Young Bucks return to action on Dynamite on TSN2
The Young Bucks make their in-ring return against "Speedball" Mike Bailey and Kevin Knight. Plus, Jamie Hayter meets Kris Statlander in the Owen Hart semis and FTR returns from suspension. You can catch AEW Dynamite LIVE on Wednesday night at 8 p.m. ET/ 5 p.m. PT on TSN2, the TSN App, and TSN.ca.
The Young Bucks (Nicholas Jackson and Matthew Jackson) vs. "Speedball" Mike Bailey and Kevin "The Jet" Knight
For the first time since dropping the AEW World Tag Team Championships to Private Party (Marq Quen and Isiah Kassidy) on the Oct. 30 edition of Dynamite, the Young Bucks (Nicholas Jackson and Matthew Jackson) will compete in an AEW ring. They won't be returning to a cakewalk, either, with "Speedball" Mike Bailey and Kevin Knight standing on the opposite side of the ring. The Jackson brothers made their return to AEW in shocking fashion at Dynasty when they cost Swerve Strickland the AEW World Championship during his title match with Jon Moxley. After "Hangman" Adam Page and the Opps (Samoa Joe, Hook and Katsuyori Shibata) had neutralized the threat of the rest of the Death Riders (Claudio Castagnoli, PAC and Wheeler YUTA), it appeared Strickland would have the opportunity to decide things with Moxley one on one. But out of nowhere, the Jacksons hit the ring and laid the challenger out with the EVP Trigger, allowing Moxley to retain his title. Days later on Dynamite, the Bucks claimed their attack had a twofold purpose: one, they laid out Strickland as a favour to Page, who had vowed to never let Swerve become champion again and two, to show Moxley how beneficial a Death Riders alliance with The Elite would be. Neither entreaty was met with its desired result. Page still wants nothing to do with his former stablemates and Mox blew off the overture, leaving the Jacksons (and Kazuchika Okada) in an awkward position. There's also the spectre of a vengeful Kenny Omega waiting to get his hands on The Elite after they helped exacerbate his diverticulitis last year. It's with this backdrop that the Bucks make their return to action to take on Bailey and Knight. When it comes to chemistry, the team of Bailey and Knight will be at a distinct disadvantage. The duo has never teamed together in a tag match before and they are taking on literal brothers. While the Jacksons have never faced Knight before, they have taken on Bailey, but not recently. The last time the Bucks shared a ring with Bailey was nearly a decade ago in Pro Wrestling Guerrilla when the team of Bailey, Chris Hero, Candice LeRae and Joey Ryan defeated Mount Rushmore 2.0 (the Jacksons, Adam Cole and Roderick Strong). If there was anything that the Bucks and Bailey learned about each other as opponents, it's probably long forgotten. Will the Bucks return with a bang or will Bailey and Knight continue their strong starts to their AEW careers?
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Owen Hart Foundation Tournament semi-final match: Jamie Hayter vs. Kris Statlander
What's obvious heading into Wednesday night's match between Jamie Hayter and Kris Statlander is that there is a great deal of mutual respect between the two women. That will all go out the window, though, on Dynamite when the duo battles for a spot against the undefeated Mercedes Mone in the Owen Hart Cup final. Statlander earned passage into the semis with a victory over former AEW Women's World Champion Thunder Rosa. Hayter, a former AEW Women's World Champion in her own right, grabbed her spot in the final four by virtue of a hard-fought win over Billie Starkz. A former TBS Champion, the AEW Women's World Championship is the one prize that has eluded Statlander. She has had three title matches in the past and came out on the losing end against three different champions in Dr. Britt Baker, DMD, "The Native Beast" Nyla Rose and Riho. She would love for the fourth time to be the charm, but she has to get there first. Hayter also feels like she has unfinished business with the world title. Since she lost the AEW Women's World Championship to Toni Storm at Double or Nothing 2023, Hayter hasn't had another title match. Approaching the two-year mark since she last was champion, Hayter knows that beating Statlander and going on to defeat Mone guarantees another title match at All In in Arlington, TX. Despite their respective lengthy tenures in AEW, Hayter and Statlander have yet to have a one-on-one match in the promotion. The only time the two have met in singles competition was during the 2021 Jericho Cruise in which Hayter came out victorious. While it's obviously a giant match for both women, there is, perhaps, some added motivation for Statlander. For Statlander, it means another shot at Mone, who has defeated her in TBS Championship matches on two different occasions. A victory over Mone en route to another shot at the AEW Women's World Championship would be a massive buoy to Statlander's confidence. Which of these two former champions will set up a date with "The CEO" in the Owen final?
