AEW Dynamite Preview and Predictions for April 20, 2022

AEW Dynamite is back this Wednesday and will be broadcast live on TBS from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

AEW gave us a number of title matches last week, highlighted by “Hangman” Adam Page successfully defending the AEW World Title for the second time against Adam Cole.

Thunder Rosa was able to retain her AEW Women’s Title by defeating Nyla Rose, and the AEW World Tag Team Titles were defended by Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus when they took home a win against ReDRagon.

We did get one title change last week.  Sammy Guevara won the TNT Title for the third time, by defeating Scorpio Sky, basically rendering Sky’s run as TNT Champion meaningless.

Now that all the questions about who will be holding the titles are cleared up, the program builds for Double or Nothing will start to take place over the next couple of weeks as we head toward the May 29th pay-per-view.

Many of the matches on this week’s Dynamite show will be used to either end existing programs or as a springboard into the start of new ones.

Let’s take a look at the announced segments and matches for this week’s jam-packed AEW Dynamite and what to expect from each.

Tony Khan’s Huge Announcement

If there are three things that we can count on from Tony Khan it is really good wrestling shows, controversial tweets, and announcements that he has a huge announcement.

Fresh off his last huge announcement in which he informed the world that he had bought Ring of Honor, Khan will make another announcement on this week’s Dynamite.

There are a number of things that this particular announcement could pertain to.  There have been long-standing rumors of a streaming service for the ROH and AEW libraries.  With the constant use of the forbidden door, an AEW-NJP super show could be in the offering.  Maybe Khan has secured a television deal for Ring of Honor.  And of course, it could always be another talent signing.

Given that his last announcement was all about ROH, my best guess is that this announcement will be Ring of Honor related as well.  Tony Khan announces both a new weekly ROH television show as well as a streaming deal with HBO Max.

CM Punk vs Dustin Rhodes

CM Punk and Dustin Rhodes will go one-on-one on Dynamite this week.

CM Punk has been doing two things consistently over the past month to six weeks.  He has been dropping not-so-subtle hints that he wants to be next in line for a shot at the AEW World Title held by Adam Page, and he has been racking up singles wins.

The singles wins are important as Punk tries to move up the rankings to get his shot at the title at Double or Nothing.

And there doesn’t seem to be much doubt that we are heading to a Page-Punk clash at the next pay-per-view.

Dustin Rhodes is a great opponent for a television match with Punk.  In Rhodes, you get a veteran that can still do it all, including putting on a great contest before ultimately putting Punk over in a spectacular way.  On Wednesday, Rhodes will do his part to move CM Punk one step closer to his upcoming title shot.  Winner: CM Punk

Jungle Boy vs Kyle O’Reilly in an Owen Hart Foundation Tournament Qualifier

Last week we saw Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus retain the AEW Tag Team Championships over Kyle O’Reilly and Bobby Fish.

With both ReDRagon and Adam Cole coming up short in their title matches it leaves their faction looking a bit weak without a clear path on where to go from here.

But with the announcement of this match, AEW has set the table for ReDRagon, and Kyle O’Reilly specifically to earn a measure of revenge.

With Double or Nothing coming up Jungle Boy should be focused on his and Luchasaurus’ next program build for the AEW Tag Team Titles.

Not to mention, O’Reilly is a Canadian-born wrestler, so it would be a nice touch to see him make a deep run in the Owen Hart Foundation Tournament.

So look for some Bobby Fish shenanigans to cost Jungle Boy the match, allowing O’Reilly to take a spot in the upcoming tournament bracket.  Winner: Kyle O’Reilly

Britt Baker vs Danielle Kamela in an Owen Hart Foundation Tournament Qualifier

On the women’s side of the Owen Hart Foundation Tournament, hometown hero Britt Baker will return to the ring for the first time since losing the AEW Women’s Title to Thunder Rosa, when she takes on Danielle Kamela.

If Kamela looks familiar it may be because you have seen her compete under the name Vanessa Bourne in NXT.

Kamela has also made some Dark appearances for AEW, leading into her match with Britt Baker on Wednesday.

With six matches on this card, this really should not be anything more than a glorified squash, establishing Baker as one of the favorites to win the women’s side of the tournament.  Winner: Britt Baker

Hook vs Tony Nese

At long last, Hook will make his AEW Dynamite debut when he goes to battle with Tony Nese.

Nese is a great choice of an opponent for Hook in his Dynamite debut.

Nese is a veteran that is rock-solid in the ring.  He can push Hook in a way that Hook has not yet experienced and will also sell Hook’s offense when the time comes.

It’s apparent at this point that Nese was not brought into AEW to be a star or win titles any time soon.  But he can be counted on to continue to put on entertaining and well above average matches while getting his opponents over on a consistent basis.

And on Wednesday, that is exactly what Nese will do.  Winner: Hook

Wardlow vs The Butcher

After weeks of being barred from AEW venues, Wardlow will be invited back this week and will find himself competing in a singles contest with the Butcher.

AEW should be given a lot of credit for the way they have handled this program.  When Wardlow finally turned his back on MJF at Revolution the challenge became how to stretch this program out in a meaningful way all the way to Double or Nothing, as it seemed obvious that this match had to take place on a pay-per-view.

And AEW has done a brilliant job of keeping the feud hot while biding its time to get to late May before things come to a head between MJF and Wardlow.

This week we will get the first of a number of roadblocks that MJF tries to stymie Wardlow’s march towards him with, in the Butcher.

The Butcher is no slouch.  He is a big and strong competitor that will have no second thoughts about standing toe-to-toe with Wardlow.

But in the end, Wardlow will overcome all obstacles that MJF puts in front of him over the next six weeks, as we head towards their inevitable showdown at Double or Nothing.  Winner: Wardlow

Andrade El Idolo vs Darby Allin in a Coffin Match

In what should be the blowoff match of their feud, Andrade El Idolo and Darby Allin will compete in just the second-ever coffin match in AEW.

Allin was victorious in the promotion’s first coffin match when he was able to defeat Ethan Page.

In a normal match between these two, it would make sense to have Andrade pick up the win.  Allin’s popularity makes it so win or lose he doesn’t suffer any credibility with the fans as a competitor that can defeat anyone at any time.

Plus, it seems like the time is nearing for Allin to split with Sting and try his hand as a heel for a while, creating some fresh matchups and allowing him to evolve his character.

Andrade, on the other hand, is still building his reputation in AEW, and the more big wins he can pick up the better.

But the fact that this is a coffin match should signal that Darby Allin is going over here.

The coffin match will most likely be booked at Darby’s specialty as his career progresses in AEW.  So for him to lose only the second edition of the match wouldn’t make a lot of sense.

Darby will avenge his earlier singles loss to Andrade ending their feud, and freeing both stars up for a fresh program heading into the build for Double or Nothing.  Winner: Darby Allin