SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
ALL ELITE WRESTLING DYNAMITE PREVIEW
MAY 4, 2022
BALTIMORE, MD. AT THE CHESAPEAKE EMPLOYERS INSURANCE ARENA
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
Last Week
- Dax Harwood defeated FTR partner Cash Wheeler to qualify for the Owen Hart Cup tournament.
- It was announced that CM Punk will challenge “Hangman” Adam Page for the AEW World Championship at Double or Nothing.
- The Blackpool Combat Club (Bryan Danielson, Jon Moxley, and Wheeler Yuta) defeated The Factory (QT Marshall, Nick Comoroto, and Aaron Solo).
- Wardlow defeated Lance Archer.
- The Jericho Appreciation Society had an in-ring confrontation with Eddie Kingston and Santana & Ortiz.
- Serena Deeb defeated Hikaru Shida in a Philadelphia Street Fight.
- Ray Fenix returned during a segment where the House of Black stood over a laid-out Fuego Del Sol. Penta Oscuro and Pac appeared before Fenix, who was wearing the gear Alex Abrahantes had been wearing recently.
- The Undisputed Elite (Adam Cole, Bobby Fish, Kyle O’Reilly, and The Young Bucks) defeated Dante Martin & Brian Pillman, Jr. & Griff Garrison & “Shotty” Lee Johnson & Brock Anderson.
- Scorpio Sky defeated Sammy Guevara in a Ladder Match to regain the TNT Championship.
Arena
AEW makes somewhat of a short drive from where they were last week to Baltimore, MD. and check in to the Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena. It’s a smaller arena, seating around 5,000, and is located on the campus of the University of Miami. It opened in 2018 and played host to the Ring of Honor TV tapings and PPV events following their return to action from hiatus in March of 2020 until August of the same year due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
As of the posting of this article, six matches are advertised along with a “call-out” segment.
Charm City, get ready for an incredible week of action with #AEW Road to Baltimore premiering RIGHT NOW at https://t.co/HEjexDBlRD! pic.twitter.com/TaaVaww2H7
— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) May 3, 2022
ROH Women’s Unification Match: Deonna Purrazzo (champ) vs. Mercedes Martinez (interim champ)
Current Ring of Honor Women’s Champion Deonna Purrazzo will take on Interim Champion Mercedes Martinez to unify the championship. Purrazzo defeated inaugural champion Rok-C, who defeated Miranda Alize in the finals of the tournament culminating at Death Before Dishonor 18 in September of 2021. This replaced the Women of Honor Championship which was retired in January of 2020 after Kelly Klein left the promotion after not renewing her contract. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic held up the process of crowning a new champion which was to start in April of 2020 at Quest for Gold.
Over WrestleMania weekend Purrazzo was scheduled for Impact Wrestling’s Multiverse of Matches, an event at which she won the AAA Reina de Reinas Championship but has since lost it to Taya Valkyrie. This was scheduled at the same time this year’s ROH’s Supercard of Honor was taking place. Because of that, Martinez faced Willow Nightingale at that event and won the match to be declared the interim champion with the intention of unifying the championships later. That happens on this week’s episode of Dynamite.
Purrazzo is technically employed by Impact Wrestling.
https://twitter.com/wrestlingcovers/status/1521650321063395328?s=21&t=MkBdTuvekCuPYSdkmw42Yg
https://twitter.com/realmmartinez/status/1521650550265294850?s=21&t=MkBdTuvekCuPYSdkmw42Yg
Frank’s Call: I don’t watch Ring of Honor but following it through reading and Torch audio I know Purrazzo has done well for herself. I can’t imagine a reason to take the title off her. I don’t understand why an interim champion was needed but, perhaps I missed that explanation.
Wardlow vs. Mystery Opponent of MJF’s Choosing
MJF continues to put Wardlow to task this week as he has chosen a mystery opponent. This was announced in a backstage interview with MJF after Wardlow defeated Lance Archer. He said his opponent was stronger than him, smarter than him, bigger than him, and you “can’t teach that.”
MJF has to be referring to Impact Wrestling’s W. Morrisey, who wrestled in the WWE as Big Cass. For those that don’t know he and Enzo Amore would do a schtick before every match where Enzo would say “and this right here, this is Big Cass, and he’s seven foot tall, and you can’t teach that!”
Morrisey was released from his WWE contract mid-2018 after a feud with Daniel Bryan, who of course goes by his real name Bryan Danielson in AEW and is part of the Blackpool Combat Club.
