AEW Rewind: Sting’s first TNT match in 20 years, Fuego del Sol All Elite reaction, more!

Don’t have time to follow all of AEW’s online content? Don’t worry. We got you covered with the AEW Rewind, which will rewind through social media bits and YouTube videos from the past week to prepare you for Wednesday night Dynamite.

“AEW Road to Dynamite: Houston,” hyped Chris Jericho versus MJF in the Fifth Labour of Jericho, the Young Bucks defending the tag titles against Jurassic Express, Sting returning to the ring with Darby Allin opposite 2.0, and Tony Schiavone interviewing Dr. Britt Baker DMD on a walk around her hometown.

The video was mostly analysis from the commentary crew breaking down the matches. Taz predicted new tag champs, while Excalibur believed the Elite’s numbers would be too much for the referee to control as the Bucks cheat to win. Tonight will be Sting’s first time wrestling on TNT in 20 years since his match against Ric Flair on the final episode of WCW Nitro. Here’s the Sting portion if you don’t want to watch the full video.

MJF is confident he can defeat Jericho, but he is not overlooking the legend.

MJF even had trouble sleeping before the big fight.

I like those comments from MJF. It makes him feel more like a real person instead of a cartoon villain like Snidely Whiplash. Tonight will be a huge opportunity to add another bullet point to his legacy. It will also be his chance to prove he can carry the main event. A great match on this evening will go a long way in opening fans’ wallets to pay for the privilege when he eventually challenges for the AEW World Championship again.

AEW posted backstage footage of Fuego del Sol reacting to becoming All Elite. He felt like it was still a dream. Fuego thanked the fans for making their voices heard. The masked man can finally say with pride that he is All Elite as he officially signed the contract.

Hitting on some storyline bits and notes of interest from Elevation (recap) and Dark (recap), two-time Impact Knockouts tag champ Kiera Hogan made her AEW debut. She wrestled in losing efforts to Hikaru Shida on Elevation and Kris Statlander on Dark. Hogan shined bright with her personality and connected on enough offense to impress. Also, Shida had a sweet front chancery airplane spin on Hogan. I love the airplane spin.

Diamante and Big Swole continued their beef on Elevation. Diamante used a steel chain to punch Julia Hart en route to victory. After the match, Diamante put the boots to Hart. Big Swole ran out to engage in fisticuffs with her current rival.

Shawn Spears attacked Sammy Guevara after Sammy’s win. Tully Blanchard slid in a chair, so Spears could could nail the C4 DVD onto the steel prior to their fight on Dynamite.

Over on Dark, Matt Hardy used his own boot as a foreign object to cheat in victory against Wheeler Yuta. Private Party beat up Chuck Taylor in the aftermath, so Orange Cassidy came out from backstage to land a Superman punch to Hardy. I suspect that is leading to a PPV match in one form or another. Penelope Ford submitted Masha Slamovich then put the boots to her after the bell. That act of violence brought out Thunder Rosa from the commentary table for the save. The skirmish was the impetus for a match between Ford and Rosa on Dynamite.

Andrade came out on stage with his music to distract PAC during a Death Triangle trios match. It was a little bit of mind games that had no effect on the result of Death Triangle winning. Frankie Kazarian did some Elite hunting against Brandon Cutler. Michael Nakazawa was ringside. The tone was blundering comedy with Cutler spraying himself in the face with aerosol leading to a crossface chickenwing submission from Kaz. Frankie’s ‘what an idiot’ facial expression is great.

Being the Elite

“Partying in Pittsburgh” - Being The Elite, Ep. 269 (here) featured:

• The Young Bucks monitored Kenny Omega’s progress against Christian Cage on Rampage. Highlights played of the Elite’s shenanigans backfiring as Christian won the Impact World Championship. Backstage, the Elite were shocked that Christian would stoop to cheating. Brandon Cutler disputed Omega’s claim of getting his shoulder up on the pin. Nick Jackson wished Omega well on his travels to Mexico to drop the AAA Megacampeonato to Andrade. Omega was pissed that the Flairs would orchestrate his loss. Omega accidentally drank from a bottle of urine. (Note: Omega actually retained the AAA title against Andrade at Triplemania XXIX. Ric Flair was ringside to support Andrade, but El Idolo couldn’t get the job done when Omega cheated to win.)
• Young Bucks travel montage and shopping spree.
• Peter Avalon tried to woo Leva Bates with their entrance music. She was touched, but then Alex Reynolds walked in to put his arm around her. Bates has moved on, but you could tell she still has feelings for Avalon.
• Karl Anderson did his sour boy character.
• Highlights from the Elite’s trios match on Dynamite. Next were highlights from the Good Brothers defending the Impact tag titles against the Dark Order. Brandon Cutler escaped his kidnapping from Frankie Kazarian to film the Bucks showing off their new shoes.
• Ryan Nemeth is too busy with cream to read Hollywood scripts. He is making fine art to change the world with his cream videos.
• Evil Uno and Stu Grayson were annoyed that the rest of the Dark Order were not present. Colt Cabana was the voice of peace. The issue was how to deal with Hangman Page. Uno and Grayson believed they should honor his desire for space, but the others felt Hangman needed help. They noticed Cutler eavesdropping, so Cabana punched Cutler in the nose.
• The new Elite handshake involves a kiss on the cheek.
• The Elite partied in the casino on their day off. They also visited a toy store with their AEW action figures.
• Omega was angry about being overshadowed on Dynamite. Fans were talking more about Dante Martin and poor Hangman Page not getting a title shot instead of the Elite’s performance. Omega went on a rant about their superior athleticism. They decided to bring their basketball hoop with them everywhere to show off their skills. Cut to the Elite dominating on the court.

We’ll close with a limited edition merch drop. Sting has a bomber jacket available for purchase.