2024 Ongoing MOTY List: Strong vs. Hook

 

15. Roderick Strong vs. Hook AEW Dynamite 9/25/24

ER: I've been saying, and I know I'm not the only one, that AEW needs to hit the 8-12 minute sweet spot on matches a lot more. Here's a great nine minute example of why that works so well. They worked this at such a brisk pace that 14 minutes of it would have been overkill. The offense wouldn't have felt as tough if they kept it up that long. This was a quick nine minutes, but I never felt like anything was rushed through or undersold. 

Roddy is a great opponent for Hook. In fact, a lot of people seem like great opponents for Hook. That probably means Hook is well beyond his years for a guy under 80 matches in. He was a hit on arrival and even though this is the first Hook match I've actually written about, I've been admiring the act the entire time. I missed a lot of his 2024, so I still haven't seen a lot of the "long" Hook matches. He was a great squash worker, and he's nestled in nicely to the 8-12 minute sweet spot while AEW seemingly doesn't know what to do with him. His takedowns remain strong the whole match, and I buy him doing all of it. His poise and feel are so good this early, that I worry he's going to lose his charm the more polished he gets at pro wrestling. He's at his best when he's not moving like a wrestler, and I hope he maintains what makes him unique when he's closer to match 200. 

Hook understands a ton just 80 matches in, while Roderick Strong is a guy who can still seem wise beyond his years 1,400 matches in. I don't think I would have predicted this 18 years ago when my buddy was obsessed with him as the Master of the Backbreaker. This episode of Dynamite was sold on a very specific kind of 2006 indy wrestling nostalgia, with Nigel McGuinness getting his final return match against Bryan Danielson. Bryan Danielson had one of the most acclaimed final runs in wrestling history, and a career even the many Danielson optimists (we were all Danielson optimists) couldn't have imagined in 2006. But Roderick Strong has been there the whole 18 years since then, and he's kept his style just as relevant to each era as Danielson has. Roderick Strong has quietly been really, really good for nearly 25 years now. I don't think Strong has the high end classics that Danielson has, but he keeps finding ways to be the perfect TV match worker, and I love TV workers. He became a Christian level TV guy with slightly less opportunity and visibility. His NXT TV matches were a highlight of that run, and his house show work had the kind of tight execution that plays well in that environment. He does tired indy things better than the other indy workers: He knows how to throw an elbow, knows how to blend thigh slap offense, and hits chops designed to echo in a gymnasium or stadium. Roderick Strong embodies more about 2006 wrestling than Bryan Danielson and he's fucking great at it. He's just now entering his 40s and he doesn't Move Weird like Christopher Daniels (yet). He only seems to be getting faster and tighter and he hits just as hard. He's the kind of worker who can adapt to any opponent, an evergreen Good Hand. 

I dug how he and Hook went after each other. The opening scrambles were cool, Strong having actual answers for Hook's difficult-to-counter judo. Bennett and Taven added the right amount of spice on the floor, with each taking a big bump for Hook that led to Strong yeeting Hook into the ringpost. I don't think I've ever used that word before. I don't know if people are saying that word any longer. I think I'm using it properly and it's the only way to describe what happened. Hook's suplexes look like Hook's. They're not quite the same as you've seen them. He's small but throws larger. His hiptosses and northern lights look just different enough. He judo throws Strong off three different chair edges in one throw and Strong was so good all match at feeding into all things Hook big and small with that same energy. Man has had That Energy since 2006. We need our 8-12 minute kings, to nurture the next generation of 8-12 minute kings. 

2024 MOTY MASTER LIST