Dynamite preview: AEW is about to steal a ton of headlines during WrestleMania week
AEW Dynamite airs tonight (Apr. 15) with a live Spring BreakThru show from Angels of the Wind Arena in Everett, Washington. This is the first episode of Dynamite during the six week build to Double or Nothing, which takes place on May 24.
AEW is about to steal a ton of headlines during WrestleMania week
Most of the wrestling world is converging on Las Vegas this week for WrestleMania 42, but AEW Dynamite is taking place in Everett, Washington. That doesn’t mean AEW won’t get its share of the spotlight during WWE’s biggest week of the year. In fact, there’s a decent chance that AEW makes a ton of headlines tonight with a rare world title change on television.
Just three days after surviving a war against Kenny Omega at Dynasty, AEW World Champion MJF is putting his gold on the line tonight against local hero Darby Allin. MJF actually doesn’t seem to be aware that this match is happening, based on this post-show promo from Dynasty where he said he’s going dark for a few days to celebrate and have lots of sex.
This title match isn’t a case where the champ is facing a relative newcomer to AEW and is the no-brainer favorite to retain. Darby has been in AEW since the beginning and has been on the brink of a main event level push numerous times. There’s no better place for him to win AEW’s top prize than where his career started in his home state.
AEW’s lucrative TV rights money is its main source of revenue, and a world title change tonight will remind fans why Dynamite is a can’t miss show where anything can happen. Darby beating MJF for the belt also sets up a main event rematch for Double or Nothing that’s a lot more interesting than if tonight’s match was saved for that event.
Perhaps I’m getting carried away here, and Tony Khan just wants to get Darby’s title match out of the way before moving on to a completely different world title story for Double or Nothing. MJF is an expert at cheating his way to victory, as we saw once again when he used his Dynamite Diamond Ring to enhance his diverticulitis punch on Omega at Dynasty. But it seems to me that booking a world title change tonight during WrestleMania week makes a lot of sense. There’s nothing wrong with a quick world title run for Darby right now, so maybe his former enemy Brody King will have to get involved to stop MJF from cheating his ass off again…
Tune into Dynamite Spring BreakThru to see if Tony Khan really has a world title change planned for AEW television during WrestleMania week.
Kamille returned to AEW at Dynasty to beat a jobber on the pre-show and attack TBS Champion Willow Nightingale. As a result, Willow defends the belt against Kamille tonight. Willow’s recent wins over Hikaru Shida and Queen Aminata show that she is very good at killing AEW comebacks. If she does the same to Kamille tonight, could this be a pattern that eventually leads to the return of Britt Baker?
Kevin Knight lost the AEW world trios championship last week, but is now the new TNT champion after winning the Casino Gauntlet match at Dynasty. He pinned Daniel Garcia to win the vacated belt, and defends it for the first time tonight against one of the higher ranking Death Riders, Claudio Castagnoli. Regardless of the winner, how long will it be until Tommaso Ciampa comes after his precious? Are things cool with Knight and Speedball Bailey after the way the Casino Gauntlet match ended?
Renee Paquette will conduct a live interview with Chris Jericho on Dynamite Spring BreakThru, following his loss against Ricochet at Dynasty. Ricochet could have won their match after hitting Jericho with the Spirit Gun, but he rubbed salt in the wounds by finishing Chris off with his own Lionsault. How soon will Jericho get this bald guy back in the ring for a rematch? Does he need to find a couple of new (or old) friends to fight off The Demand? Now that AEW is out of Canada and back in the USA, will babyface Jericho add anyone else to The List to make sure the fans are still cheering for him?
Other stuff to keep an eye on
– Now that AEW Dynasty is in the rearview mirror, is Mercedes Mone finally ready to return to AEW and set up a match for Double or Nothing? Will she automatically be first in line for a title shot against AEW Women’s World Champion Thekla as soon as she is back?
– FTR retained the AEW world tag team championship against Christian Cage and Adam Copeland at Dynasty. Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler teased doing an “FTR Trigger” late in the bout, which has me thinking the Young Bucks are about to get back in here for a three-way title feud. But do Cope and Christian need to actually win a match this time before Tony Khan grants them another title shot?
– The Bucks won at Dynasty because AEW International Champion Kazuchika Okada and Konsuke Takeshita once again couldn’t get along and attacked each other, with The Alpha abandoning The Rainmaker at the end of the fight. Is it finally time for the Don Callis Family to turn on Konosuke and kick him out, or did he already choose to leave at the PPV?
– Will Ospreay lost against AEW Continental Champion Jon Moxley at Dynasty after he made things too personal, which led to bad decisions. Will Ospreay learn from his mistakes and move on, or is he so consumed by revenge that he’ll challenge Mox to a much more dangerous rematch?
– After Alex Windsor beat Marina Shafir at Dynasty, are the Brawling Birds ready to challenge Divine Dominion for the AEW Women’s World Tag Team Championship? Or does Windsor have her eyes on Thekla’s world title first?
– Speaking of women’s tag teams, can Kris Statlander really trust Hikaru Shida, or is a backstabbing imminent? Will Shida soon try to target Harley Cameron?
– AEW National Champion “Jungle” Jack Perry retained his belt against Mark Davis at Dynasty, so he only has about 299 more guys to run through before his feud with the Don Callis Family is halfway over.
– How does Callis feel about Andrade El Idolo shaking hands with Darby Allin after losing to him at Dynasty? What will Andrade do (besides take his pants off) if Callis orders him to make sure Darby doesn’t win the world title from MJF tonight?
– Now that The Hurt Syndicate is back in AEW, is it just a matter of time until they challenge Kyle O’Reilly, Orange Cassidy, and Roderick Strong for the AEW world trios championship? Does Kevin Knight’s new status as TNT champion make MVP more interested in doing business with him?
– Does Kenny Omega get the week off to recover after MJF tried to make his intestines explode at Dynasty?
– HOOK hasn’t wrestled a match in three months. If making your faction completely irrelevant is the sign of a great leader, then the cold-hearted, handsome devil has excelled during his time as The Opps’ top star.
– Where the f*** is Swerve Strickland? The answer is that he’s in today’s Rumor Roundup, of course.
What will you be looking for on Dynamite?
