AEW Dynamite Results 8/21 - Two Title Matches, Strickland & Danielson Meet One Last Time Before All In
Welcome to Wrestling Inc.'s results for "AEW Dynamite" on August 21, 2024, coming to you from the Utilita Arena Cardiff in Cardiff, Wales!
In the go home edition of "Dynamite" ahead of AEW All In, AEW World Champion Swerve Strickland and Blackpool Combat Club's Bryan Danielson will be meeting one last time before the pay-per-view event. Not only will they be facing one another in a Title vs. Career match this coming Sunday, but they found themselves involved in an intense verbal confrontation after Strickland defeated Wheeler Yuta in the main event of last week's edition of "Dynamite" that ultimately resulted in the Strickland blindsiding Danielson with an attack.
Days before she defends AEW Women's World Championship against former confidant Mariah May this coming Sunday, Toni Storm will be putting her title on the line against Saraya. While Harley Cameron looked to celebrate her birthday this past Friday on "AEW Rampage", a frustrated Saraya took the mic from her and demanded a title shot in her home country the United Kingdom. Hearing such, Storm responded by granting Saraya the opportunity she was looking for.
Another title will be up for grabs tonight, as Claudio Castagnoli of Blackpool Combat Club challenges The Elite's Kazuchika Okada for the AEW Continental Championship. The two men came face-to-face last week in an exchange of words while speaking with Renee Paquette last week.
Speaking of The Elite, Jack Perry, Matthew Jackson and Nicholas Jackson will be colliding with FTR and Darby Allin in trios competition. Allin will be challenging Perry for the TNT Championship on Sunday at Wembley Stadium in London, England while Matthew and Nicholas will be defending their title against Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler and The Acclaimed's Anthony Bowens and Max Caster in a Three-Way Match.
Additionally, Tommy Billington will be making his "Dynamite" debut as he goes one-on-one with FTW Champion Chris Jericho in a non-title match before the latter puts his title on the line against HOOK on Sunday. Mercedes Mone and Dr. Britt Baker D.M.D. will also be making their TBS Championship match for All In official when they sign the contract tonight, and titleholder MJF meets with Will Ospreay days before they square off for the AEW American Championship.
We are live! Excalibur, Taz, and Tony Schiavone greet audiences at home as Tony Schiavone introduces Britt Baker and Mercedes Mone. Both women then make their way down to the ring.
Mercedes Mone and Britt Baker Make Their TBS Championship Match At All In Official
Schiavone points out that Mone and Baker agreed to no physicality, then hands the mic over to Mone. Mone demands that Cardiff say hello to their CEO, then says she will forever be the TBS Champion before she signs the contract.
Baker then grabs the contract and says she distinctly remembers All In last year when Mone was injured and watched the action through the crowd. She says there was a D.M.D. before there was ever a CEO and signs the contract.
Mone says fans resonate with Baker because they're losers like her, then says Baker challenging her for the TBS Championship at All In is Baker's dream match. She says Baker doesn't have the guts, and Baker says she has the guts and the hearts because she never had a plan B. She says she had two plan A's, then says while Mone has always been one of four, she's always been one of one. She says she admired Mone and always wanted to be her, then says Mone isn't the woman that she admired. She says Mone cares more about money than she does about her legacy, then says when she wins the TBS Championship on Sunday, she wants to be able to say that she beat the old Mone.
Baker says she's going to honor the no physicality stipulation between her and Mone, then clocks Kamille on the head and dumps her on top of Mone. She then lands the crossbody on top of the pair and holds up the TBS Championship.
Chris Jericho, Bryan Keith, and Big Bill then make their way down to the ring. Tommy Billington follows.
Chris Jericho (w/ Bryan Keith and Big Bill) vs. Tommy Billington
The bell rings and the two lock up. Billington delivers an arm drag to Jericho, then follows it up with a shoulder tackle and a bodyslam. Billington sends Jericho crashing into the barricade on the outside, then looks to get back in. Keith trips him on the apron while the referee is distracted, and Bill then sends him crashing into the ring post shoulder first.
Back from the break, Jericho and Billington level one another with crossbodies. Billington connects with a missile dropkick on Jericho, then delivers another bodyslam. Jericho responds with a Lionsault and a chop in the corner, then whips Billington into the opposite corner. Billington connects with a German suplex on Jericho and goes for a pin, but Jericho kicks out and locks in the Walls of Jericho.
Billington crawls over to the bottom rope to break the hold, then lands a Tombstone on Jericho and ascends to the top. He delivers a crossbody to Keith on the outside, then sends Bill crashing into the barricade and ascends back up the ropes. He looks to fly, but Jericho intercepts him with a Codebreaker mid-air for the win.
