Added CM Punk Brawls, Danielson & Okada Face Off, Forbidden Door Matches

The take-home edition of The Forbidden Door of AEW dynamite it was loaded. The episode moved around frantically, which at times was detrimental to the show. One thing is for sure; the Chicago live crowd ate it all up. They were on fire throughout the show. The card saw excellent tag team wrestling, a great TBS Championship match, and significant developments on The Forbidden Door card. The Chicago crowd was also treated to a surprise live appearance by CM Punk.

Here are the winners and losers of the June 21 installment of AEW Dynamite.

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LOSER: The Hardys vs. the gunns

In what may be one of the least appealing opening matches in Dynamite history, The Gunns (who aren’t finished) battled The Hardys (who are on top). As we saw in Double or Nothing Buy-In, Jeff Hardy is past his prime. His work in this game felt like a step backwards, and every high-stakes move had fans on the edge of their seats, praying something terrible didn’t happen.

Structurally, this wasn’t much to talk about. It was a standard American tag team match. They did little to reinvent the wheel and even less to try to tell a compelling story.

The conclusion saw Jeff Hardy climb to the top rope, setting up for the Swanton Bomb. However, Juice Robinson ran to the ring and jumped on the apron to distract the referee. This allowed Jay White to push Jeff off the top rope. The Gunns hit Hardy with a 3:10 To Yuma for the win.

Despite our poor review, it’s worth noting that the Chicago crowd was very excited about this match. They were fully hooked up, and the heel finish garnered the desired warmth.

WINNER: CM Punk, FTR & Starks Brawl with Bullet Club Gold

Bullet Club Gold continued the attack on The Hardys after the bell. Ricky Starks and FTR rushed to the ring to even the odds. Given the in-ring parties, the Chicago crowd felt they were in for a surprise. They sang for CM Punk and got what they asked for.

CM Punk ran to the ring and cleaned the house of heels. With Bullet Club Gold in retreat, the Chicago native took the microphone. “I’m a Collision guy; I’m not even supposed to be here,” Punk exclaimed.

He challenged White, Robinson and The Gunns to an eight-man tag team at Collision this Saturday.

LOSER: Fight in food stall

The fight at the fast food stand between Jeff Jarrett and Mark Briscoe was harmless fun. The chaotic match saw men smash through tables, raw sausages thrown, mustard in the face, and plenty of fighting. Seriously, a hell of many clashes.

Karen Jarrett, Sanjay Dutt, Jay Lethal, Satnham Sing, Papa Briscoe, The Lucha Brothers, and The Best Friends appeared in this match.

Once again, this was a mostly harmless, funny, comedic match and the crowd was down for it. However, with a major PPV to build on this weekend and an army of talented wrestlers to overcome in the locker room, this match was scheduled at the wrong place at the wrong time. The eight minutes could have been better served elsewhere.

Briscoe got the win from Jeff Jarrett with a roll-up, nothing more.

WINNER: Chris Jericho, Suzuki and Sammy Guevara victorious in a threesome match

Sammy Guevara received a lackluster introduction after Chris Jericho’s entrance, fueling his provoked dissent. The two JAS members teamed up with Japanese legend Minoru Suzuki to take on three great riders; Action Andretti, AR Fox and Darius Martin.

The babyface trio got some shine and maxed out their minutes to look exceptionally good. They also received their fair share of brutal punishment, especially from Suzuki, who hacked the youngsters into oblivion.

Action Andretti and Chris Jericho had exciting encounters, looking back on their memorable singles match. Andretti and Jericho’s chemistry felt even more seamless and exciting in this fight. Andretti used an insuguri springboard to put Jericho on the ground. Later, he used his Shooting-Star Press, the move he pinned Jericho with months ago. This time, he was only suitable for a near fall.

The fun match ended when Darius Martin did a top rope maneuver on Jericho and got caught on the lion tamer. With his partners held back by Suzuki and Guevara, Martin had no choice but to surrender.

