12 Ups & 0 Downs From AEW Dynamite (23 Nov - Review)

2. Tomohiro Ishii & Chris Jericho Split Each Other Apart

NJPW's Tomohiro Ishii finally had the blowaway AEW singles match his legacy and reputation demanded last night, falling to Chris Jericho in The Ocho's best ROH World Championship match yet.

Big Tom's formula is immaculate and timeless. That any wrestler in the world, regardless of style, can be slotted into it and not look out of place is testament to Ishii's enduring power. What he does isn't complicated, though he adds just enough variety to each iteration to keep it from going stale. Here, he was as hard-nosed, stoic, and pissy as ever, throwing chops, popping up and crumbling with delayed-onset selling, and finding just the right moment to fire the arena up with comebacks every single time.

It was Ishii adapted for an American television audience. Spots like turning over to flip Jericho two middle fingers before eventually passing out to the Liontamer were products of this. One last act of defiance in the face of certain defeat.

Blood streamed from Jericho's chest during the picture-in-picture break, the product of a Kobashi vs. Sasaki-esque chop battle. A startling visual, but still not the bout's most breathtaking aspect. Try Ishii folding like an accordion after trying to pop up from a second German Suplex, his body unable to mask the pain any longer, selling the cumulative damage.

Nobody conveys a sense of struggle like this man. Time will dull his skills eventually, as it does for everyone. Until then, enjoy Big Tom, the most consistent, reliable, and tough wrestler on the planet.