AEW Dynamite airs tonight (Aug. 19) with a live show emanating from Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena in Baltimore, Maryland. This is the fourth episode of Dynamite during the five week build to All In London, which takes place on August 30 at Wembley Stadium.
AEW pivots from being Where The Best Wrestle to Where The Best Talk
AEW’s biggest show of the year is coming up in less than two weeks, and there are plenty of tickets left to sell at London’s Wembley Stadium. With that in mind, AEW will try its best to talk a lot more people into the building with multiple
segments on tonight’s Dynamite.
Will Ospreay and AEW World Champion Kenny Omega didn’t exactly set the world on fire in their promo at the beginning of last week’s episode, partially because of Kenny’s awkward delivery of his lines. They’ll have a chance to get it right tonight in a more controlled environment during a sit-down interview with Renee Paquette. Omega and Ospreay are fighting each other in the biggest money match at All In, so it’s important for them to nail it this time and convey why their story demands your attention.
The All Elite Talking doesn’t end there, as Paquette is also conducting an interview tonight with Mercedes Mone and AEW Women’s World Champion Willow Nightingale. AEW isn’t using the word “sit-down” to describe this segment, so perhaps it will take place live in the ring. The CEO attacked Willow last week and called her a “dumb bitch.” She’ll have to come up with some other lines tonight (preferably where she doesn’t sound like Thekla) to remove that smile from Willow’s face and get more fans wanting to see Nightingale kick her ass.
How effectively can AEW sell wrestling fans on the importance of its top two matches at All In London? Tune into multiple interviews with Renee Paquette tonight on Dynamite to find out.
The rest of the card
Ospreay and Omega are also getting physical on tonight’s card in separate trios matches against Don Callis’ comically oversized family of bad guys. Omega is teaming up with the Young Bucks to take on Jake Doyle, Mark Davis, and El Clon. Ospreay teams up with Henare and Francesco Akira to fight Lance Archer, Brian Cage, and Rocky Romero. These are obvious wins for Omega and Ospreay’s respective teams against a bunch of mid-card heels. The matches aren’t all that interesting on paper, so AEW presumably has a big angle planned where Omega and Ospreay have a reason to cross paths in the ring tonight.
TBS Champion Maya World puts her belt on the line tonight in a 4-way match against Hikaru Shida, CMLL World Women’s Champion Persephone, and Kris Statlander. Will Mexican National Women’s Champion Thunder Rosa interfere to screw over Perspehone? If World retains her belt here, what does that leave for her to do in less than two weeks at Wembley Stadium?
The second round of the Continental Cup gets going tonight with Jay White vs. AEW Continental Champion Jon Moxley and Nigel McGuinness vs. CMLL World Heavyweight Champion Hechicero. Jon looks like the favorite to win his match, while Nigel is working through an injury that has him in a walking boot. Are we really heading to a tournament final match of Moxley vs. McGuinness at Wembley Stadium, or does Nigel’s injury completely change the equation?
Other stuff to keep an eye on
– MJF is carrying around his old AEW world title and calling himself the One True Champion of AEW. Will he get any “OTC” chants tonight despite telling fans not to use Roman Reigns’ acronym? Maybe AEW should just come up with a new nickname for MJF if this disputed world champion angle is planned to last a while longer.
– Darby Allin says he’s won’t try to ambush or blow up TNT Champion Kevin Knight before their Falls Count Anywhere match at All In, because he wants The Jet to be the best version of himself walking into that match. I doubt that Knight feels the same way, so how will he try to injure Darby’s body before they do all the insane stunts at Wembley Stadium?
– It looks like AEW is building to a killer singles match between Swerve Strickland and “Jungle” Jack Perry. Is this AEW’s big plan for Swerve at All In, despite last week’s return where he got into it with The Demand and AEW World Trios Champions Hangman Page, Brody King, and ROH World Champion Bandido?
– AEW International Champion Kyle Fletcher is super pissed off about defending his belt in a 3-way match at All In against former champion Konosuke Takeshita and fellow Callis Family member Kazuchika Okada. Will The Rainmaker give Fletcher the middle finger tonight if he continues to whine about it?
– Is there enough time left to find an opponent for Chris Jericho at AEW’s biggest show of the year, or will he instead join Tommaso Ciampa, AEW National Champion Andrade, and MJF in the Casino Gauntlet match at Wembley Stadium?
– Are AEW Women’s World Tag Team Champions Divine Dominion taking the Brawling Birds more seriously as threats to their titles at All In after retreating from the challengers’ attack on Collision?
– Is the Hurt Syndicate’s business deal with STP already finished after helping them beat up some jobbers on Collision?
– The second round of the Continental Cup finishes up Saturday night on Collision with Eddie Kingston vs. Claudio Castagnoli and Kyle O’Reilly vs. Orange Cassidy.
– Does AEW Creative have anything for former women’s world champion Thekla at All In?
– Where the f*** are the Motor City Machine Guns? How are they already missing from AEW?
What will you be looking for on Dynamite?
