Welcome to POST Wrestling’s live coverage of this year’s AEW Dynamite: Beach Break card! Keep an eye on this page throughout the evening for the latest news and results from tonight’s show. Make sure to hit the refresh button in your browser to see the most recent version of this page.
Still to come
- Women’s Casino Gauntlet Match (Winner challenges champ at Redemption)
- MJF vs. Kenny Omega (AEW World Championship)
Results
- Tommaso Ciampa def. Jericho (13:46)
- Kyle Fletcher def. Konosuke Takeshita (AEW International Championship) (16:47) (Recommended)
- Will Ospreay & Jon Moxley def. JD Drake & Anthony Henry (8:32)
Ciampa uses Beach theme for win against Jericho
This week’s special Beach Break edition of AEW Dynamite, live from the BayCare Sound in Clearwater, Florida, opened with an interview backstage featuring one-half of tonight’s main event, Kenny Omega. Renee Paquette asked Omega his thoughts on his high-stakes match tonight against MJF, where he will either leave with the world title or never be able to challenge for the belt again. Omega said his best work has come when his “back is against the wall,” like he finds himself tonight.
“If I go out, if this is truly it … MJF, I’d be willing to extend my hand, shake yours, and congratulate you on a job well done. But trust me, it’s not going to be easy,” he said. Omega put this match in perspective: This match isn’t just for the AEW world title, it’s for a main event spot at Wembley Stadium later this year.
We then went to the live venue, a rare outdoor edition of Dynamite, which looked great! It was set to be a hot night for fans and performers alike – a quick Google told me that it’s a scorching 88 Fahrenheit there tonight. The first match of the night was a long-awaited grudge match between Tommaso Ciampa and Chris Jericho.
Ciampa decided that, instead of meeting Jericho in the ring, he’d try to jump him on the stage. He hid just around the corner from the entrance, but “El Champion” was thinking one step ahead of him. Jericho emerged from the crowd and ran up to the ramp, where he got the head start against Ciampa!
The fight went over to AEW’s Beach Break-themed stage setup, where Jericho suplexed Ciampa onto an outdoor chair while Fozzy’s “Judas” continued to play. The match eventually made its way to the ring and got started.
Ciampa escaped a Walls of Jericho early by rolling to the outside, but Jericho followed him to the ground with a huge top-rope dive. Ciampa caught Jericho coming through the ropes for a DDT, putting him in control of the match for the first time.
Jericho battled back with a nasty Death Valley Driver onto the ring apron a minute later. Ciampa delivered an even more brutal move just a moment later, dropping Jericho face-first onto the top of a steel staircase. It was at this point that Jericho started to sport a cut near the forehead.
Ciampa got a near fall after the show returned from the break, coming off the middle rope with an Air Raid Crash. Jericho started to finally mount a comeback a minute later when he connected with a hurricanrana out of the corner. He followed up with a brainbuster which gave him a two-count.
Ciampa brought a bucket full of sand into the ring. Just as he was about to use it as a weapon, Jericho dropped him with a Codebreaker. A Lionsault was dodged by Ciampa, who then scored a pair of running knee strikes. This wasn’t enough to take down Jericho yet.
Ciampa peeled down a kneepad and set up for yet another huge strike. But, Jericho caught the knee and transitioned into a Walls of Jericho. After distracting the referee, forcing her to throw away the bucket he brought into the ring, Ciampa tossed sand in the eyes of Jericho to escape the hold. Ciampa then scored another knee strike to win via pinfall in 13 minutes.
Listen: A limited Jericho won’t be match of the night on a stacked card like this. But, was this a solid opener, one where he really worked hard to make it work? I think so. And the cheap cheating win definitely helped build up Ciampa’s heel persona, which only debuted (in AEW) with this rivalry.
Ciampa attacked Jericho after the bell with a chair shot to the head. Thankfully, security stopped him from possibly killing Jericho with a drill.
A video package showcased Jamie Hayter and Alex Windsor getting into a huge bar fight together. Maybe they got carried away after England’s win over Mexico a few days back. Anyway, the Brawling Birds are back together.
Ospreay, MJF trade blows
Will Ospreay was asked backstage who he wants to see win in the main event. He hopes that Kenny Omega will pull through so he can face his rival once again at All In. This interview was crashed by MJF, who tried to stir the pot by making fun of Ospreay’s ties to Jon Moxley, mocking that he doesn’t have the world title, and more. MJF said he’s a “star,” while Ospreay and Omega are just “good rasslers.”
Ospreay said MJF isn’t the best, but instead a “beggar.” “All you want is to be part of the conversation. When in reality, until you do it on your own, until you ditch all those antics? You aren’t part of the conversation, and you never will be.”
