AEW Dynamite: Preview and Predictions for The Second Anniversary Show

AEW Dynamite will broadcast live from Philadelphia this Wednesday as the flagship show for All Elite Wrestling celebrates its second anniversary.

The past two years have been a whirlwind for AEW.  All Elite Wrestling has shifted from a startup company to the hottest professional wrestling promotion going today.

They have achieved this result by excelling in a number of areas including long-term storytelling, fantastic in-ring product, and the development of young talent.

Add to that the fact that AEW was able to talk CM Punk into coming out of retirement, and were also able to sign both Bryan Danielson and Adam Cole from WWE and NXT respectively, and it wouldn’t be incorrect to say that the promotion is firing on all cylinders right now.

AEW will look to carry on that momentum with its second-anniversary show, highlighted by a Casino Ladder Match, with the winner getting a future AEW World Title match.

Let’s take a look at the announced matches for AEW Dynamite and what to expect from each.

Bobby Fish vs Sammy Guevara

Fresh off his upset win over Miro last week, new TNT Champion, Sammy Guevara will waste no time in defending his title, when he welcomes former NXT standout, Bobby Fish into the AEW ring.

Fish is stepping through the forbidden door to take on Guevara, in what might be an audition for Fish in hopes of getting signed by AEW.

Bobby Fish will be looking to prove his mettle as a singles competitor as he has spent the majority of the last couple of years as more of a tag team specialist.

The outcome of this match is a foregone conclusion.  The more interesting aspect is whether or not Fish is in AEW to stay, and if so, what his angle will be.

This will be a fun match, but it will be one that sees Sammy hang onto his newly won TNT Title.  Winner: Sammy Guevara

The Elite vs Bryan Danielson, Christian Cage, & Jurassic Express

Kenny Omega, Adam Cole, and The Young Bucks will team up in an eight-man tag team match against Bryan Danielson, Christian Cage, and Jurassic Express.

The Elite will always have an advantage in these types of matches as they just have so many people hanging around ringside on any given night.

And this Wednesday will most likely be the same sort of story.

The only question is whether Brandon Cutler and Michael Nakazawa will help the Elite to victory or whether they make one of their many mistakes that open the door for the Elite to take a loss.

With the amount of talent in this match it really could go either way.

But this match seems more about the tensions between Kenny Omega and Bryan Danielson than anything else.   It may also transition Adam Cole and Christian Cage into an upcoming singles feud as Cole already has pinned both Luchasaurus and Jungle Boy.

The most likely outcome here is Kenny Omega avoiding sharing the ring with Bryan Danielson at all costs, a budding feud between Christian Cage and Adam Cole forming, and one of the members of Jurassic Express taking the pinfall.  Winners: The Elite

Serena Deeb vs Hiraku Shida

For the first time since losing the AEW Women’s Title at Double or Nothing, Hikaru Shida will make an appearance on Dynamite, as she tries to capture her 50th AEW victory with a win over Serena Deeb.

This should be a really fun match as these two women are arguably the two best in-ring technicians currently in AEW’s women division.

It wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world for Deeb to pull off an underhanded win here, setting up a series of matches between these two talented women.

But Hikaru Shida deserves this moment.

Shida was one of the women who carried the women’s division during the pandemic era as it was ravaged by both travel restrictions and injuries.

Shida regularly helped to elevate a number of women, who were maybe not quite ready for the spotlight during this tough time, and her brilliance in the ring was clearly on display as she defended her title in entertaining matches against the likes of Penelope Ford, Abadon, and Anna Jay.

So it would only be fitting for Shida to get her 50th AEW victory against such a skilled veteran like Deeb, if nothing else, as a thank you for all that Hikaru Shida did for the company when the women’s division was basically Shida, Nyla Rose and a number of prospects.   Winner: Hikaru Shida

Casino Ladder Match

There will be seven men vying for the opportunity to win an AEW World Title shot against Kenny Omega by winning this Casino Ladder Match.

The amount of talent in this match is pretty insane.  In most ladder matches you can usually pick out a number of the participants that have little to no shot to win.  Here there really is only one.  (Sorry Matt Hardy)

Hardy is the only participant in this match that would shock the world if he won.  The other 5 participants we know, Lance Archer. Jon Moxley, Andrade El Idolo, Pac, and Orange Cassidy have a shot to pull this out.

Then we have the “Joker” spot.

If AEW sticks with tradition, then this spot will most likely be filled by someone making their AEW debut.  And there are a number of names out there.

From released WWE talents to virtually anyone signed at a company not named WWE or NXT, could come through the forbidden door and fill this spot.

But something tells me that this “Joker” spot will be filled by a man that AEW fans know and love, none other than “Hangman” Adam Page.

This is the perfect spot for Page to come back because a victory here skips him right to the front of the line for a shot at Kenny Omega.

If Page is not the “Joker” we are looking at Page spending over a month building up wins to crack the Top 5 singles rankings in the men’s division before he would be considered for a shot at Omega’s title.

But winning this ladder match throws all of that work out the window.

And while Pac, Orange Cassidy, or Andrade would be very deserving winners, all signs point towards the conclusion of some of the best long-term storytelling that AEW has done yet.  Winner: “Hangman” Adam Page