Check out full AEW Dynamite results for Wild Card Wednesday from Houston.
The Owen Hart Foundation tournaments on both the men’s and women’s sides get an added dose of intrigue tonight, as it’s Wild Card Wednesday on AEW Dynamite from Houston.
Both Samoa Joe and Dr. Britt Baker made it to the quarterfinals of their respective tourneys, but neither wrestler knows who they’ll be facing tonight. That’s because both brackets have a Joker; not the Batman villain, but rather an opponent whose identity won’t be known until Joe and Britt are standing in the ring and hear some music hit.
Seeing as AEW is home of the Forbidden Door, the Jokers could be wrestlers already on the roster … but they don’t necessarily have to be. Those reveals are certain to spice things up.
Another matchup on the men’s side that we do know is Adam Cole vs. Jeff Hardy, which is the latest in a line of “never before seen” AEW dream bouts. Plus Wardlow has to suffer through 10 lashes from MJF to get the match he wants with his boss at Double or Nothing, and much more.
If you can’t watch the show tonight or just want a refresher on what’s gone down, bookmark this page as we’ll update with quick bullet points here and more detailed AEW Dynamite results if you continue scrolling down.
Check out the best photos from the Owen Hart Foundation quarterfinal between Jeff Hardy and Darby Allin on the May 11, 2022 episode of AEW Dynamite.
Check out the best photos of the Owen Hart Foundation Men’s Tournament quarterfinal between Jeff Hardy and Darby Allin on the May 11, 2022 episode of AEW Dynamite. (Photos courtesy of All Elite Wrestling)
Get ready for the week in WWE and AEW with previews for Raw, SmackDown, Dynamite and Rampage.
Welcome to the Opening Bell, where we round up what’s been announced for WWE (Raw and SmackDown) and AEW (Dynamite and Rampage) programming for the week ahead.
WWE Raw preview – Norfolk Scope Arena, Norfolk, Va. (live)
With Bobby Lashley and Omos tied at one win apiece in their feud, it’s time for the two powerhouses to settle things inside a steel cage.
If Lashley loses, he can’t complain since it was his idea to lay out this particular challenge last Monday. The idea, of course, is that MVP can’t interfere, something that directly contributed to Omos’ win at WrestleMania Backlash. But this particular storyline feels like one that might continue into Hell in a Cell, so don’t be shocked if there’s no definitive winner Monday night even though the stipulation suggests there should be.
AEW Dynamite preview – Fertitta Center, Houston (live)
AEW is billing this week’s Dynamite as “Wild Card Wednesday,” which fits their gambling-related theming for the upcoming Double or Nothing PPV, but is also a reference to the jokers being revealed for both Owen Hart Foundation tournaments. Whoever the mystery wrestlers are, they’ll have their hands full in quarterfinal matchups with Samoa Joe and Dr. Britt Baker.
AEW Rampage preview – Fertitta Center, Houston (taped)
The most interesting question for Rampage each week at this point is when it will air on TNT thanks to NBA and NH playoff games. The answer for this Friday, May 20 is 7 p.m. ET/6 p.m. CT.
As for the card, the one match we know for sure is going down is an Owen Hart Foundation women’s quarterfinal between Red Velvet and Kris Statlander. Statlander is taking the place of Velvet’s originally announced opponent, Hikaru Shida.
WWE SmackDown preview – Van Andel Arena, Grand Rapids, Mich. (live)
This is it, finally. The tag team titles have been teased for a unification match since prior to WrestleMania Backlash, with The Usos trying to fulfill a directive from Roman Reigns to obtain both sets of titles and RK-Bro understandably figuring it would be cool to grab them for themselves.
This Friday, the two teams will settle things once and for all to decide which tag team reigns supreme. Probably. If Reigns doesn’t interfere, and the Street Profits, who have been on the periphery of this story throughout, don’t decide to do something. Just saying, Hell in a Cell isn’t that far away …
If MJF leaves for WWE at the end of his contract, it would be painful for AEW, but also a sign of how far the company has come.
Maybe MJF is executing a long-running work on professional wrestling fandom when he talks about his impending free agency. If he is, props to him. If not, it stands to be one of the more fascinating stories that will play out in the industry over the next year or two.
There’s no question that MJF is a bona fide star. Just watching one or two of his best promos, like the one he cut in his hometown of Long Island during Dynamite this week, can convince nearly anyone of that. He’s got a way with words, and more importantly, the innate sense of how to connect with crowds, that all of pro wrestling’s biggest icons have had.
