7 Ups & 3 Downs From AEW Revolution 2024 (Results & Review)
2. A Ridiculously Impossible Dream Match
Will Ospreay Vs. Konosuke Takeshita was a masterpiece of its specific genre.
You might not like the genre, or may have grown out of the epic hybrid style back-and-forth. That's understandable; there've been quite a few over the last however many years. You may have even rolled your eyes as this full debut did what it very obviously set out to do: the advertised 'Match of the Decade' was hardly going eight minutes and indeed, it was almost a shock that it "only" went 21:48.
But for what they were going for, Christ almighty: this was extraordinarily accomplished professional wrestling. Really, the execution was at times unfathomable. There was no emotional depth to it, but that can wait. Ospreay has years in AEW. The heartbreaking losses, euphoric title wins and intense grudge matches will happen. This was a mission statement. This was Will Ospreay setting out to prove that he is the very best at his style, at making you pop in disbelief at the athletic feats of which he is somehow capable.
In this literally impossibly great exhibition, an ultra-competitive and close shoot-out, both Ospreay and Takeshita blended power, speed, agility and explosiveness at a level rarely seen.
Either side of a really well-done sequence in which each man attempted to knock out and concuss the other with discus lariats, this was a white knuckle mirror match. Even the more familiar high spots were just perfectly done. They flattened each other with duelling dives early. Nothing had to be caught here. The precision and the trust was off the charts.
In a highlight reel of unfathomable feats, beyond the incredible sequence in which Take twisted out of the Stormbreaker to land a Crunchy and wheelbarrow German, the best spot of the match saw Take counter the Oscutter with a Blue Thunder Bomb. It's easy to be desensitised to this sort of match - athletic greatness is standard nowadays - but the core strength required to pull that off was supernatural.
Eyebrows were raised when accused heat thief Don Callis was named Non-Wrestler of the Year in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, but he underscored his value on commentary. When he put over an early Takeshita German suplex as the best he'd seen in 35 years of being in the business, you believed him.
It wasn't hyperbole.
This was a must-see match even if you feel like you've seen it all.