"These are the phoniest matches"- Jim Cornette lashes out at champion's match on AEW Dynamite
Jim Cornette is a known fan of both Sammy Guevara and Darby Allin. However, the former Midnight Express manager tore into their match on last week's AEW Dynamite.
Darby Allin and Sammy Guevara are touted as two of the four pillars of AEW's future. Last Wednesday, the two clashed in a high-octane main event for the TNT Championship. The Spanish God retained his title after Andrade El Idolo interfered and struck Darby Allin with an iPad.
Speaking on his podcast the Jim Cornette Experience, Cornette panned the match. The industry veteran implied that without the babyface-heel dynamic, the bout was meaningless:
"This match might still be going on as far as I know, 'cause I again didn't make it all the way to the end. For the TV title, Darby Allin against Sammy Guevara, another babyface versus babyface match for no good reason, so therefore nothing important will be accomplished here," said Cornette. (00:04)
Cornette went on to explain how the lack of a traditional character dynamic could even be detrimental to the company and its talent:
"The crowd will be lively since they like both guys and they're pulling for their favorite, which of course means that by design the person in charge of this fiasco has basically set it up so that half the people in the crowd will be cheering against one of your top babyfaces. That's good psychology. Let's see if we can get as many people to cheer against and root against our babyfaces as possible. That way our heels could be more popular. What the f**k?" (00:23)
Jim Cornette explained why the AEW Dynamite main event wasn't a good match
Finally able to open my eyes I suffered a scratched cornea on Wednesday.
All respect to Darby, We came into this company with everything to prove & in 3 years we have shown that we not only belong but we are this place.
Every time I’m on your TV I’ll give you a show, I promise.
In the same episode, Jim Cornette criticized the spot-heavy style of Darby Allin and Sammy Guevara. He believes the two are simply too small to be hitting each other with so many high-impact moves, and the match looked phony as a result:
"Both these guys can work some and it would be a good match if any of them, either one of them had any restraint. But they don't end. The total weight of both of these competitors doesn't top 330 pounds. I myself, just me alone, I have weighed, in my lifetime, 50 pounds less myself than both these guys together. But yet you can't hurt either one of these motherf******s by running over him with a truck. These are the phoniest matches." (01:01)
This is hardly the first time Cornette has been critical of AEW's oft-used "indie" style. However, with over 40 years of experience in the business, his opinions do tend to hold some weight.
Darby Allin and Sammy Guevara are fearless workers who will be an important part of AEW's future. But perhaps, for the sake of their own longevity, they should hold back on using all their moves in every match.