By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
AEW Dynamite (Episode 243)
Los Angeles, California at Kia Forum
Aired live May 29, 2024 on TBS
[Hour One] Mercedes Mone made her entrance for her TBS Championship celebration. The broadcast team of Excalibur, Taz, and Tony Schiavone spoke about her win over Willow Nightingale at Double Or Nothing while highlights from the match were shown.
Mone entered the ring, which had balloons on the mat and tied to all four ring posts. Mone grabbed a mic and the live crowd chanted “CEO” after her song stopped playing. Mone told the Los Angeles crowd to say hello to their CEO and the new TBS Champion.
“Wasn’t I worth the wait?” Mone asked. “Didn’t I tell you that Mone changes everything?” Mone said she did exactly that at Double Or Nothing. Mone said they celebrated five years of AEW and the return of the greatest of all-time. Mone said she and Willow tore the house down.
Mone said Willow is way too nice. She mentioned Stokely Hathaway and Kris Statlander turning on Willow and said she hopes Willow kicks their asses. Mone shifted the focus back to her celebration and noted Forbidden Door is coming up.
Skye Blue appeared on the big screen and took credit for being the mystery attacker. Blue entered the ring behind Mone and gave her TKO, then put her knee on Mone’s chest and held up the TBS Title. Schiavone said Tony Khan told him that they would have an update on the situation later in the show…
Powell’s POV: The mystery attacker angle didn’t get a lot of attention heading into Double Or Nothing. I’m surprised they didn’t do one more attack just to get people thinking about it again before they did the reveal. I assumed that it would be Kris Statlander, but they took a different approach to set up Blue as a challenger.
Excalibur hyped The Young Bucks addressing the future of the TNT Championship at some point during the show. Footage aired of The Young Bucks and Kazuchika Okada arriving in an SUV while Jack Perry drove his “Scapegoat” short bus behind them…
Highlights aired from AEW Double Or Nothing… Excalibur plugged sponsor “House of Dragon” season two’s premier on Max for June 16…
AEW World Champion Swerve Strickland and Prince Nana made their entrance while ring announce Justin Roberts delivered the introductions. Killswitch made his entrance…
1. AEW World Champion Swerve Strickland (w/Prince Nana) vs. Killswitch in a non-title match. Killswitch was in offensive control heading into an early picture-in-picture break. [C] Killswitch chokeslammed Swerve and covered him for a near fall.
Killswitch had Swerve’s head draped over the apron when he went to ringside and grabbed a chair. Killswitch wound up with the chair and had to wait for Prince Nana to take it away from him. Swerve came back briefly, but Killswitch executed a standing moonsault for another near fall.
Swerve ducked a clothesline thrown from behind and then suplexed Killswitch. Swerve hit the House Call kick and then looked to the crowd before going up top. Swerve hit the Swerve Stomp and covered Killswitch for a close near fall. Swerve hit another House Call kick and scored the pin…
AEW World Champion Swerve Strickland defeated Killswitch in 11:40 in a non-title match.
After the match, Prince Nana handed Swerve a pair of scissors, which he used to cut the ponytail off the mask of Killswitch…
Schiavone said Tony Khan would make a big match announcement during the show… [C]
Powell’s POV: That wasn’t a typo. Swerve pulled the ponytail and the camera did a closeup and showed that it was merely hair attacked to Killswitch’s mask strap, not his own hair. Ugh. The actual match was an entertaining show opener. Did you know Tony Khan’s character is back? Schiavone can’t stop mentioning his name. I just want to know how they will explain the Young Bucks addressing what will happen with the TNT Championship as EVPs even though Khan is apparently back in storyline control of his company.
