Darby v Page

Darby Allin v Ethan Page (Coffin Match) (AEW Dynamite, 7/14/21) 

This was tremendous and one of my favourite things I've watched from 2021. As far as plunderfests go it was about as good as it gets without going stupidly overboard, and I say that having watched a decent bunch of AEW plunderfests over the last couple weeks and finding at least something to enjoy about all of them (except the Adam Cole one). I don't know if I've ever actually seen Ethan Page before. He was a pretty fun meathead in this, had some neat strength spots where he got to chuck Darby around, and I liked him doing goofy shit like serenading a bolt hook before trying to wring Darby's neck with it. Still, this was Darby's match and that boy is outrageous. He took several ludicrous bumps, two of which being fully batshit and at least a 9.5/10 on the Darby Bump Scale. He also jumped off a balcony and when Page caught him I half expected him to chuck Darby down the nearby staircase. Which is really a theme with Darby. There are often moments in his matches where he'll be in a situation in which something bonkers could happen, and with most wrestlers you wouldn't even really consider it being a thing, but with him you stop and go "wait...he wouldn't, would he?" And there are times where the crazy thing that pops into your head doesn't happen and you breathe a sigh of relief, but then there are others where it does happen and there are only like four people in wrestling who would actually do it. Basically it means every Darby match has a real sense of danger and unpredictability. This had two of those moments that hit me, the first being the catch off the balcony dive, which did not result in near death but probably would have if this were Puerto Rico. The second was the avalanche bomb on the steps, which they actually went through with and how Allin is still walking at all right now is a miracle. Darby is just as reckless with his own body when making his comeback, hitting the amazing tope where he hurls himself into Page like someone shot him out a catapult. The revenge spot with the bolt hook was amazing as well, literally fish hooking Page's cheek with this big giant bastard bit of metal. The Sting/Scorpio involvement worked great, I thought. Sting is old but has the presence and is just BIGGER (or at least taller) than most of the roster, so he looks imposing marching to the ring to even the odds after Scorpio pops out the coffin. Him and Sky had some compelling crowd brawling, then Darby and Page did the same, and modern crowd brawling isn't always something I enjoy so it's cool that four of them managed to grab me with it. Darby getting launched around the place probably helped. Him and Jimmy Jacobs would've made some magic in 2007 ROH throwing each other down staircases and stabbing each other with railroad spikes. Loved the finish with Darby hitting the skateboard double stomp, and then the COFFIN Coffin Drop was insanity. I audibly said "fuck off" when he climbed the turnbuckles and figured he surely wouldn't and then he did. Darby might be the best undersized babyface working opposite a bigger heel in wrestling right now.