AEW’S TOP MATCHES OF THE WEEK (Oct. 12-18): Jack Perry is having fun again, what I especially love about Young Bucks matches, Callis added to match with his commentary

I thought there were a lot of very good matches this week, and If I’m being honest, I thought overall the three hour Dynamite/Collision, and WrestleDream were good but nothing that I think I’ll be remembering long-term going forward.

I thought the Dynamite and Collision three hour special on Wednesday was a good show to move forward some stories heading into WrestleDream, but none of the matches really stood out for me. I thought all the best matches as expected probably took place on WrestleDream. WrestleDream for me was a solid PPV, but in terms of what we’ve been accustomed to in terms of AEW PPV, this one is certainly not one we will be remembering for years to come.

Kyle Fletcher ( AEW TNT Champion) vs. Mark Briscoe – WrestleDream

Kyle Fletcher is becoming a weekly staple on this list, and for good reason, as he is on an absolute tear right now. This was the fifth match-up between these two, and I think this was either the match of the night or tied for match of the night with another match I’ll be highlighting in this article.

I really liked Fletcher’s ring gear in this match. My only complaint about him recently was I thought his ring gear kind of stunk, but I thought he had a much better showing here. Don Callis also had some great lines about Briscoe in this one: “Looks like a guy you’d find under the bridge” and “Genius IQ if he was a Golden Retriever.” I will 100 percent be stealing that line about the Golden Retriever. These two really brought it, and I think the match would have even been better if they had trimmed it by like 4-5 minutes. That could go for a lot of matches on this card, though.

The powerbomb to the steps outside to Briscoe was a great spot, and the height and velocity Fletcher gets with his Michinoku Driver is so impressive every time I see it. The Jay Driller onto the apron to Fletcher was also a great spot, and I really appreciate how much Fletcher sold it on the floor by trying to get the feeling back in his fingers. This match also had a lot of great false finishes towards the end of the match, and I really loved how Fletcher picked up his intensity in the final 10 minutes of the match.

I had mentioned in my article last week that I thought Briscoe could pull the upset here, and win, so some of the false finishes really pulled me in. The outcomes for a lot of the matches on the card seemed obvious, so I thought they may have thrown a curveball in this one.

Overall, just a great showing for both guys, and Briscoe just keeps showing up and delivering in these big-time matches.

Brodido (AEW Tag Team Champions) vs. Kazuchika Okada (AEW Unified Champion) & Konosuke Takeshita (IWGP World Heavyweight Champion) – WrestleDream

On the PWTorch Post-PPV Roundtable Podcast with Wade Keller, Rich Fann, and Joshua White after WrestleDream (VIP-exclusive), there were some comments made about how hard it was to get past the mid-match Macarena by Bandido, and I totally get that. It should have been saved for the post-match celebration after the big win here. I get that it’s funny because it’s Brody King doing it, and it’s obviously not a dance move he does in his everyday life. It’s honestly a dance no one should have ever done (the ’90s though, right?).

With all that said though, this article is about the best matches of the week, and this was clearly one of the best matches on the PPV. All four of these guys delivered, and boy did Takeshita eat that Rainmaker from Okada. He really stuck him with that thing, and Okada smiling after was so good. Just such a great grin from him.

I also really enjoyed the partnership here of Brody King helping Bandido believe in himself and, in turn, Bandido ending the match with that one-armed 21-plex.

Callis also had another great line in this match to hide the dysfunction between Okada and Takeshita. When Okada tagged himself in to steal another pin from Takeshia, he said, “He’s a fresh man; this is a good strategy.”

Okada’s dropkick to Bandido coming off the top rope in this match was also a thing of beauty. There was also a spot where Bandido caught Okada flush with a knee strike that looked gnarly. I also liked how all the attention was on Bandido’s shoulder here, and how it was a story throughout the match, which eventually set up that one armed 21-plex, which was a perfect ending to the match.

In the end, though, this match was really about Okada caring more about screwing over Takeshita than anything. I can wait to see what happens once Takeshita reaches his boiling point with Okada.

ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW…

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The Young Bucks vs. Jurassic Express – WrestleDream

Slow clap for the fan who had the sign telling the Bucks he’d give them “$20 for a Photo.” When the Bucks went over to take the photo, it was so good, and I’m pretty sure Nick Jackson said to him “Where is my money?” after he took the photo.  I also liked Matt Jackson having a slot machine on his tights. I feel like they should really be leaning into the broke gimmick, though, by wearing old dirty tights or something, like what Baron Corbin did with his broke Corbin character.

Jurassic Express got a great reaction in this match too, and I really enjoyed the crowd starting a “Luchasaurus!” chant at the beginning of the match. It was a long road for Luchasaurus to get back in the ring with all the health issues he had.

This was a typical Young Bucks match with a lot of great combination moves and the action never stopped throughout. What I appreciate about the Bucks is that I feel that in every match I watch with them, I see something I have never seen before. They may not always be my cup of tea, but you can’t say they aren’t entertaining.

Luchasaurus’s kickup into the double chokeslam to the Bucks was cool, and Jack Perry had a sequence where he jumped off the top rope into a double superkick by the Bucks and then right into a BTE trigger, that Perry sold like his rent was due.

You can tell that Perry is having fun again wrestling. His dive out of the ring onto the Young Bucks, and then him smiling into the camera was a guy you can tell is having fun again. There were also a lot of great sequences here that ended in some close pins, and one sequence where there was a powerbomb on the apron right into a piledriver off the top rope that was super impressive. I also appreciated commentary bringing up the fact that it was atthis building that Jurassic Express lost the tag titles to the Young Bucks, so this was really a full circle moment for them.

NOTEBOOK

•It’s probably never going to happen, but so many of these PPV matches could be trimmed by 5-7 minutes and it would  not hurt the product at all.

•I really appreciate AEW having a new unique stage set up for every PPV.

•MVP should really hang up the wrestling boots.

•This Bobby Lashley run with the Hurt Syndicate is my favorite run he’s ever had. His ring gear was also awesome for WrestleDream.

•I appreciated Samoa Joe making sure he gave the finger to all three levels of the arena walking up the ramp after attacking Hangman after the match.

•Grey-haired Sting is badass, and I love how much respect AEW has shown to him.

•Am I the only one who was incredibly nervous with that giant shard of glass sticking out of that fish tank after Sting broke it? All I could think about was that Mox or Darby were going to trip and fall on it or something.

•Please figure out something better to do with Eddie Kingston.