ALL ELITE WRESTLING DYNAMITE PREVIEW 3/16: St. Patrick’s Slam Edition, Wardlow vs. Scorpio for TNT Championship, Danielson & Moxley vs. Taylor & Yuta, Steel Cage Match for Women’s Championship, Page & Jurassic Express vs. Cole & ReDRagon, Jericho Appreciation Society Commencement

BY FRANK PETEANI, PWTORCH.COM CONTRIBUTOR

Thunder Rosa injury revealed
PHOTO CREDIT: Thunder Rosa Twitter

SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...

ALL ELITE WRESTLING DYNAMITE PRIMER
ST. PATRICK’S SLAM EDITION
MARCH 16, 2022
SAN ANTONIO, TX. AT THE FREEMAN COLISEUM
AIRS ON TBS NETWORK, 8:00 p.m. EST, 7:00 p.m. CST
BY FRANK PETEANI (@FrankPeteani), PWTORCH.COM CONTRIBUTOR

Announcers: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Jim Ross

Match Results and Key Segments from Last Week

  • Chris Jericho betrayed Eddie Kingston and formed the Jericho Appreciation Society with 2point0, Daniel Garcia, and Jake Hager.
  • “Hangman” Adam Page defeated Dante Martin to retain the AEW World Championship.
  • Jon Moxley & Bryan Danielson defeated The Workhorsemen (J.D. Drake & Anthony Henry).
  • Pac defeated Wheeler Yuta.
  • Matt Hardy was voted out of the AHFO. While being attacked by his former cohorts, Sting & Darby Allin came to bail him out. Still outnumbered, Jeff Hardy made his AEW debut and reunited with his brother Matt.
  • Jurassic Express (Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus) defeated The Acclaimed (Max Caster & Anthony Bowens) to retain the AEW Tag Team Championship.
  • Thunder Rosa defeated “Legit” Leyla Hirsch to earn the right to face Dr. Britt Baker for the AEW Women’s Championship.
  • Scorpio Sky defeated Sammy Guevara to win the TNT Championship.

Arena

AEW checks into the Freeman Coliseum in San Antonio, TX. It’s been a while since this 73-year-old building has seen any wrestling action. WWE (then WWF) held a house in in December of 1990.

Four matches are advertised along with a talking segment:

TNT Championship: Scorpio Sky (champ) vs. Wardlow

After defeating Sammy Guevara for the TNT Championship last week, Men of the Year’s Scorpio Sky must get right to work tonight as he defends the title against Wardlow. Wardlow earned the right to challenge for the title via winning the Face of the Revolution ladder match at Revolution. Scorpio is in his first reign and has been undefeated for over a year. This past Friday on Rampage, his manager Dan Lambert emphasized he’ll be bringing two titles. It won’t be two belts, but his undefeated streak and TNT title.

It’s not that simple for Wardlow, who cut a heartfelt promo documenting his childhood in which he was raised by a single mother who did all she could to raise he and his two sisters. He wanted to be a pro wrestler and coming under the tutelage of MJF was his best path. He said he was now free and declared AEW “Wardlow’s World.” Wardlow betrayed MJF at Revolution when he gave CM Punk the Dynamite Diamond Ring to utilize in their Dog Collar match.

https://twitter.com/realwardlow/status/1503054464466362370?s=21

https://twitter.com/scorpiosky/status/1503147273248653313?s=21

Frank’s Analysis: You have to think MJF is going to get involved and cost Wardlow, setting up their feud while Scorpio Sky moves on. I was wrong in my preview about Sammy retaining. I’m not surprised in the least they made the switch. I don’t think any of us were attached Sammy as champion.

Trios Match: AEW World Champion “Hangman” Adam Page & AEW Tag Team Champions Jurassic Express vs. Adam Cole & ReDRagon (Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly)

On the heels of retaining the AEW World Championship over Adam Cole and Dante Martin last week, “Hangman” Adam Page gets right back to the salt mines in a Trios match. He’ll team with the current AEW Tag Team Champions Jurassic Express to take on ReDRagon and Cole (the three of them members of the Undisputed Era in NXT from 2017-20). The match was set up when Cole came out after Page’s defense over Martin, in which he said Hangman’s days as champion are numbered.

There are issues with how these teams came about. Several members of the Dark Order petitioned Hangman to be his partners in a backstage segment; however, Hangman had to awkwardly let them know he had already chosen Jurassic Express. John Silver said it was ok because he had a beard trimming appointment. Hangman left, but you could tell things were uncomfortable.

