AEW News Roundup: AEW announces New Japan partnership, Samoa Joe debuts on Dynamite, Dustin Rhodes praises FTR vs. Young Bucks (April 8, 2022)

This week's AEW News Roundup will look at Samoa Joe's official Dynamite debut and Tony Khan's new deal between All Elite Wrestling and New Japan Pro Wrestling.

Also, the wrestling world is still reacting to the outstanding tag team classic that happened this past week's Dynamite. AEW veteran Dustin Rhodes has chimed in to lavish praise on the main event match between FTR and Young Bucks. Without further ado, let's dive right in.

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#5. Samoa Joe makes his AEW Dynamite debut

Samoa Joe is officially #AllElite. After returning to ROH on Supercard of Honor last weekend, he followed up that monumental appearance with his AEW Dynamite debut. The Samoan Submission Machine battled The Acclaimed's Max Caster in the first match of the Owen Hart Foundation Men's Tournament Qualifier.

It was a dominant display that proved Joe could still perform well in the ring. The former NXT Champion even pulled off his Muscle Buster finisher to defeat Caster. It appears that Joe will be splitting time between All Elite Wrestling and Ring of Honor, having appeared for both brands so far.

It will be interesting to see how Joe factors into the main event scene with a number of his former rivals in the same company as him now, including Bryan Danielson and CM Punk.

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#4. Dustin Rhodes praises Dynamite main event match between The Young Bucks and FTR

FTR was the toast of the wrestling industry, having pulled off two tag team classics over a week. Their match against the Briscoe Brothers was the highlight of ROH's Supercard of Honor. The Top Guys repeated the feat on this week's episode of AEW Dynamite as they battled The Young Bucks in a highly anticipated rematch.

FTR and The Young Bucks not only lived up to expectations but arguably delivered one of the best TV matches of the year, with Cash Wheeler and Dax Harwood coming out on top. The main event classic not only garnered praise from pro wrestling fans and veterans alike. One such name was Dustin Rhodes, who took to Twitter to praise the bout:

"Last nights tag match between #TopGuys and #YoungBucks was a psychological thriller. The story they told was as close to perfection as I have seen in a long time. It f****ng rocked! #Inspiring #Best2TagteamsInTheWorld. Gotdamn! #AEWDynamite Loved, Loved, Loved that sh*t. @AEW."

With victories over the Briscoe Brothers and Youngs Bucks, FTR can lay claim to being the best tag team in the world. The boos have turned into cheers, with the audience finally acknowledging the team's greatness. Will the AEW Tag Team Championships be their target next? Jurassic Express better watch out.

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#3. Tony Khans opens up about Cody Rhodes joining WWE

Wrestling fans are still reeling from Cody Rhodes' epic return to WWE and WrestleMania. Just a few months ago, The American Nightmare was the EVP and one of the figureheads of All Elite Wrestling. Fast forward to this past weekend, he defeated Seth Rollins in a show-stealing bout and announced that he wanted to go after the WWE Championship.

Appearing on the latest episode of the Barstool Rasslin' podcast, Tony Khan was asked to share his thoughts about Cody's departure and WWE return. He had this to say:

"It's just one of those things, you know, we just couldn't reach an agreement on going forward. And I think he has found a situation which is good for him, and we are in a great position right now; there's no ill will, either way, we are still good friends, and I wish him the best, and I think he wishes us the best publicly and privately. So it's all good," said Tony Khan.

It seems like both parties have left on good terms. While Cody was instrumental in All Elite Wrestling's early success, the company will continue to flourish in his absence, with many new stars looking to carve their place on the roster.

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#2. Matt Hardy weighs in on Cody Rhodes' WrestleMania match

AEW star and former WWE Tag Team Champion Matt Hardy has also reacted to Cody Rhodes' WrestleMania match, analyzing it on his podcast, "The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy":

“I was very happy for Cody [Rhodes], I thought his presentation was great, it was AEW Cody which was cool and also a big hats off to AEW for creating such an amazing character on their television between Cody and AEW. So I was very happy for him and I they had a killer match, him and Seth Rollins, they really tore the house down.”

Matt Hardy also revealed that Cody played a pivotal role in bringing him over to the All Elite Wrestling during the pandemic era. They grew close as they filmed multiple Dynamite shows at Daily's Place in Jacksonville, Florida. The duo even fought alongside each other against The Inner Circle back in 2020.

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#1. AEW announces that Dynamite and Rampage will be available on NJPW World

The biggest news coming out of All Elite Wrestling this past week was the announcement that the company has struck up a deal with New Japan Pro Wrestling to broadcast Dynamite and Rampage on their streaming service "NJPW World."

This allows NJPW fans in Japan to have full access to the All Elite's wrestling content with Dark and Elevation already available. The two companies have an existing relationship and have allowed NJPW stars like KENTA, Yuji Nagata, and Jay White to cross over to the Jacksonville-based promotion.

All Elite Wrestling stars such as Chris Jericho and Jon Moxley have also regularly appeared in NJPW in return. Could this latest deal lead to a future joint promotional super-show between the two companies? Sound off in the comments below.