This Wednesday night, AEW returns to Baltimore's CFG Arena for the first time since FULL GEAR 2019, and with DOUBLE OR NOTHING 2023 just a few weeks away, four men are fighting to determine the face of the AEW World Championship match! AEW World Champion MJF and his DON '23 challenger Sammy Guevara will unite in an attempt to stop Darby Allin and Jack Perry from making it a Four Way title fight! Plus, Roderick Strong will make his AEW in-ring debut when he teams with long-time friend Adam Cole, the AEW International Champion Orange Cassidy, and Bandido to fight The Jericho Appreciation Society, and Saraya is back in action against Willow Nightingale!
In addition, we will hear from The Elite ahead of Kenny Omega and Jon Moxley's Motor City Cage Match showdown next week in Detroit, and Ricky Starks will get his hands on Juice Robinson! All that and more is on tape this Wednesday night when DYNAMITE gets underway at 8pm ET/7pm CT LIVEon TBS, as well as at AEWPlus.com for our international audiences, and be sure to visit the official AEW YouTube channel for highlights from last week's DYNAMITE and RAMPAGE, as well as this week's editions of ROAD TO and THE CONTROL CENTER!
FOUR PILLARS TAG MATCH...
AEW World Champion MJF & “The Spanish God” Sammy Guevara
vs.
Darby Allin & “Jungle Boy” Jack Perry
***IF DARBY/JACK WIN, THE DOUBLE OR NOTHING TITLE MATCH BECOMES A 4-WAY***
AEW World Champion MJF and Sammy Guevara thought they had it all figured out, that they'd stacked the deck in the Four Pillars Tournament to insure “The Spanish God” came out as the victor, and based on the tourney results, they actually did. They conspired to screw over Jack Perry in his match with Sammy, and were in cahoots to cost Darby his bout with the former 3-Time TNT Champion as well. That didn't make Sammy the better athlete, it just made him the one willing to go along with MJF's plan in exchange for financial gain, even if the endgame of the plan was for Sammy to just lay down for Max at DOUBLE OR NOTHING 2023 in their AEW World Championship clash.
So kudos to Sammy and MJF for finding an end-around, but their hearts were certainly broken when Tony Schiavone informed the two men that while it might have earned Sammy the shot, it also earned them a tag team bout with Darby and “Jungle Boy” this Wednesday night on DYNAMITE. It wouldn't just be any old tag team match either, but rather one in which the face of DON's championship match could be radically altered. See if MJF and Sammy are victorious than everything stays the same, and “The Spanish God” can deal with the idea of laying down for MJF for cash and what those actions say about him. Clearly Guevara doesn't mean all that much to Max when it comes down to it...
Sammy, still in his ring gear, was prepared to leave the venue with MJF, leaving his wife behind mind you, and all because of some monetary promise that Max is just as likely to break as to adhere to; not the smartest of plays by Guevara, but then again, he's also been following Chris Jericho since day one here in AEW and that's not always been in his best interests either. Luckily for Guevara, he's got a wife who, despite the numerous negative qualities she's shown as part of The J.A.S, that cares enough to try and talk some sense into him.
While Tay Melo may be correct, there's still a dilemma presented by this situation: if Sammy goes along with MJF, he at least gets a one-on-one title opportunity in Las Vegas, even though he has to sell off another chunk of his soul to get it. If he does the right thing, well than there's a good chance his very first AEW World Championship match will be a Four Way bout at DOUBLE OR NOTHING 2023. The right way isn't always the easiest way; so which way will Sammy Guevara choose to go?
As far as the other side of the match goes, clearly there's a mix of respect and disdain between Darby and Jack Perry, but both want into this championship opportunity and if they can't get along for just one match, neither will have the chance to dethrone MJF. Despite their personal feelings for one another, they've got no choice but to get along this Wednesday night, or they can kiss their opportunity goodbye!
BEFORE THE CAGE DOOR CLOSES...
We now know that on May 10th, when All Elite Wrestling returns to Detroit and the Little Caesars Arena, Jon Moxley and Kenny Omega will go one-on-one for the very first time since REVOLUTION 2021. Not only will they clash in their third (official) singles match, but it will take place inside a Steel Cage, the first in AEW since FULL GEAR 2022's bout between “Jungle Boy” and Luchasaurus, and the first on DYNAMITE since 5/25/22 when Wardlow bested Shawn Spears.
Ahead of next week's fateful clash, the AEW faithful will hear from The Elite this Wednesday night! The bad blood between Kenny Omega and Jon Moxley dates back to the earliest days of AEW, after their scheduled ALL OUT 2019 collision was postponed due to Mox's staph infection, and that actually culminated at the FULL GEAR 2019 Unsanctioned Lights Out battle inside this very Baltimore building. But that was ages ago, and now with The Blackpool Combat Club at his side, Moxley is laying waste to everything in his path with a level of violence unlike any he's unleashed before...and that's saying quite a lot.
What will the former 2-Time AEW World Trios Champions have to say before Omega steps inside the cage? And will they even be able to state their position without interference from The Blackpool Combat Club?
TRES DE MAYO TRIOS BATTLE ROYALE...
ROH World Tag Team Champions Lucha Brothers & El Hijo del Vikingo vs. Kip Sabian/The Butcher/The Blade vs. The Dark Order (Alex Reynolds, Evil Uno, John Silver) vs. Varsity Athletes(Ari Daivari, Josh Woods, Tony Nese) vs. The Acclaimed & Daddy Ass vs. QT Marshall, Powerhouse Hobbs, & Aaron Solo
With The House of Black reigning over the Trios division as champions, the question is who will step up to be their next challengers? They best The Elite to ascend to the top, they beat both The Elite and The Jericho Appreciation Society in a Three Way title defense, and they've toppled The Best Friends and Orange Cassidy trio in their most recent championship challenge. Brody King, Buddy Matthews, and Malakai Black are willing to take on the fight offered by any challenger, and with this Battle Royale going down on DYNAMITE, there are plenty of potential contenders!
