AEW Five Fingers of Death 7/3 - 7/16

AEW Collision 7/8/23

CM Punk vs Samoa Joe

MD: Summer vacation with the family has me behind here, so I'm going to hold off on Darby and Dustin matches, but let's try to quickly move through this one before moving on. I haven't rewatched the Punk/Joe series for years. They left more in the tank on this one. This was less Punk/Joe IV than a Punk/Joe oddity that'd slip through the cracks as a handheld a decade after the fact. When you think about the setting, you can't fault them: this was the semi-finals of an Owen Hart tournament, as something to help define a new TV show, one of the initial feuds to set the tone. Punk had gone out earlier in the show telling the fans to chant for Owen and in a key moment down the stretch, that's exactly what they did.

So what did we get if not the epic next chapter of a legendary feud? A very good TV tournament match with a tight, tight layout. There weren't any inversions (save for maybe the finish). This one was laser focused to fit the needs of the moment and because I'm sure now, a week plus later, everyone's written about the feel and the legacy and everything else, I want to briefly touch upon that layout.

They started with Punk ducking and moving, trying to get shots in when he could. He couldn't get too far with that strategy alone. Punk's character may be that of a striker, but Joe's a tank who just needs to get his hands on you to compact you like an accordion. Punk had a logical need to escalate and once he softened Joe up a bit he went for it. A bit doesn't cut it with Joe who walked away and then took over. From here, it was Joe asserting himself through the commercial break and Punk with escalating babyface comebacks. The crowd was split but that seemed more because they liked Joe than because they hated Punk, and this worked. A few strikes and a cutoff, a dodge on the floor leading to the clothesline off the apron and then a cutoff (that we miss) as Joe makes it into the ring first. All of it builds to Joe's first attempt at the Clutch and Punk hitting his biggest move of the match with a belly to back to shift things into an extended finishing stretch. The match opened up from there, with Punk repeatedly going for the GTS, setting up an expectation after three tries that he'd either hit it despite the weight difference or fall to the Clutch for his desperate stubbornness. Instead, he baited Joe in on the third attempt and rolled him forward for a banana peel win. Post-match, Joe got his heat back and reminded people that there's still an actual classic ahead of them. This, however, had to do its work while not overshadowing the tournament or the closing image of Ricky Starks to set up the final to come.

AEW Collision 7/15/23

CM Punk vs Ricky Starks

MD: I first caught this on the Sunday after and I had seen some negative or at least middling opinions on it first. That had lowered my expectations just a little coming in and with that in mind, this overachieved for me. This Punk run differs from the 2021-2022 one in how he's living in the moment. In this, I thought Starks was an almost perfect opponent. Something like Ospreay vs Omega is so carefully directed. Every shot, every angle, every spot, every move, every reaction feels drafted and redrafted and molded in plaster and colored in blood and sweat. This lived in the moment. It wasn't the spots you were watching for but the reactions on Punk and Starks' faces and how that shaped what they did or didn't do next.

When Punk did A, how did that impact Starks emotionally? When Starks did B, did Punk smile or frown or grimace? With Punk in 2023, it's impossible to predict exactly what the crowd will do at any moment so he's constantly adapting to the situation at hand. Some of that was in the struggle, like Punk's reaction to both of Starks' attempts at the rope walk. Some of it was in very muddy emotional beats. It was left to the viewer to decide whether Punk refused the favor of the ropes being held open because he was frustrated Starks got one up on him or because Starks had chosen to pose before doing it or as some broader mind game. It's left up to the viewer to wonder if that slight drove Starks' brutal forearms later or him crossing the line on the finish.

So much of this was based on the two wrestlers feeling each other out and just trying to figure out what their reality happened to be. Where did they fall on a spectrum? Who are they? Who do they want to be? What do they want this match to stand for, especially in the face of a torn crowd and the specter of the Hart family over them? And they came up with very different answers in the end. Despite part of the crowd being against him, despite all of his the insecurities that drive the man behind the wrestler, Punk the character is fully secure in who he is. He wanted to pay tribute to the Hart family that meant so much to him as a fan and a professional, to wrestle smart and provocative but clean. At times, after hitting a move or escaping one from Starks, you could see absolute elation come over his face. It was clear who he was, except for in those few moments where it wasn't clear at all. And Ricky? Well, we don't know, do we? 

That's the intrigue coming out of this match, and I think, how this match will ultimately be judged. That's the problem with star ratings. You wouldn't judge a chapter in a book, especially not before reading the rest. We have no idea where this is headed. Is it just the end of a tournament or is it the start of a story? Or a crossroads where two ships pass in the midst of very different journeys?