AEW announced six matches for their special Thursday night edition* of Dynamite including the return of the NWA Women’s World Champion.
In a tag team challenge, Tag Team Champions FTR will face Jurassic Express in a non-title match and if the Express wins, they will earn a tag title shot. The match was made Wednesday when FTR called out the Express and made fun of them during their championship celebration and were then embarrassed by the trio and run off.
Coming off her unsuccessful challenge of AEW Women’s Champion Hikaru Shida at All Out, NWA Women’s World Champion Thunder Rosa will return for her third AEW match against Ivelisse.
Other matches announced include:
Best Friends vs. Santana and Ortiz in a parking lot fight, made after Chuck Taylor and Trent challenged their rivals after they jumped Orange Cassidy Wednesday.
Chris Jericho and Jake Hager will continue their announced march toward a tag team title shot when they face Private Party.
In his first match after he and Kenny Omega lost the tag titles, Hangman Page will return to singles competition against Frankie Kazarian.
MJF will be in singles action.
*If the NBA playoff series set for next Thursday ends in six games, Dynamite will be on Wednesday instead.
With that, the man formerly known as Rusev in WWE ended his first AEW promo as he was announced as Kip Sabian’s surprise best man on Wednesday’s Dynamite.
During his promo, Miro said that after spending ten years in the same house with the same glass ceiling and the same brass ring, “you can shove that brass ring up your ass.” Shortly afterward, AEW tweeted out the above image, confirming his signing with the company.
He announced in July on Twitch that he had tested positive for COVID-19, so it’s unclear when he will be physically ready to return to action.
The 35-year-old born Miroslav Barnyashev was released in April by WWE during their pandemic-related financial cuts after a decade with the company that began in Florida Championship Wrestling in 2010.
During his time in WWE, he held the U.S. Championship three times, worked a WrestleMania against John Cena with a memorable entrance that featured a tank, and became popular with “Rusev Day.”
He’s married to Lana (Catherine Perry) who re-upped with WWE on a multi-year deal in 2019.
Excalibur, Jim Ross and Tony Schiavone were the broadcast team.
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Schiavone opened the show by interviewing Chris Jericho and MJF as they arrived at the building. Jericho and MJF played fake nice with each other. Each told the other that they had been screwed at All Out and would be AEW Champion soon.
As they walked away, each called the other an idiot.
Funny.
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Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus (w/Marko Stunt) defeated Penta El Zero M & Rey Fenix (w/Eddie Kingston, Butcher & Blade)
This was a good opener but maybe a notch below what you would expect from these teams.
Jungle Boy and Fenix began with a hot sequence. Jungle Boy hit a suicide dive. Jungle Boy tried to use Luchasaurus as a launch pad but slipped. The announcers cited the heat as the reason for the botch.
Jungle Boy got cut off and worked over. There were two separate heat segments on Jungle Boy. Luchasaurus got two hot tags and ran wild with chops and kicks both times.
Luchasaurus made a tag to Jungle Boy. Penta and Fenix hit their package driver/double stomp combo but Jungle Boy kicked out.
For the finish, Fenix came off the top with a flying attack. Jungle Boy moved out of the way and Fenix hit Penta. Jungle Boy rolled up Penta for the pin.
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They teased dissension within this group that has been together for a few weeks after the match. Penta and Fenix had to be pulled apart.
Kingston cut a strong promo and said he’s there for them, they’re his best friends and they all have each other’s backs.
He also made a reference to PAC not being there for them and made a reference to someone’s wife not being there for them, that went over my head.
Everyone made up and Kingston closed the promo by saying he was never eliminated from the Casino Battle Royale at All Out and to read the rules if we don’t believe him.
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The announcers showed highlights from Mox/MJF at All Out and pushed that the PPV replay is available for purchase. They were really pushing the replay hard.
The announcers previewed the rest of the show.
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Lance Archer and Jake Roberts cut a promo on Moxley. They were standing in a rainy alley.
Roberts said they were getting wet and enjoying it and they were going to make Moxley pee himself.
Archer said Moxley has been champ for too long and he’s sick of it.
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Matt Hardy came to the ring for a promo. He said it was great to be in front of a live audience and thanked everyone watching at home.
He said he took a scary fall and was grateful for the amazing outpouring of love and support from the fans.
