A TNT title defense, two more matches, plus a face-to-face segment are set for the Wednesday, May 8 AEW Dynamite.
After successfully defending the TNT Championship against Buddy Matthews on this week’s episode, Adam Copeland will put the title on the line against Matthews’ House of Black stablemate Brody King on next week’s show.
As Best Friends continue to implode, Trent Beretta will go one-on-one with Orange Cassidy on the May 8 Dynamite. Cassidy & Beretta were involved in a pull-apart angle on this week’s Dynamite, with Cassidy blaming Beretta for causing career-ending injuries to Chuck Taylor in their parking lot fight on last week’s Rampage. Don Callis was also inserted into the situation as he appeared to counsel Cassidy during the segment.
Following a backstage promo from Saraya & Harley Cameron on Wednesday’s Rampage, Cameron issued a challenge to Mariah May for next week’s Dynamite. May lost to Serena Deeb on this week’s show.
Also announced for next week, AEW World Champion Swerve Strickland will go face-to-face with Christian Cage. Cage was revealed as Swerve’s Double or Nothing title challenger on this week’s Dynamite, with Christian and Killswitch laying out Swerve and Prince Nana.
The lineup for the Wednesday, May 8 AEW Dynamite so far:
TNT Champion Adam Copeland defends against Brody King
Adam Copeland will defend the TNT title on Dynamite.
During AEW Collision, The House of Black accepted Copeland’s open challenge for Wednesday’s Dynamite in Winnipeg. However, Buddy Matthews said that Copeland will find out who he will face the same time that the rest of the world does.
Also added to Dynamite is a match between Mariah May and Serena Deeb. On last week’s show, Deeb came out and held up the AEW Women’s title as Storm was making the save for May. On Collision, Deeb said after everything she’s gone through to come back from injury, failure wasn’t an option and it was time to become the AEW Women’s Champion.
Here is the updated lineup for AEW Dynamite:
FTW Champion Chris Jericho defends against Katsuyori Shibata
Swerve Strickland’s AEW World title challenger for Double or Nothing revealed
TNT Champion Adam Copeland defends against a member of The House of Black
Adam Copeland reflected on his AEW Dynamite promo from April 3 during a recent interview with Sports Illustrated.
The promo came two days after CM Punk’s criticism of AEW and Tony Khan on The MMA Hour made headlines.
Copeland said during it that AEW should be celebrated for having created more jobs for wrestlers, saying, “AEW has pushed this industry into a better place! It has gotten more people to do what they love for a living, and that should be celebrated.”
He told SI.com that he wanted the AEW locker room to hear his comments.
Copeland said:
People can be so negative. That’s people who are wrestling, and that’s also among our fan base. There are people who have this super rigid ‘I’ll only watch and celebrate this one thing.’ For us in the industry, it’s completely different. We want each other to succeed. It’s an awesome way to make a living, don’t get me wrong, but it’s a tough way, too. When more than one company is flourishing, that’s a positive for all wrestlers. But there is this strange outlier of fan who looks at things from a different perspective. So I wanted to address that, and I wanted our locker room to hear it, too.
Copeland also reflected on his March 20 I Quit Match against Christian Cage in Toronto. During the match, Copeland put on a Toronto Maple Leafs jersey and brawled in the arena’s penalty box with Cage, who was wearing a Boston Bruins jersey at the time.
Copeland said of the match:
Those jerseys were picked up two hours before the show. It’s Canada, we’re in Toronto. You always want to cater to your audience. I saw a penalty box. We wanted to tap into that.
Earlier in the day, I told our props guys that there’d be one place they could find a Bruins jersey in Toronto, and that’s the Hockey Hall of Fame. By that point, Christian had no choice but to wear the sweater.
I know some of the Leafs were watching. I got some texts on the bus after their game.
Copeland teamed with Eddie Kingston and Mark Briscoe at AEW Dynasty on Sunday. They lost a trios match to The House of Black after Malakai Black spewed black mist in Copeland’s face.
