Jay White vs. Komander, plus a Chris Jericho and Adam Cole face-to-face confrontation are among the new segments added to the April 19 AEW Dynamite.
As announced during Friday’s Rampage show, White vs. Komander will take place on Wednesday’s Dynamite. The bout will be White’s first since officially signing with AEW as was announced on the April 7 Dynamite.
The budding issue between Chris Jericho and Adam Cole will be featured on Dynamite, as Jericho will confront Cole in a face-to-face segment. Jericho and Cole’s feud has been slowly building since Cole’s return to action on the March 29 Dynamite.
The Elite will speak on the April 19 Dynamite. The promo segment was also announced during Friday’s Rampage. The Young Bucks returned to Dynamite this past Wednesday, joining Kenny Omega in a brawl against the Blackpool Combat Club.
Following up on an angle from Friday’s Rampage, The Acclaimed and “Daddy Ass” Billy Gunn will team against Matt Menard, Angelo Parker, and Jake Hager of the Jericho Appreciation Society on Wednesday’s Dynamite.
Already announced for the show are a Powerhouse Hobbs vs. Wardlow TNT title match, plus Britt Baker & Jamie Hayter vs. Ruby Soho & Toni Storm in tag team action.
The updated lineup for the Wednesday, April 19 Dynamite in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania:
TNT Championship: Powerhouse Hobbs defends against Wardlow
Britt Baker & Jamie Hayter vs. Toni Storm & Ruby Soho
The Acclaimed (Max Caster & Anthony Bowens) & “Daddy Ass” Billy Gunn vs. Matt Menard, Angelo Parker & Jake Hager
Jay White vs. Komander
The Elite speak
Chris Jericho & Adam Cole face-to-face confrontation
AEW star Swerve Strickland will be part of the Mega Championship match at AAA Triplemania Monterrey.
Fite TV lists that the Mega title match at this weekend’s Triplemania event will be El Hijo del Vikingo defending against Strickland, Komander, and Rich Swann. The four-way bout has yet to be officially announced by AAA.
Vikingo has been AAA Mega Champion since December 2021. He retained the title against Komander in a singles match at ROH Supercard of Honor over WrestleMania week.
Vikingo made his AEW debut on an episode of Dynamite in March, losing to Kenny Omega in a non-title match.
In yesterday’s Daily Update, Dave Meltzer noted that Omega wouldn’t be Vikingo’s opponent for Triplemania Monterrey — but AAA hopes that a rematch between Vikingo and Omega will take place at one of their Triplemania shows later this year. AAA has Triplemania events being held in Tijuana this July and in Mexico City this August.
Triplemania Monterrey will be available live via Fite TV. Here’s the full advertised lineup for the event:
AAA Mega Champion El Hijo del Vikingo defends against Swerve Strickland, Komander, and Rich Swann in a four-way match
Guerra de Rivalidades tournament: Alberto El Patron & Pentagon Jr. vs. Sam Adonis & Psycho Clown
Guerra de Rivalidades tournament: Rush & LA Park vs. DMT Azul & Blue Demon Jr.
Copa Triplemania
Lucha de Apuestas cage match: Laredo Kid vs. Parka Negra vs. Black Taurus vs. Villano III Jr. vs. Octagon Jr. vs. Argenis vs. Myzteziz Jr. vs. Aerostar vs. Antifaz del Norte vs. Abismo Negro Jr.
The final two wrestlers left in the cage match will face off a in mask vs. mask match
Several new matches were announced for Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite including Trios title and FTW title bouts.
The House of Black (Malakai Black, Buddy Murphy & Brody King) will defend the Trios titles against Best Friends & AEW International Champion Orange Cassidy. On Friday’s Rampage, Best Friends (Chuck Taylor & Trent Beretta) picked up a win over Black & King by DQ to put the match into motion.
After his win over Konosuke Takeshita on Rampage, Sammy Guevara will continue his path toward what he hopes is an AEW World title shot when he faces Komander.
In another new title match, undefeated FTW Champion Hook will defend against Ethan Page.
