AEW Dynamite Live Coverage - June 21st, 2023

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AEW Dynamite

This week, what's next for Sting and Chris Jericho? Kris Statlander defends the TBS Championship title against Taya Valkyrie. The Gunns take on the The Hardys. Plus, Zack Sabre Jr. teams with Daniel Garcia to battle Katsuyori Shibata and Orange Cassidy.


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– The usual "This is Rampage, baby!" theme hits to get this week's Forbidden Door 2 go-home edition of Rampage on TNT off-and-running. We then shoot inside the Wintrust Arena in Chicago, Ill. where the commentators welcome us to the show.

The Hardys vs. The Gunns

The Hardys work together with some classic double-team moves to take control early on in this encounter. Jeff Hardy connects with a Whisper In The Wind to Austin Gunn, but Colten Gunn then takes a cheap shot at him from behind which changes the momentum. Colten then tags in and hits a suplex to remain in control. Hardy ducks Colten in the corner and brings in Matt Hardy who starts taking down both of their opponents with clotheslines and then a Side Effect.

Colten gets launched outside the ring while Austin turns into a Twist Of Fate, but his brother puts his boot on the rope to break up the pinfall. Colten then hangs him up on the ropes as Austin uses the ropes as well when trying to pin him, but Matt is able to kick out. Austin misses with a Famouser and Matt then looks for a Twist Of Fate again, but Austin holds onto his brother and that allows him to avoid the move.

Jeff tags in and hits a double DDT before dropping Austin with a Twist Of Fate, but as he looks for a Swanton Bomb Bullet Club Gold appear. Juice Robinson distracts the official while Jay White pushes him from the top turnbuckle which allows The Gunns to hit their double-team finish for the win.

Winners: The Gunns

– After the match Bullet Club Gold jumps Matt Hardy as White drops him with a Blade Runner and Robinson hits Jeff with a right hand full of quarters. Ricky Starks then runs down but he gets attacked due to the numbers game and then FTR hit the ring to help but the numbers are still against them. Enter, CM Punk. He officially evens the odds as the babyfaces send the group packing.

Punk then gets on the microphone and says he is a Collision guy and he isn't supposed to be here, but they will see them on Saturday.

Concession Stand Brawl: Mark Briscoe vs. Jeff Jarrett

Mark Briscoe takes the fight to Jeff Jarrett immediately, launching him through a table before he pulls out some mustard and covers him as he then launches hot dogs into Jarrett's face. The veteran turns things around by launching some popcorn at him, but then one of the concession workers turns up and sprays spicy sauce into his eyes as it is revealed to be Karen Jarrett.

Briscoe quickly regains control though and he begins scaling a ladder but Jarrett rolls down only for Sonjay Dutt to appear and throw him off the ladder through a table. The two then fight their way down the stairs as Briscoe dominates Jarrett while also attacking Dutt as Briscoe then uses a chair against the veteran. However, Jay Lethal then turns up and attacks his so-called friend as they regain control due to the number's advantage.

Lethal then tries to clear the timekeeper's area but Papa Briscoe appears and Chokeslams him through the table. He hits the ring and clotheslines Dutt and Jarrett until Karen low-blows him. However, Mark then regains control only for Satnam Singh to make his appearance as he nails Briscoe with a Chokeslam. Christopher Daniels and Best Friends then arrive with the Lucha Brothers taking down the bigger man. Penta nails a superkick to Jarrett which allows Briscoe t get a schoolboy roll-up.

Winner: Mark Briscoe

– Jon Moxley is then shown backstage with Konosuke Takeshita as they reveal it will be a five-on-five match at Forbidden Door with Shota Umino teaming with them against The Elite. Bryan Danielson then says it will be clear that Kazuchika Okada is nothing more than an amateur, and if he doesn't show up tonight he will prove what he is saying.

Chris Jericho, Sammy Guevara, & Minoru Suzuki vs. Action Andretti, AR Fox, & Darius Martin

Sammy Guevara and Action Andretti kickstart this and end up in a stalemate as they go for similar moves, but Guevara then opts to tag in Minoru Suzuki instead of his partner. Darius Martin also tags in and he begins hitting Suzuki with chops and forearm strikes which Suzuki then does with a greater impact. He and Chris Jericho then hit a double-team shoulder tackle and then hit the Le Sex Gods pose in the ring.

