AEW Dynasty 2026
Welcome back to Four Pitches!
AEW Dynasty is coming at you LIVE on April 12th, which is a Sunday night. So my first pitch, lets move this PPV to a Saturday, am I right? These late ass work night PPVs be killing me sometimes. Anyways… that’s not really one of the four pitches.
If you read the Stand and Deliver pitches, you know I didn’t come up with any formal intro for this series - so how about a knock knock joke to kick this off?
Knock knock!
Who’s there?
It’s Don Callis!
Fuck you, go away
Pretty funny right? Now - on to the pitches!
Casino Gauntlet
(For the AEW TNT Championship)
Let’s start with acknowledging Kyle Fletcher getting injured sucks. I wish him a speedy recovery! So how do we take a negative situation and try to make some positivity out of it? Let’s crown a babyface champion!
At the time of me writing this, the only two wrestlers announced for the Casino Gauntlet are Tommaso Ciampa and Rush - two heels. I think these two are a FANTASTIC, hard hitting duo to kick this match off. Plus AEW is able to get away with heel vs heel feuds more easily than other companies, so let’s also have this be the launching pad for a longer feud between these two. Have them start the gauntlet match and put on a client throughout, with the closing stretch having Rush cost Tommaso his pin attempt, throw Tommaso out of the ring, go for a pin but then only gets the two. Tommaso slides back into the ring and brawls with Rush out the other side, allowing the match's real winner to hit his finish on the weakened opponent in the ring for the victory. And that person should be Kevin Knight.
Knight is the current AEW Trios Champion alongside Speedball Mike Bailey and Mistico. Let's take a quick look at his teammates: Mistico is the current CMLL World Light Heavyweight and Speedball is getting weekly TV spots comparing him to Kenny Omega, rubbing up against the two biggest names in AEW in Omega and MJF. So where does this leave Knight? Just the “third member”? I say let’s give him something of his own too. Even if it’s just to lose it back to Fletcher when he is healed up, I am heavily pitching for Kevin Knight to get his moment at Dynasty and some fun solo title defenses.
MJF vs Kenny Omega
(For the AEW World Championship)
I truly hope Kenny Omega gets another reign with a world championship before he hangs up the boots - but that won’t be happening here, buster. I think it is way too soon for MJF to lose the title, especially after he beat Hangman Adam Page at the last PPV. MJF putting the nail in the coffin for Hangman's championship future needs to breathe, and I feel like a MJF loss at Dynasty undercuts the entire thing. He should hold that belt for about four more months - right up until the main event of All In this August. That also means he has to turn up the heat as a heel, so I would use this match to introduce an element into the story to kick it up a notch. MJF doesn’t beat Omega by himself - he enlists the help of Tommy Invincible.
If you don’t know who Tommy Invincible is, here’s all you need to know: indie wrestler, huge on Tik Tok. He’s the guy who preaches following your dreams and giving everything you’ve got, and it comes across as completely authentic because he’s often performing in front of smaller crowds. Doesn’t matter. He treats every match like his personal WrestleMania. Pure babyface. So why would he align with MJF? He is fed up.
Tommy has watched bigger names get signed to the major promotions while he’s still stuck making Tik Toks. MJF made him an offer he felt he couldn’t pass up. There’s even a Matt Cardona name drop in there, a remark about Cardona using his Cody connections to escape the indies. Tommy’s logic: why shouldn’t he get that same luxury? He’s a cheap heat heel, because - and I mean this lovingly - he is a cheap pop babyface. Honestly, the specific reason barely matters as long as it’s clear MJF corrupted him. From there, MJF abuses and mistreats him all the way to All In. It’s a similar setup to the Wardlow story a few years back, but I’d actually argue Tommy is a better punching bag for this role.
Darby Allin vs Andrade El Idolo
(If Allin wins, he will receive a future AEW World Championship match)
This match comes with a stipulation: if Darby wins, he gets a world title shot. And honestly, that feels like a dead giveaway. I don’t want to sound like the current WWE writing team when I say this is too predictable, but… this is too predictable. So here’s how I’d book it instead:
Tony Schiavone really hams it up on commentary about Darby never having won the AEW World Championship, and a victory tonight means Allin gets his shot. The match plays out with a full “underdog getting his due” vibe. Everything is pointing toward this being Darby’s stepping stone to a title shot.
But then he loses... No number one contendership for Darby Allin.
That loss is the beginning of the real story: Darby Allin as the man who will eventually dethrone MJF in the main event of All In. He climbs the mountain, gets knocked down, climbs higher, gets knocked down again, and keeps climbing. I want that All In win to feel as earned as humanly possible. And to tie back into the earlier pitch, Tommy Invincible watches Darby’s climb and it starts to speak to who he actually is deep down on the inside. Darby gets through to him, convinces him he’s not really a bad guy, and Tommy betrays MJF to help Darby win the championship.
The seeds for all of it get planted right here at Dynasty.
Jon Moxley vs Will Ospreay
(For the AEW Continental Championship)
First, let me say this, and it won’t be the last time: I HATE that the Continental Championship is won inside the Continental Classic tournament BUT can also be won in a random one-off match. Why would anyone be motivated to grind through the entire tournament if you can just win the belt in a singles match? I hate it. I really wish there was some kind of stipulation tied to it... but that’s not what I’m pitching today. I just needed to get that off my chest.
Now, getting into it - I find this match interesting because Moxley winning the Continental Championship in the first place set him in the direction of naturally becoming a beloved babyface. The rest of the Deathriders do heelish deeds, while Moxley has been in the mix still in a babyface role. For example, making Yuta honor the hair cutting stipulation when Yuta tried to run away from Orange Cassidy and the hair clippers is definitely a babyface move. It feels like this progression is put on hold in place of the Ospreay revenge story. Which does make storyline sense - Ospreay isn’t just going to magically forgive the guy who tried to end his career. So let’s use this match to pivot some things.
Moxley loses. Ospreay is your new AEW Continental Champion.
After the match, Ospreay leaves, and the Deathriders come out to a fallen Moxley. They help him to his feet, and Claudio Castagnoli uppercuts him right back to the mat. The Deathriders beat him down and officially kick him out of the group. Before gaining the Continental Championship, Moxley was constantly losing, especially by tapping out, resulting in the rest of the Deathriders quietly questioning his leadership. Winning the Continental Championship bought him time. Now that it’s gone, so is he. Claudio wants to lead the Deathriders back to the AEW World Championship.
Moxley gets to be a wild card tweener out for revenge on his former allies. Ospreay gets his revenge and a new championship to cap off his return from injury. Castagnoli gets to step into the main event scene as the new, definitive leader of the Deathriders.
There ya have it!
Alrighty, well I hope you enjoyed those! Next week is Wrestlemania, so I hope to see you back for that! Feel free to DM on Instagram (@beachsidewrestling), comment on the Four Pitches post, or tweet at me (@beachsidechico) to request a specific match from Mania to get a pitch.
Until then, I will be Hangin Beachside