AEW Dark 11/9 (Taped 11/5)
Darby Allin vs. QT Marshall
MD: This was about getting a crowd that was owed stars a look at Darby. The pre-match promo by QT saying he'd do a favor to a friend and soften Darby up for MJF was just a way to try to put a little more heat on a throwaway webshow match. I have a lot of thoughts about QT actually. He's apparently Khan's Bruce or Fink (probably somewhere in the middle), the guy he'll call to talk booking plans at 4 am and that conveys a lot of the messages forward. Wrestling in AEW wasn't actually a given for him; it just sort of happened. He's also an experienced journeyman wrestler, has fairly decent size, can hit stuff. I saw him vs Danielson in 2010 in Puerto Rico a couple of weeks ago. AEW has an unbalanced, large amount of undercard heels though, and while it's possible, maybe, if all the stars align, that he gets some sort of DDP run that gets over, he'd have so much more value to the promotion if he started to work more like a manager. There are a bunch of managers and seconds on the roster, but they're all older and shouldn't be bumping or more non-wrestling looking guys like Andrade's assistant. I get why QT wants to go out and be more of a player/coach than just a coach of the Factory though. I just don't think he has as much value as he might leaning hard, at 36, into being what Paul Jones and JJ Dillon were five years later in 83.
Ok, the match: Early on, I liked how all the motion was about getting over Darby; Marshall would use his strength to redirect Allin or force him up, but it was all about Darby smoothly recovering and keeping the motion going. Darby countering the suplex in midair with a kick is the third time in a week I saw that sort of spot. Have I just not been paying attention or is it a new zeitgeist spot thing? I like it, but not if it's overdone. Anyway, it's not that Marshall's belly to belly and top rope headbutt didn't look good, but he probably would have stood out more on the show with a chinlock with his feet on the ropes and a Memphis headlock hiding a punch. I liked the comeback and the suddenness of the coffin drop, where instead of just sitting around, you could buy that Marshall had no idea where he was or what was about to happen. Ok showcase match for Darby for the crowd but I still think it would be good for Marshall to see the hole in the promotion and gravitate towards it.
AEW Dynamite 11/10
Bryan Danielson vs. Rocky Romero
ER: I've heard recently of the Rocky Romero Renaissance, but I'm still a skeptic. If Danielson is going to have matches that I've already seen him have 15+ years ago in CA, then I am still more excited for the upcoming matches against Larry Blackwell, Scott Lost, and Jardi Frantz. Still, this is the same kind of very good TV match that Danielson has been having for a long time now, and those will always be satisfying. I liked how Danielson took Romero's offense, like catching a rana off the ring steps or taking a hard back bump off a tope, and I liked Romero trying to spam the cross-armbreaker (as if anyone in attendance thought Danielson was going to tap to a Rocky Romero submission). I wish Romero did some more interesting things to set up the armbars, as other than a cool knee to Danielson's shoulder it was pretty much him doing Rocky Romero Offense and then just trying for the same cross-armbreaker from the same position. They sold throughout like they had already each worked a match, and that was kind of odd, and it felt like there were missing steps in this, as if those glue moments happened somewhere else and nobody will ever get to see that full match footage. But this was a fun Danielson TV match, and it's his own fault for consistently crafting matches better than this one that a match like this can come off Less Than.
PAS: I am coming off watching Romero kill it with Negro Casas live, so I am at a high point in my Romero fandom. I was into this, it is fun to watch Danielson work as a skilled counter mat wrestler. Romero isn't Drew Gulak, but this match had some of that same energy. I especially loved the last couple of minutes, which were all about trying to grab something and twist. The finish with Romero flattening out to stop the LeBell lock, only for Danielson to switch to the Tequila Sunrise was sick stuff. Danielson is a guy who can come out of nowhere to get you and this was great example of that.
