2021 Ongoing MOTY List: Danielson vs. Suzuki

Bryan Danielson vs. Minoru Suzuki AEW Rampage 10/15

PAS: Bryan seems very excited to try his hand at 2010s New Japan style matches and while I am probably a low voter on that style and would rather see him tapping any other vein, if you are going to watch a 2010s New Japan style match your American Dragon version is going to be your best version. If I die never seeing another fighting spirit strike exchange I will die happy, but this is probably the best case scenario. Suzuki is great at pulling wacko faces every time he throws and gets hit, and Danielson is a tremendous seller of concussive blows and is perfectly willing to try to take Suzuki's head off. Suzuki has been doing that KO elbow around the horn in his touring US matches, but the one he hit on Danielson was gnarly. Danielson's real life concussion history is weirdly a boon to his matches, as it makes every big head shot and bump feel like the one that is going to make him a vegetable. I of course loved the grappling, as Suzuki is great at takedown and submission defense, like a great MMA wrestler who is going to use his wrestling to keep a fight on its feet, and I loved him stepping out and stuffing Danielson only to have his cockiness cost him. Finish run was very cool, and they definitely delivered on what was promised. I would have rather seen this look like a PWFG fight, but for what they did they did it well. 

ER: I'm really loving Danielson's This Is Your Life run in AEW and pretty much want it to last forever, with them just running back the best match-ups every 5 years like an aging wrestler Sunrise Trilogy. These two crossed paths a few times over 15 years ago across a few months of New Japan tours, and even had a singles match. But Suzuki was a completely different wrestler and Wrestling Personality in 2004. Suzuki had barely been back in wrestling for a year at that point after taking a full decade off after PWFG. His return to New Japan after nearly 15 years was more of a curiosity than the return of a legend. He was presented as different than a pro wrestler but was a memorable attraction, not a star. His star turned much bigger over the next decade, and he's never had a bigger name in America than at the announcement of this match. Suzuki hadn't even faced Mecha Mummy the last time he and Danielson crossed paths. 

I liked this match but it didn't feel like a great match the way Danielson/Omega and especially Danielson/Kingston felt. This was more of a spectacle than a great match, and was more of a collection of moments and spots that fans of Danielson and Suzuki would want to see. Danielson and Kingston crafted a brilliant match, and Danielson/Suzuki knew exactly what moments the crowd wanted to see. It's a different goal but each exactly what their audience wanted. The match as a whole was best when it was them working more PWFG, like that fast grappling that lead to a disgusting Fujiwara from Suzuki or Suzuki pulling leverage over Danielson's wrist and elbow. But we also had a lot of strike exchange moments that needed to be carried by the charisma of both men. I don't think most strike exchanges are sustainable for as long as these two were throwing at each other (and I thought every back and forth exchange in this match went too long) and so you need Suzuki's wild faces that play to the whole arena, and you need Danielson's selling for them to work. Suzuki was great at making the big shots mean more than the back/forth metronome strikes, and his two biggest elbows looked like he was aiming to give Danielson another 4 year vacation. Danielson is a focused lunatic and I love how he kept after Suzuki no matter how hard the kicks and elbows were, from cool slick offense like his sliding ankle pick attempt, to the way that big smile would break out on his face as he stalked his way into throwing a hard kick. Suzuki really made the finish work for me, as he just leans unprotected face first into Danielson's knee, two tough guys who slugged out until one stayed down. 

2021 MOTY MASTER LIST