AEW Dynamite Report: Jeff Hardy debuts, new TNT champion, Chris Jericho's new group

Originally published at AEW Dynamite Report: Jeff Hardy debuts, new TNT champion, Jericho's group

AEW Dynamite

March 9th, 2022

By: John Siino

Hertz Arena in Estero, FL

Commentary: Jim Ross, Excalibur & Tony Schiavone

The Jericho Appreciation Society

Chris Jericho came out with his hair looking a bit more like his old ‘Lionheart’ days from WCW. Jericho said Revolution was one of the greatest days of his career and even though he lost, it was still one of the best matches he ever had in his career and maybe the best match he had on AEW. Jericho wants to thank Eddie Kingston for that because he awakened something he wasn’t sure still existed anymore. After he lost though, he didn’t live up to his word and he refused to shake Kingston’s hand. The crowd boos this and then starts chanting ‘shake his hand’, Jericho says he was frustrated and angry and he needs to make it up to Kingston, and tonight he wants to pay his debt to him, as he calls Kingston to come out so he could apologize face-to-face. Kingston comes out wearing the WH Park POST 4 Pillars ‘The Long & Winding Royal Road’ T-Shirt and says Kingston didn’t want to show up on Revolution and instead he wanted to go out there and drink and wanted the poison that was eating him up to eat him again as he names all the people he lost to, and Jericho was right about Kingston being afraid. Kingston tells a heckler to show some respect and let him talk and says Steve Austin isn’t there. Kingston mentioned how people came up to him during the fan fest and made him cry about his recent article, and how he wanted to do it for them. And all for the people at the fan fest, he hopes he did them proud. Kingston said that the handshake was for Jericho, and not him and asked what was missing that he didn’t shake it and it seems like a Jericho problem. He mentions how he used to look up to and respect Jericho and no matter what anybody says in the back or Twitter, Jericho proved everybody wrong as Jericho is still the man and number one but is that enough to fill that hole in his chest to not shake his hand, and that’s a question he has to answer. Jericho says again that he has respect for Kingston, and he would be honored if he could shake his hand. Kingston does shake it as 2point0, and Daniel Garcia makes their way to the ring and attacks Jericho and Kingston. Santana and Ortiz run out with bats in their hands and chase off 2point0. Santana holds up Garcia as Jericho goes to hit Santana, but hits Santana with it instead. Jericho seems to align himself with Garcia and 2point0 and helps them attack Kingston, Santana, and Ortiz. Jake Hager comes out and seems conflicted but ends up helping Jericho and his new alliance. Jericho hits Kingston with the bat as Hager goes and powerbombs Kingston off the apron and through a table ringside. Jericho calls this the Jericho Appreciation Society, and that is entertainment.

Long Live CM Punk

We see clips of CM Punk after his dog collar match talking about how he had to detox himself to be somebody he didn’t want to be and he’ll be digging his own dry blood out of his ear for at least two weeks, and that CM Punk is dead, long live CM Punk.

AEW World Championship: Adam Page (c) vs. Dante Martin

They start the match with a handshake as Martin is able to flip out and dodge before Page does the same and knocks Martin down. Martin ducks and dodges Page, before chopping him in the corner. Page is able to catch a diving Martin and rolls through and hits a fall-away slam, before clotheslining him off the apron as they go to picture-in-picture.

When we come back, Martin hits a dropkick on Page for a two count. Martin kicks Page off the apron and hits a moonsault off the second rope to the outside. Page is able to catch Martin and powerbomb before setting up the Buckshot Lariat, but Martin dodges it and takes Page to the outside where he hits a hurricanrana, gets pushed up the ropes and Page hits him with the Buckshot Lariat for the pin.