Frank’s Call: I’m looking forward to seeing Morrisey (assuming it is him, whom else could it be?). I stopped watching Impact a while ago, so I haven’t seen his work, but again following through the Torch I know he’s done well. He had a tough go of it during and after his time in WWE and here’s hoping he has things on track. Back years ago, I thought he would do well in time. That said, while I enjoy MJF putting Wardlow through the mill, he has done this three times now. First it was Chris Jericho and then it was CM Punk. It’s enjoyable but there is a level of redundancy here.
Owen Hart Cup Tournament Qualifying Matches: Bobby Fish vs. Jeff Hardy, Dante Martin vs. Rey Fenix
The Owen Hart Cup Tournament continues to fill out as Bobby Fish of ReDRagon goes one-on-one with Jeff Hardy. Fish has been tied up with the Undisputed Elite, who won a 10-man tag match last week. He and partner Kyle O’Reilly have recently unsuccessfully challenged Jurassic Express for the AEW Tag Team Championship. Jeff arrived on the AEW scene several months ago to assist his brother Matt after he was voted out of the AHFO. Together they have worked various matches involving the AHFO and have teamed with Darby Allin & Sting.
The other qualifier will feature Dante Martin of Top Flight taking on Rey Fenix of the Lucha Brothers. Dante’s partner Darius recently returned to action but got injured again and is expected out for an extended period. Fenix got hurt in the match in which he and Penta El Zero lost the Tag Team Championship to Jurassic Express back in January.
Samoa Joe, O’Reilly, Adam Cole, Dax Harwood of FTR, and Darby have all qualified for the tournament. There is a bracket on the Wikipedia page of the Owen Hart Cup, but nothing has officially been announced by AEW. The tournament starts next week in the UBS Arena in Elmont, N.Y.
Frank’s Call: I would love to see Jeff go over here. If the brackets are accurate, he would face Darby in the quarterfinals. I would be ALL FOR THAT. Between Dante and Fenix, I’m taking Fenix. He just came back one and two, I want to see how deep he can go in the tournament.
Chris Jericho vs. Santana
Things continue this week between the Jericho Appreciation Society and the triumvirate of Eddie Kingston and Santana & Ortiz when Chris Jericho goes one-on-one with Santana.
Things got heated between both parties last week after their in-ring segment when Jericho fire-balled Kingston backstage during a brawl. On Rampage, Jericho on commentary said he was the sports entertainer of the week. He was subsequently attacked by Santana & Ortiz. Later, the match between Santana and Jericho was announced.
https://twitter.com/santana_proud/status/1520483387445846017?s=21&t=MkBdTuvekCuPYSdkmw42Yg
Santana & Ortiz were members of Jericho’s Inner Circle just about throughout the entire existence of AEW. When Eddie Kingston arrived on the scene, dissension started to occur within the Inner Circle because of the long-time relationship between Kingston and Santana & Ortiz.
Frank’s Call: I don’t really have a pick here. This match is more storyline driven and about what is ultimately going to happen between Jericho and Kingston and their respective crews. Blood & Guts has to be on the horizon for these groups, depending on the partners Kingston & Co. can find.
Other Items Announced
The Blackpool Combat Club (Bryan Danielson, Wheeler Yuta, and Jon Moxley) will take on Butcher & Blade and Angelico in a Trios match. The Combat Club is coming off a week where they defeated members of the Factory as I mentioned in the recap. Butcher recently lost to Wardlow and together with the Blade they lost a Tables match to the Hardy Brothers about a month ago. Angelico was last seen on Dynamite on the losing end of a 16-man tag match.
"You're going to remember us, because of the scars we left on you"@RealKingRegal outlines the core tenets of the #BlackpoolCombatClub, as demonstrated by @JonMoxley, @bryandanielson & @WheelerYuta.
Tune in to #AEWDynamite LIVE at 8/7c TOMORROW on TBS to catch them in action. pic.twitter.com/DA1HlwSqq0— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) May 3, 2022
The Varsity Blondes (Griff Garrison & Brian Pillman, Jr.) will “call out” the House of Black (Malakai Black, Brody King, and Buddy Matthews). Malakai spit black mist in the eyes of Julia Hart, who is affiliated with the Varsity Blondes, back in early December. He started having matches with the Blondes. King and Matthews eventually showed up to join the House of Black. King and Malakai defeated the Blondes back on the January 19 edition of Dynamite.
Follow Frank on Twitter @FrankPeteani. Thank you for reading!
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