Danielson would make him look good, give him some moments, and tap him out. When Garcia was announced as the return opponent for Danielson in the main event of Dynamite, I think most people assumed that Garcia would be dealt another competitive, hard-fought loss. He has been very competitive in all of those matches, but prior to Wednesday he was still winless in singles matches on Dynamite, Rampage, or pay-per-view (he has several singles match wins on AEW Dark and AEW Dark: Elevation that are much lower profile). He’s also had singles matches against big stars like Kingston, Darby Allin, CM Punk, Bryan Danielson, and Jon Moxley, along with a showcase match against fellow young lion Wheeler Yuta at the last Ring of Honor pay-per-view. As part of JAS’s feud with Eddie Kingston and the Blackpool Combat Club, Garcia has been part of a couple of the acclaimed multi-man matches, having an especially great performance in Anarchy in the Arena. Garcia started as a lackey and tag partner of his upstate New York indie brethren 2point0 and has been given bigger opportunities as a member of the Jericho Appreciation Society (JAS). AEW doesn’t have a developmental league like NXT, so their job is trickier: They need to develop their talent under the same hot lights as the main eventers. We have also seen talented wrestlers stuck in limbo so long that when the promotion finally gets behind them, the midcard stench can’t be washed off.Īt 23 years old, Daniel Garcia is clearly one of the blue-chip prospects in the wrestling world. We have all seen wrestlers get the Icarus push, where they fly closer to the sun than their wings will allow (I am a little concerned about how melty Theory’s wax wings look right now, for example). It is like picking fruit: If you pick a nectarine too early, it is going to be sour, but if you leave it too long, it rots on the vine. Pushing a young wrestler can be a perilous thing.

Daniel the cameraman