Tonight, Darby Allin defends his AEW Men’s World Championship against Konosuke Takeshita! Will the young reign of the young champ survive the challenge of quite possibly the best wrestler going today? And if it does, will MJF finally agree to put his hair on the line for a shot at Double or Nothing? Meanwhile, Swerve says he’s been banned from TV. Will he try to find a way around it?
Dynamite opens with a clip from earlier today. Renee asks MJF about the challenge from Darby. MJF refuses to talk about it, then walks past several bald men backstage. The last person he runs into is Ricochet, who says MJF will look great, just not as good as him.
Match One: Tommaso Ciampa, The Dogs and AEW World Tag Team Champions FTR vs. Orange Cassidy, The Young Bucks and Cage and Cope
Match opens as a wild brawl that quickly goes to the floor. In the ring, Dax and Cassidy start off legal before Dax ends up fighting with Cope. Everyone on the floor is still brawling. Cassidy and Dax trade shots in the ring, Dax crotches Cassidy on the top rope, forearm, superplex into a Vertical, reversed into Stundog Millionaire, Cassidy follows up with a DDT, Cash runs in and punches Cassidy, Ciampa in, gang beatdown in the corner, chop, blocked, another attempt, blocked, Ciampa with a boot to the gut, chop, Dax in, tackle, whip to the corner, misses an avalanche, Cash in, Matt in, Matt cleans house, Nick joins in, Stokely tries to grab a foot, the Bucks pull him into the ring, FTR try to intervene and the entire team ends up getting superkicked, Cage in, kicks Cash in the gonads while the ref isn’t looking, Bucks with a stereo superkick, Cage covers for two, mounted punches, chops in the corner, ten-punch, Stoke tries to distract again, Cage grabs him, FTR take Cage down, Ciampa in, arm breakers, toss into the ring post, Dax in, double team beatdown, trading shots, Cage fights his way out of the corner, goes for a tag, blocked as the opposing team pull all of his partners off the apron, Cage goes for a Killswitch, blocked, head bonk, Copeland in, cleans house, Bucks join in, Copeland hits Connors with an Edge-o-Matic for two, brawl erupts, Impaler for two, Cassidy and Cage share a moment in the ring, Cage ends up tossing Cassidy into their opponents, FTR hit Copeland with a Shatter Machine for two as Cassidy breaks the count, fights with FTR, brawl erupts again, Orange Punch into a spear on Connors for three.
Winners: Cope and Cage, Orange Cassidy and the Young Bucks
Cage got busted open during the match.
They show a package of Daniel Garcia hyping up Ospreay’s return to the ring while Ospreay trains with the Death Riders. Moxley talks to Ospreay about how he used to fly like a bird because that’s what birds do, but now he has to become a bird of prey.
Backstage, Ricochet announces that rounding out his team for Stadium Stampede will be Andrade and The Dogs.
Match Two: “Speedball” Mike Bailey vs. Westbrook
Westbrook with a rollup, reversed into a rollup for two, jockeying, Westbrook trips on the apron, Speedball with a spin kick in the corner, Ultimate Weapon for three.
Winner: “Speedball” Mike Bailey
Match Three: TNT Championship: Kevin Knight (c) vs. Brian Cage
This is an open challenge, and also Cage’s return to TV after I don’t even remember how long.
Knight with a volley of strikes to little effect, Cage goes for a fallaway slam, blocked, Knight with a pair of tackles, kick, Cage with a toss, lariat, toss to the corner, shoulder tackles, whip, tackles, foot choke, whip, Knight with a boot, Cage with a lariat, whip, Knight tosses Cage to the floor, Knight with a dropkick, suicide dive, blocked, Cage with an F5 on the apron, breaks the count, back suplex onto the apron, toss into the barricade, chops, toss into the apron, toss into the ring, follows, Texas Cloverleaf, Knight gets to the rope, trading shots, Cage gets the better of it pretty much instantly, fallaway slam, Knight rolls to the apron, forearm, Cage with a forearm, pulls Knight into the ring, neckbreaker for two, tosses Knight back to the apron, Knight with a springboard dropkick, another dropkick, suicide dive, caught, Cage goes to powerbomb him into the steps, reversed into a hurricanrana, Knight with a leaping clothesline, rolls Cage into the ring, Lance Archer tries to interfere but gets a superkick from Speedball, Cage suplexes Knight into the ring for two, Knight with a crossbody for two, Cage with an elbow from the corner, Knight goes for a Super Hurricanrana, reversed into a powerbomb, reversed back into a hurricanrana, UFO Splash for three.
Winner and STILL TNT Champion: Kevin Knight
After the match, Speedball grabs a mic and congratulates Knight on his defense. Knight says Speedball is on a roll too, then thanks Cage for a hell of a match. He says he’s disappointed that he couldn’t win last week. Speedball says he’ll do it some day, then calls out the winner of tonight’s main event.
They reveal the brackets for the Men’s Owen Hart Cup. On one side, Will Ospreay will face Samoa Joe while Jack Perry faces Mark Davis. On the other side, Claudio Castagnoli will face Brody King while Swerve Strickland faces Bandido. Swerve vs. Bandido and Ospreay vs. Joe will happen at Double or Nothing.
