AEW Dynamite preview (Sept. 27, 2023): What’s going on with Adam Cole?

Dynamite airs tonight (Sept. 27) with a live show from 1STBANK Center in Broomfield, Colorado. This is the final episode of Dynamite during the four week build towards WrestleDream, which takes place on Sunday (Oct. 1).

What’s going on with Adam Cole?

Adam Cole and AEW World Champion MJF are scheduled to defend the ROH world tag team titles against The Righteous at WrestleDream. However, the match is in jeopardy after Cole appeared to suffer some kind of foot injury last week at Grand Slam while helping MJF retain his belt against Samoa Joe.

So far, Cole and AEW have kept a pretty tight lid on this situation. Aside from hearing the initial story where Cole was checked out at the hospital and walking on crutches, there really haven’t been any updates on how Adam is doing and how long he might be out of action for.

Cole will have to address the matter himself on tonight’s episode of Dynamite, where he and MJF are booked for a talking segment. Is there still a chance that Cole can compete in this weekend’s advertised title match? If not, what replacement match will Tony Khan come up with? Better Than You Bay Bay vs. The Righteous is an underwhelming PPV match anyway, so the backup plan could very well end up being more compelling to AEW fans than what is currently advertised.

The rest of tonight’s lineup

Orange Cassidy vs. Matt Jackson vs. Penta El Zero Miedo vs. Austin Gunn is booked for tonight. This is something of a preview for the four-way tag match at WrestleDream featuring all of these men and their respective partners, where they will be vying over a future shot at the AEW world tag team titles. It might actually be better to lose this match if the goal is to win on Sunday, if you happen to believe in the theory of reverse momentum.

Willow Nightingale steps in the ring with Julia Hart in a singles match. Nightingale was sprayed with Hart’s black mist over the weekend and is looking for payback. Meanwhile, Hart is on a roll in 2023 and will try to add one more victory to her ledger ahead of her match with TBS Champion Kris Statlander at WrestleDream.

Hangman Page and Swerve Strickland are scheduled for a contract signing tonight ahead of their match at WrestleDream. Page is riding high after he won the ROH world six-man tag team titles from Swerve’s Mogul Embassy last week, so perhaps Strickland will lay a trap for him here and try to humble the cowboy.

Jim Ross will conduct a sit-down interview with Darby Allin and TNT Champion Christian Cage before they fight over the belt in a two-out-of-three falls match at WrestleDream. How much more obnoxious will Christian be now that he actually is the TNT champion?

Other stuff to keep an eye on

- How will Toni Storm react after losing against AEW Women’s World Champion Saraya on last week’s Grand Slam card? Will a new challenger emerge from the pack?

- Jon Moxley suffered a concussion before dropping the AEW International Championship to Rey Fenix last week. Will there be any new information tonight on when we can expect to see Moxley back in the ring?

- After Sammy Guevara betrayed Chris Jericho last week, Chris is joining forces with Kenny Omega to wipe out the Don Callis family. This war is bringing both Kota Ibushi and Will Ospreay back to AEW as part of a trios match at WrestleDream. Will either man make a surprise appearance tonight to whet the appetite for more on Sunday?

- ROH World Champion and NJPW Openweight Champion Eddie Kingston will defend both belts against Katsuyori Shibata at WrestleDream. There should at least be a video package on tonight’s show reminding AEW fans what Shibata is all about.

- Will Aussie Open get another tune-up match tonight before they challenge FTR for the AEW world tag team titles at WrestleDream?

- Britt Baker is desperate to regain her spot at the top of the AEW women’s division, but she keeps losing the key matches that would move her closer to that goal.

- Does Samoa Joe have any regrets about shaking MJF’s hand last week after their main event match at Grand Slam?

- Tony Khan claims that WrestleDream will be the end of an era. What the hell does that mean?

- Most episodes of AEW Dynamite include at least five matches. With only two matches official for tonight thus far, you should expect to see more matches announced throughout the day, or at the very top of the show.

- Where the f*** is Serena Deeb Wardlow?

What will you be looking for on Dynamite?