Catching Up on the Greatest Wrestler Ever

 

AEW DYNAMITE 09/07/22

Bryan Danielson vs. Adam Page
This was really awesome. Big stakes match-up not only because of the championship tournament, but also 'cause of the history the two have. They wrestled accordingly to that mentioned big-match-history they got, with there being a great feeling of familiarity between the men. Danielson was a straight up menace wrecking Wangman's arm throughout, and Hangman certainly held up his part of the deal in selling it extremely nicely. There's a couple of periods in this match where it feels like the vibe & the flow is a bit... off? and that's what prevents it from being a bona fide top-something contender for the year, but yes sir, it certainly still is an absolute banger as implied.  ***1/2

AEW DYNAMITE 09/14/22

Bryan Danielson vs. Chris Jericho
This was a solid-enough slugfest for the first half; I mean seeing Bryan dish out punishment in the form of hard strikes is always a joy, and while some of Jericho's stuff looked pretty weak compared to his, they actually worked that nicely into the story in a few bits. Where this match *really* shines though is the foot-angle. Danielson sells his ass off to make it as wonderfully dramatic as possible for this match, and Jericho looked fantastic really twisting those submissions in, putting in that torture. They milked it low-key perfectly. It's a really good match. ***1/2

AEW DYNAMITE 09/21/22 - GRAND SLAM

Bryan Danielson vs. Jon Moxley
Kind of an anti-climatic ending, but this was great. A tad below their terrific Revolution match, but still great. To say that Danielson was on fire would be low-key an understatement, as he was just firing on all cylinders here, delivering a BEAUTIFUL performance on the offense, just bringing an absolute onslaught against Moxley. He made every moment he spent as the aggressor fucking amazing, to put it simply. Moxley didn't quite match that, but he still had cool moments of his own, and his overall selling in the match was really good throughout. It absolutely is Danielson who makes this thing as great as it is though. ****

AEW ALL OUT 2022: THE stuff!

 

AEW ALL OUT 2022


Bryan Danielson vs. Chris Jericho
I thought that this was really good. Against many other opponents, a Chris Jericho match of this kind wouldn't have worked (for me), but against my favorite wrestler of all-time, I enjoyed it a lot. Go figure. I thought that they told the narrative of their story thus far really nicely throughout, with both guys nicely matching their characters with their work inside the ring. Danielson kicked ass as always with his phenomenal offense, and Jericho had some genuinely really awesome moments in there as well, with some rugged, ugly moments of pro-rasslin violence. ***1/4

CM Punk vs. Jon Moxley
This was great. Big match atmosphere. Two amazing big match wrestlers who know how to convey that said atmosphere perfectly. Terrific work by Moxley as the aggressor working over Punk's cut & the foot injury, which Punk obviously sold all like he always does, which is excellently, and overall portrayed the hometown triumphant babyface wonderfully. ****