He said that after a myriad of tests he was expected to make a 100 percent full recovery.
Matt pointed out his “I Don’t Die” shirt. He said he might be the dumbest man alive but he’s for sure the luckiest. He pointed out his family, his wife Reby was in the crowd with one of their children.
He apologized to the fans for the match at All Out not being what he wanted it to be. He said maybe it’s best that his feud with Sammy Guevara is over because if things had kept ramping up someone could have been seriously hurt.
Matt said that once he’s cleared he’s going to get ranked and get his first AEW championship. He said his journey is far from over and the fans are the best.
Excellent babyface promo.
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Orange Cassidy defeated Angelico (w/Jack Evans)
This was a little bit more than a squash in that Angelico got some offense but it was super quick.
Angelico worked over Cassidy’s legs with a variety of holds.
Cassidy made a quick comeback and hit a suicide dive and a high cross off the top for a near fall.
Cassidy hit the Orange Punch for the pin.
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Santana and Ortiz ran in and attacked Cassidy after the match. Trent and Chuck ran in to make the save.
Trent and Chuck challenged Santana and Ortiz to a fight in the parking lot next week.
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Alex Marvez knocked on the Young Bucks’ locker room door. They opened the door and hit him with a tandem superkick.
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The Best Man
Tony Schiavone was in the ring. He called out Kip Sabian and Penelope Ford for Sabian to reveal his best man for their wedding.
Sabian plugged his Twitch channel and asked Schiavone to leave the ring. Sabian introduced his best man. Indie wrestler Puf entered first. He wasn’t the best man. Brian Pillman Jr. entered. He was also not the best man.
Miro, the former Rusev, then entered. He is the best man. The announcers said that maybe because Miro and Sabian are both big on Twitch they found a kinship.
Miro said after ten years in the same house with a glass ceiling and an imaginary brass ring, you can shove that brass ring up your ass.
Miro said he’s not just a best man, he’s THE best man. He said if you tune into Twitch you know he’s the best gamer and if you tune in to “right here” you’ll see him destroy people very night.
Miro said elite recognizes elite and he is All Elite.
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Tony Schiavone interviewed Hangman Page. Page had his glass of whiskey with him.
Schiavone asked how Page was doing. Page gave a stock answer. Schiavone pressed him for a more honest answer.
Page said that it felt inevitable that he and Kenny Omega were going to split at All Out but it didn’t have to be that way.
He said it was his fault that FTR were in a position to challenge for the titles and he made a mistake in thinking that because the looked like him and talked like him that they were like him.
Page said that he and Kenny had a lot of problems but a lot of wins. He said not having the titles is a challenge but they’ll climb their way back to the top.
So they’re presenting this as if Page is assuming they’re still a team.
Lots of guys in their 30s talking about their feelings on this wrestling show.
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Chris Jericho & Jake Hager defeated Joey Janela & Sonny Kiss in a no DQ match
This was a decent brawl that picked up the pace and intensity after a commercial break.
Janela scored some early offense on Jericho. Janela pulled a chair from under the ring and used it. He set it up to use as a launch pad for a leg lariat in the corner but Jericho blocked and hit a suplex onto the legs of the chair.
Janela was cut off and worked over during a break. Kiss got a tag and made a comeback after the commercial break. Hager set up a table on the floor. Hager and Jericho threw Janela off the stage through the table.
Kiss hit a dive to the stage to both Hager and Jericho. Kiss went to the top rope. Jericho sprayed Kiss with a fire extinguisher. Hager then hit Kiss with a uranage and pinned Kiss with a head and arm choke.
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Jericho cut a promo after the match. He said All Out was a terrible night for The Inner Circle, his boots still smell like rotten orange and Sammy is home injured.
Jericho said it’s time to turn it all around and he and Hager want the Tag Team titles.
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MJF cut a promo backstage in his campaign headquarters. He said Moxley cheated at All Out but he doesn’t blame him because it’s in his nature.
MJF said the campaign staff is to blame and fired them all.
MJF then turned his attention to Wardlow. MJF said they shouldn’t have a problem because he signs Wardlow’s checks, not AEW.
MJF asked if they had a problem, because if they did, he would have to put Wardlow and his family on the street.
MJF said now is not the time for aggression, it’s time to plan how to get back on top.
