AEW Dynamite: Cody, Lance Archer advance to tournament final

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (UPI) — Cody and Lance Archer advanced to the final round in the TNT Championship Tournament on AEW Dynamite.

Cody, on Wednesday, faced off against Darby Allin in a semi-final match. The American Nightmare came to the ring with his wife, Brandi Rhodes. Cody, early on, tweaked his knee which Allin took advantage of for the rest of the bout.

The battle quickly moved to the outside ring area where Allin inadvertently tackled Brandi Rhodes into a barricade after Cody stepped away from his attack.

Cody, now upset, fought harder as the highly-competitive match continued. Allin continued targeting Cody’s knee and Dr. Britt Baker, who was watching the action from behind the barricade, attacked Cody with her shoe.

Allin would use Cody’s own finishing move against him, the Cross Rhodes, but it wasn’t enough. Cody would eventually respond with his own Cross Rhodes but Allin kicked out. Cody then copied Allin’s move the Coffin Drop but Allin countered it by raising his knees up.

Allin tried to finish things with his own Coffin Drop which connected successfully, however, Cody was able to suddenly roll Allin up afterwards and pin him for the three count.

Lance Archer vs. Dustin Rhodes

Archer faced Cody’s brother Dustin Rhodes in the second semi-final match. Dustin Rhodes was also accompanied to the ring by Brandi Rhodes.

Dustin Rhodes gave Archer his toughest fight in AEW yet but The Murderhawk Monster still dominated the majority of the bout.

Dustin Rhodes started bleeding from the top of his head after Archer kicked a steel chair into his face. Archer continued to punish Dustin Rhodes inside the ring, filling the squared circle with his blood.

Archer removed the top turnbuckle pad and then smashed Dustin Rhodes’ face into it multiple times. QT Marshall arrived onto the scene and contemplated throwing in the towel but Cody stopped him and attempted to motivate his brother into getting back into the match.

Archer ended things by slamming Dustin Rhodes’ head into the mat and then squeezed his forehead as the ref counted to three. Archer stared down Cody as AEW went off the air.

Cody and Archer will battle for the TNT Championship at the Double or Nothing pay-per-view event on May 23.

The Bubbly Bunch Manitoba Melee

Also on Dynamite, the third installment of Chris Jericho’s The Bubbly Bunch aired which also featured Inner Circle members, Sammy Guevara, Jake Hager, Santana and Ortiz video chatting with each other from home.

The Inner Circle played a game known as Manitoba Melee, a virtual brawl where each member would attack the screen and another would act like they got hit before delivering their own blow.

The Manitoba Melee featured a number of cameos from fellow AEW stars Jungle Boy and Sonny Kiss, professional wrestling personalities Vickie Guerrero and Virgil and celebrities Lou Ferrigno, Kevin Smith and Jason Mewes, among others.

Other moments from Dynamite

Other moments from Dynamite included Wardlow defeating Musa; MJF announcing that he will return next week; Best Friends with Orange Cassidy defeating Jimmy Havoc and Kip Sabian with Penelope Ford in a No Disqualification match; Baker discussing what it takes to be role model from her dentist office; Shawn Spears defeating Baron Black; The Exalted One Brodie Lee defeating Marko Stunt; and AEW World Champion Jon Moxley giving fans words of encouragement amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Tough times never last forever and I promise one day, we will all be back together, and I will be bleeding and swearing in a sea of fans once again,” Moxley said before demanding that fans don’t forget to call their grandmother.

Reporting by Wade Sheridan