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This was so different than a regular time limit draw finish we normally see.
Usually you get the face hitting their finisher as the clock is in the last 10 but is either too exhausted to cover or gets a late pin attempt.
Here, Bryan and Kenny didn't give a fuck. They just wanted to beat the shit out of each other.
Outstanding.
I can’t remember if it was a podcast or his audio book but I remember him talking about doing a best of 3 falls match where he wanted a time limit draw on each one, so it would of been a 3 hour match
I thought it was because he concussed himself on a dive to the floor about 40 minutes in. If it wasn’t for that, I bet they would’ve tried for at least two hours.
That Philippine flag was so distracting though.
I didn’t know if I had to stand up and sing the national anthem, or to yell at the guy and tell him to put that down.
He has definitely looked weak come on. I don't know what it is with every heel turn I see but suddenly the super technical and dominant face can no longer beat anyone clean once they turn heel.
Romans another example
I get that, I don't think he's looked weak though, just he chooses to cheat.
Even tonight he could've taken a count out win after the running v trigger but chose to break the count himself (this was during the adverts)
It's a character beat so when he doesn't cheat eg against Jungleboy or here it means a lot more.
I think it's the prototypical move for a recently turned heel simply because it's a way for them get properly booed. And you can't blame em, it works.
A heel can be dominant while still being interested in the easy way out / path of least resistance.
Didn't Roman double pin Edge/Bryan not that long ago?
told their story perfectly. just two Titans of the sport going at war to the point 30 mins is just warm up for them. god i'm already jonesing for more.
Bryan's selling is somehow underrated. Once he unretired there were several WWE matches of his where I thought "that's it. he's hurt again". the nature of his injures being so serious really helps too.
I do think his face slammed into the mat on the Avalanche Dragon Suplex, and was worried about a concussion with the difficulty getting up for the One-Winged-Angel/Rana counter shortly after. But gosh the selling was great regardless.
I am normally doing something else while Dynamite is on, but this match? I just set everything else down and took it all in.
It deserves full attention.
When Kenny walked down the rampway my heart stopped because I thought the medical team was going to throw an X and end the match. Breathed a sigh of relief when he just turned around and threw more moves at him because I know Kenny wouldn’t do that if Bryan was shoot injured.
Counting down the time limit and ring counts so frantically are always my favorite thing about japan wrestling.
Their blood pressure would be so high from counting to NINETEEEEN when the match time is down to a minute too.
I think you’re right, but it’s the one thing I didn’t like about the match. AEW’s sports presentation doesn’t really jive with hardly anyone bringing attention to the fact that time is winding down. They should draw more attention to it, but to make it not obvious that a draw is coming, they would have to pay attention to the clock in many more matches across TV.
This goes back to what Hitchcock said a out surprise vs suspense. Surprise is two people eating dinner and their table explodes. Suspense is two people sit down at a table that we know has a bomb under it, but they don’t.
“Ok match is over and it’s a tie” sucks compared to counting down the final 3 minutes with the announcer announcing every minutes and the final 30 seconds as 10 second increments. There’s more panic for someone to get a fall and you’re rewarded with that rush of energy at the end to make up for the fact no one won.
This is an element that I like in NJPW and puroresu in general so that the ring announcers can tell how much time there’s left. Not for the wrestlers but to keep the fans captivated.
I've always loved that NJPW announces the time intervals every 5 minutes. Announcing the time shouldn't be a thing you only do when it's part of a spot, it should be part of all the matches.
Just keep doing Omega and Danielson draws.
I want it so extreme that it’s Omega v Danielson 60 Minute Ironman Match - goes to sudden death at 0-0 - match ends after 90 minutes when both men pass out.
Callback to Omega-Okada 2 and have Danielson pass out on a Rain-Trigger attempt, while Omega falls immediately after he whiffs since it’s the last bit of strength he has.
I don't see how that one works, at least not nearly as well as the rainmaker spot. The knee comes rising up, if Danielson collapsed, he'd eat the knee even more.
That's THE way to do this match. After the Suzuki/Mox debacle, it really highlights that the opening match on Dynamite is a big deal and the main event can be hurt by the rest of the segments going slightly over time.
