AEW Five Fingers of Death (and Friends) 3/10 - 3/16

ROH 3/13/25

Gates of Agony (Toa Liona/Bishop Kaun)/Top Flight (Dante/Darius Martin) vs Frat House (Preston Vance/Cole Karter)/Premier Athletes (Ariya Daivari/Tony Nese)

MD: Different matches have different purposes. Different wrestlers in different matches have different goals. Greatness comes in a lot of forms and not all of them are well captured by star ratings. While I don't have a taping schedule in front of me, this was filmed in Oakland with a Collision and I'm almost certain it came on post-show as part of an ROH taping that ended with a Mistico trios. ROH is very much wrestling for wrestling's sake, a way to fill out cards, give people work and reps (develop talent), to create a well of extra content in a post-Elevation/Dark/Rampage world, to build up a product which may be more lucrative/marketable at some point. I think it brings TK some joy, both because of his affection for the brand and because it lets him put together matches without any external constraints (commercials, demos, network notes, etc.). For me, it harkens back to being a kid in the 90s and watching Power Hour or Worldwide or Prime Time (or later on Velocity/Heat/Jakked). The big story beats weren't going to happen there, but you'd get to just watch an hour of wrestling and enjoy it just for what it was. I think there's a disconnect with people who didn't grow up with that maybe.

Anyway, for the crowd that hangs around, it gives them an added bonus, just fun wrestling, to a degree 'house show wrestling' during a time where there are very few house shows. That's absolutely what this was, and if you look at the broad history of pro wrestling, this has its place and its value and it's honestly a really worthy entry along those lines. I am so glad a match like this is still allowed to exist in 2025, a match anchored by incredibly giving, unlikable heels, 100% willing to do their job as opposed to trying to make it about themselves, and two very diverse, very talented babyface teams, with one absolute shining star at the heart of it all in Toa Liona. 

Let's talk structure quickly so you know how they put this together, and then I'll double back to that thought. Match started with chaos as Gates came down and Toa beelined to Cole Karter (with Kaun going after Vance). Daivari pulled Dante's hair to drag him to the corner and we got a mini FIP early. Eventually, Dante made it to the corner (Karter the weak link) and they ran a sequence where everyone slingshotted in on him one after the other, with Toa being the last, after really milking it; after he did it (to big reaction), he had the biggest smile on his face; more on that later too. With some chicanery, the heels were able to isolate Darius on the floor (including some cheapshots from the associated managers and hangers oners, Sterling and Jameson, ultimately broken up by Toa rushing around ringside with a chair to a big pop). From there, we entered into a second FIP on Darius, during which the fans chanted that they wanted Toa and Dante, reading the room, hyped that idea from the apron (which, given that his brother was getting beat on was pretty selfless in serving the match when you think about it). Darius finally came back for the hot tag and everything went into a wild finishing stretch.

I don't usually do this, but I think everyone should go check out the climax of that wildness and the finish itself. I clipped it because people needed to see it and I'd like everyone (and I mean everyone, even if you've seen it before, even if you helped conceive it) to go and take a look and then come back so we can close this out. Sound on is better, but even sound off will give you the idea. Just do it.

https://x.com/MattD_SC/status/1901244037081788581

This misses Kaun (a surprisingly natural babyface) shutting down everyone and hitting a poetry in motion leap and maybe another dive or two from the assembled mass of talent, but it gives you what I need you to see. First we have Toa using Dante as a weapon twice, both to kick at an opponent and then by press slamming him into everyone; great emotive reactions by Dante here. If the two weren't so ingrained in their obvious partnerships, I could see real money in a big/little tag team between the two of them. Obviously the crowd loved that.

But then Toa just... dropped the chain, broke through the limiters, and for about a minute looked like the biggest attraction imaginable, slapping the ground, charging up, looking for prey, and absolutely bursting through everyone in sight on the floor, all leading to him hesitating only slightly as Sterling got in the way before plowing right through him and send him careening into Nese (great work all around by everyone). The crowd went wild, even here for an (on paper) disposable post-show ROH match with absolutely no stakes. And yes, it was a good crowd, absolutely, but there was magic in what they did. And it was magic that all came to fruition as Toa rolled back into the ring and slammed the mat again, his gaze set on the last man standing in Preston Vance. 

As Toa was slapping the mat, as the post-Collision fans were going nuts for him hyping them up, there was the biggest smile on his face. Toa portrays a wild man, a bestial presence, a throwback to decades past, a killing machine, but my god, that smile. This was a guy absolutely living in the moment, basking in the crowd's excitement and adulation, realizing the sheer joy that he, through his presence and physicality brought into the world for at least those in attendance and living his very best life. You can't fabricate that smile. You can't bottle it and sell it. It was an honestly beautiful thing during a time where we need as many honestly beautiful things that we can get. And of course, that made it all the better when he had his leg grabbed from the outside and Vance (who has a history of robbing people of joy) cut him down with a very credible clothesline before the Gates fired back and won the thing. 

