Wednesday night is almost upon us, and everyone knows what that means: another exhilarating edition of AEW “Dynamite” is coming your way!!! 8pm EST/7pm CST, right on TNT, and coming hard with the unparalleled absolute best professional wrestling available anywhere! One week ago we witnessed “Boom Boom” Colt Cabana take the fight to “The Murderhawk Monster” Lance Archer in their TNT Title Tournament Quarter-Final match, but eventually fall victim to Archer's Blackout that sent Jake Roberts' charge to the Semi-Finals.
AEW World Champion Jon Moxley and Jake Hager had a war of their own inside an Empty Arena, and after taking all the shots from Hager, the champion retained in his first defense, and in the process also notched a victory over every member of The Inner Circle. Sammy Guevara, Shawn Spears, and Kip Sabian were also all victorious in their contests, although the latter didn't exactly do it all on his own seeing as how Penelope Ford was at ringside!
This week AEW brings to you the last two Quarter-Final match-ups in the TNT Title Tournament, one of which will also determine the future of a legendary career, and Orange Cassidy will lock horns with Jimmy Havoc. Plus, Mr. Brodie Lee, “The War Dog” Wardlow, and AEW World Tag Team Champion Kenny Omega will all be in action this Wednesday night!
TNT CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE TOURNAMENT QUARTER-FINAL MATCH
KIP SABIAN VS. DUSTIN RHODES
You heard the words from his own mouth on that video above as well as in this week's “Road To...” episode: Dustin Rhodes will retire if he does not defeat Kip Sabian in this Quarter-Final match of the TNT Championship Tournament. Being that champion, the FIRST TNT Champion, clearly means the world to Dustin, so much so that he is willing to put his 30 year career at stake Wednesday night.
Everything Dustin accomplished before All Elite Wrestling was born, every championship, every match, every victory and defeat, the inspiration he provided to many who dreamed of becoming wrestlers, it all apparently means nothing if he does not win this match.
The good Dustin has done since joining AEW: be it the Match of the Year bout nearly a year ago against his brother Cody, the battles against The Inner Circle, or all he has taught the younger talent, it all means nothing if Dustin does not advance to the Semi-Finals to take on “The MurderHawk Monster” Lance Archer. Is this a stupid decision on the legends part? Is he too much in his own head coming into this tournament? Or is it the kind of self-motivation Dustin need to propel himself onto victory? We will all know the result soon enough, but what a prize awaits him if he does succeed in defeating “Superbad” Kip Sabian.
And what about Sabian? The focus is no doubt falling on the potential end of a legendary career, but what of the man who may be responsible for ending said journey? Sabian rolls into this match having won three of his last four matches, two consecutively, and would love to be the one to put the nail in the coffin of Dustin Rhodes' career. Imagine that feather in the cap? The bragging rights Kip would have in AEW for being the one to end Dustin Rhodes, and knowing, whether he wins the TNT Championship or not, he will own the right to say he shattered Dustin's championship dreams as well as his thirty year legacy.
TNT CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE TOURNAMENT QUARTER-FINAL MATCH
(#5) DARBY ALLIN VS. SAMMY GUEVARA
Prior to their match at the “Revolution” pay-per-view several months back, Sammy Guevara was directly responsible for injuring the throat of Darby Allin with the man's own skateboard. Yes, the rest of The Inner Circle was present for the assault, but it was the hands of “The Spanish God” who inflicted that injury, and thus it was Sammy who paid the price for it at the aforementioned PPV event.
But, as far as Sammy and The Inner Circle was concerned, that was simply the victory in one single battle, it was not the one that ended the war. In fact, just days later on “Dynamite”, when Darby and newly crowned AEW World Champion Jon Moxley were supposed to unite to take on Sammy and Chris Jericho, The Inner Circle decimated Mox, and left Allin to fend for himself in what amounted to a handicap match. Clearly Darby was not on the winning end of that scenario, nor was he on the winning end on April 1st when he and Cody lost to Sammy and Shawn Spears in tag team action.
But, as with how Sammy approached his loss at “Revolution”, so too did Darby take those defeats as merely other battles in the overall war. Darby has been a constant presence in the realm of Guevara, making sure that “The Spanish God” knows that Darby's crosshairs are still trained on him.
And that brings us to this Wednesday night and one of the most important nights in either man's young careers. Both supremely talented, both more than capable of carrying that TNT Championship, and both desperately wanting to rid themselves of the other man. Yet, no matter which man advances in this tournament, regardless of who moves on to face Cody in the Semi-Finals, it will likely not be the end of this rivalry.
