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Post by gramsci on Jan 11, 2024 5:09:14 GMT -5
I agree more with the general consensus and what Bryan himself thinks about his own career and I think the AEW run is his best one. His journey in ROH holds up and he has incredible performances for a guy of his age and experience, although some matches are not as good as I thought at the time, he has awesome performances in some of them (e.g. vs. Roddy Strong). The WWE run is incredible and he did the best he could in that environment with the limitations he had there, and it's an accomplishment for a guy like him and someone considered a "pure wrestler" (whatever that means) that he could main event two Wrestlemanias in a company that represents a parody of wrestling (Bryan's own words). I think the WWE career is something that helps his case as GWE.
To summarize: 2021 Danielson > 2007 Danielson > 2014 Danielson
Regarding the MJF match, I think it is a great achievement for both wrestlers more than an all-timer, but I still think it is a great match with one of the biggest nearfalls in recent years. They had the crowd in the palm of their hands in the Main Event of an AEW PPV, and that was unusual. Furthermore, they managed to do it while having 70 minutes match.
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Post by nintendologic on Jan 12, 2024 14:18:05 GMT -5
Most Danielson matches don't stand the test of time, but that's true of pro wrestling across the board. It's largely an ephemeral and disposable form of entertainment.
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Post by KB8 on Jan 12, 2024 14:52:44 GMT -5
Early ROH Danielson - from '02 till around the time he won the belt - actually holds up better to me than any other era of Danielson. Best in the World era ROH Danielson is a bit of a tough hang for me, although tbf that might be partly a booking thing with Gabe asking him to go long all the time. I watched about two dozen Daniel Bryan WWE matches last year for a WWF/E matches poll and honestly not a lot of it did much for me. I like him more often than not in AEW, although he has tendencies that aren't really for me and I haven't watched a ton of him in about 18 months either, so take that for what it's worth.
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Post by timm on Jan 12, 2024 17:26:30 GMT -5
When I rewatched 2002-2004 ROH, Danielson consistently held up for me. What really struck me was how he was head and shoulders better than anyone else on the roster throughout the whole period. I need to nominate the 2004 Survival of the Fittest match that ended with that ~20 minute Danielson/Aries match within a match.
I loved Danielson's 2021 in AEW up through the Page matches in early 2022, but tbh I've been disappointed in him since. But he's for sure a lock for my top 10 of all time.
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Post by KB8 on Jan 12, 2024 18:49:24 GMT -5
I actually went through a bunch of 2000s ROH again a couple years ago and bit the bullet on watching that whole Survival of the Fittest match. That stretch between Danielson and Aries at the end was indeed awesome, to the point where I even considered watching the 70-minute nonsense they had later in the year. I mean I never got around to it, but I think I still kind of want to at some point. And that's about as high a compliment as I could pay either of them. 70 minutes, fer chrissakes!
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Post by elliott on Jan 12, 2024 18:53:33 GMT -5
That is an incredible endorsement.
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Post by KB8 on Jan 12, 2024 18:57:51 GMT -5
I'd maybe need to tackle it in two sittings, but I could see it being two sittings with like, half an hour in between so I could walk my dogs or something. Rather than half a year in between which is what happened the last time I tried to watch a match over 50 minutes.
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