5 Matches to revisit before AEW: Dynamite on Saturday night

The National Hockey League returns and makes its debut on TNT tonight, meaning that All Elite Wrestling has been moved for this week to a special night and time. Your Dynamite appetites will be fulfilled on Saturday night, Oct. 16 at 7 pm CST.

But three days is too long to wait for the professional wrestling goodness that is offered multiple times a week by Tony Khan and Company. So, I have compiled five matches that you may have missed but deserve your attention ahead of the special episode of Dynamite.

A few short notes about these recommendations. These are five of my favorite matches over AEW’s two-year history, not necessarily the five best matches in the history of the company. So just keep that in mind.

Five matches to watch before AEW: Dynamite returns on Saturday Night.

Now without further ado, let’s look at the first match on our list. This one saw one legend cross party lines and face off against the current AEW World Heavyweight Champion.

Kenny Omega vs. Bryan Danielson (AEW Dynamite Grand Slam 2021 – September 22, 2021)

Think back to 2018. Daniel Bryan was the WWE Champion and Kenny Omega was rumored to be jumping ship from New Japan Pro Wrestling to the WWE. Fans went wild fantasy booking him against everyone possible: Ricochet, AJ Styles, and The Good Brothers. Fans were even considering landmark first-time matchups against guys like Bryan, Kofi Kingston, Xavier Woods, Tomasso Ciampa.

Now think back to just a few weeks ago, three years after the rumors ran rampant across our industry that Omega was making the switch. He instead assists with starting a new company, one that brings competition to WWE’s own shores. The company runs New York City for the first time in a building that WWE has never run and a former four-time WWE Champion is going to face off against “The Best Bout Machine” and the PWI’s best wrestler in the World: Kenny Omega.

That is only some of the backstory that played into the main event of AEW Dynamite Grand Slam from Arthur Ashe Stadium when these two behemoths of the industry locked up for the first time.

The match was as incredible as was expected. We saw huge moments from both competitors and Omega played his role as the heel beautifully. Ultimately, the match ended in a time-limit draw, leaving room for a rematch down the line. It also served to build Omega as a dominant champion and establish that Danielson isn’t just here to run out the clock on his legendary career. He is here to show up and show out.

Lucha Brothers vs. The Young Bucks (AEW All Out 2021)

This is my favorite title match of any company in the year 2021, full stop. The Lucha Brothers, who are not quite AEW originals but nearly so, came to the company in 2019 and reinvigorated their long feud with The Young Bucks. These teams’ battles have crisscrossed companies as well as the globe over the last several years.

The Lucha Brothers seemingly began to fade into the background of a truly stacked tag team division over the last two years until they finally collided with the AEW World Tag Team Champions, The Bucks, at the company’s premier show: All Out. The match clearly became the front runner for Match of the Night and is a personal front runner for Match of the Year.

The two teams brought their huge feud to new heights inside the confines of a steel cage and culminated years of feuding with a Lucha Brothers victory, earning themselves the highest honor in AEW for tag teams. The AEW Tag Team Championships.

Darby Allin vs. Jungle Boy for AEW TNT Championship – April 21, 2021

A true coming-out party for what will undeniably be the future of AEW, as two of its current four pillars, (Jungle Boy, Darby Allin, Ricky Starks, and MJF) faced off for the TNT Championship. Of those four, Allin was maybe the least likely to earn the first of many titles in the company.

The match, which aired for free on cable, not only launched both men to a new stratosphere of their careers but also gave a glimpse of just how good the youngest generation of the company’s workrate was and just how good the hands would be that will steer the company in the many years to come.

Though Jungle Boy came out of the match failing to claim the TNT Title, he came out of that match with a huge amount of upside and has continued to build support to become one of the top babyfaces in the company at this time.

Hikaru Shida vs. Tay Conti (AEW: Dynamite – April 21, 2021)

Hikaru Shida was undoubtedly the perfect person to hold the AEW Women’s World Championship through most of the pandemic era. Shida still holds the longest reign in the admittedly short history of AEW. One of the few times when it seemed her title run was actually in danger was when she faced fan favorite and former NXT star Tay Conti on the April 21, 2021 episode of Dynamite. The match came at a time when the AEW Women’s division was being, validly, criticized. This match, however, went quite a long way to extending the goodwill of the wrestling public about the young division with several potential, but untested stars.

Conti would not end up claiming the title, which Shida would drop at Double Or Nothing 2021 to current champion Dr. Britt Baker D.M.D. However, her bout with Shida is considered, critically, one of the best title matches in the short history of the division.

Dr. Britt Baker D.M.D. vs. Thunder Rosa Lights Out Match (AEW Dynamite St. Patrick’s Day Slam- March 17, 2021)

Dr. Britt Baker D.M.D. has established herself as one of the biggest names in All Elite Wrestling, and not just the women’s division but the entire company. Part of her legacy as one of the main stars of the company was cemented when she faced off against Thunder Rosa in the company’s third-ever Light’s Out Unsanctioned match.

Both women put their bodies on the line in the match, bleeding several times and utilizing tables, tacks, and chairs. Baker and Rosa were praised heavily for their match, getting high praise from Hardcore legend Mick Foley — Foley has recently called for a rematch to be booked by Tony Khan — even going so far as to call Thunder Rosa “A true Hardcore Legend.”

The match further established the AEW Women’s Division as not an afterthought and a true cornerstone of All Elite Wrestling.

Do you agree with my picks? Sound off in the comments and let me know on Twitter @GladenCommaSam