10 Best Wrestling Matches Of 2022 (So Far)
7. Hangman Page Vs. Bryan Danielson - AEW Dynamite, January 5
The first match was incredible; at Winter Is Coming, Hangman Page went the distance with Bryan Danielson in a match length associated with the real World Heavyweight champions of yore. In a neat twist, while this ironic shortcut portrayed him as the top guy in the traditional sense, Page only drew. This created scope for a sequel, and it was - at the very least - just as strong.
In a blinding pair of sequences that complemented the first match, Page and Danielson abandoned their respective strategies. Danielson couldn't run down the clock by taunting Page with jumping jacks. Nor did he have time to work different parts of Page's body to neutralise the Buckshot. He had an hour at Winter Is Coming and couldn't get it done.
No: faced with a real and indefatigable champion, Danielson could only revert to the most primitive form of his favoured violence and smash Page in the face with a series of sickening headbutts. He then realised his error in December and concentrated his attack on Page's arm this time 'round, and in a gruesome, literal twist bent it backwards when applying the LeBell lock. In a terrifically cerebral match that didn't just use blood as a dramatic visual effect, the claret pouring from Page's head forced Danielson to relinquish his grip. A more artful use of the blade you will not see.
Page escaped. He attempted the Buckshot; Danielson ducked and smashed him with the Busaiku knee. Page kicked out. To immense dramatic effect, an inseparable parity had been established, and to break it, Page and Danielson attempted to break each other's foreheads with diving duelling headbutts.
A match that was almost harrowing, but ingenious in how it created the illusion that the result could swing in any direction - a sublime achievement for a second defence in a company that invariably books long World Title reigns.