10 Weirdest AEW Main Events Ever
8. Bryan Danielson vs Jun Akiyama - Collision February 24th 2024
2024 has been, in many ways, the year of Bryan Danielson, as The American Dragon winds down his full-time career. Since he's the super special boy at the centre of things, he's been given treats all year along, including getting to wrestle basically anybody he wants to.
Danielson would have first encountered Japanese legend Jun Akiyama back in the mid-2000s, where the two faced each other in a series of tag matches for Pro Wrestling NOAH. 15 years after their previous encounter, the two faced each other one-on-one for the first time ever in the main event of the February 24th episode of Collision.
Akiyama, a multiple-time world champion and accomplished tag wrestler, was 54 years old when stepped into the ring with Danielson. He had previously appeared in AEW two years earlier, wrestling Eddie Kingston on the Full Gear pre-show, but this was his most prominent placement within the company yet.
As you might expect, the two had a great match that, predictably, was won by the man from Washington. Still, it was great to see a wrestler of Akiyama's calibre on American TV, even if it did come from out of nowhere.