Winner: Adam Page by pinfall at 7:32, to retain

Teaming With My Friends, Not Yours

Tony Schiavone is in the ring with Page after the match congratulating him for this match and the match with Adam Cole at Revolution. Page gets on the mic and tells Dante Martin to get back into the ring and tells him that last year he got put in a tough position entering singles competition with his brother getting injured, by Dante was able to make it all the way to the championship title and says he knows him, and his brother will be going after the tag titles, but he was a tough opponent, and he would be glad to do this again. Adam Cole makes his way down and tells Page to shut his mouth and he proved on Sunday that Page wasn’t untouchable, as he took Page to his limit and Page got a fluke victory over him. Cole said anybody can get lucky once, and the next time they fight it won’t happen again. Cole said next week on Dynamite he’s challenging him to a six-man tag team match with Page and anybody from Dark Order as Cole says he has two ‘Young’ men in mind to be his partner who are his friends, and not Page’s. Cole says Page’s days as champion are numbered, and he won’t stop until he hears the words ‘And New AEW World Champion’.

Bryan Danielson & Jon Moxley (w/ William Regal) vs. The Workhorsemen (JD Drake & Anthony Henry)

The Workhorsemen are an established Indy tag team that’s making their first appearance as a team here in AEW, as Moxley and Drake start the match. Moxley suplexes Drake and tags in Danielson who starts delivering his kicks to the front and back of Drake. Moxley and Henry come in as Moxley stomps out Henry in the corner and the crowd chants ‘Thank you Regal’. Danielson comes in and puts on the surfboard on Henry, as Moxley tags in and bites and chops Henry off of Danielson. Moxley gets a one count on Henry, as Henry hits a missile dropkick before tagging in Drake. Moxley takes out Henry on the outside, as Danielson kicks Drake’s head in and puts on the LeBell lock for the submission win.

Winners: Bryan Danielson & Jon Moxley by submission at 4:01

Step Up or Get Stepped On

Tony Schiavone joins Danielson, Moxley and Regal in the ring as Regal says it’s been 29 years since the first time, he was on TBS with Schiavone, and he’s 53 years old now and he’s lived the hard life with battles in the ring and himself and it won’t be that long until his wife is pushing him around in a wheelchair. Regal cracks a joke at Schiavone’s wardrobe and says this is the first time that he actually gets to thank Schiavone on camera for helping him when he first got there. Regal says he is no longer required in his old job and for the last two months checked out of the wrestling industry until someone told him that Danielson mentioned him on AEW. Regal says that made him tune in and found out that Danielson was wrestling Moxley, and some people might only know Regal from Danielson mentioning him and one thing he will do is if anybody wants to work hard, he’ll make him a better professional wrestler. The first thing he did was tell Danielson all the things not to do, and Danielson is the wrestler Regal should have been and called him the perfect wrestler. Regal continues to praise Danielson and then talks about Moxley and the problems they had with each other. Regal said he watched their match and said what better combination does this younger generation have than Danielson & Moxley and that’s why this team is together and a warning to everybody who steps into the ring with them. They won’t like the outcome, so either you’ll step up or get stepped on.

The Dark Out of Order

Alex Marvez is backstage with the Dark Order and asks what their relationship is with Adam Page. Page stops them and says he is sorry for his temper getting the best of him and he screwed up. Evil Uno says everything is ok and John Silver ask who Page is going to pick. Page says he bumped into the Jurassic Express who wanted to get their hands on the Young Bucks, so he picked them. The Dark Order seems a bit embarrassed and disappointed about it.

Wheeler Yuta (w/ Orange Cassidy, Trent Beretta, Chuck Taylor & Danhausen) vs. PAC (w/ Penta Oscuro & Alex Abrahantes)

Orange Cassidy is out with a sling from the ladder match at Revolution, and they say he will be out for a while. Yuta takes control quickly as they go right to picture-in-picture.

When we come back, we see Yuta delivering a release German Suplex as both men are struggling to get up. Yuta hits a top rope cross body for a two count, before PAC takes control and hits a German Suplex for a two count and corners Rick Knox for that. PAC places Yuta on the top rope and hits a superplex before going right for the Brutalizer as Yuta submits.

Winner: PAC by submission at 5:44

Cole & His Best Friends

We go to The Cutler Cam with Adam Cole, reDRagon and The Young Bucks as Cole mentions none of them were able to walk away with titles. Cole stops the tag teams from arguing with them and says he has the perfect people as he’s saying things that sound like the Young Bucks. The Young Bucks seem conflicted about teaming against Adam Page, but Cole says he was talking about reDRagon as they walk off.

