Over the past few weeks, AEW has focused on a lot of tag team wrestling (which includes last week’s AMAZING, 5 star Young Bucks vs PAC & Fenix match), but they’re flipping the switch and tonight’s episode will be filled with singles matches. Of the 6 scheduled singles matches, two of them will be championship matches. On top of that, two members of Team Taz will be in action, and we’ll also have a wrestler in his first match on Dynamite since returning from injury.
All that and more on tonight’s Dynamite, and here is where we’ll break it all down.
Darby Allin (C) vs Jungle boy – TNT Title
Darby Allin is coming off a brutal falls count anywhere title defence against Matt Hardy on last week’s episode of Dynamite. We’ll see if Darby is 100% after that match, as he took numerous chair shots from Hardy, one in particular was especially brutal that left a big welt immediately on Darby’s back. If that wasn’t enough, Darby would put his own body on the line, and proceed to hit a coffin drop from a pillar onto Matt Hardy through the announce table for the win. Allin took a lot of punishment last week, but if there is ever been a wrestler who is the definition of resilient, it’s Darby Allin.
Jungle boy will be the one challenging Darby on this occasion. Jungle boy has primarily competed in tag team matches when appearing on Dynamite, but his few singles matches have been memorable. The two that instantly come to mind are: the match with Chris Jericho where Jungle boy pushed Jericho to a draw, and more recently the big win Jungle boy scored over Dax Harwood. Will Jungle boy be able to rise the occasion once again and become the new TNT Champion?
I think the coolest thing about this match, is the fact that this is a glimpse into AEW’s future. A lot of people a tipped both Darby Allin and Jungle boy to become future AEW champions, and tonight we’ll see our first glimpse of the two going head-to-head for an AEW title. I think these guys’ wrestling style should mesh really well, and it’ll lead to an excellent match. I do expect Darby to come away with yet another title defence.
Hikaru Shida (C) vs Tay Conti – AEW Women’s Title
I feel that AEW have been building to this match for a long time, and tonight, we’ll finally get to see Hikaru Shida against Tay Conti for the title.
Tay Conti has really burst onto the scene for AEW after her release from NXT. It’s a popular opinion in the wrestling community that she is one of the most improved wrestlers in 2020. It’s no surprise really, as Conti has a background in a few different MMA styles, and she’s been able to put it all together really well over the last year. The timing also couldn’t have been better for both Conti and AEW, as Conti stepped up in a time of need where multiple big names in the women’s division where out injured, Tay had the spotlight on here and she took the ball and ran with it, earning herself this title shot.
Speaking of stepping it up, as much as Britt Baker likes to say she’s “the face of the women’s division” that distinction has to belong to the current champion, Hikaru Shida. As of today, Hikaru Shida has been Women’s champion for 333 days (AEW record), and has recorded 7 title defences. However, the stat that really proves how dominant Shida has been, is the fact that Shida hasn’t lost a singles match in over a year! Hikaru Shida really carried the Women’s division for the second half of 2020, and has been an awesome champion for almost a full calendar year.
I honestly will be happy with any outcome of this match, as long as the ending is clean. I’d be thrilled if this match was given the main event slot and proper time for these women to put on a show. I think I’m leaning 60/40 Hikaru Shida because I’m hoping that when she finally does lose, it’ll be at a PPV.
Trent vs Penta El Zero Miedo
It was 3 weeks ago when Trent made his return from injury during the Arcade Anarchy match which saw the Best Friends beat Miro and Kip Sabian. The following week, Best Friends came out to confront Death Triangle to let them know they hadn’t forgot about the beat down they received from PAC, Rey Fenix and Penta. Tonight we’ll see the next chapter as Trent makes his return to singles action as he takes on Penta.
Since the Lucha Bros made their debut in AEW, it was Penta and real life brother Rey Fenix who have been a tag team and PAC was the singles competitor. For last few months PAC has taken the spot of Penta in the tag team and Penta has been competing in singles matches, and he’s been delivering great performances, but he keeps coming up short. Tonight we’ll see how he fairs against Trent.
I think this will be a really hard hitting match, with tons of chops, because you have two guys in Trent and Penta who can really throw them. I’m interested to see where they go with this feud, but I think it’ll be Trent who gets the win tonight.
Also on this show, we’ll see three other singles matches, and Team Taz will be involved in two of them. Powerhouse Hobbs brutally attacked Christian last week, and as a result, the two will face off. Much like the Darby vs Jungle boy match, this match can be viewed as a display of the future of AEW as Ricky Starks takes on Hangman Adam Page. Billy Gunn will take on QT Marshall, and we’ll hear from both the Inner Circle and the Pinnacle.
All this and so much more can be seen on TNT (or TSN in Canada) at 8PM EST.
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