After last week’s incredible Blood & Guts event, there isn’t much time to take a breath as it’s another stacked episode for tonight’s edition of Dynamite. There is THREE title matches scheduled for tonight’s card, including the IWGP US title being defended on an AEW show for the first time ever. The TNT title and Tag Team titles will also be on the line, and there will be a #1 contenders match to see who will be facing Kenny Omega for the AEW World championship at Double or Nothing at the end of May.
All this and more, and here is where we’re going to break it all down.
Jon Moxley (C) vs Yuji Nagata – IWGP U.S Title Match
Jon Moxley will be putting his IWGP U.S title on the line for the second time this year, and this time his challenger will be Japanese veteran Yuji Nagata. Moxley has been intertwined with Kenny Omega and the Super Elite as of late, but now must shift all his focus to the defence of his title.
Jon Moxley has been the IWGP U.S champion for an incredible 494 days, but has only defended the title 3 times in that time frame. Mox has defeated Juice Robinson, Minoru Suzuki, and most recently Kenta on the main event of NJPW’s Strong event in February. Obviously, the pandemic is the reason why he’s had so few title defences, but New Japan have showed faith in Moxley by keeping the title on him all this time.
Jon Moxley’s opponent is the legendary Yuji Nagata. Nagata is no stranger to IWGP championships, as he himself is a 2-time IWGP Heavyweight champion (one of, if not the most, prestigious titles in all of professional wrestling), and he has even won the G1 Climax tournament in 2001. The veteran of 29 years has been wrestling since 1992, and even though his best days might be behind him, the 53 year old and Mox should be able to put a good match together for tonight’s show.
I think it would be a massive upset if Nagata could take the title from Moxley tonight, but the bigger story is that a New Japan title is being defended on AEW programming. This is the first time another companies championship has been defended on Dynamite since the NWA’s women’s title. It looks like the forbidden door is wide open again, and I hope that this can lead to other NJPW talent like Kazuchika Okada or Jay White showing up in AEW.
Darby Allin (C) vs Miro – TNT Title Match
Darby Allin has been on quite the streak, defending his title 4 times in 4 weeks. Last week Allin was attacked by Ethan Page and Scorpio Sky before being thrown down a flight of concrete stairs, for what looked like a brutal fall. The segment ended by Darby being tended to by the medical team, and was taken away. Less than an hour later, Miro had issued the challenge to Darby for his TNT championship.
Since making his debut, Miro had been tagging with Kip Sabian, and had a LENGTHY feud with the Best Friends. That seems to all be over now, with Kip needing surgery and thus allowing Miro to be off on his own. Miro being a singles competitor is what people have wanted from day one, and now it looks like it’ll finally be happening.
Miro is a dominating force, and since leaving WWE, we haven’t really had a chance to see what a powerhouse he can be. I think this is the perfect opportunity to showcase what an awesome competitor Miro is. Everything here is lined up for a title change, as Darby can have the excuse that he was brutally attacked a week prior to the match, and they have set up his potential next feud with Ethan Page. Meanwhile, the TNT Title can be the launchpad for Miro to really take off here in AEW.
Young Bucks (C) vs SCU – Tag Team Title Match
This is one of the most personal matchups that AEW has put together. The Young Bucks and SCU go way back, and if you’ve seen the Youtube show “Being the Elite”, you know just how close they are (very). Then, there’s the added layer that if SCU loses this match, it’s their last match as a team, and they must disband the group forever.
SCU are currently on a 7 match win streak, and if you don’t count the Casino Tag Team Royale, it goes all the way back to December 16th when they last lost a tag team match — If anyone deserves to be #1 contenders right now, it’s SCU. However, the calibre of teams that SCU have defeated are nowhere near the talent of the Young Bucks, and if we’re going to see new tag team champs, Kaz and Daniels will have to be on their A-game.
Unfortunately for SCU, the Young Bucks have been on another level, and since reuniting with Kenny Omega and the Super Elite, Matt and Nick look untouchable. I would be really surprised to see the Bucks lose tonight, and with Scorpio Sky having already moved on from Kaz and Daniels, this is probably the end of the road for SCU.
There is a lot more happing on tonight’s show, including a massive #1 contenders match between Orange Cassidy and PAC. This is an interesting matchup, as PAC is one of the few wrestlers who has a win over Kenny Omega, and a future OC vs Omega match would be another fresh, never before seen main event. Also, Cody Rhodes will also have a big announcement for Double or Nothing.
All this and much more can be seen on TNT (or TSN in Canada) at 8PM EST.
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