The new additions join the previously announced Tony Khan announcement and two title matches that will see The Gunns defend the AEW Tag Team titles against FTR’s AEW career, and AEW Women’s Champion Jamie Hayter defending against Riho.
Here’s the current lineup for this Wednesday’s show from Long Island, New York:
AEW Trios Champions The House of Black defend against Best Friends & Orange Cassidy
Tony Khan important announcement
AEW Women’s Champion Jamie Hayter defends against Riho
AEW Tag Team Champions The Gunns defend against FTR’s AEW career
MJF Day celebration
Blackpool Combat Club promo
The Acclaimed decide whether they are joining Jericho Appreciation Society
Thursday’s Mark Hitchcock Memorial SuperShow as part of WrestleCon will officially open up our live coverage of WrestleMania weekend.
The show is headlined by AAA Mega Champion El Hijo del Vikingo defending against both Komander and Black Taurus in a three-way.
United Empire’s Jeff Cobb & Aussie Open will take on Time Machine (Motor City Machine Guns & KUSHIDA) in trios action while Ultimo Dragon and Negro Casas do battle in their first match against each other in the U.S. since 1994.
“Speedball” Mike Bailey begins a busy weekend against Shigehiro Irie while Michael Oku goes one-on-one with Rocky Romero.
The show from the Globe Theatre in Los Angeles will feature a six-man lucha match (Rey Horus vs. Aramis vs. Galeno Del Mal vs. Toxin vs. Latigo vs. Arez); a Tokyo Joshi 10-woman tag team showcase match, and KENTA & Bryan Keith against Tom Lawlor & a mystery partner.
**********
The show opened with Mick Foley coming to the ring to introduce a video package for the late Mark Hitchcock. The video featured pictures of Hitchcock surrounded by a who’s who of the wrestling world.
This was followed by a five-minute intermission.
Blake Christian defeated Michael Oku
Do you remember when your mom would tell you, “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all”? That’s where I am with this match.
After an opening handshake, this match quickly devolved into an acrobatics showcase. Christian offered a second handshake; this time, Christian attacked Oku out of the shake, gaining an advantage for the first time.
A kick to the chest let Oku fight back into the match. Christian was quick to respond with a 619 and a springboard kick. Oku responded with a pair of dives, one in the ring and one to the floor. Christian responded immediately with his own dive to the floor. On the floor, the count hit 10, and everyone thought the match was over, but there was apparently a 20 count. Once the count was broken, the pair continued to fight. Christian hit a suplex on the apron to secure a substantial lead late in the match. A second suplex to the apron should have pushed the advantage further, but Oku caught him in a half crab before hoisting Christian to the top rope almost as soon as he landed. From the top, Christian dropped Oku and immediately hit a springboard 450 to win the match.
After the match, the pair shook hands again.
Bryan Keith & KENTA defeated Tom Lawlor & Christopher Daniels
Christopher Daniels in daisy dukes was revealed to be Lawlor’s partner before Ken Shamrock was announced as a surprise special guest enforcer.
Keith and Daniels opened the match with a fun back-and-forth. As the match developed, Lawlor tagged in and prevented Keith from tagging out. Once the tag to KENTA came, Lawlor tagged back out.
KENTA beat down Daniels before passing the torch to Keith. Lawlor and Daniels were able to take the lead back while keeping KENTA away from Lawlor. Lawlor and Daniels eventually knocked each other down, but Lawlor left Daniels to fend for himself after KENTA tagged in.
A double tag to Lawlor and KENTA finally left the pair alone to fight. They traded blows before KENTA dropped Lawlor with a dropkick and double stomp. Daniels blocked the GTS, buying him enough time to steal momentum back.
A scrap on the mat left KENTA in control of Lawlor. Daniels hit the ring and attacked the referee just as Lawlor tried to tap out. Lawlor dropped Keith with a low blow, but special enforcer Ken Shamrock refused to count the subsequent pin. Shamrock dropped Daniels with a strike and pushed Lawlor into KENTA. KENTA rolled Lawlor up and won the match with Shamrock’s count.
