AEW Five Fingers of Death Week of 2/14-2/20

AEW Dynamite 2/16

Bryan Danielson vs. Lee Moriarty

MD: A whole lot to like here. The match was built around Danielson not letting Moriarty do his thing for long and grinding him down instead. Moriarty tried early, able to hang on the mat and hit his sweeps and legpicks and whatever else, but Danielson kept jamming him at every point, even though he couldn't get a strong advantage either. That lasted right up til the point that Danielson got him in the ropes and started kicking. Danielson continued the beating through the break, cutting off a hope spot here or there (including one timed well with the fans' clapping, as Danielson kept them engaged by interacting with little flourishes). There was a real Bockwinkel sense to how Danielson kept telling Moriarty to come on and get back into it. Eventually, he did, showing a real fire by trading strikes with Danielson, on his feet, mounted, and even upside down with their legs locked. Danielson's reaction wasn't to panic at the monster he was creating in real time, but instead a sort of sadistic elation as he took the violence up an extra notch and took Moriarty's face off, first with the knee and then with the stomps. Danielson really channeled all the things that make Moriarty special while tamping down on the elements of his work that can sometimes get to be a little over the top. It was a perfect match for this point of the broader storyline.

ER: I thought this was pretty great. Danielson broke Moriarty out of some of his patterns and built up a violent match, one where he often overwhelmed Moriarty while letting him stand with him. Danielson has saved some of the more vicious ring work of his career for this AEW run, and I flipped when he had Moriarty's feet draped on the ropes and brought a knee right up into his chin. Relentless Danielson is tough to root against. He knows how to keep up a beating and bring some heat out of his opponent, and the build to a bunch of sicko Red Bull Army low angle suplexes was a sick surprise. I thought Moriarty was build up more credibly in this match than any of his other AEW work, Danielson shaving the top and bottom end off and leaning him a more interesting way. I was expecting more reversals of reversals and I got neck bouncing suplexes and a real scrap. 

4. Darby Allin vs. Sammy Guevara

PAS: Wrote this up over at The Ringer

MD: As Darby matches go, this wasn't one I was particularly excited for. I'd rather see Sammy against a base, but as this went on, Darby sort of leaned in that direction, working the leg with a bunch of interesting and compelling bits of offense that took advantage of Sammy's flexibility (my favorite bit was the coffin drop onto the folded leg) and controlling the pace. Along the way, it wasn't my move/your move at all, after the initial feeling out process, there were clear control segments with interesting transitions. Sammy hitting the fireman's carry facebuster onto the top rope was the usual great Darby bump, then Darby took the scenic route to really earn opening up the leg after the initial Sammy mistake. I thought Sammy's selling thereafter was pretty consistent. He had flashes of being able to move but they were just flashes. He missed most of the high risk moves he went for after that, or jumped right into Darby's clutches out of desperation or a foolish desire to keep up. Obviously, the cutter on the floor was an all time counter, but even then, he couldn't fully capitalize because of the leg. Finish was what it was as they had to keep the stories going and this was just a TV main event with one week's build, but I ended up liking this one more than I was expecting.

ER: I love both of these guys, and while they're similar size I don't really see them as similar wrestlers. But this felt like the most similar we've seen them, and they managed to mirror each other in interesting ways while never once approaching a 50-50 match. Darby takes a couple of really great bumps to the floor, and I loved how Sammy bounced him off the corner ropes diagonally, sending Darby bouncing down to the apron and to the floor. It looked like a less insane version of the Hell Storm/Crazy Crusher ladder match bump, and that's because Darby applies backyard death wish sensibilities to his more controlled bumps, finding the perfect balance. And speaking of sicko bumps, I loved Sammy's missed swanton to the apron. Excalibur called it perfectly on commentary when he referred to it as an "unforced error". The legwork story in between those bumps was really well done and nicely sold by Sammy. Darby dropping tiny coffin drops on Sammy's body like JYD headbutts was a real treat, and while I didn't know what the match was quite building to, I certainly was not expecting that cutter counter. I don't know if you can make a Darby tope countered with a Sammy cutter look any better. Half the time cutters don't get hit this clean when a guy is standing perfectly still, let alone flying as fast as a Darby tope flies. These two have had a bunch of matches together and have cool chemistry and great ideas, and even with the angle-advancing finish I think this was exceptional. 

2021 MOTY MASTER LIST