AEW Dynamite Preview For March 22, 2023

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This Wednesday DYNAMITE comes to you live from the Cable Dahmer Arena in Independence, MO! The Kansas City area has played host to seven different AEW events since 2020, three of those being episodes of DYNAMITE, and all have seen some truly magnificent matches take place! Whether it be the Iron Man match between Kenny Omega and PAC in 2020, the continuation of the TBS Title and World Title Eliminator Tournaments in 2021, or the Jon Moxley/Kyle O’Reilly #1 Contender’s bout in 2022, Cable Dahmer has been amazing for AEW and its fans every single time!

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And this Wednesday night will be no different when DYNAMITE presents a long-awaited international Dream Match between Kenny Omega and El Hijo del Vikingo! As if that wasn’t enough to send you running to the Cable Dahmer on Wednesday night, then AEW also has an AEW World Tag Team Championship match on top as The Gunns defend against Top Flight, Toni Storm and Skye Blue go head-to-head, Stu Grayson offically returns to fold to fight Jon Moxley, and FTW Champion HOOK gets his hands on Stokely Hathaway! The action gets underway LIVE on TBS at 8pm ET/7pm CT, as well as at AEWPlus.com for our international audiences, so make it a point to visit the official AEW YouTube channel for highlights from last week’s editions of DYNAMITE and RAMPAGE, as well as the latest from AEW DARK: ELEVATION, AEW DARK, ROAD TO, THE CONTROL CENTER, and so much more!

DREAM MATCH…

Kenny Omega vs. El Hijo del Vikingo

Originally scheduled to take place with the Mega Championship at stake at AAA’s TRIPLEMANIA REGIA event on 12/4/21, the injuries Kenny Omega had piled up over the course of his career finally had to be addressed following the AEW World Championship loss to “Hangman” Adam Page at FULL GEAR 2021 a few weeks prior. Thus the match was postponed, Omega was stripped of the Mega Championship he’d held for 765 days, and Vikingo would win the title on 12/4 in a match that also featured Bandido, Bobby Fish, Samuray del Sol, and Jay Lethal. Suffice to say, Omega was not happy about AAA’s decision to strip him of the title, but turned it into an opportunity to say what he planned for the future upon returning from injury.

“This gives you a chance to build a brand new hero.” Omega commented via AAA’s Twitter account, “Whether it’s Vikingo or not, it gives you that chance. And if I know anything about how you run your business, it’s that when I come back, I get first dibs. And that’ll be the first step in winning the belt again, and that’ll be the first step in not only becoming the greatest wrestler in North American history, but also the greatest wrestler in Japan history. And then by winning the Mega Championship for a second time and breaking my old record, I’ll become the greatest luchador in professional wrestling history. So enjoy the time now while I’m gone, because I’ll be back. I promise you.”

And while Kenny was gone, Vikingo did enjoy the time, racking up eight successful championship defenses over his 470+ days as champion, even defending it in Australia for the Battle Championship Wrestling promotion. Since claiming that vacant Mega Championship, Vikingo has branched out into the United States, competing for promotions such as GCW, PWG, DEFY, Dreamwave, and Warrior, but the dream of facing “The Best Bout Machine” has certainly endured.

Thankfully El Hijo del Vikingo has to wait no longer, because this Wednesday night on DYNAMITE, the Dream Match finally takes place! Fresh off a failed attempt to regain the AEW World Trios Championship, Kenny Omega will step into the ring for only his third singles match since 11/13/21 when he lost the AEW World Championship, and his first since defeating Will Ospreay for the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship on January 4th. By comparison, El Hijo del Vikingo has been in 18 one-on-one matches during that time frame, 14 multi-man matches, and 71 matches in all, while Kenny Omega has had 18 total. Vikingo has clearly been more active, keeping his skills fresh as he faced down the best from all over the professional wrestling world, but Omega has been operating at his absolute peak, especially since returning at FULL GEAR 2022. His endurance was put to the test with that Best of 7 Series against Death Triangle, complete with the aforementioned Ospreay match right in the thick of that, and even at 50% prior to his time away, Omega was somehow performing better than that vast majority of his peers.

So now operating at 100%, and after all this time of waiting for the match to finally take place, and after all the trash talking that went along with it back in 2021, Kenny Omega is better prepared for this fight now than he would’ve been in 2021. But so too is Vikingo, and that’s what makes this fight even more intriguing, even more of a dream match, than it was when it was first set to take place. One of the most influential wrestlers of the last decade versus one of the most mind-blowing performers of the last few years; if you haven’t seen Vikingo in action before, just do a YouTube search and be prepared to be amazed at what this man is capable of doing in the ring. If you have seen him before, then you know why this is a Dream Match for modern professional wrestling.

AEW WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH…

The Gunns (Austin & Colten)(c) vs. Top Flight (Dante & Darius Martin)

All Elite Wrestling has certainly been home to a great number of brother tag teams; from the veteran experience of Jeff & Matt Hardy, to foundational talents such as The Young Bucks and The Lucha Brothers, to up-and-coming sibling duos like these four young men right here, AEW has been the place for tag teams to grow, learn, and step up to the forefront. And that’s just what both of these teams have done over the last several years, whether they’re beloved like Top Flight or loathed like The Gunns, both of these tag teams have proven worthy of the spotlight.

