Riho vs. Nyla Rose (AEW Dynamite 2/12/20)

Riho’s just so great isn’t she? These two put on a banger last year in the inaugural AEW Women’s World Championship match and they followed it up with another fun TV match here. Nyla’s come off as a bit green at her worst (which to her defense is just an AEW problem in general) but this might have been her best performance yet. She and Riho have really strong chemistry together utilizing that age old formula of David vs. Goliath. Riho’s just an incredibly compelling babyface, sympathetic and so believable once she gets into her comebacks. The aggression she showed here jumping Nyla at the start also highlighted a fresh edge to her character that might have been missing from her AEW work. A lot of great moments here like Riho running the table to dropkick Nyla, Nyla catching Riho off her drive into the backbreaker, and even Riho Northern Lights Suplexing Nyla. Riho gets incredibly over in all her matches and this was no exception but Nyla brought the fire here today. Her knee drop to Riho draped on the top rope looked vicious and all her big power moves looked like they might shatter Riho. Loved the little exchange at the end as Nyla went for the One Winged Angel and Riho retaliated with some Snap Dragons. Awesome TV match, easily the best on one of the better editions of Dynamite.