AEW: Well, what wasn’t a ‘boom’ for Feb. 26, 2020?

Boom: put this in your Mount Rushmore of Iron Man matches

Wow. I’m not sure I can do this match justice here, but here goes.

There are three classic Iron Man matches that stick out in my mind: Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels; Brock Lesnar vs. Kurt Angle; and Sasha Banks vs. Bayley. Well, let’s add this match to that short list.

The first 13 minutes of this match were paced so fast that if you didn’t know it was an Ironman match, you’d be excused if you thought the match should have been over by then (or at least, had one fall). PAC’s chest was actually bleeding from Omega’s chops, and they were hitting each other with stiff shot after stiff shot; this was truly a New Japan Pro Wrestling-inspired match.

PAC, frustrated at the lack of falls seemingly, pulled the ultimate heel move by forfeiting a fall due to striking Omega with a chair (a play out of Lesnar’s book against Angle), but gaining the advantage from the attack; he landed the Black Arrow shortly after to tie it up at 1-1.

It only became more intense after. Check this out:

PAC landed a little short, with his upper chest landing on Omega with such force the end of the table flipped and struck PAC in the face, but what a sight.

Justin Roberts really sold that he just found out there would be a sudden death period, and since it looks like Omega is poised for more in 2020, having him go over here is probably the right call.

The only nitpick I had was the involvement of the Young Bucks. While Paul Turner did a great job reffing the match, why didn’t he eject the Bucks after they helped Omega into the ring to avoid a count out as a result of the Shooting Star Press above? Without that, there would have been no sudden death period and PAC would be the victor.

Still, this was a match that will be replayed for years in AEW along with Cody’s moonsault off the top of the cage. This was truly a masterpiece in wrestling art.