Suzuki makes AEW return on Dynamite on TSN2
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Minoru Suzuki returns to AEW as he teams with the Jericho Appreciation Society in trios action. Plus, Orange Cassidy and Katsuyori Shibata take on Zack Sabre Jr. and Daniel Garcia and Kris Statlander puts her TBS Championship on the line against Vancouver's Taya Valkyrie. You can catch AEW Dynamite LIVE at 8pm et/5pm pt on TSN2, streaming on the TSN App and on TSN.ca.
Jericho Appreciation Society ("The Ocho" Chris Jericho and "The Spanish God" Sammy Guevara) and Minoru Suzuki vs. Action Andretti, AR Fox and Darius Martin - On last week's Dynamite, we saw that cracks in the Jericho Appreciation Society facade have become visible. When Darby Allin pointed out to Sammy Guevara that Chris Jericho is holding him back, Guevara seemed to take that to heart, while Jericho took offence. "The Ocho" stormed out to the ring to confront Allin and had strong words for Guevara, too, not letting him forget that he worked for Jericho. Before things could boil over, Sting arrived and seemingly set up a tag match down the line. Before that can happen, though, Jericho and Guevara will once again team up with New Japan icon Minoru Suzuki on Wednesday night in trios action as they take on Action Andretti, AR Fox and Darius Martin. At Forbidden Door 2022, the trio of Jericho, Guevara and Suzuki were winners against Eddie Kingston, Wheeler YUTA and Shota Umino. While they were victorious in their first match, the three men haven't shared a ring in almost a year. On the other hand, their opponents have been teaming regularly in recent weeks and are coming off of a victory over the Trustbusters (Slim J, "The Concrete Rose" Sonny Kiss and Jeeves Kay) on the last edition of Ring of Honor TV. An absolutely fearless trio, Andretti, Fox and Martin will not be daunted at all at the prospect of standing across the ring against legends Jericho and Suzuki. Of course, Andretti famously holds a victory over Jericho from earlier in 2023. Can Action, Fox and Martin pull off the upset or will a win by Jericho, Guevara and Suzuki steady the ship in the JAS?
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AEW International Champion "Freshly Squeezed" Orange Cassidy and ROH Pure Champion Katsuyori Shibata vs. New Japan Pro-Wrestling World Television Champion Zack Sabre Jr. and "Red Death" Daniel Garcia - A matchup between two interesting sets of partners goes down on Wednesday night when Orange Cassidy and Katsuyori Shibata take on the team of Zack Sabre Jr. and Daniel Garcia. The match was put together last week on Dynamite when Sabre decided that he wanted to become the latest person to vie for Cassidy's AEW International Championship on Sunday at Forbidden Door in Toronto. Before Cassidy could answer, Garcia showed up to ask Cassidy where his buddy Shibata was because he wanted his ROH Pure Championship back. Garcia held the title for 94 days last fall when he defeated Wheeler YUTA, who would go on to take the title back from him. Cassidy suggested that the four men meet on Wednesday, an idea ZSJ and Garcia were fine with, but Sabre seemed put off by the Jericho Appreciation Society member when he was offered a fist bump. Shibata made his first appearance in AEW at Forbidden Door last year when he came to the aid of Cassidy to fend off an attack from the United Empire's Will Ospreay, Kyle Fletcher and Mark Davis. Since then the duo has sparked an unlikely friendship with Cassidy offering Shibata a shot at his title back in November. Shibata has held the Pure title since defeating YUTA at Supercard of Honor back in March. Sabre is looking to add to his impressive collection of titles and a win on Wednesday night would offer a springboard for a shot at Cassidy's title on Sunday night. Which of these odd pairings will pick up a victory?
