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From The Inner Circle and The Pinnacle's separate promos to a TNT Championship main event, this week's edition of AEW Dynamite featured many contrasting moments.
Tony Khan has figured out a successful formula for AEW Dynamite, which ensures that, for the most part, viewers will be entertained throughout the course of two hours. This week's show stuck with AEW's action-packed formula.
The tag team division took a backseat, though, as the episode only featured singles matches this week. This led to a sense of repetitiveness, but it didn't spoil the overall proceedings to a huge extent.
How did NXT fare against AEW in terms of quality this week? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
Here are the five biggest news stories from AEW Dynamite (April 21, 2021).
#5 Jon Moxley and Eddie Kingston crashed into The Elite's trailer on AEW Dynamite
This week, The Young Bucks (Matt and Nick Jackson), Kenny Omega, The Good Brothers (Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows) and Don Callis entered their private trailer to showboat in front of AEW fans.
Kenny Omega and Rich Swann's title vs. title match at IMPACT Wrestling's Rebellion pay-per-view was mentioned by Callis. But no major developments regarding this match took place on AEW Dynamite, even though the Rebellion event will go down on Sunday.
When Matt Jackson dared Jon Moxley and Eddie Kingston to come and find them, the duo actually showed up in a pick-up truck.
Moxley was behind the wheel and he crashed right into the trailer. The former AEW World Champion also smashed the trailer with a pipe. But when he climbed aboard the trailer with Kingston, The Elite's members were not present inside.
“You sc**w with Moxley, you’re asking for trouble,” said Jim Ross.
As a whole, this was a fun little segment to balance out the in-ring action from the episode. Although The Young Bucks will face Matt and Mike Sydal in a title eliminator match next week, Jon Moxley and Eddie Kingston seem to be their main rivals at the moment.
#4 Dr. Britt Baker became the top female contender after Tay Conti and Hikaru Shida's excellent AEW clash
On this week's AEW Dynamite, Hikaru Shida defended her AEW World Championship against Tay Conti.
Shida has already crossed 300 days as the women's titleholder, and her challenger had a chance to step up in a significant way. While Conti did not win the match, she shifted the crowd support in her favor and delivered an excellent contest alongside Shida.
At various points during the bout, it felt like Conti could have picked up the win. It will be interesting to see what AEW has in store for her in the future.
Meanwhile, as Shida celebrated her successful title defense, out came Dr. Britt Baker and revealed (via a graphic) that she is now the top-ranked contender in the AEW women's division.
This brief face-off between the two women indicated that Baker is ready to step up against Hikaru Shida with the AEW Women's Championship at stake. With Britt Baker's recent surge in momentum, it seems very likely that she will finally dethrone Shida from the top of the mountain.
#3 The Pinnacle and The Inner Circle's rivalry led to an interesting development for next week's AEW Dynamite
The Pinnacle's members (MJF, Shawn Spears, Dax Harwood, Cash Wheeler and Wardlow) were interviewed by Jim Ross during this week's AEW Dynamite.
MJF addressed Chris Jericho's comments and Mike Tyson's involvement from the previous episode. MJF made his intentions clear — he wants Jericho's spot in the professional wrestling industry.
“I’m not great for 25…I’m great period!" MJF said.
"Don’t send out Mike Tyson, send out your family, and try to beat us," he added. "I’m not a mark for you, Chris, I’m a mark for your spot, and on May 5th at BLOOD AND GUTS, I’m going to take it!”
Meanwhile, The Inner Circle mocked The Pinnacle during an in-ring segment. Chris Jericho made fun of MJF's faction, but he made sure to express that the Blood and Guts match between the two sides will feature pure violence.
During next week's AEW Dynamite, The Pinnacle and The Inner Circle will engage in a parley, and it's easy to think of several ways through which their open discussion could end in chaos.
#2 Billy Gunn returned to action on AEW Dynamite for the first time in 2021
WWE Hall of Famer Billy Gunn has wrestled on AEW shows over the last few years. Primarily wrestling on AEW Dark in 2021, the veteran returned to fight on AEW Dynamite for the first time this year. Before this week, his last match on Wednesday Night Dynamite took place in November 2020.
QT Marshall stepped up against Billy Gunn in a singles match this time around. The bout occurred as a result of Marshall betraying Cody Rhodes to form his own faction called "The Factory."
Thanks to outside interference from Anthony Ogogo, Marshall was able to defeat Gunn. Post-match, Dustin Rhodes arrived to save Billy Gunn from a beatdown at the hands of The Factory.
A member of The Factory, Nick Comoroto, did not even budge when Rhodes smashed a wooden chair over his head. The referees eventually arrived to break things up and end the segment.
Even if AEW's overreliance on factions may not be everyone's cup of tea, this particular storyline helps establish lesser-known stars without giving up a lot of television time.
#1 Could Darby Allin and Miro cross paths on AEW Dynamite in the future?
The main event of this week's AEW Dynamite featured Darby Allin's TNT Championship match against Jungle Boy.
Both competitors wrestle in a similar style inside the squared circle. But instead of engaging in high-flying action from the get-go, Allin and Jungle Boy opted for a few technical sequences at the beginning.
Sting was in the TNT Champion's corner, and he even got involved in a brawl with Luchasaurus at one point. Towards the end of the bout, Allin managed to find a way to retain his championship once again.
But despite Jungle Boy's loss, he received a main event spot, which is a huge accomplishment amidst an already jam-packed AEW roster.
After the main event contest, Ethan Page and Scorpio Sky jumped Darby Allin in the ring. Soon, Lance Archer and Sting came to the champion's aide. Page and Sky had no choice but to retreat upon Sting's arrival.
Although Allin keeps defeating opponents with the TNT Championship on the line, several other contenders keep popping up in the title picture at the same time.
Earlier in the night, Miro cut a promo and openly expressed his intentions to chase after a top title. It seems like Miro will build up some much-needed momentum as a beast from this point onward.
With Miro's intentions in mind, a title feud against Darby Allin would be the obvious route for him in AEW.
In the video embedded above, do check out Sportskeeda Wrestling's 'The Debrief,' where Jose G and Rico El Glorioso review the latest AEW Dynamite and NXT episodes.
What makes Sting special? His first AEW opponent opens up RIGHT HERE.
