Dynamite airs tonight (Aug. 21) with a taped show from Utilita Arena in Cardiff, Wales. This is the final episode of Dynamite during the eight week build towards All In, which takes place on Sunday (Aug. 25) at London’s Wembley Stadium.
The true Rainmaker is finally here for another AEW milestone
AEW Dynamite reaches another milestone tonight with its first episode outside of North America. The biggest match on tonight’s card in the UK is AEW Continental Champion Kazuchika Okada vs. Claudio Castagnoli.
Okada hasn’t pursued a main event spot in AEW yet, as he’s been content with calling people bitches while yukking it up with the Young Bucks as part of The Elite. Okada called Claudio a bitch last week too, so Claudio made it clear that he’s not interested in this goofball version of Okada:
“I really, really hope I don’t get this version of Okada next week...EVP lackey and just want to make my friends laugh first. No, I want the Rainmaker, and not this bootleg version. I want the true Rainmaker.”
The Rainmaker was the number one wrestling star in Japan for roughly a decade before making his way to AEW. Tony Khan has protected him from taking any singles losses in AEW thus far, which means the path is definitely there for him to become a top guy in AEW as well.
The main event scene in AEW has been crowded this year and didn’t need any more traffic; it seems like it’s just a waiting game until Khan is ready to flip the switch on Okada, while allowing him to show off some personality as part of The Elite in the meantime. Perhaps Claudio’s words expressing disappointment in this bootleg Okada will be the catalyst for a change to a more ambitious Rainmaker going forward.
It should be a hell of a match when two of the best workers on the AEW roster match up on Dynamite in a fight for the Continental title, and I think Claudio is going to get the true Rainmaker, at least for one night.
Will this bout somehow lead to a singles match for Okada on Sunday at All In? Will the true Rainmaker finally start to set his sights on the AEW world title and join the Casino Gauntlet match? Hopefully AEW will clue us into Okada’s direction at Wembley Stadium by time Dynamite is over.
The rest of tonight’s lineup
AEW Women’s World Champion “Timeless” Toni Storm defends her belt tonight against Saraya. Saraya has complained about AEW snubbing her from this weekend’s card at Wembley Stadium. Well, if she can beat Storm for the gold tonight, then she’ll take her spot on the card on Sunday in London. Will Mariah May try to influence the outcome of this match, or will she wait until after it’s over to make her presence known? What about Mina Shirakawa?
FTW Champion Chris Jericho has to defend the unrecognized belt against HOOK at Wembley Stadium. Jericho is warming up for the fight with a singles match tonight against “Dynamite Kid” Tommy Billington, who Chris thinks is a disgrace to his uncle’s legacy in the ring. Meanwhile, HOOK vs. Big Bill is booked on tonight’s show. HOOK only has one good eye after Jericho threw a fireball in his face last month. Will Katsuyori Shibata have his back if the rest of The Learning Tree gets involved?
AEW is promoting a segment for tonight’s show called “The Final Showdown,” which sounds like an in-ring confrontation between AEW World Champion Swerve Strickland and his challenger at Wembley Stadium, Bryan Danielson. It will be moderated by Nigel McGuinness, who isn’t shy about showing his disdain for Bryan. Swerve laid out Bryan last week and Eddie Kingston later said this version of Danielson won’t win when his career is on the line on Sunday. Will The American Dragon have a fire lit under his ass tonight and show that he’s willing to do whatever it takes to beat Swerve for the gold at All In?
Will Ospreay and AEW American Champion MJF will are also scheduled for a face-to-face confrontation on Dynamite, ahead of their title match at Wembley Stadium. Can Ospreay maintain his composure after what MJF did to his close friend Kyle Fletcher a couple weeks ago, or will The Aerial Assassin snap?
Other stuff to keep an eye
- Britt Baker was beaten down by Kamille last week on Collision. Will DMD find a way to take Kamille out of the picture tonight so she can’t interfere in her match against TBS Champion Mercedes Mone at All In?
- After Hangman Page beat Jay Lethal last week, is there still a chance that AEW books a match between Page and babyface Jeff Jarrett for Wembley Stadium?
- Will we get an official list of which wrestlers are in the field for Sunday’s Casino Gauntlet match? For now, the main thing we know is that Orange Cassidy is the number one entry in the match, and Kyle O’Reilly and Roderick Strong will also be in the match.
- It looks like PAC is indeed being denied his moment at Wembley Stadium, and will instead challenge the winner of Ospreay vs. MJF two weeks later in Chicago at All Out. Maybe the Bastard should change his name to CM PAC as he gets ready for his big Chicago moment.
- Matthew and Nicholas Jackson have to defend the AEW world tag team titles at All In against FTR and The Acclaimed, because recent number one contender matches in AEW haven’t been very good at actually finding a lone number one contender. FTR and The Acclaimed just went 30 minutes against each other over the weekend, whereas the Young Bucks are relatively fresh after only defending the belts once since April. Will the babyface challengers put their differences aside for one night to lay a combo beating on these douchebag EVPs?
- Jack Perry has a new custom TNT championship, but he forgot to cover it in food from his seven dollar meal at Taco Bell. Jack attacked Darby Allin backstage last week, so it might be Darby’s turn for revenge tonight, just days away from their Coffin Match at All In.
- AEW World Trios Champion Christian Cage’s antics as a crooked referee backfired, so now The Patriarchy has to defend the belts at Wembley Stadium against Bang Bang Gang, House of Black, and a wild card team that will be determined in a match on Collision. I’ve been trying to talk myself into a Jon Moxley match at All In, even though he has been gone from AEW in all of July and August. Christian did trash talk his wife Renee Paquette last week, calling her a bad mother, so maybe Jon will have to partner up with Claudio and Wheeler Yuta for a wild card surprise. If not, will we at least learn tonight which trios will compete for the wild card spot? Hey, what about Death Triangle?
- Is one of Tony Khan’s “most important announcements in AEW history” coming tonight during Dynamite’s debut in Europe?
- Saturday’s episode of Collision is also being taped tonight, so keep an eye out for spoilers if that sort of thing interests you.
- Where the f*** is Wardlow?
What will you be looking for on Dynamite?
