All Elite Wrestling comes our way from the Agganis Arena in Boston. Last week, Dynamite opened with a first-round match in the world title eliminator tournament where Bryan Danielson defeated Dustin Rhodes to move onto round two. Kenny Omega tried (and failed) to dunk on Adam Page (sorry Kenny! We love him too much!), and MJF and his big weird ring attacked Sting. Britt Baker challenged Tay Conti to a championship match at Full Gear, and Ruby Soho moved on to round two of the TBS championship tournament. Wardlow got an accountabil-a-buddy, and CM Punk stopped Bobby Fish from brutalizing his extremely defeated opponent. Lio Rush got a tag match against the Sydal brothers for his reluctant tag partner, Dante Martin, and Dan Lambert continued to say offensive, outdated things during his promo. Eddie Kingston moved on in the world title eliminator tournament (after a scary spot from The Muderhawk Monster), and The Superkliq super beat down Jungle Boy and threw him through a table. Finally, Cody Rhodes defeated Malakai Black after many shenanigans and near falls while the crowd made a bunch of confused “do we like this?” noises.
This Week’s Headliner:
Bobby Fish may not have won the TNT Championship, but that doesn’t mean he’s not a threat. On last week’s Dynamite, it seems he was dead set on proving that point when he not only defeated his opponent Anthony Greene, but he continued to attack him after the bell rung. CM Punk didn’t like that and came to Greene’s rescue. Punk pulled a classic “hey, why don’t you pick on someone your own size” move, but Bobby slinked off into the locker room.
Tonight CM Punk will make good on his threat when he takes on Bobby Fish in one-on-one action. CM Punk has been on a winning streak, but at this point, he doesn’t necessarily NEED to win, while a win over a big name like Punk could do a lot of Fish’s place on the AEW roster.
The Title Scene:
While the World Champion is focused on his biggest current threat, Hangman Adam Page, the world title eliminator tournament rages on. Moxley doesn’t care about anything except his new baby daughter, which weirdly makes Moxley extremely dangerous. It’s a total John McClain situation, and Preston “10” Vance is in Moxley’s way. Sucks to be 10 tonight.
Why have one tournament when you can have two? The TBS Championship tournament continues tonight when the feud between Hikaru Shida and Serena Deeb gets championship stakes. Deeb defeated Shida a few weeks ago to prevent her from getting her 50th win, and the two have come to violent blows several times since then. Shida wants respect, and Deeb wants to remind everyone that she’s just that damn good. Shida doesn’t need the win here, and Evil Serena Deeb has been fantastic. She very well could be the first-ever TBS champion if she can defeat Shida tonight, which is no small task. This one is going to get violent folks!
You know how the old saying goes, “When Chris Jericho sails the seven seas, the TNT Champion will take his place in the arena of old man insults.” After exchanging some truly questionable barbs with Dan Lambert and Ethan Page (seriously, just let Page talk ALONE next time), Sammy Guevara put his title on the line and will defend it tonight against Page. But that’s not all. If Sammy loses the title, he’ll be forced to leave The Inner Circle forever, but if he wins, he gets first to pick of American Top Team members for the IC to put the beatdown on. Personally, if I were Sammy, I would’ve said, “if I win, I get to put duct tape over Lambert’s mouth,” but that’s just me.
The World Women’s Champion Britt Baker challenged Tay Conti to a championship match at Full Gear. Tonight expect to hear an acceptance from Conti. Wonder if she has as much to say about Britt’s ass as Britt did about hers?
The Tag Team Champions will continue to have to deal with FTR saying they’re the best Luchadors in the world. The tag team champions will continue to try and kill FTR every chance they get.
Other things to keep an eye on:
-The Elite take on The Dark Order tonight. The Elite are using this match as a threat to Hangman Page (who will definitely be out to help at some point), while The Dark Order is using this match to prove their cohesiveness as a team. What could go wrong?
-Will God answer Miro’s threat?
Tune into AEW on TNT at 8pm ET to see how all this plays out.