His in-ring work is also above average, and at just 26, his best years are almost certainly still ahead of him. Free agents that check all the boxes the way he does simply don’t come around that often … and he knows it.
That’s why it’s been so intriguing to hear him work his knowledge of his own self-worth into his character. While he’s been talking about what he might do when his current contract is up (Jan. 1, 2024, in case you somehow haven’t heard him mention it yet) for some time — and not so subtly hinting that he’d consider heading to WWE — the most blatant example of it was during his interview on The Ariel Helwani Show a month ago.
When you say flat out that you could “bite oft Tony Khan’s fingers” and it wouldn’t matter, suffice it to say you’re feeling pretty strong about your negotiating position.
Yet the ultimate decision date for this particular negotiation is still a long way away. The most recent reports by Fightful Select say the two sides aren’t any closer to an extension now than they were a month ago, and that MJF is leaning toward not re-signing. But a year and a half is approximately forever in the wrestling business, where things can and do change on a dime.
It’s an even longer horizon for AEW, which is only three years old as a company and has a lot to work out in its own right before the end of 2023. Foremost among those items is a new television deal, as its current agreement with TNT and TBS expires next year.
(That situation has become much more complicated over the past few months, with a merger between WarnerMedia and Discovery creating Warner Bros. Discovery, and the GM of TNT and TBS during the time AEW signed its TV deal exiting the company. It could easily be the topic of its own column.)
Maybe the next TV deal AEW signs is even more lucrative than the current one, and contains provisions for streaming and the like. If that’s the case, it’s possible that Khan simply throws a ton of money at MJF, he stays in the fold, and this was all just a lot of fun speculation masterfully kept on the minds of fans and journalists by MJF himself.
But let’s consider the other, much juicier scenario: MJF leaves and signs with WWE.
It wouldn’t be the first time a big name wrestler had gone in that direction. Cody Rhodes left AEW for WWE earlier this year, making a splashy debut as the mystery opponent for Seth Rollins at WrestleMania 38. It was a move that surprised many since Rhodes was one of the driving forces behind the creation of AEW in the first place, and had an executive role in the company to boot. His choice to return to WWE had to sting all throughout AEW.
Losing MJF would hurt even more. Unlike Rhodes, MJF has no prior work history in WWE, and would be heading there by choice to see if he could continue his success with an even bigger platform. Having an EVP switch back to a previous employer is one thing. Watching one of the supposed foundations of your company, a man on whom the future was going to be built, is something else entirely.
That said, there’s something of a silver lining in this worst case scenario for AEW: If MJF decides to take his talents elsewhere, it would be the biggest confirmation to date that AEW is legitimate competition to WWE.
Consider that MJF has made no bones about the fact that he’s seeking a big raise in his next contract, and to acquire him, WWE would have to outbid AEW. It wouldn’t be doing that to put him on NXT (especially not in its current, talent development-heavy incarnation), but to present him as A Big Deal, right away. Unlike Rhodes, who was a known quantity to fans who only watch WWE programming, this would be a homegrown AEW star being positioned as someone important — and not just any wrestler, but one of the four pillars, someone just about to enter his prime.
Not that WWE would mention AEW by name, of course. Some things never change, and avoiding even the appearance of having competitors has worked pretty well for the company over the years. Even left unsaid, however, this would be a powerful message: This performer became a star somewhere else, and we brought him here because he think he’ll be a big attraction here too. That wouldn’t be the case if the “somewhere else” wasn’t relevant in its own right.
Keeping MJF should be, and probably is, the focus for Khan and AEW management. Seeing him walk would be rough, but would also be the most significant validation so far that AEW has arrived in a way that no other No. 2 U.S. wrestling promotion has in the 21st century.
It’s going to be an entertaining 18 months until we find out which way it ends up.
Checkout the AEW Dynamite results as we update the action from UBS Arena in Long Island live as it happens on TBS.
Whether you agree with MJF about Long Island being the “Most Magical Place in the World” or not, there’s no question that AEW Dynamite from the UBS Arena has an intriguing card.
For starters, the Owen Hart Foundation tournaments get underway in both the men’s and women’s brackets. Darby Allin faces Jeff Hardy in what Allin has called a dream match, Adam Cole takes on Dax Harwood, and Jamie Hayter collides with Toni Storm in what can already be called a grudge match.
There may be an even more highly anticipated match, however. That would be the one featuring Danhausen making his in-ring AEW debut against the Premier Athlete, Tony Nese. Will Danhausen’s overture to Hook last week convince him to lend a hand if needed?
