10 Ups & 1 Down From AEW Full Gear 2021

7. Another Great, Different Match

Miro Bryan Danielson
AEW

Bryan Danielson Vs. Miro was an excellent pro wrestling match that was perhaps too subtle in its grappling intricacies to draw the same reaction from the crowd as the near-fall thriller of the double-barrelled opening shot.

Much of the attempted drama lay in the slightest, tentative hand movements as Miro appeared very close to tapping out to Danielson's diverse submission game - but the almost imperceptible hover over the canvas naturally doesn't draw the same level of pop as a 2.9 kick-out.

Miro's dead-lift power game did get over very well, since he countered what had been established as the deadliest submission game in all of North American pro wrestling. The work that built towards the finish was terrific; the exchanges of the Game Over and the LeBell Lock were fraught with real, climactic tension, and Miro, his dominance challenged, again was his own undoing. He arrogantly offered Danielson a few free kicks, and while he initially ate them in a quality moment of badass posturing, he swiftly fell to the spinning DDT/guillotine combo.

Danielson learned Miro's physical weak spot, but he has two: his neck and his arrogance. This thread is the perfect get-out to beat Miro, for now, and Danielson made it more credible by kicking f*ck out of him.

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Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!