The following is an opinion-based preview and reflects the views of the author and not our website.
Yet again, friends, AEW finds itself wrapped up in yet another unnecessary, self-created mess of a media cycle. Forget The Masters: this is fast becoming a tradition unlike any other.
The focus, yet again, is not on the excellent card for Sunday’s Dynasty (8 PM Eastern on PPV from St. Louis), but on more exhausting behind-the-scenes intrigue.
Showing the CM Punk/Jack Perry footage from All In nearly two weeks ago on Dynamite was a mistake, full stop. As much as I respect pettiness, and God knows I do, this was a low floor, low ceiling decision and exactly the type of decision they would be wise to avoid.
How exactly did seeing this footage change anything for the better? All it did was put Punk’s name on the tip of the wrestling world’s tongue (though to be fair, it is frequently there). There were no Punk chants at AEW shows, but there are now. It was a short-sighted play with negative long-term fallout.
Even though the Young Bucks and FTR did their best by spinning it into the storyline, the damage was done. It’s a wrestling truism that there’s no such thing as bad heat, but I’d argue that a returning Perry getting showered with chants for a wrestler from a rival promotion is exactly that. It makes everyone involved look small.
If this article ran on The Ringer, it would be titles “Winners and Losers of the Jungle Boy/CM Punk footage.” The only winner? Punk, of course. Brandon Thurston said it best: he really is a top guy in two companies. The sooner the obsession with the past ends, the better for everyone in AEW.
With my soapbox put away, let’s run through another promising AEW pay-per-view card with some main card predictions:
FTW Champion Hook defends against Chris Jericho
No matter the question, the answer is never “more Chris Jericho.” That is not a panacea for what ails AEW or anyone, really. He is a vampire getting undeserved regular TV and PPV time at the expense of both a talented roster and the audience’s respect. Look at what the other wrestling legends in AEW are doing. Christian Cage is doing the best work of his career and helping elevate younger wrestlers. Adam Copeland is doing the same. Jericho does what he does for one person, himself. Not being on TV is a fate worse than death to him.
Even though this isn’t the best opponent for Hook, matches on big shows like this are necessary for his growth and should have been happening far sooner. The chaos agent inside me wants Jericho to win but I simply will not have it.
Prediction: Hook retains
Adam Copeland, Mark Briscoe, & Eddie Kingston vs. House of Black (Malakai Black, Buddy Matthews & Brody King)
Copeland, Briscoe, and Kingston are just three guys being dudes. Copeland and Briscoe are brimming with some of the most powerful dad energy on television. Pair that with Kingston bringing his trademark level of chaos makes for a wonderful juxtaposition.
Most of their backstage interviews go something like this:
Copeland: Standard wrestling promo with a corny joke
Briscoe: “God is good.”
Kingston: “Malakai Black, you looked at me with both eyes and where I come from, that means one of us has to die and it’s not going to be me.”
House of Black works so well as a trio because they each bring something completely different that plays to their strengths. Matthews is a muscle hamster that moves with incredible power and suddenness (him vs. PAC again soon, please), Black brings striking and aura, and then, there is King.
The king is saved for last because he’s, well, he’s the best. People yearn for Matthews and Black singles runs, but I want nothing more than Big Bad Brody King to get some solo shine. Equal parts powerful and agile, he is a throwback to a territory-style hoss; one tailor-made for either a TNT or International title reign. He had the mixed tag against Copeland on Wednesday, and I’d love to see this match lead to something there.
Prediction: Copeland, Briscoe & Kingston
AEW Continental Champion Kazuchika Okada defends against PAC
AEW is better when PAC is around. Hell, wrestling is better when PAC is around. Still one of the most enthusiastic sellers and explosive performers in modern wrestling, his return makes us realize how much he was missed. There’s always a place in wrestling for someone this angry.
