"Very good match" - Former WWE manager Dutch Mantell heaps praise on recent AEW match (Exclusive)
Dutch Mantell recently shared his thoughts on the TNT Championship contest between Sammy Guevara and Isiah Kassidy, which went down on AEW Rampage this week. The wrestling veteran was a fan of the bout, and he even gave his take on the intriguing post-match angle featuring The Spanish God and Darby Allin.
Guevara had his first successful title defense on Friday night after Kassidy pushed the champion to his limits. There were a few instances in the match where Matt Hardy and Andrade intervened to help the HFO member, but the TNT titleholder overcame all odds to win.
While discussing the same on Sportskeeda Wrestling's Smack Talk, Dutch Mantell applauded both performers for delivering a good match. However, the veteran pointed out a minor flaw about Sammy Guevara not selling his kayfabe rib injury early on in the bout:
"Good match, very good match. And Sammy had his ribs taped up, but he didn't sell the ribs till way late in the match. So, I think he could have sold it a little bit earlier, but that's a little point. But when he did so, it worked," Dutch Mantell said. (1:07:58-1:08:15)
Furthermore, Mantell loved how Darby Allin came out to save Guevara in the post-match segment and then teased a challenge for the TNT title.
The former WWE personality stated that AEW explained the entire angle without incorporating a verbal back-and-forth, which made sense from a storyline perspective:
"And then at the end, he was outnumbered, and then here comes Darby Allin, that was good, and then they looked at each other (..) So I'm thinking Darby Allin probably wants to challenge for that title, right. He [suggested], 'I'm not here for you, I'm here for me because I want to take it over,' which made sense. They did that in almost an optical fashion, where you didn't even need words for it. So yeah, it made sense," Mantell added. (1:08:16-1:08:56)
You can check out the entire Smack Talk episode below:
Darby Allin could challenge Sammy Guevara at AEW Revolution
An intense face-off between the past and present of the TNT Championship! @sammyguevara and @darbyallin share some HISTORY here. What could possibly be in store next?
#AEWRampage is on @tntdrama right now! https://t.co/S7XxW1oLVv
Darby Allin and Sammy Guevara are no strangers to each other, as the two men fought multiple times in 2020. Interestingly enough, Allin holds two singles victories over Guevara in AEW, meaning he has the champion's number to this day.
After their latest staredown, it's almost a foregone conclusion that both stars will face each other again, possibly at the Revolution event this year. If that happens, the stakes will be much higher than last time since the feud will mainly revolve around the TNT Championship.
If you use any quotes from this article, please give a H//T to Sportskeeda Wrestling.