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Moxley cut a promo. He said as if he didn’t have enough on his plate he saw out of the corner of his eye that Lance Archer won the battle royale Saturday night.
Moxley said it doesn’t get any easier for him now with Archer. He said Archer is a monster. But we need to ask ourselves, would you really bet against Moxley right now?
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Tully Blanchard and FTR were in the ring for a celebration. Some members of the tag division were surrounding the ring.
Tully put over FTR as the best team in the world. Cash said they are undefeated but they had to fight their way to the top. Cash pointed out SCU and said imagine the matches they could have had if SCU were still in their prime.
Dax cut a promo and said they’re now the locker room leaders. Dax pointed out Jurassic Express and said they get a non-title match with them next week.
Jurassic Express jumped in to face off with FTR. FTR begged off, then threw alcohol in Luchasaurus’s eyes.
FTR rolled outside. Jurassic Express dumped a cooler of ice on them. The remaining teams cut cake slices for each other while FTR and Tully left.
This felt like a bad WWE skit.
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Taz joined the announce team. Ricky Starks entered and did a promo dressed as Darby Allin.
Starks mocked Allin for getting hurt all the time and said the nex time Allin shows up, Absolute Ricky Starks is going to absolutely kick his ass.
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Nyla Rose (w/Vickie Guerrero) defeated Tay Conti
Conti was nearly in tears as she entered, clearly this meant a lot to her after signing today.
The match was a little bit clunky but a step up from most AEW women’s division matches.
Conti tried a rolling kneebar. Rose fought free and hit a splash in the corner. Vickie Guerrero interfered and raked Conti’s eyes.
They fought to the floor. Conti sent Rose into the barricade and posted her. Conti hit a second rope crossbody for a near fall during an ad break.
Conti tried a springboard sunset flip but Rose blocked. Rose teased a Beast Bomb. Conti blocked and used a triangle choke.
Rose used a Beast Bomb to escape the choke and pinned Conti.
The announcers started talking about how The Young Bucks had been fined for attacking Marvez earlier and how Cody will have a big announcement after the show.
Excalibur kept trying to bring it back to the action but JR and Tony were plugging other stuff.
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After the match, Rose continued beating down Conti. Hikaru Shida ran in for the save with a kendo stick.
The announcers mentioned Conti’s offer from Dark Order, which it seemed that sh had accepted on TV a couple of weeks ago. There were no Dark Order teases at all here and Conti was clearly a babyface.
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The announcers again said that the Bucks had been fined.
JR threw to a sit-down interview he had done with Omega earlier in the day. This is the best use of JR, by the way.
Omega said winning and losing titles comes with being a pro. He said there’s no reconciliation plan for him with Page and it’s time for him to be the ace he thought he would be and be a singles star.
This was great and worth going out of your way to see.
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Moxley vs. Archer for the AEW Championship was announced for October 14.
Best Friends vs. Santana & Ortiz in a parking lot fight, FTR vs. Jurassic Express in a non-title match. Thunder Rosa vs. Ivelisse for the NWA Women’s World title, Jericho and Hager vs. Private Party, Hangman Page vs. Frankie Kazarian were announced for next week.
The main event is next.
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TNT Championship match: Mr. Brodie Lee (w/John Silver) defeated Dustin Rhodes to retain the title
These guys beat the hell out of each other. This was an excellent brawl and very physical.
Rhodes attacked Lee during the ring introductions. They brawled around ringside with Rhodes maintaining the upper hand.
They made it back to the ring where Lee turned the tide and hit some chops. They traded chops. Lee hit some palm strikes. Lee hit a slingshot in the ropes and had the advantage before the final ad break.
Rhodes started his comeback after the break. He hit a bulldog, a hurricanrana and a destroyer for a two count. Dustin hit a Cross Rhodes for another two count.
Lee came back with a powerbomb but missed a big boot. Silver took the ref. Dustin hit the unnatural kick on Lee. Rhodes dispatched Silver with a powerslam. Dustin hit a piledriver on Lee for another near fall.
Dustin avoided a boss man slam. Lee blocked a strike and hit the discus lariat for the pin.
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Dark Order came to the ring after the match. They dragged the lifeless body of QT Marshall with them.
Lee kicked Cabana out, still upset with him for blowing their win at All Out.
Lee kicked Dustin low and the announcers threw to… Cody.
