AEW Five Fingers of Death 10/2 - 10/8

AEW Collision 10/7/23

Bryan Danielson vs. Kyle Fletcher

MD: Just a very, very interesting match. We're looking at a half month for Danielson where he has the 8-man tag, the ZSJ match, this, a Swerve match and maybe a Christian match too. Right after he announced that we're entering his last full year. He's making the most of it, at least. My take on the Sabre, Jr. match, which, admittedly, was Moxley's take too, was that Danielson was more reactive while Sabre was more focused, and that Danielson's adaptability allowed him to overcome. Here, though, it wasn't that Fletcher was more reactive, but instead that his reaction speed and his recovery speed were just quicker due to the fact he's more than fifteen years younger and in his physical prime. In order to counter Danielson's technical superiority, he had to throw himself, quite literally, at Danielson.

It worked 70% of the time and that was enough to keep him in it. When he went careening over the top rope into Danielson, he ended up redirected into the barricade, obviously taking the brunt of it, but still able to get to his feet first. When Danielson started the flipping dropkicks in the corner, he was able to find enough to charge the other direction after the second, which is something we almost never see. When Danielson did the backflip out of a corner whip, he was right there to land a kick to the face. When Danielson started targeting the leg (done primarily to set up the next thing; in this case a very neat German), he was able to shrug off the damage before long. So he stayed in it and made a good showing for himself. It wasn't enough to overcome, though. He'd drop Danielson down into the nastiest looking Dragon Sleeper but then wouldn't be able to keep the torque on like he needed to. He'd drop Danielson with a brainbuster or a Michinoku Driver but couldn't keep the offense for long. And then, after he survived a great Danielson slipped out of his hammerlocked wrist clutch entry tombstone (which is a unique entry point move that I kind of love), he hit a great reverse suplex off the top and went right back into the Dragon Sleeper, only for Danielson to reverse it right into one of Sabre, Jr.'s favorite pins. Athleticism will take you quite far, but it won't beat someone who could wrestle two moves ahead of you. Against ZSJ, Danielson was always a half move behind, but brought other elements to the table. Against Fletcher, who was bringing youth and athleticism, he was able to work ahead just enough to win the day. It's a testament to Danielson's versatility. As a wrestler, he contains multitudes. 

Eddie Kingston vs. Komander

MD: Quick thoughts here: This was the first AEW match where Eddie Kingston really felt like he was an ace. He had matches on Dark or Elevation where he was dominant, both against enhancement talent and guys like Jack Evans or Anthony Henry, but there was an extra level of confidence here. He's the guy to beat and he's acting like it. That meant shrugging off some of Komander's stuff; it meant that sometimes it would take Komander two or three times to get something going. Most of all, it meant that he drove the narrative, that he controlled the action. Komander might come up with counters, but he wasn't going to string together offense. When Komander tried to assert himself on the top, Eddie shut him down with headbutts and went for a superplex. Yes, Komander reversed it, but he didn't drive it. This is Eddie's story and Komander is but a (valuable) supporting player in it. With Eddie, you almost always know what you're going to get. Here I wonder if we didn't see the start of something new.