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AEW Dynamite In-ring Stats - Homecoming - 04/08/21
The headlines from this episode of AEW Dynamite will be all about Malakai Black's eruption onto the scene, Cody's bizarre attempt to retire aged 36 and, 50 year old, Chris Jericho's challenge for next week. However I want to talk about the perfect story that was Lee Johnson and Miro's TNT Championship match!
First off, in terms of simple Match Offence (Strikes+Grapples+Dives+every 5s of Submission), Lee Johnson is miles ahead of Miro with a total of 48, incomparison to Miro who clocked in at 23 (15+2+29/5). This is only half the story though, Big Offence presents a completely different narrative with Miro dominating that category. The casual observer may not remember Johnson getting most of the actual offence in but he did and it was used to really sell Miro as a gargantuan champion.
The other way in which this was done was to present his Strikes as having stopping power. Lee Johnson only knocked Miro down a peg with 2 of his total 42 Strikes, this is a Strikedown Rate of 5%. The gargantuan TNT Champion, Miro, knocked down his opponent with 9 out of his total 15 Strikes, a Strikedown Rate of 60%!
This presentation of Miro was underlined by Lee Johnson taking to the sky five times to show his desperation. Miro's presentation is fully underlined by this in so much as Johnson is having to throw his entire body at him several times. This occurred between the six and nine minute mark, Strikes and Grapples weren't feasible or effective so high-risk was necessary.
A final note to highlight is Miro's Taunts. Not only is Miro being presented in such a monstrous light by his Strikedown Rate, his use of Big Offence and his opponent's desperation, he is also so comfortable and emboldened by all of this that he takes the time, and increases his risk of being taken off-guard, to Taunt and mock his opponent. This may also be a way of setting up for his eventual fall.
Miro dominated the opening stages of this match. He destroyed Johnson, repeatedly, with Strikedowns, Grapples and ground him down with a Submission hold. However this minute by minute Flow of Offence chart really show us what may be Miro's weakness.
Miro used 18 out of his 21 Taunts before the end of minute five. As you can see, Lee Johnson's fight back started in minute six. By leaving the door open time and time again for Lee Johnson, Miro allowed for the barrage of offence that came his way in that three minute spell.
Perhaps if Miro was more focussed on putting his opponent away, he would have ended the match before this comeback was possible. This is particularly highlighted by the fact Miro didn't even bother to attempt a pin on Lee Johnson at all in this match. Will this play out in his eventual loss of the championship?
The other matches on this week's AEW Dynamite: Homecoming included:
- Chris Jericho vs Juventud Guererra.
- Jon Moxley, Eddie Kingston and Darby Allin vs 2.0 and Daniel Garcia.
- Christian Cage vs The Blade.
- Leyla Hirsch vs The Bunny.
- Cody Rhodes vs Malaki Black.