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Cody said he’s injured and has come up with a new concept in a quarantine bubble in Macon, Georgia.
Cody then threw to a commercial for the Go Big talent show on TBS, hosted by Bert Kreischer.
Jennifer Nettles, Rosario Dawson, Snoop Dogg and Cody will be the judges.
This was technically the final segment of Dynamite, a commercial for a talent show.
Dynamite will be back next Wednesday or Thursday depending on the NBA Playoffs.
AEW has revealed their first set of post-All Out roster rankings.
After winning Saturday’s Casino Battle Royale, Lance Archer is officially ranked first in the men’s division. Archer will challenge Jon Moxley for the AEW World Championship at some point in the future.
Moxley retained his title against MJF in the main event of All Out. MJF is now ranked third in the men’s division.
The women’s division rankings are unchanged from last week. Hikaru Shida retained her AEW Women’s Championship against Thunder Rosa at All Out.
FTR are the new AEW Tag Team Champions after defeating Kenny Omega & Hangman Page at All Out. Omega & Page are now ranked as the top contenders in the division.
The Young Bucks defeated Jurassic Express at All Out. Santana & Ortiz have now taken Jurassic Express’ place at fifth in the tag team rankings.
Here are this week’s full rankings:
Men’s division —
Champions: AEW World Champion Jon Moxley (17-0 singles record in 2020, 23-2-1 overall record), TNT Champion Brodie Lee (6-1 singles record in 2020, 9-2 overall record)
Lance Archer (13-1 singles record in 2020, 13-1 overall record)
Brian Cage (7-1 singles record in 2020, 7-2 overall record)
MJF (8-1 singles record in 2020, 13-3 overall record)
Cody (18-2 singles record in 2020, 26-7-1 overall record)
Scorpio Sky (7-2 singles record in 2020, 25-11 overall record)
Women’s division —
Champion: Hikaru Shida (17-1 singles record in 2020, 22-7 overall record)
Nyla Rose (8-2 singles record in 2020, 15-6 overall record)
Big Swole (8-3 singles record in 2020, 10-8 overall record)
Abadon (5-1 singles record in 2020, 5-1 overall record)
Penelope Ford (7-5 singles record in 2020, 9-8 overall record)
Britt Baker (4-6 singles record in 2020, 13-10 overall record)
Tag team division —
Champions: FTR (8-0 tag team record in 2020, 8-2 overall record for Dax Harwood, 8-2 overall record for Cash Wheeler)
Kenny Omega & Hangman Page (12-1 tag team record in 2020, 30-10 overall record for Omega, 21-11 overall record for Page)
Best Friends (14-6 tag team record in 2020, 22-17 overall record for Trent Barreta, 21-15 overall record for Chuck Taylor)
The Young Bucks (7-3 tag team record in 2020, 22-12 overall record for Nick Jackson, 22-12 overall record for Matt Jackson)
The Natural Nightmares (6-2 tag team record in 2020, 16-9 overall record for Dustin Rhodes, 11-12 overall record for QT Marshall)
Santana & Ortiz (7-4 tag team record in 2020, 15-13 overall record for Santana, 15-13 overall record for Ortiz)
AEW rounded out tonight’s episode of Dynamite by announcing two new matches and several appearances Wednesday afternoon.
Former AEW Women’s World Champion Nyla Rose (with Vickie Guerrero) will take on Tay Conti, fresh off the news of her contract signing with the company. Rose has wrestled just five times since losing the title at May’s Double or Nothing and is coming off a mid-August win over KiLynn King on Dark. This will be Conti’s first singles match since being released from NXT.
In the other match, Orange Cassidy will face Angelico (with Jack Evans) who made his AEW singles debut on Dark several weeks ago. Cassidy is coming off a win over Chris Jericho at All Out.
AEW also announced that no. 1 contender Lance Archer and Jake Roberts will make an appearance following Archer’s win at the All Out Casino Battle Royale, plus there will be a celebration by new Tag Team Champions FTR after their win at All Out.
MJF also tweeted Tuesday that there will be a mandatory campaign meeting after he lost to AEW World Champion Jon Moxley at All Out.
