2019 Ongoing MOTY List: Jericho vs. Omega

9. Chris Jericho vs. Kenny Omega AEW 5/25

ER: I had no idea what to think coming into this match. Phil was keeping vague to me about what he liked, and these are two guys who he does NOT like, so I was partly convinced going into it that I was being tricked into watching a match that I wouldn't actually enjoy. Our relationship isn't typically one where we will trick the other into watching secretly terrible wrestling, although since he's accused me of that (he really does not enjoy the Tanahashi/Sabre series to the same degree I do) I keep awaiting retribution. And watching the match, I'm still not sure if I know. I came out of this with an appreciation of Omega that I've never had before, as him leaning into everything Jericho threw out is what really made this. He stood there and took a beating, dished back chops with his entire body (leaving Jericho's whole body discolored), covered for clunky Jericho moments, and fell on his neck several times in the name of rehabbing a 48 year old's offense. Earlier in the show, Cody kinda hit a throne (that apparently had steam trapped in it) with a hammer to show HHH that HE WASN'T HIS BOSS. Jericho clearly accidentally broke Omega's nose with an errant punch because he was showing HHH he can still work unsafe but nobody will bury him for it here. I really liked Omega targetting the back of Jericho's head with a couple finisher-worthy V-Triggers (which is a way better finisher than getting a grown man to sit on your shoulders and have it be at all plausible) and the snapdragons both looked nasty. Jericho hit a great inside out dropkick right to Omega's face, and I liked Excalibur on commentary talking about how Jericho aimed for the nose to send Omega bumping on his neck on the apron. Jericho even looked like he was aiming his Lionsaults so they landed across Omega's face, and late in the match threw a short knee to a downed Omega. You don't get a ton of matches with face work, but Omega is a guy who I don't mind seeing get beat about the face. The big table spots played like big moments, with Omega doing one of his spectacular swan dives into one on the floor (really he's not much different than early Sabu), and him hitting a huge flip dive into the table Jericho was holding was truly crazy by both men. So many things could have gone wrong, and as it was Jericho's leg didn't look too far away from getting snapped by a weird landing. I like that we got a sensible finish, I would have surely bet on overkill on a show like this, but a one shot Judas Effect is something I can get behind.

PAS: I wasn't coming into this match expecting to like it, and ended up kind of loving it. Omega is pretty much a poster boy for maximalist wrestling, but this was a match built around two guys stiffing each other with shots to the face and head. There were a couple of big spots which were done really well and sold really well, the double stomp with the table was kidney mushing, and I liked the surprise of Omega getting backdropped through the table. I loved how Jericho took all of his normally loose 2000s offense and made it eye socket crunching, those code breakers looked like they were going to shove Omega's cheekbone through his teeth. The broken nose really added to the match too, and Omega sold the shots like Gerald McClellan, it felt like we were watching him get beaten to death in the ring. Really liked the back elbow KO finish too, great performance by both guys, and one of the most surprising matches in years.


2019 MOTY MASTER LIST