Joe v Darby (1/4/23)

Samoa Joe v Darby Allin (AEW Dynamite, 1/4/23)

This feels like a matchup made in heaven. Darby getting thrown around like a sack of potatoes by an angry ogre? Probably would be good under the majority of circumstances. It had a great start with Darby interrupting Joe's bullying of Nick Wayne by hitting the bullet tope. It was sort of a glancing blow by its usual standards, but in a way that made it look all the more reckless. It wasn't measured, it was reactionary and even a glancing blow at the speed Darby hits it at will stop you dead. Darby has to go for broke immediately and the 1-2 punch with the skateboard shots and ladder dive was great. Joe taking over with the STO on the steps was repulsive and pretty much one of the best transition spots ever. Darby is fucking certifiable taking that right on the jagged corners and the suddenness of it was shocking. I loved his selling after that too, super groggy and basically just trying to buy himself time. Then he got his head mashed into the ring post and the bump off of that was only marginally less nuts than the one on the steps. His selling got even better from there as well, to the point where I wondered if he hadn't actually gotten his bell rung on the post shot. From there it's basically a case of him trying to survive in the hopes of fashioning half a comeback before Joe squashes him. I haven't really watched any Joe in AEW but it's a blast seeing him clearly love what he's doing here. I'd kind of forgotten how good he was at his peak before revisiting that a few years ago, and by all accounts he's found another lease of life after the last WWE run. He was so good at cutting off Darby in interesting ways, sometimes with a big chop or headbutt, then at other times with some killer knee work. The cross-legged kneebreaker thing was awesome and the way he hit that senton as Darby's legs were bent underneath himself looked gross. They needed something creative to make Darby's win plausible after everything he'd endured, and the stuff with the exposed turnbuckle as Darby's big opening totally worked for me. So did the double Coffin Drop, first to the back and then the second landing full body on Joe's chest. A really good wrestling match, obviously.