AEW Dynamite Preview for April 17, 2024

The final DYNAMITE before DYNASTY 2024 comes to you this Wednesday night from the Farmer's Coliseum in Indianapolis and is loaded up with action as we heads towards St. Louis! For the first time ever the TNT Champion and TBS Champion will stand on opposite side of a match as Adam Copeland unites with Willow Nightingale to face Julia Hart and Brody King in a mixed tag match, plus Deonna Purrazzo faces Mariah May, The Elite are in Trios action against Death Triangle and Daniel Garcia, and Claudio Castagnoli takes on Will Ospreay in a dream match of its own!

In addition, newly crowned IWGP Heavyweight Champion Jon Moxley returns to AEW, Taz gets HOOK and Jericho to meet, and we will hear from both AEW World Champion Samoa Joe as well as challenger Swerve Strickland ahead of their title fight this Sunday night!

It all goes down this Wednesday night on TBS starting live at 8pm ET/7pm CT, as well as at AEWPlus.com for international fans, so be sure to visit the official AEW YouTube channel, as well as AEW's various social media platforms, for highlights from last week's episodes of DYNAMITE, RAMPAGE, COLLISION, BATTLE OF THE BELTS X, as well as the latest edition of the CONTROL CENTER!

Then join us Saturday night in Peoria, IL for a COLLISION/RAMPAGE double-header! It's the final stop before DYNASTY 2024 at St. Louis's Chaifetz Arena, and the last chance for everyone on the AEW roster to get their final advantage before that pay-per-view extravaganza!

TRIOS BOUT...

The Elite (AEW Continental Champion Kazuchika Okada, Matthew Jackson, & Nicholas Jackson) vs. Death Triangle (PAC & Penta El Zero Miedo) and Daniel Garcia

The Elite of AEW Continental Champion Kazuchika Okada and The Young Bucks have a tall order on their plate this Wednesday night on DYNAMITE. Though DYNASTY 2024 is just days away, they are stepping into the ring with three very motivated individuals, all with very different sources for that motivation.

The most obvious one is “The Bastard” PAC, after all he's the one with a championship opportunity coming his way on Sunday night when he faces Okada for that Continental Championship in St. Louis. It's what PAC has been pursuing since his return to the AEW stage, and it's finally at hand in a handful of days. Clearly there's a matter of some vengeance for that chair Okada held in his hand, but as can be heard from the challenger himself, that only seems to have become more motivation for PAC to wrestle the championship from the hands of “The Rainmaker”.

Then there is Daniel Garcia, a man who showed his toughness throughout the Continental Classic, and demonstrated himself to be that rare professional wrestler with an ability for honest self-reflection. He knows where he's at in his growth as a competitor, sees that he's not perfect, and isn't out there falsely hyping himself up while knowing his words don't ring true to the masses, or to himself. Instead, Daniel Garcia is willing to get into the ring with any opponent any day of the week, and do the work to get better, to fill those holes he sees in his game, and to earn his way up with hard work. Garcia doesn't feel entitled to a top spot, but knows he has the ability to hold onto it once he has it. So while Daniel doesn't have the animosity toward The Elite that PAC and Penta El Zero Miedo may carry, he knows that taking part in this fight is another step towards his goals.

And then there's Penta El Zero Miedo who, coming off a top shelf fight with Adam Copeland over the TNT Championship, who has been a bit of a man on a deserted island since his brother Rey Fenix was injured and with PAC's absence. With that fight against “The Rated R Superstar”, the world was reminded what Penta brings to the table in singles competition, and why he's nearly as highly decorated standing solo as he is fighting alongside his brother. This fight on Wednesday is a mix of all aspects of Penta's life; a return to Trios competition, albeit with Garica and PAC rather than the full Death Triangle, as well as revisiting their BIG BUSINESS trios battle with a different third man, but it's also a continuation of his long-time rivalry with The Young Bucks, and it's crack at fighting the AEW Continental Champion.

Will The Elite be the victorious force here as they were at TD Garden a month ago? Will they head into DYNASTY 2024 with that momentum boost? Is FTR in any condition to have their eyes on this fracas ahead of their championship fight on Sunday? So many questions swirl about this trios fight!!!

ONE-ON-ONE...

