AEW Five Fingers of Death 5/29 - 6/4

AEW Dynamite 5/31

Darby Allin/Orange Cassidy vs. Gates of Agony

MD: This had a few masters to serve. It followed right after the massive heatseeking segment with Callis and Takeshita so you had to bring the crowd back to reality with something that balanced heat with big spots and a fun finish. They were rebuilding Darby after he took the pin in the 4-way at the PPV. They were hyping up the big house show draw of the Darby/Cassidy team. They were continuing the story of Cassidy going through a lot of pain and here doubling down on it with Swerve's heaters (they're all heaters for swerve really). 

I liked the Dustin vs. Kaun match but I think this worked better. Here, Kaun didn't have to look up at his opponent which let him tap into just a bit more intensity and come off like a beast. I liked the bit where, once they took advantage off of Toa's pounce, Kaun rushed punctuated the transition to heat by pulling Cassidy in from the outside and taking him out. Toa, of course, always comes off like a beast. Except for in out of character interviews, where he comes off like the best guy. Someday, he'll be a huge babyface. Here, he was a monster. I liked how Darby and Cassidy didn't try all of their signature spots early. That's the house style, to try the familiar things, have them blocked, have them pay off later in the match. They did hit them early in the match but due to the unique qualities of the Gates, they got shut down trying even basic stuff early. It gave things a different feel and really put over the Kaun and Toa. It was a nice balance where Cassidy and Darby did some things that they could only do with larger opponents and Kaun and Toa did some things that could best be done with smaller ones. Nothing was forced or contrived based on spots that anyone felt like they had to get in. I know some people might complain but I'd certainly be happy to see this specific match up with a couple thousand other people in a C-town. 

Speaking of House Rules, as of the writing of this, there were only three matches fancammed and uploaded from the weekend shows. They're all worth watching. Ruby and Britt had a hilarious bit where Ruby tried to explain to Bryce that the spraypaint was for her hair. Lethal had to go far, far out of his way to get the fans to turn on him. And Caster found the best kid to do Bowens' part after having an exaggerated house show work the leg match with heel trainer Pat Buck. They're definitely working these differently than on TV and they're worth going out of your way to find. Hopefully whenever a streaming deal hits, we get to see all of these.