Last week ended with Orange Cassidy scoring the biggest victory of his career when he pinned Chris Jericho, The Young Bucks defeating The Dark Order, Cody retaining his TNT Championship over Scorpio Sky, Mox decimating MJF with the Paradigm Shift, Shida waiting for competition, and a whole lot more!
This week, as a result of the NBA schedule, AEW DYNAMITE comes to you on a Saturday night, dropping at 6pm ET/3pm PT right on TNT, and bringing the most exciting wrestling on the planet to your weekend as we head towards ALL OUT 2020 on September 5th LIVE on PPV! The TNT Championship will be up for grabs, the winner of the Women’s Tag Team Cup will be crowned, loads of tag team action on tap, and Darby Allin back in action!
TNT CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
“The American Nightmare” Cody (w/ Arn Anderson) (c) vs. (#4) Mr. Brodie Lee (w/ The Dark Order)
https://www.youtube.com/embed/tI7m_3z1Hz0
Several weeks ago, in the aftermath of Cody’s successful title defense over Warhorse, members of The Dark Order targeted the TNT Champion, seemingly out of the blue. The assault saw Matt Cardona’s arrival on the scene to help his long-time friend, leading to a tag team battle the following week pitting Cody and Cardona against Alex Reynolds and John Silver.
The former would be the victorious unit, but as seen in the video embedded above, The Dark Order, and specifically Mr. Brodie Lee, were not yet done with “The American Nightmare”. Lee, now in possession of the original TNT Championship belt, made his intentions regarding Cody quite clear. Lee wants the title Cody has worked to build the prestige of for over 90 days (come bell time), the championship which he has successfully defended on eight occasions against a diverse cast of talent, and aims to continue defending for a long time to come.
Clearly Mr. Brodie has a different outcome in mind for this championship match, certainly one that varies from his AEW World Championship challenge against Jon Moxley back at DOUBLE OR NOTHING 2020. Lee’s words to Cody about putting some respect on his name, and on the name of The Dark Order, while standing between the two men who failed to stop Cody the week prior, had a power to them. Mr. Brodie is quite intent (or is that intense) on bringing a championship into his fold, and Cody is now in those sights. Will Lee succeed in achieving the goal he failed to accomplish with the World Title in May? Or will Lee suffer the same fate as every man Cody has faced one-on-one since March 11th and leave in defeat?
SIX MAN GRUDGE MATCH…
The Elite (World Tag Team Champion Kenny Omega, Matt Jackson, & Nick Jackson)
vs.
The Dark Order (Alex “3” Reynolds, John “4” Silver, & Alan “5” Angels)
https://www.youtube.com/embed/uJ5wjuiDs1c
The Dark Order has taken a laser-like focus on the members of The Elite in recent weeks, ever since Hangman Page defeated Five on July 22nd and subsequently rejected Mr. Brodie Lee’s offer of joining The Dark Order. Weirdly it was FTR who made the initial save for Page that night, with Omega trailing behind, but it was not the last meeting between members of The Elite and The Dark Order.
And although the standing of Cody under that banner has been questioned, even by the man himself, as mentioned above he too was a target of The Dark Order. The same night as that initial assault on Cody, Stu Grayson and Evil Uno unsuccessfully tried to take the World Tag Titles from Page and Omega. They may have failed, but it didn’t stop the unit from attacking Page, Omega, and The Young Bucks who had come out to attempt to even the odds. It was only the arrival of FTR, once again, who saved the day.
That six man unit of The Elite and FTR would take on The Dark Order a week later, but would fall in defeat when Page was topped by Lee. Then this past week, with The Young Bucks squaring off with Evil Uno and Grayson, it was the Elite pair who picked up the victory despite The Dark Order using their numbers advantage multiple times throughout the contest.
And that brings us to this Saturday night, when The Young Bucks unite once more with Kenny Omega, to take on three members of The Dark Order in trios competition. Reynolds, Silver, and the man now called Five certainly have a lot to prove to Mr. Brodie Lee with multiple disappointments under his watchful eye, and putting down this trio may go a long way to forgiving those sins. It is an uphill battle for the DO group, but the lone victory on Reynolds and Silver’s AEW resume prior to this weeks AEW DARK came from this exact unit, so they do have that going for them.
The Bucks and Omega are 2-0 on the year in trios action, 4-1 since the inception of AEW, not to mention all their history together around the world, so the odds are distinctly in their favor. Still, the words of Brodie about putting respect on The Dark Order name also echo here, and a victory for The Dark Order trio would offer that in spades.
Have to ask though, what’s Page think about his championship partner leaving him out in the cold once again in a trios match?
TAG TEAM COMPETITION…
(#1) FTR (Cash Wheeler & Dax Harwood) vs. Private Party (Marq Quen & Isiah Kassidy)
https://www.youtube.com/embed/Vm-FyJQlg90
Dax’s knee…
For several weeks, it appeared that Dax Harwood was struggling with a knee injury that forced him out of that 12-Man Tag against The Dark Order mid-match. It even seemed to give out on him as he and Cash, along with The Young Bucks, attempted to quell the tensions between The Rock ‘n Roll Express and Tully Blanchard. Well, as can be seen in that video above, it was all a ruse, and FTR had no qualms about using it to lay out Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson, presumably as a message to Matt and Nick Jackson. If not a message to The Young Bucks, at the very least it’s one to the entire tag team division that Cash and Dax will do whatever it takes to prove themselves the best pair in wrestling.
