AEW Dynamite Preview For March 15, 2023

The fallout from REVOLUTION 2023 left quite the impression as Mark Briscoe announced the Reach for the Sky Ladder Match at ROH's SUPERCARD OF HONOR 2023 to crown new ROH World Tag Team Champions, Juice Robinson ruined a celebratory moment for Ricky Starks, The J.A.S. inserted themselves into the World Trios Championship picture, and The Outcasts of Saraya, Ruby Soho, and Toni Storm continued to make life hell for the AEW originals.

On top of that, The BCC made it clear they were not done with The Dark Order, and by proxy Hangman Page, even if Adam thought he was done with Moxley, and Jade Cargill laid down an open challenge for someone in Canada to come try to end her TBS Championship reign and undefeated streak. And it would be remiss not to mention AEW CEO Tony Khan announcing that Orange Cassidy's All-Atlantic Championship was “leveling up” and being rechristened the AEW International Championship, just in time for him to face Jeff Jarrett!

So REVOLUTION 2023 may still be fresh in the memories of the AEW fans, as well as the competitors in the locker room, but the world doesn't stop turning, and this Wednesday DYNAMITE comes to Winnipeg for the very first time! The AEW World Trios Championship is at stake when The House of Black defend for the very first time against BOTH The Elite and The J.A.S! Plus, Orange Cassidy defends his newly leveled-up AEW International Championship against Jeff Jarrett, TBS Champion Jade Cargill awaits an answer to her open challenge, and Stu Grayson returns to the fold when Hangman and The Dark Order face The BCC in Trios action! We go LIVE on TBS at 8pm ET/7pm CT, and at AEWPlus.com for our international audiences, so make sure to surf over to the official AEW YouTube channel for highlights from last week's editions of DYNAMITE and RAMPAGE, as well as the latest from AEW DARK: ELEVATION, AEW DARK, and this week's ROAD TO!

AEW WORLD TRIOS CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH...

The House of Black (Brody King, Buddy Matthews, & Malakai Black)

vs.

The Elite (Kenny Omega, Matt Jackson, & Nick Jackson)

vs.

The Jericho Appreciation Society (Chris Jericho, Daniel Garcia, & Sammy Guevara)

It should come as no surprise to anyone who has followed his AEW career that all it took for Chris Jericho to declare The Jericho Appreciation Society as the next contenders for The House of Black's newly-won AEW World Trios Championship titles was one single win. That's not to say “The Ocho” isn't a successful trios competitor, he's 7-1 in that field, but four of those wins were with Santana & Ortiz, one was with Garcia & Hager, and the sixth was with Minoru Suzuki & Sammy Guevara! That seventh win just took place last Wednesday when, in their first time out as a trio, Jericho, Guevara, and Garcia defeated Top Flight and AR Fox. So one single victory as a trio is all the justification the former AEW World Champion needed to start making grandstand challenges to The House of Black, a trio who have had more victories together (10) than Jericho has had trios matches in his whole AEW career. There's a noun for that: line jumper; Jericho elevated his trio, in their first match as a unit, above teams with a far stronger trios record, men like The Dark Order (9 straight wins), Dalton Castle & The Boys (7 consecutive AEW wins), or The Hardy Party (also 7 in a row), not to neglect the dethroned Elite. As former champions two times over, as well as the most successful active trio currently in AEW (16-5), Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks are certainly more deserving of a rematch than The J.A.S. is of getting even one title opportunity, and as can be seen in the video embedded above, they let Jericho and his ilk know that.

Thankfully for all parties involved, The House of Black are generous champions, benevolent rulers of the Trios division, and they don't care if you're the top unit in the division, or braggadocious egomaniacs demanding something that hasn't been earned; everyone can walk into The House and experience what being engulfed in that darkness truly means. For Malakai, Brody, Buddy, and Julia, the House has an open door policy apparently, but one that likely has Dante's “Abandon all hope ye who enter here” quote hanging above the doorway.