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TBS Championship match: Kris Statlander (c) vs. "La Wera Loca" Taya Valkyrie - Twice Taya Valkyrie was unable to take the TBS Championship away from the then-undefeated Jade Cargill with the second defeat coming at last month's Double or Nothing pay-per-view. After that second match, Cargill's confidence turned to overconfidence when she issued an open challenge for a second match immediately. The returning Kris Statlander answered the challenge, making her return to AEW after a torn ACL kept her out of action for nine months, and hit the Big Bang Theory on Cargill to become the new TBS Champion. Valkyrie has seemed to take Statlander's victory over Cargill personally, feeling like it should have been her to dethrone her. This fixation on Statlander has seen Valkyrie adopt a new attitude in recent weeks, taking out her aggression on opponents in the ring. Wednesday night's match will offer the Vancouver native an opportunity to kill two birds with one stone - winning the TBS Championship and unloading her frustrations on Statlander in person. But will her emotions get the best of her? Valkyrie can't afford to be blinded by anger as she gets a chance to win gold for the first time in AEW. Any misstep and Statlander will undoubtedly take advantage of it. Can Valkyrie finally become TBS Champion or will Statlander stay undefeated since her return to action?
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Concession Stand Brawl: Mark Briscoe vs. "The Last Outlaw" Jeff Jarrett (w/ Jay Lethal, Sonjay Dutt, Satnam Singh and Karen Jarrett) - Jeff Jarrett wants to turn back the clock on Wednesday night with a match made famous by his legendary father, Jerry Jarrett, in Memphis. After the team of Mark Briscoe, Mike "Papa" Briscoe and Aubrey Edwards defeated Jarrett, Jay Lethal and Karen Jarrett in a mixed trios match last Friday night on Rampage, Jarrett made it clear that the enmity between him and Briscoe wasn't over yet. On Dynamite, the pair will have a Concession Stand Brawl. The match is exactly what it sounds like - it's a brawl at the concession stand. Infamously in 1979, Tupelo, MS played host to a brawl between the team of Jerry "The King" Lawler and Bill Dundee and the Blond Bombers (Larry Latham and Wayne Ferris, who would go on to become the Honky Tonk Man). The match was a violent spectacle with broken tables and condiments flying everywhere. Then in 1981, an even more brutal version of the match went down in Tupelo between the team of "Hot Stuff" Eddie Gilbert and Ricky Morton and Atsushi Onita and Masanobu Fuchi. It was a bloody mess, but impossible to take your eyes off of at the same time. If that's the legacy that Wednesday night's match is expected to live up to, then Jarrett and Briscoe are in for a battle on Dynamite. But is one man more suited for one than the other? While Jarrett's career goes back decades, Briscoe has a longer history of brutal encounters over his two decades in the business. In any event, Wednesday night's match won't be for the faint of heart.
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The Hardys (Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy) (w/ Isiah Kassidy and "All Ego" Ethan Page) vs. The Gunns (Austin Gunn and Colten Gunn) - The goal of Wednesday night's match for Austin Gunn and Colten Gunn is a simple one. They have challenged Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy to prove that they're the best brother tag team in AEW. Of course, the Gunns have already been defeated by the Hardys in a trios match at Double or Nothing when the Hardys and FTW Champion Hook defeated the Gunns and "All Ego" Ethan Page. And while the Gunns are former AEW World Tag Team Champions, the list of accolades amassed by the Hardys is a lengthy one. Matt and Jeff have combined for nine world singles titles and together have won 14 world tag titles in WWE, ROH and Impact Wrestling. Their legacy is assured. Still, the Gunns will be undaunted by this, having never shown deference for their elders at any point before in their careers, especially not to their father, a tag-team legend in his own right, in Billy Gunn. And there is also the question of Bullet Club Gold. The Gunns helped "Switchblade" Jay White defeat "Absolute" Ricky Starks two weeks ago on Dynamite, begging the question why? When asked about it last week, they played it off, seemingly unwilling to talk about it, but there's clearly something more going on here. Could we see White or "Rock Hard" Juice Robinson make an appearance on Wednesday night?
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PLUS:
- "The American Dragon" Bryan Danielson will address his opponent at Forbidden Door, "The Rainmaker" Kazuchika Okada
- Eddie Kingston speaks after making his return to AEW last week
- Adam Cole will appear after his World Title Eliminator Match against AEW World Champion Maxwell Jacob Friedman ended in a 30-minute draw last Wednesday