Bryan Danielson Vs Will Ospreay - AEW Dynasty
You may have heard good things about this one.
The expectations for this match were sky high ever since it was announced; the floor was your standard great match and the ceiling was frontrunner for MOTY. They were going to be given every chance to have the classic match the two of them would aim for. These guys got the big build up as the dream match of the year and the meeting of the two most highly regarded wrestlers in the world (probably the first time that’s happened since Bryan Vs Omega in 2021) and the fans bought into that and created a unique atmosphere on the night. Tony Khan was never going to book the match in a way that would spoil the occasion like the BCC and Don Callis Family running interference spots. I know a lack of chemistry between first time opponents can happen, but I didn’t see that being an issue with these guys who almost never lay an egg. The only way this match wouldn’t have produced something good was a freak injury early in the match, and even typing that out I’m reminded that Bryan broke his arm last year against Kazuchika Okada and still managed adapt that into the match and produce something good. So actually, yeah there’s no way this match wasn’t going to be good.
But how good?
Well, it’s pretty damn good! I’m not as high as most people are who have this in the MOTY mix. I’m not sure this is even a top 5 2024 Bryan Danielson match for me. That’s not that much of a slur as even before this match, Bryan is having one of THE best years I’ve ever seen a wrestler have. He probably already has just as many great matches to his name in 2024 as Ric Flair had in 1989. I think the main reason for that is that a babyface/babyface dream match with no title on the line comes up still a little hollow in comparison to Bryan’s true dream match of facing Blue Panther in Arena Mexico, or even more generally that scenario is never going to have as much juice in it as a babyface/heel match would. Going with the dream match means they have to deliver each man performing at their peak abilities otherwise people will be disappointed. There’s no point booking Bryan to target Ospreay’s leg for 20 minutes to have a limb-selling match and preventing Will from being the version of himself that people paid to see. Not in THIS match, it would have gone down like a lead balloon and killed the rabid crowd. You can’t have Vin Diesel’s battery die and he’s waiting an hour for the breakdown guy to jump start him in the next Fast and Furious movie - people expect and demand the car chases.
That being said, I still would have really loved for Ospreay to lean into the narratives that were on the table here to make this match stand out from the pack a bit more; There’s really nothing different here about his performance against Bryan than there was against his stablemate Takeshita at the last PPV in yet another gung-ho match. When Bryan lands a stiff kick on him in mid air off a springboard move, the commentators are right on it putting over the idea that Ospreay is winded or has a rib injury, pouncing on the chance to create a sense of doubt in the minds of Ospreay’s fans that he may be in trouble. Bryan senses this too and targets the same area, even rattling off mid-section punches that aren’t in his usual moveset so he can have a session of dominance over Ospreay. Ospreay reacts to this by performing a handstand rebound enziguri….as you do when your ribs hurt. When Bryan goes after the ribs again, Ospreay reacts with the torso-run up flipkick and then does a corkscrew moonsault out of the ring. It’s very hard to ever be tricked into thinking Ospreay is hurt or even struggling in a match when he pulls off incredible feats of athleticism like this as his comeback when on the backfoot. Ospreay’s like a created wrestler on a video game where every stat is maxed out - he has no weaknesses and that does contribute to me not fully loving his matches because I’ve seen the same story play out 100s of times where no-matter how much he’s on the ropes or whether he’s going over or not, he’ll still find a way to fit in all his shit.
What did work for me was the perfection and ambition in how these guys wrestled - I was promised an epic match between two great wrestlers and I got just that where big moves and spots were weaved into the match at the right times to get maximum effect. The second half of the match was just bonkers with the string of sequences we were getting. You don’t get top rope dragon suplexes in your standard match - and you don’t get ones that have that believable tease to them because earlier in the match Ospreay flipped out of a top rope rana onto his feet, and Nigel on commentary was begging Ospreay to flip out of the attempted move again. Once you make a top rope dragon suplex a reality, every teased move after it is believable so the stormbreaker off the apron tease worked for me. That one didn’t come off but led to a sweet apron Oscutter and then straight into another great moment with the hidden blade off the apron. I could not have been the only one that when Ospreay was lining up the hidden blade off the apron assumed that it was to set up a ref bump because Bryce was directly in the camera’s shot helping Bryan back to his feet, but thankfully there were no such shenanigans.