His anger is different than Eddie Kingston’s. Where Kingston is generally perturbed, PAC seems angry that others dare even inhabit his world. Their existence is a source of disgust to him. Other than when the bell rings, my favorite part about the PAC experience is that he always looks the same with black trunks and bicep bands. That’s it and that’s all. I can’t even picture him wearing anything other than his ring gear, let alone something with a collar. Regardless, I’m thrilled he’s back if you couldn’t tell.
The arrival of Okada in AEW is one of the better presentations for a debut in recent memory. There was no time wasted when he formally showed up as he immediately rocked Kingston, aligned with The Elite, and won a championship. There was no pandering to the crowd, no happy to be here promos; just a whole bunch of being a smug jerk, which is Okada’s perfect character alignment. It allows him to work to his strengths: lengthy, control-focused matches with memorable finishing stretches. He is far more charismatic and interesting playing this role compared to being a generic babyface.
This suits him well, and so does having a championship. He’ll keep it this weekend.
Prediction: Okada retains
AEW International Champion Roderick Strong defends against Kyle O’Reilly
O’Reilly is another wonderful return. I have, depressingly, been consuming wrestling long enough to have seen the entirety of O’Reilly’s career. We are similar in age and seeing him grow from a young boy to a full-grown man with a family resonates.
There are moments when we observe someone navigating life’s challenges in a spotlight that amplifies their experiences, mirroring our own. It fosters a unique sense of connection and empathy, knowing that we travel parallel paths through life’s hurdles, both public and private. His triumphant return to the ring is inspiring and a testament to the indomitable will to pursue one’s dreams.
At 40 years old, Strong is still a certifiable monster. A cardio king with an unlimited gas tank, he should be wrestling regularly on TV and having killer matches. Orange Cassidy made this the International title a workhorse title, and there are few better than Strong to carry that mantle forward. He is made for TV matches, ones that are crazy sprints full of non-stop moves. That’s kind of his bag, bay.
This is his first real match since he won the title in early March, odd since this was the title that used to be defended weekly on the non-Rampage shows. That needs to continue. There are too many belts in AEW, but this one deserves far more attention than it’s currently getting.
As much as I love O’Reilly and am thrilled to see him back doing what he loves, big Rod Strong needs to keep the title
Prediction: Strong retains
TBS Champion Julia Hart defends against Willow Nightingale
This is Willow’s moment. She is as good as babyfaces get and is ready for a title. In some ways, she is the nice version of Kingston as fans relate to her similarly to how they relate to him. She is genuine and vulnerable on the microphone (her Dynamite promo a few weeks ago was the best she’s had), but a killer between the ropes. The approaches couldn’t be more different, but they connect with the audience at similar levels.
Hart’s TBS title reign has been fine as are most first-time title reigns. But, Hart has stayed dripping with superstar potential. Not many 22-year-olds can say they had a months-long title reign on TV. Even if it was just a fine run, those reps are invaluable towards her getting to her ceiling as a performer. The presentation and presence are already realized, the rest should come in time.
These are two people who the women’s division in AEW should be built around in the years to come. Julia had her run and it’s time for Willow to have hers.
Prediction: Nightingale wins the title
Bryan Danielson vs. Will Ospreay
The Ospreay haters must have been fuming when Danielson, the Lisan al Gaib of wrestling, lavished him with the highest of praise:
“He has such a great grasp of what the modern professional wrestling fan wants. When I see him, I think he’s the best wrestler in the world for modern wrestling fans as far as what they enjoy.”
As always, our king speaks the truth. Often, you can distill the best Ospreay match down to five minutes and get 95% of the experience. We have attention spans shorter than a goldfish, so of course a dude that has between seven and ten jaw-dropping moments of athleticism per match resonates. The dopamine-addled brains of modern society, mine included, can’t handle much more than that. Many of you probably picked up your phone while reading this paragraph. I don’t take it personally, I did the same thing writing it. We can’t focus, we can’t just be.
In a word full of inattention, Ospreay might just be the best wrestler for it.