Tully is Fired

Alex Marvez is backstage with FTR, and Tully Blanchard as Dax Harwood mentions wrestling being his first love until his baby girl was born and starts calling out reDRagon and Young Bucks, but Tully cuts him off and says this is about championships. Harwood puts his hands on him and says no, it’s about family and fire Blanchard.

The A.H.F.O. Emergency Board Meeting

Matt Hardy is in the ring with Private Party, The Butcher & The Blade and they are with Andrade El Idolo and Jose the Assistant and Hardy claims that Andrade was trying to fire him and apologies for whenever he put on a suit and turning into an asshole, just like Andrade and Jose do. Matt and Andrade say they are going to a vote to see if Matt stays or gets fired and they will go to a thumbs up voting. Matt and Private Party put their thumbs up, as Andrade and Jose put their thumbs down, but as Matt is talking to Andrade, the Private Party change their thumbs down as Andrade says Matt always has to watch his back in this industry, as Matt turns around and gets attacked by Private Party, The Butcher & The Blade. Andrade joins in and kicks Matt down, before telling Andrade to grab a chair. Darby Allin and Sting start making their way down the ring, hesitate but eventually get in the ring to help out Matt Hardy, but they are still outnumbered. We hear the old Hardy Boyz music that they used in WWE, as Jeff Hardy makes his way down to the ring and takes out The Butcher & The Blade. The Hardy Boyz, Sting and Darby all start attacking The Blade before Matt hits the Twist of Fate and Jeff hits the Swanton Bomb. Matt and Jeff hug it out before going face to face with Darby and Sting.

205 Rampage

Tony Schiavone is backstage with Shane ‘Swerve’ Strickland as they say he is making his debut this Friday on AEW Rampage. Tony Nese interrupts him before he can say anything and mentions how Schiavone didn’t get that excited for him. Nese says since they have history on Friday nights, they should wrestle, and Swerve agrees.

Wardlow’s World

Tony Schiavone is in the ring and introduces the Face of the Revolution Winner, Wardlow, and mentions what he did on Sunday but how he is still under contract with MJF. Wardlow mentions how there are choices in life and you can either help someone else’s dreams or fulfill your own. Wardlow spent too much time helping MJF and thought it was his opportunity to free the wild animal from the circus, but it was like exiting one cage and entering another. He spent his energy making sure MJF was fulfilling his dreams. He knew MJF wasn’t a good person when he signed up and he asks for forgiveness for associating with trash but to be honest, he grew up very poor and he had to watch his mother struggle to raise him and his two sisters and MJF was the way for him to get his foot through the door and he paid him a lot of money. It doesn’t matter how much you pay someone, it doesn’t give you the right to disrespect them and put your hands on them. Wardlow mentions still being under contract but not giving a damn and his actions at Revolution were to let everybody know that he is no longer a member of The Pinnacle, and he is finally free. Wardlow mentions to MJF to do the right thing and let him out of the contract, and he won’t waste another ounce of energy on MJF as karma will make sure he’ll get everything coming to him. The only thing he’s worried about is winning the TNT Championship and getting a new contract and he won’t stop with that he wants it all. As of right now, he is letting everybody know that All Elite Wrestling is officially Wardlow’s World.

Very Large Back

Alex Marvez is backstage with Keith Lee and QT Marshall, and Marshall says they have a common enemy in Team Taz as Lee mentions Hook beating Marshall. Marshall says Lee has problems with Ricky Starks and Powerhouse Hobbs, so The Factory has his back. Lee says he happens to have a very large back, and he’s good.

AEW World Tag Team Championship: Jurassic Express (Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus) (c) (w/ Christian Cage) vs. The Acclaimed (Max Caster & Anthony Bowens)

Max Caster’s freestyle mentioned the price of gas, Christian being their strongest part and The Batman being #1 one in the box office, as Austin & Colten Gunn are sitting ringside. Jungle Boy and Caster start off, as Jungle Boy is going after Caster’s injured shoulder before tagging in Luchasaurus. As Jungle runs the ropes, Bowens trips him to the outside and hits him with a spinning forearm as they go picture-in-picture.

