8 Ups & 1 Down From AEW Dark (Oct 15)
2. Gods Of Plunder
Kenny Omega vs. Joey Janela was the best television wrestling match of 2019, and probably 2018, 2017, and 2016 as well. It was that good.
AEW gave away a pay-per-view main event calibre bout on their free YouTube show. That takes a lot of balls, and while there's a (not invalid) argument to be made that perhaps they should've saved the first Janela/Omega scrap for a bigger stage, that doesn't matter here. Janela isn't quite on Omega's level yet. This wasn't about kickstarting a budding rivalry, but Kenny stepping into Joey's world to test his mettle for Jon Moxley, thus justifying its existence.
An incredible story was spun here, and it was put over expertly by Jim Ross. The legendary announcer entered his best AEW performance to date. Enthralled by the action unfolding before him, he was lively, energetic, and intelligent, contextualising everything that matters not only in the Moxley/Omega feud, but for Janela's character arc as well. JR hasn't sounded this great in a long, long time.
More than a mere plunder f*ckfest, this was a classic Omega main event structured around hardcore spots. The dynamic was established when Janela tried to bring a chair into the action early on, only for Kenny to slid it away, opting to wrestle 'The Bad boy' instead. This plan went to sh*t when a series of teased apron spots like to Omega hitting a concussive Snapdragon on The Hardest Part of the Ring™. Increasingly brutal spots followed. The escalation was sublime, and when Joey Frog Splashed himself through a table from a ladder and double-stomped a chair into his opponent's chest, it all felt earned.
Omega's biggest message to Moxley saw him mocking the 'Purveyor Of Violence' by hitting his maligned jawbreaker lariat, then nailing the Paradigm Shift. He's going to try that at Full Gear and Mox is going to take his goddamn head off in response. Can't wait.
A One-Winged Angel onto a chair finished Janela off, closing this episode of Dark off with one of the best bouts in AEW's young history. Again, they gave this away for free.
On YouTube.
What a time to be a wrestling fan.