This week’s episode of AEW Dynamite aired live from the Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, featuring the much anticipated return of Kenny Omega to confront his fellow EVPs after their heinous assault from last week.

– The show opened with Tony Khan trying to deliver a message from his office in Jacksonville to address last week’s assault. The feed was immediately cut by the Young Bucks who claimed that they couldn’t contact TK. They confirmed that if TK was unreachable, the control of the show went to the EVPs. They finished by playing a modified intro to the show that only featured The Elite.

WE’LL LEARN WHO WILL CHALLENGE SWERVE STRICKLAND

– Swerve Strickland made his way to the ring to talk about the type of champions that AEW deserves. Swerve said that AEW didn’t need selfish self-absorbed EVPs whose actions were still a b*tch move. He asked whoever in the back was his opponent for Double Or Nothing to come out. The Young Bucks appeared on-screen to tell Swerve that the success might have gone to his head. They officially revealed that Swerve’s opponent at Double Or Nothing would be a returning Christian Cage.

– Cage grabbed a mic, only to clobber Swerve with it on the head. Swerve tried to fight back, but Killswitch shut him down with a headbutt. Cage dropped Swerve with a Killswitch on top of the belt and Nick Wayne nailed Prince Nana with Wayne’s World. He grabbed a mic to tell him that he wanted revenge for leaving his son in a pool of his own blood and for embarrassing at the biggest show in wrestling history. Cage talked about Swerve’s speech where she mentioned his daughter and how she didn’t know him.

– Cage told Swerve that once he was done with him, his daughter wouldn’t want to know him, but it would be okay because she would have a father to be proud of for the rest of her life. He said that he would walk into Swerve’s house at Double Or Nothing and rip the title out of his hand. Cage told Swerve that the pain had just begun, as Killswitch tore off a dread from Swerve’s head.

– A recap of the story between Adam Copeland and the House of Black was shown.

– Malakai Black’s voice throughout the arena to tell Adam Copeland that watching how he has infiltrated his mind was more rewarding.

(1) ADAM COPELAND vs. BUDDY MATTHEWS – AEW TNT Championship

They traded shoulder tackles and headlock takeovers early on. Buddy landed on his feet off a back suplex and sent Copeland out of the ring with a dropkick. Copeland low-bridged Buddy, setting him up for a suicide dive, as AEW Dynamite went to commercials.

[Commercial Break]

Back from break, Copeland pulled Buddy’s head into the ropes, only for Buddy to spike him with a draping DDT. Buddy stomped Copeland down and put his whole weight on his back into the ropes. Buddy trapped Copeland in a deep headlock, but Copeland was able to lay him out with a flapjack. Copeland blocked a superplex, making both him and Buddy crash into the apron. Both men were barely able to return to the ring in time where they immediately got into a strike exchange. Buddy blocked the Impaler and clobbered Copeland with a forearm strike, only for Copeland to respond with one of his own. They both went for running crossbodies at the same time, knocking each other down. Buddy started spitting blood and a doctor checked on him, as AEW Dynamite went to an ad break.

[Commercial Break]

Back from break, Copeland pummeled Buddy with right hands into the corner, but Buddy was able to plant him with a sitout powerbomb for a two count. Copeland blocked a sunset flip powerbomb and caught Buddy with a kick to the abdomen. Copeland shoved Buddy off the top turnbuckle and put him down with an avalanche Impaler for a close nearfall. Buddy blocked a Spear with a pump knee, a knee to the head and a Jackhammer for a close two count. Buddy immediately trapped Copeland in a crossface, until Copeland broke the hold and hit him with an Olympic Slam. Copeland missed a Spear into the corner, allowing Buddy to crack him with a GTS. Copeland avoided a Curb Stomp before finishing Buddy with a Spear.

WINNER: Adam Copeland at 21:02 (Still AEW TNT Champion) (***1/2)

– After the match, Adam Copeland beat Buddy Matthews down and prepared for the Con-Chair-To. The lights turned off and Malakai Black appeared next to Copeland and told him to do it. Copeland teased clobbering Buddy with his chair before turning to Black. The lights turned off once again, as Black and Buddy disappeared once again.

[Commercial Break]

(2) SAMOA JOE vs. ISIAH KASSIDY

Kassidy put on Joe’s towel and mocked his mannerisms, only for Joe to choke him out with it. Kassidy gouged Joe’s eyes, but Joe quickly shut him down with a pop up facebuster. Joe beat Kassidy down with a load of right hands and body shots. Kassidy avoided a suicide dive and managed to knock Joe off the apron with a springboard cutter. Joe walked out of the way, making Kassidy miss a Tope con Hilo. Kassidy caught Joe with a pop up dropkick, following it with a barrage of right hands. Joe blocked a monkey flip before knocking Kassidy out with a Muscle Buster.

