This was your quintessential popcorn/fireworks match where
you park your brain for 20 minutes and just let yourself be wowed by the spectacle
playing out in front of your eyes.
I had no doubts that Vikingo would impress on his AEW debut. His high flying spots are so unique and mind boggling
that he was always going to get over with this crowd, especially with a seasoned
pro in Kenny Omega as his dance partner to keep up with him.
The implosion rana about a minute in set the tone for the bonkers spots
dotted throughout the match, the meteora through the ropes was fantastic, and
the multiple dragon rana’s were crazy, and I thought he killed Omega when he
countered the top rope powerbomb into a last-second super rana. We’re talking about a guy that makes Fenix
seem about as mobile as Kevin Nash post quad blow out.
The step up-630 through the table was amazing and probably
the pick of the highlight reel. When Kenny
set the table up so close to the apron, I knew it was for the signature Vikingo
630 dive, but that didn’t stop my jaw falling a little closer to the ground at
how perfect it was. I wasn’t around for
Rey Mysterio bursting onto the scene in America in the mid 90s, but I wouldn’t
be surprised if this is how it felt to live through that.
First impressions aren’t an issue for this guy, it’s when you’ve seen him for the 10th and 11th time and you’re looking for him to do something other than just all his big spots, something specific to the match and the challenge he’s facing and not just for his opponent to take his moves one after another and not impose themselves on the match. Unfortunately he’s not always a hit. I saw him have a match with Fenix last year at AAA which I thought was majorly disappointing because it was nothing but spots and it had no flow and a lot of stalling. The spot heavy nature of this match worked because it was designed purely as a showcase of Vikingo's abilities, but if he's making more appearances in the future for AEW I think the fans will eventually want more substance out of him.
I have to give credit to Kenny here for being an able match for Vikingo,
keeping up with that incredible pace, doing his part to make Vikingo look great
by landing everything perfectly, putting some extra vinegar on his offence to
make the match feel special and in general doing everything in his power to help
make this sensational luchador a star in the US in one night. Kenny in 2023 looks and feels back to his best. I think this was better than any match he had
during his AEW World title reign, and this is his 2nd match on my
MOTYC list already. If I could get
motivated to write up my thoughts on Omega/Ospreay he’d probably make that 3.
Kenny won the match eventually at the 17 minute mark with
the one winged angel, but Vikingo had won enough new fans along the way to
not come away feeling like a loser. If he wasn’t already a coveted booking on the
indies (and beyond!), he certainly is now.
I really enjoyed Bandido’s first night in AEW against Chris Jericho last year, but
this was another level. If they ever
bring in Vikingo again they can’t keep him on ice like they have done Bandido.
I would have preferred the Elite’s latest chapter of
melodrama to have been saved for another week so that the show’s closing
moments be centred on Vikingo with some kind of standing ovation from the crowd
or Kenny giving him a sign of respect. I
found the ambulance joy-ride complete with the Scott Steiner sirens to be a
hokey callback to the Attitude Era, and the Kenny/Hangman trust issues can get
in the bin with Bray Wyatt’s Wrestlemania plans. Surely Kenny’s gonna take a break from
playing Resident Evil 4 this week to watch a replay of Don faking the Hangman
attack.
Anyway, I’ll wrap this review up with a request to Tony Khan
for the next AEW dream match:
Claudio Vs Vikingo.
Make it so.
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