After the match, Shamrock put Lawlor in an ankle lock and forced him to tap.
Ultimo Dragon defeated Negro Casas
Before the match, a Chris Jericho video was played. He hyped up both men while sporting a black eye.
All things considered, this was an incredible match.
The opening leg of this match was all seamless back-and-forth grappling. Eventually, Casas climbed to the top rope, where Dragon cut him off with a drop kick that sent the 63-year-old crashing to the floor. Dragon met Casas on the floor, where the pair fought for control. Casas won out, returned to the ring, and climbed to the top rope. Dragon caught Casas on the top and hit a superplex.
A sick smile manifested on Casas after being dropped to the mat. Casas was the first to recover from the high-impact superplex, but Dragon quickly answered with a Dragon sleeper. Casas passed out from the hold, leaving Dragon with the win.
Aramis, Galeno Del Mal & Rey Horus defeated Arez, Laredo Kid & Latigo
This was an incredibly enjoyable match.
Aramis and Latigo opened the match with a lighting-paced sequence of pin attempts. Arez and Horus tagged in for a creative sequence of their own.
A stray strike to Galeno got Arez into a world of trouble. Arez retreated, tagging out to Laredo. Laredo and Galeno had a typical lucha exchange, made all the more impressive considering the size of Galeno.
Arez, Laredo, & Latigo took control by rushing the ring. They were able to isolate opponents, establishing a make-shift numbers advantage for some time.
The babyface trio eventually were able to land tandem superkicks, setting Galeno up for a splash to take all of their opponents out. Aramis, Horus, & Galeno followed up with dives to the floor.
Back in the ring, Arez was able to strike down Galeno. The match broke down after this, as all the men hit the ring as they recovered to retake the lead for their team. Eventually, Galeno hit a bomb from the second rope, dropping Latigo to win the match for his team.
After the match, the crowd tossed money into the ring, and all six men stood tall in tandem.
This was a great look into the world of TJPW. The crowd ate everything up, and everyone was given ample time to shine.
Before the match could begin, Hyper tried to cut a promo. She said she could beat her opponents in two seconds. Instead, they rushed her, leading to a beatdown.
The match then began to escalate with multiple showcase-style exchanges, with most women showing off some of their signature offense/personalities.
Eventually, the two top champions of TJPW came to blows. Rika fell to a Mizuki double stomp and crossbody for a near fall. Rika answered by attacking Mizuki’s legs with the corner post. Watanabe hit the ring to help Rika finish, but Mizuki fought free, landing Whirling Candy to clear the ring. The match broke down again after a tag to Raku.
In the end, Mizuki won the match with a double stomp on Raku.
Shigehiro Irie defeated Speedball Mike Bailey
Everything from this match that made the stream was incredible. Great, great match.
Mere minutes after his Bloodsport match with Kota Ibushi, Mike Bailey made his second appearance against the ever-wonderful Shigehiro Irie.
The match’s opening moments were lost due to a stream failure, but when the feed picked up, Irie was in control after hitting something on the floor. Back in the ring, Irie hit a cannonball to further his early lead.
A strike exchange left Irie in a strong position after he landed a colossal lariat. A follow-up Samoan drop from the top rope seemingly widened his lead, but Bailey was able to fight back after the crash. Bailey flipped out of a suplex and landed a trio of kicks but missed the finish. Irie hit the beast bomber and locked in a choke, but Bailey escaped and answered with a green tea plunge.
A massive cannonball into the ropes and a second beast bomber scored Irie a near fall. Irie locked in another choke. After the brutal struggle for control during the choke, Irie transitioned into elbow strikes. The referee was forced to step in, leaving Irie with a win via referee stoppage.
As crazy as this match was, Bailey’s night is just starting. He has a match with Hiroshi Tanahashi on the NJPWxIMPACT show before he can rest.
United Empire (Jeff Cobb, Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis) defeated Time Machine (Alex Shelley, Chris Sabin & KUSHIDA)
This match opened with a reasonably typical feeling-out exchange between the teams. Eventually, UE established control and began to isolate Sabin. Once the tag came to Shelley, he worked with KUSHIDA to fight for control.
