It’s been five years since AEW Dynamite was in Atlanta, Georgia. That last event featured the promotion’s first steel cage match.
It also showcased one of The Lucha Bros’ best matches against AEW World Tag Team champions, Kenny Omega and “Hangman” Adam Page. After Page tried to meet with Swerve Strickland last week, could Page try the same with Omega?
This return card is built around the increasingly violent dissection and re-invention of Ricochet. With a pair of golden scissors, Ricochet tried to dissect Strickland’s forehead. Their confrontation on Collision proved to be a final masterstroke for this feud.
With the repeated use of scissors, is this going to be a clean-cut contest? Both men might be about to lose control, and I think we’ll like it.
AEW Dynamite Announced Card:
- “Timeless” Toni Storm vs. Queen Aminata with AEW Women’s World Champion Mariah May on commentary
- International All-Star Tag: Hounds of Hell vs. Konosuke Takeshita and Kyle Fletcher
- Will Ospreay vs. a member of the Don Callis Family
- Swerve Strickland vs. Ricochet
Gamble of the Night: International All-Star Tag
AEW Dynamite, at its best, offers intriguing contests where the results and finishes are hard to predict. The newly re-christened Hounds of Hell have fans invested and are so early in their new run. But The Don Callis Family members, Konosuke Takeshita and Kyle Fletcher, are taking on two of wrestling’s GOATs at Grand Slam – someone must lose.
For the Hounds, they have just reset themselves. Losing now that they’re leaderless undermines their new pathway. Likewise, Takeshita and Fletcher can’t afford the loss.
But someone must lose. However, if the contest is as jaw-dropping, physical, and mesmerizing as the graphic suggests, the result will be secondary.
This dream factory contest will see mirroring opposites collide. Beef battling between Takeshita and Brody King is going to leave fans barking and hoarse. Seeing the two Aussie hybrids of Buddy Matthews and Kyle Fletcher flying, kicking, and spiking each other could be kinetic poetry.
Surely, this might not be a one-and-done? There are possible ways this links to further contests at Grand Slam and beyond. Will Ospreay did say he’d have Matthew’s back.
Swerve Strickland vs. Ricochet
Perhaps the hottest program in AEW currently, Ricochet has found his character and reinvented himself. The adjustment between WWE and AEW is a difficult one many wrestlers have struggled getting through, but Ricochet has gotten there faster than some.
However, the most seamless was Swerve Strickland, who gained the biggest crowd reactions. AEW is his house.
Both men are at a crossroads. Ricochet is no longer hiding who he is. Ricochet is done with fans and is just a performing acrobat.
Instead, the man who is “Out of this World” is going to do what it takes to address critics by cutting corners and scalps. If that’s what it takes, that’s what it takes.
Peeling back the façade, Strickland has brought the violence on himself. Since losing to “Hangman” Adam Page in that violent masterpiece at All Out, Strickland has not been the same as a character. Although Swerve calls himself a villain, this is questionable.
Strickland lost to Bobby Lashley after showing loyalty to Prince Nana. There’s a weakness in the armor.
On Wednesday, Strickland can prove before, during, and/or post-match that he is ruthless in revenge. Or is there another swerve coming?
More From LWOS Pro Wrestling
Header photo – AEW – Stay tuned to the Last Word on Pro Wrestling for more on AEW Dynamite and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world. As well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world. You can catch AEW Dynamite on Wednesday nights at 8 PM ET on TBS. AEW Rampage airs on TNT at 10 PM EST every Friday night. AEW Collision airs Saturday at 8pm Eastern on TNT. More AEW content available on their YouTube
