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The official announcement of AEW's creation came at midnight Pacific Time on January 1, 2019, in an episode of Being the Elite, a YouTube web series created by and featuring The Elite. It was also announced that in this coming spring, a show branded as AEW Dynamite would air every Wednesday Night live on TNT. With one commentator describing AEW as "the first company with major financial backing to take a swing at beginning to compete with WWE on a major level in nearly two decades".
On January 2, 2019, Cody and The Young Bucks officially signed with the promotion as competitors as well as serving as AEW's co-Executive Vice Presidents, while entrepreneur, football executive, and longtime wrestling fan Tony Khan was announced as the president of the company. Tony and his father, Shahid, were reportedly backing the promotion as lead investors. The Khans are billionaires and part of the ownership group of the Jacksonville Jaguars and Fulham F.C.
Cody's wife, Brandi Rhodes, was announced as the company's chief brand officer on January 3, 2019. On January 8, 2019, the company held its inaugural press conference on the forecourt of the TIAA Bank Field, where they announced talents that were going to perform as part of the promotion, including former ROH wrestlers the team of SoCal Uncensored (Christopher Daniels, Scorpio Sky, and Frankie Kazarian), "Hangman" Adam Page; independent wrestlers Dr. Britt Baker, Joey Janela, and former WWE wrestlers Pac and Chris Jericho”.
On February 7, 2019, the group held a press conference where tickets were released for the premier episode of Dynamite that was penciled to take place on Wednesday March 6, 2019. Other big announcements included Kenny Omega joining as a wrestler and the company's fourth co-Executive Vice President, as well as the signings of Lucha Brothers (Pentagón Jr. and Rey Fénix), Best Friends (Trent Beretta and Chuck Taylor).
On February 20, 2019, Tony Khan would express his desire to purchase Ring of Honor and would make it known on social media that he was in meaningful and hopeful conversations with the Sinclair Broadcast Group with really hopes to acquire the promotion some point in the coming year.
Exactly a week before the debut episode February 27, 2019 - the first matches in the history of the company that would take place from Daily’s Place, Jacksonville. It would be confirmed that AEW had come to some sort of working relationship with both the NWA and New Japan, with an understated acceptance that in order for AEW to be successful it was going to have to make a lot of friends all around the world. It was also promised that a high profile individual had been employed to take on the role of an on-screen authority figure and their identity would be announced on Wednesday's show.
- The fans would be welcomed to the show by the official commentary team for All Elite Wrestling - with Excalibur, Taz and Mike Tenay. The trio wouldn’t be able to hide their excitement and it was clear that the comms table were particularly hyped about the match between Kenny Omega and Kazuchika Okada, as well as the two championship matches later on this evening.
- The cameras would cut backstage to a solitary Kenny Omega who was looking particularly pleased with himself. Kenny would make claims that tonight he would once again prove himself as the best wrestler in the world by picking up another victory over Okada - and that once he finished cleaning up the rain off the canvas he was going to set his eyes on becoming a title holder at whatever point a champion floated to the surface and became available for the mortals in the squared circle.
- The first match in AEW history would see two veterans of the sport clashing in quite a stunning manner, with it being inherently clear that both Jericho and Dustin wanted to paint a new picture for themselves with Jericho staying close to the identity he had forged in Japan recently, whilst Dustin wanted to push himself as far as possible from his golden alter ego. Both men would cause the other to draw blood, but the match would end with the Judas Effect to keep Dustin down and claim a historic victory.
- After the bell, Jericho would reach for a microphone and cut a post-match promo. Jericho would make a point of letting everyone know that he was the marquee signing and without a doubt the most important and relevant member of the AEW roster and that sooner rather than later Tony Khan was going to have to bend the knee and give him the keys to the kingdom because he was without a doubt that Messiah and would lead AEW to the promised land in becoming the biggest promotion in North America.
