AEW Dynamite airs tonight (Aug. 26) with a live show emanating from OVO Hydro in Glasgow, Scotland. This is the final episode of Dynamite during the five week build to All In London, which takes place on Sunday (Aug. 30) at Wembley Stadium.
The Continental title is hurting AEW’s biggest show of the year
The Continental Cup continues tonight with two matches that decide who fights in the final match of the tournament at All In. First up is Claudio Castagnoli vs. AEW Continental Champion Jon Moxley. The other match is Kyle O’Reilly vs. Nigel McGuinness.
When the
tournament was announced, it seemed like the Continental title was holding Moxley back because no other main event level stars were included in the field. Lots of folks immediately assumed Mox had to make it to the final match at Wembley Stadium. Jay White stood out as the most intriguing potential matchup for Mox at All In, but Nigel McGuinness was also a good guess to make the final because he can play the local hero role in England. Now that White is eliminated, Nigel vs. Mox seems like a foregone conclusion at All In.
The big problem here is that Mox vs. Nigel was not a hot idea for a match at All In when the Continental Cup was announced. It’s even less interesting now that Nigel is working hurt and didn’t have a great match with Hechicero as a result. The idea that the injured AEW commentator can beat the CMLL World Heavyweight Champion and then go toe-to-toe with Moxley seems kind of ridiculous, and a poor usage of former world champ Mox at AEW’s biggest show of the year.
Nothing is for sure, though, and there’s a chance that O’Reilly will beat injured McGuinness tonight. Kyle and Jon have previously had some great matches in AEW, and at this point that looks like the way to go if Tony Khan wants to have the better wrestling match at Wembley Stadium.
Is there a chance that Claudio will upset Moxley tonight, just like he did last year in the Continental Classic? It seems extremely unlikely that will happen given it leaves Moxley off the All In card altogether if he is eliminated from the tournament tonight.
Are we really heading towards former world champ Jon Moxley and injured Nigel McGuinness fighting over the Continental title at Wembley Stadium? If so, can AEW find a way to get fans super excited for that match? Tune into Dynamite tonight to find out.
The rest of the card
“Jungle” Jack Perry will kill or be killed when he fights Swerve Strickland tonight on Dynamite. This is Swerve’s first match since June, so it would be a shock if he loses. After the match is over, will Swerve reveal which two mystery wrestlers he has in mind to answer Hangman Page’s open challenge for the AEW world trios championship match at All in?
MJF and AEW National Champion Andrade will both make appearances during tonight’s broadcast. Last week, The OTC of AEW said the next time he’ll see Andrade is at Wembley Stadium, so it’s not clear how he plans to avoid crossing paths with him tonight. Will other stars who might be in the Casino Gauntlet like Tommaso Ciampa come out to attack one or both men?
Other stuff to keep an eye on
– Chris Jericho is curiously absent from the card at AEW’s biggest show of the year. Is there any time left for Chris to get his own match at All In, or will he end up joining the Casino Gauntlet or wide open trios championship match? Maybe old man Jericho will just perform a concert instead?
– Talking trash about their match at All In wasn’t enough for Mercedes Mone and AEW Women’s World Champion Willow Nightingale last week, so they ended up brawling all over the place. Is there a major go home angle planned tonight where one of them decisively stands tall over the other?
– Darby Allin walked right into an explosive booby trap last week, courtesy of TNT Champion Kevin Knight. Despite the fact that he was stretchered out of the arena, nobody wonders if Darby is in jeopardy of missing All In because we see him get killed on a regular basis. But if Darby is in no shape to appear on tonight’s Dynamite, will Knight instead decide to target Sting’s son?
– AEW International Champion Kyle Fletcher should be super pissed off after fellow Don Callis Family member Kazuchika Okada didn’t come out to save him from the returning Konosuke Takeshita last week. What shitty excuse will Okada give Kyle tonight for doing absolutely nothing while he got his ass kicked?
– AEW World Champion Kenny Omega practically transformed into a cartoon villain by the end of last week’s Dynamite, which resulted in Will Ospreay taking the One-Winged Angel through a table. Will Omega double down on his goofy mannerisms tonight in his final confrontation with Ospreay before they fight in the main event of All In?
– Are the Young Bucks and AEW World Tag Team Champions Adam Copeland & Christian Cage ready to beat the shit out of each other after last week’s superkick mishap?
– Will the Brawling Birds brawl with Divine Dominion ahead of their match for the AEW women’s world tag team championship at Wembley Stadium?
– Is there any chance that Samoa Joe returns to AEW tonight and gets himself booked in a match at All In?
– Where the f*** are Thekla and the Motor City Machine Guns?
What will you be looking for on Dynamite?
