AEW Dynamite Live Coverage - May 22nd, 2024

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AEW Dynamite

This week, on the last DYNAMITE before DOUBLE OR NOTHING, Will Ospreay & Orange Cassidy face Trent Beretta & Roderick Strong. Kyle O'Reilly vs. Malakai Black. AEW World Champion Swerve Strickland faces Nick Wayne.


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– A custom Furiosa-themed opening to promote the Mad Max movie in theaters this Friday gets us started, and then we shoot inside Mechanics Bank Arena in Bakersfield, CA. as Excalibur, Taz and Tony Schiavone welcome us to the show.

Will Ospreay & Orange Cassidy vs. Trent Beretta & Roderick Strong

Orange Cassidy's theme hits and out comes the "Freshly Squeezed" one, as a big tag-team match previewing two big matches at the AEW Double Or Nothing 2024 pay-per-view kicks off this week's show as the first match of the evening.

Cassidy's theme stops as he is half way down the ramp and then the entrance tune for his partner plays and out comes Will Ospreay. The two head to the ring together for scheduled tag-team action against their respective PPV opponents for this weekend.

Also on commentary for this one is Don Callis, who is grilled immediately about his recent interactions with Cassidy, and whether or not the "Freshly Squeezed" one is now part of The Don Callis Family. Ospreay's theme wraps up and the Best Friends modified theme plays.

Out comes Trent Beretta. His music dies down half way down the ramp and the tune for The Undisputed Kingdom plays and out comes AEW International Champion Roderick Strong accompanied by Matt Taven and Mike Bennett. The bell sounds and we're officially off-and-running with this one.

Kicking things off for their respective teams are Ospreay and Strong. On the floor, Cassidy ambushes Trent immediately, which distracts Ospreay in the ring, allowing Strong to get the early jump. Ospreay fights back and then hits a splash on Trent on the floor to help his partner.

Back in the ring, Ospreay hits a big spot on Strong for a close two-count. The Undisputed Kingdom guys hop on the apron to provide a distraction, which allows Strong to take back over the offensive advantage in the match with a back-breaker. Trent and Strong get in an argument as the two tag.

After some more back-and-forth action, we see Cassidy take over in the ring, taking it to the AEW International Champion as the crowd comes to life in the background in Bakersfield. Trent trips up Orange as he heads to the top-rope and Strong takes back over.

Trent goes for a cheap attack on Cassidy on the floor, but Ospreay stops him. Strong and Trent end up hitting a double-team spot on Cassidy on the floor before we shift gears and head into a mid-match commercial break. When we return, we see Cassidy doing the hands in the pockets sequence.

He tags in Ospreay, who goes on an offensive rampage in what is quickly becoming an excellent match. The crowd chants "This is Awesome!" As it looks like Cassidy is in trouble, Callis jumps up from his seat the commentary desk and helps him.

This nearly leads to Cassidy and Ospreay picking up the win, as they each hit their finishers, but then Wardlow shows up! Wardlow makes a big impact, leading to Strong scoring the pin fall in the ring for the win. After the match, Cassidy is busted open, as is Ospreay, at the hands of Trent and Strong, respectively.

Winners: Trent Beretta & Roderick Strong

– Backstage, we see The Young Bucks with their AEW EVP hats on, as they inform security that Darby Allin is banned from the building tonight after his "unprovoked attack" last week. After security leaves to ensure he doesn't come in, Sonjay Dutt shows up and talks business with the Bucks.

– Inside the arena, the lights go out. When they come back on, the theme for Bullet Club Gold hits and we see one of the coolest active ring entrances in the business for the Bang Bang Gang trio of "Switchblade" Jay White and The Gunns -- Austin and Colten Gunn. The AEW Trios Champions make their way down to the ring.

They bring up PAC and question if you say it "PACK" or "PAUCK" and then talk about their recent interaction with him. White brings up how PAC begged them to make him care. He says they gave him exactly what he wanted. PAC cuts them off on the big screen and says they did do what he asked.

PAC reveals his partners for their upcoming clash, the fellow Death Triangle members of The Lucha Bros -- Penta El Zero Miedo and Rey Fenix. The duo come out and now the Death Triangle are back together, complete with Alex Abrahantes by their side. The trio head to the ring to a big reaction and they immediately brawl with Bullet Club Gold.

Death Triangle beats down the Bang Bang Gang and runs them off from the ring. PAC gets on the mic and challenges them to a Unified AEW Trios Championship showdown at the AEW Double Or Nothing 2024 pay-per-view this weekend in Las Vegas, NV. We head to another commercial break after this wraps up.

