Tonight, it’s the final first-round matches in the Owen Hart Cup Tournaments! (Note: It actually turns out it’s only most of them, but also one semi-final.) Also, MJF defends against Rush!
Dynamite begins with Renee asking Rush about his title shot tonight. He says it took him three years to work his way to this position, and he’ll die if that’s what it takes. MJF interrupts and slaps him, sparking a brawl.
After the opening credits, Renee informs Rush that the title match has been made No Count Outs. Andrade comes in and gives Rush a pep talk, telling him to do it for his family, his people, and anyone who says guys like them can’t be world champions.
Match One: AEW Men’s World Championship: No Countouts: MJF (c) vs. Rush
Match starts as a hockey fight, MJF tumbles to the floor, Rush with a suicide senton, stomp, headbutt, toss into the barricade, toss into a different part, toss into a third part, grabs a cord, stomp, choke with the cord, the ref reminds him that it’s not No DQ, Rush charges, MJF trips him into the ringside chair, running boot, Rush with a back body drop across the barricade, rolls him into the ring, MJF begs off, Rush punches him, stomps, boot wash, goes for the running boot, MJF rolls to the apron, Rush drags him back in, kick, elbow, toss into an exposed turnbuckle, blocked by the ref, MJF then tosses Rush into the exposed buckle while the ref isn’t looking, chinlock, throw down, Rush with punches, MJF with a spinebuster, mounted punches, trading avalanches, Rush with a missile dropkick for two, MJF with a kick, shoulder breaker for two, trading strikes, Rush ends up hitting a piledriver on the apron, the ref checks on both of them, asks the doctor to check on them, the doctor deems them both unfit, Rush headbutts the doctor, rolls MJF into the ring, the ref hasn’t yet called the match off officially, Rush with stomps, running dropkick for two as MJF gets an arm on the rope, both men to the floor, Rush misses a dropkick and goes through the barricade, MJF with a tombstone onto the piece of barricade, drags Rush into the ring, Heat Seeker, blocked, MJF locks in a crossface instead, Rush taunts MJF from inside the hold but eventually passes out.
Winner and STILL AEW Men’s World Champion: MJF
MJF calls for a belt shot for Rush, Mark Briscoe runs out, goes for a Jay Driller, reversed with a low blow, The Conglomeration run out and chase MJF off.
Match Two: Mark Briscoe vs. Lio Rush
Rush whispers something in Briscoe’s ear, boot, blocked, jockeying, Briscoe with a pele kick, whip, Rush runs to the apron, boot, goes up top, Briscoe punches him to the floor, trading forearms on the apron, Briscoe gets the better of it, Rush bites the hand, both men to the floor, Rush chases Briscoe into the ring, Briscoe tosses Rush to the floor, baseball slide, Tower of London, toss into the barricade, body slam, chop, boot, rolls Rush into the ring, follows, stomp, brainbuster for two, chop to the gut, running lariat, chops, Rush with forearms, lariat, cover for two, stomp in the corner, bite, snapmare, back rake, cover for one, rear waistlock, reversed, reversed again, Briscoe to the apron, Rush kicks him to the floor, suicide dive, rolls Briscoe into the ring, goes up top, misses a frog splash, hits a forearm, springboard Stunner for two, trading shots, Briscoe with a crossbody, lariat in the corner, t-bone suplex, lariat in the corner, sets Rush up top, chop, Iconoclasm for two, Jay Driller, blocked, hits a lariat instead, Jay Driller, blocked, Rush with a rollup for two, another rollup into a kick, springboard Stunner, blocked, Briscoe hits the Cutthroat Driver for three.
Winner: Mark Briscoe
Briscoe grabs a mic and addresses MJF. He talks about his brother dying just before his birthday, which was only a week before Jay’s birthday. He talks about making his debut in AEW instead of eating cake with his brother, and how many varied emotions he felt at the time. He talks about how AEW helped him heal, but he couldn’t find real joy until he found The Conglomeration. He says that it was after that that he crossed paths with MJF and the anger returned, but he used that anger to beat him. He says the Devil loses in the end in the Bible, and he’s going to make it true in AEW too.
