Cassidy and Yuta brought the heat to the ring in a thrilling opening match. The action started with Cassidy extending his hand for a handshake, but Yuta had other ideas as he went in for a punch. Cassidy reacted quickly, countering with a cazadora into pinning combinations, forcing Yuta to retreat and regroup.
But Yuta wasn’t going down that easily, as he quickly grounded Cassidy and turned the tables with a seatbelt pin for two. At this point, Claudio Castagnoli made his presence known, slapping Yuta in the face and firing him up. Yuta responded by taking out Cassidy with a dive, much to the crowd’s displeasure, while Castagnoli returned backstage.
Back in the ring, Yuta continued to dominate Cassidy, who had put his hands in his pockets. Cassidy tried to make a comeback, kipping up and going up and over in the corner, but Yuta countered with an atomic drop in mid-air. However, Cassidy avoided a top rope splash and turned the tide.
A series of reversals led to both wrestlers trading German suplexes, with Cassidy attempting the Mouse Trap, only for Yuta to counter into one of his own. Yuta then spat his gum at Cassidy, sticking it perfectly on his forehead, leading to a forearm battle and a double down.
But the action was far from over, as Yuta avoided Beach Break and pulled Cassidy to the apron by the ear, only for Cassidy to counter with a backdropped Yuta on the apron and a diving DDT to the floor. Cassidy hit the satellite DDT back inside the ring, but Yuta countered with a piledriver.
With both wrestlers giving it their all, Cassidy popped up with the Orange Punch, but Yuta kicked out. Cassidy then hit Beach Break, but Yuta kicked out again before Cassidy landed one final Orange Punch to secure the win in a fantastic opener.
After the match, Cassidy attempted to hug Yuta. Still, Castagnoli intervened, instructing Yuta not to reciprocate as he brushed past Cassidy, leaving the fans eagerly anticipating what would happen next in this fierce wrestling feud.
Nah, if you spit gum in my face… we be fighting#AEWDynamite pic.twitter.com/Mqde6PDBcq
— AEW on TV (@AEWonTV) February 23, 2023
