AEW Dynamite: Preview and Predictions for March 24th, 2021

AEW Dynamite is back this Wednesday with a live show that includes four announced matches.  In addition to the announced card, we will most likely see advancements in storylines that have begun to develop over the past couple of weeks.

Will Brian Cage’s respect for Sting lead to him being removed from Team Tazz?  It was no surprise to see Team Tazz interrupt Sting’s interview last week.  The surprise would actually come when Brian Cage told Sting that he was still The Icon and Cage respected him.  This drew the ire of Cage’s Team Tazz teammates and Cage walked off the stage with his teammates following closely behind, barking at him.  Was this a simple misunderstanding?  Or the beginning of the end of Brian Cage’s run in Team Tazz?

And speaking of Sting, how long will he be able to keep his cool amidst the constant interruptions from Lance Archer?  While we saw Sting take a powerbomb from Brian Cage leading up to their street fight at Revolution, having Sting take shots like that is not something AEW should make a habit of.  Preferably Archer’s distaste for the amount of air time Sting is getting will lead to a program between Archer and Darby Allin for the TNT title.  Other than a few shots here and there with a baseball bat, Sting’s physicality should most definitely be saved for cinematic style matches.

Scorpio Sky has a new attitude and a new mean streak, what direction will this change in demeanor take him?  Where Scorpio Sky goes from here is vital to his character development and whether or not the fans care about him.  AEW should put him in a program with one of their most popular babyfaces and let Sky destroy him.  Sky doesn’t necessarily need to win matches but he has to make the fans hate him.  With over two months until Double or Nothing, it doesn’t have to happen this week.  But at some point, we should see Sky viciously attack someone like Hangman, Cody, Christian Cage, or Orange Cassidy getting Sky the needed heat to continue to elevate him towards the top of the card.

And after hearing Christian Cage speak for the first time in AEW last week, it seems apparent that his run at Kenny Omega will not take place immediately.  So will we get some answers as to who his first feud will be with this week?

While the above storylines will take most likely be featured on Dynamite there are also four scheduled matches that should be a lot of fun.  Let’s take a look at those matches and what to expect.

Kenny Omega vs Matt Sydal

Matt Sydal will get the biggest opportunity of his AEW career in a world championship eliminator match when he takes on Kenny Omega.  If Sydal is able to defeat Omega he will earn an AEW Championship match at a later date.

Sydal earned this opportunity on the first-ever edition of AEW Dark: Elevation.  Matt and his brother Mike had just picked up a tag team win when Kenny Omega ran into Matt backstage.  Omega told Sydal that he was scouting for future opponents and if Sydal could pick up a win later that night against Michael Nakazawa, then Omega would give Sydal a match on Dynamite.

Sydal easily handled Nakazawa, earning the match against Omega.  However, Omega hit the ring and beatdown Matt Sydal then announced that his promised match would begin now.  Omega delivered a one-winged angel and scored the easy pinfall.  However, Tony Khan made his way to ringside and overruled Omega.  Khan announced that Matt Sydal would get a shot at Kenny Omega on next week’s Dynamite.

In short, Matt Sydal has very little chance to win this match.  Sydal is a good worker.  He is known for his ability to fly, but he has also improved his technical and submission game as well.  This won’t be a squash.  Sydal will push Omega, but come up short.  Winner: Kenny Omega

FTR & Shawn Spears vs Varsity Blondes & Dante Martin

We will get our first look at members of The Pinnacle in action as FTR will team with Shawn Spears and challenge the Varsity Blondes and one half of Top Flight, Dante Martin.

Much like the Omega/Sydal tilt, this is another match that should be exciting, but the outcome will never be in question.  The Varsity Blondes and Top Flight are two of the up-and-coming teams in AEW.  In a couple of years, they may even be feuding for the AEW tag team titles.

But this match is about The Pinnacle.  To establish this faction as the most invincible thing going in AEW it is important that they stack up wins early and often and look unbeatable.  Between MJF, FTR, and Wardlow, they may one day hold all the men’s titles in AEW between them.

Then there is Shawn Spears.  The inclusion of Spears in this group can go one of two ways.  It can either establish him as a force to be reckoned with or it gives the faction a patsy to take the pinfalls whenever creative decides that The Pinnacle needs to lose a multi-man match.  The latter seems more likely.  Spears’ time in The Pinnacle will be short as the group will tire of his losses and beat him out of the faction.

But that won’t happen this week.  FTR and Spears will pick up the win.  And The Pinnacle will await the return of a reenergized Inner Circle.  Winner: FTR & Shawn Spears

Tay Conti vs Nyla Rose

Tay Conti and Nyla Rose will square off in a rematch of their first-round match of the Women’s World Title Eliminator Tournament that saw Rose pick up the victory on her way to the finals of that tournament.

Tay Conti has grown a ton in her time in AEW.  She started out as an AEW Dark regular but has continued to improve each and every week.  So much so that she recently had an NWA Women’s Championship match vs Serena Deeb.  Even though Conti came up short, she proved to everyone watching that she was going to be someone to keep an eye on in the months to come.

The outcome of this match seems obvious.  Nyla Rose just made a run in the Women’s World Title Eliminator Tournament which saw her beat Conti, Britt Baker, and Thunder Rosa.  She has been consistently in the top 5 during her entire AEW career and has held the AEW Women’s Championship.  In fact, Nyla has lost a total of 4 singles matches in her AEW career.  She has lost one championship match to Riho, two championship matches to Hikaru Shida, and one tournament final match to Ryo Mizunami.  The moral of this story, Nyla Rose doesn’t lose unless there is something on the line and she is wrestling the best of the best.

But the fact that we are doing the third match between these two piques my interest.  What would be the point if we are just going to get another Nyla Rose victory?  We have been there and seen that.  It doesn’t do Nyla or Tay any good to do this again if the outcome is going to remain the same.  So against my better judgment, I am going to sound the upset alarms.  Conti picks up the biggest win of her young career.  Winner: Tay Conti

John Silver vs Darby Allin for the TNT Title

The main event of the evening should be the TNT Title match, as Darby Allin defends his title against Dark Order’s John Silver.

Darby Allin’s title reign has been somewhat lackluster up to this point.  To be fair this is absolutely no fault of Darby’s and more an issue of booking.  Darby has been tied up in the storyline with Sting and Team Tazz virtually from the time he won the title.  But with the culmination of that storyline seemingly wrapping up at Revolution, it should free Darby up to do what he does best, put on exciting matches.

If we look closely at the three title defenses Darby has had they were all very good matches.  The match with Brian Cage really emphasized the never-say-die attitude of Darby Allin as he took a hellacious beating yet continued to kick out at one and let Brian Cage know exactly what he thought of him with just one finger.

The match between Darby and Scorpio Sky was an intense and well-wrestled contest.  So much so that it is a feud that AEW would be very smart to revisit in the future.

Heck, Darby even made Joey Janela look good in their match back in February.

John Silver is a lot of fun, and of all the members of the Dark Order, I am glad that he is the one getting this opportunity.  Silver is good in the ring and hilarious on the microphone.  This should be the best match of the night between two extremely talented performers that deserve the main event spotlight.

While the TNT Title coming back to the Dark Order is a storyline that may get you right in the feels, it isn’t happening on this night.  The relentless Darby Allin will put Silver down in an excellent match to close the show.  Winner: Darby Allin