- Priestley and Rae would also be given the honor of being the first two women to appear on AEW programming, although there would be a clear divide between the pair with Priestley dominating Kylie in the contest and claiming the victory after hitting the Backpack Stunner to seal the deal. Mike Tenay would comment that Priestley was a truly fierce competitor and would inform the fans that Bea was also massively active in Stardom and was looking close to earning a shot at the World of Stardom Championship in the near future and that perhaps that belt may appear on AEW if the stars were to align.
- Backstage footage would show that Sadie Gibbs had been watching the match on the monitor and didn’t look at all pleased about just how dominant Priestley had looked in the contest.
- Nick and Cody were no strangers to each other, with the pair having originally met at the precursor event All In that had seen Cody win the ten pounds of gold, only for Aldis to reclaim the belt fifty days later at the NWA 70th Anniversary show. With their singles record tied at one apiece, this was going to be a tense and captivating contest. The match would be very back and forth with similarities being drawn between the two previous encounters, although when push came to shove it would be Nick Aldis who would claim the victory by hitting Rhodes with the Spine Shaker to successfully retain the strap. It should be noted that Cody Rhodes looked incredibly disappointed about that fact that he had failed to reclaim the world heavyweight championship.
- Backstage Mike Tenay would feature in an exclusive interview with Jon Moxley, with Mox making his intentions known that he truly intended on becoming the face of the company and whether it meant by taking the road of hero or the route of the renegade he was going to do everything in his power to ge to the top of the mountain.
- This match would be the first time that the two teams had met, since Matt and Nick Jackson had won the belts from the Lucha Bros at Conquista Total Gira just over a month ago. And it was clear from the beginning of the contest that Fenix and Pentagon were really motivated to reclaim the belts that they had held for less than a day in what was certainly not the ideal manner to have your first reign as the champions. Both teams would really impress and show that high energy tag teams wrestling was more than capable of being a massive draw in professional wrestling and the match would conclude with the Bucks hitting the Meltzer Driver on Pentagon to successfully retain the belts.
- Daily’s Place would dim the lights in the arena, before it would be announced that the first ever General Manager in the history of AEW would be revealed. The spotlight in the ring would suddenly be turned on and would reveal that Bully Ray would be the face of authority moving forwards. Ray would cut a very short promo in which he would explain that he was not someone who would be intimidated by other members of the roster and had been given a particular set of guidelines by the Khan family that he would not be deviating from because he respected his bank balance. He would close that an announcement would be made later this week in regards to the introduction of AEW first exclusive championship belt.
- Being able to have a match between Omega and Okada on the debut episode of Dynamite was a mark of genius, and really suggested that Tony Khan had put a lot of effort into creating a strong working relationship with New Japan. It also meant that a large percentage of the wrestling community would flick channels to watch this contest, if they hadn’t already been watching the program which it is fair to say that not everyone had invested in the new promotion yet. And the fact that this fourth match had come from out of nowhere had resulted in the rivalry between Omega and Okada being instantly brought back to life. The fans would be not disappointed as the match would instantly be commented on social media as being another five star encounter and be at a standard that one would expect to have seen at Wrestle Kingdom show. It was no surprise that this contest would end in a time limit draw, although both men looked massively frustrated and it seemed that their long stand feud had been reignited and this rivalry was far from being over.
On March 8, 2019 Bully Ray would host a press conference live from Daily’s Place and would reiterate the importance of winning as many matches as possible and making the point that record meant something and they would affect your placement on the roster. Ray would then announce that a new competition would be coming into the week called ‘Battle of the Suits’ and would explain the rules of this special competition:
- when a member of the men’s roster was booked a match a wheel would be spun to determine which suit of the deck of cards they would be assigned.
- every four people would be assigned either spade, diamond, club or hearts, in order to prevent too many people becoming the same suit.
- everyone would begin as a #2 of their assigned suit.
- when competing in a singles match, the number value of both competitors would be added together - with the winner becoming the new number. So if #2 hearts took on the #6 hearts, the winner would now become the #8 hearts.
- the loser has the value they came into reduced by one if they have a value below #7 & the value reduced by three if they have a value of #7+. a wrestler can go no lower than #2.