It is a brave undertaking by The HoB to be certain, welcoming two teams, six opponents, as challengers in their very first title defense, but there is no place for fear in The House, no place for hesitation or mercy. The House is clearly a place where individuals face their fears head-on, tackle their demons, and turn away no challenge to the Black Throne upon which they sit. Will this be a regret come Thursday morning? Does that notion of regret even exist within the walls of The House of Black? Will they fail on their first outing as the defending champions while bearing witness to the crowning of 3-Time Champions in The Elite or in The J.A.S. usurping the throne in just their second trios match ever?

The champions do not have to be pinned here, they don't have to submit to their challengers, the titles could simply slip away with The Elite beating The J.A.S. or vice versa. The AEW faithful saw a bit of history last week when the newly-crowned Wardlow lost his TNT Championship on the first defense, will this Wednesday night be a repeat in the Trios division?

AEW INTERNATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH...

“Freshly Squeezed” Orange Cassidy(c) (w/ Danhausen)

vs.

Jeff Jarrett (w/ Jay Lethal, Satnam Singh, & Sonjay Dutt)

First born at FORBIDDEN DOOR when “The Bastard” PAC defeated Malakai Black, Clark Connors, and Miro, the All-Atlantic Championship has only seen two title holders in its existence: PAC and “Freshly Squeezed” Orange Cassidy. “The Bastard” set a high standard right away, making his first three defenses, not just outside of AEW, but outside of the United States. Sheffield, Dublin, and Manchester were the locales that saw the All-Atlantic Championship at stake before anyone in AEW bore witness, then during the ALL OUT 2022: ZERO HOUR, PAC would make his first stateside defense when he bested Kip Sabian. Orange Cassidy got his first shot at the championship during GRAND SLAM 2022 at Arthur Ashe Stadium, but it wasn't until his second opportunity, one that took place in Toronto, ON, Canada, that he finally claimed his first AEW championship.

To date it is the only All Elite Wrestling championship to change hands outside of the United States, and it marked the beginning of one of the strongest AEW title reigns to date. Second only to Jade Cargill's TBS Championship run in terms of total defenses, OC has turned away 15 different challengers over the course of 14 successful defenses, a feat made possible by his first two challenges coming in Three Way bouts, with Jay Lethal being the only man to challenge twice. The pace of Cassidy's championship defenses have outpaced every champion in the history of AEW, even that historic first TNT Championship reign in which Cody Rhodes defended the title eight times over just 91 days (OC marked his 8th defense after only 79 days).

Last Wednesday night, Orange's victory over Jay Lethal in their second All-Atlantic Championship match would prove to be a monumental occasion for two unexpected reasons. The first came before the All-Atlantic Champion was even able to leave the ring after his triumph as Jeff Jarrett crept up from behind and laid “Freshly Squeezed” low with his signature Stroke maneuver. The second came shortly thereafter and can be seen in the announcement from AEW CEO Tony Khan embedded below:

March 8th marked the final defense of the All-Atlantic Championship as, moving forward, the championship and title shall be known as the AEW International Championship, and the first defense of this “leveled-up” version will take place on March 15th when Jeff Jarrett faces Orange Cassidy one-on-one! This will mark the Hall of Famer's first singles match since he smashed his way into All Elite Wrestling at the side of Jay Lethal, Sonjay Dutt, and Satnam Singh, and given his championship track record, it wouldn't not come as a shock to see Double J walk away as the new International Champion!

Now Jarrett has won over 70 titles over the course of his 36 year career, including 22 singles titles, with his last being the AAA Mega Championship in 2018. He's got decades over OC in terms of experiences, a willingness to stoop oh so low in order to get what he's chasing, and the backing of Lethal, Dutt, and Singh to support his championship bid in Winnipeg. And speaking of the city hosting AEW this Wednesday night, it has been rather kind to old Double J; with five matches here over the course of his career, he's lost only one, and been victorious in two championship matches, one being a Ladder Match against the legendary late Razor Ramon.

