30 Best AEW Matches Ever (So Far...)
8. Kenny Omega Vs. Bryan Danielson (Dynamite: Grand Slam 2021)
Kenny Omega Vs. Bryan Danielson was a five star match before the bell rang because it was a manifestation of AEW’s impossible triumph.
The two best wrestlers in the world, G.O.A.T candidates, one of whom had just jumped and was making his in-ring debut, wrestling in front of a stadium-sized crowd on free television for a major U.S.-based promotion not named WWE.
Omega Vs. Dragon was a spectacularly naive pipe dream. A deranged fan fiction.
Only, at Grand Slam, it actually happened.
Best remembered for its deafening bell pop, and celebrated mostly because it happened, the actual in-ring content is almost secondary when fans look back upon it - possibly because it was promoted when a thrashed Omega was clearly doing great work in spite of his failing body.
The action and storytelling should be highlighted more often than it is.
The best wrestling matches are strong on intent, and Danielson was a nanosecond away from executing the Busaiku knee before Omega countered with a powerbomb.
Danielson’s selling was heartwrenching. While he was guilty of over-mining his past head injuries, on occasion, Omega’s V-Trigger-happy assault earned the Dragon his fictional plight. Omega’s rampage down the custom ramp and running V-Trigger variation was a perfect, creative means of achieving that narrative goal.
Omega and Danielson deepened this feeling with several agonising struggles on the top turnbuckle in the shortest-feeling 30:00 draw in history.