AEW All In 11/13
33. Darby Allin vs. MJF
MD: I get the build was about MJF winning with a side headlock takeover, and everyone lauded the Malenko/Guerrero opening bits, but they built this with MJF mocking Darby Allin's dead uncle, so maybe that wasn't the way to go? It worked out fine, as Darby would be stepping on MJF's throat on the apron a couple of minutes later and with the goading skateboard finish, but it was all a little too cutesy with mirrored body language and synchronized timing on lifting shoulders up and what not. I think there would have been a way to do this with MJF going for the side headlock over and over and Darby having to reverse and counter that would have been both more logical and story-driven as opposed to chain wrestling for the sake of it. Once the match actually got going and became about Darby's back and ultimately, after backbreaker after backbreaker, MJF's leg, it was very good. Darby's going to bump and sell around the ring as well as anyone on the roster and I liked the variations. If they felt gratuitous, it's because MJF is such a troll. Shame on the announcers for not being able to call the Billy Robinson backbreaker though.
The leg was a way for Darby to believably stay in it without ever totally taking over the match. MJF's timing for Darby's tope and the camera angle for Darby running across the ring wasn't quite as good as the one with Sting and 2.0 but it was a close second. I liked how MJF used the Scorpion Deathlock and Darby used the figure-four which almost felt like the heel was using the face submission and the face the heel submission. MJF shouldn't have been able to turn it; the heel ought to get to the ropes in that situation instead. That's a nitpick though. The things that hit well, like the code red reversal into a power bomb, hit really well, and the match more specific spots that worked than didn't. I liked the finish. Maybe I would have liked it a little more if he had taken the ring bell because they were aping the Savage/Steamboat stuff as well. The deal with the Savage/Steamboat Mania match is that they'd already worked all of the hate-filled revenge matches around the loop so all that was left was wrestling and the title. This match tried to balance the two a little more and the ultimate result was impressive but maybe a bit uneven.
PAS: I thought this was really excellently worked, but had one too many ideas. I thought the opening of the match actually worked well. Darby was trying to answer MJF's taunts about his wrestling ability by hanging with him with counter wrestling. Darby has such incredible body control that it is really a pleasure to watch him do that stuff. I also liked MJF getting frustrated with being matched move for move and unloading with the cheap shot. The second part of the match, with Darby having the bad back from the missed apron coffin drop and MJF constantly crushing his own knee trying offense was neat too. That avalanche powerbomb counter of the code red, and the powerbomb on the knee were both incredible looking offensive moves. I didn't love going back to the Malenko vs. Guerrero roll ups, felt like that part of the match had passed, and MJF doing the spot with the skateboard and the ring felt like something this match didn't need. Almost like a TV show with too many plot lines, it felt like you could have saved some stuff for a future match.
ER: This was an incredible match yet I wish they had decided to drop a few of their ideas (as if they won't fight again and won't need something to use in that next match) and I wish it didn't have the first couple and last couple minutes. This match is something that excelled far past the headlock takeover and Malenko/Guerrero roll-ups and it's the bulk of the match that I loved so much. Once things moved past fast count roll-ups where shoulders aren't even touching the mat and moved into MJF working over Darby's back, they hit on something really special. I think MJF is an underrated in-ring guy and a vastly overrated promo guy, and this match was a testament to how far his in-ring has come. I loved the story of him destroying Darby's back at the expense of killing his own knees. Darby splats fantastically onto the ring apron on a missed Coffin Drop, one of those falls that would have me laid up for a week, and MJF wastes no time exploiting it. MJF's best in-ring attribute at this point might be that he's really great at being the "smart dumb guy", planning out a smart strategy but able to be lead away from that or continuing his strategy as it hurts him. This was a great match for that, and his work over Darby's back was really punishing.
"Big move onto my own knee" offense almost always looks stupid, but MJF's powerbomb onto his own knee looked absolutely crushing, like Darby's spine should be completely misaligned. There's an incredible spot where Darby fights for a code red, and MJF fights it into a kind of cursed splash mountain. He drops Darby with backbreakers that look devastating, and his knee selling is so good that even as Darby is getting crushed you get the sense that he has ins. I am happy the crowd rose to their feet while they were both rolling around like goofs getting 2 counts for things that weren't even close to pins, but I hated that choice with a passion and thought it really distracted from everything they had done. The match had become something different and much better than they had initially started with, and it felt like a major regression - not a callback or joined loop - when we went back to that shit. The cheapshot leading to the side headlock takeover win was well done, and the bulk of the match is incredible, bookended by some things that a 22 minute match did not need.