WINNER: Samoa Joe at 3:29 (**)

– A video package from Skye Blue was shown where she called Willow Nightingale a fraud for needing help to beat her and losing their Street Fight. Blue challenged Willow to a match with the TBS title on the line on Rampage.

[Commercial Break]

WE’LL HEAR FROM ORANGE CASSIDY

– Orange Cassidy made his way to the ring and said that he hated this. Cassidy said that he thought that after Trent and Chuck fought on Rampage, they would take things out of their systems and they would go back to being Best Friends. Cassidy said that it was never going to happen and that he was told that Chuck would never wrestle again after Trent attacked him after the match. He started threatening Trent, until Trent showed up on-stage to tell Cassidy that he was making Chuck’s career about him. Cassidy ran down to brawl with Trent, only for a bunch of guards to get in the way. Don Callis showed up to whisper something in Cassidy’s ear and walk to the back with him.

– Backstage, Renee Paquette interviewed the Young Bucks about what they were planning for tonight. They claimed that they were looking for a friend before giving their TV time to Jack Perry. Renee asked Perry what the hell was going through his mind when he attacked Tony Khan. Perry claimed that he did what was best for business and whether TK knew or not, he was the one that made him the Scapegoat. Perry finished by saying that they were entering a new era under the Elite.

(3) CHRIS JERICHO vs. KATSUYORI SHIBATA – FTW Championship FTW Rules Match

Jericho took Shibata down with an arm drag, only for Shibata to put him in a headlock. Shibata pushed Jericho to the ropes where they started exchanging chops. Jericho knocked Shibata down and crushed his legs with a Lionsault. Jericho grabbed a trash can lid and smashed it on Shibata’s head. He grabbed a black bag and poured a bunch of hockey pucks in the ring. Shibata dropped Jericho down with an STO and a suplex into pucks, following them with a series of chops. They got into a lengthy chop exchange, until AEW Dynamite went to an ad break.

[Commercial Break]

Back from break, Jericho and Shibata blasting each other with chops, until Shibata knocked Jericho off his feet. Jericho threw a puck into Shibata’s head before putting him down with the Walls of Jericho. Shibata countered the hold into a Figure 4, until Jericho threw a puck into his face. Jericho put a trash can on Shibata’s head and hit it numerous times with a kendo stick. Shibata stood up while still receiving strikes and cornered him before nailing him with headbutts while still wearing the trash can. Shibata laid the trash can on Jericho’s chest and blasted him with a Hesitation dropkick. As Jericho tried to get up, Shibata picked up two kendo sticks and handed him one.

They sat in front of each other and started exchanging various blows with the sticks. Shibata overpowered Jericho and planted him with a modified crotch suplex. Shibata set up a table in the corner and beat Jericho down with a bunch of chops. Jericho countered the Hesitation dropkick with a Codebreaker for a close two count. Shibata countered the Judas Effect with a sleeper hold before knocking him down with a ripcord chop. Shibata moved the table, only for Big Bill to knock him down with a big boot. Bill put Shibata through the table, allowing Jericho to steal the win.

WINNER: Chris Jericho at 15:26 (Still FTW Champion) (***1/2)

– Backstage, Willow Nightingale said that she would beat Mercedes Mone and told Skye Blue that she would mop the floor with her. Stokely Hathaway complained about the Young Bucks taking Tony Khan out before he could complain to him. A stagehand gave Renee Paquette a message from the Bucks informing Willow that Kris Statlander and Stokely would be banned from ringside tonight.

– Last Saturday, Claudio Castagnoli talked about being the best because he was the most consistent. Claudio said that he was never the shiniest toy, but the one that lasted the most.

(4) BRIAN CAGE vs. CLAUDIO CASTAGNOLI

They immediately started the match trading forearm strikes and clotheslines, until Cage dropped Claudio with a suplex. Claudio nailed Cage with a pair of uppercuts and a suplex, only for Cage to take him down with a headscissors takeover. Claudio caught Cage with a rising kick before dropping him with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Cage hit Claudio with a basement dropkick, only for Claudio to retaliate with a body slam and a double stomp to the chest. Cage knocked Claudio off the top turnbuckle with an enzuigiri, setting him up for a superplex, as AEW Dynamite went to a commercial break.