Unfortunately only one of these teams has earned that spotlight operating aboveboard, and it sadly isn’t the AEW World Tag Team Champions. See The Gunns have snaked their way into the status they currently hold, defeating The Acclaimed with underhanded tactics to initially claim the title, and managed to skate out of REVOLUTION 2023’s Four Way championship bout in much the same fashion.

Top Flight, on the other hand, have fought through Darius’ injuries hampering their initial development as a team in AEW, have stepped into the ring (and beaten) The Young Bucks, they’ve danced with The Blackpool Combat Club in multiple iterations, fought FTR, and with AR Fox came damn close to dethroning The Elite as AEW World Trios Champions on two occasions. They haven’t shied away from fights, they’ve even pursued them, but unfortunately championship rewards have not been theirs to reap. Be it the ROH World Tag Team Championship, the AEW World Tag Team Championship, or those aforementioned Trios belts, the brothers Martin have not parlayed their skill into that kind of success.

The Gunns however, they’ve parlayed sneakiness to success, cheating into championships, and that has birthed an ego in Austin and Colten that’s rather unearned. That ego is what now brings us to this AEW World Tag Team Championship fight taking place this Wednesday night on DYNAMITE between two of AEW’s top brother teams! The Gunns clearly feel the need to prove they belong in their position, evident in how easily Dante and Darius pushed their buttons, just as Top Flight craves the AEW World Tag Team Championship titles to show they more than just “full of potential”. They’ve been loaded with potential ever since they debuted, and beating The Young Bucks was proof the Martin brothers can be a top team, if not the top team, but they need to be that successful with consistency.

That is why this is a must-win situation for both tag team duos, not only because the AEW World Tag Team Championship is on the line, but also because of what it means for the big picture of their careers. The Gunns need it to validate their championship status, Top Flight need it to prove they’re more than just potential, and that will all bring the fans one extremely exciting tag team affair in Kansas City!

ONE-ON-ONE…

Stu Grayson vs. Jon Moxley

Prior to last Wednesday night’s trios battle between The Dark Order and The Blackpool Combat Club, it had been nearly a year since Stu Grayson had competed inside an All Elite Wrestling ring. Sure he made a little cameo appearance during AEW’s Toronto debut last year, but that was just a moment to share with his friends backstage, not one in which he stepped out before the people.

Grayson’s last in-ring appearance was in Philadelphia on 4/27/22 as one-sixth of The Dark Order team competing in a 12-Man tag, and while it was a successful venture, it wasn’t singles competition, and it certainly wasn’t Jon Moxley standing across the ring. As a matter of fact, the last time Stu even competed in singles competition in All Elite Wrestling was on June 22, 2021 when he smashed Serpentico on DARK. His entire AEW career consists of just 4 singles matches, three victories in said matches, but that’s not representative of his entire wrestling career.

See Stu Grayson, during the course of his 17 years spent in combat, has proven to be so much more than a tag team competitor. He’s been a singles champion, he went the hour just a month ago at C4, and he’s got an extreme capacity for violence that All Elite Wrestling has never really been exposed to since The Dark Order first came into being. He loves the fight, doesn’t care the odds, and that was epitomized many months ago, early in AEW’s existence, in a moment where Stu stood alone in the ring, against 4-1 odds, and simply shrugged his shoulders before throwing himself into the fray.

That’s what Jon Moxley has coming to him on Wednesday night, and the former 3-Time AEW World Champion will likely be in his glory getting that kind of fight! Mox put Evil Uno to the test a few weeks ago, leaving him battered and bloodied, but fully aware that Uno was willing to dig into those dark places to contend with a man like Moxley. Now, after choking out Grayson to win their trios match last week, Jon will see for himself if Stu has that same mettle, that willingness to get violent, when the situation is one-on-one.

Moxley is the measuring stick in All Elite Wrestling, not just because he’s the only 3-Time World Champion, not just because he has won more singles matches than any man in AEW, and not just because he’s the only individuals with over 100 wins in the entire company, but because he wears AEW on his sleeve. He has sacrificed his body and soul for All Elite Wrestling, and when his name has been called to support AEW in a pinch, he has always stepped up to the plate. If Jon Moxley is the bleeding heart of AEW, than Adam Page is its soul, and the war between the two has pulled in so many others, including Stu Grayson for this battle right here. It’s a good thing Grayson lives for the fight as much as the man he’s facing then…

NO DISQUALIFICATION…

FTW Champion HOOK(c) vs. Stokely Hathaway

The undefeated FTW Champion HOOK has had to deal with a thorn in his foot for quite some time now, and it is a thorn named Stokely Hathaway. HOOK has had to deal with both Lee Moriarty and Matt Hardy coming for his FTW Championship on behalf of The Firm, and united with “Jungle Boy” Jack Perry on a pair of occasions to fend off members of Stokely’s ilk. Most recently, at AEW’s first-ever HOUSE RULES event in Troy, OH last Saturday night, HOOK took it upon himself to answer Ethan Page’s call for a fight, and summarily defeat “All Ego” in the middle of the ring.

