2023 Ongoing MOTY List: Kingston vs. Danielson

 

Eddie Kingston vs. Bryan Danielson AEW Collision 12/2/23

ER: I think what I liked about this match, their second AEW singles match and third overall (2010 Chikara hosting the other), is the way a lot of it didn't live up to my internal hype. That's possibly on me, or it's possibly on two guys who know how to build individual hype to every singles match they have regardless of opponent. Kingston and Danielson are perhaps so big at this point that a match against each other is something they're almost too big for. I'm not going to be able to explain this well. This review is going to be worthless. Danielson vs. Kingston is such a Dream Match between two guys who have constantly risen to that level over the last 20 years, that I think it's bound to underwhelm by virtue of it being Too Big a Dream Match. Their own individual stories are big enough that they don't really need a story for them to have a Great Match. 

Against each other they have been involved in nothing but great stories and cool matches - the ROH/CZW Cage of Death, the last Chikara King of Trios weekend I went out of my way to watch, Anarchy in the Arena - and yet the expectations every time for a singles match is that it will somehow be better than those things. On paper, Kingston and Danielson are probably my two favorite AEW guys (non-Darby Allin Division) and yet I think their best use might be against others. Give me a showdown between Aaron Judge and Ranger Suarez and odds are that the result won't be very satisfying for those rooting for either. Judge likely won't hit a 460' HR, Suarez will likely get them to fly out, or it will be a walk and well, nobody will leave the at bat thinking they actually saw something too special. 

I don't think this match was a home run, I don't think it was a ground out, I thought it was good. Good in a way that won't be able to live up to the myths these two have created in very different ways over the last couple decades. The things I was hoping to play out, never really came up. During the opening Collision promos, Eddie said, "I don't care about your eye, I don't care about your arm, I'm gonna bust you up." And during the entire episode - this match was the Collision main event - Nigel McGuiness was on commentary calling Danielson "Brittle Bryan" and a couple other nicknames that I actually think really added to the hype, that Danielson is so broken down and hiding so many injuries, that now he's fighting a guy who really wants to batter him in any way he can....and then neither guy really worked the match within any of those story frames. Danielson - eye patch not withstanding - didn't really come off broken in any way. I don't think he wrestled any differently here than he has in any other AEW match. Sure, he looked hurt after taking certain moves, but hurt by Kingston the same way Kingston always hurts his opponent. I did not see any kind of built up long term Kikuchi-level selling from Danielson - I thought he seemed far more concerned about adjusting his eye patch than he did actually selling accumulated damage or damage accrued from this match - and while I think Eddie went hard after him where he could, I never got the sense he was seeking to batter Danielson. 

Look, they hit and kicked the hell out of each other, and I loved the way they did it. I appreciated it, even. Every single kick Danielson threw at King's shin looked like he was legit trying to break his tibia. Eddie was checking the leg kicks really well, but also in a way that looked like he was getting his leg fucked up. That looked like Danielson had heard Kingston talk about battering him up, and decided to keep him at bay and slow him down for later in the match. And, when Kingston threw a stiff-legged enziguiri late in the match, looking like he had no mobility in his leg at all, it blew up on Danielson as I don't know if I've seen King hit a better enziguiri. They battered each other up in a mostly expected way, and while I'm not sure it could ever live up to a Danielson/Kingston Match in My Specific Brain in 2023, it also aired on the same night that Brody King and Claudio Castagnoli kept insisting on throwing the downright worst forearm exchanges of the month so they looked extra good by comparison. Eddie Kingston getting his arms, chest, and legs bruised and knotted up is going to look so much better. Brody King is bigger than Scott Norton and he throws forearms like Action Andretti. Bryan Danielson is smaller than Action Andretti and throws kicks like Frank Shamrock. 

I like seeing Lion's Den Danielson and 1999 All Japan Kingston. I like the way those styles work and don't, and I like how they would have done a totally different match 5 years ago, or 10 years ago. What year would been the best year of their respective careers for this match to happen? It happened in 2010, but I think it would have been better in 2008 or 2012. I would have loved it in 2002 but it would have been so different. What's the worst year for it to have happened? One of the Danielson brain injury years I guess. But there's a chance 2023 is the very best year of their careers for them to meet like this. I like Eddie throwing backfists and chops as hard as possible into Danielson's neck and taking painful rigid body suplexes. Big Match Kingston is different from My Body Is So Injured Everywhere Kingston and it felt good to see him slug it out without having to limp, hold his back, or shake out an arm the entire time. 

It's hard to imagine these two doing something that wouldn't be worth watching and writing up. I just don't think I know what the best version of their match would look like. Is this it, or is there more? It feels like there is still more to explore, and some of those things I assumed would be explored here.  

2023 MOTY MASTER LIST