Separately, Cole was backstage with the Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson) and ReDRagon. The teams were arguing about what took place at Revolution. Jurassic Express retained the tag team championship over both teams in a triple threat match; however, early on it seemed as if the Bucks and ReDRagon were working together. To make a long story short, the Bucks said they were out if it was a match against Hangman, but it didn’t matter because Cole wasn’t going to pick them.

https://twitter.com/aewontv/status/1501732925695401986?s=21

Let us not forget Hangman shook Cole’s hand after Revolution:

https://twitter.com/aewontv/status/1501732925695401986?s=21

Frank’s Analysis: There’s a LOT going on here. You wonder what’s going on with the Dark Order, with whom Hangman has been associated for the better part of the last two years. I’m curious why he wouldn’t choose two members from that group, but picking Jurassic Express, with whom Cole and ReDRagon have had issues with lately makes sense. As far as ReDRagon and the Bucks, I don’t think I’m breaking any news when I saw their bickering is childish. I’m not saying I don’t care about what’s going to happen, but it’s annoying to watch and I feel like it brings down Cole.

Jon Moxley & Bryan Danielson vs. Chuck Taylor & Wheeler Yuta

Jon Moxley and Bryan Danielson continue to team tonight when they take on the Best Friends Chuck Taylor and Wheeler Yuta. Moxley defeated Danielson at Revolution in a match where they agreed before they team together, they must bleed together. They continued to go at it after the match until William Regal made his AEW debut and got both men on the same page.

Last week, after Danielson & Moxley defeated the Workhorsemen, Tony Schiavone interviewed Regal. Regal acknowledge it had been a while since they were on TV together, and Schiavone was one of the first people to help him when he got to the United States. Talking about Danielson, Regal said he was everything he should have been because he didn’t have the problems he had. Regal has long had issues with substance abuse. Talking about Moxley, he said what they initially put each other through would make the devil die. He said they were the perfect pairing, and their opponents better step up or get stepped on.

In addition, he said he wasn’t long for the world. It was reported here at the Torch that Regal has been dealing with serious health issues, and it will come out on a Talk is Jericho podcast soon to be released. Regal was recently released by WWE after many years of being the on-screen general manager of NXT.

Frank’s Analysis: Regal’s promo went a little long and may have gotten a little uncomfortable, but I can forgive it because he felt like a real person talking. It’s hard not to think that the health issues we will hear about are tied to his issues with alcohol and substance abuse through the years, although in fairness let’s let him tell us. As far as the paring with Moxley and Danielson I love it, and I still think at some point they will be working with younger wrestlers.

Steel Cage AEW Women’s Championship Match: Dr. Britt Baker vs. Thunder Rosa

Thunder Rosa earned the right to face Dr. Britt Baker for the AEW Women’s Championship tonight by defeating “Legit” Leyla Hirsch last week. The match will take place inside a steel cage, with the thought being no one gets in or out (have y’all watched WWE). Baker defeated Rosa at Revolution to retain the title thanks to outside interference from Jamie Hayter and Rebel. This past Friday on Rampage, Jamie defeated Rosa’s friend Mercedes Martinez thanks to outside interefence from Baker and Rebel. Rosa came to bail out her friend during a post-match attack.

Rosa defeated Baker in a Lights Out match at last year’s St. Patrick’s Day Slam event, which was two months before Baker defeated Hikaru Shida to win the AEW Women’s Championship. Not only has Rosa challenged Baker for the title recently, but she competed in the tournament for the TBS Championship. Baker has a post from last year’s match pinned to the top of her Twitter page:

Frank’s Analysis: Having to face Hirsch felt a little weird for Rosa. I know this sounds WWE-like, but I’d of preferred her challenging Baker and citing the outside interference as the reason for wanting the steel cage match. I wouldn’t have cited it as the reason she lost, which would have made her sound like a crybaby, but she had every right to want another match after what happened at Revolution. You have to think she beats Baker tonight, right? I think it’s time for a switch.

Jericho Appreciation Society Commencement

After Chris Jericho & Eddie Kingston shook hands last week, Jericho betrayed him and his former Inner Circle members Santana & Ortiz. Jake Hager joined the fray, and a new faction was born featuring Hager, 2point0 (Matt Lee & Jeff Parker), Daniel Garcia and Jericho who named it the Jericho Appreciation Society.

The Inner Circle featured Jericho, Hager, Santana & Ortiz, and Sammy Guevara from the first episode of Dynamite around two and a half years ago. MJF joined for a period, until he betrayed Jericho and formed the Pinnacle. Tonight, the Jericho Appreciation Commencement takes place.

Frank’s Analysis: For me it was time to see the Inner Circle go. I want to see what Santana & Ortiz do on their own. Sammy and Jericho could have a series of matches. As far as the Jericho Appreciation Society, it’s good for 2point0 and Garcia to be aligned with Jericho. I would have preferred Garcia aligned with Danielson & Moxley, but this is probably better.

Follow Frank on Twitter @FrankPeteani. Thank you for reading!

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