Eddie Kingston's Wrist So Bright, Look Like Sunny Delight

Eddie Kingston/Darby Allin/Jon Moxley vs. Anthony Greene/Bear Country AEW Dynamite 9/29/21 - FUN

ER: This played out like one of those early 2000s WWF Metal matches where they'd get a couple of hot east coast indy guys you'd recognize from an issue of PWI and let them tease a couple of their signature moves on their way to getting dropped on their heads. Punk is unsure if it is Bear County or Country but is a man so has no problem asking, and casually coolly covers up his lack of prep by saying these are big boys and Country is a lot more acreage. Our superstars handle this great, allowing some resistance to a good squashing, but squashing nonetheless. I love how Kingston came in to break up Bear Country's big tandem splash with a pointed dropkick to the knee, and both Boulder and Bronson took gnarly suplex bumps on the back of their heads before winding up on the floor to get wiped out by a nice Coffin Drop, and I dug when Greene suddenly stalled Kingston and Moxley and got ahead of himself, then had his twisting crossbody stonewalled by both of them. This whole thing was good vibes. 

Eddie Kingston vs. Lance Archer AEW Dynamite 10/23/21 - GREAT

ER: This match was really shaping up to be the best Lance Archer match we've seen, until an accident cut things short but inadvertently added some extra intrigue. Archer utilizes his specific problematic offense really well, following through on his big lariats and boots, and Kingston leans into it and makes the bumps feel like devastating after effects of getting too close to Lance Archer. Kingston jumps Archer and beats his ass on the entrance ramp and they immediately go into a couple fun stunt spots, with a random white haired Village of the Damned kid all grown up getting dragged over the guardrail by Archer and then chokeslammed into Eddie. Kingston lights up Archer in quick bursts, whenever he can make his way in between all of the Archer big man moments. There's a great spot where Archer goes to hit his inverted crucifix bomb out of the corner, and we get a prolonged, interesting Kingston reversal out of it. Kingston is so great at taking offense, because he lands with a real thud. There are guys like Ricochet and AJ Styles who are great at taking offense, but because they use their gymnast athleticism to make moves look like superhero offense. 

But I like how Kingston takes offense with an almost lack of grace (and you need to understand how much actual body control you have to possess to land with that kind of graceless thud), and here he wriggles down out of Archer's crucifix, slowly works him into a dragon sleeper, aims to keep dragging him back down into a stretch plum, and ends by breaking the hold with hard punches to the temples. The second Archer's free, he blasts Kingston with a lariat to the back of the head. Eddie's chops really slice off Archer's chest, but those seem better than taking Archer's stomp out of the corner, which punches Kingston into the mat like an assembly line drill punch. The finish is scary but covered up enough to make it look like a really strong worked injury, as Archer misses a moonsault and bounces off the top of his head. It all happens so fast that even watching the replay doesn't *really* make it any clearer, that line between planned missed spot and career ending neck injury blurred by happenstance. I don't actually know how the finish to this match would have gone, and I don't know if Eddie Kingston was supposed to advance in the World Title tournament before the injury happened. But if he wasn't, it's kind of a really well written way to get Kingston into the 2nd round of a tournament while giving him a win over the rampaging Archer. Obviously, I hope Archer will be alright (and all signs point to that now), but the match they were giving us was going really well. Let's get that full match on the books when Archer heals. 

COMPLETE AND ACCURATE EDDIE KINGSTON