Bryan Danielson vs Will Ospreay - AEW Dynasty

Yeah this took place in April 2024, only 3 months before watching this. At Double or Nothing in May, Ospreay wrestled Roderick Strong and won the International Championship. I guess it wasn’t that memorable. You probably figured this out watching All In, but Ospreay is a huge Assassin’s Creed fan. The Hidden Blade is a huge part of that series. PS - Thankfully the sound synced back up at the end. Hopefully we get it on a streaming service soon so we don’t have to worry about any of that in the future!

Big Ell

We couldn’t tell. lol.

Big Ell

I really do not care for AEW. But unlike the other guy who doesn’t like AEW, I’ll keep my mouth shut.

Steamed Ham Champion Dillon Haggett

AEW fans have ruined the term dream match by using it for matches that aren’t deserving of that title.

Steamed Ham Champion Dillon Haggett

Don’t start that BS.

Steamed Ham Champion Dillon Haggett

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Dport

Abs Ali

I’m totally with you. I do not like the CTE selling from Danielson. He did a similar sell in a different match and it completely took me out of it. I couldn’t watch anymore after that.

Bobthekow

Also, Danielson and Ospreay are both incredible. The former being one of my all-time favorites, and the latter being, in my opinion, the best in-ring worker in the world today, so that's more or less where the dream match comes from. Many view Bryan as one of the best of all-time in-ring, and many view Will as the best right now. The fact that they had never crossed paths and they got to finally do this match in April 2024, as Bryan is looking to start to wind his career down a bit, all leads to the whole dream match label. Also, just AEW trying to market a match, so there's that as well. On the timeline, this was ironically the PPV before Double or Nothing, so yeah, this was recent. Will only made the jump from New Japan to AEW in late-2023, with him debuting officially in early 2024. As for the injury scare angle, there's a fine line with selling injuries, and Danielson definitely has a history of selling head injuries after his return to wrestling from his bouts with head related injuries. Kind of just something that happens, usually the idea coming from the "injured" wrestler first and foremost. I agree with you though, I don't really think anyone necessarily cares for it, and even playing devil's advocate, it doesn't really make much sense in the modern era of wrestling when everyone knows what's going on more or less. There is lore about that specific move and it's a big part of Will's story, but it's still a bit distasteful for sure.

TheFlamingShark

So yeah, a few notes on the whole name of moves thing and whether people switch finishers. Typically wrestlers keep the majority of their moveset the same, but some like to reinvent themselves more than others when they switch promotions. WWE tends to like their wrestlers to have a more limited variety compared to most other promotions. Sasha Banks came up with the Mone Maker as a new finisher when she went to NJPW/Stardom and then AEW. I'd say more often than not it's up to the individual, but some cases a promotion, usually WWE, make wrestlers change their finishers. Kevin Owens used to do a Package Piledriver when he was Kevin Steen pre-WWE, but it became the Pop-Up Powerbomb (and later the Stunner as well) due to WWE not wanting people doing piledrivers. A more recent example is Tama Tonga, whose finisher in New Japan was the Gun Stun, which is basically like a RKO, and since a very prominent WWE wrestler does that finish, they change it. Usually it's either because they don't want a piledriver type finisher or it too closely relates to a finisher of someone else in the promotion, and usually only WWE cares about that. As for the names, it really depends on the move and if another promotion owns some sort of copyright on it. Typically wrestlers own most of that themselves, with the exception being that many WWE finishing move names are trademarked by them if the name is something specific to the wrestler. In the end though, it depends. Also, for more specific examples from this match, the Styles Clash is pretty universally called the Styles Clash in WWE, AEW, NJPW, and anywhere else really. AJ is more or less credited with the move and none of the companies he's done it in (TNA, NJPW, WWE) own the name or anything. Also, the Cody Cutter is a move Cody actually got from Will, and most people call it the Oscutter when anyone besides Cody does it, the difference being Cody does it with one foot on the rope as an evolution of an older move he did he rarely does now called the Disaster Kick, whereas Will's version is the traditional version with two feet, which allows him more height. But yeah, ironically to tie this long-ass comment back as a weak show of connected storytelling, WWE likely only allowed Cody to do the Cody Cutter in WWE because he got to negotiate for pretty much whatever he wanted to return to WWE, as they would probably have felt it was too close to a RKO for most wrestlers, but they wanted Cody bad, so he got to keep his non-WWE music (Kingdom), his entire brand and character he established outside of WWE, and even a move that they normally wouldn't have wanted him to use, and it's turned out pretty well for them I'd say.

TheFlamingShark

Also I'm so excited you will be doing a watch along for All In. I can't wait!

Zach Faulkner

I went to the AEW Collision taping the night before this pay per view and it was amazing. I woke up Sunday morning, and was like 'nah, I need more.' I hoped on the ticket selling sites and found someone selling a great seat for Dynasty and made the 3 hour drive to watch it live. So glad I did, this match was amazing and there was 3-4 matches on this card that the next day a lot of wrestling sites/youtube accounts were saying were in discussion for match of the year. Hopefully we will get to watch some of those in the future!

Zach Faulkner

!!

Dport

I’ll bite my tongue on this one.

Steamed Ham Champion Dillon Haggett

Osprey has been using the oz cutter for about 12 years ish? Cody "stole" it when he Haha:p

Diruroru

Really enjoyed this watch along

Diruroru

I hadn't seen this match before but I really liked it. I've never watched much Will Ospreay but he impressed me in this match greatly. Bryan Danielson is always a great watch. There's a reason he's considered one of the best wrestlers of all time. Also, his submission was called the LeBell lock in WWE as well until he started the yes/no gimmick later. It's named after Gene LeBell, one of the innovators of mixed martial arts.