As a point of fact, it will likely just add fuel to the fire, particularly if Darby is the one to move on to face another familiar opponent in Cody, ESPECIALLY if Allin rolls onto claim the TNT Championship himself. Now that would be a thorn in the side of Guevara, but either way, it certainly seems, based on both of their career trajectories that, to paraphrase a film, Darby and Sammy are destined to do this forever.
SINGLES MATCH
ORANGE CASSIDY VS. JIMMY HAVOC
Aside from the “Dynamite Dozen Battle Royale” and the “Casino Battle Royale”, these two individuals have not shared the ring in any traditional fashion. No singles matches, no tags or multi-man situations, not one wrestling match pitting Orange Cassidy against Jimmy Havoc anywhere. Yet Havoc felt it necessary to assault Orange during the Kip Sabian versus Chuck Taylor match last week, presumably after taking offense to Cassidy's actions in that match. A little brotherhood between Sabian and Havoc one may suppose...
And thus, this Wednesday night, in just his second singles match in All Elite Wrestling, Orange Cassidy will go one-on-one with Jimmy Havoc! Orange's lone match came against PAC at “Revolution”, and also served as a loss in the record book. Jimmy, on the other hand, carries a 3-1 record for 2020 into this match, with his one loss coming at the hands of Cody several weeks ago. The experience edge as far as AEW competition goes certainly falls on the side of Havoc, and he has two people on his side who have shown little hesitation to get involved in a match the mood suits them. However, OC does have The Best Friends of Chuck and Trent supporting him so the numbers could prove even here.
If all outside factors are equaled out, than this should come down to a battle of two drastically different styles competing to see who is the better man.
THE BEST BOUT MACHINE!
He's the number four ranked wrestler in the Men's Ranking, he's one-half of the World Tag Team Champions alongside “Hangman” Adam Page, he is Kenny Omega, and he will be back in action this week on “Dynamite”!
After nearly a month out of action to heal a wrist injury suffered during that instant classic match at “Revolution”, fans have seen Omega successfully defend his AAA Mega Championship against Sammy Guevara, then defeat Trent in a hard-fought singles match before losing a rather eccentric tag team battle against The Best Friends with Michael Nakazawa as his partner. With how he has looked in those matches, that injury seems a thing Omega can definitively place in his rear view, and move on with his career. It is a career intimately tied to that of Adam Page, seeing as how they are the World Tag Team Champions, but given current situations, Hangman has had to spend more time with Tom Nook than Kenny Omega.
So given that, Omega is in a position to demonstrate just why he has been considered the best wrestler in the world by many for several years, why he has been dubbed The Best Bout Machine, and why he is truly one of The Elite. The man once also called “The Cleaner” will be in action this Wednesday night to show the world once more!
MR. BRODIE LEE STEPS IN THE RING...
Mister Brodie Lee has proven himself a dominating force in his forays into the AEW ring since being revealed as The Exalted One of The Dark Order. He has laid waste to his opponents, driven his boot into the skull of Christopher Daniels, and has also exerted his authority outside of the squared circle as well. Look at the “Road To...” video embedded above, specifically at the excerpt featuring John Silver and Alex Reynolds, and see the kind of sway he holds over his followers in The DO. They aim to please him, to make him proud, to earn his respect, to prove that indeed They Are One. Mister Brodie Lee rules with an iron fist, both inside and outside of the ring, and this Wednesday night he will once again prove that fact on whomever stands across the ring from him.
WARDLOW IN ACTION...
Much like the aforementioned Orange Cassidy, the number of singles matches under Wardlow's belt since coming to AEW at MJF's side is limited; two in fact. The first one came inside a Steel Cage opposite Cody, and although it was a losing effort, it demonstrated just what kind of a monster Wardlow can be when unleashed. His one other match, from an edition of “AEW Dark”, lasted less than thirty seconds and left poor Ryan Pyles absolutely broken.
Will we see a repeat of that “Dark” performance this week on “Dynamite” when “The War Dog” returns to the ring? Tune in to find out who falls victim next!
Will Dustin Rhodes bid his amazing career adieu this Wednesday night? Will it be Darby or Sammy who heads to the Semi-Finals? Are you taking the unique stylings of Orange Cassidy or the unrepentant violence of Jimmy Havoc? These match-ups, and plenty more, are coming to you this Wednesday night at 8pm EST/7pm CST when “Dynamite” takes over the airwaves on TNT!
And don't forget to swing by our YouTube page (youtube.com/allelitewrestling) for the Pre- & Post-Dynamite shows! The former kicks off at 6:30pm, and the latter hits you immediately following “Dynamite”!