But he’s not because he is wrestling the best wrestler in the world and the best wrestler of all time in Danielson. It will be interesting to compare this match to the Ospreay/Kenny Omega matches that received so much attention last year. In many ways, Ospreay is the Pokemon evolution of Omega in that both are explosive, athletic marvels with unlimited stamina and adamantium necks. Both are top 1% athletes, pushing the limits of what a human body can do in the ring without exploding.
Danielson is none of those things. He approaches wrestling with far more subtlety. An artist of the highest form, he grinds, stretches, and strikes his opponents until he breaks their will and spirit. In other words, he is the stylistic opposite of Ospreay who just hits his opponents with bomb after bomb.
The best wrestler of all time vs. perhaps the best modern wrestler happens Sunday. This is as big of a match as AEW can put on, and I can’t wait.
Prediction: Ospreay
Young Bucks vs. FTR in a ladder match for the vacant AEW Tag Team titles
I already went long about the All In footage earlier so I won’t belabor that point. It’s too bad that it’s overshadowing another match between two of the best tag teams ever.
Since I was critical up front, let me play my own devil’s advocate and offer a more…generous reading of the decision to air the footage. The previous match at All In for whatever reason didn’t click. It didn’t feel like anything we hadn’t seen before. It felt like an empty exhibition rather than an emphatic third match in a trilogy. It was certainly good. but it wasn’t at the level we all know it could be. Weaving in the excuse, no matter how thin, that what happened backstage at All In had an impact on the quality of the match works if you really squint. It does lean into what the Young Bucks do better than almost anyone else: making the audience want to see them get beat up.
No one takes a beating like Matt and Nick Jackson. They’ve been doing it around the world for years and it always works. Sting’s retirement match was nearly perfect, and a ton of credit for that goes to the Bucks who did everything humanly possible to make Sting look like a hero going out. They are weasly, they are slimy, and they are just begging to be punched in the face. More so than any other great tag team of the modern era (Hardys, FTR, Motor City Machine Guns, etc.), they have the unique ability to be hated. It speaks to their skills as heels that two guys who wrestle in such an aesthetically pleasing style can get a crowd to loathe them. History will have a complicated relationship with them, as it does with any level of greatness, but we should all appreciate them while we can.
Logic would dictate that the Bucks win here. The whole Elite thing works best when all the slime puppies have gold. Jack Perry probably gets involved, something I definitely don’t care about, and helps them win.
Prediction: Young Bucks win the titles
AEW Women’s World Champion Toni Storm defends against Thunder Rosa
Nothing about this is compelling as Storm’s gimmick prevents her feuds from getting any serious juice. Her last program with Deonna Purrazzo should have been filled with emotional weight as these women effectively grew up with each other in wrestling. But the program ultimately fell flat. If one character barely takes anything seriously, how is the audience supposed to? At its core, that is the issue with the “Timeless” gimmick. It’s been the same thing for months. Even if her opponent tries to introduce some gravitas, her character is so unserious that it just doesn’t matter.
This program with Rosa is more of the same. She’s become just another character sacrificed at the “Timeless” altar and that’s a shame. Storm is an incredible in-ring talent, much like many women in AEW. Until the gimmick goes away, or the character gets changed, the song will remain the same.
Prediction: Storm retains
AEW World Champion Samoa Joe defends against Swerve Strickland
Joe, the champion, reminds us that God is in his heaven and all is right with the world.
Joe can do anything and make it big with gravitas. He is a pillar of stability in a company that too frequently depends on it. He and Jon Moxley allow AEW to weather all storms. Joe is reliably excellent in the ring and transcendent on the microphone; a true legend of modern wrestling that will only be remembered even more fondly when his time in the ring ends.
As wonderful as Joe is, and as much as I would love him to stay champion forever, this is Strickland’s time. This is the moment where he cements himself as one of the top guys in all of wrestling. It doesn’t feel as emotionally charged as when Hangman Page won the title back in 2021, but the builds that led to coronations are similar. It’s appropriate, too, considering his matches with Page pushed him into that upper echelon of main event-level performers.
