as tensions flared, leading to Ali elbowing Aigle on the break\u2026 and a swift response as things broke down into chops. Ali goes for a slingshot, but Aigle shoves him down to the floor\u2026<\/p>\n<p>Rather than go for a dive, Aigle slid outside and threw Ali into the side of the ring, then into the crowd for a kick in the front row. Back inside, Aigle takes too long and gets dropkicked to the floor as Ali hit our first dive &#8211; a high-speed tope to take them into the crowd. Back inside, Ali keeps the pace high with a rolling thunder neckbreaker for a two-count, before a chinlock kept Aigle grounded.<\/p>\n<p>A ripcord from Aigle sees him turn things back around en route to an enziguiri, but Ali\u2019s spinning heel kick shut that down ahead of a German suplex for a near-fall. Ali takes things back into the corner for a top rope \u2018rana, but Aigle shoves him down and made his own way back in with a Meteora to the back of the head. That\u2019s good for a near-fall as Ali again fought back, catching Aigle in a Dragon sleeper ahead of a tornado DDT\u2026 which was caught as Aigle punched his way free.<\/p>\n<p>Aigle tries to build up from that, but Ali\u2019s able to land the tornado DDT out of the corner for a near-fall\u2026 before a trip up top led to a 450 splash that Ali rolled out of. Charging back in, Aigle sidesteps as Ali took a nasty spill into the buckles, leading to a release German suplex and a wicked lariat from Aigle that spun Ali inside out.<\/p>\n<p>Beating the standing ten-count, Aigle picks up Ali for an elbow strike, which was met in kind before a Downward Spiral from Ali hung Aigle into the bottom rope. It\u2019s shrugged off as Aigle caught Ali through the ropes with the \u2018rana driver, before a teased tombstone on the apron was reversed as they headed back inside\u2026 Ali shoves it away and caught Aigle with a satellite DDT through the ropes, before a 450 splash drew a near-fall that had the Studio Jenny biting.<\/p>\n<p>After composing himself, Ali dragged Aigle to the corner, but a second 450 splash attempt was stopped when Aigle kicked the turnbuckle to send his foe to the floor\u2026 where a springboard Molly Go Round took Ali back down. Bloody hell\u2026<\/p>\n<p>A kick from Ali greeted Aigle as they headed back inside, but Aigle manages to find his way in for a tombstone out of the corner\u2026 before his 450 splash crashed into Ali for another near-fall. From the kick-out, Ali instantly traps Aigle in a Koji clutch\u2026 and there\u2019s the submission as Ali\u2019s first match back on the indies ended with a in.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Result: Mustafa Ali submitted Aigle Blanc in 22:23 (***\u00be)<\/span><\/p>\n<p>For Ali\u2019s first match in four months, this was pretty good going &#8211; even if the opening stretches were a little too drawn out for my tastes. Those of you who\u2019ve followed Ali before he joined WWE won\u2019t be surprised, but there\u2019s about to be a clutch of fans who only saw him under the purview of WWE who are going to be blown away this indie run\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This time we head over to France as Mustafa Ali\u2019s first match after his WWE departure saw him take on Aigle Blanc\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":27561,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[690,692,6],"tags":[5940,4998,4996,4045,3220],"class_list":["post-27559","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-european-indies","category-random-reviews","category-reviews","tag-20th-anniversary","tag-aigle-blanc","tag-apc","tag-match-review","tag-mustafa-ali"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p73vbt-7av","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/apc-20thanniversary-aigleali.jpg?fit=1200%2C672&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27559","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27559"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27559\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27563,"href":"https:\/\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27559\/revisions\/27563"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27561"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27559"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27559"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/backbodydrop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27559"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}