A Vacant AEW Tag Team Title Tournament Finals Ladder Match with The Young Bucks vs. FTR that saw Jack Perry help The Bucks go over took place at the Dynasty pay-per-view event.
AEW will be without Harwood for a while as Dave Meltzer reported in the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Harwood also suffered a concussion during the match.
Source: eWn
Tony Khan was given a shout out by NFL presenters during the NFL Draft after the AEW CEO was spotted wearing a neck brace. Khan, the owner of NFL side Jacksonville Jaguars, was seen in the NFL Draft room selling the injury he suffered on this week’s “AEW Dynamite” after he was attacked by Jack Perry and The Young Bucks.
The NFL analysts mentioned Khan, who was seated with his father Shad Khan, and the father-son duo was seen smiling as the cameras trained on them. The NFL Network’s Rich Eisen gave non-wrestling fans an update on why Tony Khan was wearing a neck brace, and even sent his best wishes to the AEW founder.
“Tony Khan becomes the first-ever NFL executive in a draft room, shaking off the effects of a piledriver he received on national television in a wrestling ring the night before. Such is life when you mix AEW and the NFL. Tony Khan, hang in there, buddy,” said Eisen.
WWE commentator and former NFL player Pat McAfee also mentioned Khan on “The Pat McAfee Show,” with McAfee even going as far as to claim that Khan has a broken neck from the Meltzer Driver, which was recently renamed the TK Driver by The Young Bucks, in honor of Tony Khan. Khan was also advised on the show to not move his neck around if he has a neck brace on, to better sell the effects of the injury.
The end of this week’s “Dynamite” saw Jack Perry and Khan seemingly hug things out, before the former turned on his boss. The promotion’s EVPs, The Young Bucks, who had sided with Perry, also attacked Khan before several members from the locker room came to the aid of Khan. Khan’s father, Shad, also made his first television appearance on AEW when he came to check in on his son.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
Wednesday’s episode of “AEW Dynamite” at Daily’s Place in Jacksonville, Florida featured Powerhouse Hobbs challenging Jon Moxley for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship. According to Bryan Alvarez on “Wrestling Observer Live,” Hobbs suffered a legitimate injury during his match against Moxley.
“That was not a worked knee injury,” Alvarez said. “[Hobbs] went for a high cross or something and smashed into the turnbuckles and injured his knee. He could barely walk, and he hopped his way back into the ring, hopped into like two spots, and got choked out.”
After about 10 minutes, the title bout came to an end via referee decision, leading to a post-match angle between Moxley and Konosuke Takeshita. It seems the feud between The Don Callis Family and Blackpool Combat Club will continue, but likely without any further involvement from Hobbs.
The match was initially set to go longer, with “Dynamite” reportedly scheduled for an overrun to take it past the normal 10 p.m. ending. However, due to the injury to Hobbs’ knee, the match ended early, allowing plenty of time for the angle involving Khan, the Young Bucks, and Jack Perry.
As of now, the severity of Hobbs’ injury is unclear. While he has been relatively active in recent months, Hobbs hasn’t picked up a significant victory since defeating Sammy Guevara on an episode of “AEW Collision” in late February.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
As reported by Variety, a wrestling action-horror film titled “Dark Match” is set in the 1980s and will be released later this year that stars Chris Jericho.
The film’s festival premiere will be announced soon. Blue Finch Films, a U.K.-based sales and distribution company, has acquired the worldwide rights (excluding Canada) and will start sales at the upcoming Cannes Film Market.
“Dark Match” stars is written and directed by Lowell Dean. The film is produced by Dept. 9 Studios, with John K. MacDonald, Don Depoe, Michael Feehan, Michael Peterson, and Rhonda Baker involved.
According to the article, the movie revolves around a small-time wrestling company that accepts a lucrative offer in a remote town, only to discover that the community is under the control of a mysterious cult leader with sinister intentions for their match. As the lights dim, Miss Behave and her friends find themselves in a real fight for survival. The cast also includes Steven Ogg from “The Walking Dead” and Ayisha Issa from “Transplant.”
Source: eWn
Kenny Omega has been away from AEW programming for many months, dealing with a harrowing battle with Diverticulitis since December. Fans of the former AEW and IWGP Champion can breathe a sigh of relief, as “The Cleaner” is returning to AEW programming, at least for one night.
On Wednesday’s “Dynamite,” AEW announced that Omega would be in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada for next week’s episode of “Dynamite.” It will mark Omega’s first appearance on AEW television since before AEW Worlds End. Omega had initially been slated to team with Chris Jericho to challenge Ricky Starks and Big Bill for the AEW World Tag Team Championship but a bout of diverticulitis forced him to be pulled from the event. According to Omega, the illness nearly cost him his life.
Omega has been away from AEW programming but has still be communicating with fans via his Twitch channel, where the former AEW World Tag Team Champion streams games and tells stories. Omega has said the illness has left him with “good days” and “bad days” and that it’s still too soon to see if he will be able to recover without requiring surgery. Omega has said his pain is decreasing but training and taking impacts on his abdomen are still a struggle and recovery a long way off.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
After an eight-month absence from AEW television, Jack Perry returned on “AEW Dynamite,” hitting the ring in the main event segment to ask AEW President Tony Khan to shake his hand, reinstate him, and “continue to change the world together.” Perry got all that he asked for and more, punching Khan in the stomach and setting him up for further damage at the hands of The Elite.
Perry, who was last seen in AEW at All In in August of 2023 before Sunday’s surprise appearance at Dynasty, showed up with The Young Bucks and Kazuchika Okada at the start of tonight’s show, walking into the arena through the back and eventually ending up in Khan’s office. Later in the show, it was revealed that Perry and Khan would meet in the ring, setting the stage for the latter’s first physical involvement in the company’s five-year history.
Beginning the segment by addressing the Jacksonville crowd by saying he’s had some of the best times in his life there, Perry pivoted in saying that they had business to handle and that he wanted to do it face to face with Khan. After Perry admitted that the two have had ups and downs, not always seeing eye to eye, the former Jungle Boy said, “I swear to God, the only thing I have ever wanted is what’s best for AEW.” The two would then embrace, raising each other’s hands before Perry’s attack, and ultimately, The Young Bucks finishing Khan off with none other than the TK Driver.
As the show went off air, a slew of AEW stars rushed toward the ring and to Khan’s side, along with Shahid Khan, Tony’s father, and AEW co-owner, who looked stunned and concerned for his fallen son.
Backstage News On How Hard Tony Khan Is Selling Attack From The Elite On AEW Dynamite
Fightful Select reports that its sources in AEW say Khan didn’t simply sell the attacks on-camera, but has since been selling his resulting storyline injury as well. The upcoming Parking Lot Brawl between Trent Barretta and Chuck Taylor was filmed early on Thursday, and their sources say Khan was on set during the match, seen wearing a neck brace. Some have also questioned if Khan will be seen with the brace in the coming days during the NFL Draft, but for now it’s unknown if he will do so.
Khan’s involvement in the angle seems to have positioned Perry as an even bigger heel than he was before his suspension. Interestingly, while his heel turn was originally welcomed, he still received a significant amount of criticism. Since his return to wrestling and embracing his role in CM Punk’s AEW departure, it seems like fans are now warming up to him as a believable villain, especially after last night. Bully Ray and Tommy Dreamer also recently gave their takes on the heel version of The Elite, noting how Perry has sold lots of merch lately. However, both the veterans criticized Perry for directly referencing Punk, considering that he’s no longer signed to AEW. Bully also questioned Perry’s heel turn, and suggested that he should’ve actually been a babyface since Punk was the one who got physical first.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
AEW Dynamite will air live tonight coast-to-coast on TBS from Daily’s Place in Jacksonsville, Florida.
The dream match between Will Ospreay and Bryan Danielson at AEW Dynasty was everything that wrestling fans wanted it to be: a dream. The two men went to war for over 30 minutes, with Ospreay picking up the victory after hitting a Storm Driver ’93 and a Hidden Blade. However, Danielson was visibly in pain after taking the Storm Driver ’93 to the point where doctors tried to get involved. Ospreay appeared at the AEW Dynasty post-show media scrum to talk about the match, where he opened up by apologizing to everyone after reviewing the footage and seeing the medical staff trying to get involved.
“Within the confines of wrestling, I do go, like I said, in the ring it is more or less your life versus mine, until you kind of see it staring at you in the face of what I did and I’m honestly…I feel awful about this. So even though like 90% of the time, that move’s been absolutely fine, seeing the damage that it’s kind of done, I’m going to retire using the Storm Driver.”
Ospreay explained that after seeing what the Storm Driver ’93 did to Danielson – someone he has a huge amount of respect for and has wanted to wrestle since he was a child — it wouldn’t feel right continuing to use the move. The star then apologized to Danielson, the AEW medical team, and Tony Khan for being reckless in the ring, before the company President explained that Danielson would be okay and Ospreay should be proud of winning such a tremendous match.
Source: Wrestling Inc. credit to AEW post-show media scrum
Results from “AEW Dynasty” on April 21, 2024, from the Chaifetz Arena in Saint Louis, Missouri.
Zero Hour
Main Broadcast
AEW Dynasty pay-per-view – Sunday April 21 from Chaifetz Arena in St. Louis, Missouri.
CARD
Bryan Danielson vs. Will Ospreay
AEW WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP:
Samoa Joe (c) vs. Swerve Strickland (with Prince Nana)
TOURNAMENT FINAL FOR THE VACATED AEW WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP (LADDER MATCH):
The Young Bucks (Nicholas Jackson and Matthew Jackson) vs. FTR (Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler)
Adam Copeland, Eddie Kingston, and Mark Briscoe vs. The House of Black (Malakai Black, Brody King, and Buddy Matthews)
AEW WOMEN’S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP:
“Timeless” Toni Storm (c) (with Mariah May and Luther) vs. Thunder Rosa
HOUSE RULES MATCH FOR THE TBS CHAMPIONSHIP:
Julia Hart (c) vs. Willow Nightingale (with Stokely Hathaway)
AEW INTERNATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP:
Roderick Strong (c) vs. Kyle O’Reilly
AEW CONTINENTAL CHAMPIONSHIP:
Kazuchika Okada (c) vs. Pac
FTW CHAMPIONSHIP (FTW RULES):
Hook (c) vs. Chris Jericho
ZERO HOUR:
WINNERS TAKE ALL MATCH FOR THE AEW WORLD TRIOS CHAMPIONSHIP AND ROH WORLD SIX-MAN TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP:
The Acclaimed (Anthony Bowens and Max Caster) and “Daddy Ass” Billy Gunn (c–AEW) vs. Bullet Club Gold (Jay White and The Gunns (Austin Gunn and Colten Gunn) (c–ROH)
Orange Cassidy & Katsuyori Shibata vs. Shane Taylor & Lee Moriarty
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