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Best AEW Matches Ever.


The Natural

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11 hours ago, eikerir said:

The ending with Trent’s mom flipping off Santana and Ortiz still ranks as one if my favourite AEW moments. Can’t wait for Trent to be back so we get another fun run with the real Best Friends and more feel good moments like this.

It's way, way up there on my list. #4 or #5 on mine, behind Cody/Dustin, Britt/Rosa and Danielson/Suzuki, more or less tied w/ Stadium Stampede, and one or two notches above the primo Bucks matches (vs. BANG~man + vs. Fight Hermanos inna cage). I think it has the dual advantage of being the culmination of an expertly constructed TV build - the match and the feud are inarguably territoral/Southern and I'd love the teams to run it back in a concession stand - and having enough good, cheap modern pops to perfectly juxtapose the grit 'n hate, Sue & OC's involvement both.

What's been prematurely swept under the rug is the genius of the Arcade Anarchy match. Watched without the (bad) preceeding feud and it's not that far off the Parking Lot joint. HEED THESE WORDS - A dubbed Best of Chuck Taylor VHS would involve those two tags, his PWG Championship matches vs. ZSJ and Ricochet x2, Cabelleras contra Mascaras w/ Icarus vs. Fire Ant & Soldier Ant (OC + Gulak), the TPI Final w/ Quack & Claudio, streetfight vs El Generico, and your pick of the Best Friends' best PWG tags and his best comedy matches (vs. Archibald Peck & the BOLA Liger butthole tag). Think about where you'd place Chuck on your AEW Roster Workrate Rankings and then tell me how many of your better guys' resumes would fill out a single blue-jacket Maxell. I would put the cream of Chuck's crop above, let's say, the best five hours of Malakai Black.

Edited by John E. Dynamite
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  • 4 weeks later...
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So Adam Page vs. Bryan Danielson on AEW Winter is Coming Dynamite, 15th December 2021 happened at 01:00am this Thursday morning. As @Gordlow rightly said in my reply to my post about the match: "You are gonna have to make some room on your "Greatest AEW Matches" thread, my friend. That was amazing." 

Here's the updated list. Five new matches make it while some matches have moved up, others have dropped out.

