30 Best AEW Matches Ever (So Far...)

23. Riho Vs. Nyla Rose (AEW Dynamite February 12 2020)

In one of the best AEW women's matches ever, Nyla Rose was the brutish monster heel savvy enough to smother her work with relish; Riho was the drastically undersized babyface who drew on the crowd to make her bigger.

This was the perfect dynamic to which every careful detail was faithful.

Early in the match, Riho sent Nyla towards the ropes with a flying headscissors takedown. Nyla didn’t eject herself from the ring - she had to maintain the thread - and so Riho only forced her outside with a follow-up dropkick. Then, in a heart-stopping moment of perfect execution, Nyla caught Riho’s flying splash in a spot that worked as well as it did because Riho flew into it like she was about to flatten her opponent. The stomach dropped. The prey had been caught.

The match at one point thrillingly resembled a platformer video game boss fight, when Riho sprinted across a table to nail Nyla with a dropkick.

Nyla didn’t waste a single bump, even when Riho disoriented her with a cartwheel before attempting another dropkick. This made the follow-up crucifix bomb feel like an earned, heroic, hopeful moment. This match was so awesome. Both performers were locked in. Their usual everyday stuff looked so unreal that Riho looked like she’d been shot when she took Nyla’s draping knee strike. Nyla followed this up with a demented throw from the top rope.

Half-dead, Riho knew she had to fire up.

If the spot in which Riho blasted Nyla with a snap dragon suplex happened too early, it might have stretched suspension of disbelief. It happened when it felt like life and death, and when the fans were most desperate to imbue her with the power.