- the first person to become the Ace of their suit (#14 value) would qualify for an eliminator tournament which would be made up of the Aces of all four suits.
- the eliminator tournament would crown the first ever AEW World Champion
The presser would end with Bully Ray confirming the set of matches that would take place on next week’s show with it yet to be determined which order the matches would take place in:
- Kenny Omega would open the show by cutting a promo in the backstage area and would be joined by The Young Bucks who would look very pleased with themselves with the AAA World Tag Team Championships slung over Matt and Nick’s respective shoulders. Kenny would offer a sarcastic congratulation to Okada, before making a point that he was looking forward the next chance the two men shared the ring because there was no chances he was going to allow himself to not leave an AEW with his hand raised in the air and fully intended on suiting himself up into an ace position and becoming the first ever AEW World Champion. Omega would close by wishing the best of luck to whoever Bully Ray decided he would face next week, because it would be a glorious victory to add to his record book. Matt Jackson would do a chef’s kiss to the camera, before Nick Jackson would flip the camera off with a middle finger.
- Janela would be accompanied out from the back by Penelope Ford, whilst Sky would be joined by fellow SoCal Uncensored member Christopher Daniels. The two men would feature in an interesting opening contest with Sky pulling off some athletic moves, whilst Janela would bend the rules at every opportunity with aid of Penelope in his corner with Daniels trying to raise attention of it, but it would backfire and it would end up getting him ejected from ringside. This would allow the cheating tactics to continue and Penelope would district the referee long enough for Janela to nail Sky with an unsighted low blow before finishing Scorpio off with a Package Piledriver to claim the win. Excalibur would be quick to inform everyone that Janela’s valued had now increased and he was now the #4 of Clubs.
- Sadie Gibbs would talk backstage with interviewer Leva Bates (who had adopted a nerdy librarian gimmick). Gibbs would make her intentions known that she had been impressed with what she had seen last week from Bea Priestley and the next time that Priestly was in the states she wanted to have a match with her, because there was nothing more important to cementing herself as the top women in AEW as quickly as possible.
- Sabian and Spears would feature in a fiery contest, with it evident that both men were taking on the roles of heels. The match could be compared to what you would expect to see in a bar brawl with neither men pulling their punches and going harder than a jackhammer pummeling a hard road during roadworks in the winter. Both men would help put the other over, with it being clear that both men had really potential to hold a strong position in the mid-card. The contest would end with Shawn Spears nailing Kip Sabian with the C4, elevating his status to the #4 of Hearts.
- Nick Aldis would cut a promo backstage in which he had really enjoyed featuring on a major television show last week and not only had it raised the profile of the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship, but also had perhaps reminded the rest of the world that his stock was worth something and that if Tony Khan was interested he would be open to some serious talk and perhaps making a more permanent arrangement that would work to benefit both AEW and the National Wrestling Alliance moving forward. Aldis would close with a willingness to defend the ten pounds of gold at some point again in the future, and would make sure to make a dig at Cody by stating he wanted a more challenging and competent opponent if his hold was going to be on the line.
- It would be confirmed by Mike Tenay that Shane Taylor had signed an exclusive contract with AEW as Taylor made his way out from the back. It seemed that Pentagon was still showing some fatigue from last week’s intense tag team title match, which opened up a window of opportunity for Taylor to make a really strong first impression of himself, especially for those who were unfamiliar with his work in ROH over the last couple of years. Taylor would show that a big man was more than capable of pulling off fast paced luchador style moves as he would claim a shock win over Pentagon, Jr. be leveling him out with the Cleveland Destroyer!
- Excalibur would inform the fans that the last time Kazarian and Evans had shared a ring it had been 2005 at a PWG show, but this would be the first time that either men would go against each other during their extensive career had actually gone one on one. And that fans would not be disappointed by the fast paced and high speed match that could be compared to WCW Cruiserweight Division or Impact X-Division and the match was an absolute spotfest, with the contest ending with Kazarian nailing Evans with the Flux Capacitor. Taz would raise the point that Kazarian had now joined Shawn Spears as also being a #4 of Hearts in the Battle of the Suits.