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"The Aerial Assassin" Will Ospreay and "Big, Bad" Brody King vs. The Don Callis Family (NEVER Openweight Champion "The Alpha" Konosuke Takeshita and "The Walking Weapon" Josh Alexander) (w/ Don Callis)
Say what you will about Don Callis, but for all of his bluster, he rarely lies. Two weeks ago on Dynamite, Callis lamented the injury situation within the Don Callis Family with both Mark Davis and "The Machine" Brian Cage on the shelf. He said that because they were down in numbers, he was recruiting. He made good on his promise last Wednesday night. Bolton, Ont.'s Josh Alexander made his AEW debut as the wild-card entrant in the Owen Hart Foundation Tournament against "Hangman" Adam Page. While Alexander tested the former AEW World Champion, Page picked up the victory with a roll-up. After the match, Page's opponent in the semis, "The ProtoStar" Kyle Fletcher made his way down to the ring with Callis. Callis whispered something in Alexander's ear and while Fletcher distracted Page in the ring, Alexander leveled him from behind. Fletcher proceeded to viciously attack the Hangman and put him down with a brainbuster. But Alexander's addition to the Family wasn't the only one. This past Saturday night on Collision, Alexander and Konosuke Takeshita teamed up to take on Rocky Romero and Tomohiro Ishii. As Ishii looked for a tag, Romero jumped off of the apron and left "The Stone Pitbull" to fend off the Family, two on one. The numbers game was too much and Ishii slumped to defeat. After the match, Romero tried to explain himself to Ishii, but it was a ruse as a man in a hood attacked Ishii from behind. He pulled down the hood to reveal the returning Trent Beretta, who had been out of action for 10 months with a neck injury. As Romero and Beretta put the boots to Ishii, Callis entered the ring to present Beretta with a wrench to attack with as the final insult. Roppongi Vice was back together and under the Don Callis Family banner. Buoyed by the inflated numbers, the Family returns to action on Wednesday night and they're going to have their hands full with Will Ospreay and Brody King. With victories over Kevin Knight and Takeshita in an incredible match last week, Ospreay has advanced to the Owen Hart final and will meet Page or Fletcher at Double or Nothing next month. King will have the opportunity for revenge on Takeshita who put him out of the Owen in the quarters in what was an incredibly hard-fought match. There's obviously no love lost between Ospreay and the Family, but Wednesday night's match offers another wrinkle. It will mark the first time that Ospreay and Alexander have shared a ring since an incredible match in TNA in January of 2024 that Alexander won with the C4 Spike. Both men will undoubtedly look forward to renewing hostilities on Wednesday night. Can the new-look Don Callis Family pick up a win or will the combination or King and Ospreay emerge victorious?
FTR (Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler) returns from suspension
Since turning on Adam Copeland at Dynasty, Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler have been on a rampage. Two weeks ago on Collision, FTR took great umbrage with comments made by Tony Schiavone at the commentary desk over their betrayal of Copeland. Schiavone told the television audience that Harwood's young daughter was likely greatly embarrassed by her father's actions. Harwood and Wheeler invited Schiavone into the ring on Apr. 12 to address his remarks. When Schiavone didn't back down, FTR shoved him to the ground and set him up for a spike piledriver. As angry as he was that Schiavone even got into the ring, his partner at commentary, Nigel McGuinness, wasn't going to sit idly by and watch him be attacked. McGuinness made his way into the ring and got FTR to back off. Daniel Garcia then headed down to ringside to find out what was up his friends. He was immediately dumped to the ground by Harwood, who instantly apologized when he realized who it was. The duo seemingly made amends with Garcia, but "Daddy Magic" Matt Menard wasn't having any of it and challenged FTR to take on 2point0 (Menard and "Cool Hand" Angelo Parker) later in the evening. After FTR won the match with a pair of spike piledrivers, they turned their ire towards Garcia, blindsiding him and laying him out with three spike piledrivers. Before they could do any more damage, they were finally run off by the Paragon (TBS Champion Adam Cole, Kyle O'Reilly and Roderick Strong). Because of their brutal actions, FTR was issued a one-week suspension. They sent in a completely disingenuous apology to Schiavone and McGuinness this past Saturday on Collision, but Harwood and Wheeler will return in the flesh on Wednesday night. What will FTR have to say for themselves and who might be next on the Top Guys' hitlist?
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Master P makes an appearance
Legendary New Orleans rapper and No Limit Records empresario "Master P" Percy Miller will make an appearance with Dynamite in town. Master P's history with pro wrestling is a long one. He led the No Limit Soldiers stable in World Championship Wrestling in 1999 in a memorable feud against the West Texas Rednecks (Curt Hennig, Bobby Duncum Jr., Barry Windham and Kendall Windham Jr.). Miller also purchased ownership of Amazing Red's New York City-based promotion House of Glory in 2019. Among those who have competed in HOG over the years include Swerve Strickland, Ricochet, Matt Cardona and Jacob Fatu. What does Master P have planned for Wednesday night?