Tonight’s show will also feature:
TNT Champion Brodie Lee vs. Dustin Rhodes
Chris Jericho & Jake Hager vs. Joey Janela & Sonny Kiss in a no DQ match
Lucha Bros vs. Jurassic Express
Matt Hardy appearing following the injury he suffered at All Out
Kip Sabian revealing his best man for his wedding with Penelope Ford
Conti & Jay defeated Ariane Andrew & Nyla Rose in the first round of the Women’s Tag Team Cup but lost to Ivelisse & Diamante in the semifinals. On Dynamite two weeks ago, a storyline began where The Dark Order and Jay recruited Conti and offered her a contract to join Jay in the group.
Conti (real name Taynara Melo de Carvalho) is a 25 year old who was born in Brazil and has a background in judo. In April, she was released by WWE as part of the company’s roster cuts. She signed with WWE in 2016 and had been part of the NXT roster prior to being released.
In her first match since it was announced that she’s signed with AEW, Conti will be in action against Nyla Rose (w/ Vickie Guerrero) on tonight’s post-All Out episode of Dynamite.
AEW’s Countdown to All Out special averaged 357,000 viewers on TNT on Saturday afternoon.
The viewership number is up 3.8 percent from the Countdown special that aired prior to this May’s Double or Nothing pay-per-view. That Countdown show aired at 10 p.m. Eastern time on the night before the PPV. Countdown to All Out aired at 5:30 p.m. Eastern on Saturday leading into the event.
In the important 18-49 demo, the improvement was more significant. Countdown to Double or Nothing averaged a 0.10 rating and finished 51st for the night n the cable ratings. Saturday’s All Out preview special was up 40 percent in the demo, averaging a 0.14 rating and finishing 23rd on cable in that category.
There was competition in the form of the opening day of college football as well as coverage of the Kentucky Derby, which aired directly opposite the Countdown show and averaged nearly 5.5 million viewers on NBC.
The previous time AEW had programming on a Saturday was a special episode of Dynamite on Aug 22 that did 755,000 viewers and a 0.31 rating, so Countdown to All Out was down 52.7 percent in viewership and 54.8 percent in the 18-49 demo from that Dynamite episode.
In a space time continuum-type deal, this week’s show, the first since last Saturday’s All Out, featured eight matches that were taped before All Out.
Will Hobbs defeated Sean Legacy
Hobbs was fresh off his big performance in the Casino Battle Royale and as such, this was his first AEW victory. Across from him was Legacy who was making his AEW debut. The match was a pure squash built around Hobbs displaying feats of strength using his size. He hit a variety of suplexes and won with an Oklahoma Stampede.
FTW Champion Brian Cage defeated Tony Donati
This was another straight-up squash. Cage came out with the FTW Championship and hit a release German suplex at the bell, followed by an overhead belly-to-belly which landed Donati right on his head. The extent of Donati’s offense was a couple forearms, which just made Cage mad. Cage finished him off with Weapon X.
Angélico defeated Griff Garrison
Angélico had a very good singles match with Frankie Kazarian on last week’s Dark and the announcers continued to emphasize his llavero technical submission wrestling. The story of the match was that Garrison couldn’t keep up with Angélico’s pure wrestling aptitude.
Garrison made a couple comeback attempts with forearms, but was foiled with a hold transition every time. Eventually, clotheslines and a big boot put Garrison on top. He hit a spinning power bomb for two, but Angélico fought out of another attempt, reversing it into an inverted figure-four for the submission victory.
Anna Jay defeated Skyler Moore
The three Dark Order tag teams joined Jay for her entrance. This was Jay’s second singles match since becoming a member of the group. She has a great look and real presence, but between the ropes, there is a lot of room for improvement. This match wasn’t a squash and, in fact, it was pretty evenly matched throughout. Even though it was quick, it was mostly lifeless.
After some back-and-forth action, Jay took control with a back rake and a rope-hang stomp. She then applied the katahajime (the hold she used to choke out Brandi Rhodes) out of nowhere and Moore tapped out.
Eddie Kingston defeated Lee Johnson
This was Kingston’s first win in AEW as his only other singles match was his failed TNT Championship challenge agains then-champion Cody. Kingston dominated at the start with power moves. Johnston made a comeback with strikes and a Blue Thunder Bomb for two, but Kingston hit the Kitchen Sink and a spinning back fist for three.
Sonny Kiss defeated Serpentico
Serpentico was coming off a loss to Kiss’ tag partner Joey Janela at the All Out pre-show. This match was quick and all action. Serpentico got a couple near falls towards the beginning from some elbow drops, but Kiss fought back with a springboard split leg drop for two, followed by a flatliner for another nearfall.
The finish saw Serpentico counter Kiss’s bridging escape with a jumping stomp, following it up with a short DDT. Serpentico attempted a corner lariat, but Kiss evaded and hit a flipping seated senton for the win.
Ricky Starks defeated Ben Carter
Carter’s AEW debut came in the Dark main event. He was very impressive and showed great athleticism, good fundamentals and crisp striking, which resulted in a quality match. For some reason, the camera kept cutting to Vickie Guerrero cheering Starks on at ringside. Starks offered a handshake at the bell, but it was a ruse as he surprised Carter with a slap. The two performed some solid chain wrestling to start.
Starks beat down Carter for a few minutes, displaying his heel mannerisms the whole way. Carter fought back with machine gun chops in the corner but was dropped with a boot and a back suplex. Carter regained the advantage with a schoolboy, a thrust kick, and a frog splash, but missed a phoenix splash. Starks hit a great spear and the Roshambo for the pinfall.
Final Thoughts:
This week’s edition of Dark was all about giving decisive wins to AEW’s midcard wrestlers. The main event was action packed, and while there weren’t any great matches beyond that, the show moved at a brisk pace and nothing was bad. There was no semblance of any of the overarching stories that Dark has been telling (most notably The Initiative’s breakup) as this show was clearly built for the Dynamite regulars.
AEW has made a new match announcement for this Wednesday’s post-All Out episode of Dynamite.
The Lucha Bros (Penta El Zero M & Rey Fenix w/ Eddie Kingston) will face off with Jurassic Express (Luchasaurus & Jungle Boy) on Dynamite this Wednesday. This will be the first time Luchasaurus & Jungle Boy have faced The Lucha Bros in a two-on-two match. They were originally supposed to face each other in the first round of AEW’s Tag Team title tournament last year, but Marko Stunt replaced Luchasaurus in the match due to Luchasaurus being injured.
“This match was supposed to be our tv debut. I’m glad we’re finally getting back to it,” Jungle Boy tweeted today.
The Young Bucks defeated Jurassic Express at All Out. That match was set up by The Young Bucks & Jurassic Express teaming together to defeat SCU & Private Party in an eight-man tag match on Dynamite last week. The stipulation was that the two teams on the winning side would face each other at All Out.
At Saturday’s pay-per-view, Penta El Zero M and Fenix were both entrants in the Casino Battle Royale. Lance Archer won the battle royal and will challenge for Jon Moxley’s AEW World Championship at some point in the future.
Here’s he updated lineup for this week’s Dynamite:
TNT Champion Brodie Lee defends against Dustin Rhodes
Chris Jericho & Jake Hager vs. Joey Janela & Sonny Kiss in a no DQ match
The Lucha Bros vs. Jurassic Express
AEW World Champion Jon Moxley speaks after retaining his title against MJF at All Out
Matt Hardy will appear following the injury he suffered at All Out
Kip Sabian will reveal his best man for his wedding with Penelope Ford
After getting tossed in a vat of mimosa by Orange Cassidy at All Out, Chris Jericho will look to let his frustrations out on this Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite.
The former AEW World Champion will team with Inner Circle member Jake Hager to take on Joey Janela and Sonny Kiss in a no DQ tag team match that was announced Tuesday. Jericho made quick work of Janela in a singles match on last week’s Dynamite, bloodying him up, while Kiss eliminated Hager in the Casino Battle Royale.
The show will also feature an appearance by Matt Hardy, fresh off his near catastrophic fall onto concrete at All Out that quickly became the topic du jour for how the company handled the situation. Additionally, Jon Moxley will talk for the first time following his successful World title defense over MJF and Kip Sabian will reveal the best man for his wedding to Penelope Ford.
In the only other announced match thus far, TNT Champion Mr. Brodie Lee will defend the title against Dustin Rhodes after “The Natural” scored the winning pinfall in an eight man tag match against the Dark Order at All Out.
Being The Elite began this week with The Young Bucks traveling to Jacksonville for last week’s Dynamite. There was a Jake Roberts joke that went over my head in the cold open.
The Bucks then went to another Wal Mart in search of their action figures but struck out again.
