AEW DYNAMITE Preview for May 13, 2020

Another all-new episode of “Dynamite” hits the airwaves this Wednesday night at 8pm EST/7pm CST right there on TNT or an AEWPlus.com for our international viewers! All roads lead to “Double or Nothing” on May 23, airing LIVE on Pay-Per-View starting at 8pm EST, where, as set last week, we will see a World Title Match between Jon Moxley and Mr. Brodie Lee, plus the crowning of the first TNT Champion in either Cody or Lance Archer, and a whole lot more.

But before we get there, there's a lot of road to travel, and this week it's going to be one crazy journey! An Inner Circle versus Elite tag battling spilling out of last week's craziness, a Women's Four Way with definite championship implications, the former World Champion in action, and the in-ring return of MJF! Strap in folks, it's going to be a wild ride!

***RANKINGS AS OF 5/12***

TAG TEAM ACTION...

PROUD-N-POWERFUL (Santana & Ortiz) vs. KENNY OMEGA & “BROKEN” MATT HARDY

It's a reasonable assertion that Kenny Omega and “Broken” Matt Hardy would have come out of last week's Street Fight as the victors were it not for the overwhelming assistance of The Inner Circle, particularly that of Santana and Ortiz as Omega was preparing to drive Chris Jericho's head into the floor with a One Winged Angel.

It was all down hill from there, leading to Le Sex Gods picking up the victory, thus handing one-half of the World Tag Team Champions a loss, and ending Matt Hardy's in-ring AEW debut in defeat. Sammy Guevara paid a heavy price for it, being ran over with a golf cart by Hardy and Omega, but it may have been worth it to The Inner Circle as a whole.

But, as a result of Proud-n-Powerful getting involved last week, THIS WEEK Santana and Ortiz will be the ones who have to collide with Omega and Hardy in tag team action! While PnP have been out of competition since March 18th due to current circumstances in the world, they have a tag team experience advantage over every team in AEW, save perhaps The Young Bucks, and that time off has allowed their body to somewhat recover from the bumps and bruises of the being in the ring.

By contrast, Omega has spent a good amount of time in the ring the last six weeks since coming back from his wrist injury, and both he and Hardy just had a hellacious Street Fight. They still have to be feeling that, and now they must fight a refreshed, reinvigorated, and hungry team in Santana and Ortiz.

And as much as this is about Wednesday night, it is also about the big picture of The Inner Circle and The Elite. The Elite may not be in control of any championships in AEW, but they are certainly in control when it comes to the on-going war with The Elite, and those scales are far from balanced. This is a crucial one for Omega and Hardy...

WOMEN'S FOUR WAY...

(#1) Hikaru Shida vs. (#4) Dr. Britt Baker D.M.D vs. (#2) Kris Statlander vs. Penelope Ford

The AEW Women's World Champion Nyla Rose has many challengers lining up looking to wrest the title from her hands. And with “Double or Nothing” less than two weeks away, each one wants to solidify their position as the next one to take a shot.

Coming into this match, Hikaru Shida has not lost a one-on-one match in 2020, and her two defeats came in the form of a tag match and a four way championship match when Riho still had the crown. She has defeated all the other competitors here in one form or another, but Baker is the only one who fell in a singles bout. Statlander and Ford may have both fallen to Shida, but that was as part of a four way that also included Riho.

Point of fact, the last person to actually defeat Shida in a one-on-one situation was Kris Statlander back in December on “Dynamite”. But, despite having challenged for the Women's World Title at “Revolution”, 2020 has been a very rocky year for The Galaxy's Greatest Alien. With a record of 3-4 thus far, she desperately needs to pick up this win here to remain in the hunt for Rose.

With Dr. Britt Baker, the self-proclaimed face of the Women's Division, the pursuit of the Women's Title has been a frustrating endeavor to say the last. She was the first challenger for Riho back in Philadelphia last October and came up short. She was beaten by Statlander in a #1 Contender's match, and came up short at “The Homecoming” edition of “Dynamite” in a four way for the World Title. But that hasn't deterred her resolve to become the champion, nor dampened the ego that drives it in the slightest. Baker, the rolemodel that she is, remains adamant that she will be the World Champion, and certainly proved a few weeks ago she has the grit to take the title. In a match with Shida, Baker suffered a broken nose, leaving her to fight through the pain and blood in an attempt to defeat Hikaru. Baker was unsuccessful, but showed the world a side of herself heretofore unseen, a side that seemed to relish the pain and used it as motivation.

And then there is the wildcard, the outlier if you will, in Penelope Ford. Generally seen at the side of her man Kip Sabian, Ford has demonstrated herself more than willing to get involved in his matches when the opening provides. But she has also proven herself more than capable inside the ring as part of the Women's division, even chalking up a shocking victory over former AEW Women's World Champion Riho back in March. She is certainly the dark horse in this match, the underdog, but that may be the ace up her sleeve Wednesday night.

Which of these competitors will rise to the occasion and stake their claim as the next contender for the belt held by Nyla Rose? Tune in Wednesday night to find out!

THE EXALTED ONE AND THE ANGEL...