Tony Schiavone stood up at the broadcast table and announced that Tony Khan informed him that Mercedes Mone will defend the TBS Championship against Skye Blue later in the show…
Jon Moxley delivered a promo in a stairwell and spoke about facing Rocky Romero despite his arm injury. Moxley admitted that it wasn’t a good idea, but he said champions show up. He spoke about his upcoming schedule and said he will be on top in AEW, NJPW, and anywhere else he wants to go…
Big Bill stood behind a podium inside the ring that had a bad wooden tree and turf over part of the ring apron. Bill introduced Chris Jericho for his “TV Time” segment. “Who wants more TV time?” Jericho asked. “You know I do.” One of the broadcast team members said that was a shoot.
Jericho showed off the new Learning Tree University t-shirt and said it was the number one seller on the AEW website. Jericho asked who wanted a t-shirt and teased throwing it before setting it on a turnbuckle. Jericho spoke about retaining the FTW Championship and said that Hook and Katsuyori Shibata are tough and dropped him on his head.
Jericho introduced Bryan Keith as his guest. Keith made his entrance and shook hands with Jericho and Bill. Jericho asked him why he wanted to become a disciple of the Learning Tree. Keith spoke about how Jericho has been disrespected and said he couldn’t believe more people didn’t jump at the opportunity.
A “shut the f— up” chant broke out. Jericho asked the fans to watch their language while saying it was a family show. Keith told the fans to show some respect to Jericho, who told him to calm down because it was a teaching moment, not a yelling moment.
Jericho said he respects that Keith is a bad man. Bill jumped in and said Keith is a bad apple. Jericho said the bad apple doesn’t fall far from the Learning Tree. Jericho said Keith is welcome to stay under the Learning Tree as long as he wants.
Hook made his entrance and beat up two security guards. Samoa Joe’s music played and Joe popped up at ringside and went face-to-face with Hook. Joe whispered to Hook and then they headed backstage together. Jericho thanked the fans…
Powell’s POV: Jericho’s Learning Tree act reminds me of Bray Wyatt hosting the Firefly Funhouse minus the fun and creativity.
Excalibur tried to set up something with Stephanie Vaquer, but the production team played footage of Jon Moxley beating Konosuke Takeshita… The broadcast team noted that they were live and then laughed off the error (what else could they do?) and then had the video package play on NJPW Strong Women’s Champion Stephanie Vaquer play…
Jon Moxley made his entrance through the crowd and then Rocky Romero made a standard entrance to a flat reaction…
2. IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Jon Moxley vs. Rocky Romero in an eliminator match. Romero attacked Moxley once he entered the ring and was rewarded for it when referee Paul Turner called for the bell to start the match. Moxley wore a sling over his bad arm that quickly came loose once he went on the offensive. Romero came back and targeted the bad arm going into a PIP break. [C]
Romero caught Moxley in a crossarm breaker. Moxley rolled over and got to his feet and stomped his way out of it. Moxley dropped Romero with a clothesline and then followed up with another. Moxley hit the Death Rider and pinned Romero…
IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Jon Moxley defeated Rocky Romero in 10:40 in an eliminator match.
Powell’s POV: A well worked match with Romero taking the logical storytelling approach of targeting Moxley’s arm. But despite being one-armed, I don’t think anyone out there thought there was a chance that Moxley would actually lose to Romero.
Backstage, Renee Paquette asked Samoa Joe and Hook what happened earlier. Joe said they learned their first lesson. Joe said they don’t exist on their time, truly dangerous men exist on their own time. Joe and Hook walked away together while Taz said he didn’t know what was going on… [C]
Don Callis entered the ring while his music played. Callis had a contract with him and spoke favorably about Orange Cassidy, who then made his entrance to his “Jane” theme song and joined Callis inside the ring. Callis called Cassidy an iconic performer and said he’s a star wherever he goes.
[Hour Two] Callis said Cassidy has been confused with some bad choices and now he’s here to help. Callis said it was his pleasure to welcome Cassidy to the Callis Family. Callis handed Cassidy the contract, which Cassidy held up and then tore in half before letting the pieces fall to the mat. Callis picked up the torn pages. “Hey, Don, no,” Cassidy said. Callis stopped Cassidy from leaving and said no one tells him no.
