AEW Dynamite Homecoming Preview for August 4, 2021

It will always be home base for All Elite Wrestling, and after running all our events there for over a year, it certainly became our home. That's why it is only appropriate that this Wednesday night, when DYNAMITE once more emanates from Daily's Place in Jacksonville, we dub this event HOMECOMING 2021!

Last week,our stellar fans in the Queen City witnessed absolute carnage when Chris Jericho barely survived his second labour that came in the form of “The Death Match King” Nick Gage. With thirty years under his belt as a competitor, one would think Jericho had experienced all that pro wrestling had to offer, but in the main event, the former AEW World Champion endured an onslaught of new experiences in the form of light tubes, panes of glass, and a pizza cutter. It was unlike anything every witnessed in AEW, on TNT, or by Chris during his entire career, but he lived to tell the tale, if only to find out his third task would take the form of an old foe.

FIGHT FOR THE FALLEN 2021 also saw the “Ace of New Japan” Hiroshi Tanahashi drop in via video to challenge the winner of the Lance Archer/Hikuleo IWGP US Title bout. So now “The Murderhawk Monster” has a date with that living legend of NJPW! The Elite shut down Hangman Page and The Dark Order's challenge in an unforgettable ten-men elimination tag, FTR showed the world why they are the best tag team in AEW (save the champions) with their victory over Santana and Ortiz, and a landmark announcement was made regarding AEW RAMPAGE on Friday August 20th!

This week during HOMECOMING 2021, Cody Rhodes and Malakai Black will lock horns after several weeks of Black assaulting Cody at every opportunity! Plus the TNT Title will be defended when Miro gives “Big Shotty” Lee Johnson the biggest opportunity of his career, and Chris Jericho faces Cruiserweight icon Juventud Guerrera in his 3rd Labour, while The Bunny collides with Leyla Hirsch with a future NWA World Women's Championship match on the line!

It goes down this Wednesday night LIVE on TNT at 8pm EST/7pm CST, or on AEWPlus.com for our international audience! And be sure to head to our official YouTube channel to get prepared for all the HOMECOMING 2021 action by catching this week's AEW DARK: ELEVATION, with matches featuring Darby Allin, The Factory, Yuka Sakazaki, as well as the 100th edition of AEW DARK with Jon Moxley in action, plus bouts from Eddie Kingston, Tay Conti, PAC versus Jack Evans, Diamante versus Leyla Hirsch, and loads more on tap! Subscribe now to insure you never miss an episode of our YouTube exclusive events every week!

LABOURS OF JERICHO: CHAPTER 3...

Chris Jericho vs. Juventud Guerrera

***JERICHO MUST WIN WITH A TOP ROPE MANUEVER***

June 30, 1997: that would mark the first time Juventud Guerrera and Chris Jericho locked horns in a professional wrestling match, and that night on TNT, Jericho successfully retained his Cruiserweight Title. They would collide many more times over the next couple years, frequently with a championship on the line, and more often than not, it was Jericho finding ways to win the match by the skin of his teeth. At one point in 1998, Chris even cost Guerrera his prized mask in a Title versus Mask bout! Yet, if there is any consolation to be had, the losses sustained by The Juice during their rivalry were frequently because Jericho, quite frankly, did not play fair. He would find ways to get himself disqualified or use underhanded tactics to win, but on a more level playing field (such as when Dean Malenko officiated their title bout) Guerrera emerged the winner!

So it is quite an intriguing selection by Maxwell Jacob Friedman to pull Juventud Guerrera into the AEW fold for these five labours. Much like Jericho, Juvi has stayed active throughout his nearly 30 year career, competing all around the world, and even against many competitors active on the AEW roster. He has stepped into the ring with Jack Evans, Aaron Solo, Ricky Starks, The Lucha Bros, Brian Pillman Jr, Fuego Del Sol, and The Best Friends, just to name a few, and has continued to capture championships wherever he goes. And based on the tweet embedded below, Juventud Guerrera is fired up to represent MJF in his third labour:

Will the history of Juvi and Jericho continue as it has in the past, tilting in the favor of the latter man rather than the former? Or will the absolute hell “Le Champion” experienced one week ago prove his downfall in this third trial? And it would be neglectful not to mention the terms of the match; given the stipulation of Jericho having to hit a maneuver off the top rope to win, it also feels like MJF is mocking Chris' ability to even pull that off thirty years deep into his career.

WELCOME TO THE HOUSE OF BLACK...

“The American Nightmare” Cody Rhodes vs. Malakai Black

At DYNAMITE: ROAD RAGER in Miami, Malakai Black heralded his arrival in All Elite Wrestling by laying low “The American Nightmare” Cody Rhodes, as well as Nightmare Family Coach Arn Anderson, with devastating kicks to their skull. If one wishes to make an impact upon arrival, there are few bigger targets than Rhodes, and Black has picked his spots wisely. Be it through the distraction of a video on the big screen or, as in the video embedded above, attacking Rhodes while he's occupied in the Go Position being interviewed by Alex Marvez. Black not only left Cody laying once more after the fight spilled to the stage, but he also kicked the Sol out of Fuego for daring to try to help the fallen Rhodes.

Before the arrival of help, as Malakai knelt over the unconscious body of “The American Nightmare”, he uttered the words “Welcome to The House Of Black” in such a fashion that they, combined with the look in his eyes, sent a chill down the spine of those watching at home, and any around who heard the words being uttered.

At every step thus far, Malakai Black has garnered the advantage over Cody Rhodes, but will that be the case when AEW returns to Daily's Place and the site of Cody's greatest triumphs. This is where he won the TNT Title, made it a worthy prize, and where he reclaimed it from Mr. Brodie Lee. It's where Cody and Brandi told the world about their baby, and where “The American Nightmare” shut down The Factory's attack on The Nightmare Family with victories over Aaron Solo, Anthony Ogogo, and QT Marshall. Will HOMECOMING 2021 be another triumphant night in Duval for Cody Rhodes, or will it be another night Black drives his foot into the skull of the former 2-Time TNT Champion? If the latter is the history that repeats itself, hopefully it is one that Cody can come back from, learn from, after all “...everything's a lesson, isn't it?”

TNT TITLE MATCH...

“The Redeemer” Miro (c) vs. “Big Shotty” Lee Johnson

It is certainly not a common thing for the champion to be the one issuing challenges and inviting people to come take their title, but that is certainly the case here with reigning TNT Champion Miro and The Nightmare Family's Lee Johnson. In one respect, this seems very in line with previous TNT champions but it is far from the same motivations driving Miro as those that drove Cody or Darby Allin.

As the first TNT Champion, Cody Rhodes laid out an Open Challenge for the title that was answerable by anyone in the professional wrestling world. It brought Eddie Kingston and Ricky Starks into the AEW fold, it gave Sonny Kiss, Marq Quen, and Jungle Boy their first huge opportunities as singles wrestlers, and brought that championship to prominence in AEW. For Darby Allin, it was about living up to the standard set by Cody in that run, and living up to the legacy of Brodie Lee as TNT Champion, and as a result, Allin holds the record for longest TNT Title reign as well as most successful defenses.

For Miro, it's not about anyone else but himself. It's not about giving opportunities so much as crushing hopes and dreams, it's not about living up to the standard set by those who came before, rather it is about establishing himself as the most dominant TNT Champion ever and the only one that matters in the history books. His aim is to build the legacy of Miro at the expense of all others, and Lee Johnson is just the next individual who should be honored to even step into the ring with “The Redeemer”.

Unfortunately for Lee, there is nothing hyperbolic about Miro. He is a monster, he is a cruel and spiteful champion who takes pleasure in the pain he inflicts. Miro is every bit as good a wrestler as he claims to be, and the bodies left in his wake are testament to that fact. Will “Big Shotty” be another of those decimated at Miro's hands, or can Johnson do the unimaginable by pulling off the biggest upset AEW has seen to not only deliver Miro his first singles defeat, but also reclaim the TNT Title for The Nightmare Family?

NWA WOMEN'S WORLD TITLE ELIMINATOR MATCH...

The Bunny vs. “Legit” Leyla Hirsch

***WINNER EARNS AN NWA WORLD WOMEN'S TITLE MATCH***

For the very first time, the World Title Eliminator concept begun in 2020 with the tournament that culminated at FULL GEAR 2020 is being applied to a championship not of All Elite origins! Not only that, but it is also happening in conjunction with a first-time ever match-up between two of the top competitors in AEW's Women's division!

Leyla Hirsch began her AEW career with an NWA World Women's Title match against then-champion Serena Deeb last October, and has gone out to leave quite an impression on both the women she has faced as well as the AEW fans worldwide! Her bouts against Dr. Britt Baker, Hikaru Shida, Penelope Ford, and Nyla Rose have demonstrated just how strong a competitor the young woman is, and the kind of threat she represents to any champion in any company. At 14-4 as a singles following her DARK #100 victory over Diamante, “Legit” has been angling to crack the AEW top five once again and earn a title opportunity here, but with a victory at HOMECOMING 2021, Hirsch could also set her sights on taking the title, currently held by Kamille, that Leyla tried to make her own back on her AEW day one,

The Bunny, just like her Wednesday night foe, has had a previous crack at the NWA World Women's Championship during her career. Bunny's came back in January 2019, prior to AEW's formation, against Jazz, one of the toughest competitors to ever lace up her boots. It was a bout that ended in disqualification, and marked one of the last times Bunny had a championship opportunity in her career. This week on DYNAMITE, with The Hardy Family Office at her side and a recent victory over Big Swole swelling her confidence, The Bunny aims to change that fact first by beating Leyla Hirsch, and then continuing on the dethrone whoever sits on the NWA Women's throne at that moment.

It's a tremendous opportunity for both women to make an impact on two companies simultaneously, just as Serena Deeb and Thunder Rosa did before them, but neither is going down without putting up the fight of their lives. “Legit” better have some eyes in the back of her head though to watch out for a certain pair of brass knuckles making their way into play...

ONE-ON-ONE...

(#3) Christian Cage vs. The Blade (w/ The HFO)

And speaking of that foreign object, the man who has more often than not brought those into play will be in singles competition as a result of his actions last week during FIGHT FOR THE FALLEN 2021! After Christian Cage, Jungle Boy, and Luchasaurus topped The Hardy Family Office trio of Angelico, Isiah Kassidy, and Marq Quen, The Blade used those knucks to to sucker punch Cage out of nowhere.

So that brings us to this week's HOMECOMING 2021 edition of DYNAMITE where the undefeated Christian Cage, ranked three in the Men's Division, will go head-to-head with The Blade! Although generally thought of as a tag team alongside The Butcher, The Blade has made tremendous headway as a singles competitor since his partner's injury earlier this summer. Despite the rarity of his AEW singles bouts prior to June, The Blade has racked up five consecutive singles wins over the last five weeks, and added in a multi-man one to the records this week on DARK #100 for good measure.

Still, the one thing that plays a factor whenever any member of The Hardy Family Office enters the ring is the whereabouts of the other members of said unit. Will The Bunny be around ringside considering her own high-stakes match Wednesday night? What about Matt Hardy himself? Private Party? TH2? Any of them could be supporting The Blade, or as Blade himself did, lurking around elsewhere and waiting for the perfect opportunity to lend a hand? At least Christian Cage can rely on Jurassic Express to have his back in situations like these where the need for an assist could arise at any moment.

THE BADDEST CHALLENGE...

Darby Allin, Eddie Kingston, & Jon Moxley

Vs.

2.0 (Jeff Parker & Matt Lee) and Daniel Garcia

“Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go” - T.S. Eliot

This Wednesday night at DYNAMITE: HOMECOMING 2021, the three newcomers to the AEW scene will be in a situation to find out just how that quote relates to them. Daniel Garcia, having competed in a quartet of matches since September 2020, is not a total stranger to the All Elite ring. He's been in there with Joey Janela, Sonny Kiss, The Butcher and The Blade, and Lee Johnson, but this fight is something else.

As for his partners, as a duo Jeff Parker and Matt Lee are one of the hottest free agent tag teams in pro wrestling today. With nearly 20 years of experience under their belts, and multiple independent wrestling titles, 2.0 is aiming to make a huge impact on the ranks of AEW, and there is no bigger way to do so than by calling out the three baddest men on the roster.

Between them, Allin, Kingston, and Moxley have been through some of the most violent bouts in AEW's history while Darby and Jon stand as the most successful TNT and World champions to date. It's by far one of the bravest first moves some new wrestlers on the scene can make, a bit reminiscent of Malakai Black's choice to target Cody Rhodes in heralding his arrival, but offering “a taste” to those three men may also be the most regrettable decision Garcia and 2.0 have ever made in their lives!

This Wednesday night it's HOMECOMING 2021 for DYNAMITE, and it is loaded with the top shelf wrestling action fans can always anticipate from AEW! The TNT Title on the line, the 3rd Labour of Jericho, Black versus Rhodes, Hirsch versus Bunny, Cage versus Blade, and plenty more are coming your way at 8pm EST/7pm CST on TNT! And if you're part of our international audience, be sure to go to AEWPlus.com to catch all the action!

Of course, if you want the full Elite Experience, you must go to the official AEW YouTube channel and subscribe so as not to miss DARK: ELEVATION, AEW DARK, ROAD TO..., and all the other content regularly available for our fans worldwide!!