Plus in terms of the potential for pure hijinks, there’s a victory speech by the Jericho Appreciation Society, and a contract signing between MJF and Wardlow. Surely nothing out of the ordinary will happen during either of those segments, right?
Bookmark this page for updated AEW Dynamite results as they happen, then scroll down if you want more details on any match or big segment throughout the night.
AEW Women’s World Champion Thunder Rosa joined the Under the Ring podcast to discuss what it means to be champion, how she defines herself and much more.
If you run into AEW World Women’s Champion Thunder Rosa when you’re out shopping, don’t be surprised if she has a very noticeable piece of gold with her.
Rosa said she was still getting used to having the title with her “at Walmart and at the court house” when she appeared as this week’s guest on the Under the Ring podcast with Phil Strum. The 35-year-old Rosa, who became champion when she defeated Britt Baker in a Steel Cage Match on the March 16 episode of AEW Dynamite, told Strum that she’s still wrapping her head around what it really means to be champion and how she can make her reign meaningful.
“It’s very, very special,” Rosa said. “It’s such a wonderful tool that I can utilize, not only to elevate myself as a wrestler, as a woman, as an entrepreneur, but also to elevate other women that want to be at the same level as I am right now.”
Other topics Rosa discusses on this episode include:
Her journey to define herself as a wrestler, which took her back and forth from Japan to the U.S.
What attracted her to pro wrestling to start training at the relatively late age of 28 — and which one of her current AEW colleagues inspired her to take the leap
The influences and thought that go into her ring gear
What drove her to start her own women’s wrestling promotion, Mission Pro Wrestling
You can check out the entire episode with Thunder Rosa below.
Under the Ring drops new episodes every Monday, with Strum interviewing different guests from the entire spectrum of pro wrestling each week. Other recent guests have included veteran wrestler Tony Devito, AEW star and one half of The Acclaimed, Anthony Bowens, and Impact Wrestling’s Matt Taven.
Be sure to subscribe via Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast provider, or check out the conversations in video form on the Under the Ring YouTube channel.
Tony Khan revealed earlier start times for the May 13 and May 20 episodes of AEW Rampage.
As soon as Turner Sports announced a deal to begin broadcasting NHL games this season, to go along with its NBA broadcast rights, it was inevitable that AEW programming would be affected. The first shoe to drop was Dynamite switching from TNT to TBS, and now Rampage is feeling the effects of both leagues’ postseasons as well.
With its normal 10 p.m. ET time slot prime territory for playoff games, Rampage switched to a much earlier 5:30 p.m. ET slot for its May 6 show. Today, Tony Khan announced on Busted Open that the next two episodes of Rampage will be moving up as well:
The May 13 episode of Rampage will start the same time as the previous week at 5:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p.m. CT, due to NHL playoff games in prime time.
The May 20 episode of Rampage will air at 7:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. CT — though in this case it’s the NBA Playoffs necessitating the move.
Though it’s the ultimate small sample size, early returns suggest that the 5:30 ET spot is not good for Rampage, which makes sense it’s barely at the end of a stereotypical work day in the east. Last week’s Rampage drew all-time lows in both total viewers and the vitally important 18-49 demographic, and there’s no reason to think it might not challenge those depths again this Friday.
The NBA has been especially tough competition for wrestling shows across the board this spring, with viewers tuning in to see postseason basketball in numbers not seen in a decade or more. There’s not a whole lot AEW can do except weather the storm until the summer, and it’s fortunate Dynamite has a secure Wednesday night slot on TBS. The number of conflicts will also decrease as the NBA and NHL get closer to their championships and the total number of games to air in each round is less, but until then, expect Rampage to keep getting shuffled around from week to week.
Tony Khan said on the Swerve City podcast that he “misread how happy the fans would be” for Sammy Guevara and Tay Conti.
Tony Khan figured that since AEW fans cheered Sammy Guevara and Tay Conti separately, they’d like them even more as a power couple. Imagine his surprise when the reaction was exactly the opposite.
Indeed, fans have been lustily booing Guevara and Conti in recent weeks, leading Khan to switch gears with them creatively. It’s had a ripple effect as well: While Scorpio Sky, partner Ethan Page and American Top Team head honcho Dan Lambert were clearly supposed to be the heels when they first started having issues with Guevara and Conti, Sky has pivoted to be a fan favorite, and Page seems to be teetering on the edge of a switch as well (Lambert … not so much, at least to date).
As Khan explained on a recent appearance on the Swerve City podcast, he simply didn’t expect fans to react the way they did when presenting the two wrestlers as a couple (h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription).