Zakk219

I will accept literally ANY excuse to rewatch my favorite match of all time for like the 37th time lol

The guy with the name

Yeah I'm looking forward to seeing a few of those come across the voting soon

prototype27

Anyone can submit them for a poll if it matches the theme of the week. I wasn't following the indies as closely once Bryan went to WWE, so I don't know which specific Ricochet/Ospreay matches would be best to nominate.

Adam Nelson

Osprey has done a lot of his wrestling in Japan which is why you are seeing some different moves and a different style

Karen

I am hoping to see some of their matches please those who can submit matches

Karen

In terms of how big Danielson and Ospreay are with the hardcore Wrestling community, it would be like for the casual fan to watch Shawn Michaels Vs. Seth Rollins both in their prime.

Chad

I guess the closest WWE equivalent would be like Cena v Cody (which will probably happen in the next year anyway). Former top guy on his retirement tour v current top guy who's perceived as one of the former's replacements.

Charlie

You can probably expect to see some Ospreay/Ricochet matches nominated before too long. They had a pretty long-running rivalry across the independent scene before Ricochet went to WWE (and are probably going to renew it before too long now that Ricochet is a free agent again).

Adam Nelson

This was easily the best match I've ever gotten to see live. The crowd was really electric for it, especially since St. Louis was supposed to get a PPV in late 2021 for Full Gear, which had to be moved to a new date and location due to a UFC show I think.

Jay Nali

for some context , the move ospreay did to kill off danielson right before the hidden blade is called the tiger driver 91. move was made by the legendary mitsuharu misawa, he only used the move a handful of times mostly against one of his rivals kenta kobashi. ospreay only used the move one other time i believe which was against kenny omega at forbidden door 2023. i think ospreay calls it the tiger driver 97 or 98 tho, i cant remember right now. the move is very protected so thats why danielson was selling it so hard, and it is actually used in storyline right now. ospreay refuses to use the tiger driver because in kayfabe it hurt danielson that much. he has teased using it before most recently against swerve at forbidden door 2024 a few weeks ago, but since this match it hasnt been used successfully, always countered or ospreay just doesnt have the courage to do it and just switches to another move. i think he will end up using it eventually though to win the world title but they are just trying to sell it to be a deadly move. (which it kind of is because if you dont perform it safe enough your opponent could die, like actually one bad landing on the neck and it might be over.)

Dre Mercy

Alot of people like the Bryan neck selling and and alot of people don't. I like it but I can usually tell wether it is a work sell or not by camera angles and how commentary cover it. Though there is always that first 20 seconds of "ohhh shit, please no". He is WAY too good at that selling and it always causes arguments for and against it when he puts in into his work.

Jordan Amos

Bryan Danielson was called "The American Dragon" before joining WWE. Will Ospreay was inspired by AJ Styles to become a Wrestler and especially by AJs Match against Christoper Daniels and Samoa Joe you did the watch along for. I guess thats also one reason he uses the Styles Clash from time to time.

Markus Ruoff

I probably have watched this over 50 times, and it still makes me feel the same way it did watching it live. Also loved that you got to saw this. Danielson is just a very good actor lol he's still selling the injury in AEW storylines to this day

BazMan01

In the past Danielson was forced to retire because of concussion problems. Since he’s come out of retirement, he’s chosen to go with a very realistic and worrying type of selling based on his very real experience with concussions and neck injuries. Both the fans and management are aware of his decision to sell like that and it’s pretty divisive. Everyone wants to feel an emotional response from wrestling but nobody wants to see the people behind the characters actually hurt. It’s a double edged sword. Danielson is beloved by millions for his well known passion and dedication for the business but we legitimately worry when we can’t tell if he’s actually injured or just selling. He’s too convincing. Go back and look how Danielson landed after the hurricanrana from the top rope, the one where Osprey lands on his feet. That scared the absolute HELL out of me. It looked like he bounced right off the top of his head. It’s at 24:15 of your reaction.

Gai Valentine

The reason why this match-up is considered such a big dream match is that Bryan Danielson is widely considered the greatest wrestler of all time (in terms of actual in-ring ability and match storytelling) and Will Ospreay is widely considered as the current greatest wrestler in the world. Ospreay is already, in his young career, in the conversation for Greatest of all Time along with Danielson, Kazuchika Okada, & Kenny Omega. But all of that is subjective in the end. Thanks for watching this, I really enjoyed it.

Thomas Garner

Was a great match but there few matches I like more but was a amazing match I think some liked it more then me tho

Ryan Evans

so happy i got to see this match in person, the building was electric !!

Dre Mercy

Yeah , you don’t need to put too much stock into the term “dream match”. The term is just used for a match between two wrestlers that a lot of people wanna see. Basically, Danielson over his 25 year career, has proven himself to be the best pro wrestler in the world today, by the opinion of lot of people. But in the past decade, Will Osprey along with Kenny Omega have been shifting that opinion towards themselves in the eyes of many wrestling fans. Btw, the wrestling fans I’m talking about are ones who are DEEP into the wrestling scene beyond WWE. A lot of those types of fans can potentially be VERY loud and opinionated. Not all of them, tho.

Gai Valentine

This isn’t my favorite match but it is the Greatest Wrestling match I’ve ever seen

Wilson Simons