- Jericho would cut a short promo in which he would make it known that he was incredibly annoyed that his win last week over Dustin Rhodes wouldn’t count towards this stupid competition that Bully Ray had put together, but if he had to punch all the teeth out of Hangman’s mouth later on tonight then so be it, because there was nothing that was going to stop him from becoming the Ace of Clubs.
- This would be a very one-sided encounter with the British wrestler putting on a dominant performance in a contest that would last just a few minutes, with Pac ending the contest by nailing Taylor with the Liger Bomb to also advance himself. The victory would mean that every wrestler that had been drawn as a heart, now had a value of #4.
- The second main-event in AEW history had a high bar to contend with considering how amazing the match between Okada and Omega had been last week, but it was clear from the outset that both men wanted nothing more than to get a key win and advance themselves up the AEW hierarchy. Both men would look strong and the match would be worthy of its placement at the end of the night. It actually looked as though Adam was going to claim the victory when he slung himself over the ropes with the intention of hitting the Buckshot Lariat only for Jericho to counter with a quick Judas Effect to claim a win out of nowhere, and leaving ‘Hangman’ out on his back and without a win despite having come so close.
- General Manager Bully Ray would come out from the back to close the the night and inform the fans that next week the Battle of the Suits would continue, with six more matchups that would feature twelve more men in an initiative he could already verify that social media couldn’t stop talking about and he didn’t give a shit if some of the comments were negative because all news was good news. Bully would end that he couldn’t wait for a member of the roster to speak out of turn, because there was nothing that would make him happier than to send someone through a table and although he was holding a position of authority he most certainly hadn’t retired as a professional wrestler.
- The Battle of the Suits would continue to build up some steam over the next few episodes of Dynamite, with AEW leaving the comforts of Daily’s Place and going on the road, with the following locations used for the following episodes:
+ Episode 003 [Capital One Arena, Washington, D.C.] - March 20th, 2019
+ Episode 004 [Agganis Arena, Boston, Massachusetts] - March 27th, 2019
+ Episode 005 [Liacouras Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania] - April 3, 2019
+ Episode 006 [Petersen Events Arena, Pittsburgh Pennsylvania] - April 10, 2019
The results for each of the four events are shown below, including their assigned suits.
Rey Fenix [Diamonds] def. Christopher Daniels [Hearts]
Kenny Omega [Clubs] def. Trent Beretta [Spades]
Episode 004
Jack Evans [Spades] def. Brandon Cutler [Hearts]
Scorpio Sky [Spades] def. Peter Avalon [Clubs]
Kip Sabian [Diamonds] def. Trent Beretta [Spades]
Shane Taylor [Clubs] def. Luchasaurus [Hearts]
Joey Janela [Clubs] def. CIMA [Diamonds]
Episode 005
Christopher Daniels [Hearts] def. Chuck Taylor [Diamonds]
Adam Page [Diamonds] def. Frankia Kazarian [Hearts]
Jon Moxley [Spades] def. Billy Gunn [Diamonds]
Kenny Omega [Clubs] def. Dustin Rhodes [Clubs]
Rey Fenix [Diamonds] def. Pac [Hearts]
Episode 006
Chris Jericho [Clubs] def. Shawn Spears [Hearts]
Chuck Taylor [Hearts] def. Billy Gunn [Hearts]
Cody Rhodes [Spades] def. Pentagon, Jr. [Spades]
Kip Sabian [Diamonds] def. Peter Avalon [Clubs]
Shane Taylor [Clubs] def. Pac [Hearts]
+ + + + + + +
After five weeks of the Battle of the Suits the standings would be updated, with Shane Taylor needing to just beat someone with a value of #5 to become the Ace of Clubs. In turn this meant that anyone with a value of #5+ could in turn become an Ace of their respective suit if they managed to claim a victory over Taylor.