“I was really happy for them, so maybe I misread how happy the fans would be for them,” Khan said. “So, I think I have course-corrected that. You don’t try to fit a square peg in a round hole. I like Sammy, I like Tay, the fans like Sammy, the fans like Tay. I like Sammy and Tay together, the fans do not, and that’s where we differentiate, so that’s what I have come to accept.”
It would be easy to criticize Khan after the fact for thinking that Guevara, who had proposed to his then-girlfriend Pam on AEW programming not that long before, would be greeted warmly while parading around with Conti. But the important thing is that the double turn has been made, giving Guevara a chance to capitalize on his knack for saying things to get fans riled up. This is one “course correction” that likely will prove to be the right one.
Check out previews for Raw, SmackDown, Dynamite and Rampage, including the fallout from WrestleMania Backlash and the kickoff of the Owen Hart Foundation tournaments.
Welcome to the Opening Bell, where we round up what’s been announced for WWE (Raw and SmackDown) and AEW (Dynamite and Rampage) programming for the week ahead.
WWE Raw – XL Center, Hartford, CT (live)
WWE hasn’t released its official Raw preview yet, perhaps allowing WrestleMania Backlash to soak in just a bit more. But the fallout from the event should be front and center, particularly what’s next for the Raw Tag Team Champions, RK-Bro. Is a tag team unification bout still on the horizon?
Seth Rollins won’t be happy following his second straight loss to Cody Rhodes, particularly the way it came about. The Visionary should have something to say about that Monday night, and could give us a hint as to whether he’s seeking a third match with Rhodes or moving on to something else.
And plenty of recent Raw storylines didn’t play a part in Backlash, so those are worth watching for as well. Particularly intriguing is the Kevin Owens situation, as he continues to turn what would otherwise be just another midcard subplot into gold with his quest to prove Ezekiel isn’t who he claims to be.
AEW Dynamite – UBS Arena, Long Island (live)
The Owen Hart Foundation tournaments get underway this Wednesday on TBS. The men’s tourney will see Darby Allin take on Jeff Hardy, as well as Dax Harwood vs. Adam Cole, while the women’s tourney features Jamie Hayter vs. Toni Storm. And since the “Most Magical Place in the World” is his hometown, MJF is sure to have something special cooked up for his contract signing with Wardlow.
The Jericho Appreciation Society has a celebration with the “AEW Galaxy” for Chris Jericho‘s most recent victory
WWE SmackDown – Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza, Wilkes Barre, PA (live)
The big match announced for SmackDown this week is one that fans may have rightfully expected to see at WrestleMania Backlash: the Women’s Tag Team Championship match. Sasha Banks and Naomi will look to retain their titles as they face Shayna Baszler and Natalya.
AEW Rampage – UBS Arena, Long Island (taped)
There’s a title on the line this week on Rampage, as Scorpio Sky lived up to his promise to give former SCU teammate Frankie Kazarian the first crack at his TNT Championship.
Also revealed for this Friday:
Ruby Soho battles Riho in another Owen Hart Foundation Women’s Tournament quarterfinal bout
Khan said he would like to see Taylor in the ring but that he’d rather see him in the Hall.
Former Jacksonville Jaguars running back Fred Taylor, who has been retired since 2010, is best known as one of the better running backs in the league. But now that his playing career is over, Jaguars co-owner and executive Tony Khan thinks he could have another calling.
Khan also owns All Elite Wrestling, and he was asked which non-wrestling athlete he would like to see fight in the ring. He said that his choice would be Taylor, and he used the question as an opportunity to lobby for Taylor’s selection in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
“(Taylor) was one of the greatest running backs ever, I think Fred Taylor belongs in the Hall of Fame,” Khan said. “There’s only two running backs in the history of the NFL who ever carried the ball 2,500 times and maintained an average of 4.6 yards per carry or more, only two ever: Barry Sanders and Fred Taylor.”
The Jaguars finally got their first player in the Hall of Fame last week, as former offensive tackle Tony Boselli was elected as part of the 2022 class. Many feel that Taylor’s time is coming as well.
“I was here with him last night to celebrate that Tony Boselli’s in the Hall of Fame, finally, which is long overdue also. And now I think hopefully we can also get a second Jaguar in the Hall of Fame, Fred Taylor and Jimmy Smith… I think would both be great candidates.
“So Fred Taylor getting in the ring I think would be awesome, and Fred Taylor getting in the Hall of Fame would be even better.”
Taylor may not be making his wrestling debut any time soon, but an appearance in Canton seems a lot more likely. He’s yet to be a finalist, but that could be set to change in the coming years.
