When you stop and think about it, Adam Cole turning on MJF really isn’t that hard to comprehend. We’ll still get a chance to hear about it straight from the horse’s mouth, so to speak, tonight on AEW Dynamite from Newark.
As many fans suspected, Cole was revealed as the Devil at Worlds End last weekend, reveling in MJF’s suffering in front of his hometown fans — including his loss of the AEW World Championship to Samoa Joe. Cole is undoubtedly going to say that his inability to win the title from MJF at All In London just ate at him so much that he had no other choice. That’s classic pro wrestling motivation, for sure.
But what happens now? MJF is expected to take time off to heal up from injuries/make everyone wonder if he’s staying with AEW. The world title Cole covets so much is in Joe’s hands, and prying it loose won’t be any easier. That might be the part we’re waiting to hear most about from Cole tonight.
Because it’s a day ending in “day,” Orange Cassidy has a title defense on Dynamite too. Plus we’ll see the in-ring debut of Mariah May. We definitely won’t be seeing Bryan Danielson and Jon Moxley, as they’re currently overseas preparing for big matches much later tonight (or early tomorrow morning, depending on how you look at it).
Plus there could be some surprise debuts if the best case scenario works out. That would also be super cool. Maybe even a wrestler with the same alliteration in her name as Mariah May. We’ll see.
For the first time in ’24, let’s light the fuse …
AEW Dynamite results from Newark:
(please scroll down for more details on any match or segment in bold)
- The show begins with Samoa Joe cutting a defiant promo last Saturday against MJF after beating him at Worlds End
- Adam Cole and the Undisputed Kingdom have arrived, but the Devil’s here to stay, bay bay, but they already have enemies gathering
- A highlight package/promo celebrate Eddie Kingston’s Continental Classic victory, where he discusses the confidence he’s gained as a result
- Daniel Garcia talks about his matchup with Swerve Strickland tonight
- Orange Cassidy def. Dante Martin by pinfall to retain the AEW International Championship
- After the match, Private Party makes a return to put every tag team on notice, including FTR, the Young Bucks and The Hardys
- Renee Paquette asks Toni Storm what 2024 holds for her, but she’s not crazy about being in New Jersey and doesn’t care to stick around to see Mariah May make her debut
- The clip of House of Black accepting FTR’s challenge is played again, this time with some highlights of them beating up the Top Guys over the past few weeks
- Paquette talks to Swerve Strickland (with Prince Nana, naturally), who talks about facing Daniel Garcia tonight and gunning for Samoa Joe’s title
- Mariah May def. Queen Aminata by pinfall in her AEW in-ring debut; Paquette speaks to her afterward and finds her excited and hopeful that Storm was watching, but …
- … after she rips on New Jersey, she’s surprised when Deonna Purrazzo shows up and tells her to give a message to Storm: I will find you no matter where you run, and I am All Elite; May declines to pass along the message and slaps Purrazzo but ends up losing a brief scuffle
- Christian Cage thanks everyone but Luchasaurus
- Paquette talks to The Outcasts, who seem to still have some internal issues to work out regarding Harley Cameron
- Konosuke Takeshita def. Darby Allin by pinfall
- Paquette catches up with Takeshita and the rest of the Don Callis Family, who challenge Allin and Sting to a tag team match against Takeshita and Powerhouse Hobbs
- Kingston joins the announcers to see who will be the No. 1 contender for his title
- Trent Beretta def. Brian Cage, Bryan Keith and El Hijo Del Vikingo (with a little help from Danhausen) to get a shot at Kingston’s Continental Crown Championship
- An angry Hangman Adam Page interrupts Paquette’s latest interview to declare that he’s looking for Cole and Undisputed Kingdom … like right now
- Swerve Strickland def. Daniel Garcia by pinfall, but Hangman Adam Page arrives after the match to brawl with Swerve until staffers and referees can finally pull them apart
Adam Cole and the Undisputed Kingdom deliver their mission statement, but not everyone loves it
A new entrance video and theme announce Cole and his men as Undisputed. Roderick Strong tells everyone to shup up and listen to his best friend, and Cole starts off by wondering if no one had sympathy for him.
He scoffs at the idea that they are the bad guys just because they betrayed MJF, as Max was the one who talked badly about everyone in the locker room. Cole says most of the wrestlers, fans and even Tony Khan will thank him, because MJF is gone and he’s never coming back.
Cole suggests that the second MJF didn’t need him any more, he would have stabbed Adam in the back. MJF needed Adam Cole, and no one would be cheering for Maxwell if not for Adam. “I saved MJF’s championship reign, and I also ended it.”
The new group is called the Undisputed Kingdom, and their goal is to win as much gold as possible. The Kingdom has the tag titles, Roddy will chase the International Championship and Wardlow will go after the World Championship … and then give it to Cole when he’s healthy. Uh, OK.
One person who may not be down with that comes out to retort, and that’s Switchblade Jay White. He’s upset about getting jumped when he was flying solo, but he’s no longer alone as The Gunns join him in storming the ring.
Bullet Club Gold is outnumbered, however, but that changes soon when The Acclaimed and Daddy Ass arrive as reinforcements. The Undisputed Kingdom quickly retreats in the face of their numerical disadvantage. The fans want BCG and The Acclaimed to scissor, but White tells the Gunns to leave the ring.
