2023 Ongoing MOTY List: Kingston vs. Yuta

 

Eddie Kingston vs. Wheeler Yuta AEW Dynamite 8/30/23

ER: I started this out writing "I don't think I have ever Bought In on Wheeler Yuta before..." but I think I said almost the exact same thing about him in the great BCC vs. Dark Order trios from 3/15, so at this point maybe I should just say "I buy into Wheeler Yuta, especially when he is working with or against some of my all time favorite wrestlers". That is still being probably too unfair to Yuta, but it is also tough for me to determine just how good someone is when they are the opposing force to a classic Eddie Kingston Crumbling Body match. We get a lot of Bad Back Kingston and not as much Sharp Pain In My Elbow Kingston, and it is a treat. I buy into Eddie having a sore elbow, and I buy into Wheeler doing things to make it more sore, and I fully buy into Eddie doing things that would make his own sore elbow worse. 

Eddie Kingston has a relatable way of selling big or small injuries. We are all old and we all have aches and pains depending on the day. My personal day to day aches come from much less interesting things, but just the other week my right elbow was sore Just Because, and it bugged me all day. I couldn't move a computer mouse without this thing screaming out a tiny bit, and yet I had to keep using this elbow for every single thing that I did. I was not adapting to using my right handed mouse with my left hand, I was just resigned to spending the day flexing and stretching and shaking out my arm every time I got a little sting. Eddie Kingston is that relatable Dumb Man, someone who gets some dental work done and pokes and chews at his novocaine'd cheek while he can't feel anything and then deals with the consequences later once that novocaine relief is gone. King comes into the match with a big head bandage and his right elbow taped up, and after an engaging, combative lock up, Yuta wastes no time going after that arm. 

Yuta then works almost the entire match in control, in a way that clearly shows that he is always one move away from no longer being in control. Yuta does real, constant damage to Kingston, but everyone does that. That's not what made his match stand out. What made it stand out to me is a confidence that was never present in Yuta. He worked this match not like he could beat Eddie Kingston, but like he knew he was going to. I expected cool flash from him, like that sick tornado single arm DDT that looked like it popped Kingston's elbow, but I was more fascinated by little moments like the way he threw Eddie's arm bandage into the crowd after ripping it off. This was Yuta working like a man who wins fucking fights, and after the way he looked throwing that bandage I actually thought he had a real chance at winning this. Yuta was always someone who could "do the moves" but he always came off like a guy who just wanted to do those moves, not like a guy who embodied those moves. Here, I bought it. The way he would bait Kingston into using that bad arm for chops knowing that the chops would hurt, but more importantly knowing that he could absorb them to then do more damage back, driving knees into Eddie's arm and elbow and running him hard into the ringpost. 

Kingston's big comeback was great, and sudden, and clubbing One Hit that sent Yuta ass over elbow to the floor and then a tremendous emotional tope. It doesn't bring Kingston out of the woods, but he's a momentum guy, and I liked the small changes Yuta made when Kingston started being fueled by momentum. He was still going to be able to catch the arm and fire elbows into that and into Kingston's face, and he was able to pull out Classic Goofy Yuta Offense and scrape by...for awhile. I am vocal about my real hatred for rope rebound offense, but Yuta desperately dipping into his Indy Reserve Offense to swing outside of the ring by the bottom rope - very stupid - only to swing back in and juke Kingston into a German suplex, is a fine example of Yuta tricking King into thinking he's still an indy goof and using his reaction against him. King lunged forward and Yuta's rebound while Yuta was ducking that lunge into a go behind. 

I love when Kingston starts to Blunt Object an injured body part, like how he straightens out that hurt arm to blast Yuta with a corner clothesline, and how you know, Yuta knows, we all know how he's going to go for that backfist. Yuta's selling down the stretch was excellent and it totally made the finish something special. The momentum had shifted but Yuta never showed a hint of panic, and he looked like a guy who would win right up until his knees got wobbled. Kingston bounces him off his neck with a nasty suplex and rolls Yuta up directly into a backfist that bows Yuta's legs inward. Yuta knows it's over in the same exact way we've seen Kingston realize when something is over, and so Yuta stands up in Kingston's face showing him that he can take at least one, and there was still that slight chance that he was bating King one last time...but if he was baiting him, Kingston snatched that bait clean off the hook. Yuta sold the match ending backfist perfectly, dropping to his back and side with a thud, body rigid, arms tucked to his side and chin slumped to his chest, a man who has studied enough World Star street knockouts to understand how to bow to a King. 

2023 MOTY MASTER LIST