The criticisms I have with Swerve are nits that don’t even need to be picked (he can be a little loosey-goosey in the ring with too many unnecessary rolls and somersaults.) But he’s got it all figured out and has for some time now. He seethes, he broods, and he delivers in every area. Last year was the beginning of his rise to the top of AEW. On Sunday, he claims his rightful place there. Who’s house?
A new match has been added to the lineup for AEW Collision.
Adam Copeland, Mark Briscoe, and Eddie Kingston vs. Top Flight & Action Andretti is now scheduled for the show.
Saturday could be considered a tune-up match for Copeland, Briscoe, and Kingston, as they’ll face House of Black at AEW Dynasty the following night.
Saturday’s show is scheduled for the Peoria Civic Center in Peoria, IL. Four matches are confirmed. Rob Van Dam will also be in action, although his opponent has yet to be named.
AEW Collision lineup for Saturday, April 20, 2024 —
Bryan Danielson & Claudio Castagnoli vs. Konosuke Takeshita & Kyle Fletcher in a Bunkhouse Brawl
Kazuchika Okada & The Young Bucks (Matthew & Nicholas Jackson) vs. PAC & FTR (Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler)
The Acclaimed (Anthony Bowens & Max Caster) vs. The Gunns (Austin & Colten Gunn)
Adam Copeland, Mark Briscoe, & Eddie Kingston vs. Top Flight (Dante & Darius Martin) & Action Andretti
Give or take, Adam Copeland thinks he has about 18 months left in the ring.
The TNT Champion was a guest on Tuesday’s edition of Mostly Sports With Mark Titus & Brandon Walker. During the interview, Copeland was asked about the difference between the first run of his career and the one he’s currently on. Between the two stints, Copeland was retired for nine years due to neck issues.
Copeland said the biggest difference is all of the experience he has now. He’s lived more life and learned new things that he can use. Mentally, Copeland feels like he’s better than he’s ever been.
But the 50-year-old Copeland added that he doesn’t want to stick around in the ring too long and get to the point where young guys aren’t excited to wrestle him. Copeland believes he has maybe a year and a half left competing in the ring.
Copeland said:
I’ve lived a lot more life. And as strange as that sounds, it actually does add to your utility belt out there. As a performer, any kind of performer, whether it’s a musician writing music, whether it’s an actor and they gotta dip into some place of their actual self to pull the character off – it’s the same with wrestling. I think that, more than anything, is what I’ve noticed in coming back. And some of the skillsets that I got in the acting that I did in those nine years off. I did, I think, over 100 episodes of television in that time that I was retired. So you kind of try and pull those things back with you.
And I feel like that’s the biggest difference. I might not be as fast as I used to be, but I feel like mentally I’m better than I’ve ever been. And I think that is why a guy like Tom Brady keeps going, ‘Yeah, well, mentally I’m better than I’ve ever been. And I see the game better than I’ve ever seen it.’ I think that’s the struggle. And that’s kind of how I feel. But I’m also a realist, and I don’t want to be that guy who sticks around to the point where a young guy looks at the sheet and goes, ‘Ah, ok, I gotta wrestle him tonight.’ I don’t want to be that guy, right? I want young guys to still be excited if they’re going to hop in there with me. So I figure maybe I got a year and a half left, you know, give or take.
After 25 years working for WWE, Copeland debuted for AEW in October 2023. He’s teaming up with Willow Nightingale in a mixed tag match against Brody King & Julia Hart on Wednesday’s episode of AEW Dynamite.
There will then be a trios match with Copeland, Eddie Kingston & Mark Briscoe facing House of Black (King, Malakai Black & Buddy Matthews) at AEW’s Dynasty pay-per-view this Sunday.
Adam Copeland wants to challenge himself at this stage in his career.
Copeland recently told Sports Illustrated that a big part of why he signed with AEW is to be able to wrestle different styles with a diverse range of opponents. On AEW Dynamite last week, Copeland went 20 minutes with Penta El Zero Miedo and hit a flying headscissors at one point, a move he hasn’t done in some time.
