Cody became the first two-time TNT Champion Wednesday, defeating rival Mr. Brodie Lee for the title in a bloody dog collar match on AEW Dynamite.
The end came when Cody wrapped the chain connecting the dog collars around Lee’s face and hit a Crossroads, one of multiple he hit during the match, on Lee to get the pin. Both men were bloodied up during the physical encounter that spilled outside the ring with the chain being involved prominently.
Lee beat Cody for the title in August in a match that went just three minutes. His near-two month reign saw him defend the belt twice in wins over Orange Cassidy and Dustin Rhodes. Cody was injured in storyline and returned on last week’s Dynamite to accept Lee’s challenge.
Afterward, Cody was joined by Brandi Rhodes, Dustin Rhodes, and Arn Anderson in the ring with Tony Schiavone. He did an emotional babyface promo saying that when he came back with dark hair, people wanted him to go to the dark side but that he does this for the fans and this is why he wrestles.
Greg Valentine was in attendance, a nod to one of the most famous dog collar matches in pro wrestling history when he faced Roddy Piper at the first Starrcade.
A positive COVID-19 test result has resulted in a major change to tonight’s AEW Dynamite.
Mr. Brodie Lee vs. Orange Cassidy for the TNT Championship was set to headline the show, while Jon Moxley, Will Hobbs & Darby Allin were going to face Lance Archer, Brian Cage & Ricky Starks in a six-man tag. Archer revealed a positive COVID-19 test, so now Moxley will defend his AEW World title against Eddie Kingston.
Kingston was technically never eliminated from the Casino Battle Royale at All Out and has been mentioning that fact in his promos ever since. So tonight, he gets the World title shot he’s been clamoring for.
Lee will be making his second defense of the title since winning it from Cody on August 22. Lee brings an AEW career singles mark of 7-1 into the contest. Cassidy is 8-4 in AEW singles matches in 2020 and is coming off wins over Chris Jericho and Angelico.
Miro and Kip Sabian will team against Joey Janela and Sonny Kiss in Miro’s AEW in-ring debut.
AEW Women’s World Champion Hikaru Shida and NWA World Women’s Champion Thunder Rosa will team against Ivelisse and Diamante. Rosa defeated Ivelisse on last week’s Dynamite. Diamante and Ivelisse attacked Rosa after her win and Shida made the save.
An appearance by Chris Jericho and an appearance by Matt Hardy and Private Party have also been advertised.
Our live coverage begins at 8 p.m. Eastern time.
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Jim Ross, Excalibur and Tony Schiavone were the broadcast team.
This was a mixed bag. I thought they used Miro smartly and he played to his strengths, mostly tagging in for a few power spots.
I thought that any talk of Miro having a new physique was overblown last week but I was wrong. He’s gigantic.
Janela and Kiss got some shine on Sabian early. Sabian and Miro cut Kiss off and worked him over. This was formulaic but the work was very good at this stage.
Janela got a hot tag and things got sloppy. Miro, Janela and Sabian brawled to the floor. Miro sold his ankle and was limping for a bit.
Miro tried to launch Sabian over the barricade to Janela. Janela was supposed to hit something mid-air but the camera crew didn’t get a good shot of it and it looked like they botched it anyway.
Miro used the former Accolade, now possibly called Game Over, for the submission win on Kiss.
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Eddie Kingston entered and demanded the hard camera be focused on him. He said he and Mox used to be cut from the same cloth but then Mox sold out and became a sports entertainer, selling his soul to the devil.
He demanded that Moxley face him. Moxley entered and faced off with Kingston. A security team kept them apart.
This was an excellent segment. Give me a Kingston promo every week.
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The announcers previewed the card. Kenny Omega joined the commentary desk for the next match.
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Hangman Page defeated Evil Uno (w/Dark Order)
This was exactly the same thing they did last week, there was no storyline advancement with Omega and Page. Omega was better on commentary this week than last week but still managed to talk under Page’s ring introduction.
JR tried to help Omega get over the storyline here and asked if he was going to help Page out. Omega said he was staying put because he’s a singles guy now.
Page is still getting his legs under him as a singles guy and his matches aren’t clicking on all cylinders yet.
They had a back and forth brawl before an ad break. Uno worked Page over in a picture-in-picture ad break.
Page made a comeback. Uno tossed him to the stage. Uno asked Dark Order to go to the back rather than interfere.
Page made another comeback and hit a standing shooting star for a two count. Uno hit a senton atomico for a two count.
Page hit a powerbomb with a stack cover for a near fall, then followed with a Buckshot Lariat for the pin.
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Schiavone interviewed Matt Jackson backstage. Matt said fans may have noticed that he and Nick have been acting out of character lately.
He broke Tony’s phone and continued to act like a jerk.