AR Fox tags in during that and nails Jericho with a thrust kick, but Jericho then distracts Aubrey Edwards so Guevara can knee Fox in the back to turn things around. Suzuki comes back in and throws big chops to Fox, but he is able to tag out as Andretti then begins taking the right to Jericho with speed and energy. He dives outside the ring to wipe out Guevara before leaping from the top turnbuckle to attack Jericho.

He then hits a shotgun dropkick, but his high-flying move doesn't work and Suzuki catches him in a choke. Martin breaks that up by attacking him from behind but he eats a big forearm for his troubles only for Martin to respond with an enziguri. Guevara leaps into the ring with a double cutter but he is sent flying as Fox dropkicks him. Andretti then nails a moonsault and almost catches Jericho out but he kicks out.

Each wrestler then hits the ring as people quickly take the other out which finishes with Martin nailing a Flatliner to Jericho, yet he kicks out once more. Jericho is able to quickly turn things around though, locking in the Walls Of Jericho to secure a win for his team.

Winners: Chris Jericho, Sammy Guevara, & Minoru Suzuki

– Renee Paquette then gets into the ring but he takes the microphone from her and says it was a monumental moment in history last week when he shared the ring with Sting. Everyone was excited, except for him. He says he knows how selfish and egotistical Sting is, he says Le Suzuki Gods are challenging Sting and Darby Allin to find a partner to face them at Forbidden Door.

Sting and Allin then come out and he says they had a good moment but it wasn't enough. He needs some time with Jericho and he plans on doing that on Sunday, and he accepts Jericho's 'lame' challenge. Jericho wants to know who their partner is, and Allin says that he will find out at Collision.

– Tony Schiavone and RJ City are shown drawing the blind eliminator tag teams, and they will announce the brackets next week.

– The Elite are shown backstage and Kenny Omega says a lot of people hate the BCC, when they needed a friend they found an unexpected one, and Eddie Kingston appears. He says they're not friends but he hates Claudio Castagnoli more, and he will pick the fifth person and he will make the announcement.

– Adam Cole then appears and admits MJF gave him one of his hardest matches ever, and he didn't win, but neither did MJF. He says it was smart to not go five more minutes, but it was the coward's way out. He claims that if MJF wants to be the best he has to face anyone who gets in his way, and MJF has still never beaten him and he then calls out the AEW World Champion.

MJF comes out and congratulates Cole because he came back better than ever last week and he says Cole is welcome for him dragging that out of him again. MJF then claims that had time not run out, he had Cole beaten last week. He denies Cole's attempt at a rematch and instead, Cole suggests they fight now. Tony Schiavone then tries to talk to them and they both tell him to shut up.

Schiavone reveals that the first two names he pulled out for the tag team blind tournament were them, and they will be teaming up which is something that neither of them wants. Hiroshi Tanahashi then shows up on the screen and tells MJF he dares him to show up on Sunday. MJF says for the millionth time he isn't going to be there, however, Cole cuts him off and says MJF thinks that Tanahashi is better than him which is why he won't accept it.

He gets the crowd chanting coward at him and this leads to MJF accepting Tanahashi's challenge for Forbidden Door. Cole then says, "Good luck, partner."

Katsuyori Shibata & Orange Cassidy vs. Zack Sabre Jr. & Daniel Garcia

Katsuyori Shibata and Zack Sabre Jr. start things out showcasing their grappling skills, but both then tag out as Daniel Garcia takes control of the match early on. He dances in the top turnbuckle and then both tag out again with Sabre Jr. being taken down as they then go back and forth once again with their grappling qualities. Garcia then comes in and eats forearm strikes from Shibata as Cassidy then comes in as well.