- Charleston Coliseum, West Virginia -
Episode 007 | April 17, 2019]
- The commentary team of Excalibur, Mike Tenay and Taz would come off as incredibly excited for tonight’s show, which was booked as a match that would be very focused on the five matches that had been booked for tonight’s show. Tenay would also confirm that on the 25th of May, AEW would host its very first pay per view Double or Nothing with the intention of the first AEW World Champion being crowned at the PPV. This meant that after tonight, there would be five episodes of Dynamite before the pay per view.
- The first contest would see Sammy Guevara feature in an explosive debut appearance, with first time viewers of Sammy impressed by high aerial abilities and seeming lack of fear of gravity and the support he was being shown by the fans seemed to grate Janela up the wrong way and get under Joey’s skin. And it looked like Guevara was going to claim a second victory over Janela when he would pull off an impressive Modified 630 Senton, only to not be able to claim the finish when Penelope Ford would leap onto the ring apron - but only after sliding in a baseball into the ring. Janela would pick up the bat and swing at Sammy only to have it kicked out his hand, and instead Guevara would pick Janela up and wipe him out with an Argentine backbreaker transitioned into a knee life that would be noted by Excalibur being called ‘Go To Hospital’ to pick up a victory on his debut and rocket himself up to be ranked as the #10 of hearts, whilst Joey would tumble down the charts to a lowly #5 of Clubs.
- After the contest, Sammy Guevara would cut a short promo in which he would look at Janela and refer to him as simply “a silly little bitch” before smiling from cheek to cheek and celebrating in the middle of the ring.
- The match between Gibbs and Priestley would start off at an even balance, with Gibbs really wanting to show that she could go toe to toe with Bea. Eventually though, Priestley would start to ramp up the pressure and there would be a noticeable gap in quality between both wrestlers, with Priestley claiming the victory by laying out Gibbs with the Falcon Arrow. After the match, Bea would make her intentions known that she fully intended on ripping the World of Stardom Championship out of the clutches of Kagetsu wretched fists and not only take the gold but intended to bring the very best that Oedo Tai had to offer and make her own kingdom of heaven right here in AEW and if Tony Khan had any sense, he would then fast track her all the way to the top of the women’s roster.
- The match between Danies and Kazarian would be a classic battle of the tag team partners, with both men knowing the other’s move as well as all of their reversals and transitions which would after about ten minutes leave the match in almost a stalemate with neither of the two seeming to be able to gain an advantage, but the whole time the fans had been loving every moment and soaking up the atmosphere with it clear that this gripping contest was really proving to be a match of the ages. With some comparisons being made to what would have been seen from both men about ten years ago in the X-Division and that perhaps if AEW could attract this sort of individuals perhaps the new promotion could really target themselves to a wide audience with tastes in cruiserweight and luchador wrestling. The contest would end with Daniels laying out Kazarian with the Angel’s Wing to end the contest.
- Following the contest, the pair would shake hands before Kazarian would take a 3 of hearts from his pocket and proceed to rip it in half, to represent that he had officially removed himself out of the ‘Battle of the Suits’ competition.
The match between the two teams would very much be another showcase of the luchador style, with perhaps intentions that AEW very much wanted this style of wrestling to become a homestay within the brand identity. Aerostar and Drago would both offer a challenge for the champions, but there were clear intentions of putting over the Young Bucks. The match would end with Matt and Jackson would invite Drago to a SuperKick Party, before finishing off Aerostar by folding him over with More Bang for Your Buck (Rolling fireman's carry slam by Matt followed by a 450° splash by Nick followed by a moonsault by Matt) to retain the straps.
- The closing contest in Charleston would be a really coming of age match, with it being clear that Kip Sabian fully intended on elevating his came and wrestling at a level of the big dogs. And there was no doubt that Jon Moxley was well and truly a big dog in this game. Sabian would come close on a number of occasions whether it be going aerial and connecting with Death Stomper (Springboard Double Foot Stomp) or the Superbadasser (Leapfrog Leg Drop Bulldog) or relying on a bit more power and connecting with the Avada Kadriva (Inside Leg Hook Michinoku Driver II). Each time though a pinfall attempt would result in a breakout from Moxley, and it was clear that this veteran of the sport was going to have to take a lot more punishment to be kept down. Moxley would turn the match up to fifth gear though and would take the contest to another level and eventually wipe out Sabian with the Death Rider to claim the victory and earn himself the rank of the Queen of Spades (value of #12).