Stokely Hathaway spoke from backstage and then walked out with Kris Statlander. Hathaway said he doesn’t like Cassidy and said he’s just like Willow Nightingale. Statlander said she was there on behalf of her friend, who accepts the invitation to join the Callis Family.
Trent Beretta was shown standing in the ring and then he attacked Cassidy while Hathaway and Statlander headed to the back. Cassidy bled. Callis tried to intervene and then backed off when Beretta stared him down. Beretta held his arms open. Callis ran over and hugged him and the production team did the Best Friends camera bit. Callis put the boots to Cassidy and then acted like he hurt his foot. Beretta put his foot over Cassidy’s neck and gave Cassidy’s thumbs up sign before kicking him…
Excalibur announced Will Ospreay vs. Kyle O’Reilly for the AEW International Championship for Saturday’s AEW Collision (no time was listed because it hinges on an NBA playoff series)…
Daniel Garcia and Matt Menard were interviewed by Renee Paquette on the backstage interview set. Garcia spoke about getting stuck in his head and in the same places he’s been. Garcia said some people have so much confidence and they get the red carpet rolled out for them and get everything they want. Garcia mentioned going after the AEW International Championship. Garcia said he would climb the rankings and take the championship from Ospreay…
Powell’s POV: Wait, the rankings are still a thing? Anyway, Beretta joining Callis was so predictable that I don’t even know why they bothered teasing the alliance between Callis and Cassidy.
Entrances took place for the TBS Championship match…
3. Mercedes Mone vs. Skye Blue for the TBS Championship. The bell rang and the production crew missed the shot of Mone doing something to Blue because they were showing the TBS Title belt graphic. Mone sent Blue to the floor and hit her with a meteora off the apron. A short time later, Blue caught Mone with a kick and a draping neckbreaker before getting a two count as the show went to a PIP break. [C]
Blue caught Mone in Full Nelson position and then slammed her face first on the mat. Blue covered Mone for a two count. Mone came back with a knee strike, but Blue fired right back with a kick. Mone stuffed Code Blue and then her Moneymaker finisher and got the win.
Mercedes Mone defeated Skye Blue in 7:40 to retain the TBS Championship.
After the match, NJPW Strong Women’s Champion Stephanie Vaquer walked onto the stage and held up her title belt. Mone looked at her from the ring and held up her belt…
Paquette stood outside the trainer’s room and was dismissed by Stokely Hathaway and Kris Statlander. Hathaway recalled Statlander and Willow being in the same four-way match for a shot at the TBS Championship. Hathaway said Willow didn’t listen when Statlander said she desperately wanted to become champion again, but he did. Hathaway introduced Statlander and new and improved.
Statlander said she did something for herself for once and she got booed for it. She said the fans don’t care about them, so she had to make a change. Statlander said she is more than a woman and she is done being a protector. She said the rest of the roster would now need protection from her… [C]
Powell’s POV: It obviously looks like they are teasing Mone vs. Vaquer for Forbidden Door. The video package earlier was a start. Hopefully they will get Vaquer in some spotlight matches before the June 30 pay-per-view. Meanwhile, the Hathaway and Statlander promos were decent. From a logic standpoint, the obvious question is their characters didn’t turn on Willow before she lost the TBS Championship.
Highlights aired of MJF kicking Adam Cole below the belt and giving him a brainbuster at AEW Double Or Nothing… An MJF video package aired. It concluded with the female narrator saying that MJF is not leaving while a shot of his AEW tattoo was shown… Excalibur said MJF is with AEW long term and will be on the warpath…
AEW Tag Team Champions “The Young Bucks” Matthew Jackson and Nicholas Jackson made their entrance. AEW Continental Champion Kazuchika Okada made his entrance, and then Jack Perry closed out the entrances of The Elite members.
Perry handed Okada the mic. “Hey, hey, hey, shut up, bitches,” Okada said. The fans loved it and an Okada chant broke out. Perry looked into a ringside camera and said The Elite run this ship. Perry said Tony Khan’s team set him on fire, but they still won the Anarchy in the Arena match. Perry boasted that he pinned Bryan Danielson.