After some Cutler Cam footage from Dynamite, Jurassic Express confronted Matt and Nick in their locker room for not doing any of their taunts on Dynamite.
Matt and Nick then criticized Luchasaurus for not doing a Canadian destroyer and ribbed him for dating Helen Hart. Luchasaurus called Helen “The Original Canadian Destroyer” and said he dated her before Stu did.
Other highlights from this week’s show included:
Hangman Page approached Brandon Cutler backstage and asked him to apologize to Matt and Nick for him. Page said he knew he messed up and was sorry for costing them their match two weeks ago.
Alex Reynolds and John Silver talked about needing to recruit more Dark Order members. Silver is the star of this show by such a wide margin. They entered MJF’s locker room. MJF wasn’t”t there but Wardlow was. They proceeded to hit on Wardlow and talk about how pretty he was. Wardlow left and Reynolds and Silver were upset that they were so blinded by his beauty that they had forgotten to make an attempt to recruit him.
The Bucks and Cutler went to Cracker Barrel and accidentally stole some merchandise. Cutler then told Matt and Nick that Page had approached him. Matt cut him off and said that they didn’t want to hear anything from Hangman.
Alex Abrahantes, Vickie Guerrero and Diamante did a commercial for Mi Phone.
The Bucks arrived at the red carpet for All Out. Cutler showed footage from All Out, including Chris Jericho’s bump into the mimosa tank.
Swole gave a Public Swole Announcement: Pretty ladies should sit with their legs crossed. “Pretty” Ricky Starks interrupted her.
Brodie Lee entered Dark Order’s locker room after his team’s loss at All Out. He banned Evil Uno from Twitch and all third-party affiliates. Reynolds and Silver entered and announced that they had recruited Sinbad to Dark Order. Sinbad appeared via Cameo.
Brodie then brought Griff Garrison into the room and introduced him as Jungle Boy. Silver pointed out that it was Garrison. Anna Jay killed Griff with a rear naked choke. Brodie told everyone to have fun with the body.
Cutler again asked Matt and Nick if he could talk to them about Hangman. The Bucks said they wouldn’t discuss it on camera.
The episode closed with shots from the PPV, interspersed with a photo of The Elite in a broken picture frame.
Team Taz will have a presence on this Tuesday’s AEW Dark as the seven match lineup was announced Monday morning.
FTW Champion Brian Cage will return to the show to face Tony Donati, his first AEW singles match since his unsuccessful challenge of World Champion Jon Moxley in July. In another match, Ricky Starks will look to extend a seven match singles winning streak when he faces Ben Carter.
In other matches:
Fresh off his impressive showing in the Casino Battle Royale at All Out, Will Hobbs will face the debuting Sean Legacy. Hobbs will be looking for his first AEW win of any kind, but based on the matchup, it would appear he is getting an opportunity.
In his first singles match since his loss to then-TNT Champion Cody, Eddie Kingston will face Lee Johnson.
Anna Jay (with the Dark Order) will face Skyler Moore.
Angelico will continue his singles run with a match against Griff Garrison.
According to AEW President Tony Khan, Matt Hardy will be at Dynamite this Wednesday and does not have a concussion.
Khan tweeted Sunday afternoon: “An update on Matt Hardy: it’s great news! Matt’s ok, we sent him to the hospital as a precaution & he’s passed the MRI + CT scans, he doesn’t have a concussion, and he’s being driven home now. Matt will be at Dynamite on Wednesday night to thank you amazing fans for your support!”
That information conflicts with a tweet Hardy’s wife, Reby, sent Sunday morning that Hardy “1000%” had a concussion.
Hardy hit his head on concrete at Saturday’s AEW All Out after getting speared by Sammy Guevara off a scissor lift, missing a table on his descent to the floor. After the referee twice called for medical help, Khan said Hardy passed a concussion protocol by AEW doctor Michael Sampson and wanted to finish the match. Khan said that was Sampson’s call and not Hardy’s.
The decision to keep going with the match drew criticism given Hardy’s state with his wife airing her displeasure on Twitter after the bump happened.
As of this point, the only other thing announced for Wednesday’s much-hyped live show is a promo from AEW World Champion Jon Moxley.
This story was updated at 4:30 PM Eastern.