MJF spat in Ospreay’s face, causing a brawl between these two to break out. Unlike the security on Monday night, the staff backstage were quick to break this one up. They have a main event to protect!
Kyle Fletcher dethrones former ally Konosuke Takeshita
The first of two huge title matchups was next, as AEW International Champion Konosuke Takeshita went up against former friend and ex-Don Callis Family teammate Kyle Fletcher. Much like tonight’s main event, this was a pay-per-view quality bout being given away for free on TV.
Takeshita dropped Fletcher at ringside with a huge dive over the top rope as the show went into a break. Just before the show returned, the champ connected with a superplex out of the corner. Takeshita tried to come leaping off the ropes for a huge clothesline, but instead ate a superkick from Fletcher. Moments later, Takeshita reversed a move from Fletcher into a huge Blue Thunder Bomb.
The fight went to the apron, where another Blue Thunder Bomb was stopped by Fletcher. The Aussie scored a thrust kick, but a brainbuster was countered into a tombstone piledriver from Takeshita, which he transitioned into a huge, devastating wheelbarrow suplex.
Back in the ring, Fletcher got an incredibly close two-count after hitting a Michinoku Driver. Takeshita came charging off the ropes with a lariat. A long series of reversals in the corner ended with Takeshita scoring a powerbomb.
Don Callis got up from his spot at commentary and poked Takeshita in the leg, briefly distracting him. Capitalizing on this, Fletcher scored a running head kick in the corner, but then a follow-up brainbuster was countered into a Raging Fire from Takeshita! A slight hesitation from Takeshita, who sold damage to his right arm, gave Fletcher the time to break a follow-up pin attempt.
Fletcher escaped a backslide from Takeshita, hit a thrust kick to his head and arm, then a Teardrop Brainbuster. Surprisingly, Takeshita kicked out at two! Fletcher landed a running head kick in the corner then a brainbuster which dropped Takeshita’s head onto the top turnbuckle. That awesome-looking spot was finally enough to beat Takeshita in 16 minutes, making Fletcher the new AEW International Champion.
This was a really fun match. I was worried early on that they wouldn’t be able to kick it up a gear and elevate this match above the usual standard. But those final few minutes turned it into the banger we expected.
Andrade crashes family meeting
After a commercial break, Mick Foley came to the ring for an interview with the new champ. Tony Schiavone informed us that this was Foley’s first appearance on TBS since 1994.
After being asked about the match by Foley, Fletcher cut a great promo about how Takeshita was only ever riding his coattails and that they were never actually friends. Callis got in the face of Foley, accusing him of trying to steal the spotlight with this interview. Foley threatened to kick Callis’ ass (Foley is clearly still adjusting to the different rules & ethics that apply in a broadcaster role as opposed to a wrestler).
Callis brushed off this threat, then brought out TNT Champion Kevin Knight. The TNT champ tossed some shade in the way of Fletcher, saying he was due to bring gold to the family. He also said he’s due for an AEW title shot and plans to get it after “Maxwell Jacob Fraudman” and Kenny Omega face off tonight.
This Family meeting was interrupted by Andrade El Idolo, who left Callis’ faction at Forbidden Door. He said that, since Callis promised him a title shot but never got him one, he’s going to take a title from the group.
Callis offered Andrade a match against Jake Doyle. If he beats Doyle, he’ll get a shot at Mark Davis and his AEW National Championship.
I was waiting for Andrade to say “I actually want one of the better titles, like the TNT or International belt,” but instead he asked Callis “How you know?”
Andrade was chased backstage by a few Callis goons. The Callis members ran into Darby Allin backstage. They grabbed his skateboard, which suddenly exploded. They accused Andrade of being responsible for the explosion. Andrade, who was holding a huge explosion button, once again said, “How you know?” as the segment came to a close.
The latest – 9:18 p.m. ET: Moxley & Ospreay pick up tag win
The newest Death Rider, Will Ospreay, was in tag action next with Jon Moxley. They were matched with JD Drake and Anthony Henry of The Workhorsemen, who weren’t given an entrance.
Moxley got a hot tag late in the match. In the middle of an exchange, he went to ringside to get hyped up by Marina Shafir. Ospreay got back into the ring and gave Drake a Styles Clash as Moxley delivered a piledriver to Henry. Moxley connected with a Paradigm Shift to Drake, then Ospreay hit the Hidden Blade to seal the deal at eight minutes. Surprised this match went as long as it did, honestly.
We saw a pre-taped promo from Hikaru Shida, who said that TBS stands for “The Best [is] Shida” now that she has won the brand’s title.