FTW Championship Eliminator: HOOK vs. "The Bounty Hunter" Bryan Keith vs. Katsuyori Shibata

Now it's time to find out who will be challenging "The Learning Tree" Chris Jericho for the FTW Championship at this Sunday's AEW Double Or Nothing 2024 pay-per-view. The legendary Jericho makes his way down with Big Bill to join the gang on special guest commentary for our next match of the evening, which is a FTW title eliminator.

"The Bounty Hunter" Bryan Keith makes his way to the ring. Out next to the bat symbol is HOOK. Japanese legend Katsuyori Shibata also comes out. The bell sounds and we're officially off-and-running with this one, as Jericho is in a super chipper mood on commentary, per his new "Learning Tree" persona.

Shibata chops Kieth after a big kick to Hook. Hook rushes the corner with a bunch of right ands. Shibata gets sent outside. Arm drag from Hook to Kieth. Sleeper from behind. By Hook. Here comes Shibata to choke hold Hook. Jawbreaker breaks it all up. Hook grabs the hips and hits a suplex, Shibata with a Saito suplex. Hook with a belly to belly. Shibata hits his own.

We head to a mid-match commercial break as the action continues. When we return, we see some more back-and-forth action and then Shibata and HOOK pull off a double submission on Keith to each win. This makes the FTW title match a triple-threat against Jericho at AEW Double Or Nothing this weekend. Jericho cuts a super positive promo afterwards. We see a Willow-Mercedes package for DoN and head to break.

Winners and NEW FTW Championship No. 1 Contender(s): HOOK & Katsuyori Shibata

Konosuke Takeshita vs. Matt Sydal

When we return from the break, Konosuke Takeshita's theme hits and out he comes with Don Callis for our next match of the evening. Already in the ring is his opponent, veteran Matt Sydal. The bell sounds and off we go. Excalibur and company hype Takeshita vs. Jon Moxley in an IWGP title eliminator at AEW Double Or Nothing this Sunday as Takeshita dominates Sydal early on.

Takeshita hits a big brainbuster and then a couple of other moves. He hits a Blue Thunder Bomb and Callis tells him to break him. Takeshita hits a forearm finisher and scores the pin fall victory. After the quick squash match, Takeshita hits a release German suplex on Sydal for an unnecessary post-match attack.

He keeps putting the boots to him and finally "Wild Thing" plays and the crowd explodes waiting for Jon Moxley to emerge. Mox eventually does and grabs a mic before heading into the ring. It looks like he's going to cut a promo, but instead he simply walks up and cracks Konosuke in the face with the mic to knock him out. He leans over him and tells him he'll see him at Double Or Nothing and walks off.

Winner: Konosuke Takeshita

– Backstage, we see The Young Bucks with their Darby Allin Banned flyer that they are handing out to security and other people. They see Swerve Strickland sitting in their seat with his feet up. He asks if he's in their chair. They tell him he's the champ and can sit wherever he wants. They ask if he's seen this man and hand him one of the flyers. Swerve spits his gum out of his mouth and puts it in the flyer and says he hasn't.

He looks at the Bucks and tells them to hit his music because his match is up next. The Bucks yell at someone off-camera to do their jobs and hit the champs music. They do and out comes a Prince Nana'less Swerve Strickland for our next match of the evening. Out comes his opponent from The Patriarchy, Nick Wayne.

Swerve Strickland vs. Nick Wayne

The bell sounds and Swerve immediately begins beating down Wayne. The commentators hype Swerve's title defense of the AEW World Championship against Christian Cage at AEW Double Or Nothing 2024 this Sunday. Swerve takes the turnbuckle padding off the top one in the corner and continues to beat down Nick. Nick ends up slamming Swerve into the exposed turnbuckle, which allows him to take over. He goes for a moonsault on the floor, but Swerve catches him.

Nick counters into a DDT on the floor as we shift gears and head into a mid-match commercial break as this match continues. When we return, we see Swerve take back over and get the win. After the match, Killswitch attacks him from behind. Christian Cage comes out but Swerve fights back. Cage runs off.

He tries sneaking away in a car, but as he speeds off after flipping off Swerve chasing behind him on foot, another car blocks his exit. We see it is Prince Nana. Swerve drags Cage out of the window of his car and brawls with him. They end up on the roof fighting and Swerve gets Cage down for a con-chair-to on the hood. Cage runs off before he can. We head to a break.

Winner: Swerve Strickland

Malakai Black vs. Kyle O'Reilly

When we return from the break, the lights go out in the arena and The House of Black theme hits. Out comes Malakai Black for our next match of the evening. He settles in the ring and takes his mask off as the lights come back on. The theme for his opponent hits and out comes Kyle O'Reilly. The bell sounds and we're officially off-and-running with this one.