Winner: Chris Jericho
After the match, Jericho grabs a mic and addresses HOOK. He tells HOOK that he'll do to him what he just did to Billington. HOOK's music hits, and he makes his way out. He stares down Jericho, but Bill clocks him from behind and delivers a delayed chokeslam to him.
Back from the break, Toni Storm makes her way down to the ring. Saraya and Harley Cameron follow.
Toni Storm (c) vs. Saraya (w/ Harley Cameron) for the AEW Women's World Championship
The bell rings and the two lock up. They go back and forth with one another, then take turns rolling each other up. Saraya rolls out onto the apron, then delivers a jawbreaker to Storm off the top rope. She drapes her through the middle rope and fires off kicks on her. Cameron takes a few cheap shots on her on the outside, and Saraya delivers a cannonball to Storm off the apron to level her.
Back from the break, Storm connects with a DDT on Saraya. She follows it up with a Northern Lights suplex on Saraya, but Saraya responds with a twisting neckbreaker and ascends to the top with Storm in hand. She delivers a Sunset Flip and a cradle DDT to Storm and goes for a pin, but Storm grabs the bottom rope to break the hold.
Storm delivers a sit-out powerbomb to Saraya and goes for a pin, but Saraya kicks out. Cameron hops up on the apron, but Storm distracts her with a kiss. She sends Saraya crashing into Cameron, then kisses her and delivers Storm Zero for the win.
Winner (and still): Toni Storm
After the match, Mariah May blindsides Storm and clocks her with the shoe. May cradles Storm and kisses her forehead, then makes her way to the back smiling.
Back from the break, Will Ospreay makes his way down to the ring. MJF follows.
Will Ospreay and MJF Meet One Another In The Ring
Ospreay says it's unusual for an English man to be this loved in Wales, then recalls driving from England to Wales to wrestle. He says Sunday is about cleaning up the mess that MJF made.
MJF says it's interesting that Ospreay says he'll be cleaning up his mess because arenas have chanted for him twice as loud in comparison to Ospreay. He says that Ospreay might not be aware, but he came back early from injury before he was fully rehabilitated because he was begged by top people in AEW and Warner Brothers Discovery to clean up Ospreay's mess.
Ospreay says everyone started giggling when MJF won the AEW World Championship, but eventually, the joke went too far. He says Tony Khan could've signed many other people, but he chose to sign him. He says MJF has given everyone entertainment, then says it's not just restoring the AEW International Championship. He says it's about creating the feeling, then says he's the feeling.
MJF says he doesn't care about catering to fans, and says that he cares about the thing Americans do best: winning. He says he actually believed Khan when he said that AEW would be safe in Ospreay's hands. He says everyone knows who MJF is and everyone can agree that he's the best, then asks Ospreay who said he was the best. He says the fans who call him such know nothing about professional wrestling, then says that they know nothing about it. He says the fact is that he's the longest and youngest AEW World Champion of all time. MJF says Ospreay only has one move in his chamber: the Tiger Driver 91. He says facts don't care about feelings.
Ospreay says he knows something about wrestling, then sas history can be rewritten. He says what can't be rewritten is how people feel, then says MJF has never inspired anyone to be a professional wrestler while the same cannot be said for him. MJF says that like Ospreay said, he could never be a great role model like him. He says before "Dynamite", he got to spend some time with Ospreay's wife. He then takes shots at Ospreay's wife and kid.
Ospreay asks Khan via Tony Schiavone how much he'll be fined if he clocks MJF now, and Schiavone says it will be £100,000. Ospreay then clocks MJF and security looks to pull him off, but Ospreay takes them down. MJF clocks Ospreay with the "Dynamite" Diamond ring and fires off right hands on him before he connects with a Brainbuster on him. He then pins Ospreay and counts to three himself. He looks to hit a Tiger Driver 91 on Ospreay, but security pulls him off Ospreay.
Back from the break, we then head backstage to "Hangman" Adam Page and Renee Paquette where Page declares that he will be in the Casino Gauntlet Match at All In. Evil Uno then appears and announces that he'll be participating in it too before Page clocks him with a chair.
Back at ringside, Claudio Castagnoli makes his way out. Kazuchika Okada follows.
Kazuchika Okada (c) vs. Claudio Castagnoli for the AEW Continental Championship
The bell rings and the two lock up. Castagnoli delivers an uppercut to Okada, and the two take turns landing kicks on one another.
Back from the break, Castagnoli delivers a delayed vertical suplex to Okada. He fires off a series of uppercuts on him in the corner, then lands another uppercut on him in the corner. He gets Okada back in the ring and delivers an elbow drop, then goes for a pin but Okada kicks out. Castagnoli clotheslines Okada out of the ring, but Okada sends Castagnoli crashing into the ring post.