“The Virtuosa” Deonna Purrazzo vs. Mariah May

The AEW journey of Deonna Purrazzo officially began the same night Mariah May made her in-ring debut, and it launched in interruption of May's victory celebration. Mariah may have beaten Queen Aminata on the first DYNAMITE of 2024, but it was “The Virtuosa” who owned the moment when she announced that she was All Elite. Though Purrazzo's arrival was in pursuit of the AEW Women's World Championship, Mariah May's relationship with “Timeless” Toni Storm made her part of that dynamic, and yet the two never engaged in a singles bout prior to Deonna's title fight at REVOLUTION 2024.

In fact, the two women have never fought in a singles match in their career, but that changes this Wednesday night in Indianapolis when Purrazzo steps into the ring with May for the first time! To paraphrase what Deonna said, if she can't get one Toni Storm, she'll break the arm of the other, and then perhaps “Timeless” will understand the future Deonna has in mind for her if a fair championship fight ever comes her way!

SINGLES MATCH...

Claudio Castagnoli vs. Will Ospreay

The Don Callis Family way; a way that apparently was more about causing pain and suffering that in was winning this past Saturday night, but that is what got accomplished despite Hobbs and Fletcher losing to Danielson and Claudio. Even though The DFC lost, Danielson still got dropped on the ramp with a Sheer Drop Brainbuster delivered by Konosuke Takeshita, and it was that trio who left in celebration rather than The BCC members.

If the mission on Saturday night was to make sure Bryan Danielson doesn't head into DYNASTY 2024 in peak condition than it was certainly accomplished, but one can't help but wonder if it's a mission that has the blessing of Will Ospreay or not. He wasn't part of that attack on Claudio and Bryan, and if Will truly wants to usurp Bryan's position as the widely-regard “best wrestler in the world”, than perhaps having Danielson beaten down and battered before April 21st isn't the best way to claim the title. Perhaps this is Don Callis undertaking to try to insure his family member wins on Sunday night by any means necessary, perhaps this fight between Claudio and Ospreay on Wednesday night is just a DFC way to remove one of Bryan's supporters from the equation thus leaving Danielson more susceptible to a numbers advantage.

But is that what “The Aerial Assassin” wants, or is that what Don Callis wants? Either way, Ospreay is guilty by association because he's not exactly speaking up to denounce the actions of his “family” members even if he's not taking part in them. The story may unfold a bit more on Wednesday with this bout that wrestling dreams are made of; will we see The DFC involve themselves in what could be a showstealing affair between Claudio and Ospreay? Or will the two men be allowed to fight it out like true warriors, one-on-one, and see who the better man may be?

MIXED TAG MATCH...

TNT Champion Adam Copeland & Willow Nightingale vs. House Of Black (TBS Champion Julia Hart & Brody King)

Well this is certainly an unexpected first; the TBS Champion and the TNT Champion on opposite sides of a fight, but that is what's set to go down this Wednesday night in Indianapolis! TNT Champion Adam Copeland will team with Willow Nightingale to face her DYNASTY 2024 foe, TBS Champion Julia Hart, and one of Copeland's PPV opponents, Brody King, in a Mixed Tag Match! This types of matches are few and far between in All Elite Wrestling, but with the paths of all four running right into each other last week on DYNAMITE, it made sense for this to come together!

The question is how the rest of the components of this situation may get involved in the battle; after all Copeland also has Buddy Matthews and Malakai Black awaiting his arrival in St. Louis, but there he'll also have Mark Briscoe and Eddie Kingston at his side. By the same token, will Skye Blue be at the beck and call of Julia here, and does that mean Kris Statlander and Stokely Hathaway will be at ready as well?

There are so many elements at play in this already unpredictable mixed tag bout, no doubt it's going to be a wild one on Wednesday!

CHAMPION & CHALLENGER...

Last Wednesday night, after AEW World Champion Samoa Joe shut down the Eliminator Match challenge of Dustin Rhodes, he intended to continue the assault on “The Natural” but within moment after Joe reapplied his Choke, Swerve Strickland was on the spot to kick in Joe's skull! While it wasn't surprising that Swerve took advantage of an opportunity to get his shot in on Joe, considering the history Dustin Rhodes and Swerve Strickland, most recently Swerve's victory over Dustin at WORLDS END 2023, it was somewhat surprising that Swerve saved “The Natural” and shook his hand after the show went off the air.

Given the last sight fans saw Wednesday was that of Swerve with the AEW World Championship title in his hand while security, staff, and members of the AEW locker room stood between Samoa Joe and the ring, it's going to be very interesting to hear what both champion and challenger will have to say this week in Indianapolis just just four days before their World Title fight!

MOXLEY RETURNS!

