#11. Arik Royal vs Kevin Ku, ACTION The Movement Begins! 4/3
Royal and Ku have been two of the better under the radar guys of the recent IWTV period, and this was a Ku’s biggest singles match to date as he challenged for the ACTION title. Lots of hard shots dished out and tight grappling. Ku in particular was really fired up his big match and was laying it in with his kicks and lariats. Royal has a pretty strong ground game for a guy his size and tried to grind Ku down, and the big Kobe on the apron late in the match was a nice big match spot in front of the 300 odd fans who were there live. I though the false finish was a bit unnecessary, but boy Ku was really going for it at the end and cranking up the violence to lead to a really satisfying finish.#4. Eddie Kingston vs Chris Jericho, AEW Revolution
Two heavyweight veterans beating the crud out of each other. I was a high voter on the AEW Jericho vs Omega match - Jericho punching guys in the nose is better than him trying to do his 2001 routine - and this was more of that type of match. Kingston is one of the all-time greats at selling 'small' body injuries and the stuff with his orbital bone added a lot. Kingston is the type of talent who elevates everyone he works with, and in fairness Jericho delivered one of his best showings in years. He was matching Eddie blow for blow on the stiffness and I was taken aback by some of the head drops he took on those suplexes. Jericho's chest got turned to blue steak, lots of malice, and another really satisfying finish with Jericho tapping clean.
#3. CM Punk vs MJF, AEW Revolution
This was a match with lofty ambitions and I think they pulled it off. Of course the entrances alone are worth a mention for how great they were. Like the TV match I thought this went a few steps too long and had one or two ideas too many, but they got the stuff that mattered right. It was violent, bloody, hate-filled, and cathartic. The Dog Collar gimmick was used well and the tacks bumps were all appropriately brutal. I don’t think the body part stuff added much though, and it felt a bit tacked on to try and get another half a star rating. Unlike the TV match I didn't feel like the Wardlow story undermined the MJF-Punk story, and the finish felt like MJF’s chickens coming home to roost. It wasn’t enough that he beat Punk in Chicago, or that he had Wardlow over a barrel, he had to poke and poke, and the bear bit back hard. Minor quibbles aside this was still 2 of the most charismatic workers in the world having a big violent grudge match and it gets a big thumbs up.
#2. Bryan Danielson vs Jon Moxley, AEW Revolution
This may have suffered a little for following both Punk vs MJF and Jericho vs Kingston, which were two other high end violent slobberknockers, but again I felt they achieved most of what they set out for. I gave this a second watch without PPV fatigue and thought it was pretty excellent. Considering the build to this was all about violence and they telegraphed the blood so heavily in all the promos, the spot that lead to the double juice was surprisingly tame. All that said, this banged. I dug the matches they had a decade ago, but Moxley especially is a different beast now. He’s developed his skill-set insurmountably, especially when it comes to grappling, and that aspect of this match was all pretty great. Both guys really laid in the stiffness, and it avoided the pratfalls of the NJ style of you-hit-me-I-hit-you matches by way of sheer personality of the two guys dishing it out. This wasn’t two guys rotely going through the motions, this was a show of heart and pride. All of Danielson’s targeting to Mox’s mid-section was great, really loved the fake out of the head-kick to set up a gut shot, and Mox’s selling was pretty great while trying to fight back. Mox’s bladejob was another top tier crimson mask and everything after the blood was superb - every time he found a counter there was a sense of urgency. We all know Danielson is the best worker in the world, but Mox was with him every step of the way here and had one of his career performances. Cap it all off with an excellent finish, and an even better post-match moment with Regal, and we have another strong MOTYC.
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