After suffering a stinger in the main event of Wednesday’s Fyter Fest Night 1 episode of AEW Dynamite, where Keith Lee and Swerve Strickland defeated The Bucks and the team of Powerhouse Hobbs and FTW Champion Ricky Starks to become the new AEW World Tag Team Champions, Matt Jackson is reportedly feeling much better.
Jackson received a stinger while taking a double vertical suplex from Lee and Hobbs, as PWMania.com previously reported. Jackson has had neck problems for a while, but they got worse when he took a Destroyer from Penta Oscuro at All Out 2021.
The Wrestling Observer has an update, stating that Jackson claimed to feel significantly better on Thursday, the day following the Dynamite main event. He also claimed that the stinger had not affected him, but it is unknown whether he will be missing any ring time.
The goal of Wednesday’s main event was to elevate both Lee and Strickland and Hobbs and Starks to the level of The Young Bucks, The Lucha Brothers, and FTR, who are the current IWGP, AAA, and ROH World Tag Team Champions. As a result of Santana & Ortiz’s absence (because to Santana’s injury), The Hardys’ absence (due to Jeff Hardy’s issue), and Jurassic Express’ breakup due to Luchasaurus turning heel, AEW management apparently wants these teams to be the top 5 tag teams in the company.
The idea was always to give Lee and Strickland the AEW World Tag Team Titles. That included the teased break-up spots, which were included to make the title win unexpected. To add to the surprise, the Strickland heel turn teases were also used. The initial intention was for The Bucks to lose to Swerve and Strickland as soon as Jeff was removed from the creative process and The Bucks defeated Jurassic Express to win the crowns at Road Rager.
The feeling is that Lee and Strickland have had great matches, and that the company can go with this Shaq & Kobe Bryant-style partnership, with Lee being the large, charismatic, upbeat guy who works with the other superstar on the team, but they don’t always get along.
There has been talk about AEW building to The Bucks vs. FTR, which would have had the AEW, AAA, ROH, and NJPW tag team belts being on the line at the same time. Although the fans strongly want that match, it appears that it was never the actual plan, at least for the time being. Having said that, The Observer claims that a “different major angle” was coming for The Young Bucks.
It was reported that The Bucks and Kenny Omega vs. Adam Cole, Kyle O’Reilly, and Bobby Fish was once a direction as AEW wanted to present the AEW World Trios Titles when Omega was healthy, but the report did not go into detail about what that big angle may be. Omega, Cole, and O’Reilly are out with injuries, so it’s unclear how close that would be to occurring.