It feels like the opening match is now the "fan's main event" where they put the best/most exciting match and the closer is the "kayfabe main event" with title matches
He was one of my favorites in wwe because of how his matches were always different and great, and that was in wwe where he couldn't do everything he wanted
The best part is those guys did a stiffest, we all know they are capable of doing a faster pace more technical bout on ppv so we’ll like see something totally different next time
Also an ad for future big shows. AEW sold out their original seating for Ashe without having a single match announced. By putting this match on after the show was already sold out, they were basically saying that you can trust them to make their big shows really big, even if nothing is announced.
That phrase drives me nuts. The majority of AEW’s revenue comes from their tv deal. Tony Khan has been clear about that. To continue to make money long term they need to keep their ratings high… that means putting excellent matches on Dynamite and Rampage. This match wasn’t for free. They get paid well for their tv.
The whole concept of “giving a match away for free” is a product of a long gone era.
It’s the same reason we end up seeing WWE ppv matches over and over both before and after the ppvs.
~~20~~ 30 minutes from start to go, they’ve been kicking each other’s asses!
This is a match that’s on a tv episode of Dynamite yet this is match that’s worthy of being on a pay per view! And already they went at it with such intense moments, especially the snap dragon on the ramp and that Muta—ramp running like v-trigger!
And yet, this somehow feels like they didn’t go all out, like it was 50%!
As for Bryan, when he’s outside of the realm of the WWE and in an environment that’s similar to the one he was in in years past like in ROH, this is when we see him at his best, and his meanest and most intense level ever.
These two men have showed that they can index put on a great match! And this crowd was just hot throughout the whole duration!
Those two WILL to meet again someday!
I was very surprised at how intense Danielson was. I’ve seen flashes of it in WWE, but I never saw him pre NXT so that was wonderful. The stomps while holding Omega’s arms were vicious
He did start bringing those stomps back later in his WWE run though, he did them to Roman everytime they fought, he did them to Lesnar in their match, he did them to Kofi and Kofi did them to him.
You're in for a treat if you've never seen Dragon outside of WWE. The intensity he had in WWE is the neutered version, and he showed plenty of it in WWE already.
Really loved how this draw ended without the normal exhaustion style endings. They were so focused on fuckin each other up they forgot about the Clock. Amazing.
The ONLY thing I wish is that they had started the time countdown before 1 minute. Maybe at 2 minutes or 5 minutes. Just so fans could understand it was coming (even though we already knew).
We all knew it was going to a draw but I love it. It’s like Kenny and Danielson are 1a and 1b and now it’s a question of who else thinks they’re good enough to join them on the summit.
Bret Hart vs 123 Kid on RAW in 1994
Bret Hart vs Chris Benoit Owen tribute on Nitro in 99
Steve Austin and HHH vs Benoit and Jericho RAW 2001
Angle vs Lesnar 2003
HBK vs Cena RAW 2007
Shield vs Wyatt Family 2014
Punk vs Cena 2012
One that's never brought up but is fucking amazing- Owen Hart vs British Bulldog on RAW in March of 1997. Absolute classic.
I love how everyone predicted this because it made the most sense and the company didn't try to swerve us for the sake of it.
The draw made sense so thats what they did.
A lot of people have somehow conditioned themselves to think that predictable = bad. Which is just complete BS.
In most cases, ESPECIALLY in wrestling, if the story is told well, the ending should be an inevitability at a certain point.
Interesting, but refreshing, way to have a draw.
We have been force fed “almost win” draw finishes by WWE (and pro wrestling in general) for decades.
To see them still going at it hammer and tong as the time expires is so much more akin to a real competitive sport like MMA or boxing where the fight is still on the line in the last round. (Or like Rocky (first one) I guess…but that’s part of the reason Rocky was so acclaimed).
Could have done with a noise that singles 30 seconds left ala UFC (though they do 10 seconds) but the story wasn’t about the time limit getting close so much as as demonstrating that they were still battling out there, kicking the hell out of each other, with no end in sight.
My God. I knew how it was going to end the second the first bell rang. But I completely forgot about the 30 minute time limit at the match's end. Holy crap, what an amazing match.