Enter Private Party this Saturday night on DYNAMITE…
If there is a team in AEW that’s more contrary to the tag team philosophies of FTR than Marq Quen and Isiah Kassidy, it would be challenge to point one out, and Private Party has no problem embracing what they bring to the table. “All Flips, No Fists” could be a moniker for the pair, and it’s a philosophy that has seen them defeat the teams mentioned in the above tweet, challenge for the World Tag Team Titles, and generally impressed both fans and peers alike. That is except for FTR, who, even if they were impressed in the slightest, have simply stated PP is “…a good team in over their heads…”.
Quen and Kassidy, as stated in the tweet, have handed many top teams their first loss in AEW, and are aiming to make FTR the next team on that list. While Private Party is looking at the match in front of them, aiming to build that resume for another shot at the World Tag Team Titles, Harwood and Wheeler may be looking past this one with tunnel vision towards the tag team championship.
If they secure another victory over a top team, if Private Party hand another pair their very first loss, it will most definitely be time to stop calling wins like that an upset for Quen and Kassidy…
WOMEN’S TAG TEAM CUP FINALS
**THE LEGENDARY MADUSA WILL PRESENT THE CUP***
The Nightmare Sisters (Brandi Rhodes & Allie) vs. Diamante & Ivelisse
https://www.youtube.com/embed/d0yzHi-vh6o
Several weeks ago, All Elite Wrestling announced the Women’s Tag Team Cup: Deadly Draw tournament that would take sixteen women, divide them into eight teams via random draw, and set them to battle to capture the championship cup. After six hard-fought battles between the Quarter- and Semi-Finals, it all boils down to this Saturday night as the last two teams standing meet to determine the winner.
In their route to the finals, The Nightmare Sisters of Brandi Rhodes and Allie took down Penelope Ford and Mel in the Quarter-Final match-up, and followed that up with a victory over Big & Lil’ Swole in the Semi-Finals.
On the other side of the bracket, Diamante and Ivelisse bested the Dasha and Rachel Ellering pair in their opening match, and rolled into a win over Tay Conti and The Dark Order’s Anna Jay in their semi-final bout.
The Nightmare Sisters come into the finals with six consecutive wins as a tag team under their belts, one of those wins actually over Diamante on AEW DARK back in July, with Rache Chanel serving as her partner. In spite of the tension that existed when Allie’s presence was foisted upon the rest of the Nightmare Family by QT Marshall, her and Brandie have coalesced into an effective pair, and winning The Cup would solidify that fact.
Their opponents, on the other hand, made it to this final match-up without having any tag team experience together. They’ve fought as opponents, most notably on DYNAMITE a month ago, but had never teamed prior to the start of The Deadly Draw. Despite that inexperience, Diamante and Ivelisse have gelled together quite nicely and are now on the precipice of scoring what many would consider an upset victory to claim The Cup as their own.
Tune in Saturday evening for DYNAMITE to see which of these teams raises The Cup!
EIGHT MAN ACTION…
The Lucha Brothers (Pentagon Jr & Rey Fenix), The Butcher, & The Blade
vs. Jurassic Express (Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus) & The Natural Nightmares (QT Marshall & Dustin Rhodes)
https://www.youtube.com/embed/eHNW5HgFc7U
Coming off a tremendous victory on AEW DARK over SCU & Private Party, the foursome of Pentagon, Fenix, Butcher, and Blade will unite once more to take on another unique quartet, this time in the form of The Natural Nightmares and Jurassic Express.
Now all four men on the…Jurassic Nightmares…side are familiar with the Lucha/B&B quartet in various other forms of competition, but this Saturday evening will mark the first time QT, Dustin, Jungle Boy, and Luchasaurus have ever united to fight the good fight. And seeing as how their opponents are unbeaten as a foursome, including wins over The Elite and The Young Bucks/FTR, the…Nightmare Express…group has a hell of a mountain to climb. But if there is a unit that can do it, it would be these four men who fight with as much heart, if not more, than any other competitors on the AEW roster.
DROPPIN’ COFFINS…
Darby Allin Returns
It has been several weeks since the AEW faithful have seen Darby Allin in action. After a gut-wrenching loss to Jon Moxley in an AEW World Title match on August 5th, perhaps Allin needed some time to collect himself before jumping back into the hunt. Sure he survived a Gotch Piledriver from Mox, but he still succumbed to a Paradigm Shift. Yes Darby earned the respect of the champion, much like he had Cody in their encounters, but platitudes don’t take away the sting of a loss, nor do they earn future title opportunities.
So, perhaps, it is with renewed focus that Darby Allin reenters the ring this Saturday night, and with that focus, an unquenchable thirst for the championships that have alluded Allin since he first challenged Chris Jericho for the AEW World Title nigh on one year ago. But one thing for Darby to be wary of as he returns to the fray on Saturday evening, the presence of Ricky Starks and the words he threw Darby’s way Tuesday night on AEW DARK:
This Saturday evening, the eyes of the wrestling world will be locked on TNT when DYNAMITE takes to the airwaves at 6pm ET/3pm PT with a huge TNT Championship match, the finals of The Deadly Draw, the on-going saga of MJF and AEW World Champion Jon Moxley, Matt Hardy and his hunt for Sammy Guevara, and all the other matches mentioned above!
And for your fix of AEW action before Saturday, fans can hit up our YouTube channel (,C,lick Here ) to watch the Semi-Finals of The Deadly Draw from Monday, AEW Dark from Tuesday, and part one of ALL OUT 2019 that premiered Wednesday night! It’s a super-sized week of AEW action and it all culminates Saturday with DYNAMITE on TNT!
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