20. Kenny Omega vs. Christian Cage. AEW Rampage, 13th August 2021.

19. Jon Moxley vs. Eddie Kingston. AEW Full Gear 2020.

18. Fenix/Pentagon vs. Matt Jackson/Nick Jackson. AEW All Out 2019.

17. Darby Allin/Sting vs. Dax Harwood/Cash Wheeler. AEW Dynamite, 22nd September 2021.

16. MJF vs. Darby Allin. AEW Full Gear 2021.

15. Kenny Omega vs. PAC. AEW Dynamite, 26th February 2020.

14. CM Punk vs. Eddie Kingston. AEW Full Gear 2021.

13. Bryan Danielson vs. Eddie Kingston. AEW Rampage, 29th October 2021.

12. Trent/Chuck Taylor vs. Santana/Ortiz. AEW Dynamite, 16th September 2020.

11. Cody vs. Mr Brodie Lee. AEW Dynamite, 22nd August 2020.

10. Matt Jackson/Nick Jackson vs. Fenix/Pentagon. AEW All Out 2021. *****.

9. Dax Harwood/Cash Wheeler vs. Matt Jackson/Nick Jackson. Full Gear 2020. *****.

8. Mr Brodie Lee vs. Cody. AEW Dynamite, 7th October 2020. *****.

7. Bryan Danielson vs. Minoru Suzuki. AEW The Buy In: Rampage, 15th October 2021. *****.

6. Cody vs. Dustin Rhodes. AEW Double or Nothing 2019. *****. 

5. Thunder Rosa vs. Dr. Britt Baker. AEW St. Patrick's Day Slam Dynamite, 17th March 2021. *****.

4. Kenny Omega/Adam Page vs. Matt Jackson/Nick Jackson. AEW Revolution 2020. *****.

3. Adam Page/John Silver/Alex Reynolds vs. MJF/Santana/Ortiz. AEW Dynamite, 30th December 2020.

2. Adam Page vs. Bryan Danielson. AEW Winter is Coming Dynamite, 15th December 2021. *****.

1. Bryan Danielson vs. Kenny Omega. AEW Grand Slam Dynamite, 22nd September 2021. *****.

----

What an amount of marvellous matches from All Elite Wrestling in such a short space of time, 2019-2021. Look how many matches I rated ***** and TV matches that have made it. There would only be a few TV matches in my Best WWE Matches Ever.

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  • 3 weeks later...
1 hour ago, eikerir said:

I think I have a new number 1 after Hangman vs Danielson II, perfect match for me.

Thanks for your post. I'd have Adam Page vs. Bryan Danielson II second or third place. Bryan Danielson vs. Kenny Omega from AEW Dynamite Grand Slam still has a lock on my top spot.

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12 hours ago, The Natural said:

Thanks for your post. I'd have Adam Page vs. Bryan Danielson II second or third place. Bryan Danielson vs. Kenny Omega from AEW Dynamite Grand Slam still has a lock on my top spot.

I think that Hangman-Danielson II finally knocks the Hangman/Omega-Young Bucks match from Revolution 2020 off of the top spot for me, and definitely have that ahead of Omega-Danielson (have a few others ahead of it also, mostly likely including Hangman-Danielson I). Hangman-Danielson II felt like it combined the technical brilliance of Flair-Steamboat with the violence of the Flair-Funk matches.

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I've been pondering on a top 10 for a while and I'll be honest outside of the few usual suspects, there are a few matches that just waver depending on my mood/mindset, etc when i watch them.  But here goes, I'm going to give it a shot.

 

(Natural, thanks for being so detailed in your list, im going to ape the show/dates from you because my memory isnt nearly that good lol)

 

1.)  Danielson/Hangman Part Deux Dynamte, 1/5/2022

Truth be told, I think this match is so good because of the draw in the previous.  This match doesn't work nearly as well as a standalone, but when you take the story built from the last one, holy shit, it's perfect.  This might be one of my favorite matches of all time.

2.)  Britt Baker/Thunder Rosa, AEW St. Patrick's Day Slam Dynamite, 17th March 2021

This was my MOTY for most of last year, only being replaced by WALTER/Dragunov II.  Brutal, bloody and I think if RIHO doesn't win the belt tonight, Rosa HAS to be the one to dethrone Baker, though she looks to be tied up with Mercedes MArtinex going forward.

3.) Omega/Danielson,  AEW Grand Slam Dynamite, 22nd September 2021. *****

Dream MAtch that lived up to the hype.

4.)Hangman/Omega v The Young Bucks,  AEW Revolution 2020

5.) Hangman/Danielson I, AEW Rampage, Winter is Coming, 12/15/2021

6.) Cody Rhodes v Dustin Rhodes, AEW Double or Nothing 2019

7.) Danielson/Suzuki, AEW The Buy In: Rampage, 15th October 2021

8.) CM Punk/Eddie Kingston, AEW Full Gear 2021

9.)The Elite v The Inner Circle Stadium Stampede, Double or Nothing 2020 (This one is on here because of just how much goddamn fun it was to watch)

10.) MJF/Darby Allin, AEW Full Gear 2021

11.) Brodie Lee v Cody Rhodes, Dog Collar Match, October 7, 2020

12.)  Matt Jackson/Nick Jackson vs. Fenix/Pentagon. AEW All Out 2021

13.)  Moxley/Archer, IWGP Title Match (Date escapes me)

14.)Darby Allin/Ethan Page, Coffin Match, AEW Fyter Fest, 2021

15.)FTR v The Young Bucks, Full Gear 2020

16.) Dark Order/Hangman v The Elite, Fight for the Fallen, 2020

17.) CM Punk/Daniel Garcia,  Rampage, October 8, 2021

18.) Trent/Chuck Taylor vs. Santana/Ortiz. AEW Dynamite, 16th September 2020

19.)  Adam Page/John Silver/Alex Reynolds vs. MJF/Santana/Ortiz. Dynamite, 30th December 2020.

