AEW Dynamite airs tonight (Jan. 28) with a live show from H-E-B Center at Cedar Park in Cedar Park, Texas. This is the fifth episode of Dynamite during the seven week build to Grand Slam Australia, which
takes place on February 14.
AEW is getting the best version of Andrade this time
The line of potential challengers for MJF’s AEW world championship keeps getting longer, and Andrade El Idolo is the latest star to throw his hat in the ring.
Now that Andrade is back in AEW, it looks like he’s ready to show off his charisma in a way that he never really did during his initial run with the promotion, or during his time on WWE’s main roster. That was evident on the most recent episode of Collision where Andrade heavily leaned into his Latino playboy image by doing things like flirting with women in the front row and taking his pants off to chants of “This is awesome!” Andrade has a chance to get over in a big way in AEW if he continues going down this path, instead of being just another great worker on a loaded roster of great workers.
Andrade will need to be at his very best tonight when he goes one-on-one with the most dangerous man in AEW, Swerve Strickland. These two stars both want to get the next world title match, and tonight’s bout should be a big step towards that goal for whichever wrestler picks up the win. It will be interesting to see how Andrade works in his Latino playboy gimmick while also taking the challenge of Swerve deadly serious. Andrade is also technically one of the 35 members of the Don Callis Family, so perhaps some of them will try to get involved and help him win.
What will Andrade do to stand out in his first match on Dynamite since he recently returned to AEW? Tune in tonight on TBS or MAX to find out.
The rest of the card
AEW has too many titles, and three of them are on the line tonight on Dynamite. First up is FTR defending the AEW world tag team championship against Jake Doyle and Mark Davis of the Don Callis Family. A lot of fans have assumed that FTR will hold onto the belts until Adam Copeland is back, but if Tony Khan wants to pull the trigger on a Doyle push, perhaps the Callis Family has a chance to win here.
The next title match is AEW Women’s World Champion Kris Statlander defending against Thekla. Will TBS Champion Willow Nightingale and her partner Harley Cameron be around to remove the Sisters of Sin from the equation if they try to cheat on Thekla’s behalf?
TNT Champion Mark Briscoe vs. El Clon is the final title match on the card. This match would normally be on an episode of Collision, but plans changed due to a massive snowstorm. This is El Clon’s first match on Dynamite, and he has to win something like 30 more matches in a row if he wants to duplicate Hologram’s undefeated record. It would be a shocker if Briscoe loses the gold here.
AEW Continental Champion Jon Moxley is also in action tonight in a title eliminator match, which is AEW’s way of trying to make a non-title match sound fancy. Mox gets to destroy Ace Austin, who has mostly been featured on Collision. It looks like this is Austin’s first singles match on Dynamite since he joined AEW.
Kenny Omega’s goal is to earn a shot at the AEW world title, and he’s doing that by picking up wins against the Don Callis Family, which has like 87 members or so. Omega says nobody in Don’s family is good enough to beat him right now. He backed up those words last week with a win over Josh Alexander, and tonight he faces off against an easier opponent in Rocky Romero. Rocky’s whole purpose in AEW kayfabe is to put over everyone else, including Costco Guys, and he’ll be doing that job again tonight on Dynamite against Kenny. Will one of the actual top guys in the Callis Family come out to challenge Omega afterwards?
Finally, AEW World Champion MJF is advertised for an appearance on Dynamite. MJF was lucky to escape unscathed after a face-to-face confrontation with Brody King last week. Will Brody get his hands on this scumbag tonight? Will it become clear what exactly King needs to do to earn a title match against him?
Other stuff to keep an eye on
– AEW National Champion Ricochet will defend his belt against “Jungle” Jack Perry again next week when AEW is in Las Vegas. Will any gimmicks, stipulations, or Young Bucks be added to the title bout when they hype it up tonight?
– Megan Bayne and Penelope Ford beat the Timeless Love Bombs last week and might be in line for a title shot against AEW Women’s World Tag Team Champions Babes of Wrath. Does AEW’s newest women’s tag team of Jamie Hayter and Alex Windsor have anything to say about this?
– Konosuke Takeshita desperately wants to suplex the shit out of AEW International Champion Kazuchika Okada. Whose side will Kyle Fletcher take if this rivalry ends up splitting the 107 members of the Don Callis Family?
– What do AEW World Trios Champions Speedball Bailey and Kevin Knight have to say after losing singles matches last week against Samoa Joe and Swerve Strickland, respectively? Is Hangman Page focused on defending the belts with them against The Opps, or is he too distracted by his pursuit of the AEW world championship? Most importantly, will Speedball find a way to use the phrase “horse cock” on air again?
– Now that the Trey Miguel drama is over and he’s back in TNA, when will The Razcals make their AEW in-ring debut and beat CRU?
– What major match does Tony Khan have planned for “Timeless” Toni Storm when AEW goes to Australia next month? Can Marina Shafir hang with her in a lengthy singles gimmick match, or does their fight need to include more wrestlers?
– The Death Riders now find themselves in a feud against the Don Callis Family. Which of the 148 members of Don’s family will Claudio Castagnoli, Wheeler Yuta, PAC, Marina Shafir, and that loser Daniel Garcia get to beat up tonight?
– Hikaru Shida was reportedly backstage at Dynamite last week. Is she finally about to return to AEW programming to challenge for the women’s world title?
– What’s next for Darby Allin in AEW now that his feud with the Death Riders is finally over?
– Where the f*** are Chris Jericho, Britt Baker, Keith Lee, Danhausen, Nyla Rose, and Private Party?
What will you be looking for on Dynamite?