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TNT Championship match: Mr. Brodie Lee defeated Orange Cassidy to retain the title
Not much to the match here but it was more a backdrop for the post-match angle.
Cassidy did his comedy kicks and pockets spot.
Cassidy tried a suicide dive but the Dark Order lackies caught him and allowed Lee to take over. Lee beat on Cassidy through an ad break.
Cassidy made a comeback and ran wild with suicide dives. JR went on his weekly crusade to undermine talent by ripping on dives. Cassidy hit a pair of tornado DDTs for near falls.
John Silver jumped in. Cassidy hit him with an Orange Punch. Lee used the distraction to hit a powerbomb and a discus lariat for the pin.
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After the match, Cody’s music hit.
Cody entered. He has dark hair now.
Cody beat up some Dark Order lackies while Lee escaped.
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After a commercial, Lee cut a promo. He asked what kind of man Cody was for sending Dustin and Brandi to do his work for him while he was in a bubble somewhere.
Lee asked what kind of man Cody was that his wife was posting thirst traps and calling Lee “Daddy.”
Lee pulled out a dog collar and challenged Cody to a dog collar match. He gave Cody a week to respond.
This was another strong promo. The high point of this show tonight is the promos by a wide margin.
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Matt Hardy and Private Party made their way to the ring. Hardy said it was his birthday.
Hardy said he was attacked from behind last week. He used a lot of words to say that someone with a mask attacked him with a pipe or bat and noted that right after he was laid out, Jericho and Hager entered with a bat.
Hardy said he has a lot of enemies but was pointing the finger at Jericho.
Jericho and The Inner Circle entered. Sammy Guevara is back. Jericho said he didn’t attack Hardy. Jericho was carrying a baseball bat.
Hardy wanted to fight the whole Inner Circle. Quen and Kassidy talked sense to him and reminded him he’s not cleared yet.
Quen said he is cleared and laid out Jericho last week. Kassidy said he’s ready to make Le Champion his bitch next week.
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FTR and Tully Blanchard came to the ring for a promo. Tully said that Tag title matches on TV will now have a 20 minute time limit and he and FTR get to pick the opponents.
FTR are branding this as a weekly “brush with greatness.” They mentioned Best Friends as potential opponents.
Best Friends entered. FTR acted like they were ready to defend the titles right away. A referee came out and was about to ring the bell when Dax stopped him.
Cash said it wouldn’t be fair to Best Friends if they wrestled tonight and advised them to take a couple weeks to heal up and then maybe call Tully and they’ll set something up.
This was an effective segment.
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Thunder Rosa & Hikaru Shida defeated Ivelisse & Diamante
Rosa is great, Shida is great, this match was laid out really well, there’s just only so much Ivelisse and Diamante are capable of.
Rosa’s facepaint was a tribute to Road Warrior Animal.
Shida and Rosa were attacked during Shida’s intro.
Diamante and Ivelisse cut Rosa off. It’s kind of like when Sasha Banks and Alexa Bliss are in together when Rosa and Ivelisse are in there at the same time in that it feels like a fight could break out at any time.
Shida got a hot tag during a commercial break. The match broke down.
Shida pinned Diamante after a falcon arrow and a shining wizard.
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Dasha Gonzalez was backstage with Chris Jericho.
Jericho said Isiah Kassidy is going to be a big star one day but not next week. He said next week he’s going down when he faces Le Champion.
MJF entered. Jericho and MJF continued to do their mutual appreciation society gimmick. It was very good.
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Jericho vs. Kassidy, Britt Baker in action, Ricky Starks vs. Darby Allin, FTR vs. SCU and a Jon Moxley appearance were advertised for next week’s Dynamite.
A 30 years of Jericho celebration was announced for the October 7 Dynamite.
The main event is next.
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AEW World Championship match: Jon Moxley defeated Eddie Kingston to retain the title
Kingston is 38 and has worked a hard style for a long time. He’s at the top of his game as a promo and a character and that makes up for whatever physical limitations he has.
They had a brawl. It was intense and very good.
They traded a couple of cursory holds right awy but things quickly became the brawl that you would expect. They lit each other up with chops and strikes.
Kingston was in control before a commercial break and beat Moxley around ringside.
Moxley made a comeback with a tope and a piledriver for a near fall. Kingston hit a powerbomb for a two count. Kingston sold like he might have a stinger.
Moxley avoided two backfists and used a bulldog choke for the submission win.
A key point in the finish here is that Kingston never tapped, the referee called for the bell after Kingston appeared to be out.
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After the bell, Penta El Zero M and Rey Fenix ran in to attack Moxley.
Will Hobbs ran in for the save. Penta and Fenix recovered and laid out Hobbs.
Darby Allin ran in to join the brawl. Allin sent Fenix and Penta outside wth skateboard shots.