When we come back, Luchasaurus is in full control taking down The Acclaimed. He goes for a double chokeslam, but The Acclaimed escape to the outside where they try to hit him with a boom box but get taken out by a diving Jungle Boy instead. Luchasaurus back inside hits Caster with a chokeslam and a standing moonsault, but Bowens breaks it up. Luchasaurus tags out to Jungle Boy, before placing Caster on his shoulder. Jungle Boy tries to hit him off the ropes, but Bowens takes him down and they take Luchasaurus to the outside. Bowens takes Jungle Boy down with chops and a superkick, as Caster hits the Mic Drop but Luchasaurus comes in at the last second to break up the count. On the outside, Luchasaurus blocks Bowens and his boom box, but gets taken out by Caster. Back inside, The Acclaimed hit Jungle Boy with a double team bomb-like move, but Jungle Boy kicks out. Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus takedown Bowens, as Luchasaurus hits the Tail Whip to Caster and Jungle Boy gets the pin.

Winners: Jurassic Express (Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus) by pinfall at 9:28, to retain

The Kiss of Death

Jade Cargill is backstage with Mark Sterling, and they ask who’s next and who’s left before naming all the people Jade beat. Jade mentions having an open challenge to see who she will give the Kiss of Death next.

AEW Women’s World Championship Eliminator Match: Thunder Rosa vs. Leyla Hirsch

The winner of this match will challenge Dr. Britt Baker next week on Dynamite for the AEW Women’s World Championship. Rosa has the crowd behind her as she keeps Hirsch against the bottom rope with a low dropkick before hitting a suplex for a two count. Rosa gets on the top rope, but Hirsch is able to grab her and hit a suplex of her own for a two count. Hirsch heads to the top rope, but Rosa is able to stop her.

Hirsch goes out of the ring to try and grab the turnbuckle metal from under the ring, but Red Velvet is able to stop her. Rosa tries to hit the Fire Thunder Driver, but Hirsch reverses it into an armbar, but Rosa reaches for the ropes. They go back and forth until Rosa hits the Fire Thunder Driver for the pin.

Winner: Thunder Rosa by pinfall at 8:53, to become #1 Contender for the AEW Women’s World Champion

Tony Schiavone tells Thunder Rosa that next week’s match with Baker will be a Steel Cage Match, as we cut to Baker backstage with Jamie Hayter and Rebel and says the cage won’t help her before questioning where Mercedes Martinez has been.

Dynamite ‘St. Patrick’s Day Slam’ Line-Up

· Steel Cage for the AEW World Women’s Championship: Dr. Britt Baker DMD (c) vs. Thunder Rosa

· AEW TNT Championship: Sammy Guevara (c) or Scorpio Sky vs. Wardlow

Rampage Line-Up

· Jamie Hayter vs. Mercedes Martinez

· Darby Allin vs. Marq Quen

· QT Marshall vs. Keith Lee

· Swerve Strickland vs. Tony Nese

AEW TNT Championship: Sammy Guevara (c) vs. Scorpio Sky (w/ Dan Lambert & Ethan Page)

Paige VanZant is seen sitting ringside for this match. Right away they take it outside where Guevara rams Sky into the barricade and steel steps before grabbing a table. Guevara sets up Sky on the table and hits a 630 senton but Sky gets out of the way. Tay Conti is seen attending to Guevara as they go to a commercial.

When we come back, Guevara is able to fight his way back into the ring as he and Sky go at it, before Guevara gets tossed back outside where Tay Conti, who commentary mentions as his girlfriend, attends to him again. VanZant at ringside gets right in the face of Conti, as Sky hits a backbreaker on Guevara inside. Sky tries to hold Guevara down with a sleeper, but Guevara fights his way out with a roll-up for a two. Guevara comes back with a cutter, reverses out of the TKO, and hits the GTH as Sky rolls under the ropes. Guevara pulls him back in, hits a Shooting Star Press as Sky puts his knees up. Lambert gets on the apron and distracts the referee. Ethan Page gets on the other side, but Tay Conti takes him off. VanZant runs out and attacks Conti as Sky hits the TKO and gets the pin.

Winner: Scorpio Sky by pinfall at 11:33, to become NEW AEW TNT Champion

They lay Conti on top of Guevara in the ring, as Paige VanZant signs her AEW contract.