Ilja Dragunov debuts against Mike Bailey on AEW Dynamite

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AEW Dynamite airs tonight (Oct. 21) with a live show emanating from Watsco Center in Coral Gables, Florida. This is the first episode of Dynamite during the four week build to Full Gear, which takes place on November 14. Every wrestler on the AEW roster has a good reason to be nervous right now One of the big stories at WrestleDream was the reveal that former WWE star Ilja Dragunov is officially All Elite. In the post-show media scrum, the Mad Dragon uttered these words: “Now I am here, and this is gonna be a serious problem for so many people.” Every wrestler on the AEW roster has good reason to be nervous after hearing those words, because Dragunov has a unique intensity and violence to the way he wrestles that ensures physical torture for anyone he steps in the ring with. “Speedball” Mike Bailey gets to experience it first, because he is the unlucky star who is fighting Dragunov tonight in his debut match for AEW. After Speedball goes down as the sacrificial lamb for Dragunov’s debut, will Ilja cut his first promo in an AEW ring? Will a cocky wrestler sitting backstage come out to confront the Mad Dragon and set up his first PPV program in AEW? Could it be the return of the OTC, MJF? Tune into Dynamite tonight to see Ilja Dragunov’s highly anticipated in-ring debut for AEW, and to possibly find out who his first feud will be with in the promotion. The rest of the card Will Ospreay retained the AEW world championship with a buzzer-beater pin on Adam Copeland at the end of the first ever Clockwork Carnage match. Ospreay and Cope are teaming up tonight to take on the duo of Kevin Knight and Kyle Fletcher. If “can they co-exist?” tag team matches are your favorite thing in pro wrestling then you’ll love this one, as it has that element for both teams. Knight and Fletcher lost their tag match at WrestleDream, and another clash of egos tonight might just create a big blowup within the Don Callis Family. Meanwhile, Ospreay is eager to team with Cope here, but the retiring Copeland wants to take that AEW world title away from the Aerial Assassin. Will things get even more complicated if Samoa Joe is a sore loser from Clockwork Carnage and decides to show up to make their life hell? Maya World vs. Queen Aminata is booked on Dynamite, with the winner becoming the number one contender for Persephone’s TBS championship. This is World’s first match in over a month, and she is the former champion. Aminata just failed to win the belt at WrestleDream, so I like Maya’s chance to go over tonight and secure her title rematch. Fresh off their victory over Kevin Knight and Kyle Fletcher at WrestleDream, AEW World Tag Team Champions Young Bucks face Jake Doyle and Mark Davis tonight. Doyle appears to be the weak link in this lesser Callis Family duo, so he’s probably the fall guy when Matt and Nick Jackson win. The bigger story will probably come in the post-match angle. Are New Level’s Kofi and Austin Creed now ready to confront the Bucks for a shot at the gold? Other stuff to keep an eye on – Speaking of New Level, what is the status of their relationship with Swerve Strickland after the group lost the AEW world trios championship to Hangman Page and Brodido at WrestleDream? Kofi and Creed were gracious in defeat, in contrast to Swerve, who dropped the belt at Hangman’s feet. – The annual Blood & Guts episode of Dynamite is coming up in two weeks, which means we need to know ASAP which teams will be going to war. Is the Death Riders vs. Callis Family feud going to culminate inside the double cage? The fact that it’s not obvious which stars will be featured in the match shows that either I’m an idiot, the Blood & Guts gimmick is being forced onto a feud that doesn’t warrant it yet, or both. – It doesn’t seem like the feud between Thekla and AEW Women’s World Champion Mercedes Mone is finished even though The CEO retained her title over the Toxic Spider at WrestleDream. What’s the deal with Thekla no-selling Mercedes after losing the match? Is Willow Nightingale about to re-enter the story for a potential 3-way title match at Full Gear? – Is Chris Jericho ready to apologize to that brat Nick Wayne after The Prodigy outsmarted the old man and beat him in their rubber match at WrestleDream? If no apology is coming, does that mean a fourth match is on the way? – Are there any titles left for Tommaso Ciampa to fail at winning after he lost against AEW National Champion Andrade at WrestleDream? How about losing to AEW Continental Champion Jon Moxley next? – A viral marketing campaign for the return of “Timeless” Toni Storm appears to be underway. Will more of the Toni Storm Tapes surface in the building tonight? – AEW International Champion Kazuchika Okada eliminated Konosuke Takeshita in the Entry Phase of the Clockwork Carnage match. Does that mean it’s time for The Alpha to chase The Rainmaker for the gold again, or does it mean that Konosuke is about to slip down the card a bit? – Motor City Machine Guns defeated FTR in the first match of a best-of-five dream series. Will match two be a late addition to Dynamite tonight, or is it being saved for Collision this weekend? – Does TNT Champion Darby Allin have any interest in bringing back weekly open challenges for his belt? If so, could stars like Ricochet or Jay White use it as a chance to turn around their recent bad luck? – What kind of silly antics will Kris Statlander and Harley Cameron get up to while they await Jamie Hayter’s recovery so they can challenge the Brawling Birds for the AEW women’s world tag team championship? – It sounds like we might not see RUSH back in AEW until 2027. – Where the f*** is the Hurt Syndicate? What will you be looking for on Dynamite?