Alright, so I’m a bit of a stan for AEW, I’m not gonna shy away from that. But I gotta say, I think even looking at it objectively, this is a pretty stacked episode of AEW Dynamite we have in store tonight. AEW’s bringing quite the five matches to Philly. Let’s go ahead and look into ’em!
AEW World Tag Team Title Tournament Round 1 – SCU (Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian) vs. Best Friends
The tag team title tournament got onto an explosive start last week with Private Party scoring a huge upset win over the Young Bucks to advance. This tag division has thus far shown out in a big way and I expect that to continue tonight.
SCU and Best Friends are two very experienced, talented and beloved tandems. This should be a pretty spirited foray. But as much as SCU feel like budding cornerstones of the promotion, Best Friends are the younger, higher upside tandem. And just looking how things have progressed, I can’t help but think a rematch with the Dark Order in the semi finals on next week’s AEW Dynamite is in their future. Look for the Best Friends to come out on top here.
AEW World Tag Team Title Tournament Round 1 – Lucha Bros vs. Jurassic Express (Marko Stunt & Jungle Boy)
Closing out Round 1 is a very fascinating encounter. Jurassic Express have been a cult hit as a group, in spite of building up one of AEW’s more prominent losing streaks. Jungle Boy in particular is 0-4, which I believe is more losses than anyone. They’re an underdog story in the making, and there’s an argument for going ahead and making them tag champs, as people would easily accept it, their matches would be really good and they’re very much a definitive AEW act.
But even though I can see them as potential winners of the whole thing, the Lucha Bros and the Young Bucks going out in Round 1 is a little hard for me to wrap my head around. Fenix and Penta are just way too high level for that. This would certainly be a stunning upset akin to Private Party’s win last week and I’m not certain two in a row is necessary. At the same time I don’t see myself complaining if it happens. Still, picking the Lucha Bros for certain. (UPDATE: Since I typed this I found out that Luchasaurus is down with an injury and they’ve opted to pull him rather than risk further damage. Marko Stunt is logically replacing him. So yeah now they’re absolutely not winning.)
Hangman Page & Kenny Omega vs. PAC & Jon Moxley
Well, this is a pretty stellar tag. Moxley and Omega will finally share a ring, though probably not for too long. This to me will mostly serve as previews for future singles matches. We saw tensions arise between PAC and Moxley last week when PAC attacked Omega from behind before Mox could scrap with him. I don’t suspect they’ll get along too well here.
That will presumably cost them, with Page & Omega going over. This could theoretically setup a Mox/PAC singles match, which could well headline next week’s AEW Dynamite ep.
AEW World Women’s Championship: Riho (c) vs. Britt Baker
Riho has swiftly emerged as a very popular wrestler, and one that’s already captured the imaginations of teenage girls in particular if the segment-by-segment ratings are anything to go by. Britt is something of a postergirl for this division, the first woman they signed and someone they’ve always put a lot of focus on.
Notably she has her own issues mounting with Bea Priestley, which may become relevant here with a run-in. But regardless, you can expect a spirited underdog performance from Riho regardless of who she’s up against, as even average sized competitors tend to tower over her. Riho to retain, and probably remain champ for a while.
Philly Street Fight for the AEW World Championship: Chris Jericho (c) vs. Darby Allin
I’ve probably mentioned before that Darby Allin reminds me of a Jeff Hardy mixed with Raven. That’s a pretty good skillset to have going into a Street Fight. Similar to Riho, he’s already establishing himself as a teen idol and this match should only further solidify that.
I don’t know if there’s a single person in the world that expects him to win. It is notable that there is room for a story with him being Cody’s opponent at Full Gear instead, likely left very purposefully. Still, there’s about a 99% chance Jericho retains here. But Darby hardly has to win to raise his stock even further. This should be a great war, and I suspect Darby will look a much bigger star coming out then going in.
Jericho’s even promised the AEW debut of the Painmaker, alluding to the violent, face-painted warrior that Jericho has always played in New Japan. It’s a nice subtle tip of the hat to Darby that he finds this necessary. But Jericho to win.
That’s a whole lot for one episode of AEW Dynamite!
And in front of a Philly crowd no less, not that AEW needs to go anywhere in particular to get hot reactions. Still! Seems set to be a special show.
