AEW Dynamite 6/22 — the blockbuster go-home episode before Forbidden Door — kicks off with American Dragon Bryan Danielson giving us the bad news he is unable to compete at both Forbidden Door and Blood n Guts. He is out due to injury, but the good news is he has an incredible replacement to face Zack Sabre Jr. but we will not find out until the PPV as Danielson cleverly reminds us… “I walk through the heel tunnel!”
A shame things go down this way, but it sounds as though we are in-store for a big shocker of a debut come Sunday. I feel as though AEW goes to the “big surprise debut” well very often, with most being hits, but no denying a few misses as well. Hopefully we get a memorable debut.
I’m thinking… Johnny Gargano? Claudio Castagnoli (Cesaro)? Thoughts?
[Editor’s Note: If this is an AEW in-house person, I’d put money on Jonathan Gresham or Samoa Joe. If it’s from New Japan I could see “Filthy” Tom Lawlor or Shibata — but that’s a real stretch. If it’s outside the company, don’t rule out a returning Chris Hero.]
Mox has a backstage pre-recorded promo hyping up his clash with the man he’s partnering with tonight, Hiroshi Tanahashi.
Roppongi Vice & Orange Cassidy defeated Will Osprey and The United Empire
What a freaking match! Solid tease for Cassidy vs. Osprey. Trent looks like he’s in 100% prime condition, Rocky Romero also bringing in some solid offense. After the match, Jeff Cobb & Great O’Khan came out to back up their friends, and tease a gang up on the faces, until FTR hit the ring and ward off the NJPW contingent. I am very much looking forward to the “winner take all” tag team championship match.
Backstage: Jay Lethal demands either Samoa Joe defend the ROH TV Championship, or relinquish it.
In-ring interview with Christian Cage who pumps out probably the best uber-heel promo I’ve ever heard from him. Openly admitting he’s in it for the money, this is nothing compared to his trashing of marks on social media, which then pales to his unbelievable strike on Jungle Boy’s family and the death of his father. Christian tears into Jungle Boy, which brings out Luchasaurus who goozles Cage to near-unconsciousness, until he utters “Remember what happened to Marko!” This stuns the giant, who then relaxes the grip as Christian whispers something, seemingly taming the beast.
Interesting to me – Christian Cage copies MJF’s line about the IWC on social media.
A heel turn over a year in the making. A heel Christian can be a very dangerous Christian. We’re seeing it right here and right now. A scathing, an absolutely scathing promo which Joey Styles would be in awe of.
Malakai Black defeats Penta Oscuro to enter the Four Way for the AEW All-Atlantic Championship.
Great match, however it seems Penta hurt himself on a dive to the floor, landing right on his tailbone. Nevertheless, Oscuro and Black dished out the stiff and hard-hitting strikes we’ve come to expect, and the match did not disappoint.
Miro cuts a promo as PAC enters the ring to protect his stablemate and staredown his long-time rival.
The four-way for the All-Atlantic championship is looking mighty interesting, a very hard prediction to make as to who will be its inaugural titleholder.
“Hangman” Adam Page defeats former Ring of Honor TV Champion Silas Young
Damn Silas is good. I admit not having seen many of his matches, so this was a nice re-introduction to the former ROH TV champ. Young looks like a cleaner version of The Butcher. Fantastic match.
After the match, Adam Cole comes out for story-time, which is interrupted by Jay White, who once again tells both Cole and Hangman they will not be the challengers for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship. White and Cole end up ambushing Hangman, but a tense moment occurs when Cole grabs the IWGP championship and by all appearances looks like he is going to clock White. Instead Cole barks orders to pick up Page… but just then…
OKADAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!
He hits the ring and helps Page fight them off.
It is later announced, Jay White will defend the IWGP Championship against Adam Cole, Adam Page, and Kazuchika Okada at Forbidden Door!
With Cole and White no longer seeing eye-to-eye, Okada injecting the very much needed shot of adrenaline hype, suddenly this IWGP title bout is looking to be awesome.
It is announced The Young Bucks, Hikuleo, and Phantasma vs. Sting, Darby Allin, Hiromu Tanahashi, and Shingo Takagi. Holy crap.
Toni Storm defeated Marina Shafir w/Nyla Rose
Pretty good match, but once again on Dynamite, Shafir just can’t get a win. Storm sold Marina’s UFC-style throws perfectly. Shafir can get better, and it makes sense to pair her with another proverbial beast. Post match heel beatdown is stopped by Storm’s opponent, AEW Women’s Champion Thunder Rosa. That’s going to be a great title bout.
AEW Dynamite 6/22 Main Event: Mox and Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated Chris Jericho and Lance Archer
Was this the best match? No, but it was good enough to give us a sample of what is to come on Sunday. We got to see something fans dreamt of over a year ago, brought to life. Tanahashi in an AEW ring.
While the match delivered on hype, the post-match drove fans bonkers. Eddie Kingston from outta nowhere starts beating up Jericho. It’s EDDIE KINGSTON AND WHO DOESN’T LOVE EDDIE KINGSTON!? The rest of Jericho’s goon squad arrives, and so does Wheeler Yuta and “Shooter” Shota Umino, but then out arrives MURDER GRAMPA Minoru Suzuki! Things get crazy as Santana, Ortiz, Sammy and others brawl all over the planet while Jon Moxley and Hiroshi Tanahashi stare each other down.
We have a lot of multi-man matches for the PPV. This makes sure we see as many wrestlers from all rosters on the card, however this has the potential for some of these matches to go very long, as it was only a month ago where Double or Nothing nearly went to 1 a.m. eastern. It’s also a concern the shorter matches, if any, will see some rushed spots and chaotic finishes. However, tag matches and multi-man matches are a staple of NJPW. In this regard, I am stoked.
All I have to say is… I CAN’T WAIT FOR SUNDAY!!! AEW fans have waited for this, and wishes can be granted!
