Fight Forever Match of the Week: Bryan Danielson vs. Minoru Suzuki (10/15/2021)

Welcome to Wrestlevolve’s Fight Forever Match of the Week. Here we’ll highlight one match from the week in professional wrestling and talk about why it was one of our favorites. It could be a 30-minute epic or the exciting culmination of an entertaining feud. It might be a pay-per-view bout or a really solid TV match. Wrestling resonates with everyone differently, so feel free to let us know what your match of the week was in the comments!

All Elite Wrestling is doing some wild things right now. Like, they’re straight-up just giving away dream matches on their YouTube pre-shows. Hey, no complaints here! Again, that stuff’s wild, but it’s cool as hell. It’s insane how much great wrestling there is on a week-to-week basis. It’s definitely a good problem to have, and it makes the art of professional wrestling one that we’re glad to be fans of.

Aside from awesome bouts that included Bobby Fish, Willie Mack, Chris Bey, Chris Sabin, CM Punk, and so many other awesome performers, our favorite match of the week was Bryan Danielson vs. Minoru Suzuki. This battle — and believe us, it was an absolute battle — was a part of the AEW Rampage Buy-In that took place on October 15, 2021.

Typical AEW matches have a 20-minute time limit, but Danielson and Suzuki were given 30 minutes, which indicated that fans in attendance and those of us watching at home were in store for something special. And it truly was something special, from the pacing, to the in-ring storytelling, to the hard-hitting action — it was a match worthy of the raucous crowd reaction the two men were receiving during the entirety of the match.

To put it plainly, Bryan Danielson and Minoru Suzuki beat the living hell out of one another. There were strong kicks, chops, elbows, and slaps. It was great, and it was the type of bout you’d expect to see at a New Japan Pro-Wrestling event. Heck, given AEW’s willingness to work with other companies, we could potentially see a rematch between these two in a NJPW ring!

Aside from pummeling one another, Danielson and Suzuki also put each other in some painful-looking submission holds. This match, however, was clearly not meant to end with someone tapping out, as both competitors were able to fight out of the holds, teasing the audience before going back to some more intense offense.

Bryan Danielson picked up the victory after hitting Minoru Suzuki with a running knee that saw the American Dragon get the one-two-three.

Interestingly, this isn’t the first time these two have met in the ring. Bryan Danielson tweeted about his first encounter with Minoru Suzuki, which occurred in 2004. He said that Suzuki showed him what violence and sadism in pro wrestling truly were. He then went on to say that he’s learned a lot about violence himself, which he clearly demonstrated in the instant classic that took place during the Rampage Buy-In.

If and when these two meet again, it’s very likely going to be an ultraviolent showcase of strong striking ability and bone-crushing submissions. It’s going to rule!

What was last week’s best bout? Click here for more Fight Forever Match of the Week awesomeness!