Sometimes wrestling is just special and it doesn't always have to be two guys leaping off the top of the cage or wrestlers bleeding buckets. Sometimes it can just be one wrestler using everything at his disposal without hesitation or abandon, just embracing all of the complicated absurdities and simple blissful truths of pro wrestling and everyone around him being selfless and giving and professional in enabling that moment. That's what they had here. The crowd in Oakland was lucky to see it. We were lucky to see it on ROH TV last week. And hopefully, now all of you reading this that went back and clicked on that link feel like you're lucky to have seen it too. I know I feel that way.

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AEW Five Fingers of Death 11/28 - 12/4

AEW Dynamite 11/30

Bryan Danielson vs Dax Harwood

MD: Top line AEW house style, wrestling-for-the-sake-of-wrestling face vs face stuff here. There was no underlying story, which isn't the same as the match itself having no story or having no purpose. Danielson is seemingly about to be in a main event program with MJF over the Regal assault and having a big win over a storied tag champion in a huge workrate match that goes against most things MJF represents is useful.  For Dax, it gives him another seminal singles match against a top guy and top wrestler and further gets over the idea that he's at the top of his game. Even in defeat, it heats him up a bit heading into the tag title match with the Acclaimed and to whatever they'll be doing at the ROH PPV.

Like I said, the match itself was peak AEW house style stuff. I liked how earned every move had to be. Most of these were set up in smaller chapters. Dax would go for the pile driver, be unable to hit it the first time out, would have to come up with some sort of clever counter (in this case the Arn fake punch which I've never seen used for a pile driver before) to do so. Likewise, the slingshot Power Bomb, which Danielson rolled through with a Rana the first time. And there were layers into layers, sunset flip counters that were rolled through the first time and nailed the second, all of it leading to Danielson finally hitting his kick, which Dax was able to block multiple times (leading into some of these counters upon counters previously). While it was cute at times, it never felt forced, never felt overly choreographed, and never felt telegraphed. It all made sense, but it made sense after the fact not before. That level of being smart yet still feeling organic was symbolized in the suplex outside the ring. Dax moved down the rampway to get to exactly the spot he needed to be to make the spot work, but as Danielson went flying over on the suplex, fans still had to dart out of the way. It was poised and placed but still felt natural. In some ways, it's a shame this was a one off dream match along those lines and that we're not seeing Danielson and a partner go after FTR, because I think they could build on this from match to match to make something really impressive. 

And of course, as it was a cold match coming in, it was on the characters and there respective intensity to drive it. That's why I loved the bit early on where Danielson went for the LeBell lock and Dax for the Sharpshooter, with Dax not releasing in the ropes even on the count. Danielson, instead of just laying there and waiting for the ref to get control, threw up a foot right into Dax's jaw. That set the tone even more than the submission attempts themself. No measure, no hesitation, nothing given. It was Dax's match as much as it was Danielson's, but 2022 Danielson is going to push you to the absolute limit of your physical prowess. Dax met him halfway and they ended up with chops and with kicks, yes, but clothesline each other again and again instead. It was something old, something new, something borrowed, and something absolutely covered in red welts. If it's not up there with the very best matches of the year for both guys, it's just because the stakes in so many of their other matches were so high. That's part of the joy of AEW though, that they can just set this up on a Friday and run it on a Wednesday and we'll have it to watch back whenever we want in the years to come.

AEW Rampage 12/2

Darby Allin vs Cole Karter

MD: Sub ten-minutes considering Darby's intro and the smashing of Comoroto with the bat, but it felt a little longer and probably needed to be a minute or two shorter. Pretty good showing for Karter given his relative inexperience though. I went and looked it up and he really wasn't in the WWE system for all that long. His connective tissue between spots was pretty good for that level of experience though. Between that, his look, and his athleticism, there's probably something there moving forward. It's good he's still working at least some indies on the side though. I do get the impression that with things like taking Comoroto out with the bat or the hulking up/sitting up he's been doing a little more of, they're prepping Darby for something more. 

With that in mind, even if it was good for Karter's development, Darby probably gave a bit too much. At the least, it was warranted by that early offense. Darby absolutely crushed him with his dive and then started on the hand, which would pay off later. Then, though, Karter was able to horrifically crotch him on the top and even more horrifically power bomb him into the apron. Within the ring, he hit a buckle bomb too. Other than that, it was a lot of knees to the ribs and shots to the back and I liked how it wasn't all moves and spots. So long as he stayed focused, Darby couldn't fight from underneath, but he couldn't put him away with knees to the ribs alone so he went broader and Darby came back. I probably would have ended this thing with Darby's hulk up, but they had Karter catch him one more time and miss his 450 before Darby finished him off. It's going to be tough for Karter to get the singles matches he needs in the Factory, since Johnson and Ogogo (who we haven't seen for a bit, even on Dark, so I wonder if he might be injured?) need them too and yet QT has the most overall value as a mid-card heel that can put guys over. But Karter's only 22 and Johnson's only 24, so there's still time for both of them.  I'm hoping that in a year or two we're talking about Karter and Johnson like we talk about 2022 Yuta and Garcia now. It's possible at least.

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