The match broke down, allowing UE to take advantage of the chaos. This time they worked to isolate Shelley. Once Shelley tagged to KUSHIDA, he was able to retake the lead.
The match continued to escalate with dives and control segments before a sudden half-and-half suplex to Sabain left Aussie Open free to land Corialis and win the match.
AAA Mega Championship: El Hijo Del Vikingo (c) defeated Komander & Black Taurus
This was a wild encounter. I barely captured any of the wild action in this match, so if you’re at all into hyper-athletic lucha, give this a watch.
Taurus opened the match by clearing the ring of both men, using Komander as a weapon, and landing a massive dive to the floor. Komander and Vikingo were forced to work together to take out Taurus, landing a pair of dives to subdue the giant. The pair then took turns landing moves on Taurus before turning to each other.
After wiping out Komander, Vikingo launched into an insane sequence against Taurus. Once Komander recovered, he led a crazy series of his own against both of his competitors. A pause from Komander allowed Vikingo to take advantage, landing an absolutely insane single-leg springboard dive to the floor.
Back in the ring, momentum spontaneously transitioned between all three men. Vikingo landed an insane 630 to the floor but missed the follow-up in the ring, so he dove to the floor before trying again. On his second attempt, Vikingo hit a wild top rope 630 before pinning Taurus.
*Ticket sales for all the WWE events of the weekend, how it compares to the past, as well as for the ROH show
*Updates on the lineup and what is on each night and what seems to be on each night based on reports
*Update on match changes
*Update on NXT Takeover and who will have their first big match on the show
*Update on the key independent shows held over WrestleMania weekend
*AEW ticket sales for Double or Nothing and Forbidden Door
*Full coverage of UFC 286 and where things go next for the top fighters on the show
*A look at the final week of the New Japan Cup, new stories, lineups for early April, and new stable, the Sanada title match and reviews of every tournament match and the full finals show.
*Andy Kaufman in WWE Hall of Fame, a look back at the famous angle and other key angles during Kaufman’s run in Memphis, the David Letterman show and how the angle came to be
*NCAA wrestling tournament note including one of history’s biggest upsets and the story behind it
*Davey Richards retires, a look at the allegations that led to his retirement, his career and the time when Bryan Danielson called him the best in the world
*The most detailed look at the TV ratings for all the national shows, placings and hat can be learned from the competition and the results
*A look at CMLL’s second biggest show of the year , the big hair match and where Romero vs Volador looks to be going
*Notes on upcoming tournament of champions in Mexico
*Film on well known pro wrestling personality debuted recently at Film Festival
*Update on major celebrity wrestling angle and how it got exposed by a fan
*A look at the Lucha Libre World Cup featuring stars from AEW
*Update on plans for the biggest Stardom event in history
*All Japan has two shows featuring interpromotional matches
*NOAH runs a big show with key title change
*Update on Will Ospreay
*Update on Mercedes Mone and when her New Japan deal is up
*Notes on Best of the Super Juniors tournament
*Legendary promotion from the best with some of the best matches in history is starting a YouTube page
*Health updates on a lot of key wrestling personalities
*Former pro wrestler becomes a hero who likely saved a lot of lives averting a potential shooting
*Top U.S. stars tour Australia
*Unique tournament planned
*Indie promotion in the U.K. bringing in top stars for unique title determination matches
*Update on MLW and a new deal made
*Update on major new national television show in the plans
*A look at AEW’s first house show in years
*New AEW and WWE business deals
*Ticket sales for upcoming AEW and WWE events
*International TV ratings and streaming numbers
*Conor McGregor’s comeback notes including a key rule for his return and if it will be broken
*Olympic silver medalist signs unique deal to both do MMA and still try for a 2024 gold medal
*WWE video game news and launch party
*Story about a major international deal WWE is working on
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Monday Update
Bryan and I will be back tonight covering Raw and really a ton of news with Wrestling Observer Radio tonight.