Nicholas said it’s been a fantastic week for The Elite. He said they released their new Reebok Pump shoes on Monday. Nicholas said the had gifts and pointed to the big screen. A sports car with Rainmaker plates was shown arriving in the parking lot. Okada asked if this was a dream. One of his teammates said “you deserve it” and then the crowd chanted it.
Matthew said it was time for business. He noted that Adam Copeland was “badly injured” during the TNT Title match. Matthew said it was on him because he told Copeland to break a leg prior to the match. Matthew said he thought he jinxed Copeland. He said they were thinking about Copeland and praying for him.
Matthew said they have to make tough decisions as EVPs. Matthew announced that Copeland was stripped of the TNT Championship. Matthew said they knew just the guy who could be the new champion and then introduced Jack Perry as the new TNT Champion. Perry went to the ropes and celebrated.
Christopher Daniels walked out and said he didn’t need their severance package. Daniels said Tony Khan named him the interim executive vice president. He said that when he makes an announcement, it’s coming directly from Khan himself.
Daniels pulled the TNT Title off a podium in the aisle and said they weren’t giving away the title. Daniels said Perry would get his chance. He said they would hold qualifying matches with no one allowed at ringside. The winners will advance to a ladder match at Forbidden Door to crown the new champion. Daniels said the first qualifying match will be held on “Friday Night Dynamite.” Matthew said The Elite were going to show Daniels how happy they are that he’s back.
“The Acclaimed” entrance theme played. Max Caster, Anthony Bowens, and Billy Gunn came out and stood next to Daniels, which kept The Elite members at ringside…
Powell’s POV: I’m all for Tony Khan having a surrogate to make his announcements. The ladder match determining the next TNT Champion feels like a logical choice considering that they recently announced the Owen Hart Cup tournaments will be returning soon.
Swerve Strickland and Prince Nana stood in front of a wall that had a bunch of musician names on it. Nana said Swerve might as well be called Stevie Wonder because nobody can see him in the ring. Swerve showed off the hair he took from Killswitch and then spoke briefly about the Casino Gauntlet match determining his next challenger… [C]
Excalibur announced that MJF will return to Dynamite next week, which led to some boos from the live crowd…
Rush stood on the backstage interview set and congratulated MJF on his return. Rush said if you mess with the bull, you get the horns… Excalibur said MJF just returned and has now been called out by one of the baddest men in the world…
“Bullet Club Gold” Jay White, Juice Robinson, Austin Gunn, and Colten Gunn made their entrance. White headed to the ring for the gauntlet match while the others went backstage. Pac made his entrance…
4. Casino Gauntlet match for a shot at the AEW World Championship at Forbidden Door. Jay White and Pac were the first entrants in the match. There are up to 21 entrants, but the match will end with the first pinfall or submission. Pac entered the ring and blasted White with a kick to start the match. The broadcast team noted that there were no disqualifications.
The third entrant was Mistico, who received a nice reaction from the LA crowd. Mistico performed a dive from the top rope onto both opponents at ringside heading into another PIP break. [C]
The fourth entrant was Will Ospreay, who got the big star reaction. Ospreay entered the ring and acted like he was happy to see White. They slapped hands and then Ospreay punched White.
The fifth entrant was Shota Umino from New Japan Pro Wrestling. White ended up putting Umino down with chops.
The sixth entrant was Claudio Castagnoli, who chased White around the ring and stopped long enough to hit Pac with an uppercut. Castagnoli chased White into the ring where Castagnoli clotheslined Ospreay. Castagnoli hit a popup uppercut on Umino and went for the pin, but White broke it up. Castagnoli gave White a giant swing heading into another PIP break. [C]
The seventh entrant was Lio Rush. The broadcast team noted that Rush has been working for NJPW lately. Rush and Castagnoli had an exchange while everyone else was down at ringside. Rush cleared Castagnoli from the ring. Umino went after Rush and they hit each other with simultaneous clotheslines. Castagnoli returned and put both men down with a double clothesline.
