In wrestling, there's a tradition that a wrestler should go out on their back. That is to say, a wrestler should lose their final match as a way to give part of their fame and their star to the person who beat them.
At least, that's supposedly how it works. There have been several examples of final match winners, including several stars who came back and won their "one final match" return to the ring. Even Ric Flair won his final match. Heck, even the Undertaker, the man many say believed in doing what was right for The Business above all else, won his final match before riding off into the sunset.
But that's not to say the mentality that's the way things ought to be doesn't exist. With that, I want to talk about something really interesting that's going to be unfolding over the next 12 months. That, and one incredibly petty reason that I'll get to later.
On the Wednesday, September 13 episode of AEW Dynamite, Brian Danielson (Bryan Daniels in WWE) announced he plans to retire in one year's time, coinciding with his daughter's seventh birthday. It was a heartfelt and hilarious segment that included 8,000 people booing a child for turning six. Wrestling is amazing, you guys.
Bryan Danielson just won the second of two matches in an intense feud with Ricky Starks. It was a feud that started entirely by accident, when Bryan Danielson stepped in three days before the September 3, 2023 All Out pay per view. Ricky Starks' original opponent had been suddenly fired from the company for reasons outside the scope of this screed.
This past Saturday's AEW Collision gave us the the only possible escalation of the original Starks-Danielson bout-turned-debacle in the form of a Texas death match, which concluded when Danielson wrapped his knee up in a chain and banged Starks' noggin with it rill hard. Starks failed to answer the 10 count, as one might imagine.
This might be hard to believe if you're not a fan of wrestling, but Ricky Starks actually came out of both of these matches looking stronger than when he came in. Before his first bloody clash with Bryan Danielson at All Out 2023, Ricky Starks felt like a lot of talk with at times seemingly not much backing up the mouth. Two bloody ordeals later opposite the Bryan Danielson, and Ricky Starks feels as real as it gets. Let's see Ricky Starks hungry and off the leash! He deserves the opportunity.
Imagine if The Rock could actually wrestle. That's Ricky Starks! He's got exceptional timing, good technical ability, insane agility, and works an incredible pace in the ring that starts at a 9 and leaves 10 in the rear view mirror.
Ricky Starks makes everything he does in the ring look so gosh darn easy, even working a microphone. Especially working a microphone. Not to mention he has the prettiest and simultaneously most devastating Spear in the business. Dude has always been on the cusp of greatness and just keeps getting better. Week on week, Starks continues to craft his own nuanced take on the embittered good guy sick of getting screwed over taking what he feels he's owed. There's probably more than a bit of reality baked in there.
The guy is a star. He just is.
I want to believe Danielson is the breed who believes a wrestler goes out on their back. Whether knowingly or not, I think this places the dominoes perfectly for a unique opportunity in 11 months' time: see... Ricky Starks is the guy who's always been almost there. Ricky Starks is guy who always comes up short. Ricky Starks is the guy who just can't quite clinch the big one. Ricky Starks is the guy... who retires Bryan Danielson.
Imagine this: Bryan Danielson shows up the week after winning what everyone believes is his last match to thank the fans for their support. As Danielson leaves the ring to embrace his wife and daughter, we see a look of horror on their faces as Ricky Starks attack Danielson from behind with a chair, absolutely wearing it out on the back of Bryan Danielson. Ricky Starks isn't content to let Danielson leave. It's one year on from the Texas death match, but Starks still holds a grudge. Starks goads Danielson out of retirement for one final war. Starks challenges Danielson to an I Quit match, a stipulation where the only way to win is also its only rule: "make the opponent say 'I quit' by any means necessary," because Ricky Starks isn't content with seeing Danielson retire. He wants to be remembered as the man who made Bryan Danielson literally quit wrestling.
That last part--that's the part where I'm acalling my shot. That's my petty secondary reason for posting this I mentioned earlier and my prediction: Bryan Danielson's last match will be a loss against Ricky Starks in an "I Quit" match.
After a grueling, horrific nightmare of all-timer, Starks finally manages to put Danielson away. After 20-year career of defying limits, Danielson and Starks take each other right up to the breaking point, but in the end, Starks is the one with that last drop in the tank. Starks has Danielson locked in his own signature submission finisher, the LeBell Lock and forces Danielson to say "I quit" in front of his own family.
Imagine those boos. You cannot build a star like that by ordinary means. Legitimacy like that is the "rub" a retiring wrestler can give another up-and-comer on the way out the door. That's a story 20 years in the making. A story that can only be built upon the unique circumstance of this shared history at this specific point in time.
Meet back here in one year and we'll see how good I am at predicting things.
What's that, Third Party? Trying to predict anything in wrestling a year in advance is laughable on its face? Yeah. I know.
See you in a year.
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