Like the great Yogi Berra once said, it’s getting late early on the road to Full Gear. So tonight’s AEW Dynamite from Portland is going to answer two big questions about who will be holding and competing for certain titles two Saturdays from now at the Kia Forum.
Will the world championship scene change ahead of Full Gear?
Let’s start with the biggest one first. MJF is supposed to be facing Jay White in Inglewood in a title match that subverts the usual champion-challenger dynamic since White has been in physical possession of the AEW World Championship for weeks.
Yet both of them have their spots in that match on the line tonight. White is facing Mark Briscoe, recently returned from injury. Meanwhile, MJF has his belt up for grabs against Daniel Garcia, currently struggling with the whole pro wrestler/sports entertainer thing again.
No one expects either MJF or White to lose, but it’s interesting that these high stakes matches are even taking place with the PPV 10 days away. And hey, if Switchblade loses, he can just refuse to give the title belt back as that’s been working out pretty well for him so far.
Will Samoa Joe vs. Keith Lee steal the show?
It seems like just last week we were complaining about AEW giving Keith Lee nothing interesting to do … because it was. We’re not saying we manifested his ROH World Television Championship shot against Samoa Joe tonight, but it does kind of feel like that.
Even though Joe does not have a title defense scheduled at Full Gear, there’s still time for that. Or maybe Lee actually wins this and becomes a mainstay on ROH for a bit. Either way, we’re looking forward to it.
Will Toni Storm appear only in black and white during her segment?
This is a sillier thing to look forward to, but Tony Schiavone is supposed to have a sitdown interview with Hikaru Shida and “Timeless” Toni Storm before they clash over Shida’s AEW Women’s World Championship at Full Gear, and AEW suggested Storm would only agree to it if she was filmed in black and white.
While her gimmick appears it may be grating on some fans, we still can’t get enough of it, and we can’t wait to see what she might do in the lead-up to Nov. 18.
Also announced for AEW Dynamite tonight:
- Sting and Darby Allin take on The Outrunners
- A returning Red Velvet faces Julia Hart
- Swerve Strickland reps the PNW against Penta El Zero Miedo
AEW Dynamite comes our way from Portland tonight at 8 p.m. ET, and we’ll be ready with live coverage here at Wrestling Junkie at that time.