20.) Dax harwood/Pac, AEW Dynamite 11/10/2021

 

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2 hours ago, StuntmanCrowley said:

I've been pondering on a top 10 for a while and I'll be honest outside of the few usual suspects, there are a few matches that just waver depending on my mood/mindset, etc when i watch them.  But here goes, I'm going to give it a shot.

 

(Natural, thanks for being so detailed in your list, im going to ape the show/dates from you because my memory isnt nearly that good lol)

 

1.)  Danielson/Hangman Part Deux Dynamte, 1/5/2022

Truth be told, I think this match is so good because of the draw in the previous.  This match doesn't work nearly as well as a standalone, but when you take the story built from the last one, holy shit, it's perfect.  This might be one of my favorite matches of all time.

2.)  Britt Baker/Thunder Rosa, AEW St. Patrick's Day Slam Dynamite, 17th March 2021

This was my MOTY for most of last year, only being replaced by WALTER/Dragunov II.  Brutal, bloody and I think if RIHO doesn't win the belt tonight, Rosa HAS to be the one to dethrone Baker, though she looks to be tied up with Mercedes MArtinex going forward.

3.) Omega/Danielson,  AEW Grand Slam Dynamite, 22nd September 2021. *****

Dream MAtch that lived up to the hype.

4.)Hangman/Omega v The Young Bucks,  AEW Revolution 2020

5.) Hangman/Danielson I, AEW Rampage, Winter is Coming, 12/15/2021

6.) Cody Rhodes v Dustin Rhodes, AEW Double or Nothing 2019

7.) Danielson/Suzuki, AEW The Buy In: Rampage, 15th October 2021

8.) CM Punk/Eddie Kingston, AEW Full Gear 2021

9.)The Elite v The Inner Circle Stadium Stampede, Double or Nothing 2020 (This one is on here because of just how much goddamn fun it was to watch)

10.) MJF/Darby Allin, AEW Full Gear 2021

11.) Brodie Lee v Cody Rhodes, Dog Collar Match, October 7, 2020

12.)  Matt Jackson/Nick Jackson vs. Fenix/Pentagon. AEW All Out 2021

13.)  Moxley/Archer, IWGP Title Match (Date escapes me)

14.)Darby Allin/Ethan Page, Coffin Match, AEW Fyter Fest, 2021

15.)FTR v The Young Bucks, Full Gear 2020

16.) Dark Order/Hangman v The Elite, Fight for the Fallen, 2020

17.) CM Punk/Daniel Garcia,  Rampage, October 8, 2021

18.) Trent/Chuck Taylor vs. Santana/Ortiz. AEW Dynamite, 16th September 2020

19.)  Adam Page/John Silver/Alex Reynolds vs. MJF/Santana/Ortiz. Dynamite, 30th December 2020.

20.) Dax harwood/Pac, AEW Dynamite 11/10/2021

 

Happy to help,  @StuntmanCrowley. I'm from England where it's date/month/year format while in the USA, it's month/date/year so it throws me sometimes.

Thank you for posting your list. Interesting seeing our similarities and where we differ. There's more of the former than the latter. For a long time Rosa/Baker was my MOTY till WALTER/Dragunov II then Omega/Danielson. Gave all three *****. Moxley vs. Archer was on AEW Dynamite, 23/07/2021.

Cool seeing Adam Page/John Silver/Alex Reynolds vs. MJF/Santana/Ortiz. Dynamite, 30th December 2020 on your list. I couldn't give star ratings to matches on a tribute show as it's not about that. It was a perfect match though with the paper throw opening it up, MJF taking a cane shot between the head from Brodie Lee Jr, Erick Redbeard debuting, Silver wins with Mr. Brodie Lee's finisher and breaking down as the match ended.