16. Bryan Danielson vs. Miro
MD: This one was all about Miro controlling the pace. Danielson would try to turn on his asylum-escapee-no-longer-straightjacketed adrenaline and Miro would just shut him down. It's interesting Danielson didn't target the neck earlier. He even went out and said that would be his gameplan when he was on commentary on Dynamite. The leg was bandaged but he didn't gain much ground there either. What's going to stand out, what we'll remember years from now about this one, was Miro taking three shots from Danielson just to hit one of his own. Miro, being one of the great vulnerable monsters in wrestling history, knew exactly how much to give and in doing so put over both the kicks and himself. The finish was sudden and ugly but in a good way given that you needed something out of the ordinary to explain Miro's collapse after a match where he was getting chipped away at but still seemed to have a lot of armor left.
PAS: Danielson has been such a force during his AEW run, it was really cool to watch him run into someone he couldn't just overwhelm. Miro's strength allowed him to shrug off Danielson's submission attempts like Kimo on Royce Gracie, and Miro has one punch KO power. Miro does really cool versions of my two least favorite current wrestling tropes: his religious fanatic cursing god is the best possible version of NXT shocked face, and the Bolo Yeung style offering of his ribs is the coolest strike exchange you can get. I loved the finish, it looked really awkward in the best way, with Danielson just spiking Miro on his bad neck from the top in a way which almost looked like an accident. Breaking someone's neck is a great way to crack a brick wall.
ER: You know it's a great match when you get a classic fired up Danielson performance where he's leaning into the prospects of getting a potentially deadly concussion, and get to see an equally fired up career high performance from his opponent. For several years now Miro has felt like an absolute dead in the water guy, doomed to either not live up to or not get the chance to ever really show how far he can go. I had completely written Miro off, a guy whose big run feels much further in the rearview than its actual six years. Rusev Day was four years ago? Feels like a decade. When he joined AEW and immediately started goofing around with the worst act on the roster? I thought he was unrecoverable. Now, Danielson has been on a genuine tear in 2021, having high end matches all year with everyone, and it's really easy to credit Danielson and Eddie Kingston for Miro's big resurgence...but he is clearly a changed man.
Lean mean crazed eyed murderous Miro looks like the star that Believers have been saying is there since before the Cena win. Danielson *could* have worked this great match with just about anyone on the AEW roster, but Miro helped this get to a higher level because Miro felt legitimate. Miro looked like a New Japan Red Army psycho here, hammering into every part of Danielson's body and responding to Danielson's kicks and elbows with more violence. Miro took all of Danielson's offense and made it look damaging, while making himself look properly unmanageable, and it's a really impressive window to hit this well. He threw Danielson so wildly overhead, and Danielson is a maniac who will take great throws on his head and shoulder, and that kind of give and take punishment made this feel like a FUTEN fight. Miro takes a DDT on the top of his head that made him look like the guy on the cautionary Check Pool For Water sign, and the KO stoppage from that looked great, like Kurisu shoot knocking a dude out but still locking in a submission.
2. Eddie Kingston vs. CM Punk - EPIC
PAS: An absolute classic. The build on this match was tremendous and they went out and delivered everything in the ring. So many brawls these days are full of elaborate set-ups for stunt bumps or weapons shots, so it is great to see an old fashioned fist fight. I enjoy someone getting hit with a chair, I love it even more when it is a fist. Kingston laying Punk out before the bell with a backfist and laughing maniacally was a great start, as was a dazed Punk flipping him off from the floor. We were off from there with great hard shots from both guys, Kingston delivering some of his epic selling (both GTS's felt like he got hit in the head with a shovel), and Punk leaning into his assholeness. I thought the Cena taunt was great (although I could have done without the Guerrero tribute, I get why he did it, but not this match), and Punk really looked deranged with blood flowing down his face. I loved near the end when both guys were slumped in the corner, and they rose up to maybe the only good looking Frye vs. Takayama exchange in wrestling history (non-Necro Butcher division). I am torn on the finish. I really am so invested in Eddie at this point that any time he loses it pisses me off, but hopefully they keep this going and its leads to Eddie's moment. There is so much meat left on the bone.