[Commercial Break]

Back from break, Cage blasted Claudio with a thrust kick, setting him up for a Tiger Feint kick and a discus clothesline for a two count. Claudio knocked Cage down with a springboard uppercut before pummeling him with a load of uppercuts. They started exchanging boots to the face, until Claudio knocked Cage down with an uppercut and a thrust kick. Claudio hit Cage with a Tiger Feint kick and clocked him with a clothesline for a two count. Cage caught Claudio off-guard with an Alabama Slam, but he kicked out at two. Claudio shocked Cage with a pop up uppercut, followed by the Giant Swing. Claudio immediately trapped Cage in the Sharpshooter to score the submission win.

WINNER: Claudio Castagnoli at  9:54(***1/4)

[Commercial Break]

– Backstage, Renee Paquette asked Rocky Romero whose side he would pick when Orange Cassidy and Trent Beretta clashed next week. Romero said that he wanted none of this and that going forward he would be on his own. Romero said that he would focus on winning gold in AEW before challenging Kyle O’Reilly to a match on Rampage.

(5) MARIAH MAY (w/Toni Storm & Luther) vs. SERENA DEEB

Deeb knocked May off her feet with a waist lock over, only for May to respond with a wrist lock. Deeb turned the wrist lock around and trapped May in the Paradise Lock, setting her up for a basement dropkick. May missed a clothesline, allowing Deeb to put her down with a shoulder tackle. Deeb put May in a Surfobard Lobck, but missed a corner shoulder thrust. May attacked Deeb with a pair of forearm strikes and launched her across the ring with a hurracarrana. May nailed Deeb with a basement dropkick, as AEW Dynamite went to commercials.

[Commercial Break]

Back from break, Deeb crushed May with a corner splash, following it with a rising knee and a neckbreaker into the ropes. May missed a clothesline, allowing Deeb to put her down with a swinging neckbreaker. May blocked the Detox, only for Deeb to plant her with a snap German suplex and clobber her with a hammerlock clothesline. May cracked Deeb with a roundhouse kick, setting her up for a diving shotgun dropkick and a running hip attack for a nearfall. Before Deeb could react, May hit Deeb with another running knee for a close two count. May tried to go for the May Day, but Deeb countered it with an Octopus Stretch. They traded pinning combinations, until May took Deeb down with a headbutt and a Saito suplex. Deeb caught May with a back elbow, only for Deeb to counter a hurracarrana with the Serenity Lock. Deeb smashed May’s knee into the mat and added pressure to the hold, forcing Storm to throw the towel for May.

WINNER: Serena Deeb at 10:31 (***1/2)

– Backstage, Renee Paquette asked Adam Copeland if he was okay after his match earlier tonight. Copeland claimed that he was okay before being interrupted by Kyle O’Reilly. Kyle put over Copeland’s career and how it impacted his own; and told Copeland that if he needed back-up he could help.

KENNY OMEGA RETURNS

– Justin Roberts gave Kenny Omega his special entrance, putting emphasis on how Omega was home in Winnipeg. Omega talked about being diagnosed with diverticulitis and being told that he was 24 hours away from dying. Omega said that he was told that they would have to cut him open and give him a colostomy bag for possibly the rest of his life. He said that if he chose not to go under the procedure, he would have a bomb in his stomach that could explode after blunt trauma. He said that after that day he stopped watching and felt pathetic because his hands would start shaking.

– Omega said that he tuned in to watch Dynasty, putting over how Swerve Strickland made history and how Ospreay and Danielson killed it in the ring. Omega said that he realized that he wasn’t scared of pro wrestling and he was shaking because of withdrawal. He said that he needed to return to the ring, as the best wrestlers are stepping up and he has already been forgotten. Omega said that he would exhaust all options to make sure he would return to the ring. He said that he had another piece of business to deal with, focusing on the Young Bucks. Omega said that the Bucks might have fired him from The Elite, but he was still an EVP and had power in this company.

– Kazuchika Okada interrupted, only for Omega to tell him that they could settle their rivalry in a couple of months. Okada claimed that he was now the Best Bout Machine before Jack Perry attacked Omega from behind. Perry knocked a couple of guards down with chair shots, only for Omega to drop him with a snap dragon suplex. Omega tried to go for a V-Trigger, but Okada swept him off his feet, allowing Perry to clobber him with a chair shot to the stomach. The Bucks showed up to argue with Okada and Perry before taking Omega out with an EVP Trigger. FTR showed up to make the save and chase The Elite away from the ring.