Edited by The Natural
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The Brodie Lee Tribute Show is my "favorite" AEW show of all time.  I hate the word favorite in this instance, because the circumstances surrounding it were so tragic, but to see how the company came together for -1 and Huber's family, and just, all of it.  It's hard to put into words, but that was such a special, special show.

 

The one thing about my list I don't like is the lack of women's matches on there outside of Baker/Rosa.  That being said, i full expect to have some contenders to the top 20 this year as AEW's womens division continues to get stronger and stronger.  I don't know why, but I want to see a Deeb/Martinez showdown as I have no doubt that would fly onto my list.

 

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14 minutes ago, StuntmanCrowley said:

The Brodie Lee Tribute Show is my "favorite" AEW show of all time.  I hate the word favorite in this instance, because the circumstances surrounding it were so tragic, but to see how the company came together for -1 and Huber's family, and just, all of it.  It's hard to put into words, but that was such a special, special show.

 

The one thing about my list I don't like is the lack of women's matches on there outside of Baker/Rosa.  That being said, i full expect to have some contenders to the top 20 this year as AEW's womens division continues to get stronger and stronger.  I don't know why, but I want to see a Deeb/Martinez showdown as I have no doubt that would fly onto my list.

 

The Mr. Brodie Lee tribute show is mine as well though we wish it never had to happen in the first place. I had to watch it live.

Yeah, my list is lacking in women's matches. It'll be up to two when I do my updated list with Anna Jay/Tay Conti vs. The Bunny/Penelope Ford from AEW Rampage, 31st December 2021. That'll definitely make it. Have you seen it? Serena Deeb vs. Riho from AEW The Buy In: Double or Nothing 2021 narrowly missed out and Hikaru Shida vs. Tay Conti. Dynamite, 21st April 2021 was on earlier lists for a time.

Edited by The Natural
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3 minutes ago, StuntmanCrowley said:

I was tempted to throw one of the Shida/Deeb matches on there, but it narrowly missed the cut.  I haven't seen the Deeb/Riho match though!  That's going to be required viewing once I'm finished work.

There's not a tonne between them but I think I like the Riho match a bit more than the Shida matches. Deeb really stretches and lays into Riho and because of her size and selling it looks devastating. Hot crowd too and cool visual with the setting sun in Daily's Place. 

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10 hours ago, StuntmanCrowley said:

DAMNIT!  I forgot the most recent Bunny/Ford v Conti/Jay! lol, that was great.  I was tempted to throw one of the Shida/Deeb matches on there, but it narrowly missed the cut.  I haven't seen the Deeb/Riho match though!  That's going to be required viewing once I'm finished work.

I find doing these there's one or two matches you forget. Glad I could remind you.

9 hours ago, Jiji said:

There's not a tonne between them but I think I like the Riho match a bit more than the Shida matches. Deeb really stretches and lays into Riho and because of her size and selling it looks devastating. Hot crowd too and cool visual with the setting sun in Daily's Place. 

I also prefer the Serena Deeb vs. Riho match from AEW The Buy In: Double or Nothing 2021 to the Deeb/Hikaru Shida matches.

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Just now, StuntmanCrowley said:

It's probably my 2nd favorite Baker match behind the obvious Rosa/Baker, but this one was a better match from a wrestling standpoint.

Nice one. Did you see Dr. Britt Baker vs. Kris Statlander from AEW All Out 2021? To date I think that's Britt's second best match behind the Light's Out match with Thunder Rosa.

BTW Working on a post you'll hopefully find interesting.

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Spent the weekend watching Adam Page vs. Bryan Danielson I from AEW Winter is Coming Dynamite, 15th December 2021 and Adam Page vs. Bryan Danielson II at AEW Dynamite, 5th January 2022.

