Bryan Danielson / Daniel Bryan vs. Daniel Garcia (Two Out of Three Falls), from the August 17, 2022 episode of AEW Dynamite

The biggest difference between this and the prior encounter was that this elevated Garcia. I’m not going to discuss the outcomes of this or the prior match (watch them for yourself), but during this match, Garcia went from “a guy in the right place at the right time” to just about Danielson’s equal, and this narrative was not forced or made to feel incongruent. Garcia now feels like he is realizing the potential so many have claimed he has, and it isn’t unreasonable for him to be AEW champion soon, a preposterous outcome before his series of matches with Danielson.

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