So will this be another championship chapter in Jeff Jarrett's history books? Another win in his Winnipeg record? Or will Orange Cassidy continue to carry this newly christened AEW International Championship with the same pride he has carried the All-Atlantic one since defeating PAC the last time AEW visited the Great White North?

MJF'S RE-BAR MITZVAH

Chabad.org defines bar mitzvah as “...Hebrew for 'son of commandment. When a Jewish boy turns 13, he has all the rights and obligations of a Jewish adult, including the commandments of the Torah. From that date, he will wear tefillin (a pair of black leather boxes containing Hebrew parchment scrolls) on a daily basis, participate in synagogue services and take his place in the Jewish community.”

Some do a “mitzvah project” in which they take one of the 613 mitzvahs contained in The Torah and make it their project to research it to its fullest. Some involve the haftarah (the reading from the prophets which follows the Shabbat Torah reading) and some involve multiple aliyah's (the honor of reciting one of the blessings over the Torah) from family members. The information provided primarily came from Chabad.org, and hopefully it helps shape some idea of what the experiences of a 13 year old Jewish boy named Maxwell Jacob Friedman when he became recognized as a Jewish man.

Of course this being MJF, his pictures shared on Twitter depict a less than solemn event, instead one with plenty of wrestling-themed accouterments, one that actually predicts the future with a “Chris Jericho vs. Mad Max” theme, and of course, beautiful women.

But what on Earth is RE-Bar Mitzvah? It's highly doubtful that Maxwell has spent the time since he defeated Bryan Danielson at REVOLUTION 2023 going through the same processes he did at 13 years old. This version, the one being thrown by AEW World Champion MJF in 2023, it's probably just an excuse to have a party in front of the whole world, to make himself the center of attention on a scale he couldn't at 13, and to surround himself with beautiful women once again. It's MJF's time to remind the world he defeated “The American Dragon” in a match that favored Bryan's strengths, that he is the hottest young star in professional wrestling, “Salt of the Earth”, “bidding war of 2024”, etc., etc. etc.

The unfortunate part of all this, the part that actually made fans cheer Max when he returned to the AEW stage last year after months of holding up the company for money he (depending on your perspective) hadn't yet earned, is that he is that good WHEN he wants to be. Max is a superb professional wrestler WHEN he chooses to actually do the job he chose for his life, he has a tremendous gift of gab WHEN he doesn't pull the lowest hanging fruit, and he COULD be a wonderful representative for All Elite Wrestling IF he actually gave a damn about AEW, its fans, or the people behind the scenes, instead of just whatever is going to get him paid. Max SHOULD be the person that the wrestling world points to as that homegrown star who rose to the top of AEW and carried it into the future, but instead they debate on if he'll still he here in a year. He SHOULD be at the top of people's lists in Best Of discussions, but instead he takes every shortcut, every cheap shot, every end around, in order to get what he wants, and that is not what most people want to support.

So rather than a celebration of earned greatness, this Wednesday night on DYNAMITE MJF will celebrate his shortcuts, his cheap shots, and this AEW World Championship reign that has should have ended at WINTER IS COMING 2022 when Ricky Starks challenged MJF, but is still going as a result of MJF's willingness to be the absolute worst...

TRIOS BOUT...

“Hangman” Adam Page & The Dark Order (Evil Uno & Stu Grayson)

vs.

The Blackpool Combat Club

(ROH World Champion Claudio Castagnoli, ROH Pure Champion Wheeler Yuta, & Jon Moxley)

As Michael Corleone said in Godfather III, “Just when I was out, they pull me back in!”

Now it may be a threequel far from universally loved, but it is one of the most memorable lines from all the Godfather films, and it fits the situation of “Hangman” Adam Page so completely. He proved his point at REVOLUTION 2023 when he bested Jon Moxley in an utterly insane Texas Death Match, a total war that left both men battered and bruised, but left only Page standing when the final bell tolled. For Hangman this mean the end, he and Moxley were quits after the blood they'd spilt together, the concussions they'd endured, they horrors they'd inflicted upon one another.