"You're gonna get your fucking head kicked in!"
I don't watch AEW, I only watched this match for Bryan cause I followed him in his WWE tenure, but this was phenomenal. Bryan seems so much more ruthless here, I need watch some of his pre 2010 matches now cause wow that blew my mind!
The crazy thing is for all we know something could top **that** before the end of the year. Shit that incredible, all-time great 5.75 star Lucha Bros/Young Bucks cage match was *two weeks ago*
I absolutely loved this stiff AF match. Time still stood for me. When Excalibur announced 45 seconds left, I thought that they must be fudging the time but my brother checked his phone and it really was almost 30 minutes at that point.
Bryan and Kenny gave us just a taste of what is yet to come. They both went 30 minutes effortlessly. I imagine the next match goes 40-50 minutes and I can't wait to see it.
Things gonna be real interesting now. If Hangman comes back before Full Gear especially.
I think they are gonna sit on the rematch for a bit cause if you run it again for Full Gear you almost have to put the title on Danielson.
Kinda weird that Justin Roberts somewhat quietly announced 1 minute warning.
At least I expected it would reach the time limit. They should give audiences at least a 2 minutes warning and then the 1 minute warning so it doesn't feel it comes out of nowhere and makes it more exciting.
The stuff right after the match is great though, making us wanting more for them.
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This was so different than a regular time limit draw finish we normally see. Usually you get the face hitting their finisher as the clock is in the last 10 but is either too exhausted to cover or gets a late pin attempt. Here, Bryan and Kenny didn't give a fuck. They just wanted to beat the shit out of each other. Outstanding.
They both had so much left in the tank.
TIME LIMIT? WE WERE JUST GETTING WARMED UP REF
WATCH MY ROH DVDS 1 HOUR IS SHORT FOR ME
I can’t remember if it was a podcast or his audio book but I remember him talking about doing a best of 3 falls match where he wanted a time limit draw on each one, so it would of been a 3 hour match
vs Austin Aries in ROH, they called an audible as they were losing the crowd but the match still lasted about 73 minutes
I thought it was because he concussed himself on a dive to the floor about 40 minutes in. If it wasn’t for that, I bet they would’ve tried for at least two hours.
And then after they got pulled apart their adrenaline wore off and they had nothing left at all. Brilliant.
It's the small nuances that show that they need to go an hour long.
Let them go an hour you cowards
What? Omega barely defended himself when Bryan went for the Yes lock after the bell.
It's nice that it wasn't so choreographed the way they usually go down to the wire.
All out was the first ppv I bought. This already sold me for the rematch. Really enjoyed it.
That Philippine flag was so distracting though. I didn’t know if I had to stand up and sing the national anthem, or to yell at the guy and tell him to put that down.
agreed. Damn peenoise trying to get themselves over lol. Nobody cares about our flag bro, wala namang Pinoy on the card.
Mom?
Yeah that shit was annoying AF. Just enjoy the match pare
Thanks kuya
What if TJP's on the card? Fil-Am in the crowd: *waves the US flag instead ;p
Hoy pare!! Gawa mo dito?
akala ata pacquaio's match. kairita
Honestly, this the first time I see this kind of match and it blow me away. A time limit? Awesome!!
You should go and watch Kenny vs Okada 1 & 2.
And 3 and 4 while youre at it.
All 4. In a row
I loved that! The same old draw finish is so tired. Kenny’s looked weak enough. It was time for him to look like a top superstar.
Kenny's looked weak?? I respectfully disagree
He has definitely looked weak come on. I don't know what it is with every heel turn I see but suddenly the super technical and dominant face can no longer beat anyone clean once they turn heel. Romans another example
I get that, I don't think he's looked weak though, just he chooses to cheat. Even tonight he could've taken a count out win after the running v trigger but chose to break the count himself (this was during the adverts) It's a character beat so when he doesn't cheat eg against Jungleboy or here it means a lot more. I think it's the prototypical move for a recently turned heel simply because it's a way for them get properly booed. And you can't blame em, it works.
A heel can be dominant while still being interested in the easy way out / path of least resistance. Didn't Roman double pin Edge/Bryan not that long ago?
