AEW DYNAMITE Preview for June 17, 2020

We are two weeks away from the first night of the “FYTER FEST” event, and while we know all the championships will be defended, including AEW World Champion Jon Moxley facing Casino Ladder Match winner Brian Cage, it isn't set in stone just who will wrestle over the World Tag Team Titles or the TNT Championship. One of those two will be set in stone after Wednesday night as both the Tag Team Titles and the #1 Contendership will be up for grabs on “Dynamite”.

But who will face Jake Hager at “Fyter Fest” for the TNT Championship? That one may not be locked in until the close of business June 24th considering Cody's Open Challenge for that championship, but more on that later. Last week we witnessed Moxley get assaulted by Cage, MJF's mouth get him into a bout with Billy this week, Penelope Ford pick up a surprise victory over the Women's World Champion in tag team action, the victorious in-ring debut of FTR, and plenty more!

How will it all continue to unfold this week as we near “FYTER FEST”? Tune in Wednesday night at 8pm EST/7pm CST on TNT, or at AEWPlus.com for our international audience, and make sure you hit up our YouTube channel for the pre- and post-shows!

***RANKINGS AS OF 6/10***

WORLD TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH

Kenny Omega & Hangman Page (c) vs. (#2) The Natural Nightmares (Dustin Rhodes & QT Marshall w/ Brandi Rhodes)

Sitting at the number two spot in the tag team rankings, The Natural Nightmares have quietly accumulated a five match win streak in 2020 without suffering a single blemish to that record either. Despite that streak, QT Marshall and Dustin Rhodes come into Wednesday night as the decided underdogs to the championship duo of Page and Omega, who are riding their own seven match undefeated streak in 2020, and fresh off a successful title defense over The SuperBad Death Squad.

If this match had gone down just a couple weeks back, the cohesion factor likely would have swayed towards the Nightmares. Page had been off in the wilderness talking to squirrels and drinking whatever he could find, while Dustin and QT were in the ring competing, gelling together as a unit, leaving Omega to go in multiple singles matches, including AAA Mega Championship title defenses, and waiting for Hangman's return. That reunion would eventually come right on the eve of the Stadium Stampede at “Double or Nothing”, and over a glass of whiskey for one and milk for the other, the champions appeared to reconnect.

As for QT and Dustin, specifically QT, there has been a bit of a distraction in the form of Allie. Seemingly out of nowhere, the woman has taken a shine to Mr. Marshall and it has certainly seemed to take a toll on his focus. And much to chagrin of his Nightmare Family compatriots, particularly Brandi Rhodes, QT is quite intent on foisting her presence on all of them, even giving her a Nightmare Family jacket of her own to sport. It would also appear that QT pulled some strings and got his girl a match on “AEW Dark” working as Brandi's tag team partner, an attempt to build a bridge between the two perhaps.

Whatever the extent of the relationship between QT and Allie, as Dustin said in the video embedded above, he needs to get it out of his system prior to this match and focus. The opportunity to become champion, QT's first such chance in AEW, is at the doorstep and at present, he seems to distracted to even bother opening the door. Will he pull it together for Wednesday night? Or will Dustin be pulling his partner's defeated body out of the ring after a Buckshot Lariat or V-Trigger ends the Natural Nightmares championship hopes?

#1 CONTENDERSHIP ON THE LINE...

(#1) Best Friends (Trent & Chuck Taylor) vs. Le Sex Gods (Chris Jericho & Sammy Guevara)

...And to the victor of that championship match go the spoils of facing the winner of this tag team contest between the top ranked Best Friends, Chuck Taylor and Trent, and the men who wormed their way into this spot, Le Sex Gods, Chris Jericho and Sammy Guevara.

See, Trent and Chuck secured their “FYTER FEST” World Tag Team Title match with a win over Private Party during the “Buy-In” prior to “DOUBLE OR NOTHING”. But, as a result of the beating handed down to Orange Cassidy seen in the video embedded above, The Best Friends challenged Jericho and Sammy to face them in a fight. Ever the opportunist, Le Champion leveraged Trent and Chuck's desire for revenge, and acquiesced to this match on the condition that they put that number one contendership on the line.

Without hesitation, Trent and Chuck agreed, and now Le Sex Gods find themselves in a position to steal a title opportunity they have little claim to deserve. Yes Sammy and Jericho hold a victory over Page and Omega back in November, as well as Omega and Matt Hardy in that wild Falls County Anywhere match, but, make no mistake, it is the manipulation of a situation that has them on the cusp of being the number one contenders.

But Trent and Chuck can use that, can turn Jericho's own games on him by not giving into their anger, by not letting their rage cloud their judgment once the bell rings. Jericho may have used The Best Friends' emotions to get into this position, but now they can use it to box Le Sex Gods out of the title picture, and hand The Inner Circle a swift blow to the ego.

The Best Friends have every tool needed to dethrone Page and Omega come “FYTER FEST”, they just have to keep it together in a highly emotional situation, and squash the games of the former World Champion.

CODY'S OPEN CHALLENGE...