[Overrun] The eighth entrant was Orange Cassidy, who came out to his Pixies entrance theme “Where Is My Mind” and had his head wrapped. Cassidy put Castagnoli down and then sold head issues when he tried to kip up. Ospreay was in the ring waiting for Cassidy, but White returned and hit Cassidy from behind and then took out Ospreay with a suplex. White put Cassidy down with a uranage slam for a two count.
The ninth entrant was Hechicero from CMLL, who didn’t get much of a crowd reaction. He got the crowd behind him with some offensive moves and then got a two count on Cassidy. Mistico performed a springboard into a head-scissors takedown on Hechicero and then performed an around the world style head-scissors on Castagnoli. Mistico jumped from the ropes and performed a huracanrana on Castagnoli at ringside.
In the ring, Cassidy blasted Umino with a Superman Punch and then a “this is awesome chant broke out. Pac avoided a Bladerunner from White and dropped him with a big boot in the corner. Pac went up top, but Juice Robinson showed up and pushed him down. White avoided an Orange Punch and set up for his finisher, but Ospreay took out White and set up for a Storm Breaker on Cassidy, who countered into a huracanrana and a pin for a near fall. Ospreay hit an OsCutter and then pinned Cassidy.
Will Ospreay defeated Jay White, Pac, Mistico, Shota Umino, Claudio Castagnoli, Lio Rush, Orange Cassidy, and Hechicero in 22:20 in a Casino Gauntlet match to earn a shot at the AEW World Championship at Forbidden Door.
Swerve Strickland made his entrance with Prince Nana.
The broadcast team listed the following matches for AEW Rampage: Konosuke Takeshita vs. Penta El Zero Miedo in a ladder match qualifier, Satnam Singh in action, Toni Storm vs. Viva Van in an Eliminator match, Kyle O’Reilly in action.
The broadcast team listed Saraya vs. Mariah May for next week’s Dynamite. Excalibur noted they were apparently going out of order, as he then plugged Will Ospreay vs. Kyle O’Reilly for the AEW International Championship for Collision.
Swerve entered the ring and went face-to-face with Ospreay to close the show…
Powell’s POV: I have it on good authority that the entrants who didn’t get in the match before it concluded were Steve Austin, Undertaker, John Cena, Triple H, and Bill Mulkey. Damn, so close. Bad jokes aside, this was a better than the Casino Gauntlet they held in April. They had a good amount of star power in the match and really should have done more to push that throughout the night even if they didn’t want to reveal any participants ahead of time. Ospreay going over was a pleasant surprise. A lot of people had Swerve vs. Ospreay penciled in for All In. I questioned whether they would even follow through with it then, but we’re actually getting it in just over a month. It’s good to see them not shy away from going with a big showdown match.
Overall, there were a lot of highs and lows that I will have to sort out for tomorrow’s AEW Dynamite Hit List. MJF not appearing was disappointing, but at least they set the table for his return for next week. They also closed the show on a high note. I will be back later tonight with my weekly same night audio review of Dynamite for Dot Net Members (including our Patreon patrons). Let me know what you thought of the show by grading it below.
What IS an “eliminator match”?
If you win the eliminator match you get a second match that is for the title.
Thanks for explaining it! So it’s like the old “Championship Contenders” matches in WWE?
Basically. It’s a non-title match, like wrestling has had forever, but with the title match guaranteed if the upset is pulled off. There’s no real reason for it outside of a long term feud where a chicken shit heel doesn’t want to defend against the top babyface anymore and the booker uses it to put a little intrigue into the non-title match.
Having them seemingly multiple times per week is just another thing than Tony does that makes no fucking sense if you spend any time thinking about it.
“I’m surprised they didn’t do one more attack just to get people thinking about it again before they did the reveal.”
You’re surprised Tony Khan did something, didn’t mention it on TV for weeks, and then suddenly brought it back in the least intriguing and most ham-fisted way possible while generating the least amount of intrigue possible?
That’s his standard booking procedure.
” have it on good authority that the entrants who didn’t get in the match before it concluded were Steve Austin, Undertaker, John Cena, Triple H, and Bill Mulkey.”
I actually heard The Rock, Mankind, Kurt Angle, Shawn Michaels and Bill DeMott but okay. [/smart arse mode]
A total of 21 wrestlers, so clearly we are both correct! In fact, I heard Dude Love and Cactus Jack were also backstage waiting for their numbers to come up.
If Bill MULKEY had entered, everyone would’ve just laid down and let him pin them. You don’t mess with….THE MULKEYS!!!!
Damn right. Long live Mulkey Mania!
Mulkeymania will run wild forever.
Well guys I have video proof that Drew Carrey,Pete Rose,and Johnny Knoxville were hanging out in catering..
It’s been obvious for awhile that TK has rabbit ears, but it’s playing out more and more on TV. Including Hathaway calling himself “Aew’s #1 hater.” TK firmly believes that moniker will have Aew fans frothing at the mouth, when we all know no one will GAF.
That was embarrassing when Excalibur and Jericho were talking at the same time, while the wrong video package was set up. And Jericho had 0 heat.
Wild notion, maybe end the show selling how big of a match Ospreay vs Swerve will be, as opposed to Excalibur speed reading pointless, non-marquee matches on the B shows (out of order, I might add).
Aew fans think TK does no wrong and we Just all nitpick. These are fundamental and and easy to fix, and they are happening regularly after 5 years.
I disagree with you. I think AEW fans know TK’s flaws and are hoping sometime soon he hires a booker, slows things down and tells some stories.
Losing thousands of viewers and having to go to smaller arenas should have been the wakeup call, but not yet I guess.
You’re right, the majority probably realize this. The Aew core won’t see it, but I bet most do.
Perry driving a short bus.
AEW is far from perfect, but this constant, over the top bitching and moaning from non-AEW fans, armchair booker bullshit people has grown beyond stale. Get a life, already. I get it, these rants make you feel “smart” for a minute, but theres a reason you nerds dont already book a wrestling promotion.
There aren’t enough AEW fans to sustain a successful wrestling company. If Tiny Con had a functioning adult brain he would hire someone to actually run things for him.
You can differentiate from WWE, like TNA did before they brought Hogan and Bischoff in, and have a successful alternative. Instead, what AEW is doing is the dumbest shit possible for the dumbest people possible.
Dynamite featured an “eliminator” match where Rocky Romero, who has literally zero singles wins on AEW TV, had the chance to win a title shot for the IWGP title. That’s moronic on every conceivable level.
There were just as many if not more mentions of Tony Khan than there were of Swerve, your world champion. His title ran is starting to feel like it’s not a priority and as a result, he feels a lot less important to the overall product as a result.
Tony has proven repeatedly over the years that while he can occasionally tell a good story with a good ending, there is rarely a good follow up, which damages the pushed talent and greater affects their long term connection with the fans. Wardlow (on multiple occasions) and The Acclaimed come to mind.
The matches for Rampage and Collision will appeal to a small portion of the Dynamite audience but I can’t see anything more than that.
I’m critical of a lot of the things that WWE does. But over the last few years, they’ve progressed in a lot of positive ways. AEW on the other hand seems to be regressing in a lot of ways. They have the talent to put on shows that would blow WWE away. They have the minds in the back that should foster a positive locker room mentality. But it just doesn’t seem to be clicking. I usually enjoy more of Dynamite than I dislike but portions of this show were just a slog.
Also, Jericho needs to be off tv. The stupid line about him wanting more TV time was designed to generate a little heat I know but to the people who are sick of him, it didn’t go that way. He’s quickly turning into channel changing material. And I’ve been a Jericho fan for decades. The dude is damaging his legacy all to feed his very obvious ego issues.