Jon Moxley will be on Renee Paquette’s The Sessions show tomorrow talking about several subjects including the post made by C.M. Punk.
Raw is tonight in Phoenix and they are already sold out (11,400+) for the last Raw before WrestleMania. There will be a weigh-in for Brock Lesnar and Omos, Cody Rhodes vs.Solo Sikoa, Miz TV with Becky Lynch, Trish Stratus and Lita and Braun Strowman & Ricochet & Street Profits vs. Viking Raiders & Alpha Academy. Tons of names from Smackdown are there including Imperium, Sheamus & The Brawling Brutes and The Usos. Edge is also there. One would expect all of the WrestleMania matches to become official tonight. The only match still open is the final team in the four-way women’s match, which will include Chelsea Green. It’s already 44 percent sales above the last time Phoenix had a TV taping over the summer.
We’re looking for reports from the show for anything not on the live show, such as post-show stuff, Main Event matches or any highlights of being there live to [email protected]
WWE has tryouts this week bringing in 50 college athletes including a few notable names from track and college football. ESPN ran a piece on it. (thanks to Mike Kumzuk)
Komander has a booking on Wednesday in California so he won’t be at the Wednesday AEW tapings in St. Louis. The Cubs Fan had talked about El Hijo del Vikingo and Komander being in St. Louis but neither are advertised, with the idea they would do something to build for their Friday ROH PPV match. One would think Vikingo would be advertised if he was there after last week. The Wednesday show will tape both Rampage and one ROH show (the go-home show for Thursday) as well as Dynamite live. That would leave them needing to tape new ROH content before Thursday so unless they do it again in New York next week at Dynamite, nothing is advertised.
PW Insider reported that Alexa Bliss will be coming to WrestleMania. That doesn’t mean on the show just that she’ll be there.
Sanada’s new downward spiral finisher is being called the Dead Fall.
Patricio Pitbull Freire will attempt to become the first MMA fighter to win world championships in a major promotion in three different weight classes. Bellator announced the featherweight champion, Freire, dropping to 135 pounds to face Sergio Pettis for the bantamweight title on 6/16 at the Wintrust Arena in Chicago. Freire also is a former lightweight champion who vacated the title after winning it. The main event will be Vadim Nemkov defending the light heavyweight title against Yoel Romero.
The autobiography of Madusa will officially be released tomorrow by ECW Press. We have a very good interview show we did with Madusa from a few weeks ago
WWE announced a Smackdown show on 8/11 in Calgary at the Saddledome, the same location AEW just announced a 7/15 house show in.
BetOnline has these odds for ROH Supercard of Honor
Claudio Castagnoli -1000 Eddie Kingston +500
Mark Briscoe -2000 Samoa Joe +700
El Hijo de Vikingo -2500 Komander +725 (basically here you are betting for Komander based on the odds Vikingo gets a serious injury and they have to stop the match)
Aussie Open +100 Matt Taven & Mike Bennett +200 Top Flight +300 Rush & Dralistico +500 Lucha Brothers +600
Some new WrestleMania odds
Will a free agent debut Yes +100 No -140
Title changes over/under 4.5
Will Vince McMahon appear on the show +2500
Dominik Mysterio -150 Rey Mysterio +110
Other Notes
Create a Pro on 5/13 in Melville, NJ features MJF, Raven, Brian Myers, Bear Bronson and more. It’s near where MJF grew up and it’s the promotion that trained him. They sold 300 tickets instantly
The Ryan Garcia vs. Gervonta Davis boxing PPV show is reportedly being priced at $84.99.
Pro Wrestling Eve on 4/7 at The Dome if Tufnelll Park in London. Laura Di Matteo & Rayne Leverkusen face Nightshade & Rhio in three matches what is billed a a last ever match a two of three falls match with the first fall being a regular tag match, the second being a lumberjack match and a third,if needed, being an I Quit match. On 5/5 they have Miyu Yamashita defending the Eve title against Millie McKenzie and Billie Starkz vs. Safire Reed.
