Cassidy, Beretta meet in grudge match as AEW Dynamite hits Edmonton on TSN2
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Orange Cassidy meets former ally Trent Beretta in a grudge match. Plus, Adam Copeland defends the TNT Championship against Brody King and Kenny Omega makes a major announcement. You can catch AEW Dynamite LIVE from Rogers Place in Edmonton at 8pm et/5pm pt on TSN2, streaming on the TSN App and on TSN.ca.
"Freshly Squeezed" Orange Cassidy vs. Trent Beretta - Weeks after the dissolution of Best Friends, the two men at the centre of its implosion will meet one on one as Orange Cassidy takes on Trent Beretta. On the Apr. 3 edition of Dynamite after Cassidy and Beretta fell to the Young Bucks (Nicholas Jackson and Matthew Jackson) in the AEW World Tag Team Title Tournament semi-final, the two men, along with Chuck Taylor, set up for the trademark Best Friends hug. But instead of hugging, Beretta flew across the ring and drilled Cassidy with a flying knee as Taylor reacted with anger. After departing his former allies, Beretta said he was sick and tired of the nonsense and told Taylor to pick a side. Firmly against Beretta's actions, Taylor challenged him to a parking lot brawl on the Apr. 27. During the fight, Beretta showed off a vicious side unseen before in AEW as he brutally targeted Taylor's already injured ankle. After choking out Taylor to win the match, Beretta grabbed a wrench and continued to assault Taylor's ankle before Cassidy and Kris Statlander appealed to reason. Last week on Dynamite, Cassidy revealed that the attack on Taylor likely ended his in-ring career and he vowed revenge. What is also interesting with this situation is the potential involvement of Don Callis. The Don Callis Family mastermind has been seen scouting and in consultation with both Beretta and Cassidy over the past few weeks. With Powerhouse Hobbs on the shelf with injury, is Callis looking for a new client? The obvious concern for Cassidy on Wednesday night is whether or not he will be blinded by emotion. Beretta is a crafty foe and anything less than 100 per cent focus will result in disaster. These two men have met in singles competition once before when Cassidy successfully defended his then-AEW All-Atlantic Championship against Beretta on the Dec. 30, 2022 edition of Rampage. Which one of these two former friends will pick up a victory on Wednesday night?
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TNT Championship match: "The Rated-R Superstar" Adam Copeland (c) vs. "Big, Bad" Brody King - Adam Copeland's battle with the House of Black continues on Wednesday night as he takes on the bruising Brody King. King offers a significantly different kind of challenge than the one stablemate Buddy Matthews did on the last edition of Dynamite. Copeland and Matthews had a competitive 20-minute-plus match that finally ended when Matthews missed a curb stomp, which allowed Copeland to hit a spear and retain his title. The scene after the match was also an interesting one. Copeland, still incensed and, perhaps, feeling the effects of a black misting from Malakai Black weeks earlier, grabbed a chair and began to wail on Matthews. As Copeland set up for a signature Conchairto, the lights went out and when they came back on, Black was in the right and encouraged Copeland to go through with his strike. Even Matthews himself begged for hit. Copeland went to hit Black with the chair, but the lights once again went out and he was gone when they came back up. While Matthews threw speed and technical prowess at Copeland, King brings brawn and viciousness. But King's size belies his quickness and agility. The match is the first ever singles meeting between the two men and it will be the first time King has challenged for an AEW singles title since the summer of 2022 when he was unsuccessful in unseating Jon Moxley as the AEW Interim World Champion on the July 6 edition of Dynamite. Should he be victorious, King would join a very short list of wrestlers who have held both singles titles and the AEW World Trios Championships, following in the footsteps of Black, "The Bastard" PAC, Kenny Omega and Rey Fenix. Will Copeland make it two straight over House of Black members or will King prove the House always wins?
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"The Glamour" Mariah May (w/ AEW Women's World Champion "Timeless" Toni Storm and Luther) vs. Harley Cameron (w/ Saraya) - Is this a great idea? Harley Cameron will make her in-ring Dynamite debut on Wednesday night after challenging Mariah May to a singles match. The unhinged Cameron will be taking on an opponent looking to get back on track after three losses in her last four AEW matches. The finish of her match on last week's Dynamite was a curious one. In a match against Serena Deeb with a shot at AEW Women's World Champion Toni Storm at the Double or Nothing pay-per-view on the line, May found herself in a tough battle. As Deeb applied a one-legged crab, Storm, who had accompanied May to ringside, threw in the towel and the match was stopped. On the surface, it's easy to think that Storm was concerned with the health of her friend, but is that what really was going on? Was Storm actually concerned about getting May out of a painful submission move or was she trying to ensure that May wouldn't get a shot at her title? Perhaps that's a conversation to be had at another time, but you can forgive May if that thought has crossed her mind. Still, even if there were no title implications to consider, May will be looking to get back to the form she was when she debuted in AEW back in January. Upon her arrival in the promotion, the London native won her first six singles matches before falling to Thunder Rosa on the Apr. 3 edition of Dynamite. Something changed with that loss and it's up to May to figure out how to return to winning ways. A match against Cameron, who is an inferior opponent, should be just the tonic May needs. Will May get back on track or will Cameron heap on more misery?
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PLUS:
- FTW Champion "The Learning Tree" Chris Jericho and Big Bill are in tag-team action
- AEW World Champion Swerve Strickland (w/ Prince Nana) goes face to face with his opponent at Double or Nothing, "The Patriarch" Christian Cage (w/ Killswitch, "The Prodigy" Nick Wayne and Mother Wayne)
- After a vicious attack last week by The Elite (Nicholas Jackson, Matthew Jackson, AEW Continental Champion "The Rainmaker" Kazuchika Okada and "The Scapegoat" Jack Perry) in his hometown of Winnipeg, Kenny Omega will make a special announcement
- We'll hear from the new No. 1 contender for the AEW Women's World Championship, "The Professor" Serena Deeb