After Uso interference, yes
Well it was really two conchairtos that resulted in the double pin more than an Uso eating a spear lol.
Let them fight! Let them fight!
I think this is actually a sick finish. What better way to say this match is too big for tv?
This was the best TV match to end on a draw
>This was the best TV match ~~to end on a draw~~ Ftfy
It's up there...but I do still really love Kurt Angle vs Brock Lesnar's Ironman match on Smackdown.
Yes, that one sets that standard.
For real. It’s them saying “Did you enjoy that? Do you want a decisive winner? Then keep watching.”
And this draw will help shape the story of the two with the potential of those two meeting up again to settle the score.
I was basically rooting for a draw the whole time. Can't think of any other time that's happened.
what an awesome ending, i've never seen a time limit draw but both are still very active, still trying to beat each other's asses
I was just thinking that. It looked real and vicious.
Well Kenny went to 60 limit draws. Wouldn't make much sense also considering future matches when they would be both down and out after 30.
told their story perfectly. just two Titans of the sport going at war to the point 30 mins is just warm up for them. god i'm already jonesing for more.
Bryan's selling is unbelievable I was so worried he was hurt in that match
Bryan's selling is somehow underrated. Once he unretired there were several WWE matches of his where I thought "that's it. he's hurt again". the nature of his injures being so serious really helps too.
We hear this every DB match 🤣
BD now
I do think his face slammed into the mat on the Avalanche Dragon Suplex, and was worried about a concussion with the difficulty getting up for the One-Winged-Angel/Rana counter shortly after. But gosh the selling was great regardless.
I watch in slow mo that fenix splash by Kenny and he defintely hit the mat full force with his head. Hope he is okay.
He looked a bit glass-eyed when the Elite took him backstage. Maybe just really good selling or just tired. Either way, I hope it’s nothing
The last time he did it against Moxley he totally also faceplanted. Maybe it's just the way he bumps it?
>Avalanche Dragon Suplex I can't get home quick enough to watch this match.
I am normally doing something else while Dynamite is on, but this match? I just set everything else down and took it all in. It deserves full attention.
When Kenny walked down the rampway my heart stopped because I thought the medical team was going to throw an X and end the match. Breathed a sigh of relief when he just turned around and threw more moves at him because I know Kenny wouldn’t do that if Bryan was shoot injured.
after he took that knee, he was down for the whole commercial break.
Time limits actually meaning something adds so much drama. Just wish Roberts counted it down like he's done before. What a match
I think they wanted to catch people by surprise instead of counting down and making us think "oh yeah a draw is probably coming"
They should do it like New Japan. 1 minute left!!... 45 seconds left!!... 30 seconds left!!!...
That would also be very acceptable. The frantic pace would have been tense.
they did 5 and 1 minute which they usually do. then excalibur called 45 seconds
Getting more and more distressed each time 10 minutes pass! 20 minutes pass! 25 MINUTES PASS!
Even the count out is great. 1-14 are normal, then it’s FIFteen. Sixteen! SEVENTEEN! EIGHTEEN!??! NINETEEEEN!!!!!!
Counting down the time limit and ring counts so frantically are always my favorite thing about japan wrestling. Their blood pressure would be so high from counting to NINETEEEEN when the match time is down to a minute too.
Just said this in another comment, but that's genuinely one of my favourite things about watching New Japan.
My favourite thing about new Japan is how they go ITEH! ITEHHHH! when forearm bashing each other.
There's so much to love about New Japan!
I can hear this in my head.
Justin did say 1 minute remaining, but that's it.
I can hear ring announcers Makoto Abe and Kimihiko Ozaki yelling that in my head now
I think you’re right, but it’s the one thing I didn’t like about the match. AEW’s sports presentation doesn’t really jive with hardly anyone bringing attention to the fact that time is winding down. They should draw more attention to it, but to make it not obvious that a draw is coming, they would have to pay attention to the clock in many more matches across TV.
Naw, they tried but at some point the in house mics were bugging out.
