Four Pillars tag match headlines Dynamite on TSN2
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AEW World Champion MJF teams with Sammy Guevara to take on Darby Allin and Jack Perry. Plus, Roderick Strong makes his AEW debut in an eight-man tag match and six teams compete in a Tres de Mayo Trios Battle Royale. You can catch AEW Dynamite LIVE at 8pm et/5pm pt on TSN2, streaming on the TSN App and on TSN.ca.
AEW World Champion Maxwell Jacob Friedman and "The Spanish God" Sammy Guevara vs. Darby Allin and "Jungle Boy" Jack Perry - Maxwell Jacob Friedman thought he had everything all figured out. In order to ensure the easiest possible challenge to his AEW World Championship at this month's Double or Nothing pay-per-view, MJF came up with a plan. Friedman announced a tournament amongst his fellow Four Pillars - Sammy Guevara. Darby Allin and Jack Perry - to determine a new challenger. But because he's MJF, he decided he would game the system by offering Guevara a substantial amount of money to lie down for him at the PPV. Guevara agreed, so MJF helped ensure that it was the former three-time TNT Champion who won the tournament. First, he helped Guevara defeat Perry by count out on the Apr. 19 edition of Dynamite before assisting in his disqualification victory over Allin last week. Seeing that the fix was in, AEW booker Tony Khan made some changes. He would allow Guevara to compete in the title match at the PPV, but he wouldn't necessarily be the only challenger. Should the team of Allin and Perry defeat MJF and Guevara, then they, too, will be added to the match to make it a four-way bout. That might be easier said than done, though. Last week's Dynamite made it clear that there's a great deal of distrust between Allin and Perry, who will have to put that aside to earn themselves a title match. And what about Guevara? By the end of last week's show, his eyes seemed to be starting to open up to the fact that MJF can't be trusted. Then on Rampage, Guevara's wife, Tay Melo, read him the riot act, letting him now that this is the time for him to grab the company's top prize because that opportunity might never come about again. By that token, it would behoove Guevara to win the match on Wednesday night to ensure it remains one-on-one, but the potential addition of Allin and Perry also means there would be two more people for him to pin to claim the AEW World Championship. In any event, it appears Friedman has bitten off more than he can chew. Which of these two teams will come out on top?
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AEW International Champion "Freshly Squeezed" Orange Cassidy, Adam Cole, Bandido and Roderick Strong vs. The Jericho Appreciation Society (Daniel Garcia, Jake Hager, "Daddy Magic" Matt Menard and "Cool Hand" Angelo Parker) - Adam Cole discovered some very unexpected allies last week on Dynamite. After Chris Jericho arranged for a four-on-one attack and Daniel Garcia, Jake Hager, Matt Menard and Angelo Parker began to lay waste to Cole, AEW International Champion Orange Cassidy - Cole's former bitter rival - and Bandido, who had just wrestled for Cassidy's title only minutes earlier, made their way out to defend Cole. But with the numerical advantage, the Jericho Appreciation Society still managed to rain down blows on Cole, Cassidy and Bandido. It wasn't until the shocking arrival of Cole's longtime friend, Roderick Strong, that Cole and company were able to turn the tide. The man nicknamed "The Messiah of the Backbreaker," Strong is a former Ring of Honor Triple Crown winner, having claimed all of the ROH World Championship, World Tag Team Championship (alongside Austin Aries as part of Generation Next) and the World TV Championship. He's also a former PWG World Champion, NXT Cruiserweight Champion, NXT North American Champion and NXT Tag Team Champion alongside Cole, Kyle O'Reilly and Bobby Fish as part of Undisputed Era. Having Strong back by his side is a huge boon for Cole as he attempts to fight back against the JAS, but now Cole and Strong will have to quickly get on the same page with Cassidy and Bandido on Wednesday night. In terms of chemistry, the JAS has it in spades and that's what the quartet of Cole, Strong, Cassidy and Bandido will be up against on Dynamite. Will the JAS continue to make life difficult for Cole or will he and his allies take it to the JAS?
