AEW Five Fingers of Death 4/3 - 4/9

AEW Rampage 4/7

Darby Allin vs. Lee Moriarty

MD: There's always going to be a patina of authenticity around Darby because of his stunt hobbyism. There's a downside to that given that he might arrive at any given Dynamite missing half the fingers on his left hand, but it helps with the suspension of disbelief that's entirely necessary with a guy his size who is constantly surviving the things he survives inside the ring. Here, he got ran over in New York City the day before and had visible bruising up and down his back. That didn't entirely define the match, but it helped to inform it. It certainly provided opportunity and 2023 Moriarty is a guy who is going to make the most of every opportunity he gets.

For him, it wasn't just the bruised back to give him one of the two focuses he needed to believably control this match (the other being 6' 10" with a great big boot and the range to smack someone off the apron and able to interfere right in front of Rick Knox as one is want to do). It was also the opportunity to wrestle Darby Allin, a guy in a title program, on live TV, and take most of the match. That's not too surprising against Darby given that he gives up most of the match against most opponents, but there's a pretty deep hierarchical difference between these two, and Moriarty was able to take it even further than most, jamming and avoiding most of Darby's big comeback spots. 

If you go back to the site looking at Moriarty in 2019, I think there was always the sense that he had a hard edge underneath some of the more gimmicky and over the top matwork. That edge was hone sharp over the last two years and you're more likely to see the spark of iron against iron in a current Moriarty match. Here there was a fairly extended feeling out process, but it always felt competitive and led to Lee sneaking shots in to Darby's back. When he really took over after Big Bill's boot on the outside, it was as much nasty stomps to the spine as anything else. Of course, when "anything else" includes a beautiful Reinera to twist Darby in half, you end up with very little to complain about overall. Eventually they cycled into a pin exchange that as much about Darby being desperate as about trying to win. That led to the code red and the singular visual shock of Allin zigging instead of zagging and pinballing Big Bill with a dive before hitting the coffin drop for the win. Good showing by both guys here along Darby's path to the main event.