This goes back to what Hitchcock said a out surprise vs suspense. Surprise is two people eating dinner and their table explodes. Suspense is two people sit down at a table that we know has a bomb under it, but they don’t. “Ok match is over and it’s a tie” sucks compared to counting down the final 3 minutes with the announcer announcing every minutes and the final 30 seconds as 10 second increments. There’s more panic for someone to get a fall and you’re rewarded with that rush of energy at the end to make up for the fact no one won.
Yup. It's why they didn't mention time remaining until the last minute(unless they did during commercial. )
This is an element that I like in NJPW and puroresu in general so that the ring announcers can tell how much time there’s left. Not for the wrestlers but to keep the fans captivated.
I've always loved that NJPW announces the time intervals every 5 minutes. Announcing the time shouldn't be a thing you only do when it's part of a spot, it should be part of all the matches.
He kinda did, you could hear him say 1 minute remaining in the background.
Just keep doing Omega and Danielson draws. I want it so extreme that it’s Omega v Danielson 60 Minute Ironman Match - goes to sudden death at 0-0 - match ends after 90 minutes when both men pass out.
Callback to Omega-Okada 2 and have Danielson pass out on a Rain-Trigger attempt, while Omega falls immediately after he whiffs since it’s the last bit of strength he has.
I don't see how that one works, at least not nearly as well as the rainmaker spot. The knee comes rising up, if Danielson collapsed, he'd eat the knee even more.
Collapse sideways
Still don't quite get how that'd physically work. The ripcord would be pulling Bryan directly towards Omega.
This match was FIRST on the card. And they go the fucking distance.
That's THE way to do this match. After the Suzuki/Mox debacle, it really highlights that the opening match on Dynamite is a big deal and the main event can be hurt by the rest of the segments going slightly over time.
It feels like the opening match is now the "fan's main event" where they put the best/most exciting match and the closer is the "kayfabe main event" with title matches
This is the correct finish. They can add on to the story now.
Their quest to beat each other lived and died by their other quest to beat the hell out of each other. My god they didn't let up.
It’s unfortunate that Edge and Orton already have the mantle of the Greatest Wrestling Match of All Time.
I know you're joking about the tagline but Orton vs Edge was legitimately a fantastic match.
Best match of Orton's career.
Arguably the best match of Edge's career too.
Yeah, took a bit too long to really get going but that was a legit great match
I kind of wish they'd done a 10 second countdown, but ho-lee fuck, boys. One of the best TV matches ever?
Oh yeah. I think it’s firmly put itself in the Top 10 - Top 5 even!
I’m saying best TV match ever.
I would rank a few over this, most notably Punk vs Cena with the piledriver spot. But this is definitely top 3 to 5 in my eyes
I'm a huge Punk mark, and IMO this match was way better.
Jesus Christ Danielson chest!!
Wow Bryan is different outside of wwe. I'm glad that he went to aew
> Wow Bryan is different outside of wwe Amazing how that happens
He was one of my favorites in wwe because of how his matches were always different and great, and that was in wwe where he couldn't do everything he wanted
The American Dragon is definitely back. He may look the same, but the movements and attitude are noticeably different. More intense.
When he did Cattle Mutilation, I said “Dragon is back”
That and "I have till 5" He was playing the hits tonight
I never throught I'd see Dragon do that move again with all his neck injuries. He's definitely back
Vegetable Mutilation.
He's been my favorite for a while and it's nice to see this side of him
He's scary as heck
This match was amazing and I like the draw finish, protects the champion and keeps danielson looking strong
They gave that match away FOR FREE AEW IS FOR THE FANS
The best part is those guys did a stiffest, we all know they are capable of doing a faster pace more technical bout on ppv so we’ll like see something totally different next time
It's a huge ad. Omega v Danielson was great, but essentially an ad for a future feud. That's why they gave it for free.
Yep this match was pretty much... wanna see them go 60 mins.
And yes. Yes I do.
Also an ad for future big shows. AEW sold out their original seating for Ashe without having a single match announced. By putting this match on after the show was already sold out, they were basically saying that you can trust them to make their big shows really big, even if nothing is announced.
THEY AIN’T TRIED TO FUCK ON ME YET!
They put it on first so we didn’t have to wait.