Image: AEW/Lee South
According to Dave Meltzer, Matt Hardy has been released from the hospital following a bump at Saturday’s AEW All Out that saw the veteran hit his head on a concrete floor, one that has raised red flags as to how the organization handled letting him continue afterward.
Hardy’s wife, Reby, gave an update on Hardy Sunday morning, tweeting at 8 AM Eastern that “They needed additional imaging done after his CT. He’s still in the hospital. 1000% concussion. Anyone with eyes could have told you that tho.” accompanied by a video of the bump.
Bryan Alvarez tweeted in the afternoon that he heard all scans came out clean.
In a reply to Orlando-based sports reporter Jon Alba in which he questioned how AEW said Hardy cleared their concussion protocol, Reby said, “Gee, I wonder. Could it be the company trying to justify and protect itself from backlash or the family with no stake in this who now has to deal with the repercussions? I guess we’ll never know.” She later said her frustrations wasn’t directed at Alba but to those who are trying to be experts in a situation they aren’t experts in.
In his match with Sammy Guevara, Hardy was speared off a scissor lift and hit his head on the concrete floor as he missed a table set up for the spot. After being checked by the doctor, he eventually was allowed to continue after several minutes, a decision later explained by Dr. Michael Sampson that caused much discussion afterward.
Reby tweeted Saturday night after the incident: “Let me be absolutely f*cking clear. There is NOTHING entertaining about a concussion. Shame on everyone in that goddamn building.”
In the post-event media scrum, AEW president Tony Khan attempted to further explain that Sampson cleared Hardy after “a concussion protocol test” and that Hardy couldn’t have overruled the doctor and continued to compete if Sampson didn’t clear him.
Tony Khan, Hikaru Shida, and Jon Moxley were part of a media scrum that took place following the end of tonight’s All Out event.
Khan mentioned that Matt Hardy was okay following the table bump he took on tonight’s show. He clarified what went down: he had the bell rung to pause the match so doctors could check on Matt Hardy. Doc Sampson cleared him after a concussion protocol test. He later clarified that Matt Hardy could not overrule the doctor and did not pressure Sampson into clearing him, and would have never been put out there against the doctor’s decision.
Later, regarding the finish to the Matt Hardy match, he was extremely concerned about Hardy working the finish, hence why the match was paused. Once he was cleared, he was allowed to go to the finish.
He described it as a scary moment that no one enjoyed.
Khan put over the PPV, saying it was exactly what he had dreamed of save for some scary moments. When talking about the Britt Baker/Big Swole match, he mentioned that he was there during the filming of the match with Jerry Lynn, Dustin Rhodes and a camera crew.
Regarding Thunder Rosa, Khan put her over strong. He would love to see her back, but he can’t speak for the NWA. If he could work something out with NWA owner Billy Corgan, he’d love to have her back.
Khan also brought up the prospect of adding a third hour of content to TNT, saying that he would love to exapand the roster if there is a demand for it.
In response to the official AEW stance on performers using third parties such as Twitch and Cameo, Khan said while he thinks there are some grey areas, he generally supports people using their Twitch and YouTube platforms to monetize their content. He said he would never tell people not to do anything outside of AEW and would not try to stop them.
Jon Moxley also joined the scrum and put over MJF, saying that he would be on top of the company long after he was gone, though in storyline he mentioned that cheaters never win.
On Lance Archer winning the battle royal, Moxley said he was focused on the World title match tonight, but mentioned his IWGP US title match against Lance Archer at Wrestle Kingdom 14, where he left Archer a bloody mess. He also thought trading promos with Jake Roberts was intriguing.
On Renee Young possibly coming to AEW, Moxley said that Young was there tonight in the audience. She has an extensive no-compete clause, however, so she can’t appear on camera. Her goals are outside of wrestling, but he wouldn’t be surprised if she somehow dipped her toe back in.
Both Tony Khan and Jon Moxley mentioned the humidity in Florida. Khan made sure to note that they pushed for hydration and that there were “thousands” of water bottles at Daily’s Place.
Hikaru Shida put over her opponent for tonight, Thunder Rosa. She noted she was a champion in Japan and was strong. She wanted someone strong, and Thunder Rosa was more than that.
In terms of who she would like to face next, she mentioned that Nyla Rose is ranked first in the division. She also mentioned Penelope Ford. She ended her interview by saying she was open to fight anyone.
