Swerve meets Allin on Dynamite on TSN2
Published
Old rivals from the Pacific Northwest, Darby Allin and Swerve Strickland renew hostilities. Plus, Chris Jericho meets Keith Lee and Orange Cassidy defends his AEW International Championship against the House of Black's Buddy Matthews. You can catch AEW Dynamite LIVE at 8pm et/5pm pt on TSN2, streaming on the TSN App and on TSN.ca.
Swerve Strickland (w/ Prince Nana and ROH World Six-Man Champion "The Machine" Brian Cage) vs. Darby Allin (w/ "The Icon" Sting) - As Darby Allin continues to make a case for a title shot against AEW World Champion Maxwell Jacob Friedman, he got a blast from the past last Friday on Rampage. After defeating Lee Moriarty in a hard-fought match, Allin found Swerve Strickland standing on the stage and offering a handshake. The two are far from strangers. Allin is from Seattle and Strickland is from nearby Tacoma, WA and have spent time in the same promotions over the years, most notably in DEFY Wrestling. The two faced off for the first time in 2017 and have met multiple times since, including in AEW last spring in a qualifying match for the Owen Hart Foundation Cup Tournament that was won by Allin. Leery of Swerve's intentions, Allin walked on by, but was immediately jumped and laid out by "The Machine" Brian Cage. Earlier in the evening, Swerve teased that his Mogul Affiliates was undergoing a merger and in that moment it became clear that it was with Prince Nana's Embassy. No longer messing around, Swerve wants to make an example of Allin and derail any momentum he might have. Despite losing to Allin last May, Swerve has historically had his number, going 4-1 in previous singles matches. The addition of Prince Nana and Cage to his corner makes Strickland all the more daunting a proposition for Allin now. Can Allin keep on the road to an AEW World Championship title shot or will he fall victim to Strickland and his new allies?
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"The Ocho" Chris Jericho (w/ "Daddy Magic" Matt Menard, "Cool Hand" Angelo Parker and Jake Hager) vs. "Limitless" Keith Lee - Keith Lee was straight and to the point last week on Dynamite. As Chris Jericho complained to Tony Schiavone about Adam Cole disrespecting Daniel Garcia during their main event match on the Mar. 29 edition of Dynamite, the former AEW World Tag Team Champion approached Jericho and laid out a challenge. Lee told Jericho if he wanted to talk about respect, something Lee says Jericho has failed to show to many in AEW, he would teach something about it in the ring. Seemingly taken aback by Lee's challenge, Jericho didn't actually answer and the former AEW World Champion silently backed away. But Chris Jericho never stays silent for long and accepted Lee's challenge. This will be a first time ever meeting between the two and it's a return to singles action for Lee after a several-month absence. Having been committed to Swerve in Our Glory alongside Swerve Strickland and then teaming with "The Natural" Dustin Rhodes as Naturally Limitless, Lee has not competed in a singles match since October. The cagiest of veterans, Jericho doesn't need any openings, but any bit of rust shown by Lee will be something that Jericho will undoubtedly exploit. But it was Lee who made the challenge and has the point to prove. If it were simply Jericho by himself, Lee could focus all his efforts on him, but unfortunately for the former NXT Champion, the rest of the Jericho Appreciation Society will never be too far away. Keeping them at bay might be just as tough as taking down Jericho himself. Will Lee back up his challenge with action or will Jericho pick up a big win?
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AEW International Championship match: "Freshly Squeezed" Orange Cassidy (c) vs. AEW World Trios Champion Buddy Matthews (w/ Julia Hart) - How much longer can Orange Cassidy go on like this? Since defeating "The Bastard" PAC in Toronto last October for the then-All-Atlantic Championship, barely a week has gone by without a Cassidy title defence. But in recent weeks, the toll all of these matches has been taking on Cassidy has become obvious. Everything is starting to get more difficult for him as the challengers continue to line up. If he continues at this pace, it's only a matter of time before somebody finally wrests away the title from his waist. Wednesday night's match against Buddy Matthews will be Cassidy's 18th defence and he's only days away from a physically taxing victory over La Faccion Ingobernable's Dralistico at Battle of the Belts last Friday. Matthews and Cassidy became familiar with one another last Wednesday night when the House of Black (Matthews, Malakai Black and Brody King) retained their AEW World Trios Championships over Best Friends (Cassidy, Chuck Taylor and Trent Beretta). While sharing a ring with one another will undoubtedly colour the way each man approaches Wednesday night's match, a singles encounter and a trios match are far from the same and require considerably different game plans. Still, it's not difficult to envision Matthews become a double champion on Dynamite as Cassidy's gas tank gets closer and closer to empty. Can Cassidy somehow retain or will Matthews bring more gold back to the House of Black?
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TNT Championship match: Powerhouse Hobbs (c) (w/ QT Marshall, Harley Cameron and Aaron Solo) vs. "The Last Real Man" Silas Young - Will Hobbs makes the fourth defence of his TNT Championship in Milwaukee on Thursday night against a hometown hero. Former ROH TV Champion Silas Young makes his return to AEW and the stakes for him couldn't be higher. We last saw Young in singles action in AEW last summer when he was defeated by "Hangman" Adam Page with the Deadeye. While Young has championship pedigree, Hobbs will be entering Wednesday night's match with a bad taste in his mouth after he and QT Marshall failed to take the ROH World Tag Team Championships away from the Lucha Bros. (Penta El Zero Miedo and Rey Fenix) at Battle of the Belts. Hobbs will undoubtedly look to take out some of his frustrations of not becoming a double champion against Young even with a hostile crowd against him. Giving up a great deal of size and strength, Young will have to get creative to make life difficult for Hobbs, but is he up to the task? Will Hobbs continue to roll as champion or will Young celebrate his new title at home?
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Blackpool Combat Club (Jon Moxley and ROH World Champion Claudio Castagnoli) (w/ "The American Dragon" Bryan Danielson and Wheeler YUTA) vs. Brandon Cutler and Michael Nakazawa - We recently discovered that there are no cracks in the Blackpool Combat Club's foundation. Bryan Danielson's allegiance was confirmed on last the Mar. 29 Dynamite when he returned to AEW and helped Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli and Wheeler YUTA destroy Kenny Omega. Then on last week's Dynamite, "Hangman" Adam Page was the subject of a brutal beating by the quartet. With all of Omega, Page and the Young Bucks (Nick Jackson and Matt Jackson) felled at the hands of the BCC, Brandon Cutler and Michael Nakazawa have vowed to defend the honour of The Elite on Wednesday night. But let's be honest, they're in for a long night. Nakazawa and Cutler have only teamed together once before and it was over three years ago (in a losing effort at that) and are unlikely to trouble Moxley and Castagnoli in the slightest. As admirable as their aims might be, they're still foolish. But should the BCC tread carefully? As they continue to rain down havoc on AEW, perhaps they should consider what their actions are leading towards. Will the BCC enjoy another victory on Wednesday night or gird themselves for the possibility that they've put Omega, Page and the Young Bucks back on the same page?
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PLUS:
- AEW World Champion Maxwell Jacob Friedman is contractually obligated to appear