AEW Dynamite Live Coverage - May 11th, 2022

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AEW Dynamite

This week on DYNAMITE on TBS, the Owen Hart Foundation Tournament First Round Matches kick off with Adam Cole against Dax Harwood, Darby Allin taking on Jeff Hardy, and Toni Storm going one-on-one with Jamie Hayter in the Women’s Tournament. MJF has agreed to a match with Wardlow, but we will find out his terms in a contract signing. Number One contender CM Punk faces Dark Order’s John Silver. The Jericho Appreciation Society will give their “victory speech.” The long-awaited in-ring debut of Danhausen, who will face the “Premier Athlete” Tony Nese. Plus, FTW Champion Ricky Starks defends his title against Jungle Boy.


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– The show kicks off with the usual video package and theme song. From there, we shoot inside the arena where Jim Ross welcomes us to the show.

Owen Hart Foundation Men’s Tournament Opening Round Match: Adam Cole vs. Dax Harwood

The two men start out with some grappling, and mat-wrestling to try and gain an advantage. Adam Cole looks to hit his trademark pose, but Dax Harwood opts to chop him. Cole is able to take over with a neckbreaker, and he then drives Dax into the top turnbuckle. Harwood responds with some sharp jabs, and he then looks for a Sharpshooter, but Cole stops it.

Cole then launches Dax across the ring, and into the ring post, and Cole follows him outside the ring to send his opponent into the steel stairs multiple times. He then continues focusing on the ribs with an abdominal stretch in the middle of the ring. Cole continues his dominance, launching Dax into the turnbuckles as he takes a Bret Hart-style bump.

The FTR star turns things around with a German suplex though, and he hangs on to hit another, but Cole then responds with one of his own. However, Hardwood eventually nails the third suplex, which separates the two men inside the ring. Both men then end up on the top turnbuckle, and Cole gets sent to the mat.

Adam rolls away to avoid the diving headbutt, but Harwood sees it coming and lands on his feet, immediately catching Cole in a slingshot powerbomb, but Cole kicks out. He then turns things around with a brainbuster onto the knee, and this time it is Harwood having to kick out of the pinfall attempt.

Cole then begins tuning up the band in the corner, but he avoids it and then goes for a roll-up, which he follows with a crossbody. However, as Dax gets sent to the corner, he attempts it again, and this time Cole nails a superkick. Despite that, Dax kicks out, and he then nearly catches the Undisputed Elite star out with a quick pinning attempt, but he kicks out.

Cole tries to hit the Panama Sunrise but Dax catches him, and as Cole goes for it again, Harwood flips him over and then into a piledriver, which Cole kicks out of. Dax then locks in the Sharpshooter to a great ovation, but the ribs of Harwood give in and he has to release the move.

Cole then knocks Dax to the outside, who once again hurts his ribs. Despite dropping when he gets to the ropes, Harwood does beat the 10 count, only for Cole to lock in the Sharpshooter, and he has to tap out.

Winner: Adam Cole

– Promos air as Jeff Hardy and Darby Allin talk about their match tonight, and Darby reveals he has asked Tony Khan for the rules to be waved tonight.

CM Punk vs. John Silver

CM Punk heads to the ring to a chorus of boos from the Long Island crowd, who do not like him as he wears a John Tavares jersey. When it comes to the match, Silver drops Punk with a shoulder tackle, but he then goads Silver to the outside, and back in the ring he attacks him. Despite that, the younger wrestler attacks Punk in the corner to regain control.

Punk manages to turn that around as he slows down the pace to anger the fans. However, he misses wildly with an attack in the corner, which creates an opening for Silver. He then unloads several kicks, including several to the face, with Silver then nailing a brainbuster, but Punk kicks out.

Silver then stumbles in the corner, but he still manages to nail the tornado DDT, and Punk has to kick out again. He gets Punk up, but he responds with a roundhouse kick, and then a lariat. Punk stares at the champion on commentary, and he then nails the Buckshot Lariat to get the win.

