Why This Hidden Gem Is The REAL Best Storyline In Wrestling
Garcia et al. also targeted CM Punk in a bid to make their names in what was a clever idea. It saved Punk for bigger business down the line and, in parallel, filled one of wrestling's biggest plot holes: why wouldn't a lowly gang of heels attack a top star, when this is so often how the weird logic of episodic TV wrestling works?
Punk and Garcia worked an excellent match on the October 8, 2021 Rampage. A character-driven technical battle, it was more understated than the more notable AEW TV matches but wonderful, and different, as a result. Daniel Garcia is a scientific genius already - the exchanges on the mat were sumptuous - but the match was better as a study of Punk's wily veteran experience. Garcia knew and played his role to perfection. He was too impetuous and wasted his big chance. He was over-eager in one early exchange. In response, Punk slipped away from an attack and trolled Garcia by poking him in the eye. Garcia - by design in this overarching narrative - was reduced to the status of raw prospect, a lamb in the lion's den.
This followed a match at the site of Punk's AEW debut, The First Dance on August 20, against Jon Moxley. One of the most forgotten matches in company history, understandably, it was nonetheless a very good showcase of Garcia's precocious talent. At the finish, Garcia leaned back too far when cinching in his sharpshooter variation. The more experienced Mox trapped Garcia's head and won via bulldog choke.
Unlike so many of his peers, Garcia grasped that, at just 22 years old, he wasn't meant to be a hybrid wrestler who had mastered more than one discipline. He stayed in his technical lane and was susceptible to unforced errors. He even took to Twitter after his matches and acknowledged his in-ring "mistakes". He also promised to learn from them. He knew exactly what he was doing; in a way, he was the anti-get-your-sh*t-in wrestler, which really is a novel concept. He was clever enough to leave himself space to improve, to tell a very long-form story, knowing that that was far more interesting than trying to blow everybody away on the first impression. He took it upon himself to play a young lion on US television, in effect, knowing that, when a young lion evolves into a top star, it is immensely rewarding.
And because Garcia was in fact a raw talent, not everything he did in the first phase of his AEW career was masterful. Garcia played the gruff, ultra-serious technician. Often, when locking in a hold, Garcia would unhinge his jaw and stick his tongue out to convey his intensity. Truthfully, it looked a bit naff and fake, almost silly, but the author need not intend to do something for that thing to be effective (or not, as the case may be). If anything, that Garcia failed an early test of crowd psychology deepens the heft of his arc.
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