Adam Page vs. Bryan Danielson I. *****.

I liked how varied Bryan Danielson's attacks were from ripping the body to the arm work and the cut forehead. I enjoyed the work on the torso, it's something few wrestlers do. The punches while Hangman was tied up in the ropes. I loved how Bryan was selling the leg while doing Jumping Jacks as that's what Dickhead Danielson the character would do. The match went an hour and flew by for me.

Adam Page vs. Bryan Danielson II. *****.

This match benefited from callbacks to the first match. The knee from the apron turned into a Deadeye on the outside and Bryan Danielson hitting the running knee this time but Page kicked out. The blood loss of both contributing to fatigue and the match wouldn't go the full hour again as a result. This match had more intensity. I still think it needed to go ten more minutes and I thought that even before what was to follow. Hardly liked any of the rest and I REALLY didn't like Lucha Brothers vs. Jurassic Express.

Best match?

Unpopular opinion but I'm marginally in favour of Page vs. Danielson I. When I rank and rate matches, I give bonus marks for making something stand out and here it's the match length going 60 minutes. First TV match in years to do so. It was historic but for the right reasons and not the wrong ones. Some 45-60 minutes matches fly by while others feel even longer than their actual running time. This was the former.

Edited by The Natural
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Gotta say people always talk about Danielson, Omega, Rosa and Britt. But on most lists I see online Hangman's is mentioned A LOT in the top 10-ish AEW matches ever and it almost goes unnoticed or not talked about enough. Seems to match his personality tbh, very reserved, the guy is low key the best worker in AEW.

 

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Update, two new matches make it:

20. Fenix/Pentagon vs. Matt Jackson/Nick Jackson. AEW All Out 2019.

19. MJF vs. Darby Allin. AEW Full Gear 2021.

18. Darby Allin/Sting vs. Dax Harwood/Cash Wheeler. AEW Dynamite, 22nd September 2021.

17. Kenny Omega vs. PAC. AEW Dynamite, 26th February 2020.

16. CM Punk vs. Eddie Kingston. AEW Full Gear 2021.

15. Bryan Danielson vs. Eddie Kingston. AEW Rampage, 29th October 2021.

14. Trent/Chuck Taylor vs. Santana/Ortiz. AEW Dynamite, 16th September 2020.

13. Anna Jay/Tay Conti vs. The Bunny/Penelope Ford from AEW Rampage, 31st December 2021.

12. Cody vs. Mr Brodie Lee. AEW Dynamite, 22nd August 2020.

11. Matt Jackson/Nick Jackson vs. Fenix/Pentagon. AEW All Out 2021. *****.

10. Dax Harwood/Cash Wheeler vs. Matt Jackson/Nick Jackson. Full Gear 2020. *****.

9. Mr Brodie Lee vs. Cody. AEW Dynamite, 7th October 2020. *****.

8. Bryan Danielson vs. Minoru Suzuki. AEW The Buy In: Rampage, 15th October 2021. *****.

7. Cody vs. Dustin Rhodes. AEW Double or Nothing 2019. *****. 

6. Kenny Omega/Adam Page vs. Matt Jackson/Nick Jackson. AEW Revolution 2020. *****.

5. Adam Page vs. Bryan Danielson. AEW Dynamite, 6th January 2022. *****.

4. Thunder Rosa vs. Dr. Britt Baker. AEW St. Patrick's Day Slam Dynamite, 17th March 2021. *****.

3. Adam Page/John Silver/Alex Reynolds vs. MJF/Santana/Ortiz. AEW Dynamite, 30th December 2020.

2. Adam Page vs. Bryan Danielson. AEW Winter is Coming Dynamite, 15th December 2021. *****.

1. Bryan Danielson vs. Kenny Omega. AEW Grand Slam Dynamite, 22nd September 2021. *****.

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  • 4 weeks later...

