Summary

The opening match at AEW Dynasty saw The Young Bucks defeat Konosuke Takeshita and Kazuchika Okada after their uneasy alliance finally broke apart. The match had been set for the pay-per-view as a high-profile tag bout, but it ended with Takeshita effectively handing the finish to Matt and Nick Jackson.

Tension between Takeshita and Okada showed up throughout the bout. They began elbowing each other before briefly getting back on the same page, but later misfires told the story of a team that was not fully together.

How the match broke down

At one point, Matt Jackson shoved Okada into Takeshita. Takeshita tried to answer back, but instead drilled Okada with a knee strike. Later, Okada went for a Rainmaker on one of the Bucks, only for the move to be ducked, causing him to hit Takeshita instead.

The finish came when Takeshita grabbed Nick Jackson's leg as The Young Bucks set up the Meltzer Driver on Okada. Rather than stop the move, Takeshita let go, allowing the Bucks to hit it cleanly and take the victory.

After the match, Takeshita added one more shot at his partner by giving Okada the middle finger.

Winner

The Young Bucks defeated Konosuke Takeshita and Kazuchika Okada after hitting the Meltzer Driver on Okada.

What Takeshita's betrayal means for Okada

Okada took both the decisive fall and the post-match disrespect, which turns this from a simple tag loss into a clear fracture with Takeshita. For AEW, that leaves immediate room for fallout between the two men after Dynasty, especially since the match itself was built around major names who were never fully able to function as a team.

Just as important, The Young Bucks benefit from the chaos without having to overcome a united version of Okada and Takeshita. That gives the result value beyond a single opener, because the finish was tied directly to the breakdown inside their opponents' corner.

Sources

As reported by Fightful.