Another three-hour block of AEW action starts now:
- Serena Deeb vs. Mariah May
- Brian Cage vs. Claudio Castagnoli
- Samoa Joe vs. Isiah Kassidy
- FTW Championship: Chris Jericho (c) vs. Katsuyori Shibata
- AEW TNT Championship: Adam Copeland (c) vs. A Member of the House of Black
AEW Dynamite 5/1/24
Live from the Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada! A video of Tony Khan explaining what happened is shown, but The Young Bucks cut off the video and explain that since Tony isn’t here, they’re running the show, and they’ve got iron-clad contracts. The EVPs run the show in the absence of Tony, so the Bucks are in control, and we’ve got a new show open, featuring only The Elite.
Taz, Tony Schiavone, and Excalibur are on commentary and… who’s house?
Swerve is here with Prince Nana! Three matches, three shows, in one week. That’s the type of champion that Swerve is. That’s what AEW deserves. What AEW doesn’t deserve is selfish, greedy, power hungry EVPs. Whatever The Elite did last week? That was a bitch move, and it’ll be handled at some point. Swerve wants to know who his opponent at Double or Nothing is going to be.
The Bucks show up on the tron and tell Swerve that his opponent is going to be one of the greatest Canadian champions of all-time… hit his music.
Christian Cage is here! Cage slowly walks to the ring and grabs the mic, before cheap shotting Swerve and dropping him! Swerve fights back but Killswitch and Nick Wayne are here, and so is Mother Wayne. Killswitch by Christian to Swerve on the belt! Wayne’s World by Wayne to Prince Nana!
Christian takes the mic and tells Swerve that he doesn’t forget. Not that Swerve broke into Nick Wayne’s house and beat him up. Not that both men teamed together at the biggest show ever and Swerve lost. Christian heard Swerve’s speech last week, especially the part about Swerve’s daughter not knowing him… but that’s okay, because she’ll finally have a daughter she can be proud of, and that is Christian. Christian says the pain has just begun, and Killswitch rips out a chunk of hair from the head of Swerve!
We see a video package of Adam Copeland’s issues with The House of Black, which can only mean one thing…
Match #1. Cope Open for the AEW TNT Championship: Adam Copeland vs. Buddy Matthews
Copeland low bridges Matthews and follows up with a suicide dive! Copeland might have tweaked his elbow as Matthews jumps to attack. Copeland gets sent into the guardrail on the outside as we go to commercial. Kitchen sink by Copeland back inside the ring. Jawbreaker by Copeland over the top rope but he takes his time getting back in the ring and Matthews is able to capitalize with a Randy Orton-esque DDT through the middle ropes. Matthews with a bulldog choke now but Copeland gets to his feet and backs Matthews into the corner a few times to break free. Both guys roll to the apron now and fight over the top turnbuckle and drop backwards on to the apron in stereo. Running elbow by Matthews. Running elbow by Copeland. Both guys attempt a diving crossbody and meet hard in the middle. Referee puts on the gloves and goes to check on Matthews, who is bleeding from the mouth as the doctor comes in to check on him. Copeland takes advantage of the injury with knees and stomps in the corner. Copeland with some mounted punches but Matthews runs out of the corner with a Liger Bomb! Two count. Matthews tries to head up top and he’s moving slowly, allowing Copeland to connect with a big running boot to the face. Matthews tries a sunset flip powerbomb but Copeland holds on to the ropes… Avalanche Impaler DDT! Long two count. Copeland calls for the spear but he runs into a big boot. Rising knee by Matthews and a basement knee to the face, followed by the Jackhammer! Two count. Matthews locks on the Crossface but Copeland gets to the ropes. Angle Slam by Copeland! Two count. Copeland tries a spear again but Matthews sidesteps and Copeland hits the middle turnbuckle. GTS by Matthews! Matthews calls for a curb stomp but Copeland ducks, hits the ropes, and finishes this one with the spear.
Winner: Adam Copeland
Rating: ***1/4. The Cope Open continues in a fine match here. The story of the injured midsection was a nice touch, too, setting up the spear to win it.
After the match, Copeland attacks Matthews and finds a chair! Copeland sets up the ConChairTo but the lights go out. Lights come back on and Malakai Black is here, telling Copeland to do it! Copeland raises the chair and the lights go out again, only to come back on and The House of Black is gone.
