AEW Dynamite preview (July 26, 2023): Tony Khan needs to call an audible on MJF & Adam Cole

Dynamite airs tonight (July 26) with a live show from MVP Arena in Albany, New York. This is the fifth episode of Dynamite during the nine week build towards All In, which takes place on August 27.

Tony Khan needs to call an audible on MJF & Adam Cole

Adam Cole and AEW World Champion MJF are set to challenge FTR for the AEW world tag team titles on this Saturday’s episode of Collision.

Cole and MJF didn’t wrestle their first match together as a team until earlier this month as part of the Blind Eliminator Tournament. Yet they have quickly become the hottest act in the company, getting fans to go crazy for something as a simple as a double clothesline. Their merch numbers are topping the charts, which is a strong sign that this team should not be broken up any time soon.

However, there’s reason to think that when AEW booker Tony Khan put this duo together, he was planning for them to split in time to set up a championship match between MJF and Cole at either the All In or All Out pay-per-view events, which both take place in less than six weeks. If that was the original endgame here, there’s good reason to think MJF will turn on Cole after they fail to win the tag team titles from FTR. In fact, last week’s Dynamite teased a breakup when it became clear to MJF that Cole still has his eyes on the AEW world championship.

The PPV calendar says it might be time to break up Cole and MJF, but it’s too soon for that to happen given how AEW fans are currently responding to them together. This is where Khan needs to call an audible and find a way to get MJF through All In and All Out without breaking up this team.

It shouldn’t be too hard to do it. MJF vs. CM Punk can main event one of the PPVs, so it’s just a matter of finding MJF a worthy opponent for the other event. However, Khan has resisted going along with MJF as a hot babyface before, so perhaps he will do it again.

We will hear from Cole and MJF on tonight’s episode of Dynamite as they deliver one final promo to hype up their championship fight this weekend. Will Adam come up with a better explanation for why it took him so long to hand over MJF’s world title last week?

The rest of tonight’s lineup

AEW International Champion Orange Cassidy defends the gold tonight against AR Fox. There’s no reason to think Fox will actually win this match, so perhaps there will be a post-match angle that teases Cassidy’s opponent for All In at Wembley Stadium.

There is a three-way tag team match tonight: Lucha Bros vs. Best Friends vs. Jon Moxley & Claudio Castagnoli. The Blackpool Combat Club just suffered a major loss last week at Blood & Guts, so this match is probably here to get them a win. Will AEW show us footage of the off-air post-match handshake at Blood & Guts between BCC and The Golden Elite?

PAC vs, Gravity is booked for tonight. PAC also needs a win after returning to AEW & ROH with multiple losses last week, so now he gets to take out his frustrations on this poor sap. This match is more amusing when you consider that PAC was once referred to as The Man That Gravity Forgot during his WWE days,

Britt Baker goes one-on-one with Taya Valkyrie. Valkyrie recently challenged for Toni Storm’s AEW women’s world championship, so a win for Baker might just move her to the front of the line for the next shot at the champ.

Finally, Darby Allin vs. Swerve Strickland is on the slate for tonight. Allin got the better of Swerve in last week’s Royal Rampage, one week after Swerve ruined the debut of Nick Wayne. It’s worth noting that Allin defeated Swerve the last time they had a singles match on Dynamite, back on April 12.

Other stuff to keep an eye on

- Will The Elite focus their attention on destroying the Don Callis family now that their war with the Blackpool Combat Club is seemingly over?

- How much more time does Chris Jericho need to make a decision on joining the Callis family? Jericho’s decision might be a little easier to make after Sammy Guevara and Daniel Garcia disrespected him following last week’s loss in the Blind Eliminator Tournament.

- TBS Champion Kris Statlander was successful in her most recent open challenge (against Marina Shafir). Will she keep issuing these challenges until former champion Jade Cargill returns?

- Daddy Ass and The Acclaimed once again failed to win the AEW world trios titles from House of Black. Ass left his wrestling boots in the middle of the ring following the match. Is he really retiring?

- Jack Perry ended HOOK’s undefeated streak and won the FTW championship from him last week. Perry had to cheat to get the job done, of course, but that won’t stop him from bragging about how great he is.

- Jeff Hardy must be returning to AEW very soon, given that the Canada tour is over.

- Where the f*** is Wardlow?

What will you be looking for on Dynamite?