Winner: CM Punk

After the match, Hangman charges down to the ring, and the two men go face to face immediately. Punk asks if Page is mad, and he says it looks like he’s taking things personally. He knows these fans don’t like him, but it’s not personal to him, it’s just business. He used to wake up every morning and ask himself if he’s a good guy.

Today, he asked himself if he’s the champ, and his answer was yes. Punk says he just destroyed Page’s boy, and that was a blueprint, and at Double Or Nothing, he will shake his hand, whether he is conscious or not. Punk then offers his hand, but the champion flips him off and leaves.

– Britt Baker says it makes sense she’d be facing the Joker, as it goes with the conspiracy. Britt says storms pass, and tonight it is over, and there’s some Hayter on the forecast.

Danhausen vs. Tony Nese

Tony Nese flexes, and that leads to Danhausen trying to set up a curse, but Mark Sterling then gets on the ring apron to distract him. Nese smashes his opponent into the corner, and he follows it with a running knee strike to get a quick win.

Winner: Tony Nese

– Sterling then gets on the microphone and mocks Danhausen, asking Tony how he feels about the fact Danhausen got an entrance and he didn’t, so he hits the move again. Sterling tells him to do it again, but HOOK makes his way out! Nese and Sterling make their way out of the ring. Danhausen extends the hand, and HOOK shakes it.

MJF & Wardlow Contract Signing

Things kick off with MJF’s retelling of the events, done in the theme of a Dark Side Of The Ring episode. He gets on the microphone and tells MJF that is a symphony, b**ch. MJF says this is an underdog story, likening it to David vs. Goliath, of course, he is David in this one. MJF says that he will let Wardlow out of his contract if he wins at Double Or Nothing.

MJF claims he doesn’t want people to boo Wardlow out of the building when he speaks (while he winks a lot). Of course, the fans begin to boo when Wardlow attempts to speak. MJF then asks the fans if he should let Wardlow speak, and they say no, so he decides for him to not speak.

MJF says this goes back to what Wardlow did to his best friend…Cody Rhodes. He then asks the fans if they want to talk about 2024, and he says neither does the guy in the back. He then says Wardlow is going to get whipped, and he counts up to before 10, and then lets Shawn Spears deliver the magic number.

MJF says if he gets past the whips, Wardlow then has to wrestle Spears inside a steel cage. MJF points out Wardlow is 0-2 in a cage. That match will also have a special guest referee, which will be him. If he gets past that, Wardlow gets the match. He then says if Wardlow loses, he will never be allowed to sign an AEW contract forever.

Wardlow claims he can’t sign without being uncuffed, so MJF allows it to happen. He signs the contract and then destroys all of the security members inside the ring. He takes out Spears, and only MJF is left, but he can’t escape. Wardlow gets his hands on him, but Mark Sterling then leaps onto his back, which allows MJF to squirm away. Wardlow then Powerbombs Sterling through a table.

– A video package airs of Samoa Joe talking about facing the Joker in the Owen Hart tournament. He claims when he’s won the tournament, he is going for Jay Lethal.

FTW Championship Match: Ricky Starks vs. Jungle Boy

Jungle Boy tries to throw a few shots to kickstart the match, and they then exchange some quick holds. The champion then catches Jungle Boy with a knee to the back, and he then shows great agility by springboarding off the top rope to drag his opponent, but Jungle Boy then does the exact same thing just after.

Starks then hangs up Jungle Boy onto the top rope, and he follows up with some stomps. He picks up the pace again by launching Jungle Boy to the ropes, and as he bounces back it’s a quick-release suplex across the ring. The Tag Team Champion responds with a strike of his own, and he then hits a DDT to gain a near fall.

Starks then hits the Spear, and this time it is Jungle Boy who is having to kick out! He quickly responds with the Snare Trap, and the champion manages to just get a fingertip on the bottom rope. Starks looks to grab the championship, but this leads to Swerve Strickland appearing.

While the official is talking to him, Jungle Boy technically has the match won in a roll-up. however, there is nobody there to count that, and then Starks hits the Roshambo to win.