May 23rd: Cody defeats Lance Archer to become the 1st ever TNT Champion

May 27th: Cody tells the world he is laying out an Open Challenge to anyone, every single week, to come fight for the TNT Championship. Jungle Boy wins a #1 Contender Battle Royal

June 3rd: A bloody Cody defeats Jungle Boy to retain the TNT Title

June 10th: Cody defeats Private Party's Marq Quen to retain the TNT Title

What a whirlwind few weeks it has been for the TNT Champion, and this week it will continue as Cody will once more stand in the ring and make his third title defense in fourteen days. There is a huge difference between this week and the previous two though, this week Cody is heading into “Dynamite” without any knowledge of just who will be challenging for his championship.

There is a tremendous list of talent on the AEW roster who would be more than willing to step up and shoot their shot, but Cody must also take into consideration that he also opened up his invitation to wrestlers outside of All Elite Wrestling. That makes this even harder to game plan for, but it is safe to say that's what Cody had in mind when he put this out into the world. He wants to push himself, test himself, and prove that he truly is an elite level competitor in all facets of professional wrestling.

And waiting in the wings for whomever holds the TNT Championship come “FYTER FEST”, the Inner Circle's own Jake Hager. Be it Cody, his challenger of the week this week, or some other contender prior to that two day extravaganza, they will come face to face with a man in Hager that Jon Moxley claimed hit harder than anyone else he'd ever been hit by.

But before we get there, the question is who will rise to the occasion this Wednesday night and look to make their name off “The American Nightmare”? Tune in to “Dynamite” to find out when Cody does!

TAG TEAM ACTION...

(#5) The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson) vs. The SuperBad Death Squad (Kip Sabian & Jimmy Havoc w/ Penelope Ford)

For the first time since a Battle Royal in February (January if you're looking for a traditional tag), The Young Bucks will be in tag team action on “Dynamite” when they go head up with The SuperBad Death Squad of Kip Sabian and Jimmy Havoc. As seen in the video above, Kip and Jimmy chose to get involved in the aftermath of the FTR/Butcher & Blade tag team match. After FTR were victorious, Matt and Nick Jackson chose to come thank Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler for their assist the week prior, but the moment was ruined when The Butcher came back into the ring for a measure of revenge.

In that moment, Sabian and Havoc also elected to enter the ring and join in on the assault. This in turn brought out Kenny Omega, and Adam Page (kind of), to lend a hand. It was certainly one of those moments that gave a look at just how loaded the tag team division in AEW truly is, and that will be further showcased this Wednesday night when The Young Bucks and The SDS collide for the very first time!

Kip and Jimmy recently got a taste of what the top of the tag team food chain is like when they challenged Page and Omega for the titles on May 28th, and knocking down The Bucks in their first tag team match on “Dynamite” in nearly four months would go a long way to putting them back in contention.

The Young Bucks, for their part, need this win as badly as anything. Their last tag team match was a losing effort for the World Tag Team Titles at “Revolution”, they are barely clinging to the number five spot in the tag team rankings, and need a win to once again lay claim to that “best tag team in the world” moniker they've claimed to be for years.

Can The SuperBad Death Squad get the biggest win of their tag team career this week on “Dynamite”, or will The Young Bucks begin to rebuild their dominance in a division they have aimed to conquer since day one of AEW?

ONE-ON-ONE...

(#1) MJF (w/ Wardlow) vs. Billy

MJF sits pretty at the number one spot in the Men's Rankings, he's won all six of his singles matches in 2020, and holds an overall record of eleven wins and one loss, a loss (he will happily remind you) that took place in a Four Way at the 2019 “FYTER FEST” and where he was not actually beaten. Plus he holds the Dynamite Diamond Ring, has beaten Cody, is #RichAF, and is also better than you...and you know it.

One person who doesn't care about any of those accomplishments is Billy. The father of The Gunn Club has his own extensive list of accolades throughout his lengthy wrestling career, and although he serves primarily as a coach in AEW, Billy is always ready to step up for a fight. He's certainly demonstrated that on numerous occasions since the inception of All Elite Wrestling, and it's especially true when someone disrespects his family like MJF did one week ago.

Thankfully, Billy doesn't have to wait long to get his chance to slap the mouth of Max; he'll have to settle for the slap because everyone knows shutting that mouth is a virtual impossibility. Win or lose, MJF will spit some verbal diarrhea at anyone with ears to listen.

But in the big picture, it would be a crushing defeat for MJF in terms of rankings to lose to a player-coach, regardless of the massive experience advantage Billy holds over Max. It would certainly put a damper on his claims to be the future of AEW, and likely affect his number one spot in the rankings. But a win, well MJF would see it as yet another point of bragging as he continues his march towards a championship and staking claim as the face of All Elite Wrestling.

With things heating up all around AEW as we head toward the two week “FYTER FEST” extravaganza on July 1st and July 8th, each edition of “Dynamite” is proving to be can't miss! With a Tag title match, the #1 Contendership up for grabs, the TNT Championship on the line, and much more, make sure you're locked in at 8pm EST/7pm CST to TNT, or AEWPlus.com for our international audience! Who will emerge from Wednesday night with the titles?!?!