AEW Dynamite preview (Mar. 29, 2023): Adam Cole is finally back, BAY BAY!

Dynamite airs tonight (Mar. 29) with a live show from Chaifetz Arena in St. Louis, Missouri. There are more than eight weeks to go until AEW’s next pay-per-view on the calendar, Double or Nothing, which is scheduled for May 28.

Adam Cole is finally back, BAY BAY!

Adam Cole returned to AEW television on the January 11 episode of Dynamite to announce that he’s back and everyone in the AEW locker room has been put on notice. I guess Adam has a strange sense of time, because it’s been more than two months and he has yet to back up those words with an actual match. That all changes tonight in his highly anticipated return match against Daniel Garcia.

This match was put together last week when Garcia interrupted Cole’s promo to assert that he has become the life blood of AEW since Cole was sidelined last summer. He’s the best damn pro wrestler sports entertainer on the roster and will happily establish Adam’s place beneath him in the pecking order. Cole gladly accepted the fight and said he’s going to make a statement for the whole locker room to notice when he beats Garcia.

Adam Cole was pushed hard as a heel when he last competed in AEW, so it seems pretty clear that Tony Khan will have big plans for him as a babyface going forward. And the AEW roster sure could use a fresh new babyface at the top given Jon Moxley and Claudio Castagnoli’s recent heel turns, CM Punk’s absence from AEW programming, as well as Hangman Page being wrapped up in more group drama with The Elite.

Look for Cole to finally back up his tough talk and take out Garcia tonight, with bigger things to come sooner rather than later as he quickly rises up the ladder as a potential new main event level babyface in AEW.

The rest of tonight’s lineup

Coming off last week’s dream match victory over El Hijo del Vikingo, Kenny Omega is back in action tonight to defend his IWGP United States championship against NJPW star Jeff Cobb. Omega is battered and bruised coming into the fight, so the idea is that he’s vulnerable and ripe for the picking. With the Young Bucks presumably taken out by the Blackpool Combat Club last week, will Hangman Page be around to watch Kenny’s back just in case the BCC decide to strike again? More importantly, is Kenny going to be an idiot who didn’t rewatch the end of last week’s episode to see that Don Callis lied about being attacked by Page?

Speaking of the Blackpool Combat Club, Jon Moxley and his crew will be in trios action earlier in the night against Dalton Castle and the Boys. I don’t think this one will end well for the Ring of Honor babyfaces, just like Moxley’s encounter with Stu Grayson didn’t end well for the Dark Order last week.

AEW International Champion Orange Cassidy puts the belt on the line tonight against The Butcher. This seems like an obvious win for Freshly Squeezed against a tag team wrestler who loses more often than not on AEW television, just like last week when OC was on the winning side of a trios match over The Butcher’s team.

Ruby Soho and Willow Nightingale were allies fairly recently, but their friendship quickly came to an end after Ruby joined The Outcasts and humiliated Willow with spray paint. They’ll go one-on-one tonight in the latest battle of the ongoing war between The Outcasts and the AEW originals.

Jungle Boy vs. Matt Hardy is also booked on the card. Boy wants to prove that he deserves a title shot against AEW World Champion MJF, but a loss against Hardy would instantly derail his efforts on that front.

Other stuff to keep an eye on

- Jungle isn’t the only AEW pillar with MJF in his sights. Darby Allin was staring at the Double or Nothing banner last week after a trios victory with Sting and Orange Cassidy. It might also be time for Sammy Guevara to do something to get noticed tonight, even though he isn’t currently advertised for a match.

- How is Stokely Hathaway doing after he was mauled last week by FTW Champion HOOK? Will Ethan Page step up and try to end the unrecognized champ’s undefeated streak?

- The Gunns are putting the AEW world tag team titles on the line next week against FTR, in a match where FTR will quit AEW if they lose. Will there be any physicality between the champs and the challengers on the eve of their high stakes title fight?

- Next week’s card also features AEW women’s world champion Jamie Hayter defending the gold against Riho. As of right now, these two women are on the same side of the AEW originals’ war against The Outcasts. If Hayter is back in AEW for tonight’s episode, don’t be surprised if she and Riho accidentally butt heads while trying to save Nightingale from an attack by Saraya’s group.

- AEW World Trios Champions House of Black and Jericho Appreciation Society have been going at it of late, with Brody King losing against Daniel Garcia but beating Jake Hager. What will be the next move on the chessboard from their respective leaders Malakai Black and Chris Jericho? Will it involve something new besides lights going out and baseball bat strikes?

- Undefeated TBS Champion Jade Cargill will have to defend the belt against Taya Valkyrie soon enough. Does AEW intend to stretch out the wait for two months until Double or Nothing, or could this match be added to next week’s Battle of the Belts event? Will Mark Sterling successfully ban Taya’s finishing move from her arsenal by the time the match takes place?

- TNT Champion Powerhouse Hobbs would have already dropped his belt to Penta El Zero Miedo if not for the help of QT Marshall and the QTV crew. Sorry Hobbs (and Wardlow), but this whole QTV angle kind of sucks.

- Daddy Magic and Cool Hand Ang are still trying to recruit The Acclaimed into the Jericho Appreciation Society, and there’s still zero reason to think their scheme has any chance to work. This is clearly a filler angle for Max Caster, Anthony Bowens, and Daddy Ass while they are away from the championship scene.

- Ricky Starks and Bullet Club member Juice Robinson won’t wrestle this week because Juice refuses to perform in the shitty state of Missouri. He’s waiting until next week when AEW visits New York.

- Swerve Strickland says he has a new Mogul Affiliate who is going to help him put an end to Keith Lee. Will we receive any clues tonight about the identity of this mystery person?

- The foursome of Jeff Jarrett, Jay Lethal, Sonjay Dutt, and Satnam Singh are confident that their group will be holding championship gold in AEW sooner or later, despite their many failures in title matches up to this point. Which championship will they pursue next?

- Where the f*** is Miro?

What will you be looking for on Dynamite?