The Oscutter is such an easily countered move, but 90% of guys go with the dumb counter of not avoiding the move, still being caught by Will but then they drop to a knee and power out of it into one of their own moves. Here Bryan twice puts his mark on an Ospreay match with his own unique counters to the move. Firstly he grabs him midair into an armbar into a LeBell lock attempt, and then the second time he goes for something special and hits a running busaiku knee that nails Ospreay mid-air in the jaw. That’s a spot that requires impeccable timing from both men in order to work. I don’t know if it was a nod to his recent time in Mexico or the fact Ospreay is a great base so it was on the table, but the Mistica set up to the Lebell lock was out of this world by Bryan. Likewise the one-handed Style Clash counter to the triangle hold by Ospreay was breath-taking.
Going at such a pace for about 15 minutes it was actually an inspired choice to slow things down and take a breather before the finish which I was a big fan of. It started off with Danielson and Ospreay on opposite corners of the ring, effectively gunslingers in the Wild West knowing it’s come down to a duel and who can get their lethal shot away first with Bryan rallying the crowd on with YES chants before charging. Logically it was the younger man who was the quickest draw with Ospreay downing Bryan with the hidden blade. I didn’t realise this until a few days after that the finisher-joust was actually teased in the great PPV poster:
From there Ospreay picked the bones of Danielson and put him down with the safest looking Tiger Driver ‘91 I’ve ever seen Ospreay execute, releasing him super early, which led to some classic Bryan selling a serious neck/head injury that some fans have PTSD over. Bryce called for the doctor, but Ospreay carried on and finished things with yet another Hidden Blade. Ospreay had to go over, he’s quickly become the leading babyface in the company and it won’t be too long until he’s main eventing shows like this (a little worrying for Swerve on the same night he’s been crowned as World Champion). After the match, Ospreay had this to say at the media scrum about the finish:
“I’m super glad that everybody enjoyed the match. A little bit of a dampener on how it’s all kinda the dust has settled now. I’ve reviewed the footage myself, it seems Bryan got hurt on the Storm Driver [Tiger Driver ‘91] and I didn’t see the doctor call. The referee called for the doctor and I didn’t see it. So I want to apologize on that. Obviously, within the confines of wrestling I do... in the ring it’s more or less your life versus mine, until you kind of see it staring at you in the face of what I did, and honestly I feel awful about this.
“So, even though like 90% of the time that move’s been absolutely fine, seeing the damage that it’s kind of done, I’m gonna retire using the Storm Driver ‘91. I don’t think it’s right for me to continue using it after seeing what it did to Bryan, someone that I’ve got like huge amounts of respect for. This was kind of my dream match, this was something that I’ve wanted since I was kid, bruv. So to see the outcome, although I’m happy everyone enjoyed the match, I’m kind of disappointing in myself. So once again I apologize to Bryan, I apologize to AEW medics, I apologize to Tony [Khan]... sorry, it’s proper fucking with me, mate,”
99% of these media scrums are a waste of time, but here’s a kayfabe answer that actually has a use and can progress a story. I spoke a little earlier in the review how Ospreay can be frustrating in how he doesn’t allow moves to have consequences because he quickly wants to move onto the next beat and showcase his ability, but I have to praise him here. I love the idea of Ospreay realising he’s gone too far and in his carelessness may have seriously injured someone he greatly respects and I think taking responsibility for his actions will prove to be great vehicle to break him off from the Callis Family and cement the babyface run. I moaned when he used the move unnecessarily against Shibata last month, but in retrospect that now seems necessary to plant the seed that it’s a move in Ospreay’s repertoire. They’ve also established a move that is so dangerous it needs to be retired - something that could pay off years in the future when Ospreay needs a ‘Burning Hammer’ moment to get him over the line in a bigger match or as part of a heel turn. A clever finish with multiple payoffs - bravo to whoever came up with it.