AEW Dynamite: Episode #3 Recap

AEW brought another fantastic professional wrestling show to its audience this week. Both their women’s and men’s titles were defended, as well as the culmination of the first round of matches for The World Tag Team Title Tournament. AEW continues to showcase its tremendously talented young wrestlers.

AEW kicked off this week with the continuation of The World Tag Team Title Tournament in a fun match. The fans came alive for Scorpio Sky who delivered an excellent performance despite competing without any shoes on. Scorpio Sky was only involved in the match because of a pre-bout attack. During their entrance Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian were attacked by The Lucha Brothers that ended with a brutal package piledriver on the entrance ramp that took Daniels out of the match. It was later announced in the show that he was up and walking, so it’s unclear who will represent SCU in the tournament going forward. SCU defeated The Best Friends to face The Dark Order in the next round.

Because of an injury to Luchasaurus, Marko Stunt was subbed in to tag with Jungle Boy to take on The Lucha Brothers. Jungle Express looked to be huge underdogs in the match but proved to be worthy adversaries to The Lucha Brothers. Marko Stunt managed to hit a 450 splash on Fenix, but it wasn’t enough as Fenix and Pentagon demolished Marko Stunt to pick up the victory.

Next week the semi-finals will take place, featuring The Lucha Brothers taking on Private Party, and SCU will face The Dark Order. Both these matches promise to be intriguing as AEW looks to crown its first Tag Team Champions.

Elsewhere in the tag division, acting on behalf of Santana and Ortiz (FKA LAX), Chris Jericho challenged The Young Bucks to a match at Full Gear on November 9. The Young Bucks are in action next week so hopefully we’ll get conformation of that match.

Riho successfully defended her women’s title against Britt Baker. Baker came very close to winning with a ridiculously close three count, but Riho picked up a roll-up victory on Britt Baker to escape with her title. Riho continues to get great reactions from the crowd and is one of AEW’s brightest stars but looking forward to Full Gear, her next challenger seems unclear. She has now defeated Baker, Nyla Rose and Hikaru Shida. Who can stop this new reign of terror? Next week Britt Baker is in action and it seems likely she will have some sort of confrontation with Bea Priestly, who could possibly insert herself into the title picture next.

Jon Moxley and Kenny Omega clashed this week, while Moxley tagged with PAC and Omega with Adam Page. After Moxley and Omega both went for barbed wire weapons, PAC stepped in throwing both weapons to the floor which prompted Moxley to attack PAC leading to Adam Page picking up the victory. The anticipation for Moxley and Omega’s match at Full Gear continues to build as they display some intense chemistry with each other. Next week, Moxley will battle PAC in what’s sure to be another excellent match for AEW.

In the main event of the night, Chris Jericho successfully defended his title against Darby Allin in a Street Fight. Jericho promised to bring “The Painmaker” to AEW, and he did just that by tying Darby’s hands behind his back and later powerbombing him on his skateboard. Despite this, Darby still managed to get a near fall and had a number of standout moments in the match.

The match ended when Jake Hager interfered allowing Chris Jericho to lock in the Walls of Jericho for the victory. It was an impressive showing for Darby Allin who has the look and natural charisma of a future star in AEW. This makes Cody versus Chris Jericho official for Full Gear which has a great story going into it, as AEW aren’t shying away from Cody’s role within the company.

What were your highlights from the show? Who do you think will advance to the finals of The World Tag Team Tournament? And who will Riho defend her title against at Full Gear? Please leave your comments and join the discussion below.