- The show would close with Taz noting that Moxley at this point, only needed one more victory and he would in fact become the Ace of Spades and would surely expect Jon to be involved in a match to possibly earn that claim in the week to come.
- Bojangles Coliseum, Charlotte, North Carolina -
Episode 008 | April 24, 2019
Four matches in the ‘Battle of the Suits’ competition would take place in Charlotte:
- Kenny Omega would claim a victory over Jack Evans, elevating himself to a value of #12 and becoming the Queen of Clubs.
- Rey Fenix and Adam Page would feature in an all out clash of the Diamonds with the Mexican claiming the victory by nailing Page with the Spanish Fly to claim the victory and also become the second Queen of the night.
- Scorpio Sky and CIMA would feature in an interesting contest, with members of both SCU and Stronghearts getting involved in the contest that would make it a messy flurry of a contest. CIMA would secure the victory by connecting with a vicious Spartan Cut (Front facelock spun into an elbow drop bulldog) to improve his chance to become the #7 of Diamonds.
- The final suits match would see Cody Rhodes pick up a pretty decisive victory over Shawn Spears, to move him up the #9 of Spades.
Chuck Taylor and Trent Beretta would team up for the first time on AEW, with Best Friends having been working in the indie scene since 2013 and would pick up a victory over Smart Asses (Billy Gunn & Peter Avalon).
- A Four-way match would be officially added to Double or Nothing as the first official match off the PPV that would see Sadie Gibbs, Kylie Rae, Nyla Rose & Shanna.
- It would also be confirmed that AEW would return to Jacksonville next week, with two matches already locked in:
Two new tag team pairings would face off against each other as AEW returned to Daily’s Place with The Hybrid 2 (Angelico & Jack Evans) who had been working with each other in Mexico since 2013 would go against a brand new pairing of Michael Nakazawa and QT Marshall, with TH2 looking far more fluid and it was not surprising that they would claim the victory after wiping out Nakazawa with Fall of the Angels (Running crucifix turnbuckle powerbomb) (Angélico) followed by a 630° senton (Evans) in an impressive tag team debut.
The Battle of the Suits would continue with four more matches in the contest:
- Chris Jericho would claim an impressive win over Chuck Taylor to level himself up next to Kenny Omega with a value of #12 to become the second Queen of Clubs - and just like Kenny knowing that just one more win would turn him into an Ace.
- Sammy Guevaara would continue to impress and would claim a second win this time over the veteran Dustin Rhodes and would continue to show himself as real talent for the future and in just two matches in the competition was the first man to earn the title of King (value of #13) of Hearts.
- Shane Taylor would also continue his impressive start in AEW by claiming another victory this time over Pentagon, Jr. becoming the third suited member of the Clubs earning himself the rank of Jack (#11).
- Taz would comment that now Kenny Omega, Chris Jericho and Shane Taylor only needed one victory against an opponent of any value and they would earn themselves a place in the AEW World Championship Eliminator.
- Christopher Daniels and Kip Sabian would compete in the final suited match of the event, with Daniels nailing Kip with the Best Moonsault Ever to elevate himself up to the Queen of Hearts.
Bully Ray would then announce that next week AEW would pull into Las Vegas and compete out of the Orleans Arena and that in order to prevent anyone accusing him or Tony Khan of booking in favor of one person over another, a spinning wheel would determine who people would face off in next weeks show - especially now that so many people so close to becoming Aces of their own assigned suits.
The Young Bucks would also cut a promo about their intentions of defending the AAA World Tag Team Champions at Double or Nothing and were hoping that a team would present themselves as being a worthy candidate to challenge for the belts.
