Last week’s episode of Dynamite, Fyter Fest Night 1, was one of the most complete shows from top to bottom I’ve ever seen from AEW. It was a great episode of Dynamite, and AEW look to keep that momentum going with tonight’s episode, Fyter Fest Night 2. There have been 5 matches already announced, and two of them will be title matches. We’ll have a member of the HFO taking on OC, the first match in “the 5 labours of Jericho”, The AEW women’s championship is on the line, and a huge Wrestle Kingdom 14 rematch for the IWGP US title.
All this and so much more, and here is where we’ll break it all down.
Jon Moxley (C) vs Lance Archer – Texas Deathmatch – IWGP US Championship
Jon Moxley just successfully defended his IWGP US title last week on Dynamite, when he defeated Karl Anderson in the opening match. Tonight’s match will have a much different style, as Moxley’s opponent is much bigger than Anderson…oh, and it’s a deathmatch.
A Texas Deathmatch is just a fancy way of saying no disqualifications, but still, letting guys like Moxley and Archer loose with no rules will be brutal. It seems as though Lance Archer has been a bit lost in the shuffle recently, and getting involved with the IWGP US title is a good decision. Archer just had his shot at the TNT title, but Miro was able to fend off the Murderhawk Monster. So Archer would’ve dropped a bit in the AEW rankings, but it still makes sense for him to take a shot at the IWGP US title, as he was the last man to hold the title before Moxley started his reign.
Jon Moxley looked great in his return to the ring, and earned himself his record setting 5th title defence. I think that we will see Jon Moxley add another title defence to his name, and if this match is anything like their deathmatch in NJPW, it’s going to be a wild, hard-hitting match!
Britt Baker (C) vs Nyla Rose – AEW Women’s Championship
In early 2021, Britt Baker was one of the hottest wrestlers in all of pro wrestling, and that culminated with Baker beating then women’s champion Hikaru Shida to become champion at Double or Nothing. Since then however, her momentum has lost some steam, and I think it has to do with who AEW chose as her first title challenger.
Having Nyla Rose be the challenger for Britt Baker makes sense from a wins/loss record point of view, but where the issue is coming from is both women are working heel. Baker is more on the line between heel and face, but her in-ring style works best as a heel, and Nyla Rose is just flat out heel. The heel vs heel angle is a terribly tough dynamic to make work in wrestling, and I think it’s the main reason people aren’t too high on this feud.
I think the match itself will work, because Nyla will use her size advantage over Britt and that will get the sympathy from the crowd. Britt will win this one to keep the title, and after this Britt needs to feud with a baby face, ideally someone like Yuka Sakazaki if she stays in America long enough.
Chris Jericho vs Shawn Spears
This will be the first test in the “the 5 labours of Jericho” that MJF has set for the Inner Circle leader. Chris Jericho’s first matchup will be against a veteran from the Pinnacle with a little bit of a twist to the match.
Shawn Spears made a big splash in the early days of AEW, when he nailed Cody Rhodes with a huge chairshot, that earned Spears the nickname “the Chairman”. That plays into tonights match, as Spears is legally allowed to use a chair, while Jericho is not!
Even with the odds being slightly in favour of Shawn Spears, it wouldn’t really makes sense for “the 5 labours of Jericho” to end night one…
The other two matches announced for tonight’s Dynamite has Orange Cassidy taking on the Blade in single’s action, and Frankie Kazarian goes one-on-one with Doc Gallows. I also hope we get more development from Andrade El Idolo and the Death Triangle, as well as Malakai Black and Cody Rhodes, and will we hear from Kenny Omega and the rest of the Elite?
All this and so much more can be seen on TNT (TSN in Canada) every Wednesday night at 8PM EST.
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Here is the latest episode of Weekly Sauces featuring AL’s offensive lineman, Tony Washington.