Tonight, All Elite Wrestling is at the Watsco Center in Coral Gables, Florida, for the first Wednesday Night Dynamite following Saturday’s WrestleDream pay-per-view!
Ilja Dragunov makes his highly anticipated AEW in-ring debut tonight when he goes one-on-one with “Speedball” Mike Bailey. Dragunov made a surprise appearance at WrestleDream, and now the former WWF Superstar gets an opportunity to make an immediate impression against one of AEW’s most exciting competitors.
AEW World Champion Will Ospreay teams with Adam Copeland to take on Kyle Fletcher and Kevin Knight. Ospreay and Copeland were opponents just four days ago in the Clockwork Carnage main event, where Ospreay narrowly retained his championship by pinning Copeland in the closing moments. Tonight, the two put their rivalry aside to face a team looking to bounce back from its unsuccessful AEW World Tag Team Championship challenge at WrestleDream.
Speaking of the tag team championship, Matt and Nick Jackson, the Young Bucks, will face Mark Davis and Jake Doyle in an AEW World Tag Team Championship Eliminator Match. Davis and Doyle represent the Don Callis Family, and a victory over the champions would earn them a future title opportunity.
In women’s action, the returning Maya World takes on Queen Aminata in a number-one contender’s match for the TBS Championship. Both women have unfinished business with champion Persephone, who successfully defended the title in a four-way match at WrestleDream. Tonight’s winner will get the next opportunity to challenge for the gold.
With WrestleDream in the rearview mirror, AEW also begins building toward Blood and Guts on November 4 and Full Gear on November 14.
AEW Dynamite airs LIVE tonight at 7 p.m. CT on TBS and HBO Max.
Stinger’s View
This looks like a pretty good card on paper, especially coming out of WrestleDream.
Ilja Dragunov against Mike Bailey is easily the match I’m most interested in seeing. Dragunov is a tremendous wrestler, and Bailey is exactly the kind of opponent who can help him make a strong first impression. I’m expecting a hard-hitting match, and hopefully AEW gives them enough time to deliver.
Ospreay and Copeland teaming together should be interesting, although I have to wonder how long that mutual respect will last. Copeland came awfully close to becoming AEW World Champion on Saturday, and I can’t imagine he’s suddenly forgotten about that championship just because Ospreay wants to be his tag team partner.
I’m also looking forward to the TBS Championship contender’s match. Queen Aminata has impressed me, and Maya World returning from injury gives the division another interesting challenger.
The Young Bucks against Davis and Doyle could be entertaining, but I wish AEW would ease up on these championship eliminator matches. Sometimes it feels like every champion has to lose a non-title match before somebody is allowed to challenge for a belt. Just establish a contender and book the damn title match!
Overall, though, there’s plenty here to like. WrestleDream gave AEW several new directions to explore, and tonight should tell us a little more about where the company is heading toward Full Gear.