After the match, Chris Jericho grabbed the microphone and began speaking somewhat disrespectfully to Sting’s name. He challenged Sting, Darby Allin and a partner of his choosing to face himself, Guevara and Suzuki at Forbidden Door.

Sting and Darby went down to the ring. With a quiet charisma, the Icon accepted Jericho’s “lame challenge”. They said their partner would be announced this Saturday on Collision.

Adam Cole outpointed MJF after their time limit draw last week. Naturally, he wanted a rematch. So, Cole called out the champion. To Tony Schiavone’s surprise, MJF showed up. Friedman also cheated on Cole, claiming that Adam seemed to be back to his old self. However, he would not give Cole a rematch.

Tony Schiavone then intervened from the announce table, causing both MJF and Cole to yell, “Shut up Schiavone!”. It’s funny that they were on the same page with that because Tony announced that both of their names were drawn for the first time in the Eliminator Blinds Tag Tournament. Adam Cole was furious that he would have to team up with MJF, and MJF was mad that he might have to wrestle every week.

After the news of their odd pairing, Hiroshi Tanahashi appeared on the big screen and called MJF a coward for not accepting his challenge. Adam Cole leaned into the prosecution and got the Chicago public to do the same. Upset enough, Friedman accepted Hiroshi Tanahashi’s challenge for the AEW Championship this Sunday at Forbidden Door.

WINNER: Orange Cassidy and Shibata vs. Saber, Jr. and Daniel Garcia

Zack Saber, Jr. and Shibata began the match with expert mat work. The two pure wrestlers looked great, and their approach to combat was a nice change of pace from what we’d seen previously on the show.

Orange Cassidy had fun joking around with both Zack and Daniel Garcia. She even made fun of Garcia’s dancing in a hilarious way. Zack Sabre, Jr. studied the International Champion and did a great job of grounding him. The New Japan Television Champion got an extended heat sequence on Cassidy, but Cassidy eventually hot tagged Shibata.

Shibata and Cassidy worked very well together as a team. They ran an offensive in tandem and were completely in sync. Towards the end of the match, they seemed to be in complete control and on their way to victory.

Shibata held Garcia while Orange Cassidy prepared an Orange Punch. At the last moment, Garcia ducked and OC nailed his partner in the face. This allowed Garcia to get the pinfall victory over Shibata. The excellent match set up a four-way battle for the International Championship at Forbidden Door.

WINNER: Kris Statlander vs. taya valkyrie

In what may have been her best match since her return, Kris Statlander defended her TBS Championship against Taya Valkyrie. This was a blunt matter. Both women went all out and executed beautiful and unique offensive maneuvers.

Taya also seemed to finally find a rhythm with her heel persona. His backheel performance in this match was stellar.

After a smooth and well-executed see-saw match, Statlander retained his championship after hitting a superplex off the top rope, followed by his modified Tombstone piledriver. In her most formidable challenge yet, Kris Statlander emerged victorious.

WINNER: Go Home Segment, Okada and Bryan Danielson face off

Two former friends, Eddie Kingston and Jon Moxley, stared into each other’s eyes. Moxley was angry that Kingston was teaming up with The Bucks. Kingston is angry that Moxley is teaming up with Claudio. To hell with the pomp; Kingston wasted no time before announcing the fifth partner of Team Elite at Forbidden Door, Tomohiro Ishii!

Ishii walked to the ring only to be attacked by the rest of the BCC. Bryan Danielson joined the barrage of pain and called out to Okada, calling him a coward.

The coins fell. The crowd erupted. Kazuchika Okada marched to the ring and went toe to toe with his opponent for the Forbidden Door. With the two legends facing each other, Wheeler Yuta attacked Okada from behind. But Okada fought back.

He grabbed Danielson and nearly hit him with a Rainmaker, but Danielson ducked just in time. As Bryan backed up the ramp, Okada picked up Wheeler Yuta and hit him with a Rainmaker. We are less than a week away from this dream match.

Full match results and highlights: