Tonight’s AEW Dynamite episode airs on TNT at Daily’s Place in Jacksonville, Florida.
* Peter Avalon vs. Cody Rhodes
* Penelope Ford vs. Leyla Hirsch
* Chris Jericho and MJF vs. Santana and Ortiz vs. Sammy Guevara and Jake Hager (Winner is the official tag team of the Inner Circle)
* Hangman Page, Colt Cabana, John Silver, and Alex Reynolds vs. The Hybrid2 and Chaos Project (Page to give his answer on joining the group after the match)
* Top Flight and Matt Sydal vs. Matt Hardy and Private Party
* Miro to give an update on his new butler Chuck Taylor
* Jon Moxley in action
* Sting to congratulate AEW TNT Champion Darby Allin
* AEW World Champion Kenny Omega to reflect on his dominance
AEW President & CEO Tony Khan appeared on tonight’s Impact Wrestling episode, along with several AEW wrestlers.
The opening segment on tonight’s show featured a clip of AEW World Champion Kenny Omega, Impact World Tag Team Champions The Good Brothers, and Don Callis hanging out and celebrating their main event win over Impact World Champion Rich Swann, Moose and Chris Sabin at last Saturday’s Hard To Kill pay-per-view. The clip was from backstage after Saturday’s win. Callis noted that he and Omega were headed back to Jacksonville for Dynamite and to “disappear for a while,” but he didn’t want anyone to forget what they’ve done while here at Impact. He also said that Omega and The Good Brothers were already planning what’s next and while they are taking a hiatus from Impact, they will be back.
Tonight’s show also featured an in-ring segment where The Good Brothers came to the ring to brag about last Saturday’s Hard To Kill main event. They were interrupted by Sabin, who said he wanted a rematch for the titles. The Good Brothers pointed out how Alex Shelley wasn’t here again tonight, but Sabin said he had another guy. That’s when James Storm made his return to the company. Storm and Sabin went to the ring to make a case for a title shot, but were interrupted by AEW’s Matt Hardy and Private Party. Matt praised Private Party and said they should be the ones getting a title shot. He also plugged the six-man match on this week’s Dynamite, which will see Hardy and Private Party take on Matt Sydal and Top Flight. Hardy also mentioned that he saved Impact from collapsing in 2016, and that he and brother Jeff Hardy technically never lost the Impact World Tag Team Titles.
It was then announced that the main event would feature Storm and Sabin vs. Private Party with the winners being named the new #1 contenders to The Good Brothers.
Khan and Tony Schiavone later released another “paid advertisement” segment on tonight’s Impact, but this time AEW producer Jerry Lynn was featured at Khan’s side. They plugged tomorrow’s AEW Dynamite and revealed that they were in Nashville for tonight’s show.
Shortly after the tag team main event began, Khan and Lynn brought two chairs out to get a closer look at the action. Hardy was also out as he accompanied Private Party to the ring. The finish saw Lynn interfere to help Private Party get the pin to win, and become the new #1 contenders to The Good Brothers’ World Tag Team Titles.
After the main event, The Good Brothers faced off with Private Party until Sabin and Storm attacked them. Impact went off the air after a big brawl broke out.
There is no word on when Private Party vs. The Good Brothers will take place for the titles, or if Sabin and Storm will be added to the match due to the interference.
On a related note, Swann appeared on tonight’s show and mentioned that he’s not sure if his feud with Omega is finished, but he did know that Omega was not in the building tonight. Swann then continued his feud with TNA World Heavyweight Champion Moose.
AEW has announced that Omega will be on tomorrow’s Dynamite show to “reflect on his dominance” as of late. Callis will be with him, but there’s no word yet on if any other Impact stars will be appearing.
IMPACT X-DIVISION CHAMPIONSHIP Manik (c) defeated Chris Bey and Rohit Raju
Matt Cardona made a surprise appearance against Ace Austin.
Austin came out to the ring, demanding to be added to tonight’s triple threat match for the X-Division Title since he believed he was the number one contender after winning this year’s Super X Cup. Scott D’Amore came out and ended up offering a different opponent to Austin in the form of Cardona.
Cardona ended up winning the match via disqualification after Fulton got involved in the bout. Post-match, Cardona was able to fight off both guys, landing radio silence on Fulton.
Matt Cardona defeated Ace Austin with Madman Fulton
DATE: January 16, 2021 at 8:00 PM ET LOCATION: Skyway Studios, Nashville, Tennessee AVAILABLE ON: FITE, Traditional PPV
Impact Wrestling Hard to Kill takes place tomorrow night on Impact Plus, FITE and Traditional PPV. The pre-show will air on AXS TV at 7 pm ET. The main card starts at 8 pm ET.
CARD
Kenny Omega and The Good Brothers with Don Callis vs. Rich Swann, Chris Sabin and Moose
IMPACT KNOCKOUTS CHAMPIONSHIP Deonna Purrazzo (c) vs. Taya Valkyrie
IMPACT KNOCKOUTS TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP Kiera Hogan and Tasha Steelz vs. Havok and Nevaeh
OLD SCHOOL RULES SIX-MAN TAG TEAM MATCH Eric Young, Deaner, and Joe Doering vs. Cousin Jake, Rhino, and Tommy Dreamer
BARBED WIRE MASSACRE Eddie Edwards vs. Sami Callihan
IMPACT X-DIVISION CHAMPIONSHIP Manik (c) vs. Chris Bey vs. Rohit Raju
The Karate Man vs. Ethan Page
Crazzy Steve and Rosemary vs. Tenille Dashwood and Kaleb
Impact stars Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson have made their All Elite Wrestling debuts and reunited with some former Bullet Club buddies.
It all went down on this week’s New Year’s Smash edition of Dynamite following the main event in which AEW World Champion Kenny Omega defeated Rey Fenix.
After the bell, Omega’s associate Don Callis got on the mic and declared Fenix’s career over. Omega was about to attack Fenix when Jon Moxley appeared to make the save. But Mox’s upper hand was short-lived.
Impact tag champs The Good Brothers then shocked everyone by making their AEW debuts and rescuing their old Bullet Club colleague. Omega, Gallows, and Anderson beat the hell out of Moxley for some time, until The Young Bucks appeared and pleaded for some decorum.
The show went off the air with all four former Bullet Club members participating in a four-way “Too Sweet” salute.
The question now is will they be able to use the Bullet Club name in AEW. Karl Anderson is a founding member of Bullet Club in New Japan Pro Wrestling. Bullet Club is still a group in NJPW.
The Good Brothers will be returning to NJPW at some point – Speaking to GameSpot’s Wrestle Buddies podcast the Good Brothers confirm that they will be returning to New Japan. In fact, there’s already a deal between the two sides to make it happen. “For sure. There’s a deal in place,” Anderson said. Gallows added, “Yeah, we’re going.”
The Bullet club name wasn’t mentioned during Wednesday Night’s episode of Dynamite. The Good Brother and Omega have mentioned the Bullet Club name on episodes of Impact. So it will be interesting to see if they will use/mention the Bullet Club name in AEW.
Although Brodie Lee’s passing on Saturday was met with a lot of shock in the wrestling world, people in AEW were aware of the seriousness of his lung ailment, according to Dave Meltzer on The Wrestling Observer Radio.
Meltzer noted that Lee’s condition was “one of those things that the few people who knew kept it quiet” even though a lot of people began questioning why The Exalted One had been off AEW TV for months. Lee was written off TV after his Dog Collar Match against Cody Rhodes during the Oct. 7 episode of AEW Dynamite. While Lee made a few appearances after that match, he never wrestled again as he was injured in storyline.
The Observer also pointed to how Brodie Lee Jr. defeating Kenny Omega to win the AEW World Championship last week [in a dark segment after AEW Dynamite tapings] hinted that “something was wrong” which led to Meltzer and others asking about Lee’s prolonged absence from AEW. The 8-year-old son of Lee jumped on Omega’s back and made the AEW World Champion tap out. Justin Roberts actually announced Brodie Lee Jr. as the new champion.
Lee had been suffering from his lung ailment “for a long time” and the condition worsened over a period of time, added Meltzer.
As noted, Lee’s wife Amanda took to Instagram and said her husband passed “after a hard fought battle with a non Covid related lung issue.”
AEW President & CEO Tony Khan released the following statement on social media about Lee’s passing.
I’m devastated by the loss of Jon Huber, known to fans as Mr. Brodie Lee, formerly Luke Harper. Jon was a great man. His family came first, his loving wife Amanda & their sons Brodie + Nolan. He loved wrestling & was great at it, he loved you fans. Please keep him in your hearts.
WWE has released the following statement about Lee’s passing:
WWE is saddened to learn that Jon Huber, known to WWE fans as Luke Harper, passed away today at age 41.
Known as both Luke Harper and Brodie Lee in the ring, Huber found success in every stop of his sports-entertainment career, as his soft spoken yet imposing presence helped him create countless awe-inspiring moments in the ring. After a highly decorated run on the independent circuit, Harper debuted in NXT as a menacing enforcer for The Wyatt Family. Harper had a dominant tag team run with Rowan that would lay the groundwork for future championship success.
As a member of The Wyatt Family, he engaged in heated rivalries with the likes of Kane, Daniel Bryan, The Shield, John Cena and The Usos. After being set free from the family, Harper authored an impressive singles run that culminated with him defeating Dolph Ziggler for the Intercontinental Championship. Harper & Rowan later comprised The Bludgeon Brothers and embarked on a path of destruction that was highlighted by a SmackDown Tag Team Title victory in a Triple Threat Match at WrestleMania 34.
WWE extends its condolences to Huber’s family, friends and fans.
WWE Chief Brand Officer Stephaine McMahon also wrote a tribute to Brodie Lee on social media.
This past Wednesday night, AEW presented a special edition of Dynamite titled “Winter Is Coming”. On top of the surprise debut of Sting, the show ended with Kenny Omega defeating Jon Moxley for the AEW World Heavyweight Championship. Omega was assisted by current Impact executive Don Callis for the win. Following the bout, Callis announced that Omega would be headed to Impact this coming Tuesday to discuss the title win.
According to Wrestling Inc., the relationship between Impact and AEW is not currently scheduled to be that intertwined. From what we have heard, Omega’s appearance on Impact will be a one-off and was largely done as a favor from Omega for Don Callis, who is a good friend of Omega’s. Omega also requested that Don work as the commentator for his big title win over Moxley.
Tony Khan apparently liked the idea and signed off on it. Beyond Omega making a one-off appearance on Impact, it was also relayed to us that The Good Brothers will likely be coming to AEW for one match as well. Omega’s appearance on Impact this Tuesday will likely be used to setup the Brothers coming to AEW to take on a team that was not disclosed to us, however, the Young Bucks would seem likely.
Furthermore, we have heard that Don Callis’ contract with Impact Wrestling may be coming up next month. Once Callis is done with Impact, it sounds like he would move to AEW full-time to work as Omega’s on-screen manager.
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