But Stokely has done all this to himself, even the supposed arm injury he endured at HOOK’s hands came about as a result of Hathaway talking trash about the FTW Champion. And this match right here, this No Disqualification situation that Stokely has to survive on Wednesday, that’s his own fault too as, when Matt Hardy took on HOOK, it was with the stipulation that if HOOK won, he’d get the match with Hathaway.

Well HOOK won, so here we are, on the verge of Stokely stepping into AEW competition for the very first time, and as can be seen in the tweet embedded above, he’s at least getting some proper tutelage from the members of his Firm. Now whether or not any of it will do him any good inside the Cable Dahmer Arena remains to be seen, but given the No DQ stipulation, perhaps all he needs is the whole of The Firm to fight his battle for him.

Whether the fight is just with Big Stoke, or even if it’s with Ethan, Isiah, Marq, Matt, Lee, and Big Bill, HOOK isn’t going to back down from it no matter what, and The Firm best realize that before the bell rings Wednesday night and Stokely is standing across from “The Cold-Hearted Handsome Devil” with no rules restraining what he can do to The Firm’s leader.

ONE-ON-ONE…

The Outcasts’ Toni Storm vs. Skye Blue

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This one is for the women who have built the division All Elite Wrestling from the ground up, this one is for those who have bled and paid the price for every minute they’ve earned across AEW’s platforms, and for Skye Blue, it’s also a bit personal as Toni Storm is someone Skye thought deserving of respect, and Ruby Soho, a supposed friend and ally, was someone not worthy of trust.

This is Skye’s opportunity to get one back for her side, to get one back for the women who made AEW’s division what it is today, and also an opportunity to score the most high-profile victory over her career. This is something that means a great deal more to Skye than it likely does to Toni, it’s just gloating rights over the homegrown women to her, not defending her territory or fighting for her home.

Can Skye step up her game and take down the former AEW Women’s World Champion, or will she be another victim of The Outcasts?

TRIOS ACTION…

AEW International Champion Orange Cassidy, Darby Allin, & Sting

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Kip Sabian, The Butcher, & The Blade

There is already plenty of history sprinkled among the men involved in this Trios match on DYNAMITE; for example, The Butcher is a former challenger to Darby’s TNT Championship during his first reign, a match that took place at AEW’s first-ever House Show THE HOUSE ALWAYS WINS back in 2021 after Butch won a Battle Royale to earn the shot. So it seems appropriate that on the first event of AEW’s HOUSE RULES tour, it would be Darby and Butcher involved in another bout, in this case the first-ever teaming of Darby and AEW International Champion Orange Cassidy, as they took on Butcher and The Blade in tag team action.

As can be seen in the video above, although OC and Darby won the match, they lost that night’s war once they got backstage, and now they have the opportunity for a bit of revenge in Trios action come this Wednesday night! All they have to do is find a third, and honestly it’s not a hard thing for either man to find a friend, OC has several besties, Darby has but one, and he is truly iconic.

That’s right, this Wednesday night, just a few days after celebrating his birthday, “The Icon” Sting will return to an AEW ring for the first time since FULL GEAR 2022! What a better way for a wrestler to celebrate than by cracking some skulls, and delivering some Scorpion Death Drops to his foes! Sting is quite familiar with Blade and Butcher, having fought them alongside Darby and The Hardys last year, less so with Kip Sabian and his antics. But that’s what friends are for, and Orange has gotten quite familiar with Sabian’s antics since first winning the All-Atlantic Championship. Orange and Darby aim to make this a joyous birthday celebration for the legend, and to make Kip, Butcher, and Blade pay for their previous transgressions!

HERE COMES THE BOOM…

March 29th will be a big day for both All Elite Wrestling and Adam Cole; not only does it mark the debut of AEW ALL ACCESS, it will also be the first time Adam Cole steps into the squared circle since FORBIDDEN DOOR 2022 last June! Ahead of that monumental night, fans will hear from Cole this Wednesday night on DYNAMITE. What’s on Adam’s mind one week before one of the biggest nights of his career?

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AEW returns to our home in the Kansas City Area, the Cable Dahmer Arena, this Wednesday night for an all-new edition of DYNAMITE! With the highly-anticipated Kenny Omega versus El Hijo del Vikingo match finally coming to fruition, this is going to be a red-hot edition of AEW’s flagship, and that’s not even factoring in the AEW World Tag Team Championship match, Skye versus Storm, and Stokely Hathaway finally getting what’s been coming to him! DYNAMITE kicks off at 8pm ET/7pm CT on TBS, and at AEWPlus.com for our international fans, so before the action begins, visit the official AEW YouTube channel for highlights from previous episodes of DYNAMITE and RAMPAGE, as well as the latest offerings from AEW DARK: ELEVATION, AEW DARK, THE CONTROL CENTER, and this week’s edition of ROAD TO!

Article source: allelitewrestling.com