Ricky Starks ran in and attacked Allin. Starks hit a big spear and hit Allin with the skateboard.
Mr. Brodie Lee defeated Cody to win the TNT Championship in the main event of last night’s AEW Dynamite.
Lee beat Cody in what was essentially a squash match and his Dark Order faction left Cody’s Nightmare Family laying at the end of the show.
FTR continued their climb to the top of the tag team division with a win over Private Party in the show opener. FTR also revealed that they have aligned themselves with Tully Blanchard who accompanied them to ringside for the match.
Matt Hardy and Sammy Guevara’s feud continued last night. Hardy attacked Guevara with a chair, then sent him through a table. The two are scheduled to meet on Thursday’s Dynamite in a tables match.
MJF will challenge AEW World Champion Jon Moxley for the title at All Out on September 5, but last night MJF was in a neck brace and threatened legal action against Moxley unless Moxley agrees to not use the Paradigm Shift in their match.
The Elite trio of The Young Bucks and Kenny Omega defeated 3, 4 and 5 of The Dark Order, but the real story came after the match when Omega had to be pulled away from 5 by The Bucks for dishing out too much punishment.
Diamante and Ivelisse won the inaugural AEW Women’s Tag Team Cup tournament, scoring a victory over Brandi Rhodes and Allie.
Chris Jericho also challenged Orange Cassidy to a Mimosa Mayhem match at All Out, then had The Inner Circle beat down Cassidy and Best Friends.
For more of what you missed from last night, including Eddie Kingston forming an alliance, a Thunder Rosa promo and Ricky Starks attacking Darby Allin, scroll below.
A match that has been in the rumor mill for weeks is now a reality as Cody will defend the TNT Championship this Wednesday on AEW Dynamite against indie fan favorite Warhorse.
On the Road to Fight for the Fallen, Cody’s coach Arn Anderson suggested that Warhorse would be a good future opponent when the champion was asked about potential future opponents from the indies. AEW tweeted the clip, effectively setting the match into motion.
This will be the promotional debut for the 27-year-old who has been the IWTV Independent Wrestling Champion since September 2019. This will be just his second match since the pandemic put a long pause on the indie wrestling business in March.
Cody will be looking for his seventh successful defense of AEW’s new title and is coming off a win over the debuting Eddie Kingston in a no DQ match last week.
The show will also feature AEW World Tag Team Champions Kenny Omega and Hangman Page vs. Dark Order, World Champion Jon Moxley and Darby Allin vs. Brian Cage and Ricky Starks, The Inner Circle vs. Best Friends, Orange Cassidy, Luchasaurus and Jungle Boy in a ten-man tag, and Women’s Champion Hikaru Shida vs. Diamante in a non-title match.
Cody is the first-ever TNT Champion, defeating Lance Archer tonight at Double or Nothing.
Towards the end of the match, Cody’s coach Arn Anderson was ejected to the back after a second referee came out and told the referee that Anderson had crotched Lance Archer on the top turnbuckle. After Anderson was ejected, Archer’s manager Jake Roberts brought out a snake.
However, the snake was never brought to the ring as Mike Tyson, who was set to present the TNT Championship to the winner, took off his shirt and stared down Roberts. As this was going on, Cody hit two Cross Rhodes to Archer and pinned him to win the title. Tyson then presented the title to Cody.
It was noted prior to the match that the AEW TNT Championship belt hasn’t been fully completed due to COVID-19.
Cody’s first championship defense will take place on June 3. The winner of a battle royal scheduled for Dynamite this Wednesday will be the first challenger.
The first of four quarterfinal matches in the inaugural TNT Championship tournament is in the books with Cody Rhodes picking up a win over Shawn Spears on Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite.
Rhodes recovered from a C4 from the ring to a table on the outside. After crawling back in the ring, he connected on two CrossRhodes but Spears kicked out only to eventually get pinned while being ensnared in a figure four leglock.
This was the first time the two have wrestled in singles competition since the first All Out pay-per-view in 2019.
Rhodes advances to face the winner of Darby Allin vs. Sammy Guevara which will air at some point over the next three weeks. Allin and Rhodes teamed up last week with Allin punching Rhodes in frustration after the match. They have wrestled two singles matches in AEW with a time limit draw the first time and Rhodes picking up a victory the second time.
Cody and Guevara wrestled on the very first match in Dynamite history with Rhodes picking up the win.
Next week’s Dynamite will feature Lance Archer vs. Colt Cabana in a quarterfinal match with the winner facing the winner of Dustin Rhodes vs. Kip Sabian.
The TNT Championship tournament will kick off next week and will keep going the week afterward with Lance Archer vs. Colt Cabana on the Wednesday, April 15th AEW Dynamite in a quarterfinal matchup.