On Friday night, Jon Moxley returned to the Wintrust Arena in Chicago, the site of his AEW World Championship victory over Chris Jericho back at REVOLUTION 2020, but this time it wasn't for All Elite Wrestling. This time “The Death Rider” made that trip for New Japan Pro Wrestling, and this time it was for a fight over the IWGP World Heavyweight Title, Moxley's first time ever challenging for that championship, and the first time in five years that Mox stepped into the ring with Tetsuya Naito. After twenty minutes of a battle that left Moxley bloodied, the Blackpool Combat Club member emerged from the fight as the new IWGP World Heavyweight Champion, though it took THREE Death Riders to put Naito down for a three count.

Well this Wednesday night, Jon Moxley returns to All Elite Wrestling with his new prize in tow, and we cannot wait to hear what he has to say! Mox continues to make history, so what will the future bring for the first man to hold the AEW World Championship and the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship?

TAZ THE MEDIATOR?

Who would've ever thought that anyone would look to Taz to be the voice of reason in any situation? Yet that is what took place last week following Chris Jericho's choice to prevent Katsuyori Shibata from tagging HOOK, thus costing their trio a match against Shane Taylor Promotions. “Lionheart” actually went to Taz, HOOK's father for any who may not know, pleading with him to bridge the gap and get the FTW Champion to talk about the issues. The fascinating thing about all this is that from the beginning it's been Jericho pursuing HOOK, Jericho offering to help HOOK, and now Jericho being the reason why HOOK isn't engaging with the original AEW World Champion, yet he doesn't seem to grasp why “The Cold-Hearted Handsome Devil” may not want to continue this relationship. It might have been beneficial for a couple matches, but last Wednesday certainly showed why aligning with Jericho may not be in HOOK's best interests. Still, it looks like Taz has managed to broker some kind of agreement with HOOK to get his son to hear Jericho out, but will Chris have anything to say that HOOK actually wants to hear?

WHO TURNED OUT THE LIGHTS?

This Wednesday night on DYNAMITE we will hear from “The CEO” Mercedes Moné after she was assaulted last week, in the dark, mid-interview with Alex Marvez. Given Mercedes' interest in the TBS Championship, the obvious suspect is Julia Hart, but there are certainly others who'd fall on the list. Mercedes and Willow Nightingale have their history, and Willow certainly has a shady ally in Stokely Hathaway who might arrange for just such an occurrence. There may be some jealous parties who hate the attention Moné has been getting since coming to All Elite Wrestling who would perpetrate such an attack; whatever the case may be, whoever the guilty party turns out to be, it's a sure thing that Mercedes will be right in their face as soon as they are revealed!

A MAN ALONE...

Orange Cassidy vs. Shane Taylor

Added just this morning, after seeing how Shane Taylor treated his friend Katsuyori Shibata in their Trios match last week, “Freshly Squeezed” Orange Cassidy has challenged Shane Taylor to a match this Wednesday night on DYNAMITE! OC doesn't feel he has a lot of friends left, we certainly don't know where Chuck Taylor and Rocky Romero stand in his situation with Trent Beretta, but Cassidy considers Shibata to be one of the friends he still has left and isn't going to let anything happen to those that remain. Will Cassidy stand alone against Shane Taylor and his STP crew, or will someone have his back like he's had the back of so many others over the years?

This Wednesday night, AEW presents the last DYNAMITE before DYNASTY 2024 and it hails from the Farmer's Coliseum in Indianapolis! We've got TNT Champion Adam Copeland and Willow Nightingale squaring off with TBS Champion Julia Hart and Brody King in a mixed tag match, The Elite are in Trios action against Daniel Garcia and Death Triangle, as well as The BCC's Claudio Castagnoli going head to head with The Don Callis Family's Will Ospreay. In addition, Jon Moxley returns to AEW with the IWGP Heavyweight Champion now around his waist, and we will hear from AEW World Champion Samoa Joe as well as his DYNASTY 2024 night challenger Swerve Strickland. The action begins 8pm ET/7pm CT on TBS, or at AEWPlus.com for international fans, and to get caught up on last week's action, visit the official AEW YouTube channel, as well as AEW's assorted social media platforms, for the highlights from last week's episodes of DYNAMITE, RAMPAGE, COLLISION, BATTLE OF THE BELTS X, and the CONTROL CENTER!

After DYNAMITE, All Elite Wrestling head to Peoria, IL for a double header of COLLISION and RAMPAGE, with the members of the AEW locker room jockeying for an advantage just twenty-four hours before DYNASTY 2024!