Winner: Ricky Starks

Christian Cage and Luchasaurus then make their way down, with Cage barging past Strickland on the way to the ring. Swerve then stares down the Team Taz stars, but Keith Lee makes his way down to the ringside area. We head to another commercial break

– Back from the break, Danny Magic asks everyone if they want to know what makes his nipples hard? It is being in the greatest faction in the world. Chris Jericho says he was born around here, but he moved quickly because it’s dump. He tells a fan that if they have a problem, he’ll throw a fireball in his face because he’s a wizard.

Jericho 2:16 says he just burned Eddie Kingston’s face! He tells Eddie he needs to stay at home to take care of his wife, and if she doesn’t, she can give him a call. Danny Garcia then claims that sports entertainers always get the win against wrestlers. This then leads to Jon Moxley appearing.

Jericho gives Moxley time to get out of here, but he doesn’t leave, instead, Bryan Danielson and Wheeler Yuta appear with William Regal. Jericho then points out the numbers advantage still for them, but when they turn around, Eddie Kingston, Santana, and Ortiz are all waiting.

This then leads to an all out brawl, with all of the wrestlers breaking down in a huge fight, with William Regal dropping Chris Jericho to wrap up the segment.

– Video package of members of the AEW staff predicting the AEW Women’s Title match at Double Or Nothing.

Owen Hart Foundation Women’s Tournament Opening Round Match: Toni Storm vs. Jamie Hayter

The two women lock up early and feel each other out until Jamie Hayter slaps her opponent. Toni Storm doesn’t take kindly to that, launching her out of the ring. But she mistakingly puts Haytet back in first, so when she tries to get back in, Jamie just smashes her to the floor with a knee.

On the outside, Hayter hits a great snap suplex, and back in the ring, she continues the attack, launching Toni into the turnbuckles. Storm then fights back with a series of chops, and then both women look for elbow strikes, which takes them both down. Storm charges in with a hip attack in the corner, and she then plants Hayter with a DDT, following up with another on the outside.

Back in the ring, and Storm connects with a crossbody, but Hayter responds with a backbreaker. The two then brawl on the ring apron, but Hayter slams Storm down onto the apron. She then connects with a superplex from the top rope, but Toni then looks for a series of roll-up victories. As Hayter tries to kick out, she ends up rolling into Storm Zero, and Toni progresses.

Winner: Toni Storm

– Backstage Sammy Guevara tells Frankie Kazarian that he can’t trust Scorpio Sky, but he tells him to go be unlikeable somewhere else, and his vlog sucks.

Owen Hart Foundation Men’s Tournament Opening Anything Goes Round Match: Darby Allin vs. Jeff Hardy

This one is an anything goes match, which both men spoke about earlier on in the show. The bell rings and Darby immediately dropkicks Jeff Hardy into the corner. Allin then launches himself out of the ring into Jeff, and he creates a casket of chairs, all lined up. But, as he goes back to Jeff, he trips him for Allin to headbutt the stairs.

On the outside, Hardy leaps from the ring apron to clothesline his opponent. He then hangs up Allin on the ropes, and Jeff busts out a huge ladder, which he puts into the ring. After they tussle over the weapon, Darby ends up hitting Code Red, but Jeff kicks out here. He fights back and sends Darby out of the ring as he lays on the chairs set outside the ring.

Hardy then opens up the ladder, and he begins climbing, but Darby then climbs up and he yanks Jeff, who lands awkwardly on the top rope. He then spills onto the chairs, and Allin launches himself onto Jeff, as he also smashes onto the chairs in a crazy spot. Back in the ring, Allin thinks about a Coffin Drop, but Jeff rolls away.

He ends up laying on the ring apron, so Darby hits the move to that point, but Jeff moves and Allin just bounces off the apron with his back. Jeff then lays Allin onto the side portion of the steel stairs, and he heads to the top rope! Jeff goes for a Swanton Bomb, but Allin moves, and Jeff bounces off the steel stairs.

Darby then puts Jeff back into the ring, and Allin connects with the Coffin Drop. Allin goes for a pinfall, but Jeff kicks out, and then reverses into a pinfall attempt, and he catches Darby out with a win.

Winner: Jeff Hardy