Of the men involved in this fracas, The Dark Order trio have had the most success as a team with ten wins over eleven matches, and those are ten consecutive victories mind you, making them the unit with the longest streak in the division. None of the other trios even come close; The Varsity Athletes have only had 2 matches together, the same for The Acclaimed and Daddy Ass, while Kip Sabian, Butcher, and Blade have amassed three trios bouts together. As for the other two groups, The QTV contingent and the Lucha Bros/Vikingo trio, this outing will be their first time entering into trios competition together.
But the rules of a Battle Royale don't exactly favor experience, they tend to dip towards those best able to take advantage of the situation as it unfolds before them, those who can adapt to the chaotic nature of having this many opponents in the ring simultaneously. It's having eyes in the back of your head both to be wary of those looking to eliminate you as well as to be aware of those on the verge of elimination. It's using the numbers to pick other trios apart, isolating one from the others, and tossing them over the top rope to their fate.
Which of these units will be able to pull that off this Wednesday night in Baltimore, and propel themselves up towards a championship bout with The House of Black?
ONE-ON-ONE...
Saraya vs. Willow Nightingale
No matter the odds, no matter the situation, Willow Nightingale has been one of the most vehement defenders of All Elite Wrestling in the face of The Outcasts' attack in the Women's division. She's been in there with Toni Storm and Ruby Soho, and although she's been on the losing end, Willow has been willing to fight for the honor of AEW's homegrown competitors.
With that in mind, and knowing the odds are forever against her given The Outcasts proclivity for interference, Willow Nightingale is still going to step into the ring with ringleader of this whole circus, Saraya. After the kendo stick assault committed on Dr. Britt Baker, The Outcasts have an even bigger target on their backs now than they did just a few weeks ago, and are only making things worse trying to rub salt in the wound by wearing shirts like the one in the video above.
But that's not the mission of Wednesday night, Wednesday has to be about fighting Willow and not concern about the much-deserved retaliation for what's been done to Britt and the AEW Women's World Champion Jamie Hayter. Still, if Baker and Hayter choose, they could level the playing field and give Nightingale a fighting chance.
8-MAN TAG BOUT...
AEW International Champion Orange Cassidy, Adam Cole, Bandido, & Roderick Strong
vs.
Jericho Appreciation Society (Angelo Parker, Daniel Garcia, Jake Hager, & Matt Menard)
Last week on DYNAMITE, Roderick Strong made a surprising debut here in All Elite Wrestling, coming to the aid of long-time friend Adam Cole after the tandem of Orange Cassidy and Bandido fell to the numbers advantage of The Jericho Appreciation Society. Strong tore through the members of The J.A.S. as he arrived on the scene, chasing them off before embracing Cole, and being declared ALL ELITE shortly thereafter.
Fortunately for Roddy, less so for the members of The J.A.S., he doesn't have to wait long to see action inside the AEW ring as this Wednesday night, he will unite with Adam Cole, AEW International Champion Orange Cassidy, and Bandido to take on most of The J.A.S, the very notable exception being one Chris Jericho himself. Maybe he'll show up, maybe he'll be conveniently across the country getting ready for Fozzy's Los Angeles show on May 4th, far away from any repercussions for his actions several weeks ago.
Either way, if he's in the building or hiding out on the West Coast, Jericho will absolutely be watching his guys try to ruin the in-ring debut of Roderick Strong, and spoil the night for Adam Cole, not to mention Orange and Bandido, two other men Jericho has different amounts of history with as well. This one is going to be a wild, heated contest likely prone to fists and fury rather than headlocks and wristlocks!
GRUDGE MATCH...
Juice Robinson vs. “Absolute” Ricky Starks
Last week on RAMPAGE, The BULLET CLUB GOLD duo of “Rock Hard” Juice Robinson and “Switchblade” Jay White topped the unlikely pairing of “Absolute” Ricky Starks and Shawn Spears. The pinfall White scored over Robinson didn't stop anything though as Starks attack “King Switch” as soon as the bell rang, then Robinson went after Ricky, leading to the BC GOLD pair ultimately fleeing the situation.
Now Juice has avoided a direct confrontation with Ricky for weeks now, ever since he first crashed Starks' post-REVOLUTION 2023 celebratory mood, but the running ends this Wednesday night on DYNAMITE when the two men collide one-on-one! Now whether or not it is actually one-on-one remains to be seen, but seems highly unlikely given the likelihood “Switchblade” Jay White will insert himself into the fight. If that's the case, does Starks still have Shawn Spears in his corner as support, or is he an island once again?
This Wednesday night, AEW is back in Baltimore at the CFG Arena as everyone gears up for DOUBLE OR NOTHING 2023 in just a matter of weeks! The Elite will speak in advance of Omega versus Moxley inside a Steel Cage Match next week in Detroit, Ricky Starks fights Juice Robinson, the Four Pillars are in tag team action with serious PPV ramifications at stake, Nightingale takes on Saraya, and plenty more on tap!
It goes down this Wednesday night when DYNAMITE kicks off at 8pm ET/7pm CT LIVE on TBS, as well as at AEWPlus.com for our international audiences! Before the action, be sure to drop by the official AEW YouTube channel for DYNAMITE and RAMPAGE highlights, as well as this week's editions of ROAD TO, THE CONTROL CENTER, and much, much more!