“I’m dipping into some stuff I haven’t done in a while,” he said to SI.com. “I hadn’t cracked out any kind of head scissors at all in years, let alone a flying head scissors a la Brad Armstrong, albeit without his finesse. We traded styles throughout the match, and I loved that. The opportunity to wrestle matches like that, I love that, too. It’s a big part of the reason why I came to AEW.”
“With this small window left in my career, I wanted to challenge myself. Since we started the Cope Open challenge, I’ve wrestled Minoru Suzuki, Lee Moriarty, Dante Martin, Griff Garrison, Matt Cardona, Daniel Garcia, and now Penta. Line up all of that talent side-by-side, and they’re all so different. That is really fun, especially at this stage in my career.”
Copeland is scheduled to wrestle on this week’s Dynamite as well. He’ll team with Willow Nightingale in a mixed tag against Brody King and Julia Hart.
Copeland also spoke to SI.com about the company he founded with his friend/rival Christian Cage, Pure Plank. During the time he was away from the ring, Copeland began doing plank exercises to fend off the “Dad bod” he says he was developing. Upon making his return to WWE in 2020, he often stayed at Christian’s house in Orlando and the two developed a concept for the Pure Plank device and app.
“We created something that can truly help people,” said Copeland. “It’s not a huge time commitment. Five minutes a day, this is your core workout. Hamstrings, glutes, quads, this hits it all.”
“And the reviews we’ve got so far, especially from mothers, have all been so positive. I watched my wife Beth on the board, too. She wanted her body back, she committed to this, and she got it.”
On Dynamite last week, Adam Copeland opened the show by giving a pro-AEW speech discussing the importance of the promotion.
The speech was an indirect response to CM Punk’s interview on The MMA Hour. Copeland did not say Punk’s name, but he mentioned “negative BS” that had been spewed that week. Copeland said AEW has made pro wrestling better, more fun, and is where the best wrestle.
Copeland was asked about the promo during an interview with This is VANCOLOUR that was conducted on April 8. In explaining his thought process, Copeland said AEW’s young locker room needed to hear a positive message.
Punk’s appearance on The MMA Hour happened two days before Copeland’s Dynamite speech. Copeland told This is VANCOLOUR that he did not watch the full interview but saw clips of it:
I didn’t, no. I saw clips. I really – I got better things to do, you know? I really do. I got kids. I don’t really care what anybody really has to say.
However, what I will say is, from the small clips that I think kind of just in scrolling and stuff you see, I realized that our locker room needed a good message. So, last week on our show, I went out and kind of spoke to that. Because it’s a young locker room – and it’s a young locker room that, for me, because it’s a different time, now we try and support each other. I came in to locker rooms where it was everybody out for themselves. And it was a bunch of [great white sharks]. And I never subscribed to that. I always subscribed to the Bret Hart school of, ‘No, you can help.’ And you can help young people and you can try and be a positive and show that you don’t got to be a d*ck. I don’t know how else to put it, I really don’t know how else to put it.
So, for me, I try and just focus on positives. There’s so many negatives in the world today. And they’re both there to find, so why not look to the positives? And to me, our young locker room needed to hear some positives. So that’s why I went out and did what I did last week. But I don’t need to go searching out the other stuff. Like I said, I got a lot better things to do. I got kids to put to bed, I got the Maple Leafs to watch, I got music to listen to.
Punk’s comments on The MMA Hour included him saying AEW “is not a real business.” Though he called Tony Khan a nice guy, Punk said Khan is “not a boss.”
Copeland is the current TNT Champion in AEW. He retained the title against Penta El Zero Miedo on Dynamite this Wednesday.
A trios match with Copeland, Eddie Kingston & Mark Briscoe facing House of Black (Malakai Black, Brody King & Buddy Matthews) has been made official for the April 21 AEW Dynasty pay-per-view. Before that, Copeland & Willow Nightingale will face King & Julia Hart in a mixed tag match on Dynamite next week.
