[2022-04-20-AEW-Dynamite] Dustin Rhodes vs CM Punk

[corwo]

Classic dueling limb work structure, as Punk goes after the knee of Rhodes, and Dustin targets the arm. Dustin takes his signature bump, spilling to the outside and further damaging his bad wheel. The selling from both is wonderful. I feel like these Punk matches are going to hold up better than a lot of stuff from AEW because they rely on sound fundamentals rather than athleticism. There's a moment late in the match where Dustin lands his corner punches and goes to jump down off the ropes, but the force of the landing hurts his knee even more. Punk's arm gives out on a GTS and he sinks in a deep pinfall to snatch the win. Great match.

[Gramsci]

I want to rewatch this because I remember it was really good, not as good as Bryan/Dustin, but good nonetheless. Althought, for my liking, It had too many fake limb selling, like "Grrr PZYYYCHOLOGYYY", "look at me, I'm zelling the leeeg but I gonna walk next week like nothing happened to me", like seriously, we need to reevaluate this. It makes zero sense that Dustin is selling his leg that much and in the next Dynamite he appears without any protection or without crutches. I tore the ligaments in my wrist and I was able to finish my training session with no problems at all, but after that, once the body is no longer warm, that's when you really feel the pain. It's been almost 8 months and it still hurts. I rembember Kenny Omega once said that he knows how it feels like to get one body part injured, and he uses that experience to sell in his matches as realistically as possible.

[El-P]

On 5/23/2022 at 4:53 PM, Gramsci said:

Althought, for my liking, It had too many fake limb selling, like "Grrr PZYYYCHOLOGYYY", "look at me, I'm zelling the leeeg but I gonna walk next week like nothing happened to me", like seriously, we need to reevaluate this.

THIS. A thousand times. I could elaborate endlessly on this point, but really that sums it up in a very amusing (to me) and on the spot way.

[Tetsujin]

I don't care about realism in that way, if the worker is selling a limb and that's adding to the match/a long term story, that's all I need.

[NintendoLogic]

Pro wrestling selling isn't supposed to be realistic. The whole point is to exaggerate the impact of moves to generate drama and minimize the physical toll of what at the end of the day is a fake fight. Also, pro wrestlers are the world's toughest athletes with access to the world's best medical care. It stands to reason that an athlete of Dustin's caliber would be right as rain after a week of rest and rehab.

I finally tracked this match down, and I liked it a lot. Really good story-based match, maybe Punk's best in AEW. For those keeping track of Bret Hart tribute spots, the finish is from Summerslam 1992. And Dustin countering a senton on a leg draped on the bottom rope by booting Punk over the top rope is from Bret/Taker at One Night Only.