Anarchy in The Arena (AEW - 5/29/2022)

I'm blown away how anyone could not be into this. What were their complaints?

Hard second on this one. I'm going to hold off on a more robust review until I watch it a second time, but my gut response is that this is a 5 star match and has a genuine shot at my list next year.

In-fucking-credible. Best match in AEW's history. Too many incredible moments to recount. All 10 guys deserve serious props because they put on a show.

Awesome match.

I just rewatched this and am pretty sure it is a genuine all time classic. It gets my highest marks for sure.

There is no way to give what might be called a conventional review, especially not for someone like me who doesn't really do that anyway. So here are some things I love/impressions

In way, this embodies the best of AEW. It is inspired by and is a love letter to chaotic brawls of the past while being something completely unique unto itself. One can't help but remember Kingston's praise for the concessions stand brawl in his Players Tribune piece when watching parts of this. In turn, it was able to do something that I find really challenging in modern wrestling, capture that sense that things are genuinely off the rails. It is a quality that I return to a lot because it far too often feel contrived when folks attempt it, especially after the early 90s or so. This match never really feels contrived. Leaving Wild Thing playing for like 5 minutes of the match or so was an inspired choice in this regard. On the second watch I did feel like the mood changed a bit when it finally went off. The song made it a completely immersive experience. Something not quite cinematic, but perhaps flirting with the best aspects of that genre. Anything done in that first 5 minutes or so was bullet proof be because of that. Everything after not only carried its own weight but benefited greatly from the momentum gained. They came out with their foot on the gas and never let up and the whole thing felt like madness because of it.

This also gets point for being a really complete performance from everyone involved. Not just the wrestlers, the production team - who sometimes miss the mark in big spots in AEW - knocked it out of the park with this one. This might be one of those matches where there are 2-3 alternative ways it could have been shot and it would still be awesome, but it felt like they caught everything they needed to in just the way they needed to. The cuts were quick and felt like they were baring keeping up with the action, letting you luxuriate in the violence on the screen while also knowing there was violence off the screen. It is - as well all know - often what we don't see that means the most. I also think everyone in the match played their part. Sure, we didn't see everyone equally in the match, but when someone was on screen they were on their game.

This relates to perhaps the most impressive part of this match, which is its degree of difficulty. I have talked about this elsewhere, the fact that I tend to be lower on multi-person (more than 4 total) matches because I think it is just hard to get that many people on the same page telling the same or complimentary stories without something happening that breaks my immersion or doesn’t resonate with me. That was – against all odds – not the case here. Part of that is that how much emphasis was placed on each wrestler and to what degree they were featured in the action. Part of it might also be the nature of the action. Even moments that might have otherwise not been on par with elite wrestling get absolute swept up in the frantic energy of this match, especially the first 5 minutes-ish.

The layered story here deserves some credit as well. It would be easy to see this and just see the clowd of fists and feet and blood and mustard flying around the arena, but I think the pairings and how things played out was also pretty important. Kingston has issues with just about everyone on the other side of the ring, but he starts with Jericho and winds up in side fights with Daddy Magic and Garcia, who has matches or segments with in the past. Moxley has an extended run with Jericho, harkening back to their previous feud. Danielson – who in the build was less personally invested in beating any individual up – and more interested in the contrast in styles and the chance to prove that HE is the most dangerous weapon of them all pairs off sort of randomly until the end. There is more to some of the other pairings and moments, but those stood out on second watch. All the action resonated with the characters, the story, and the promotion and that is – to me – good psychology. Finally, I love the finishing details, wherein Kingston pours gas over Jericho AND Danielson, causing the riff that would ultimately be the teams undoing. This escalates the potential feud with Danielson and Kingston while also giving us a picture perfect ending that was true to all the various dynamics going in.

Finally, a friend of mine always use to say a 5 star match is a perfect match and then has something extra. This match has an instantly iconic moment/visual. Kingston walking down the ramp covered in blood and carrying a gas can is the kind of pro wrestling theater that gets etched into your brain. There are lots of great punctuation moments/visuals throughout, but that one cuts through. It has been shared and memed and praised endlessly on social media and we are less than two days removed. This match caught lightning in a bottle with that and it was the right guy who came away white hot as a result.

In close, that is a lot of words for “this is fucking awesome”. But yeah… this is fucking awesome.

I finally succumbed to the hype and watched this, and to say it greatly exceeded my expectations would be an understatement. Just about everybody is comparing it to ECW or Memphis, but I'll go in a slightly different direction. To me, it felt like the best possible WarGames match. You had the wild bloody brawling and multiple intersecting storylines without the constraints imposed by the cage and staggered entrances. There was even a possible callback to the 1992 WarGames with the use of the turnbuckle hook as a weapon. There was also a bit of New Japan elimination match psychology with Santana and Ortiz sacrificing themselves to take 2.0 out of commission. The plunder spots felt organic and not overly contrived for the most part, which I greatly appreciated. I also popped for Jericho instantly becoming the biggest heel in the arena by smashing the soundboard to cut off Wild Thing. I'm not sure how I'd rate it as a wrestling match, but it was an incredible spectacle that left me thoroughly (sports) entertained.

This somewhat exceeded expectations, or perhaps it was more my interest levels, but I enjoyed most of this match. The crowd brawling was a ton of fun. The amount of wrestlers and things they were able to do meant that something was always happening and we could see the biggest spots of the match and not the tedious walk and brawl that would normally be done to set it all up. The music continuously playing and Jericho getting heat for cutting it off was a great moment in the match. I also loved Kingston and one of 2.0 (I can’t tell who is who) brawling in the concession stands. The mustard reminded me of the famous Tupelo Concession brawl. All those spots were good. The match simmered down a bit once it got to the ring and that’s where I stopped caring as much. Despite the ring ropes being removed and gasoline being brought in, the match didn’t have that same sense of chaos because no one was being set on fire.. Bryan defending against the JAS was okay but hardly his best work. Everyone was bloody but that didn’t really do much to add to the match, in my opinion. Although the Kingston memes are pretty enjoyable. This was a good match but I wouldn’t call it extraordinary.

This is probably finishing in my top 10