I thought this was shockingly great, and I know there'll be some people reading that thinking I sound ridiculous. "How could you be shocked that this was great? Unless by SHOCKINGLY you mean you thought it was twelve stars rather than seven or whatever we're at now." I mean maybe it shouldn't shock me, but I know what I like and by all accounts this didn't sound like it would be that. So maybe it was the low-ish expectations. Either way I'll be fucked if I wasn't into it basically all the way through. It's probably the most I've ever enjoyed Omega - and I really mean ever - and I thought he more than held up his end. Most people will see the suggestion that he might not have as ludicrous, but if you're asking me if I'd rather watch them work a Bryan Danielson match or a Kenny Omega match then I'm picking the former all day, and there are a whole bunch of people I'd rather see opposite Bryan Danielson in a Bryan Danielson match than Kenny Omega. Actually I don't even think it was a Bryan Danielson match - in the way I'd usually think of a Bryan Danielson match - or at least it wasn't by the end. But none of that was what shocked me anyway. I've seen scrubs look good in a Bryan Danielson match or just generally against Bryan Danielson and Omega is better than, like, Delirious or someone. Prolly. The most shocking part is that I enjoyed Omega during the Bryan Danielson bits AND the Kenny Omega bits, and Kenny Omega Dream Match Epic is not something I'm desperate to watch at this stage of the game. To be honest, judging by the reaction for the first lock-up they could've worked any match and they'd have had people on strings, but they knew their audience to a tee and in the end gave them what they came to see, and they came to see Dream Match Epic.
All of the early build was great. They laced into each other and both of them had welts on chests, bruises on foreheads, scrapes on elbows, burns on backs, all the signs of something in which a pair of guys smashed each other to bits. It might've only been the idea or just the CONCEPT of Bryan Danielson getting to stretch out and be Bryan Danielson again that got me, but when he was bending Omega's wrist and stomping it into the mat it really did feel like the shackles had been cast off. Omega was a fun shithead through all of it and when it was his turn to dish out some damage he did it like he meant it. If the first half was the Bryan Danielson part of the match and the second half was the Kenny Omega part then I at least thought they segued from one to the other pretty seamlessly. I don't even remember a point where I thought "okay now we're in Omega's lane," but if it happened with the stuff on the ramp then they sure picked a hell of a transition for it. The Snapdragon was nuts but goodness christ that V-Trigger was fucking bonkers. He about launched himself from halfway up the ramp, downhill, and it looked like he fully caved in Danielson's temple. Just an unreal spot that I rewound half a dozen times. Danielson's selling after that was predictably amazing and I really loved Omega juuuust about accepting the count out only for his ego to take over and opt for the decisive victory instead. You know a man who calls himself the Best Bout Machine is meta enough that he'd realise a count out would cost him at least half a star. The buckle bomb was absolutely ludicrous and I thought he was for yeeting Danielson clean over the post. The biggest compliment I can pay to the last 10 minutes is that there were probably transitions that I'd usually find ropey, or kickouts that I'd usually find silly, or STUFF that I'd usually find excessive, but they really had me hooked and I was fully immersed in the moment. Like, I had a music teacher in high school who would say that music was both the best and worst thing that ever happened to her. It was her career, her life, her passion and the thing she enjoyed more than anything else in the world. But it sort of ruined a bunch of other things for her, like movies and television, because she'd be watching something and all she could think about was the musical score, the chords, all that other stuff that I don't understand because I am not and have never been a musician. Well pro wrestling is not my life or my career, but it is my passion, watching and talking and writing about it, and it's hard for me to just "turn off my brain" when it's there in front of me now because I can't help but think of all the nerdy carry on like selling and transitions and whatever else knocks about our heads as doofus wrestling fans on the internet. And as corny as it sounds, I just kind of...switched off for a while and didn't give a shit about any of that. It wasn't intentional, wasn't something I consciously made a decision to do, I just didn't think about it. For that to happen when watching one guy I think is great but have no real personal affinity for and another guy I quite often actively dread watching, that's kind of cool as fuck. Three and a half stars.
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