(#4) “The Exalted One” Mr. Brodie Lee vs. “The Fallen Angel” Christopher Daniels

Last week, following the top shelf non-title match between Jon Moxley and Frankie Kazarian, The Dark Order descended upon the ring en masse to assault both men. Even the arrival of Kaz's SCU brethren, Christopher Daniels and Scorpio Sky, did nothing to stem the onslaught. They too were beaten down, Daniels bodyslammed on the stage and left for dead, until Mr. Brodie Lee casually walked out to the ring with a chair in his grasp. Without so much as a change in expression, The Exalted One swung the chair into the skull of Daniels and went about his business with Jon Moxley.

Mind you, when The Exalted One of the Dark Order finally made his arrival to AEW, it was Christopher Daniels' face who tasted the boot of Brodie Lee. And that came after rampant speculation from fans that perhaps Daniels was the Exalted One, and Daniels also going so far as declaring that The Exalted One was a fake, that it did not exist. Daniels has learned the hard way that he exists, on multiple occasions now, but this week will be the first time “The Fallen Angel” has an official opportunity to do something about it. He's been waiting for months for this opportunity, and Daniels will not let it slip through his fingers, Dark Order be damned.

And the one thing Mr. Brodie Lee has to keep in mind though, the one thing that is going to haunt him every day until “Double or Nothing”, is the spectre of AEW World Champion Jon Moxley. When The Dark Order finished with their violent attack, after Moxley agreed to Lee's demands for a World Title match, the newly minted contender elected to keep the physical belt in his possession. This is not a slight Moxley will take kindly, and AEW fans have seen what Moxley is capable of ever since he debuted on the scene. Will his presence be felt here in this battle of The DO and SCU?

PINEAPPLE PETE?!?

“Le Champion” Chris Jericho vs. Suge D

As seen in the “Road To Double or Nothing...” embedded at the top, the man whom Chris Jericho has dubbed Pineapple Pete has the biggest opportunity of his life this Wednesday night on “Dynamite”. At first it was just a joke, Jericho taking his shots at a silly shirt that Suge D was wearing while watching the matches at ringside. But it has escalated from there, seen Sammy Guevara beat Suge in a TV match, and pop off last week, when Jericho got right in the face of Suge and shoved him. The 15-year plus veteran of the independents finally had his fill of Le Champion and slapped the man!

Clearly this insult, as justified as it may be, was not going to sit well with Chris Jericho and now here we are, the greatest chance of Suge D's career, the brightest spotlight he has ever experienced, a one-on-one match with the first AEW World Champion Chris Jericho! However this ends, be it Jericho victorious or Suge D pulling off the biggest upset in AEW's history, this is all because Chris couldn't help but to repeatedly poke the bear. He just couldn't let the man be and insisted on verbal lambasting Suge, physically lashing out at him as Suge interacted at ringside, and eventually pushing too hard.

If Chris loses, it's on his head. If he gets injured, it's on his head. On the other side of it, Suge has nothing to lose, everything to gain, and win or lose, a spotlight to show the entire world why he feels he has earned this spot many times over.

THE MURDERHAWK & THE SNAKE...

The video speaks for itself, as do the reprehensible actions of Lance Archer and Jake Roberts, but this week on “Dynamite”, 10 days out from his TNT Championship Tournament Finals bout against Cody, we will hear from “The Murderhawk Monster” Lance Archer and Jake “The Snake” Roberts.

In the last several weeks, since the announcement of the TNT Championship, the pair have made multiple statements clearly aimed at Cody. One being the decimation of Dustin Rhodes in his Semi-Final battle with Archer, following that with an assault on QT Marshall disguised as a match, and culminating with that snake being draped across the unconscious Brandi.

Cody was in no position to assist his wife when this all went down, having competed in a match of his own against Joey Janela that night, but that will not be the case this week. Cody is not slated for a match, and it's a sure thing that his full attention will be on Lance Archer and Jake Roberts, and whatever venom they may spew. But it's also a safe bet that Archer has no fear of repercussions or consequences for their actions last week.

MJF RETURNS...

MJF has not competed since March 11th when he, The Butcher, and The Blade defeated The Jurassic Express on “Dynamite”. Apparently, he suffered some very serious “injuries” that have forced him onto the sidelines for these last two months. Hangnails, a cuticle, a stubbed toe, whatever...then he OVER healed the injury and it nearly ended his career, something like that; remember your source here is Max himself so take it all with a few thousand grains of salt.

Regardless of the hyperbole Maxwell Jacob Friedman can't help but put forth, this week on “Dynamite” it is time for Max to return to the ring and get ready for his “Double or Nothing” rematch with Jungle Boy! Say what you want about MJF the person, as a wrestler this is a man who has only lost one match since the inception of AEW as part of a Four Way match at “Fyter Fest” nearly a year ago, and he wasn't even the one who took the deciding pin. He's beaten Cody, he's beaten Adam Page, Jungle Boy, and Joey Janela just to list a few, and has proven himself capable of backing up his consistently running mouth.

Whomever squares up with the Dynamite Diamond Ring holder here on Wednesday night best be aware that there is substance behind the snide smile...

The road to “Double or Nothing” rolls on this Wednesday night on an all-new “Dynamite” with another loaded line-up! Make sure you hit our official YouTube channel at 6pm for the Pre-Show, and do not miss out when we hit the airwaves at 8pm EST/7pm CST on TNT, or on AEWPlus.com for our international fans!