I watched MJF vs. CM Punk on AEW Dynamite, 2nd February 2022 as it went out in the early hours of today. In the Dynamite thread for it, @Gordlow rightly said "I think our boy @The Natural is gonna have to expand his "Best of AEW" list because there are now more than 20 matches where you can't really leave them off..." I replied with: "I think I'm going to have to, my friend. In my countdown projects I usually stick at 20 so it's not too big and that limit only leaves for the best of the best. The most I've done is 40 for the Best Batman Stories Ever and The 40 Best Spider-Man Stories."

I've expanded my countdown to 30 and it was still a difficult selection. I'm sure 40 will come in time:

30. Jon Moxley vs. Mr. Brodie Lee. AEW Double or Nothing 2020.

29. Cody vs. Eddie Kingston. AEW Dynamite, 22nd July 2020.

28. Jon Moxley vs. Eddie Kingston. AEW Full Gear 2020.

27. Kenny Omega vs. Adam Page. AEW Full Gear 2021.

26. CM Punk vs. Darby Allin. AEW All Out 2021.

25. Stadium Stampede. AEW Double or Nothing 2020.

24. Fenix/Pentagon vs. Matt Jackson/Nick Jackson. AEW All Out 2019.

23. Kenny Omega vs. PAC. AEW Dynamite, 26th February 2020.

22. Serena Deeb vs. Riho. AEW The Buy In: Double or Nothing 2021.

21. Kenny Omega vs. Christian Cage. AEW Rampage, 13th August 2021.

20. MJF vs. Darby Allin. AEW Full Gear 2021.

19. Miro vs. Eddie Kingston. AEW All Out 2021.

18. CM Punk vs. Eddie Kingston. AEW Full Gear 2021.

17. Darby Allin/Sting vs. Dax Harwood/Cash Wheeler. AEW Dynamite, 22nd September 2021.

16. Bryan Danielson vs. Eddie Kingston. AEW Rampage, 29th October 2021.

15. Trent/Chuck Taylor vs. Santana/Ortiz. AEW Dynamite, 16th September 2020.

14. Anna Jay/Tay Conti vs. The Bunny/Penelope Ford. AEW Rampage, 31st December 2021.

13. Cody vs. Mr Brodie Lee. AEW Dynamite, 22nd August 2020.

12. Matt Jackson/Nick Jackson vs. Fenix/Pentagon. AEW All Out 2021. *****.

11. Dax Harwood/Cash Wheeler vs. Matt Jackson/Nick Jackson. Full Gear 2020. *****.

10. Mr Brodie Lee vs. Cody. AEW Dynamite, 7th October 2020. *****.

9. Cody vs. Dustin Rhodes. AEW Double or Nothing 2019. *****. 

8. Bryan Danielson vs. Minoru Suzuki. AEW The Buy In: Rampage, 15th October 2021. *****.

7. Kenny Omega/Adam Page vs. Matt Jackson/Nick Jackson. AEW Revolution 2020. *****.

6. MJF vs. CM Punk. AEW Dynamite, 2nd February 2022. *****.

5. Adam Page vs. Bryan Danielson. AEW Dynamite, 6th January 2022. *****.

4. Thunder Rosa vs. Dr. Britt Baker. AEW St. Patrick's Day Slam Dynamite, 17th March 2021. *****.

3. Adam Page/John Silver/Alex Reynolds vs. MJF/Santana/Ortiz. AEW Dynamite, 30th December 2020.

2. Adam Page vs. Bryan Danielson. AEW Winter is Coming Dynamite, 15th December 2021. *****.

1. Bryan Danielson vs. Kenny Omega. AEW Grand Slam Dynamite, 22nd September 2021. *****.

Edited by The Natural
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What an amount of marvellous matches from All Elite Wrestling in such a short space of time, May 2019-present day. Look how many matches I rated ***** and TV matches that have made it.

Edited by The Natural
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