SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
HOUSEKEEPING
•Hechicero defeated Claudio Castagnoli to win the CMLL World Heavyweight Title at the CMLL Homanaje a dos Leyendas event on Mar. 20.
•Speaking of Hechicero, he will team with Volador Jr & El Clon to challenge JetSpeed & Místico for the AEW World Trios titles this Friday night.
•One more note on CMLL, keep an eye out for my CMLL Hits & Misses column, which will be out later this week.
INTRO
Dynamite invades the Great White North today as AEW begins its tour of Canada leading up to Dynasty next weekend. Despite the really quick turnaround, the card is already loaded with three big matches including Kenny Omega’s first shot at the AEW World Title since 2023. Tonight’s Dynamite itself features Kenny Omega in a six-man tag match and Will Ospreay vs. Pac, so it’s not to be missed.
God vs. The Devil
Latest Developments
Kenny Omega defeated Swerve Strickland to retain his EVP status and win the number one contendership to the men’s AEW World Championship. He later interrupted an MJF promo to demand his title shot at Dynasty.
Analysis
The match between Omega and Swerve kicked off the show, which was something of a surprise. These two have really good chemistry. Omega continues to look the best he has in years. Swerve had a little extra viciousness in his offense to match his change in attitude. I continue to be awed by how many different ways he can hit a House Call.
This week it is was a counter to a V-Trigger that left Omega laid out across the ropes, a position that left him open to a Swerve Stomp across the back. Omega survived a second Swerve Stomp in the ring for a wild kick out. Omega spent the match trying everything to get Swerve into the One Winged Angel. Swerve avoided it twice but the third attempt proved to be the charm. Omega’s win moved him into the number one contender’s slot.
MJF came out at the top of the second hour to gloat about beating Hangman and permanently removing from future title contention. As soon as he finished say that nobody was “on the level of the Devil,” Omega came out still in gear from his earlier match. He then cut one of the better promos he’s cut. It was typically quirky, but he had a point.
He said MJF won their one previous match because he wasn’t at his best. He then asked MJF to give him his title shot at Dynasty. MJF agreed setting up a showdown between “The God of Pro Wrestling” and “The Devil.” This is a huge match. Kenny at his strongest in years against MJF has a chance to be a MOTY candidate. Perhaps more importantly, MJF has the opportunity to get another huge notch on his belt by beating Kenny Omega in Canada, no less.
Grade: B+
Who Took Out Toni Storm
Latest Developments
In AEW’s first real whodunit “Timeless” Toni Storm was shown laid out in her locker room on the Mar. 18 Dynamite.
Analysis
Toni was scheduled to face-off with Marina Shafir in a no-holds-barred match. Prior to the match, footage was aired of Mina and Luther discovering Toni bludgeoned and unconscious on the floor of her locker room, a pool of blood under her head. A bloody high heel and bouquet of flowers were strewn about the scene of the crime. This was done as write-off for Toni who will be out of action for the remainder of the year for an undisclosed, but highly-speculated reason.
Mina subsequently replaced her tag team partner in the match and shockingly defeated Marina. That was parlayed into a title shot against Thekla who took to mocking what happened to Toni and even claiming Toni did it to herself.
Thekla and Mina had a spirited match that ended with Thekla using the Power of the Punch a/k/a brass knuckles. That ending would seem to indicate that a rematch is in the offing, likely at Dynasty.
As far the whodunit goes, the big question will how they keep things interesting for 9-12 months. I assume Mina will be the center of the story which is why she was quickly elevated with a more serious demeanor. Jen Pepperman, who as a seasoned soap opera writer has experience with whodunits, might be a strong point person for this storyline.
Grade: N/A
ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW…
Check out the latest episode of the “All Elite Conversation Club” with Joel Dehnel and Gregg Kanner, part of the PWTorch Dailycast line-up: CLICK HERE to stream (or search “pwtorch” on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or any other iOS or Android app to subscribe free)
Canadians to Challenge for Titles in Canada
Latest Developments
Adam Copeland and Christian Cage will challenge FTR for the AEW Tag Team titles in their native Canada.
Analysis
After their return at Revolution, Copeland announced that he and Christian would be challenging FTR for the tag team titles at Revolution. In the promo last week, Christian was indignant, in a subtly funny way, about FTR spike piledriving him. Copeland was more visceral. He railed at Cash, using his real name, about how he and his wife Beth had given Cash a place to live and food to eat only for Cash to throw it away and attack Beth. He vowed revenge. FTR responded with Cash saying he no longer needed him and Dax calling them a nostalgia act that they would end at Dynasty.
Both teams have done a pretty decent job breathing life into a feud that’s been dormant for months. It seems almost a foregone conclusion that Copeland & Christian will get their pound of flesh and one final tag title run to cap off their illustrious careers, so I expect them to be beaten and left lying either tonight or next week.
Grade: B
The Billy GOAT’s Out for Blood
Latest Developments
In emotionally charged promo, Will Ospreay challenged Jon Moxley to a match at Dynasty. A remorseless Mox later accepted Ospreay’s challenge.
Analysis
Ospreay’s promo was in the form of a pre-tape video package. He talked about how he was grateful to Mox for the time he was able to spend with his son while he was recovering. At the same time, Mox and the Death Riders snapped his neck in front of his countrymen, friends, mum, his wife, and his son and for that he will alter Mox’s life. He concluded by challenging Mox for Dynasty and calling him an MFer.
This was really good promo by Ospreay. He conveyed the complexity of emotions with his injury and his motivation for revenge. The expletive at the end might seem like a shock value thing, but to me it gave the promo a grittier feel. It feels like how someone would authentically speak as opposed to being written for TV.
Mox’s response on Dynamite was a very straightforward yes. He got a little more in depth on Collision saying that he won’t apologize for Ospreay facing the consequences of his own actions. He asked what Ospreay thought would happen in an unsanctioned cage match.
There continue to be weekly discussion about Mox and whether he’s a face or heel and how that’s hurting this story. I continue to be of the mind that Mox being situationally heel or face isn’t a big deal. It’s more realistic because most people aren’t completely good or bad. I don’t think any significant number fans are going to cheer him over Ospreay anyway.
Before we get to Dynasty, though, Ospreay meets Pac in the ring tonight in what should be an incredible match. I hope this is a demonstration of how Ospreay can still be the best wrestler in the world without jeopardizing his career.
Grade: B+
Random Questions
– Does money matter more than titles to Don Callis?
Don Callis is in business with the men’s AEW World Champion MJF. He took a hefty sum of money from MJF to take out Darby Allin. Neither Andrade, who accepted the bribe on behalf of Callis, nor Kyle Fletcher are thrilled with this relationship, believing that the Family should be in the fight for the title, not working with MJF. I tend to agree with them. Working with MJF only benefits MJF and, well, Callis financially. It seems like Callis is more interested in money than championships, although it wouldn’t surprise me if Callis isn’t planning to turn on MJF. He’s not the most trustworthy person and there’s no honor among thieves anyway.
– What is this new Lio Rush persona?
Lio Rush debuted a weird new Gollum-inspired gimmick at Revolution. The change was out of nowhere and seemingly seems to signal the end of CRU and his partnership with Action Andretti. This gimmick is awful. I don’t know why he would randomly change gimmicks, but if he thought this was going to be his ticket to success, he was dead wrong.
– Did Tony Khan chicken out?
One of the most intriguing things going into last week’s Dynamite in St. Paul, part of a Twin Cities community terrorized by masked ICE thugs earlier this year, would be how AEW’s most prominent anti-ICE activist Brody King would be featured. While the crowd spontaneously chanted “F— ICE” loudly and with their full chests several times throughout the night including the main event, Brody himself was nowhere to be seen. He did finally make an appearance after the show went off the air.
Tony Khan got raked over the coals for this decision, understandably so. Most of the reaction I saw considered it an act of cowardice. He might consider his choice pragmatic, an effort to give himself plausible deniability in terms of implicitly encouraging a chant that might upset the incoming owner of WBD and more importantly the vindictive, thin-skinned manchild in the White House who said owner is subservient to.
Given just how obsequious David Ellison is toward the infantile narcissist currently occupying the Oval Office, Tony isn’t wrong to be concerned. Ask Jimmy Kimmel or Stephen Colbert what happens when you say something that megalomaniacal man-baby doesn’t like. Ellison wouldn’t hesitate to remove AEW from the TNT and TBS schedule if Dear Leader dropped a social media post asking him to.
AEW fans have every right to be disappointed that Tony made the decision he did. I was disappointed myself. Personally, I’d rather have AEW around for years to come rather than in the crosshairs of fascist Geppetto and his billionaire nepo-baby marionette. That said, a one week disappointment is a small price to pay for that.
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