6 Ups & 2 Downs From AEW Dynamite (11 Jan - Review)
Ups...
6. If You Want More NJPW In Your AEW, You're In Luck
A lot of people watched NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 17 and felt that something was lacking in AEW, whether it was the exceptional, peerless production or the final boss energy that Kenny Omega emits on the other side of the pacific. Here, AEW delivered a match reminiscent of peak New Japan during G1 season.
Jon Moxley Vs. Hangman Page was as intelligent as it was physical, and it was f*cking physical.
Morons will tell you that the wrestling on a wrestling show is supplementary to the storytelling - but the wrestling is the story, and the first minute of this stunningly detailed war told it wonderfully. These two men were desperate to fight, and as such, they didn't lock up. They fought. Then, when the red mist that has descended over a span of weeks lifted, another layer of the story emerged. Mox Vs. Hangman is a story about masculinity, and how one defines it, and the forearm battle was both men proving their own to each other.
The heft and the story deepened as both men attempted and struck - with brain-scrambling viciousness - a series of lariats. This is where everything intensified over two months ago. Hangman threw his from a position of defiance. He wasn't about to be told that he wasn't a man. Mox threw his with the intent to maim. He's in the Blackpool Covmat Club. He doesn't give a sh*t if he injures anybody. He is a proud purveyor of glorious wrestling violence.
Both men evaded the lariat attempts with unreal timing because they were smart enough to build the danger of the story: one lucky (or unlucky) shot is enough to take a wrestler out for good. The physicality was equally impressive, since they had to convincingly put across the idea that Mox's brain got scrambled. He's no ordinary character, either. He's the hardest bastard on the roster.
Great as the match was, Mox and Hangman built the rubber match with great selling in the aftermath. Page's selling throughout was out of this world, too.
He didn't overdo it. It wasn't exaggerated. It was performed with the subtlety of one of the very best in the game.