MD: Totally unique, unbridled match, with a lot to pull apart. Was it a case where the match got away from Punk in the most amazing ways or was it the plan all along? They definitely got the mood right here to start, with Punk skipping all of his usual pre-match antics and getting right to it, only to walk right into the backfist. That said, while it never really let up from there, it did take a somewhat bizarre turn. The blood came early, to the point where Punk worked most of the match with it and the back half of the match with it basically dried all over his face. I'm not sure I've ever been more disappointed with announcers than in this one. They left so many potential hooks on the table, and with Khan's post-match comments about the boos for Punk being like Rock's at Mania vs. Hogan, I can only imagine some of the way the match turned wasn't entirely the plan. Those boos came late in the match when Punk pounced on a mostly defenseless Kingston with the elbows and knees, though. They weren't facile boos. They weren't boos in a bubble. They weren't goofy Canadian nostalgia boos. The fans specifically disliked what Punk the wrestler chose to do in that moment. It was heat. And it had been something building in the match until then.
Before that, Punk clearly disrespected Kingston by hitting the Cena spots. Even with the blood coming down his face, that's what he chose to do against this opponent, with this issue, in this setting. Then there was the moment that the crowd first went from dueling chants to chanting solely for Eddie, a real turning point in the match. How did Punk respond to it? By deciding it was time to do the Guerrero tribute (the third or fourth of the night at that). Whether or not it was genuine and heartfelt and whether or not it just happened to be the point in the match when it was originally planned, it came off as a complete jerk move, using Eddy's memory as a way to willfully (and pettily!) misunderstand and twist how the crowd had decided to solely get behind Kingston with their chants. In the end, even if the announcers didn't pick up on virtually any of it, even if Khan seemed to indicate it was something else in the media scrum, I'm pretty certain Punk knew what he was doing, and it all added to the animosity in the match and got the crowd more and more behind Kingston and his defiance. Ultimately, I had a sense that Punk, the character, was punishing Kingston for ruining his fun, and though it seemed like he was offering his respect with the handshake post-match, to me, there was something else going on entirely. Hopefully this isn't the end of it, because there are still places for this one to go.
ER: Not many matches can come off as both a feud blowoff and a feud starter that's merely laying the groundwork for the danger to come, but this managed to do that while being 25% shorter than the next shortest match on the PPV. I had no idea how the fans would react to this one and wasn't sure they would turn on either man (I was expecting far more Both These Guys type chants) and loved how Punk was able to draw those boos WHILE being busted and without resorting to any kind of actual cheating. Punk drew heat by just choosing the best moment to throw grounded punches at Eddie Kingston, a man who talks constantly about how much he loves punching and being punched. Punk and Kingston understand the moments and the context within their matches, and they understand how to use it to add even more depth and then pay that depth off.
I'm with Phil, in that Kingston matches are some of the few in modern wrestling where I stop thinking about who will be booked to win, because I only want to see Eddie Kingston win. Eddie Kingston makes me root for his victory in the same way I root for the Giants to win (presumably) shoot baseball games. But he's so easy to connect to that I also root his stupid decisions, especially if they seem like its what he personally wanted. I didn't want to see Kingston get nailed with a GTS, but I cannot deny the man the joy of popping up before getting hit with one. Kingston took both GTS as effectively as any man can, and I love how Punk has shifted his delivery and selling of the delivery. The move doesn't look sloppy, as it used to, and now just looks difficult to hit, and like it takes more out of him TO hit it. Those are conscious changes to a small part of a wrestler's game, and seeing someone evolve their game like that always catches my attention. These two catch my attention, and I want to see them evolve this feud.
Labels: 2021 MOTY, 5 Fingers of Death, AEW All In, AEW Dark, AEW Dynamite, Bryan Danielson, CM Punk, Darby Allin, Eddie Kingston, Miro, MJF, QT Marshall, Rocky Romero
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