Even for All Elite Wrestling, an organization that prides itself on having a roster stuffed with people wanting to placed on five-star classics each night, this match is quite a bit. Do not get me fallacious, it is very good and is one of the vital entertaining matches in “Collision” history, but it surely does reach a degree where you could have to throw your hands up and say to Omega and Friedman “I’m full guys, please, no more.”
Considering what had been occurring in AEW on the time with CM Punk getting fired, Bryan Danielson getting injured mainly as soon as he returned from a broken arm, and Adam Cole’s exploding ankle ruining your complete “Devil” storyline, this was a welcome shot within the arm for the corporate. Kenny Omega arrives looking like a megastar despite feeling just like the polar opposite (diverticulitis would take its toll two months later), MJF gets an enormous response from the live crowd who’re fully locked in for this one, and regardless that Friedman is technically a babyface right now, he has to play the heel when he’s in there with Omega.
That really plays into the match’s advantage as MJF has all the time wrestled higher when playing the heel. He struts around, he pokes Omega in the attention, he goes for a sportsmanlike handshake knowing full well he desires to kick Omega within the groin, it is the classic MJF playbook. Nonetheless, because he’s getting cheered like crazy, it forces Omega to try even harder to get the group behind him, and when he’s wrestling the sort of match that would not look misplaced in an NJPW fundamental event, he can also be dipping deep into his bag of tricks.
There are some surprises, particularly from MJF who form of hits a Fosbury Flop within the early going (he mainly attacks the apron greater than Omega), and busts out a Poisonrana to get out of the One-Winged Angel. This forces Omega to bring out some more power-based offense like hitting a Powerbomb on the barricade, and thru a table on the surface which was incredibly satisfying because table break in wrestling is top-of-the-line visuals in all of entertainment.
By the top of things, each men are exhausted and still going for the massive bombs, but it surely does run out of steam when Don Callis, with all of the subtlety of a strobe light with Tourette’s, runs right down to try to distract Omega. That is something I believe we could have all kept away from, but it surely doesn’t take an excessive amount of away from things. Does it have to be half-hour? Probably not as there are a couple of moments throughout that would have been chopped off, but ultimately, this can be a very fun match, MJF breaks Omega’s record, and delivers top-of-the-line matches of his first AEW Men’s World Championship reign.