Prestige Wrestling from yesterday in Asbury Park,NJ before 225 fans: Jordan Oliver b Alec Price, Brick City Boyz b Shot in the Heart, Akira b 1 Called Manders, Masha Slamovich b Killer Kelly, Alex Shelley b Alan Angels in a submission match for the Prestige title, Sonico b Tre Lamar, Chris Sabin b Mike Bailey, Minoru Suzuki b Robert Martyr (thanks to Joseph Kurtiak)
A day after his AEW debut, El Hijo del Vikingo has been announced for Ring of Honor Supercard of Honor pay-per-view on March 31.
In a match announced by ROH owner Tony Khan on Thursday, El Hijo del Vikingo will defend the AAA Mega Championship against Komander at Supercard of Honor. The bout will pit the consensus two best high-flyers in the world against one another.
Next Friday, March 31#ROH Supercard of Honor Los Angeles, CA, Galen Center
Vikingo made his AEW debut on this week’s Dynamite, losing to Kenny Omega in a dream match in the show’s main event.
Komander made his AEW debut in the Face of the Revolution ladder match on Dynamite earlier this month.
Four matches are official for Supercard, with another two — Wheeler Yuta vs. Katsuyori Shibata for the ROH Pure title, plus Athena vs. Yuka Sakazaki for the ROH Women’s World title — heavily hinted at, but not yet official.
Here is the announced lineup for next week’s pay-per-view:
ROH Supercard of Honor, Friday, March 31, 7 p.m. Eastern time on pay-per-view —
ROH World Championship: Claudio Castagnoli defends against Eddie Kingston
AAA Mega Championship: El Hijo del Vikingo defends against Komander
Reach for the Sky ladder match for the ROH World Tag Team Championship: Lucha Bros vs. Top Flight vs. The Kingdom vs. Aussie Open vs. Rush & Dralistico
ROH World Television Championship: Samoa Joe defends against Mark Briscoe
Komander says he is humbled by the interest he’s received from major wrestling companies in the United States.
The 24-year-old was interviewed by SI.com for an article released on Wednesday. He spoke about his match on Dynamite last week as well as reports that both AEW and WWE are interested in signing him.
“It’s very humbling to hear that people want to know where I’m going next,” says Komander. “That is a huge honor, to be spoken of in such a manner. I came from nothing. I had absolutely nothing. I did this because it is what I love to do.
Dave Meltzer addressed Komander’s situation last week in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Meltzer noted that the luchador is currently under contract to the KAOZ promotion and it is unclear how this would impact his ability to sign with another company.
Meltzer wrote:
“Komander actually is under contract with the KAOZ promotion in Mexico and not sure how that would impact his ability to actually sign with WWE or AEW. But he couldn’t sign with either right now without the approval of KAOZ.”
Meltzer would also say that Komander is “very much” on WWE’s radar. SI.com would report that WWE had already reached out to him before his appearance on AEW Dynamite last week.
Komander made his AEW debut in the Face of the Revolution ladder match. At one point, he walked along the top rope like a tightrope before diving onto his opponents on the floor below.
“It is difficult, and I understand the risks, but that was my chance to show I belong in the major leagues,” says Komander, who, according to sources, has drawn significant interest from AEW and WWE. “That was my shot to let the world know that Komander is here.”
AEW had actually hoped to have El Hijo de Vikingo in the face of the Revolution Ladder match last Wednesday. Tony Khan then asked for Komander after being told Vikingo was unavailable.
Tony Khan wanted El Hijo del Vikingo to make his AEW debut on Dynamite this week — but Vikingo wasn’t available for the match.
In the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer reported that AEW wanted Vikingo to be one of the participants in the Face of the Revolution ladder match on this Wednesday’s Dynamite. Because Vikingo wasn’t available, Komander instead took part in the match.
Meltzer notes that Komander wasn’t under contract with AEW when he was put on Dynamite. Komander is currently under contract with the Mexican promotion KAOZ.