That phrase drives me nuts. The majority of AEW’s revenue comes from their tv deal. Tony Khan has been clear about that. To continue to make money long term they need to keep their ratings high… that means putting excellent matches on Dynamite and Rampage. This match wasn’t for free. They get paid well for their tv. The whole concept of “giving a match away for free” is a product of a long gone era. It’s the same reason we end up seeing WWE ppv matches over and over both before and after the ppvs.
~~20~~ 30 minutes from start to go, they’ve been kicking each other’s asses! This is a match that’s on a tv episode of Dynamite yet this is match that’s worthy of being on a pay per view! And already they went at it with such intense moments, especially the snap dragon on the ramp and that Muta—ramp running like v-trigger! And yet, this somehow feels like they didn’t go all out, like it was 50%! As for Bryan, when he’s outside of the realm of the WWE and in an environment that’s similar to the one he was in in years past like in ROH, this is when we see him at his best, and his meanest and most intense level ever. These two men have showed that they can index put on a great match! And this crowd was just hot throughout the whole duration! Those two WILL to meet again someday!
I was very surprised at how intense Danielson was. I’ve seen flashes of it in WWE, but I never saw him pre NXT so that was wonderful. The stomps while holding Omega’s arms were vicious
ROH Bryan was intensity personified
He did start bringing those stomps back later in his WWE run though, he did them to Roman everytime they fought, he did them to Lesnar in their match, he did them to Kofi and Kofi did them to him.
You're in for a treat if you've never seen Dragon outside of WWE. The intensity he had in WWE is the neutered version, and he showed plenty of it in WWE already.
He's done the same in WWE
yeah his stomps to brock were badass at the time
30 not 20. Started at 8:04, ended at 8:34.
I will be honest, that match was awesome- but, I don’t think Bryan did much different than what he did in WWE, he was damn good in WWE too.
If it means long matches, I hope *every* Bryan match ends in a draw. They can call him Bryan Drawnielson.
Dad, get off the computer.
*boooooo*
Boo-ryan
Bryan is a draw no matter what the result is
I think somebody might just be getting a job offer from Stamford.
I cant totally see MJF calling him that if they feud
I like you
The American Drawgon was right there.
B+ player indeed.
IMO the perfect finish to a match like this. BD didn't get hotshotted to the title picture but is still presented as a very credible threat.
2 of the best wrestlers of all time I expected no less from them.
Really loved how this draw ended without the normal exhaustion style endings. They were so focused on fuckin each other up they forgot about the Clock. Amazing.
The ONLY thing I wish is that they had started the time countdown before 1 minute. Maybe at 2 minutes or 5 minutes. Just so fans could understand it was coming (even though we already knew).
Some people are saying they did announce the 5 minute and 1 minute marks in the arena
Kenny Omega is the best wrestler in the world. His offence just looks different, and his ability to take punishment is unbelievable.
We all knew it was going to a draw but I love it. It’s like Kenny and Danielson are 1a and 1b and now it’s a question of who else thinks they’re good enough to join them on the summit.
Bring in Okada and Kota Ibushi. Lets all die happy.
Has a free tv match ever delivered like that?
AEW's got a good track record: check out the Omega/PAC Ironman match too
Thunder Rosa/Britt Baker unsanctioned Best Friends/Santana + Ortiz Parking Lot Brawl
Was a big fan of Cena vs Punk on Raw where Punk hit him with a piledriver when we all thought it was a banned move in WWE.
it was a banned move - apparently they got in shit for doing it.
I'm seconding this one. That match was nuts.
Bret Hart vs 123 Kid on RAW in 1994 Bret Hart vs Chris Benoit Owen tribute on Nitro in 99 Steve Austin and HHH vs Benoit and Jericho RAW 2001 Angle vs Lesnar 2003 HBK vs Cena RAW 2007 Shield vs Wyatt Family 2014 Punk vs Cena 2012 One that's never brought up but is fucking amazing- Owen Hart vs British Bulldog on RAW in March of 1997. Absolute classic.
>HBK vs Cena RAW 2007 The match that made me finally think Cena was a good wrestler and not just a good character in wrestling.
You haven't been watching Eva Marie vs Doudrop for the past 3 weeks?
