AEW Five Fingers of Death: Week of 4/25 - 5/1

AEW Dynamite 4/27

Blackpool Combat Club (Bryan Danielson/Jon Moxley/Wheeler Yuta) vs. The Factory (QT Marshall/Nick Comoroto/Aaron Solo)

MD: I know some people are frustrated that Danielson isn't getting obscenely long singles matches anymore, but I'm generally into seeing him in these tags. I'm not entirely sure that I'm overly fascinated by 2022 Danielson's match layouts, but I do love seeing him in specific exchanges with varied opponents. I wish we had seen him really have one with either Comoroto or QT here but it was nice to see him beat Solo around the ring and dropkick him in the face as he came off the top. Then he had a killer tope out of nowhere on QT and Comoroto. Yuta (with his new Punch Out theme) got a hero's welcome in his hometown and took most of the heat. He always got a chop back in whenever they tagged out on him (as we all know, constantly trying to fight back is key for staying over during a heat segment), and in the finishing stretch he survived and then overcame Comoroto, finally winning with the seatbelt. It's a bit of hierarchy which has definitely shifted over the last couple of months. Biggest new bit in the match were the tandem corner running clotheslines and kicks by Moxley and Danielson. They're in the tag rankings now and the act is solidifying. There's still a sense that they ended up together to cool one another down just a little so as not to overshadow Page, but it doesn't mean the matches aren't a blast.

ER: There's a reason Matt and I get along so well, and I'm also in the camp who would really enjoys seeing Danielson working sequences against guys who are much lower down on the hierarchy than he. I don't need to see a 12 minute Danielson/Solo singles, but I like watching Danielson getting Solo as hard as he can right in the chest. But considering I *would* want to see 9-12 minute Danielson/Comoroto and Danielson/QT matches, I guess what I would really want is Danielson singles matches that are just way far away from what would be profitable or wanted by the mass viewing audience. I like QT more than most, I think, and now he's got a rebuilt hairline to go with his Best in the World in 2022 kneedrop. Go ahead, try to come up with anyone else who currently has a better one, you'll know I'm right. As Matt said, Moxley and Danielson are really feeling like a complementary team, a natural pair, who seem to boost each other's similar qualities. Maybe my eyes deceive me but it feels like they're each hitting their offense with as much snap and impact as ever. Moxley treated Solo like a Young Boy just to start the match, elbowing hard across the face and then tossing him onto the back of his head with a release front suplex. Yuta is the guy who feels a bit out of place with the group. I'm still not sold on him, but at the same time it's very easy to get behind a guy with a loud over-supportive hometown crowd. The finishing sequence was both Yuta and Comoroto's best moment of the match, with Yuta fighting to get the seatbelt while Comoroto looked like an incensed caveman trying to drag an alive and kicking animal home. 

AEW Rampage 4/29

Darby Allin vs. Swerve Strickland

MD: There's maybe no one in wrestling that'll take the most convoluted route between points A and B than Strickland. Darby had the right amount of speed, familiarity, and agility to make it kind of work on this night though. Sometimes, if things go so far over the top, they come back around to where they ought to be. I'm not going to say that was true for every exchange here, but it was probably better than 50% which is honestly a huge credit and probably to both guys. I found myself fighting a small groan in the first half of an exchange and then coming around for the back half. That doesn't mean things like Swerve flipping to the floor or rolling about for no reason actually work though. At least when Darby jumped over him for the code red set up it was about positioning, but even that was kind of borderline. That said, the biggest spots, definitely worked. Strickland based perfectly for Darby's twist around stunner on the floor. The knee up on the dive was so fast and impactful that no one even knew what happened until the replay. Darby's grapevine of the leg out of the corner was beautiful and Strickland more or less sold appropriately from there on out. The suplex to the floor, despite being straightforward was grisly and put over appropriately, and then the banana peel finish with just a hint of Starks involvement worked for the match. Darby, through who he was and what he could do, ultimately made this work in a way almost no one else could do. I'm glad I probably won't have to write up another Strickland match for a while though.

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2021 Ongoing MOTY List: Dustin vs. Comoroto

19. Dustin Rhodes vs. Nick Comoroto AEW Dynamite 6/4

PAS: This was a bullrope match, and really delivered what you want a Dustin Rhodes bull rope match to deliver. Comoroto has a great look, kind of like Missing Link, and delivers some big moments while working within the Dustin structure. I loved his spear on the floor, and chucking Fuego Del Sol into the rest of the wrestlers in the crowd was a fun crazy beast spot. The dribble of blood on his forehead looked great too, he looked like a caveman who had just bit into a juicy bloody mammoth leg. I loved the story of Dustin being the bullrope match expert and knowing all the different ways to leverage the rope into advantages. Short, violent, some big bumps, really enjoyable TV main event. 

ER: This match had a few things going for it before it even started: 1. It was a bullrope in the main event of a wrestling show, 2. Dustin Rhodes was one of the guys in the bullrope match, 3. His opponent was our best chance at getting a modern 1987 Hercules. We've gotten a lot of fake Brodys, I want a fake 1987 Hercules. Comoroto doesn't have the same crowd connection Hercules did, and we're never going to see him gassed to those levels, but he's still got a lot of time and potential. He's a great opponent for Dustin now, and that's what matters. There's a bunch of cool awkwardness with them both getting tangled in the bullrope, the kind of realness that adds to a match like this. Two guys throwing punches and hitting each other in the head and stomach with a cowbell is going to be great, add in a bunch of excellent Dustin rope choking and obviously this is great. 

Both guys take great bumps to the floor, Comoroto took a hard bump on the apron, and I liked all their brawling on the floor. They did a good job of integrating wrestlers as props, like Dustin hitting Aaron Solow with a powerslam on the floor or Comoroto pie facing Fuego del Sol and tossing him to the peanut gallery. Comoroto gets cool blood after getting yanked into the ringpost, and all the beats they hit back in the ring were good. Comoroto's 1 count kickout after the spinning suplex was well done, loved Dustin kicking him low and Comoroto slowly powering up out of it. Dustin's doing a quick hog tie to pin Comoroto honestly might have been my favorite part of the match. Dustin pulled off the tie and pin really quick, and it was a cool wrinkle in the story of Dustin being unable to keep Comoroto down with his actual big moves. Dustin couldn't overpower him, but he could outsmart him. 

2021 MOTY MASTER LIST

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