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Tres de Mayo Trios Battle Royale: AAA Mega Champion El Hijo del Vikingo and the Lucha Bros. (Penta El Zero Miedo and Rey Fenix) (w/ Alex Abrahantes) vs. The Acclaimed ("Platinum" Max Caster and "The Five-Tool Player" Anthony Bowens) and "Daddy Ass" Billy Gunn vs. QTV (QT Marshall, Powerhouse Hobbs and Aaron Solo) (w/ Harley Cameron) vs. The Dark Order (Evil Uno, Alex Reynolds and John Silver) vs. The Varsity Athletes ("The Premier Athlete" Tony Nese and Josh Woods) and Ari Daivari (w/ "Smart" Mark Sterling) vs. The Butcher, The Blade and "Superbad" Kip Sabian (w/ Penelope Ford) - It's May 3, so why not a trios battle royale? While there is nothing formally on the line in this match, there's a pay-per-view at the end of the month and the current ROH World Trios Champions House of Black (Malakai Black, Brody King and Buddy Matthews) do not currently have an opponent. In fact, the champions have not defended their titles in nearly a month with Black, King and Matthews successfully repelling the challenge of Best Friends (Chuck Taylor, Trent Beretta and Orange Cassidy) on the Apr. 5 edition of Dynamite. Among those competing in the match are former AEW World Trios Champions (Penta and Fenix), AEW World Tag Team Champions (Penta and Fenix and Caster and Bowens) and TNT Champion (Will Hobbs), so there will be a wealth of championship know-how on display. As is always with AEW's multi-person battle royales, every member of a team must be eliminated before that team is considered eliminated. A victory here could go a long way in determining who is next up for the House of Black. Which three-man unit will come out on top?
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"Absolute" Ricky Starks vs. "Rock Hard" Juice Robinson (w/ "Switchblade" Jay White) - On Wednesday night, Ricky Starks plans to finally remove the thorn that has been in his side for the past several weeks. In March, Juice Robinson laid waste to Starks with a blindside attack. After weeks of avoiding Starks, Robinson finally agreed to face him one-on-one on the Apr. 5 Dynamite from Long Island. Of course, that match never actually happened because Starks was jumped by the debuting Jay White with White and Robinson forming AEW's first permanent Bullet Club arm called Bullet Club Gold. On the Apr. 19 Dynamite, Starks came to the aid of Shawn Spears, who was attacked by White and Robinson and hit the latter with a vicious-looking spear. The four men met in tag-team action on Rampage last Friday, which ended with White planting Spears with a Blade Runner. Wednesday promises to be the first time Starks gets his mano a mano shot at Robinson, but is he really gonna be solo? If Robinson around, then White won't be too far behind. And even if White is somehow not around, there very well could be another member of Bullet Club lurking on the outside and ready to strike. So not only will Starks need to avoid being blinded by rage, he's gonna need to be watchful of his surroundings. Will Starks finally put this all to bed or will Robinson get the last laugh?
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Saraya (w/ Toni Storm and Ruby Soho) vs. Willow Nightingale - For the first time since Saraya and the rest of the Outcasts beat Dr. Britt Baker, DMD, bloody with a kendo stick two weeks ago, she returns to action on Dynamite when she meets Willow Nightingale. The attack on Baker is still fresh in the minds of the trio since they made t-shirts with the dentist's bloody visage on them. While Baker and AEW Women's World Champion Jamie Hayter, who had previously been incapacitated to ensure Baker was alone, have vowed retaliation for the attack, Saraya will undoubtedly use Wednesday's match to send a message to the duo. But Nightingale will do whatever she can do to ensure she isn't the latest person to fall victim to the trio, who includes Nightingale's former ally, Ruby Soho. Saraya is still undefeated in singles competition in AEW and has yet to be pinned. Another victory would likely put her in line for a shot at Hayter's title at Double or Nothing. Will Saraya continue to roll or will Nightingale find an answer to the Outcasts' brutality?
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PLUS:
- After Jon Moxley agreed to Kenny Omega's challenge of a cage match next week, we hear from The Elite (Omega, Nick Jackson and Matt Jackson)