Swerve Strickland vs. Bryan Danielson, Title vs. Profession.
Credit score: AEW
Bryan Danielson beat Swerve Strickland in a superb major occasion of AEW All In at Wembley Stadium to win the AEW World Championship.
The emotional match noticed Swerve bludgeon and brutalize a bloody Bryan Danielson in entrance of his household, however Danielson simply wouldn’t give up. The match was interrupted by Hangman Adam Web page, who was apprehended by safety earlier than Danielson was in a position to regain the benefit. Hangman’s interference didn’t play into the end, as Bryan was in a position to lure Swerve within the LaBell Lock to win his first AEW World Championship.
Regardless of its hit-or-miss buildup, Danielson vs. Swerve felt like the largest match on the cardboard as followers went loopy the second the bell rang. WWE Corridor of Famer Jim Ross joined the commentary crew to name the Profession vs. Title match.
As has been the case for many of Swerve Strickland’s under-promoted AEW World Championship run, Swerve was not the primary character in his personal world title protection. As a substitute, Swerve Strickland’s major occasion match in opposition to Bryan Danielson was about Bryan Danielson, and whether or not or not this might be his last match.
In real-life interviews, Danielson admitted he didn’t need to win the AEW World Championship. AEW made this right into a storyline, additional devaluing what it means to be AEW world champion whereas Swerve had the strap. After profitable the boys’s Owen Hart Match, An apathetic Danielson needed to be motivated by the likes of Jeff Jarrett and Eddie Kingston with a view to discover the hearth to need to win AEW’s greatest prize.
Bryan Danielson’s journey to an AEW Championship didn’t translate to sturdy viewership. This was by no means made clearer than throughout a well-built match between Danielson (43 years previous) and Jeff Jarrett (57 years previous). Towards the Olympics, the present bombed in 18-34 demographic, an viewers that deserted AEW lengthy earlier than the Summer season Video games.
Whereas Bryan and Swerve completed sturdy of their sketchy construct to the All in major occasion, the feud was nonetheless outshined by MJF vs. Will Ospreay, who went lengthy throughout an in any other case compelling 22-minute section on Wednesday’s go-home Dynamite from Cardiff, Wales. In his last handle to Swerve, Danielson referred to himself because the “finest f—ing wrestler on the planet,” earlier than reprising his “sure” chants.
Swerve’s world championship run wasn’t an entire failure, however via no fault of his personal, it will probably hardly be thought-about successful. Swerve was not even featured on the primary AEW Dynamite after his large world title win. As a substitute, his large speech was relegated to AEW’s secondary present Collision.
Swerve’s first world championship title protection in opposition to Christian Cage was upstaged by the Stadium Stampede, which major evented Double or Nothing. After Strickland defeated Ospreay at AEW Forbidden Door, within the greatest win of his title run, the win was big-footed by pointless, sanctimonious and pretentious reviews of the way it was Will Ospreay’s concept to lose to Swerve. As if there was a necessity for a cause as to why the real-life world champion retained his title.
So patronizing.
In a shock to no person, Swerve’s (+300) transitional reign ended with the once-hot babyface turning heel and dropping his world championship to the heroic Bryan Danielson (-500). With reviews already trickling in that Darby Allin is subsequent in line to turn out to be AEW world champion, Swerve appears like each bit the afterthought he was throughout his personal forgettable world title reign.