The April 19th edition of AEW Dynamite featured Hayter and Baker vs. Storm and Soho, Jay White vs. Komander, the first-ever one-on-one match between Jungle Boy and Sammy Guevara, and the crowning of a new TBS Champion.
Highlights:
- Kicking off with another four pillar segment. Jungle Boy came to the ring to be interrupted by Sammy Guevara to be interrupted by Darby Allin. After each threw a little shade and made a case for getting a world title shot, MJF arrived to announce a four pillars tournament beginning with Jungle Boy vs. Sammy for the first time tonight. This was followed up with a backstage segment with MJF attempting to buy Sammy’s loyalty. The main event got to a fast start with high-risk moves from both men (including Guevara hitting the Spanish Fly from both the top rope and the ring apron onto the floor). The action was so good we eventually got dueling Sammy chants for his blitzkrieg offense. Eventually Sammy pulled out the win with the help of MJF, leading to a Sammy vs. Darby match next week (or will MJF’s shenanigans all be for not, and lead to the four-way match he was attempting to avoid?).
- Jay White defeated Komander in another match that showed off the luchador’s skillset while giving White and Bullet Club a win. Shawn Spears was shown having fun multiple times at ringside, and after the match was pulled in for a beating by Juice Robinson leading to the arrival of Ricky Starks (giving him an ally in his Bullet Club feud and finally something for Spears to sink his teeth into after a long layoff).
- Getting an early spot on the card, Jamie Hayter and hometown girl Dr. Britt Baker beat Toni Storm and Ruby Soho with Saraya at ringside. Big hometown pop for Baker over her opponents. However, this didn’t end the Outcasts role in event tonight.
- Adam Cole and Chris Jericho came out to the ring for a war of words that included Cole calling Jericho “a stupid idiot.” Things got physical with Garcia and Jericho jumping Cole leading to Baker to return to the ring only to get jumped herself by the Outcasts with Cole forced to watch the trio destroy her girlfriend who he would have to help to the back after the break. Great way to officially start of the feud between the pair adding some immediate heat.
- The Elite hit the ring with Kenny Omega in all-business mode only to get distracted by Bryan Danielson and then jumped by the rest of the Blackpool Combat Club leading to six man brawl in the ring and around ringside. Interesting turn of events with Don Callis bringing out Konosuke Takeshita to make the save (to mixed reactions from the Young Bucks despite his involvement helping to even the numbers).
- Renee Paquette‘s backstage interview with Wardlow introduced Arn Anderson to be in his corner for his match against Powerhouse Hobbs for the TBS Championship that closed out the show’s first hour. With the match offering a spot for Anderson to settle an old score, Wardlow defeated Hobbs with the Powerbomb Symphony only to get a look at his next challenger with the arrival of Christian Cage and Luchasaurus. AEW’s history of having the TNT Championship change hands far more often than other titles continues and now we’ll see what kind of run Wardlow gets this time around.
- Both Team TNA and FTR fought over who would stand-up for Marc Briscoe after he was jumped backstage setting up an unlikely alliance for AEW Rampage.
- The Acclaimed and Daddy Ass took on JAS in a trios match in a match featuring the stipulation of if The Acclaimed were to lose they would be forced to join the JAS. Despite a bit of JAS shenanigans, the end was never in doubt.
Lows:
- None for me, however you can certainly make a case for keeping the belt on Hobbs, AEW’s track record with the TNT Championship is to play hot potato with it while keeping the other titles much more stable. I don’t have a problem with Wardlow getting another run or Hobbs winning it back on their next match-up. While I don’t have a problem with the choice, I can certainly see where others might.
Less Notable:
