2022 Ongoing MOTY List: Gunn Club vs. Jurassic Express

 

33. Austin Gunn/Colten Gunn vs. Jungle Boy/Luchasaurus AEW Rampage 2/11/22

ER: You would not believe the far-removed-from-relevant-discourse wrestling I have cluttering up my DVR. Sometimes I watch it, other times I don't. I've been mostly writing about 1997 WCW for my book over the past couple years, so haven't been watching much AEW or WWE. Happening across it, rarely making time for it, only vaguely aware of either promotions storylines through my Twitter timeline. Sometimes I'll have it on in the background, only passively paying attention, and that makes me automatically impressed by any match that ends up capturing my attention. This tag did, in a way that most Jurassic Express matches do not. I thought it showcased how good Jungle Boy can be as a face in peril, and showed how really good the Gunn Club are at cutting off a ring. It's a great heel team performance, a strong face in peril performance, and a great choice to keep Luchasaurus mostly on the apron. The structure does mean we build to an inevitable Luchasaurus hot tag, and that's the weakest part of the match, but things run so smoothly when he's not there that most of this match hums. 

Colten Gunn was getting really good at this point, two years ago. I don't know if he's made strides since, but he was getting real good then. I like how he doesn't go over for everything Jungle Boy does, stopping dead on a rope flip armdrag, and how it makes it mean more when Jungle Boy hits him with a bigger lariat to knock him down after; and how the next time he tags in the very first thing he does is turn Jungle Boy's ass upside down with his own bigger lariat, and later on scouts and avoids the same lariat that hit him the first time. It's a cool story in a face in peril tag match where they show that the babyface should have saved a couple of his tricks for when the match was winnable instead of early on as an overreaction. Colten has good timing - both Gunns do - and does things that really good wrestlers do, like throw punches from a standing position at an opponent who's on his knees. That's cool heel shit. Austin is a good guy to work the Picture in Picture stretch, because he's strong at holding Jungle Boy in place with convincing grounded headlocks that stay active, and I loved the stretch of him making a wild over-exaggerated tag out to his bro that makes him fly over the top to the floor, but then runs around the ring in time to pull Luchasaurus off the apron before he could tag in. Austin is very good at naturally blending planned theatricality into a match, and that's something that stands out in a promotion filled with guys trying to do that but doing it badly. 

I thought the hot tag was fine and liked the way they had Jungle Boy take out Luchasaurus with his tope, but I also am not sure I can name a larger wrestler with worse chops than Luchasaurus. The crowd is really really into the guy working a masked lizard TNA Lance Hoyt style. Hoyt was bad then, but imagine if he was doing standing moonsaults instead of learning how to throw a better chokeslam? The Gunns do a good job of feeding Luchasaurus but it's their chemistry with Jungle Boy and their timing that elevated this. But nobody in AEW actually listens to Fire of Love. 

2022 MOTY MASTER LIST