Copeland debuted for AEW in October 2023 after a 25-year career with WWE.
A mixed tag team match is set for the Wednesday, April 17 AEW Dynamite.
In a match set up with an angle on this week’s show, TNT Champion Adam Copeland & Willow Nightingale will team against House of Black’s Brody King & TBS Champion Julia Hart on next week’s Dynamite episode.
Copeland had just defeated Penta El Zero Miedo in a TNT title bout on this week’s Dynamite when the arena lights went out. Hart & King then appeared in the ring, and King attacked Copeland. Nightingale ran in to make the save.
Copeland & Nightingale then agreed to team in a follow-up backstage promo.
Nightingale is set to challenge Hart for the TBS Championship at the Dynasty pay-per-view on Sunday, April 21. Copeland will team with Mark Briscoe & Eddie Kingston against House of Black’s King, Malakai Black & Buddy Matthews at Dynasty.
The announced card for the Wednesday, April 17 AEW Dynamite:
TNT Champion Adam Copeland & Willow Nightingale vs. Brody King & TBS Champion Julia Hart in a mixed tag team match
A TNT Championship match is set for the Wednesday, April 10 edition of AEW Dynamite.
As revealed during this week’s show, TNT Champion Adam Copeland will defend his title against Penta El Zero Miedo on the April 10 Dynamite.
Copeland has held the TNT title since defeating Christian Cage in an I Quit match for the belt on the March 20 Dynamite in Toronto.
In his first defense in his second reign as TNT Champion, Copeland defeated Matt Cardona in a “Cope Open” open challenge on last Saturday’s Collision episode.
Penta will be in action on this Saturday’s Collision in a tune-up match against Komander.
Although he has never held singles gold in AEW, Penta is a former Tag Team Champion in the promotion with brother Rey Fenix, and held the Trios Championship with Fenix & PAC.
The TNT title bout is the only match announced to this point for the Wednesday, April 10 Dynamite. The show will be held in Charleston, West Virginia at the Charleston Coliseum.
Adam Copeland opened AEW Dynamite by talking about loving all of pro wrestling.
Wednesday’s show saw Copeland bring up “the negative BS that has been spewed,” referring to Punk’s negative comments regarding AEW on Ariel Helwani’s The MMA Hour earlier this week. Copeland said that he wanted to open the show to celebrate all of pro wrestling.
In his promo, Copeland said he watched the likes of WWF, NWA, and Stampede Wrestling growing up because he loved all of pro wrestling. He said he realized AEW is where he needed to end his career because he saw a “murderer’s row of talent”. He dropped names such as Will Ospreay, Hangman Page, Kenny Omega, Swerve Strickland, FTR, and others, saying they all would be first-time matches. He said this was the most fun he’s had in the 32 years he’s been in pro wrestling.
Adam Copeland wants everyone to celebrate professional wrestling!
He concluded by saying he also celebrates the names of those who started AEW, including The Young Bucks, Omega, Cody Rhodes, and Tony Khan.
“AEW has pushed this industry into a better place,” he said. “AEW has pushed everyone into a better place. It’s given more people a chance to do what they love for a living, and that should be celebrated. AEW makes pro wrestling better, more fun. And AEW is where the best wrestle.”
On The MMA Hour, Punk said that AEW “isn’t a real business” and that the company “isn’t a business predicated on making money, drawing money, selling tickets”. He also said that while Tony Khan was a “nice guy”, he’s “not a boss”.
For the first time ever in their long careers, Bryan Danielson will face Lance Archer in a singles match as part of tonight’s AEW Dynamite.
The two were on opposite ends of a trios match on this past Saturday’s Collision that saw Danielson, Claudio Castagnoli and Katsuyori Shibata defeat Archer and The Righteous.
Danielson is looking to extend his two-match win streak heading into this month’s Dynasty match against Will Ospreay. Archer is coming off a singles loss to Castagnoli last month.