After some previews, Thekla emerges from the crowd and says she promised to burn Stardom to the ground if they sent even one representative to AEW. She says she took out every cutesy girl she found before she got fired, so now she has to do it again in America. She says the original mission continues at Forbidden Door. She says it’s not war on Stardom, it’s death to Stardom. She climbs a ladder on the stage and spits on the Stardom logo in the Forbidden Door logo on the LED boards.
Backstage, Jon Moxley says Will Ospreay needs to discard his baggage around Mark Davis, because no matter what he did last time, Mark Davis is just a man. He says he’s going to guarantee that Ospreay only has Davis to contend with tonight.
Match Three: Andrade vs. PK Varnum
At least I think that’s what the opponent’s name was. It will probably not end up mattering too much.
The man possibly known as Varnum with a rear waistlock, Andrade with an elbow, another for two as he pulls the opponent’s shoulder up, DM for three.
Winner: Andrade
I swear they also called him VK Vandu at one point.
Andrade grabs a mic and challenges MJF. Don Callis comes out with Jake Doyle. He announces that Kevin Knight has joined the Don Callis Family. Andrade looks profoundly not pleased.
Match Four: TNT Championship: Kevin Knight (c) vs. “Speedball” Mike Bailey
Lockup, Knight presses Bailey to the corner, break, Bailey ducks a lariat and misses a kick, Knight bails, there’s some brief jockeying, Speedball follows to the floor, Knight tosses them into the steps, into the barricade, both wrestlers into the ring, jockeying, break, Knight clotheslines Speedball over the top rope, Speedball with a spring kick off the apron, another, springboard Phoenix Splash, rolls Knight into the ring, goes up top, misses a shooting star, Knight with a dropkick, mounted punches, toss to the floor, Speedball back in the ring, Knight with a foot choke, Speedball with chops, Knight with an armbar, transitions to a chinlock, elbow for two, mounted punches, trading strikes, Speedball with a whip, superkick, Knight to the apron, feigns a springboard, Speedball with a running kick, springboard, Knight knocks them to the floor, suicide lariat, rolls Speedball into the ring, Speedball with a rollup for two, moonsault knees, roundhouse kick for two, superkick, running kick in the corner, goes for Ultimate Weapon, reversed into a hurricanrana, Knight with a backbreaker for two, springboard, Bailey catches him with a rollup for two, roundhouse kick, sets Knight up top, kick, goes for something, Jake Doyle distracts the ref, Don Callis crotches Speedball, Knight with a top rope spinebuster, uranage for three.
Winner and STILL TNT Champion: Kevin Knight
Knight grabs a mic, calls Speedball dead weight, and says it’s straight to the top.
Backstage, The Dogs brag about what they did to Cope and Cage. The Bucks come in and run them down, then challenge them. The Dogs refuse.
Renee tries to get a word in with MJF in an ice bath. He says of course everyone wants a shot at the top prize, but no match for Mark Briscoe.
Match Five: Owen Hart Cup: Quarter-Finals: Alex Windsor vs. Wild Card
Match Five: Owen Hart Cup: Quarter-Finals: Alex Windsor vs. Mercedes Mone
Definitely thought Jamie Hayter was going to be the wild card.
Mone presses Windsor to the corner, break, Mone with a throw down, steps on Windsor, blocks a rollup, does a rollup herself for one, kick, cover for one, trading arm drags, Mone with La Mistica, back stabber when Windsor gets too close to escaping, snapmare, another, meteora, Windsor goes for a Sharpshooter, blocked, trading strikes across the apron, Mone with a backbreaker across the middle rope, Meteora to the floor, slap, rolls Windsor into the ring, forearms for one, toss to the corner, stomp, double foot stomp to Windsor across the middle turnbuckle, trading strikes, Windsor with a cover for two, toss to the corner, Mone with a back stabber for two, Three Amigos, goes up top, Windsor crotches Mone, Iconoclasm, lariat in the corner, tackle, both women to the floor, Windsor with another tackle, rolls Mone into the ring, follows, Mone with another Three Amigos, Windsor blocks the third and hits Made In Japan for two, Mone with stomps from the corner, goes up top, drags Windsor up top, trading shots, Mone ultimately hits a Meteora for two, misses another, trading rollups for two, Mone with a knee, Backstabber, Statement Maker, Windsor taps.
