Another exciting weekend of All Elite action kicked off Monday night with the debut of AEW DARK: ELEVATION embedded below, rolled on into a stacked edition of AEW DARK on Tuesday night, and now comes to a head with DYNAMITE: ST PATRICK'S DAY SLAM on Wednesday night!
Last week we heard from Eddie Kingston and Jon Moxley about the events of REVOLTION 2021, witnessed Penta El Zero Miedo come at Cody Rhodes, Rey Fenix beat Matt Jackson in an instant classic, Christian Cage make his DYNAMITE debut, as well as Chuck Taylor deliver a challenge to Miro! Plus, the future of The Inner Circle turned into utter chaos as MJF, FTR, Wardlow, and Shawn Spears decimated Chris Jericho's crew!
How will all of that factor into this Wednesday night's action? Tune into TNT at 8pm EST/7pm CST, or on AEWPlus.com if you're in our International audience, to bear witness! We are loaded up for ST. PATRICK'S DAY SLAM with a landmark Unsanctioned Lights Out main event between Thunder Rosa and Britt Baker, Kingston and Mox teaming up, Cody versus Penta, Matt Hardy and his hired guns in ten man action, and much, much more!
UNSANCTIONED LIGHTS OUT- ANYTHING GOES MATCH
(#4) Dr. Britt Baker D.M.D (w/ Rebel) vs. Thunder Rosa
Three times in the history of All Elite Wrestling fans have witnessed a match be declared UNSANCTIONED LIGHTS OUT. The first pitted Joey Janela against Jon Moxley at FYTER FEST 2019 and came about out of fear for what those two wild warriors could do to one another once the bell rang. It was indeed a violent affair, but one bred of mutual respect that ended with the two warriors sharing a drink to commemorate the night.
Janela would also participate in the second ever bout of that nature, this one going down on the 10/15/19 AEW DARK with Kenny Omega of all people. It was another violent display, but only a hint of what the third round of Lights Out would bring at FULL GEAR 2019 when Omega met Moxley in one of their own. At the time, it was the culmination of six months of tension and hostility, and undoubtedly the most violent affair All Elite Wrestling had experienced to that date.
For over a year that stipulation has remained dormant, but this Wednesday night on DYNAMITE, in the main event of ST. PATRICK'S DAY SLAM, it will be resurrected as one of the most heated rivalries in AEW barrels towards its conclusion. Yet calling it simply a rivalry does not do justice to just what has gone down between Thunder Rosa and Dr. Britt Baker essentially since the latter made her debut in All Elite Wrestling. Baker has made it a mission to rid “her division” of Rosa's presence, declaring that the former NWA World Women's does not belong in the ring with Baker, much less in AEW. Britt has made a point at every conceivable turn to verbally denigrate Thunder, to humiliate her, and physically assault her (with no small amount of help from Rebel).
At DYNAMITE: BEACH BREAK, when Thunder Rosa finally got a chance to make Baker answer for her weeks of bullying and abuse, the good doctor's trusty lackey exposed the metal bolt underneath a turnbuckle, eventually allowing Baker to use it as a weapon. Rosa's impact with the exposed buckle knocked her senseless and enabled the D.M.D to secure The Lockjaw for the win via referee stoppage.
Those shady tactics insured that the rivalry, already heated, was not ending at BEACH BREAK and would only escalate in the aftermath. Never was that more evident than this past week on DYNAMITE when, as seen in the video embedded above, the chaos erupted before the bell even rang! The rage Rosa feels, that Baker has arrogantly cultivated over these past several months, is too big, too wild, too uncontrollable for just any standard fare. Thus it was decided last week that, for the first time in AEW's history, it would be two women who met in an Unsanctioned Lights Out Match, and with the hatred/history between Thunder Rosa and Britt Baker, it was only appropriate that this fight serve as the main event of ST. PATRICK'S DAY SLAM!
There will be no rules, no one to stop these two women from decimating each other in violent attempts to prove their points. For Britt it has always been about her dominance, her self-proclaimed status as the face of the women's division, and proving Rosa does not belong in All Elite Wrestling. For Rosa, she aims to prove to Baker in as painful way as possible that not only demonstrates she belongs here, but that Thunder Rosa is also the superior fighter between the two warriors.
This battle has no bearing on the rankings, will not count in the win-loss records for either woman, nor get them closer to a World Title opportunity against Hikaru Shida. What it will do though is declare to the world just who is the better woman, and hopefully grant one of these competitors that rarest of graces so few ever get in life: closure.
NOW LIE IN IT...
Jon Moxley & Eddie Kingston vs. The Good Brothers (Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows w/ Don Callis)
As has become par for the course with AEW World Champion Kenny Omega, wherever he walks The Good Brothers don't seem to be very far behind. That was the case at REVOLUTION 2021 (Order Replay) when former IMPACT Tag Team Champions The Good Brothers got involved in the Exploding Barbed Wire Deathmatch to help Omega retain his title. Anderson and Gallows, from the moment they crashed onto the AEW scene, have been there to back-up Kenny both in Jacksonville, and on their home turf in Nashville. Without their assistance, it is very likely that Omega would only be referred to as World Champion in past tense while Jon Moxley would be hailed as the first two-time holder of said title. They have been a great equalizer for Omega and his Invisible Hand, but this week at ST. PATRICK'S DAY SLAM, Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows will have to answer for their sins.
