SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
AEW Dark began this week with Cody Rhodes and Tony Schiavone announcing the first four participants in the TNT Championship Tournament. Cody Rhodes, Shawn Spears, Sammy Guevara, and Darby Allin are the first names revealed for the tournament. Allin and Rhodes had teased their desire to be in the tournament on Twitter after AEW issued a press release yesterday announcing the new TNT Championship would be added to the men’s singles division.
The first two first round matches in the TNT Championship Tournament announced on AEW Dark were Cody Rhodes vs. Shawn Spears and Sammy Guevara vs. Darby Allin. The second half of the bracket will be revealed tomorrow night on Dynamite. The tournament is set to begin on April 8 and conclude on May 23 at the Double or Nothing PPV.
Radican’s Analysis: It’s good to see Cody going after a singles title again. As part of his stipulation when he lost to Chris Jericho at Full Gear 2019 last November when MJF threw the towel in for him, he could never again challenge for the AEW World Championship. Rhodes has done a good job of working with younger talent on TV.
His feud with Darby Allin definitely elevated Allin. It’s interesting to see Rhodes paired with Shawn Spears in the first round. Spears hasn’t done much of note in AEW since finishing a short feud with Cody with a loss last year. I’m excited to see how this tournament plays out, especially given that three of the first four wrestlers announced for the first half of the TNT Championship bracket would be good choices for AEW to have win the tournament.
In which the habit (by wrestling bloggers) of writing “TNA” slips into the title of this blogpost (as of early in the morning of 1 April 2020.)