Why This Hidden Gem Is The REAL Best Storyline In Wrestling
Sensing this, in early 2022, Garcia aligned with Chris Jericho as part of the Jericho Appreciation Society.
The plan was clear: Garcia, very funny on Twitter, needed the JAS to better showcase his personality. It was almost too transparent, in that Garcia seemed to be paired with Jericho for that business reason alone, but the storyline explanation was tremendous. In January 2019, Garcia broke two legs in a horrific car crash alongside three other Buffalo-based wrestlers. Incidentally, this puts over his meteoric rise over all the more; he consequently missed six months of a career that only began in 2017. Chris Jericho had in real life contributed to Garcia's GoFundMe expenses, which tied the two together in storylines. Of course, Garcia appreciated him.
Told against the backdrop of the most loaded roster quite possibly of all time, Garcia's arc did start to feel like a waste of resources at more than one stage, particularly as the JAS Vs. BCC storyline petered out with countless matches that, while very good, weren't memorable. The programme was paid off at Ring Of Honor Final Battle on December 10 but peaked at Double Or Nothing on May 29. Moreover, Garcia felt over-exposed; by August 2022, he had worked more TV main events than anybody else over the prior 12 months, often losing as part of Khan's patient long-term booking approach.
Elements of the arc were a bit on-the-nose; the cheap visual gag of Garcia wearing a Kangol hat, the juxtaposition between a serious wrestler and "sports entertainer", did a lot of heavy lifting. Many fans, your writer included on occasion, felt that AEW was doing more telling than showing. It did not feel like Garcia was actually conflicted over his identity; it felt like the booker had to tell him to act like that.
Still, even as the JAS Vs. BCC storyline panted over the line, Garcia proved that he would one day become one of the best wrestlers in the world. His mini-programme with Bryan Danielson was outstanding; in it, he evolved from understudy to something approaching a peer by the finish of their Two out of Three Fall blow-off on August 17.
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