This will be Archer’s second AEW match as he dominated Marko Stunt in his Wednesday debut. Since making his promotional in-ring debut a month ago, Cabana (pictured above) has gone 2-0 in singles competition with wins over Peter Avalan and Brandon Cutler in two AEW Dark matches.
Cabana and Archer have had just one singles match in 2015 for NOAH, a DQ win for Cabana that went under two minutes. They have worked against each other frequently in various tag teams.
Cody will face Shawn Spears on next week’s Dynamite while dates for Darby Allin vs. Sammy Guevara and Dustin Rhodes vs. Kip Sabian have yet to be announced. The eight man tournament will culminate at the currently scheduled May 23rd Double or Nothing pay per view in Las Vegas.
While various NCAA tournaments were canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, AEW hopes to scratch that tournament itch with the full bracket now revealed for the recently announced inaugural TNT Championship.
On Tuesday, the left side bracket of the eight-man single elimination tournament was announced with Cody vs. Shawn Spears and Darby Allin vs. Sammy Guevara in a pair of grudge matches.
Then on this week’s Dynamite, the right side of the bracket was announced as Dustin Rhodes will go one-on-one against Kip Sabian for the first time ever while Lance Archer will face Colt Cabana.
Cabana and Archer have worked a lot of tag team matches against each other through the years and did have a 2015 two minute singles match for NOAH that Cabana won by DQ. Archer made his AEW in-ring debut on this week’s Dynamite after recently signing an AEW contract.
The tournament begins next Wednesday with the Cody-Spears match. The two had a rivalry prior to the launch of Dynamite and faced each other at All Out last August with Cody picking up the win — their only singles match in AEW.
Allin and Guevera have wrestled frequently through the years and have recently picked up a rivalry in AEW. They have had one singles match in AEW at the Revolution PPV which Allin won.
The first half of the bracket is set for AEW’s TNT Championship tournament.
On tonight’s AEW Dark, it was announced that Cody vs. Shawn Spears and Darby Allin vs. Sammy Guevara are the matches on the left side of the TNT Championship tournament bracket. The winners of those matches will face each other in the semifinals.
Cody vs. Spears and Allin vs. Guevara are both rematches from AEW pay-per-views. Cody defeated Spears at All Out last August, while Allin defeated Guevara at Revolution this February.
The right side of the bracket will be revealed on tomorrow’s episode of Dynamite. It’s an eight-man, single-elimination tournament.
The tournament will kick off on the Wednesday, April 8 episode of Dynamite. AEW announced that the inaugural TNT Champion is scheduled to be crowned with the finals taking place at Double or Nothing in Las Vegas on Saturday, May 23.
“It’s been a privilege working with Kevin Reilly and TNT to bring fans the best live wrestling show week after week on AEW: DYNAMITE, especially during these tumultuous times,” AEW president and CEO Tony Khan said in the press release announcing the new title.
“I’m glad we’re now able to announce the TNT CHAMPIONSHIP. The first ever titleholder will be determined by an unforgettable tournament that fans will not want to miss, and that our wrestlers will be desperate to win. I’m excited for the announcement of the full bracket live on Dynamite this week. And, it’s only fitting that the champion and the title belt will carry the logo of the globally-respected TNT brand, and that they’ll represent not only AEW but also the great quality programming, massive reach, and storied history in the wrestling business that are all associated with TNT.”
The TNT Championship will be the fourth title that AEW has introduced. Jon Moxley holds the AEW Championship, Nyla Rose is the AEW Women’s Champion, and Kenny Omega & Hangman Page are the AEW Tag Team Champions.
AEW announced today that they’re introducing the TNT Championship. An eight-man, single-elimination tournament to crown the first champion will begin on the Wednesday, April 8 episode of Dynamite. AEW’s press release said the finals of the tournament are scheduled for Double or Nothing in Las Vegas on Saturday, May 23.
Half of the bracket for the tournament will be revealed on AEW Dark tomorrow, while the other half will be revealed on Wednesday’s Dynamite. AEW hyped that the tournament will feature “the biggest names in AEW all vying for the inaugural TNT CHAMPIONSHIP belt.”
“It’s been a privilege working with Kevin Reilly and TNT to bring fans the best live wrestling show week after week on AEW: DYNAMITE, especially during these tumultuous times,” AEW president and CEO Tony Khan said.
“I’m glad we’re now able to announce the TNT CHAMPIONSHIP. The first ever titleholder will be determined by an unforgettable tournament that fans will not want to miss, and that our wrestlers will be desperate to win. I’m excited for the announcement of the full bracket live on Dynamite this week. And, it’s only fitting that the champion and the title belt will carry the logo of the globally-respected TNT brand, and that they’ll represent not only AEW but also the great quality programming, massive reach, and storied history in the wrestling business that are all associated with TNT.”
The introduction of the TNT title was also announced on today’s Road to Dynamite episode:
