[2022-07-27-AEW Dynamite - Fight For The Fallen] Bryan Danielson vs Daniel Garcia

[EnviousStupid]

This was Bryan's return match after his injuries sustained in the Anarchy in the Arena match two months ago.

There was a lot of hype surrounding this match, and rave reviews made it sound like one of the best matches from 2022 so far. Unfortunately, I'm in the minority when it comes to this. I think there's a lot of great ideas packed into it that I can admire, but a lot of what's done from both men actively frustrated me. For example, they play to the idea of Bryan not being at 100%, the past head trauma that initially had him retire, even commentary pointing out that Bryan may have suffered a concussion after hitting a missile dropkick and landing flat on his back. It's clearly effective going off of how the live crowd reacts, but from my view, there's a handful of issues that just kill my investment to the story. For one, I'm not a fan of Bryan's selling here after the first instance of a potential head injury. I can see the appeal of Bryan harkening back to his offense/comeback during his WWE tenure, only to fail him as he's gotten older, but he's landing his signature backflip, and it's only when he hits the ropes that he collapses. He also takes a DDT onto the exposed floor a little over 5 minutes into the match. It's sold well in the moment - unable to stand on his own, blood emanating from his forehead, giving Garcia plenty of time to work over the cut - however it gets egregious once Bryan is into his comeback. No pause of grogginess from Dragon until after he's thoroughly kicked the crap out of Garcia. Manages to stand up while a Sleeper hold is applied. A bridging Tiger Suplex and Regalplex executed without flaw. The high risk maneuvers he tries don't leave a mark on that head injury. It's not about having to commit so hard to an angle that you can't do any of these actions, but this is a lot done in a single match that stands out in my eyes. And of course, the ending with Bryan passing out to a submission again, this time a Sharpshooter, is starting to be a recurring trend that I am not happy about.

As for Garcia, I'm not really sure how he looks better coming out of this exclude just the victory on paper. His work during the heat wasn't particularly vicious or eye-catching; more scratching and biting at the forehead every so often, taking his time during the heat. More concerning though, is when the match asks him to show remorse, or have a conflicted look on his face at key points. Garcia is a great young wrestler, but he's never been a very emotive one. He's very rarely, if at all demonstrating that degree of emotional depth in his performances. I'd go so far as say his defining characteristics as a wrestler are his intensity and sternness brought consistently to his matches, even when paired with the likes of 2point0. So in a situation like this, where it asks him to put on a different face than usual, the drama falls flat, and if Excalibur hadn't been explaining it on commentary, I probably wouldn't have picked up on it. Furthermore, when comparing to Bryan's own offense, Garcia's look especially weak. His hammerfists don't have anywhere near the degree of force or impact displayed like Bryan's elbows. The lariat he hits late into the match did more to expose his smaller frame out of the two than look convincing.

The match comes across to me as one with very specific objectives in mind, and despite how great both of these wrestlers are, things just didn't click for me. Wouldn't call it a bad match. Just one with many problems.