Match Four: Will Ospreay vs. Ace Austin
Ospreay offers a hand, Austin shakes it reluctantly, jockeying, Ospreay with an arm drag, back to jockeying, Austin with a trio of covers for one, Ospreay with a monkey flip, keylock, stomp to the elbow, forearm, whip to the corner, reversed, Ospreay with a kick, Austin with a trip for one, neckbreaker for one, Ospreay with mixed strikes, Austin with an STF, Ospreay makes it to the rope, spin kick, hurricanrana, reversed into a DVD for two, snapmare, neck wrench, forearm, kicks, Northern Lights for two, triangle choke, Ospreay powers out, Austin with blows to the back, chops, elbow to the trap, chinlock, Ospreay powers out, toss, kicks, standing sky twister for two, arm breaker, kicks, misses a suicide dive, both men miss offense, Austin with a kick from the apron, crossbody, trading kicks, Austin with a rollup for two, Austin with knees, fireman’s carry flatliner for two, forearms, springboard, Ospreay catches him with a powerbomb, Ospreay with kicks, Hidden Blade, goes for another but Austin collapses. Austin slowly gets up, Ospreay kicks him in the arm, cross armbreaker for a quick tap.
Winner: Will Ospreay
Samoa Joe comes out and says he would have given Ospreay a bye in the tournament if he’d joined the Opps, but instead he’s opted to be Moxley’s lapdog. He says Ospreay will suffer the consequences at Double or Nothing. He says he’ll leave Ospreay in peace tonight, but his friends still feel kind of slighted, and he doesn’t put leashes on his friends. Shibata and Bowens head toward the ring, but the Death Riders make the save, causing the Opps to back off.
Backstage, MJF gives Takeshita a pep talk. When Takeshita walks off, MJF says he didn’t mean any of it, but he needs Takeshita to win to ensure he doesn’t have to put his hair on the line to get a title shot. He hands him the ring. Andrade then walks in and shows off his hair, before having furtive conversations with Callis.
They reveal the brackets for the Women’s Owen Hart Cup. Hazuki and Sareee are in it.
Backstage, Kyle O’Reilly says Orange Cassidy and Roderick Strong should go after the tag titles with the shot they have, because he’s going after the Continental Championship. Willow says she’s winning the Owen and becoming a double champion. Cassidy says they need to do a Word of the Day, which brings Mark Briscoe in to challenge Ciampa for next week.
Match Five: Triangle of Madness vs. Brawling Birds and Shida Hikaru
Thekla and Hayter start off, the rest of the Triangle jump, sparking a brawl, Hayter tosses Thekla around the ring after things calm down, Blue and Windsor brawl atop the barricade, Windsor tumbles down, Hayter and Windsor press slam Blue into the apron, Thekla with a suicide dive to all three opponents, Triangle beat their opponents around the ringside area, Hart in, Helluva Kick, running elbow in the corner, cover for two, mounted punches, clears the opposing corner, toss to the friendly corner, Blue in, stomps, foot choke, mixed strikes, Hart in, Tarantula while Blue beats down Windsor, Thekla with a Tarantula to Windsor, Shida in, Thekla in, Shida cleans house, Triangle with a triple team beatdown, Thekla with a spear for two as the Birds break it up, sparking a brawl, Windsor in, lariat, Hart Attack, blocked by Blue pulling Hayter to the floor, Hart in, brawl, Thekla hits Hayter with her championship belt.
Winners by DQ: Brawling Birds and Shida Hikaru
The Triangle beat down the Birds while Shida walks off. Hart ends up misting a referee before Willow Nightingale, Shirakawa Mina, and Thunder Rosa make the save.
They show a video package for Rush.
Main Event: AEW Men’s World Championship: Darby Allin (c) vs. Konosuke Takeshita
Darby with a tackle, goes for another, Takeshita tosses him around the ring and then ringside area instead, rolls Darby into the ring for two, tosses him around the ring some more, back body drop, tosses him around the ringside area some more, goes for a Northern Lights onto the steps, Allin with a back rake, Takeshita goes for a knee against the steps instead, Darby dodges, crossbody from the top of the steps, suicide dive, brawl on the apron, Coffin Drop, reversed into a Blue Thunder Bomb to the floor, rolls Darby into the ring, covers for two, chinlock, powerbomb, Darby with a shoulder tackle from the apron, sunset flip into a guillotine choke, Darby with slaps, Code Red, reversed into a tombstone, wheelbarrow suplex, Helluva Kick, sets Darby up top backward, German superplex for two, running knee for two, El Clon runs out to distract the ref, Don Callis hands Takeshita the diamond ring, Takeshita thinks about putting it on, but then tosses it aside, Darby with a rollup for two, Takeshita with a forearm, sets Darby up top backward, back superplex, blocked with punches, Darby hits a Code Red, Last Supper for two, Coffin Drop to Takeshita on the floor, both men slowly to their feet, Takeshita goes for a brainbuster on the steps, reversed into a Scorpion Death Drop, Coffin Drop, rolls Takeshita into the ring, covers for two, Coffin Drop, Takeshita blocks with knees, crucifix pin for two, Powerdrive Knee for two, powerbomb, reversed into a Scorpion Death Lock, Takeshita makes it to the rope, Darby immediately gets up and hits a Coffin Drop to the back, Coffin Drop to the front for three.
Winner and STILL AEW Men’s World Champion: Darby Allin
Darby grabs a mic and demands MJF come out and sign the contract for the Title vs. Hair match. MJF comes out, Darby signs the contract, MJF thinks it over, says he’s happy for Darby but knows this will be his only title reign. He says Darby will be a foot note, while MJF will be the only man to reach 3 world title reigns at 30. He says Darby climbed a mountaintop, but MJF is the mountaintop. Darby says he doesn’t care about legacy, it’s all about the moment, and in this moment he wants MJF to sign the contract so he can make him bald. MJF signs the contract, then attacks Darby. Darby starts to rally, but MJF hits him with the ring and poses with the championship belt. He starts to leave, but goes back into the ring, sets Darby up top, goes for a top rope tombstone, Kevin Knight chases him off before he can hit it. Dynamite ends with Knight helping Darby to his feet.