Winner: Mercedes Mone
Mone refuses to let go of the hold until the ref pulls her off.
Backstage, Don Callis hypes up the future prospects of both Okada Kazuchika and Mark Davis. Okada vows to get his International Championship back.
Elsewhere backstage, Tommaso Ciampa says he’s risen to prominence in Jericho’s absence, and advises him to stay gone.
Main Event: Owen Hart Cup: Semi-Final: Will Ospreay vs. Mark Davis
Trading strikes, Davis with a snapmare, forearm to the back, abdominal stretch, Ospreay powers out, springboard kick, springboard elbow for two, both men to the floor, Davis tosses Ospreay into the barricade, tussle on the apron, Ospreay knocks Davis to the floor but Davis walks out of the danger zone, Ospreay chases after him and hits a hurricanrana, Davis dumps Ospreay on the announce table, forearms, running hip attack across the barricade, rolls Ospreay into the ring, covers for two, chinlock, Ospreay with a forearm, Davis with a lariat, body slam, forearm, trading strikes, Davis gets the better of it, covers for two as Ospreay gets the rope, Davis with forearms in the corner, Ospreay with forearms, boot from the corner, goes up top, Davis with a throw, lariat in the corner, another, back suplex for two, chop, another, trading shots, Ospreay calls for a Hidden Blade, blocked, continuing to trade shots, Ospreay with a spin kick for two, German for two, goes up top, double foot stomp to the arm, cross arm breaker, blocked, Ospreay gets the hold locked in, reversed into a powerbomb, Davis follows up with a piledriver for two, trading shots on the apron, Ospreay goes for a piledriver, blocked, more trading shots, Davis hits a lariat to send Ospreay back into the ring, goes for a piledriver to the floor, reversed into a hurricanrana, Ospreay beats the count at six, Davis beats the count at 9, Ospreay with a running dropkick, Styles Clash for two, Os Cutter, reversed into a back suplex, blocked, Davis goes for a kick and hits the ref, Ospreay hits a Hidden Blade and covers, but there’s no ref. Trent and El Clon attack and beat Ospreay down, go for Strong Zero, but Daniel Garcia and Wheeler Yuta hit the ring and fight them back. Lance Archer comes in and takes them out, before Claudio Castagnoli hits the ring and takes Archer down, before Cage takes out Claudio, PAC takes out Cage, Davis with a back suplex to PAC, Ospreay with an Os Cutter, PAC gets to his feet, rolls the ref into the ring, Jake Doyle pulls the ref back out of the ring, attacks Ospreay, Marina Shafir jumps on Doyle’s back, Doyle snapmares his way out, Jon Moxley hits the ring, brawls with Doyle, hits a Paradigm Shift, PAC with a moonsault to pretty much every enemy, the Death Riders drag the Family off, Ospreay goes for the Storm Breaker, Kyle Fletcher runs in and hits a Half and Half, pulls out a screwdriver, Ospreay watches on the ‘Tron, but Takeshita pulls Fletcher out of the ring and brawls with him around ringside, Davis grabs the screwdriver, Ospreay hits a Hidden Blade to the arm holding the screwdriver, then a regular Hidden Blade. He covers, a new ref comes down for a two count, Ospreay misses another Hidden Blade, Davis hits a piledriver for two, lariat, reversed into the cross arm breaker, Davis taps.
Winner: Will Ospreay
Ospreay celebrates on the floor as Dynamite goes off the air.