AEW Dynamite preview (Nov. 8, 2023): Keith Lee finally gets something interesting to do

Dynamite airs tonight (Nov. 8) with a live show from Moda Center in Portland, Oregon. This is the sixth episode of Dynamite during the seven week build towards Full Gear, which takes place on November 18.

Keith Lee finally gets something interesting to do

Samoa Joe is now the longest reigning ROH World TV champion of all-time, but he’ll face his toughest challenge yet when he goes one-on-one with Keith Lee tonight on Dynamite.

2023 has been a strange year for Lee in AEW. After splitting up with Swerve Strickland in December 2022, this was supposed to be Keith’s year to break out as a singles star in AEW. But it hasn’t happened; he’s more or less been used in low stakes tag matches or as a singles guy who squashes low card talent. Hell, I don’t even think he got to face Swerve in a singles match after Swerve turned on him in December. Lee has had very few matches of importance in 2023.

That changes tonight when he steps in the ring with Joe. Can the Limitless One be the guy who finally ends Samoa’s long run with the gold? Tune into Dynamite to find out.

The rest of tonight’s lineup

AEW World Champion MJF doesn’t possess the belt right now thanks the thieves in Bullet Club Gold. That won’t stop him from defending the gold tonight against Daniel Garcia, who challenged the champ to a match several days ago. MJF recently defeated Kenny Omega to become the longest reigning AEW world champion of all-time, so Garcia is simply in way over his head at this level.

Jay White is scheduled to challenge MJF for the belt at Full Gear. The only problem is that if he loses to Mark Briscoe tonight, then Briscoe will take White’s place in that title fight. Yes, that means by the time Dynamite wraps up, there is a non-zero chance that the main event of Full Gear will be changed to Daniel Garcia vs. Mark Briscoe for the world title.

Sting’s retirement tour continues tonight when he tags with Darby Allin to take on The Outrunners. Sting has never lost in AEW, and it would be a total shock if his first loss came against this low card tag team. Sting and Darby have accumulated a long list of enemies, including TNT Champion Christian Cage, Lance Archer, Nick Wayne, The Righteous, and Luchasaurus. Will Adam Copeland be on hand to protect Sting and Darby just in case of any of these heels attack after this match is over?

Red Velvet returns from injury tonight for a match against Julia Hart. Velvet’s last match was a loss against Jade Cargill in February, so she might have a lot of ring rust to shake off in this fight. Hart hasn’t wrestled since losing to TBS Champion Kris Statlander over a month ago at WrestleDream, so this is also her return to the ring after some time away.

Penta El Zero Miedo vs. Swerve Strickland is booked for tonight. Hangman Page wants to do very bad things to Swerve after the guy invaded his home and threatened his toddler. Will Page get his hands on Swerve tonight?

AEW Women’s World Champion Hikaru Shida defends the title at Full Gear against “Timeless” Toni Storm. Tony Schiavone will conduct a sit-down interview with both wrestlers tonight, which I’m sure will go off without a hitch.

Other stuff to keep an eye on

- Paul “Big Show” Wight is set to team up with Kenny Omega, Chris Jericho, and Kota Ibushi next week in a street fight against the Don Callis family. The Young Bucks are not happy that Kenny has been teaming with Chris and even invited him into The Elite’s locker room last week. Meanwhile, Callis might need to find a new member for his squad if Sammy Guevara still isn’t cleared to return after recently suffering a concussion.

- AEW International Champion Orange Cassidy retained the gold last week against Claudio Castagnoli, but Jon Moxley showed up afterwards and beat the shit out of Orange. Mox is looking to win back the belt when he fights Cassidy at Full Gear. What will OC do tonight to get some revenge on Moxley?

- Meanwhile, it seems that Wheeler Yuta wants a piece of FTW Champion HOOK.

- Will Ruby Soho eventually warm up to Angelo Parker?

- Wardlow says he’s going to cost MJF everything when he least expects it. What an asshole.

- Will Danhausen show up on Dynamite to let everyone know that his official AEW return is happening on this weekend’s Collision?

- What’s the probability that Tony Khan will hype up another “important announcement” about a very minor thing sometime between now and when Dynamite is set to air?

- Ronda Rousey is now a southern California indie wrestler, and AEW happens to be coming to southern California for Full Gear next week. Could there be something in the works here?

- Is Jack Perry still suspended? If not, where the f*** is he?

What will you be looking for on Dynamite?