Coming on the heels of that situation last week (which ended up pulling in Christian Cage but more on that later), this Wednesday night, shockingly for the first time in the course of their lengthy friendship, Jon Moxley and Eddie Kingston will unite to fight Anderson and Gallows in a tag team affair! There's a lot of tension, emotion, and rage wrapped up in this one, and all four men are looking to take it out on each other right there on TNT! As the old saying goes, The Good Brothers made this bed...
WRESTLING ROYALTY...
(#4) “The American Nightmare” Cody Rhodes (w/ Arn Anderson) vs. Penta El Zero Miedo
At REVOLUTION 2021, these two men were part of the sextet competing for a TNT Title opportunity via the Face Of The Revolution Ladder match. Cody entered the fight with an injured shoulder but fought through the pain, even dragging himself back into the fray despite the desires of Coach Arn or AEW medical staff, only to end up on the losing end of the situation. Penta El Zero Miedo played no small part in eliminating “The Prince of Pro Wrestling” from the situation by wildly swinging a chair into Rhodes' injured limb, and further exacerbating the damage.
Penta would not end up on the winning side of the ladder match either, that was a prize captured by Scorpio Sky, but he certainly came out in better shape than the former 2-Time TNT Champion. Thus it was quite a shock to everyone, including his own Nightmare Family, when Cody insisted on competing last Wednesday night on DYNAMITE. While Rhodes certainly protected his shoulder, evident by the use of a Figure Four rather than a CrossRhodes to get the victory, a win is a win is a win.
Penta saw things a bit differently and chose the moments following Cody's victory, through translations provided by Alex Abrahantes, to berate his foe. Penta declared that if Cody was indeed “The Prince of Pro Wrestling” than he was “The Lord of Lucha Libre”, and essentially said the only thing that protected Rhodes from having his arm removed from his body was the presence of the other four men in the ladder match. Verbal jabs of that nature can be taken in stride, they are par for the course as a professional wrestler, but when Penta turned his diatribe towards Cody's daughter-to-be, threatening Cody's ability to even hold the child once she's born, the issue became decidedly personal and turned violent.
So the table is now set for this one-on-one collision come DYNAMITE, a first-time meeting for AEW and just their second singles ever with the first going down in 2017. Cody picked up that win, just as he and Dustin did in their tag affair with The Lucha Bros on the January 8, 2020 DYNAMITE. The biggest difference here isn't just the time that has passed, but the condition in which Cody steps between the ropes.
Is he in fighting shape, or riding on sheer force of will to keep competing? Penta El Zero Miedo will no doubt unleash that vicious streak we have seen in the past with aims to maim Cody; we shall all see on Wednesday night if “The American Nightmare” is in any condition to stand up to the assault.
TEN MAN TAG ACTION!
Jurassic Express (Jungle Boy, Luchasaurus, Marko Stunt) & Bear Country (Bear Boulder & Bear Bronson
vs.
Matt Hardy, Private Party (Isiah Kassidy & Marq Quen), The Butcher & The Blade (w/ The Bunny)
The Matt Hardy Empire continued to grow last week on DYNAMITE when “Big Money” added the contracts of The Butcher, The Blade, and The Bunny to his client list. While it certainly left a strange taste in the mouths of Private Party considering their prior involvement as foes, Marq and Isiah attempted to make it a smooth addition to the Hardy Empire on BTE (Watch Here) this week.
While that attempt was...awkward...at best, the quartet definitely made an in-ring impression as a unit with a commanding victory on AEW DARK: ELEVATION Monday night. It was the first test put before them by Big Money Matt, and now on DYNAMITE: ST. PATRICK'S DAY SLAM, he will step into the ring alongside his clients for a ten-man tag! Their opponents for the evening are certainly an impressive quintet, albeit one comprised of two teams who will be uniting for the very first time.
Jurassic Express was quite successful during the early part of this week, with two-thirds of the trio scoring big wins: Jungle Boy notching his in the very first AEW DARK: ELEVATION match and Luchasaurus his own on Tuesday night's AEW DARK episode. Bear Country also got a W on Tuesday, their seventh straight overall victory, and Bronson and Boulder look to add another mark in the win column here with their DYNAMITE debut.
This is going to be a hard-fought one, especially with the tensions that have arisen in recent months between Bear Country and The Butcher & The Blade. Add in the pressure Matt Hardy will no doubt exert as he teams with his money makers, and his four allies will certainly be fighting with extra vigor.
Which five fighters will get their hand raised in this chaotic collision? Tune in Wednesday night to find out first-hand!
THE WORDS OF CHRISTIAN CAGE...
Last week fans eagerly anticipated hearing from AEW's newest acquisition Christian Cage, but circumstances stopped that from happening. Circumstances is a rather tame way of saying Christian Cage got right up in the face of AEW World Champion Kenny Omega while his running buddies Anderson and Gallows brawled off with Moxley and Kingston.