In another new addition, TNT Champion Adam Copeland will be on hand to share some thoughts following his successful title defense over Matt Cardona last Saturday.
Here’s the current card for tonight’s event from the DCU Center in Worcester, Massachusetts, that will also feature a post-Dynamite taping for Collision this Saturday:
Contract signing for Samoa Joe and Swerve Strickland’s AEW World Championship match at Dynasty
AEW Tag Team title tournament semifinal match: The Young Bucks (Matthew & Nicholas Jackson) vs. Best Friends (Orange Cassidy & Trent Beretta)
AEW Women’s Championship number one contender’s match: Mariah May vs. Thunder Rosa
A six-man tag team match has been added to AEW’s next pay-per-view.
Adam Copeland will team with Eddie Kingston and Mark Briscoe to take on The House of Black. Copeland had retained the TNT Championship against Matt Cardona on Collision when the lights went out. Malakai Black appeared when they came back on, which led to Buddy Matthews attacking Copeland from behind. Briscoe and Kingston came out for the save. The match was then announced for April 21 in St. Louis, Missouri.
Briscoe has been feuding with The House of Black in recent weeks. He came out during their match against The Infantry in an AEW Tag Team title tournament match. His distraction allowed The Infantry to score an upset win over The House of Black, eliminating them from the tournament.
Here is the updated lineup for Dynasty:
AEW World Championship: Samoa Joe defends against Swerve Strickland
TBS Championship: Julia Hart defends against Willow Nightingale
Will Ospreay vs. Bryan Danielson
Tournament final to determine new AEW World Tag Team Champions
The House of Black vs. Adam Copeland, Eddie Kingston, and Mark Briscoe
I am back with another Sunday edition of Wrestling Observer Live, discussing all the latest stories from this past week in wrestling.
This past Friday’s WWE SmackDown featured Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes, but the confrontation to build their night two WrestleMania main event seemed less intense compared to the previous few Bloodline segments. I analyzes the segment and speculate on the upcoming main events for WrestleMania, along with sharing his thoughts on the rest of SmackDown.
He also highlights last weekend’s AEW Collision where Bryan Danielson faced Katsuyori Shibata as well as the significant title changes on this past Wednesday’s Dynamite where Adam Copeland and Kazuchika Okada won singles championships.
I also discuss how Mercedes Mone, Will Ospreya, and Okada are positively impacting the company.
Additionally, I give some thoughts on Paul Heyman’s career, Shayna Baszler’s upcoming appearance at GCW Bloodsport, and Ronda Rousey’s comments about both WWE and Vince McMahon.
Tune in for all this and more on the latest episode of Wrestling Observer Live, available by clicking below or on YouTube above.
Adam Copeland has posted a statement about his match on AEW Dynamite.
He took to Instagram on Sunday to say that following his return at the 2020 Royal Rumble, wrestling Christian Cage was the match he was always trying to get to.
Copeland wrote:
About Dynamite on Wednesday. When I first came back to wrestling back at the 2020 Rumble this was the match I always wanted to get to. Face to face with @christian4peeps in our hometown 40 years after we first met. @aew made that possible. And Toronto you came out in force to have fun. I hope you did. Sure sounded like it and I’ll never forget it. Ever. As a kid this night was the kind of scenario I dreamed about in art class. If you dream hard enough, even if it takes 40 years, it can happen. So without further ado….AND NEW TNT Champion!
Copeland vs. Cage on AEW Dynamite did 867,000 viewers and 401,000 in 18-49. The match was covered by our own Dave Meltzer in the latest edition of The Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
“Every match Copeland and Cage are in ends up being well thought out. I think maybe they came up with too much but it did build well and the crowd was into most of the way for a long match. It was more a brawl all over the place than focusing on them quitting,” Meltzer wrote of the match. He gave it four and one-quarter stars.
Since his win on Wednesday night, Copeland has revealed that he’ll be defending the TNT Championship through a “Cope Open” open challenge. His first defense is scheduled for AEW Collision next Saturday in London, Ontario, Canada.