He mocks Garcia's dance as he then hits a dropkick and takes down the JAS star. Sabre Jr. tags in and Cassidy starts his kicks but he then turns things around by dropping the champion to the mat as he twists his legs around Cassidy's neck. Sabre Jr. then begins connecting with several heavy forearm strikes as he then stomps down on Cassidy's elbow, but Shibata is able to tag in and he starts unloading big kicks to his opponents.

Garcia goes for Shibata's pose but that leads to them doing Cassidy's slow kicks. With both men in the corner they then run and boot them as Cassidy then dives outside the ring to Sabre Jr and Shibata hits a big dropkick in the corner. Cassidy hits a DDT to Sabre Jr but then gets taken out by Garcia, who eats a pump kick from Shibata. He locks it in tight and then nails a big boot to Sabre Jr. for his efforts.

However, Garcia manages to avoid an Orange Punch and he nails Shibata accidentally. Sabre Jr catches Cassidy in a submission as Garcia rolls up Shibata.

Winners: Zack Sabre Jr. & Daniel Garcia

– Will Ospreay is then shown backstage and he slags off Canada as Don Callis then appears. He says Ospreay needs special security and he is going to make his own security available to him as he just wants to see a fair fight.

TBS Women's Championship: Kris Statlander (C) vs. Taya Valkyrie

Kris Statlander takes Taya Valkyrie down with a shoulder tackle and then unloads several chops before following up with forearms. Statlander then looks to run into her challenger in the corner but she gets cut off with a huge slap from Valkyrie who then unloads several more. The champion then hits her own before swiping the legs of Valkyrie and she then dumps her to the outside and catches her with a kick to the head.

Statlander hits a moonsault from the apron to the floor to take Valkyrie down once again, but as she tries to get back into the ring the challnger sends her flying with a shotgun dropkick. After throwing Statlander around the outside of the ring she continues with chops in the corner as Valkyrie drops the champion down to the bottom turnbuckle and then hits a running knee strike.

The two then go back and forth with punches and then take each other out by having the same idea to hit big kicks to the head. Statlander hits a running knee before planting Valkyrie down to the mat, but she is able to kick out. Valkyrie responds with a move of her own but the champion gets another near fall after a discus lariat. Momentum swings once again as Valkyrie nails a Spear as she then hits a German suplex as she slides out of the ring at the same time.

Valkyrie goes to the top rope but the champion cuts her off to then hit a superplex and Wednesday Night Fever to retain.

Winner and still TBS Women's Champion: Kris Statlander

– Excalibur does his weekly show-end speed-read. This includes several matches for the men's Owen Hart Cup, the women's Owen Hart cup, matches for AEW Rampage on Friday, AEW Collision on Saturday, The Forbidden Door 2 on Sunday and the next two segments in the final seven minutes or so here on Dynamite.

– We head to another commercial break after this. When we return, Eddie Kingston is in the ring and will now reveal the fifth and final member for his team at The Forbidden Door 2.

Eddie Kingston says he is out here because The Elite left as he told them he doesn't respect them. Kingston says a lot is going on that he doesn't like or agree with, especially a certain somebody that is supposed to be his homeboy that is mad he is teaming with The Young Bucks. However, he can't stand Claudio Castagnoli at all, and he doesn't care if he and Jon Moxley have a problem.

Moxley then appears in the crowd and he tells Kingston that he is drawing a line on Sunday. However, Kingston says that it is Moxley who drew the line when he decided to team up with that scumbag (Castagnoli), and Moxley then says "every time," but he then stops himself as Kingston tells him to say it. He reveals that the fifth man for their team on Sunday will be Tomohiro Ishii. He makes his way out and Blackpool Combat Clib appear and start brawling with the two of them, taking control with the numbers advantage.

Bryan Danielson calls out Kazuchika Okada and says if he doesn't come out he will stomp Ishii's face in, but that leads to the "Rainmaker" hitting the ring. He gets in and stares down Danielson with the two men facing off. Wheeler Yuta jumps Okada to set up the Busaiku Knee, but he avoids it and Danielson nails Yuta instead. He looks to hit the Rainmaker on Danielson but he avoids it just in time and instead, he hits Yuta with it.

The Forbidden Door go-home edition of Dynamite goes off the air.