Orange Cassidy squeezes out another title defense against Dante Martin
The announce team wonders if Cassidy will have to change the way he approaches this matchup given the way Martin moves around the ring. Orange has fought some high-fliers, though, so one expects he’ll be fine.
There’s some nice mat wrestling to kick things off with each man getting the edge at different times. The pace accelerates gradually, and Martin shows no signs of being psyched out by Cassidy’s usual slacker antics.
Martin takes the worst of it when the battle moves to the floor, getting thrown into the barricade more than once. Cassidy runs around the ring, slowly, to deliver a dropkick, but Martin fights back right before side-by-side ads.
The challenger is taking the lead when we return, though the announcers note how he’s selling damage to his lower back. Dante and Orange exchange slow mo kicks, but Cassidy is ready when Martin tries to sneak in a real shot.
A DDT gets Cassidy a near fall, so he heads up top. Martin is knocked down twice and ends up taking a diving DDT even after landing on his feet. Ouch.
After Martin kicks out at two, Cassidy looks for Beach Break, but it’s countered into a GTS that nearly wins it. Dante delivers a senton on his way to the corner, but Orange slowly rolls away from whatever is next … or he thinks he does, as Martin walks the ropes to drop a splash for a near fall.
Back and forth they go with pinning predicaments until Cassidy connects on an Orange Punch, and that proves to be the winning move.
The Patriarch says all is right now that he’s still TNT Champion
Christian Cage is ready to talk, and Shayna Wayne tries to keep people quiet so he can do so. Cage says he’s been TNT Champion for 200 days and doesn’t let Tony Schiavone confuse him with the facts. He admits he went through a war at Worlds End and thanks Shayna Wayne and Nick Wayne for their help.
Will he thank Killswitch? Nope. The fans start a loud “Luchasaurus” chant while Cage dismisses Adam Copeland and suggests their feud is behind him. Cage warns anyone else who might have designs on the TNT Championship and says The Patriarchy are the faces of AEW now and forever.
Konosuke Takeshita impresses with victory over Darby Allin
Don Callis unfortunately joins the announcers for this one, as Allin appears to possibly tweak his knee in the early going. They wrestle to a standoff that even Callis says impresses him.
Takeshita hits a big back body drop that backs up Callis’ assertion that size matters. He grabs a side headlock to keep Darby grounded, and even after Allin gets free, he dives through the ropes and right into a jumping knee.
Want another impressive sequence? Takeshita rolls backwards down the ramp for three rolling German suplexes in a row. Sweet stuff.
During picture-in-picture, Allin does his usual cannonball to the floor, but is nearly pinned right after the full broadcast comes back. The fans start a “this is awesome” chant as Takeshita stalks his prey.
Darby bails out of a running corner knee strike, then lures his opponent into smashing through the barricade by the timekeeper’s area. Allin hits him with a Coffin Drop that leaves both men strewn about the floor.
As they re-renter the ring, Allin greets Takeshita with a Code Red and almost gets the three. Darby wants another Coffin Drop but hits only knees.
Knees and other strikes are battering Allin, but he pulls off an inside cradle for a quick two count, then another with a crucifix pin. Takeshita crashes home a big lariat, and Callis signals him to finish his foe.
A Helluva Kick leaves Allin woozy as his opponent takes him up top for a huge German superplex. A running knee is next, and even Darby isn’t getting up from that.
Swerve Strickland gets by Daniel Garcia, but he’s still got a Hangman problem
Daddy Magic joins the announcers for this one, who inform us that we have at least a five-minute overrun if necessary. That suggests it almost certainly will be.
Garcia takes some of the early offense and sees if he can lure Swerve into some mat exchanges, which he does. Strickland takes the kitchen sink, but the crowd is chanting for him even as he gets sent to the floor and then into the barricade.
Prince Nana is talking to Garcia from behind his back, and Daniel turns to engage him in a brief dance-off. Wrestling returns pretty quickly, which is bad for DG as he takes a Death Valley Driver on the apron.
Strickland thinks he’s in control after commercials, but Garcia quickly disabuses him of that notion by beating him into the corner. A running knee is next, then a shotgun dropkick.
Garcia’s stalling suplex allows him to cover for a near fall. Strickland hits a backbreaker and a flurry of additional offense, and now it’s Garcia kicking out at two.
The battle goes to the announce table and forces everyone to bail out, and when Garcia goes for a Sharpshooter, both men end up sliding off the back of the table. They fight back to the top rope, where Garcia hits a superplex but is quickly suplexed in turn.
Garcia’s rally is answered by a Flatliner, and he follows with the Drive-By kick that comes oh so close to ending it. Swerve Stomp is on target but somehow still not enough.
Swerve summons what is left in his tank to deliver a House Call, and the JML Driver is enough to end it. After the match, Strickland extends his hand, but it’s a trap so Nana can hit Garcia with a low blow. Daddy Magic gets one too, but just as Nana is about to say Strickland will be the next AEW World Champion, Hangman Adam Page’s music hits and brings the cow boy to the ring.
Swerve laughs, but only for a second until they start throwing hands. Security swarms the ring to pull them apart, but Hangman breaks free and gets in more shots. Swerve does the same, so it seems like 10 men won’t be enough to get this done.
