AEW Five Fingers of Death Week of 1/17/-1/23
AEW Dynamite 1/19
CM Punk vs. Shawn Spears
MD: I get here first so I'm wondering if Phil or Eric will say five words about this? I'll say sixty more: I like that Punk didn't just catch Spears in a fireman's carry but instead teased his rotation neckbreaker and then did a double fake to get him up. Spears knew he was there for the build up and for the bump so he went full mechanic on that and sold the spasm. If they were going to do this, they did it about as well as they could.
ER: This was about as well worked as you can get with a 10 second match. The swinging neckbreaker twisted into a trapped arm turned into a GTS, and it's one of Punk's best thrown GTS in AEW (I guess I can technically say "in the past decade" and be correct) and I sincerely think Shawn Spears of all people took the GTS better than anyone in recent memory. I loved the way Spears took it under the chin and folded forward.
Darby Allin/Sting vs. The Acclaimed
MD: Different layouts keep the attraction fresh. This one was pretty smart, with them taking Darby out early in a believable, over the top way and then getting the better of Sting by taking the top turnbuckle off. Then came the long heat on Sting, a comeback, a cut off, Darby flying in out of nowhere to save the day, and the big finish. While Darby got a couple of big spots and Sting had his big dive, this was all about showcasing the Acclaimed, and they had a pretty good mix of style and substance. Bowens works to integrate the deep voice trash talking in the match and I'm not sure the camera always catches it well, but him welcoming Darby to the Black Parade on the chair shot was funny stuff, as was Caster doing the Acclaimed Scissor-finger handshake with Bryce after a 2 count when he was holding the two fingers up during the PiP. Sting drew a few Let's Go Sting chants from underneath and I liked how Bowens had to work to knock him off of Caster during the Scorpion; it made everyone look better (Sting for holding on, Caster for not tapping, Bowens for hitting him hard enough to get him off). I like how everyone sold the beatings and injuries and comeback during the stretch. It wasn't just a bunch of moves at the end and despite the fire of the comeback, they would have beaten the hurt Darby if it wasn't for Sting recovering enough to make the save. Sting's dive over and through the table was pretty unique. Maybe not the most photogenic thing ever but that made it feel all the more wild and dangerous. If they're going to keep highlighting Sting and Darby in a way that feels special, they have to keep changing it up, and this one definitely felt different than the last.
MD: Different layouts keep the attraction fresh. This one was pretty smart, with them taking Darby out early in a believable, over the top way and then getting the better of Sting by taking the top turnbuckle off. Then came the long heat on Sting, a comeback, a cut off, Darby flying in out of nowhere to save the day, and the big finish. While Darby got a couple of big spots and Sting had his big dive, this was all about showcasing the Acclaimed, and they had a pretty good mix of style and substance. Bowens works to integrate the deep voice trash talking in the match and I'm not sure the camera always catches it well, but him welcoming Darby to the Black Parade on the chair shot was funny stuff, as was Caster doing the Acclaimed Scissor-finger handshake with Bryce after a 2 count when he was holding the two fingers up during the PiP. Sting drew a few Let's Go Sting chants from underneath and I liked how Bowens had to work to knock him off of Caster during the Scorpion; it made everyone look better (Sting for holding on, Caster for not tapping, Bowens for hitting him hard enough to get him off). I like how everyone sold the beatings and injuries and comeback during the stretch. It wasn't just a bunch of moves at the end and despite the fire of the comeback, they would have beaten the hurt Darby if it wasn't for Sting recovering enough to make the save. Sting's dive over and through the table was pretty unique. Maybe not the most photogenic thing ever but that made it feel all the more wild and dangerous. If they're going to keep highlighting Sting and Darby in a way that feels special, they have to keep changing it up, and this one definitely felt different than the last.
PAS: I am a big fan of the partner-gets-taken-to-the-back trope in tag team wrestling. I think it is pretty crazy that 62 year old Sting is in the workhorse role in this match, but he does a great job fighting off both of the Acclaimed, eventually succumbing to the 2 on 1, leading to Darby's awesome out of nowhere leaping return. I loved the camera angle on that explosion. Sting doing the biggest highspot in a match with Darby Allin was pretty unexpected, and it seems like Sting is stretching himself every time he goes out there. His stage dive was insane. Liked the Acclaimed a lot here too, lots of shit talking and bumping, and their offense looked pretty nasty. I think they are ready for the titles and could see them having a nice run with the belts.
ER: Crazy how much of this match was Sting working two tough guys 2 on 1, keeping a quick pace the entire time until Darby's return. It's unfathomable that Sting is this good at 62, as it's not just young guys bumping for an immobile man. Sting's missed Stinger Splash, with Bowens removing the turnbuckle pad, was an excellent bump that Sting made look like it was happening in 1992. Darby gets taken out immediately with a disgusting spot, getting run into the ringpost with a chair opened around his neck, and his return (coming out of nowhere to blow up Caster off the ring steps with a diving shoulderblock) was perfectly done. But Sting held this whole thing together by keeping things go go go and I just was not expecting that. I say that, but what I was truly not expecting was Sting breaking out one of his craziest highspots ever, doing a Superman dive through a table that was just nutty. I would have been perfectly happy typing "I really liked Sting's Scorpion Deathlock, with a really low base putting a ton of pressure on Caster's back" and instead we all get to talk about Sting reinventing the dive. Darby's big Coffin Drops looked great, The Acclaimed are becoming a must watch act, and I just had no idea the Sting/Darby team would have this durability. Blessed.
Labels: 5 Fingers of Death, AEW Dynamite, Anthony Bowens, CM Punk, Darby Allin, Max Caster, Shawn Spears, Sting
posted by Phil @ 10:00 PM
1 Comments:
Yeah you know I love you guys and your expressly personal brand of wres crit, and of course there is plenty of ground where I disagree. (You don't actually know this because you don't know me, it's rhetorical -- as a basically anonymous blog commentor I feel I should clarify.) But fuck when you hit our common nail, which happens wiith impressive regularity (and three of you in this instance no less), you really hit it.
Excellent job on the Condor/Terry write-up by the way, which I watched immediately upon reading. And then watched a day later with my girlfriend, who had been too covid sick to absorb a deathmatch. If I was editing a 2021 wrestling essay reader it would be spotlighted on the book jacket, an all time post for SG.
...
"I say that, but what I was truly not expecting was Sting breaking out one of his craziest highspots ever, doing a Superman dive through a table that was just nutty. I would have been perfectly happy typing "I really liked Sting's Scorpion Deathlock, with a really low base putting a ton of pressure on Caster's back" and instead we all get to talk about Sting reinventing the dive."
Beautiful.
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