But for The Blackpool Combat Club, represented by Mox and Claudio in their match with The Dark Order's Reynolds and Silver last week, there was no end in sight. Any violence perpetrated on The Dark Order is obviously going to draw the attention of their closest friend in All Elite Wrestling, and the attack by The BCC after their victory over Jon and Alex accomplished just that.

So now Hangman finds himself back inside the squared circle with the former 3-Time AEW World Champion, as well as Mox's two partners in violence, for a Trios match. At Mox's side will be Evil Uno, the man who just went through his own violent hell with Mox, and the returning Stu Grayson, a man who lives for the violent aspects of pro wrestling but who rarely had the opportunity to engage his more violent designs during his AEW tenure.

But now, with how the stakes have been raised in this blood feud between Page, The Dark Order, and The BCC, well this Trios match is likely to be quite the violent affair. These are men long past the point of exchanging holds, past getting down on the mat to see who the better wrestler may be, no, these are warriors who want to punch each other in the face, to taste that metallic coppery taste in their mouth, to hear the sound of tendons tearing, and bones splintering.

So now they will do battle in front of the entire world this Wednesday night on DYNAMITE, and AEW has not seen Stu Grayson in action in quite some time, so one can only guess at what changes he's undergone in his time away from the elite spotlight. Will Hangman ever be able to get away from Jon Moxley, or is this the kind of rivalry that haunts a man's career for as long as both individuals occupy the same space, breath the same air, and have aspirations for the same championship?

TBS CHAMPIONSHIP CANADIAN OPEN CHALLENGE...

Jade Cargill(c) vs. ????

It's not that hard to understand why TBS Champion Jade Cargill is feeling a little...unchallenged. After all, she's only been at this for two years but she's been TBS Champion since January 5, 2022 and has already gone 53-0 with 19 successful championship defenses! She's beaten Thunder Rosa, Nyla Rose, Ruby Soho, Athena, Madison Rayne, Skye Blue, and that's just a small portion of her record book.

So yes, given that history in All Elite Wrestling, it's not a difficult thing to see why Jade wants more, wants to be challenged, and is literally looking for anyone to step up to the challenge. That is why, as AEW comes to Winnipeg for the very first time, the TBS Champion has opened up the challenge to any Canadian women to come and give her a fight.

Who will step up to the plate this Wednesday night, try to knock Jade off her championship throne, and end this record-setting undefeated streak?

THE DEBUT OF QTV...

So everyone witnessed QT Marshall offer up assistance to Powerhouse Hobbs last Wednesday night when the Face of the Revolution Ladder Match winner defeated TNT Champion Wardlow, ending The War Dog's reign after just three days, and winning his first AEW championship title.

So just why did QT help out Powerhouse? What exactly is QTV? We will find out this Wednesday in Winnipeg!

THE OUTCASTS...

Saraya, Toni Storm, and now Ruby Soho have made life a living hell for entirely too many women on the AEW roster as they play out their vendetta against the women who built the foundation upon which they stand. Ruby can claim the foundation was bad all she wants, but the reality is that the AEW Women's Division was strong before any of those women came to the fold, their presence simply served to bolster its strength.

And while it took a few weeks to convince Ruby to align herself with them, now that she is on the side of Saraya and Storm, these self-proclaimed Outcasts have amped up their personal war. This week on DYNAMITE, we will hear from the three women about what the future holds! The goal has to ultimately be the AEW Women's World Championship held by Jamie Hayter, but what will be their path to get back to it after both Saraya and Soho failed to claim the prize at REVOLUTION 2023?

AEW's debut in Winnipeg, MB gets underway when DYNAMITE kicking off on TBS starting at 8pm ET/7pm CT, and at AEWPlus.com for our international fans! Before the night begins, visit the official AEW YouTube channel for highlights from previous episodes of DYNAMITE and RAMPAGE, as well as the latest offerings from AEW DARK: ELEVATION, AEW DARK, THE CONTROL CENTER, and this week's edition of ROAD TO!