Back from another break, Castagnoli delivers a gut wrench throw and a double stomp to Okada. Okada responds with bodyslam and ascends to the top, but Castagnoli catches him with an uppercut and joins him up there. He fires off right hands on him, but Okada knocks him off and dropkicks him into the corner. He lands a bodyslam, then ascends back up to the top and flies.
Castagnoli connects with The Swing on Okada, then runs the ropes. Okada intercepts Castagnoli with a dropkick, but Castagnoli lands a springboard uppercut. Okada hits a shoulderbreaker on Castagnoli and the two fire off strikes on one another. Castagnoli catches Okada with a pop-up uppercut before he pins him. The bell then sounds as the result of the time limit draw.
Winner (and still): Kazuchika Okada (due to time limit draw)
After the match, Matthew Jackson, Nicholas Jackson, and Jack Perry appear on the ramp. The Elite ask fans if they want to see Okada and Castagnoli go for five more minutes, and fans cheer in response. The Elite then says that won't be happening as Okada's contract states that he will only be wrestling for twenty minutes and not twenty five with the time limit draw per his contract. They then kick Castagnoli out of the ring, but Darby Allin's music hits and he makes his way out. FTR follows.
FTR and Darby Allin vs. The Elite
The bell rings and The Elite brawls with FTR and Allin in the ring as Okada and Castagnoli brawl on the outside and up the ramp. Harwood and Perry get back inside the ring, and Harwood fires off chops on Perry. On the outside, Allin delivers a Coffi Drop to level The Young Bucks. He dumps Nicholas back in the ring, but Matthew gets him in an Electric Chair position and Nicholas lands a kick on him from the apron.
Back from the break, Harwood takes down The Bucks and delivers a German suplex to Perry. He follows it up with a Brainbuster and goes for a pin, but Perry kicks out. Nicholas tags in and The Bucks look to land the EVP Trigger to Wheeler, but Wheeler ducks out of the ring and The Bucks' knees are sent crashing into each other.
FTR and Allin cinch in triple Scorpion Death Locks on The Elite before The Elite grab their respective titles and look to head to the back. Wheeler delivers a tope suicida to prevent them from doing so. Allin delivers a Code Red to Nicholas, but Perry catches him with a reverse DDT. He looks to land a running knee on Allin, but FTR catches him with the Shatter Machine. Harwood then delivers a superplex to Matthew, and Wheeler follows it up with a splash. Allin then delivers a Coffin Drop to Matthew and pins him for the win.
Winners: FTR and Darby Allin
After the match, The Acclaimed and "Daddy Ass" Billy Gunn make their way down to the ring. Max Caster points out that The Bucks and FTR have both been unable to beat The Acclaimed, and Anthony Bowens says neither team can beat him or Caster.
Back from the break, Nigel McGuinness is waiting in the ring. He introduces Swerve Strickland and Prince Nana, and they make their way down to the ring.
Swerve Strickland and Bryan Danielson Meet One Last Time Before All In
McGuinness tells Strickland it's an honor to have him in the ring, then addresses Danielson's physical condition. He says Danielson has been open about his injuries while Strickland is in the best physical shape of his life. He asks Strickland how it feels to be the overwhelming favorite in their Title vs. Career Match for the AEW World Championship, and Strickland says he's known as the most dangerous man in AEW because of the pain he's endured and all the people he's defeated to get to the top including "Hangman" Adam Page, Jay White, Konosuke Takeshita, Samoa Joe, Claudio Castagnoli, and Christian Cage. He says he will dissect Danielson purposefully, menacingly, and scientifically.
McGuinness looks to introduce Danielson, but Strickland stops him. He says that two Washington state natives will be main eventing All In, but he keeps hearing Danielson talking about retirement. He reiterates that he'll be taking that from Danielson, and will ensure that Danielson will never want to get back in the ring after he retires. He says that if Danielson ever wants to do another match or show post-retirement, he will be there to make sure he doesn't make it to then.
Danielson's music hits and he runs down to the ring. He lands the Busaiku Knee on Strickland, then grabs a mic and tells Strickland that he and others may be confused. He says he doesn't come to the ring for 20 minutes every week and talk about himself. He says he knows who he is, and says that the truth is that he's the best wrestler in the world. He says that's been true for the last 20 years, then tells Strickland that he wants to talk a big game about retiring him and cripple him in front of his daughter. Danielsn says the only question left is if he can dethrone Strickland as AEW World Champion, and fans respond by chanting yes. He says fans know the answer, and so does Strickland.