Three stars have made their way into the semi-finals of the Owen Hart Foundation Tournament.
After weeks of qualifying matches the brackets for the Owen Hart Foundation Tournament finally took shape on May 4th and May 6th.
With Martha Hart, (Owen’s wife) and his children Oje and Athena watching on in the crowd, the first match in the ring on Dynamite, was the clash between Adam Cole and Dax Harwood.
The bout played out in the midst of a riotous atmosphere as Harwood’s usual tributes to Bret Hart and the Hart family were punctuated by Adam Cole channelling his inner Shawn Michaels. The former NXT Champion, even paused to ‘tune up the band’ before attempting to land a Superkick.
As the match kicked into top gear, Harwood caught Cole in a Sharpshooter to a huge roar, but had to let go of the hold due to damage to his ribs suffered earlier in the match. The end came when Cole turned the tables and locked Harwood in a Sharpshooter, forcing him to submit to a chorus of boos.
Meanwhile, in the women’s bracket, Toni Storm took on Jamie Hayter. The bout was on a knife edge in the early going, with neither woman being able to take control. However, it was Storm who was first to build some momentum, delivering a Tornado DDT to Hayter from the ring to the floor. Despite this, the British star fought back, hitting a Uranage on the ring apron and then a Super-plex. But Storm wasn’t to be denied as she saw off Hayter with the Storm Zero.
In the show’s main event Darby Allin met Jeff Hardy, in what was hailed as a dream match by many fans. To add further fuel to the face-painted, daredevil fire, the match was made a No Disqualification bout.
😱😱😱 @DarbyAllin & @JEFFHARDYBRAND!!!! #AEWDynamite is LIVE on @TBSNetwork! pic.twitter.com/hXRqSLOtLP
— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) May 12, 2022
Unsurprisingly, the clash between two of modern wrestling’s biggest risk-takers was pure chaos. The two men fought outside the ring, which eventually led to Allin hitting a Swanton dive onto Hardy and a pile of steel chairs on the floor from a huge ladder in the ring.
Despite turning his spine into a slinky, Allin attempted to follow up with a Coffin Drop in the ring, but Hardy moved out of the way, leaving his rival to land on the apron. With this, Hardy fought back, looking to hit a Swanton Bomb from the top rope onto the steel stairs, but Allin managed to avoid it, leaving the former WWE star to crash and burn.
Back in the ring, Allin hit the Coffin Drop but Hardy reversed into a cradle to earn the win.
Jeff Hardy will meet Adam Cole in the first semi-final next week, while Toni Storm will face the winner of the match between Britt Baker and the joker entrant.