It’s time to see what Daniel Garcia is all about on AEW Dynamite from Portland.
Garcia has had quite the journey during his time in AEW. Originally positioned as a no-nonsense technical wrestler, he did almost a complete 180 by joining the Jericho Appreciation Society. He’s now known even more for his hip-thrusting dance, though his in-ring skills certainly haven’t gone away.
He’s also competed against some of the best the company has to offer, including Bryan Danielson, Jon Moxley, Eddie Kingston and Orange Cassidy. Garcia is somehow still only 25 years old, so his best days may very well still be in front of him.
Perhaps this will be one of those days. Garcia has a shot at the AEW World Championship held by MJF, and while it would be shocking indeed for AEW to do a big title change on free TV just 10 days out from a pay-per-view — where it’s already advertised MJF vs. Jay White as a featured bout — stranger things have happened.
White has a hurdle of his own to clear tonight in Portland, where he’ll take on Mark Briscoe, who just recently returned from injury. White’s spot in the Full Gear match is on the line, but unlike MJF, the Switchblade has several buddies to watch his back and ensure he makes it out of Dynamite with that opportunity intact.
(And the title belt in his possession, since he’s been holding onto it even though it still belongs to MJF.)
Plus we’ll see Darby Allin and Sting in tag team action, Swerve Strickland vs. Penta, the in-ring return of Red Velvet, and a talking segment with the Golden Jets, Kenny Omega and Chris Jericho.
You ready? We’re ready to start recapping the action.
AEW Dynamite results from Portland:
(please scroll down for full details on any match or segment in bold)
- MJF tells Tony Schiavone that he’s not losing tonight or to Jay White before he gets a video call from BFF Adam Cole, but MJF seems upset that Cole suggests again that he consider Samoa Joe’s offer to watch his back; Daniel Garcia seems offended that MJF says he’ll handle him and confirms that Max will get the professional wrestler tonight …
- … but that’s not all because Roderick Strong stops by, and he vows to remind everybody “who the hell I am”
- MJF def. Daniel Garcia by submission to retain the AEW World Championship
- Mark Briscoe talks about how he and Jay White have locked up in tag team matches but never in a singles match and warns him about what’s coming later tonight
- Darby Allin and Sting def. The Outrunners by submission
- Schiavone interviews Toni Storm and Hikaru Shida in black and white, where Timeless Toni essentially blames Hikaru for what happened to her
- Swerve Strickland def. Penta El Zero Miedo by pinfall, but Hangman Adam Page gets the beginning of some payback afterward with a chair assault and a DeadEye through a table
- Jay White gets in some barbs on MJF and tells him to sit back and watch what he does to Briscoe
- Don Callis and Kenny Omega cut dueling promos on each other
- Renee Paquette talks to Omega and Chris Jericho, who are interrupted by the bitter Young Bucks; one thing leads to another, and they agree on a tag team match at Full Gear with some stakes: If the Bucks lose, the tag team title shot goes to the Golden Jets, who will break up if they lose
- Samoa Joe def. Keith Lee by submission to retain the ROH World Television Championship, then relinquishes his title to concentrate on the world title held by MJF
- Orange Cassidy says Jon Moxley must be nuts thinking he overlooked Mox, and he says he needs to beat Jon to be the champ he knows he is
- The Gunns def. Bollywood Boyz in less than a minute, then boast about their talent and mock MJF ahead of their ROH title match against him and a mystery partner at Full Gear; as MJF watches backstage, Joe approaches him and he decides to move on
- Moxley gives his rebuttal to Orange Cassidy, suggesting he’s setting a poor example for Hook and that he doesn’t deserve to make it to Full Gear; Wheeler Yuta tells Hook he crossed the wrong crew too
- Lest we forget that Wardlow is gunning for MJF too, a video package showing him working out reminds us that, yes, he is
- Julia Hart def. Red Velvet by pinfall, but her post-match attack is interrupted by Skye Blue, and eventually, Kris Statlander and Willow Nightingale
- Mariah May is in AEW and seems really excited to meet Toni Storm
- Jay White def. Mark Briscoe by pinfall
- MJF’s music hits after White’s match, and he sneaks in the ring from the back and lays out White’s Bullet Club Gold teammates with the Dynamite Diamond Ring; White heads for the safety of the ramp while MJF tells him playtime is almost over and says Switchblade will have to kill him to beat him because he is fighting for everyone who’s been riding with him, but then …
- … the lights go out and people in all black are shown assaulting The Acclaimed, throwing Anthony Bowens through a window; the main in the Devil mask appears briefly as MJF heads backstage, too late to do anything, and Joe laughs at how he’s “running out of friends”