AEW Dynamite aired live Wednesday night from The Pearl Theater at the Palms in Las Vegas, with two Continental Challenge Cup first round matches, a TNT Championship defense, and a bloody main event 18 days out from All In at Wembley Stadium.
Will Ospreay opened the show. He spoke about his first trip to Arena Mexico last year, when he learned his grandad had passed away just before the show, and said he feels a responsibility to perform no matter what is going on in his life. That, he said, is why he worked a Mexico City street fight 25 days out from the biggest match of his career. Ospreay noted Omega was not at last week’s show but is backstage this week, sarcastically told him “well done,” and called him out.
Don Callis answered instead. Callis called Las Vegas a place he could not wait to exploit, recounted guiding Omega to the AEW World Championship, and took credit for booking Ospreay against Omega at Forbidden Door in 2023. “I’ve done more damage to Kenny Omega’s life than diverticulitis ever could,” Callis said. The pitch was for Ospreay to join the Don Callis Family, and when the Family’s members jumped Ospreay from behind, Callis shouted “get the neck, get the neck!”
Omega made the save with a metal pipe, clearing the ring, then stopped short of striking Ospreay with it. “You wear your heart on your sleeve,” Omega told him. “And as much as you feel, you never think.” Omega said he warned Ospreay about Callis, called him sloppy and a fool, and added, “I can’t help you like this again. From here on in, it’s just me and you.” Ospreay took the mic: “I appreciate the help, but I didn’t ask for it, and I’m not going to need your help.”
MJF defeated Nick Wayne and Speedball Mike Bailey in the opener to claim the No. 2 spot in the Casino Gauntlet match at All In, where the winner earns a future AEW World Championship shot. MJF rolled out at the bell and let the other two go at it, worked Wayne over the middle of the match, and finished by tossing both men through the ropes before locking Wayne in the Salt of the Earth for the submission. It was MJF’s first match since losing the world title to Omega at Dynamite Beach Break on July 8.
Afterward, MJF declared, “I’m walking into Wembley, and I am leaving with that casino gauntlet contract.” Andrade El Idolo’s music hit, MJF played up being startled, and it turned out to be a prank on the crowd. Andrade, the No. 1 entrant in the gauntlet, was not in the building after announcing days ago that he is out with an injury.
Divine Dominion, Lena Kross and Megan Bayne, cut a promo from a pub, calling their All In opponents The Brawling Birds walking British stereotypes and pouring out two pints as a toast to the end of them.
Jay White defeated David Finlay in their first AEW singles match to advance in the Continental Challenge Cup. White sold neck damage late after releasing a German suplex bridge, and after Finlay countered a Blade Runner into a brainbuster on the knee, White countered a second brainbuster attempt into the Blade Runner for the win. White joins Claudio Castagnoli, Orange Cassidy and Eddie Kingston in the quarterfinals.
The new AEW World Trios Champions, Hangman Adam Page, Brody King and Bandido, appeared for an in-ring interview with Tony Schiavone after taking the belts from The Demand at Arena Mexico. “Y’all mind if a white boy speaks a little Espanol?” Page asked, before Swerve Strickland cut him off in his first television appearance since the Owen Hart Foundation Tournament final at Forbidden Door.
Strickland said the three champions are men he has all had problems with, calling their alliance “trauma bonding,” and needled Page over no longer being able to challenge for the world title. Page fired back that Strickland has nothing to show for his year either. The Demand then interrupted, with Ricochet arguing Strickland had no business in the ring and telling him nine men out there hate him. Strickland left, but not before saying “Brody King might be the one doing all the barking, but Ricochet is the one being the bitch.” Ricochet claimed Toa Liona’s shoulders were not down in the title change and said The Demand would take the belts back on their own time.
A clip aired of Mercedes Moné attacking All In opponent Willow Nightingale, crashing her interview earlier in the day.
Kevin Knight retained the TNT Championship against Chris Jericho. Jericho had the Walls of Jericho locked in when Don Callis drove a screwdriver into his head. Knight hit a coast to coast dropkick, survived a top rope Code Breaker, then ducked a Judas Effect that nearly hit referee Aubrey Edwards. With Edwards down, Knight landed a low blow and the Crash Landing for the win.
Darby Allin cut a promo aimed at Knight, saying he has no regrets about his championship run and that Knight beat Jericho but “didn’t do it the right way.” Allin, who has known Knight since he was two months into wrestling, warned there is no amount of training that prepares him for Falls Count Anywhere: “If you can beat me at my own game, then you officially lived up to the potential that I saw in you all those years ago.” The match was made official later in the broadcast.
Kris Statlander defeated Viva Van in a short showcase, finishing with a head kick, a discus lariat and the Saturday Night Fever. Mick Foley then came to the ring, with his daughter Noelle in the front row, and announced he had just spoken with Tony Khan: Maya World will defend the TBS Championship in a four-way against Statlander, Persephone and Hikaru Shida next week. Persephone and Shida jumped Statlander mid-promo, and Maya World and Thunder Rosa ran them off.
Maya World and Thunder Rosa defeated Persephone and Hikaru Shida in the co-main. World got the hot tag late, hit a shotgun dropkick off the top and a fallaway slam on Persephone, and after a miscommunication left Shida hitting her own partner, World put Shida away with a bridging fallaway slam.
Backstage, Don Callis informed Kyle Fletcher that he will defend the AEW International Championship at All In against both Konosuke Takeshita and Kazuchika Okada. Fletcher was not happy about it. Callis liked the math of having two Family members in the match, and Okada said all that matters is the title staying in the group. “What about my odds?” Fletcher asked.
In the main event, Jon Moxley defeated Jack Perry to advance in the Continental Challenge Cup, with a loss at any stage of the tournament effectively ending his Continental Championship reign. Perry was cut open early after being run into the ring post, and Moxley put him through a table at ringside and dug at the cut once he was wearing a crimson mask. Perry got a second wind with three consecutive tope suicidas and a top rope moonsault to the floor, took a Gotch style piledriver and two lariats, and stood back up to slap Moxley across the face. Moxley eventually locked in the bulldog choke and put him to sleep. Moxley joins White, Castagnoli, Cassidy and Kingston in the quarterfinals, which begin next week.
Announced during the show: the Continental Challenge Cup first round wraps this Saturday on Collision in Reading, Pennsylvania with Roderick Strong vs. Kyle O’Reilly, Brian Cage vs. Hechicero, and Nigel McGuinness vs. Katsuyori Shibata. Also on Collision: Mercedes Moné vs. Zayda Steel, Megan Bayne and Lena Kross in action, and Page, King and Bandido defending the trios titles against Jay Lethal, Blake Christian and Lee Johnson. At All In on August 30 in London, Kyle Fletcher defends the International Championship against Takeshita and Okada, and Kevin Knight defends the TNT Championship against Darby Allin in a Falls Count Anywhere match.
AEW Dynamite returns next Wednesday, August 19 at Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena in Baltimore, Maryland, with the Continental Challenge Cup quarterfinals and the TBS Championship four-way. Tickets are available on Ticketmaster.