Meltzer adds that Komander is “very much” on WWE’s radar, though Komander couldn’t sign with either AEW or WWE right now without KAOZ’s approval:
Komander, who debuted on Dynamite in the ladder match with no buildup at all, was not under contract when put on the show and is very much on WWE radar. Komander actually is under contract with the KAOZ promotion in Mexico and not sure how that would impact his ability to actually sign with WWE or AEW. But he couldn’t sign with either right now without the approval of KAOZ. Tony Khan wanted El Hijo de Vikingo to debut in the ladder match but he wasn’t available so the office asked for Komander. Konnan works with KAOZ and a long time ago told them to put Komander, Dinamico, Sexy Star and Dulce Canela under contract because smaller companies could then sign them and KAOZ may then be blocked from using them, plus KAOZ and AAA work together. The idea was that eventually they would work out a deal where KAOZ allowed them to sign with AAA, although that hasn’t happened yet and wasn’t a priority because AAA can use them now.
Powerhouse Hobbs, Komander, Konosuke Takeshita, Ortiz, AR Fox, Eddie Kingston, Sammy Guevara, and Action Andretti were the wrestlers who competed in the Face of the Revolution ladder match. Hobbs won the match and will challenge for the TNT Championship on Dynamite next Wednesday.
Dave Meltzer and Bryan Alvarez discussed some of the big moments in the Face of the Revolution ladder match that took place on AEW Dynamite Wednesday.
The show had Powerhouse Hobbs winning the brass ring, earning himself a TNT Championship match next week against either Samoa Joe or Wardlow, depending on who leaves Revolution as champion. Meltzer noted that although people in San Francisco were into a Northern California guy like Hobbs, they were also into Konosuke Takeshita winning at one point.
“As much as they wanted [Hobbs] to win, when Takeshita had the chance to win, they were really behind him” Meltzer said.
Meltzer and Alvarez also had praise for Komander, who made his AEW debut in the match and stood out by running across the ring ropes unassisted at several points during the match. But they also pointed out some dangerous spots, including Action Andretti attempting to hit a falcon arrow on Sammy Guevara, but ended up botching the move.
“These guys are killing themselves, trying to impress the fans…they’re going so far,” Meltzer said.
Other participants in the match included Eddie Kingston and Ortiz, who brawled to the back early in the match, and AR Fox.
Komander will make his AEW debut in the Face of the Revolution ladder match on Wednesday’s Dynamite.
The 24-year-old high-flyer was announced as one of eight competitors for the ladder match during Friday’s Rampage episode. Konosuke Takeshita, Ortiz, Action Andretti, Sammy Guevara, Powerhouse Hobbs, Eddie Kingston, and AR Fox are the other seven competitors who will vie for a future TNT title shot. TNT Champion Samoa Joe will be on commentary for the bout.
Four additional new matches were also announced for Wednesday during Rampage.
Orange Cassidy will defend the All-Atlantic title against Big Bill in a match stemming from an angle on Rampage where Bill, Lee Moriarty, and The Gunns attacked Best Friends backstage.
Hook vs. Matt Hardy in an FTW title match is also set for Wednesday’s Dynamite. Chris Jericho will take on Peter Avalon, plus Toni Storm will face Riho.
Promos from AEW Champion MJF and his Revolution challenger Bryan Danielson have also been added to Wednesday’s show.
The updated Dynamite lineup:
AEW Dynamite, Wednesday, March 1 —
Face of the Revolution ladder match for a future TNT title shot: Komander vs. Konosuke Takeshita vs. Ortiz vs. Action Andretti vs. Sammy Guevara vs. Powerhouse Hobbs vs. Eddie Kingston vs. AR Fox
Casino tag team battle royale for a spot in the Tag Team title match at Revolution: Top Flight vs. Aussie Open vs. Matt Menard & Angelo Parker vs. Best Friends vs. Alex Reynolds & John Silver vs. Mike Bennett & Matt Taven vs. Preston Vance & Rush vs. Claudio Castagnoli & Wheeler Yuta vs. The Lucha Bros vs. The Butcher & The Blade
AEW All-Atlantic Championship: Orange Cassidy (c) vs. Big Bill
