AEW Dynamite airs tonight (June 24) with a live show from Rio Rancho Events Center in Rio Rancho, New Mexico. This is the final episode of Dynamite during the five week build to Forbidden Door, which takes place on Sunday (June 28).
Tony Khan is trying to do something that sounds impossible in AEW
President Tony Khan says AEW is Where the Best Wrestle, and it looks like he’s trying to cram as much of that wrestling as he can tonight into what is currently scheduled to be a typical two hour episode of Dynamite. Khan has booked eight matches on the show, with none
of them being jobber squashes. If you know how much bell-to-bell time matches typically get in AEW, this sounds impossible to do on a two hour show, especially when the card will also need to include some go home promos to hype up Forbidden Door on Sunday.
AEW International Champion Konosuke Takeshita vs. Ricochet looks to me like the best match of the night, and one that belongs on a PPV card. Ricochet says Takeshita is using the Don Callis feud as an excuse to duck him because he’s afraid. He also talked trash about the returning Matt Sydal. Perhaps Matt will find a way to get some air time, so to speak, to remind Ricochet what he’s all about after this title match concludes.
The match that AEW puts at the very top of its promotional graphic for tonight’s Dynamite is Mistico, ROH World Champion Bandido, and Brody King vs. Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, and Wheeler Yuta. The Death Riders are looking to get their win back after Brodido defeated them last week. It was that loser Daniel Garcia who took the fall, so it will be interesting to see if Moxley is the fall guy this time, ahead of his AEW Continental championship defense against Bandido at Forbidden Door.
Speaking of Garcia, he’s in solo competition against Swerve Strickland. If AEW needs to cut a non women’s match for time tonight, perhaps Danny will draw the short straw in what is an obvious win for Swerve as he tunes up for his Owen Hart Tournament Final match against Will Ospreay at Forbidden Door.
Ospreay is also in action tonight, taking on NJPW’s El Phantasmo. These guys have had incredible matches against each other outside of AEW, so I think Tony Khan will give them plenty of time to reproduce that magic tonight.
The stars from NJPW continue to roll in tonight with Zack Sabre Jr. going one-on-one against “Jungle” Jack Perry. Sabre is booked against Kenny Omega at Forbidden Door, which means Kenny’s Elite ally Perry is the sacrificial scapegoat lamb tonight.
The Young Bucks are also getting in on the cross-promotional action tonight, taking on TMDK’s Bad Dude Tito and Mikey Nicholls in a tag team match. Matt and Nick Jackson are the overwhelming favorites to win as they get ready to face the likes of Mistico, Mascara Dorada, Shingo Takagai, and Titán at Forbidden Door.
The two women’s matches on Dynamite are both part of the Survival of the Fittest competition to crown a new TBS champion. First up is Harley Cameron vs. Marina Shafir, where Harley’s nipples are in imminent danger. The other bout is Queen Aminata vs. ROH Women’s World TV Champion Red Velvet. Don’t be surprised if these two women’s matches get the least ring time out of the eight advertised matches on Dynamite.
Can Tony Khan find a way to book eight non-squash matches on a two hour episode of Dynamite? Has any wrestling TV show ever featured a 30-minute overrun? Tune into Dynamite to find out.
The rest of the card
AEW Dynamite is still a pro wrestling TV show, so there has to be some promo battles on the mic as well. Forbidden Door’s main event is a 6 vs. 6 steel cage match pitting Team Briscoe (Mark Briscoe, Darby Allin, Takeshita, and AEW World Trios Champions Kyle O’Reilly, Orange Cassidy & Roderick Strong) vs. Team DCMJF (AEW World Champion MJF, Kazuchika Okada, Kyle Fletcher, TNT Champion Kevin Knight, Andrade El Idolo, and Jake Doyle). We will hear from both teams during tonight’s broadcast. Will it be one big talking segment inside the ring with potential violence at the end, or do both teams get separate promo time in pre-taped segments backstage?
Other stuff to keep an eye on
– AEW Women’s World Champion Thekla defends her belt at Forbidden Door against Stardom’s Starlight Kid. Will Thekla be involved in any more Stardom-defacing antics tonight after she was banned form Japan over the weekend for trying to shave the president’s head?
– Maya World will try to pull off an underdog miracle at Forbidden Door when she faces Mercedes Mone in the final match of the women’s Owen Hart tournament. Is there any babyface in AEW who will watch Maya’s back tonight if The CEO and ROH Women’s World Champion Athena try to lay her out again?
– Tommaso Ciampa drew blood on Chris Jericho last week. After Jericho thanked Tommy for the beating, is The Painmaker on the verge of returning to AEW for their match on July 8 at Beach Break?
– Divine Dominion are defending the AEW women’s world tag team championship at Forbidden Door against Thunder Rosa and CMLL’s Olympia. Is there anything the challengers can do before the PPV to convince fans they have a prayer of winning the belts?
– Which AEW star or manager will be next to pay a shitload of money for the Hurt Syndicate’s special people-hurting service?
– This weekend’s episode of Collision is being taped after Dynamite, which makes the potential length of tonight’s overrun stand out even more to me. Will AEW World Tag Team Champions Adam Copeland and Christian Cage be on Collision to promote their Forbidden Door title defense against The Dogs? What happens if the Bang Bang Gang cuts off The Dogs’ balls first?
– Where the f*** are Britt Baker, Keith Lee, and Nyla Rose?
What will you be looking for on Dynamite?