Black takes the early offensive lead as the commentators talk about Black's Barbed Wire Steel Cage match for the TNT Championship against "The Rated-R Superstar" Adam Copeland at the AEW Double Or Nothing 2024 pay-per-view this Sunday in Las Vegas. The two show off their stand-up martial arts striking ability with exchanges early on.

O'Reilly blasts Black with a body shot that drops him and Black takes back over with some of his own before kicking O'Reilly's legs out from underneath him. O'Reilly fights back and does the same to The House of Black leader. We head to a mid-match commercial break. When we return, we see O'Reilly go on a lengthy offensive run, but Black ultimately picks up the win.

After the match, red lights flicker in the dark arena, which confuses Black. Out of nowhere, about 100,000 gallons of dark red blood-like substance spills from the heavens above, covering Malakai Black. That's right folks, the old Brood "Blood Bath" returned. Adam Copeland appeared on the big screen and told Malakai to be careful what he wishes for and that he'd see him Sunday. We head to another break.

Winner: Malakai Black

– When we return from the break, we see a video package with Darby Allin's surprise return being shown from last week as the replacement for Eddie Kingston in the Anarchy In The Arena match at AEW Double Or Nothing 2024 this Sunday. After this wraps up, the commentators run down the lineup for AEW Double Or Nothing as the official match graphics flash across the screen.

"Timeless" Toni Storm & Mariah May vs. Saraya & Harley Cameron

Back inside the arena, the camera goes black-and-white as "Timeless" Toni Storm and Mariah May make their way to the ring accompanied by Luther The Butler for our next match of the evening. Their theme dies down, color returns and out comes Saraya and Harley Cameron. The bell sounds and off we go. Harley and Mariah kick things off for their respective teams. Mariah takes the early offensive lead.

Saraya tags in and helps shift the offensive momentum in her teams favor, working over May as we transition into a mid-match commercial break. When we return, we see some more back-and-forth action leading to Storm and May picking up the win. After the match, Serena Deeb attacks Storm with a high heel shoe. She unfolds a steel chair over her body and puts a single leg Boston crab on her as officials try and break it up.

Winners: "Timeless" Toni Storm & Mariah May

– An announcement from earlier in the show is taken back as we learn via a backstage interview with Bullet Club Gold that their match with Death Triangle at AEW Double Or Nothing 2024 will be a non-title bout, unless they get a win in a bout at AEW Collision later this week. We move on from that to pre-match hype for our final bout of the evening.

Bryan Danielson vs. Satnam Singh

With that said, Jeff Jarrett's theme hits and out he comes with Sonjay Dutt and Jay Lethal to accompany the massive Satnam Singh to the ring. The theme for his opponent hits and out comes the birthday boy, "The American Dragon" Bryan Danielson of the Blackpool Combat Club and Team AEW for Anarchy in the Arena at AEW Double Or Nothing 2024.

The bell sounds and we're officially off-and-running with this one. Danielson takes the early offensive lead. Sonjay Dutt tries to get involved but Danielson avoids it. Fans chant "You f*cked up!" as Danielson makes him pay for it and then takes out Satnam Singh on the floor with a running knee from the ring apron. He goes to charge at the big man on the floor, but is stopped and chokeslammed on the hard part of the ring apron.

Singh rolls Danielson back into the ring. He takes the padding off the top turnbuckle in the corner. Danielson fights back and chops the big man down with kicks before gouging his eyes and beating him up with more repeated kicks. Singh no-sells them and tells Danielson to "Come on!" Danielson tries to do exactly that but runs into the frying pan-sized hand of Singh, which knocks him silly.

Danielson gets Singh in the LeBelle Lock, but then Jarrett and Lethal attack him from behind, prompting the ref to throw this one out. Jarrett grabs the guitar and goes to blast Danielson with it, but Danielson fights back. He's got it and backs Dutt into a corner. He turns around and Singh punches through the guitar, which explodes to a thousand tooth picks. As the attack continues, The Young Bucks' theme hits.

Out comes Matthew and Nicholas Jackson with an envelope in their hands, which Dutt gave them backstage earlier. They help with the attack and then Kazuchika Okada comes out and joins in with Jack Perry. We see Darby Allin on the big screen. He pops out of a car and pounds fists with Tony Khan, who is still in a neck brace. He comes out with a flame-thrower and helps put the Bucks through a table and run off The Elite, as he and Danielson stand tall. That's how this week's show goes off the air.

Winner via DQ: Bryan Danielson