Match #2. Samoa Joe vs. Isiah Kassidy
Kassidy mocks Joe to start and… Joe strangles him. Kassidy hits the ropes and Joe flapjacks him. Jabs by Joe and a pounding in the corner. Joe feigns a suicide dive and Kassidy stuns him over the top rope. Kassidy with a tope con hilo and Joe does Joe things by walking away and Kassidy lands HARD on the outside. Inside the ring, Joe headbutts Kassidy on the top rope and finishes this one with the Muscle Buster.
Winner: Samoa Joe
Rating: NR. This was a squash but it was awesome.
Orange Cassidy is here. Cassidy says he expected Chuck and Trent to fight in the parking lot and then get it out of their system, and hug it out. Cassidy said that’s not the case, and Chuck has been told he can never wrestle again. Trent’s music hits and Cassidy charges him, but security is here. Kris Statlander is here as is… Don Callis? Callis and Cassidy walk to the back.
Renee is here with The Young Bucks. The Bucks haven’t seen Kenny yet, but they’ve had enough TV time. Let’s bring in Jack Perry. Perry says he had to be made “The Scapegoat”, and now it’s a new era in AEW… under The Elite.
Match #3. FTW Championship: Chris Jericho (c) vs. Katsuyori Shibata
Jericho is in new trunks tonight, strangely. Both men trade top wrist locks Taz is hot by the way, as per Jericho has changed the plate on the belt and nobody told him. Throat thrust by Jericho and a Lionsault, but Shibata is way too far and it looks like both knees land DIRECTLY to Shibata’s groin. Woof. Taz says Hook’s not gone, he’s just not medically cleared, by the way. Jericho heads underneath the ring and grabs a trashcan lid and blasts Shibata in the face with it. Jericho now grabs a black bag from underneath the ring and dumps it out… hockey pucks! STO by Shibata onto the pucks! Half-and-half suplex by Shibata on to the pucks now, too! Hard chops by Shibata now as Jericho fires back. Thunderous chops here by Shibata, that have turned Jericho’s chest a dark purple. Shibata puts his hands behind his back and now Jericho lays them in. This is painful. The chop-fest lasts throughout the entire commercial break. Shibata charges for a PK but Jericho throws a puck at him and hits a double leg takedown. Walls of Jericho by Jericho but Shibata counters into a figure-four! Jericho hits the ropes but it’s FTW rules so there are no rope breaks. Jericho blasts him in the face with a hockey puck! Jericho puts a trashcan on Shibata and beats on it with a kendo stick, but Shibata stands up, with the trashcan on his head, and walks Jericho down… and headbutts him in the corner! Stalling dropkick in the corner by Shibata with the trashcan! Two count. Shibata now has the kendo sticks, two of them, and throws one to Jericho. Both guys exchange kendo stick shots now with Shibata getting the better of it, before heading outside the ring and getting a table! Shibata sets the table up in the corner and charges, but Jericho hits a running Code Breaker! Two count. Jericho wants the Judas Effect but Shibata locks in a rear naked choke. Ripcord overhand palm strike by Shibata. This is Shibata’s first ever No DQ match, by the way. Shibata sets the table up, but here’s Big Bill! Big boot to Shibata and a chokeslam through the table! Jericho crawls over and covers Shibata for the win.
Winner and STILL FTW Champion: Chris Jericho
Rating: ***. I mean, I have no idea. I was thoroughly entertained by Shibata chopping the nipples off of Jericho and then using weaponry, though.
Match #4. Claudio Castagnoli vs. Brian Cage
Both men meet in the middle with clotheslines. Tieres and a dropkick by Cage. Leapfrog by Cage but Claudio catches him in mid-air and turns it into a backbreaker! Running double stomp by Claudio. Claudio heads up top but Cage catches him with an enziguiri and follows up with a huge deadlift superplex! Two count. Cage in control now as we go to commercial break. Superkick by Cage and a 619! Discus lariat by Cage. Two count. Claudio fires back with some European uppercuts in the corner. Big boot by Claudio. One by Cage. European uppercut by Claudio and a superkick! 619 by Claudio and a discus lariat! Sit-out spinebuster by Cage gets two. Both guys hit the ropes but Clauduio pops Cage up and hits another European uppercut! Two count. Giant swing to Cage! Claudio locks in the Sharpshooter and this one is over!
Winner: Claudio Castagnoli
Rating: **3/4. Big ol’ hoss battle here. I expected it to main event the show, but that wasn’t the case and they didn’t get that much time. That said, important to get Claudio a win to build the momentum back.
Rocky Romero is with Renee. Rocky is done with the Best Friends drama, and he wants gold. Rocky wants Kyle O’Reilly tonight, on his march to a title.
