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Post by [Darren] on Nov 11, 2021 17:59:59 GMT -5
A dream match. A simple exhibition. No real stakes. It wasn’t even on proper television. It was nothing that wasn’t expected. But what maybe wasn’t expected Was exactly how amazing that moment would finally be. Apparently some folks find the match ridiculous and hate that they just keep resetting and taking turns absorbing the other’s slaps, chops, kicks etc. i don’t get it. This is not a match that needs to be over analyzed or talked to death. This is fun pro wrestling. I just want to scream in joy watching this thing. It’s ones of those matches where I don’t know if it’s the best match of the year or just my favorite but it doesn’t really matter because to objectively rate this match is to miss the point and miss the fun.
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Post by kas on Nov 11, 2021 18:08:30 GMT -5
Hell yeah seconding this. So damn good.
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Post by gramsci on Nov 11, 2021 18:55:51 GMT -5
Third. This is like watching Goku vs Buu with better selling.
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Post by KB8 on Apr 28, 2022 11:04:08 GMT -5
This was pretty good in about the stupidest way possible. Suzuki's whole bit was long in the tooth for me a while back and every time I've watched him over the last few years the less I really care about it, but he's settled into a touring formula that really works for him (and the vast majority of his audiences). If nothing else I like wrestlers making stupid faces, so there's that too. You can tell this is the type of match Danielson left WWE to have and I'm not sure he threw more than five strikes there that landed harder than the lightest one here. Look, I'm over the modern strike exchange. "You hit me while I stand here and then I'll hit you while you stand there, and we'll both do it as hard as possible" is not in the least bit compelling to me at this point. Yes, I am a miserable grouch. But I guess Danielson's history of having his brains scrambled gave this an edge that most modern strike exchanges don't really have, and from a character standpoint I buy him engaging in this sort of sadism just to prove a point. From a character standpoint you obviously buy Suzuki engaging in it. "It's their character!" is an argument you can use to explain away all sorts of dumb shit in wrestling, but this is literally Minoru Suzuki now. He's a crackpot and for better or worse it's what he does. They certainly took the jaw off each other and Danielson's sell of that first big forearm was phenomenal, so I suppose rote 2020s strike exchanges is something else I can add to the list of things Bryan Danielson will make tolerable in the year 2022. When they got to the grappling I loved it. Clearly Danielson's stylistic preference is to work some approximation of modern New Japan, but this was a reminder of how amazing he'd be at working UWF or Battlarts or even 2010s IWRG matches (Battlarts might be too high on the scrambled brains scale). All of the struggles over holds, the joint manipulation, the way they milked escapes, these were two guys who knew they could stretch out without needing to hold the other's hand. I'll also say that this never felt like it went 20 minutes, which is impressive because I've seen similar matches go 12 and could swear they went 30.
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Post by [Darren] on Dec 12, 2022 15:39:02 GMT -5
This was a trigger vote for me in 2021. It was a lot of fun and perfectly encapsulates that brief period where AEW seemed infallible . It’s eminently watchable but I do not believe I will ever be giving this one another vote.
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Post by Cap on Dec 12, 2022 16:46:14 GMT -5
If we did "Top 100 Comfort Food Matches", this would absolutely make my list. It is the kind of shit I'd book if I ran a wrestling company. It won't ever make my list, but I absolutely love it in a way a project like this can't account for.
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Post by elliott on Oct 21, 2023 22:34:05 GMT -5
Lost interest during the slap/kick trading spot.
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Post by tetsujin on Oct 22, 2023 5:39:44 GMT -5
This was one of the most frustrating matches I've ever seen. The potential for Bryan/Suzuki was endless, yet they decided to just exchange strikes. Lame.
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Post by elliott on Oct 22, 2023 10:11:03 GMT -5
This was one of the most frustrating matches I've ever seen. The potential for Bryan/Suzuki was endless, yet they decided to just exchange strikes. Lame. The Bryan Danielson Experience~!
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