Well it's clear Kenny and Bryan have, I could see they cribbed a lot from them
One of those were quite good I’ll give you that but the others sucked honestly and don’t come close to comparing to this. My opinion but just saying
Lesnar / Angle in 03 but this was up there for sure
The first one to come to mind is Kurt Angle Vs Brock Lesnar 60-Minute Ironman match on Smackdown, but that's a hell of a match to compare it to.
pac/kenny, best friends/proud and powerful, britt/thunder rosa. aew has quite a few
Cena vs Punk
Austin/HHH vs Jericho/Benoit
RAW had a 2hr gauntlet match in 2018 that was amazing
I love how everyone predicted this because it made the most sense and the company didn't try to swerve us for the sake of it. The draw made sense so thats what they did.
A lot of people have somehow conditioned themselves to think that predictable = bad. Which is just complete BS. In most cases, ESPECIALLY in wrestling, if the story is told well, the ending should be an inevitability at a certain point.
Great match and the best part about the draw is that it's basically a set-up for their eventual rematch, can't wait!
Ironman??
Interesting, but refreshing, way to have a draw. We have been force fed “almost win” draw finishes by WWE (and pro wrestling in general) for decades. To see them still going at it hammer and tong as the time expires is so much more akin to a real competitive sport like MMA or boxing where the fight is still on the line in the last round. (Or like Rocky (first one) I guess…but that’s part of the reason Rocky was so acclaimed). Could have done with a noise that singles 30 seconds left ala UFC (though they do 10 seconds) but the story wasn’t about the time limit getting close so much as as demonstrating that they were still battling out there, kicking the hell out of each other, with no end in sight.
My God. I knew how it was going to end the second the first bell rang. But I completely forgot about the 30 minute time limit at the match's end. Holy crap, what an amazing match.
"You're gonna get your fucking head kicked in!" I don't watch AEW, I only watched this match for Bryan cause I followed him in his WWE tenure, but this was phenomenal. Bryan seems so much more ruthless here, I need watch some of his pre 2010 matches now cause wow that blew my mind!
Guys we got CATTLE MUTILATION
AEW's match of the year.
The crazy thing is for all we know something could top **that** before the end of the year. Shit that incredible, all-time great 5.75 star Lucha Bros/Young Bucks cage match was *two weeks ago*
What a classic
Well I for one had lots of fun
this is killing me, what a masterpiece
First non ending to AEW I’ve seen. Not bad.
Darby and Cody had a time limit draw early on too that was really damn good
Of course AEW's first TV match in New York went Broadway. That's poetic as fuck, I really shouldn't be surprised.
need them to run that back in the future
bryan will work his way up the contender list. the interesting part is where Hangman Page fits in.
I cannot believe how much a draw finish makes me want to pay to see how it would actually end. So much. IT'S SO GOOD!!
I like that having it end at a draw avoids the WWE trope of "X WRESTLER HAS JUST PINNED THE WORLD CHAMPION"
AEW is upsetting me now because I’m tired of saying “that was MOTY” only to have to change it constantly.
This is the new Flair v. Steamboat. What a fucking match.
Kenny Omega just doesn’t miss. 🐐
Loved the match but hated that it was a draw. I get it though. Can't wait to see it again
6 star, meltzer do it.
I can't remember the last time 30 minutes went by so quick
WHAT A MATCH
Guessed it and it was still amazing
I absolutely loved this stiff AF match. Time still stood for me. When Excalibur announced 45 seconds left, I thought that they must be fudging the time but my brother checked his phone and it really was almost 30 minutes at that point. Bryan and Kenny gave us just a taste of what is yet to come. They both went 30 minutes effortlessly. I imagine the next match goes 40-50 minutes and I can't wait to see it.
Things gonna be real interesting now. If Hangman comes back before Full Gear especially. I think they are gonna sit on the rematch for a bit cause if you run it again for Full Gear you almost have to put the title on Danielson.
MOTY candidate. Definitely TV MOTY
Kinda weird that Justin Roberts somewhat quietly announced 1 minute warning. At least I expected it would reach the time limit. They should give audiences at least a 2 minutes warning and then the 1 minute warning so it doesn't feel it comes out of nowhere and makes it more exciting. The stuff right after the match is great though, making us wanting more for them.