Words were exchanged, and while Christian Cage may have rebuked that most disingenuous handshake Omega offered, and it was the AEW World Champ who attempted to strike first. It backfired, and it was only the timely intervention of Don Callis that saved Kenny from being driven face first into the canvas.
As can be seen in that clip embedded above, Christian Cage certainly demonstrated an interest as he held the World Championship title in his hands. Perhaps that will be the intent he expresses to the world during ST. PATRICK'S DAY SLAM when Christian Cage speaks to the fans for the first time since signing with AEW at REVOLUTION 2021!
BACK IN ACTION...
Two weeks ago at DYNAMITE: THE CROSSROADS, Jade Cargill made her in-ring debut in landmark fashion by teaming with NBA Legend Shaquille O'Neal to defeat Cody Rhodes and Red Velvet. Not only did Jade make her debut, but with Cody and Shaq laid out after crashing through a table, she scored the deciding pinfall for her time!
It was a memorable first match for the world class athlete, and this Wednesday night, Jade Cargill will look to make it two victories in a row! ST. PATRICK'S DAY SLAM will make her return to action, and it's a safe assumption that Jade has her eyes on the same prize as every woman in All Elite Wrestling: the championship still around the waist of Hikaru Shida. To get there, Jade has to rack up some wins and she aims to do just that Wednesday night on TNT!
ONE-ON-ONE...
Rey Fenix (w/ PAC) vs. Angelico (w/ Jack Evans)
Coming off another show-stealing victory over Matt Jackson last week, one-third of Death Triangle is right back at it in singles competition, and once again he faces a foe with whom he is quite familiar.
The history of Angelico and Rey Fenix, although only having crossed path once in AEW way back on the very first AEW DARK, is one that runs very deep and goes back a decade. As point of fact, their first recorded match actually went down on March 21, 2011 in a AAA six-man tag team bout. That night Angelico and Fenix stood on the same side of the ring, and that scene of the two men as allies is something that would repeat itself over the course of the next decade.
Yet just as they were allies, so too did they compete as foes on occasion, but only one time during that history did they ever lock horns in a one-on-one situation. That fight took place three years ago in the UK and saw Fenix emerge victorious, but now Angelico has a chance not only for redemption, but also to stymie the momentum of Rey Fenix as he and PAC head toward a future World Tag Team Title bout.
That championship opportunity is certainly something Angelico envies as the closest he and Jack Evans have come was an encounter with The Young Bucks, essentially a Tag Title Eliminator situation, in which The Hybrid2 needed to win to get their shot. Angelico and Jack failed, and now must climb the ranks once again to get in contention, perhaps that situation could unfold with Angelico topping one-half of the team with a World Tag Title opportunity in their back pocket. Angelico certainly has a tough row to hoe with Fenix firing on all cylinders right now, but the wild unpredictable nature of Angelico's offense, and the shared history, might be the perfect match-up for what Rey Fenix brings to the table.
ONE MORE TIME AROUND...
Last week on DYNAMITE, Tony Schiavone found himself in familiar territory once more, holding a microphone for the legend Sting, looking to interview him about the epic Street Fight at REVOLUTION 2021. Although the act of interviewing Sting is quite familiar to Tony, that is not the territory being spoken of here, rather it is the act of someone interrupting The Icon when he attempts to speak his mind.
Fortunately, for the first time in ages, it was not the numbers game threat of Team Taz that loomed as Sting and TNT Champion Darby Allin hopefully laid that to rest on pay-per-view. Rather it was the imposing presence of “The Murderhawk Monster” Lance Archer, with Jake Roberts at his side, that crashed the party and became the latest individual preventing Sting from sharing his thoughts.
Why does this keep happening? The answer is pretty simple really; what better way to make your presence known than by imposing yourself on a bonafide wrestling legend like Sting? The prime difference between Team Taz and Lance Archer is that the latter will meet his target eye-to-eye. Archer does not depend on a numbers advantage to make his point, he will simply come at your face and smash it in if that is the path he aims to tread.
So what that means is this week on DYNAMITE, when Sting joins us once more in an attempt to address the fans, he will not need to have someone watching his back. He will know if Archer intends to come for him, or if last week was merely a message to all of AEW with Sting's time used as the platform...
This week on DYNAMITE: ST. PATRICK'S DAY SLAM, rivalries both old and new are on display, especially with the landmark Lights Out match in the main event pitting Thunder Rosa and Dr. Britt Baker against one another! On top of that, a banged up Cody heads into action against Penta, The Good Brothers answer for their crimes against Mox and Kingston, Jade is back in action, and plenty more coming your way at 8pm EST/7pm CST on TNT (or on AEWPlus.com for the International audiences).
Also, don't forget to check out the debut of AEW DARK: ELEVATION, as well as AEW DARK, both embedded here and exclusively available on the official AEW YouTube page (Watch Here)! It's also the home for our Pre- and Post-Game shows for DYNAMITE, WRESTLING WITH THE WEEK with Scorpio Sky & James Willems, and more!!