Match #5. Serena Deeb vs. Mariah May w/ Luther & Toni Storm
Both women trade waist locks here and Deeb twists May up into a Paradise Lock. Alright then. It’s different than when Sanada does it, I’ll say that. Dropkick by Deeb to break the lock. Deeb rolls through into a teeter totter like submission. May gets free and drills Deeb with an elbow in the corner and a handstand hurricanrana off the top. May in charge as we go to commercial break. Deeb follows May into the corner with a clothesline and a knee to the face. Reverse neckbreaker over the middle rope to the apron by Deeb. May blocks a spinning neckbreaker once, twice, but can’t block a third. Rebound German suplex by Deeb and a Pepsi Twist! Two count. Deeb sends May up and over to the outside, so she kicks her in the face and comes off the top with shotgun dropkick! Running hip attack in the corner by May! One, two, no! May looks for Mayday but Deeb counters into an Octopus Hold. Both women trade cradles here for twos. Deeb disorients May and gets a back slide for two. Wrist-trapped Saito suplex by May for two. Deeb goes up top and May tries the handstand hurricanrana again, but Deeb holds on to the leg, walks to the middle of the ring, and locks in the single leg Boston Crab! May tries to crawl to the ropes but Deeb pulls her back to the center, beats May’s knee on the mat, and then wrenches back even more. Toni Storm throws in the towel!
Winner: Serena Deeb
Rating: ***1/2. Fantastic technical match here, just wish there was more of it. Deeb should make a great challenger.
After the match, the graphic is shown and Serena Deeb is challenging Toni Storm for the AEW Women’s World Championship at Double or Nothing!
Renee is in the back with Adam Copeland. Renee wonders if he’s okay, and he says he’s fine. Kyle O’Reilly is here and he says he’s got Adam’s back as a kid from Canada… “woah, eyes up here!”
Justin Roberts gives us the intro and…
Kenny Omega is here!
Omega gets a hero’s welcome with “welcome home” chants. Omega says he’s never been good at this stuff, talking about injuries and disease. Omega says he was told he was one of the lucky ones, and was 24 hours away from dying. “Cool story Doc, can you patch me up and send me back to Dynamite?” Doctor says it’s not that simple, and he’d need a colostomy bag for 6, 12 months, or the rest of his life. If he didn’t, he’d have a ticking timebomb in his stomach. Any sort of blunt force trauma could kill. Omega says he had to stop watching because he was scared, and he thought maybe he’d have to retire. Omega turned on AEW for the first time the other day and watched Dynasty. Omega’s tremors and shaking got worse. Was he scared of being a wrestler? Omega was going through withdrawal, that’s what the shaking was. The best wrestlers on the planet are in the convo for being the best, and Omega’s already been forgotten. Omega makes the promise that this isn’t over until he exhausts every option, a 10% or 5% chance, a 1% chance… bag or no bag, Omega wants to change the world.
While we’re talking about colotomy bags, let’s talk about two pieces of s. Matthew and Nicholas! What The Bucks forgot, is that there is one other EVP. Omega may be fired from The Elite, but he can’t be fired as an EVP. A part of the power in the company belongs to the Best Bout Machine.
THE RAINMAKER IS HERE!
Okada is in the ring with Kenny Omega! The Rainmaker and the Best Bout Machine, standing toe-to-toe! Omega wants Okada to give him a few months, and they can settle it in an AEW ring. Okada says he’s sorry, but he’s the Best Bout Machine now. Jack Perry blasts Omega from behind with a microphone to the face. Perry cracks a few security guards with steel chairs in the face and lays into Perry with some right hands and knees to the stomach! Snap Dragon to Perry! Omega looks for the V-Trigger but Okada trips Omega up from the outside and Perry hits Omega in the stomach with a chair! The Young Bucks hit the ring, looking bewildered. Omega reaches for Matthew and Nicholas, but they crack him with the EVP Trigger instead!
FTR’s music hits and The Elite scurry out of the ring and we go right into Rampage.
Final Thoughts: The end of this show, into the beginning of Rampage, wow. This is quite the turnaround from a company that didn’t have any storylines. Omega is the sympathetic babyface and The Elite have become the most-hated group in the company. Not only the main event, but also the way the show opened with Swerve and Christian heading into the PPV, just really good stuff here. Copeland’s title defense, Serena Deeb becoming number one contender, and Shibata using pucks. What an interesting episode of Dynamite, tonight. I’ve said it a million times before, but Dynamite is so much better when the show has a thread, and it’s been that way as of late. 8.25/10.