All Elite Wrestling is on the path to ALL IN: LONDON 2024 and the way to Wembley leads through Calgary, Alberta, Canada tonight on TBS! After two hard-fought rounds of competition, the Finals of the Men's & Women's Owen Hart Foundation Tournament are set with Willow Nightingale trying to become the first 2-Time winner opposite Mariah May while “Hangman” Adam Page and “American Dragon” Bryan Danielson lock horns in their fourth match! The winners go on to August 25th to face their respective World Champions, so there is a whole lot at stake at the Saddledome!
Plus FTW Champion Chris Jericho faces Samoa Joe in a Stampede Street Fight, we've got a Global Four Way with competitors from around the world clashing, and we anticipate hearing from both AEW International Champion Will Ospreay as well as AEW World Champion Swerve Strickland! Then join us next Wednesday night in Little Rock, AR at the Simmons Bank Arena as we move closer to ALL IN: LONDON 2024, and be sure to visit the official AEW YouTube channel for highlights from last week's editions of DYNAMITE, RAMPAGE, and COLLISION, as well as RJ City welcoming Kyle Fletcher to HEY!(EW), and more!
MEN'S OWEN HART FOUNDATION TOURNAMENT FINALS
“The American Dragon” Bryan Danielson vs. “Hangman” Adam Page
12/15/21 - DYNAMITE: WINTER IS COMING 2021...AEW World Championship Match...60 Minute Draw
1/5/22- DYNAMITE...AEW World Championship Match...Adam Page retains in 29:06
9/7/22- DYNAMITE...First Round Grand Slam Tournament of Champions...Bryan Danielson wins in 22:52
Three singles matches since Bryan Danielson first arrived in All Elite Wrestling at ALL OUT 2021 and an inconclusive record of 1-1-1 with “Hangman” Adam Page earning possibly the most important victories in going the hour with Danielson when no one knew he was capable of that, and in actually defeating Bryan when the title at stake. Sure the first was not a victory on paper, but it was absolutely a moral one to take “The American Dragon” to a one-hour draw. Since that third bout nearly two years ago, Hangman and Dragon have only shared the squared circle one other time, and it may be more accurate to say they occupied the same battleground in that instance as it was on opposing sides of DOUBLE OR NOTHING 2023's Anarchy in the Arena match.
So the question has lingered since September 2022 as it to who is the better man bell-to-bell; Danielson is often lauded as the greatest wrestler of his generation, if not the greatest of all-time, while Hangman Page has unquestionably been the heart and soul of All Elite Wrestling since DOUBLE OR NOTHING 2019, but it now seems that's a position that's broken both Adam's heart and his soul. We all heard the words spoken from his mouth, that feeling of betrayal hearing the AEW faithful cheer for the man who broke into his home and threatened his family, of seeing them rally behind Swerve Strickland in his quest to become AEW World Champion. He's disgusted with the people he thought had his back all these years, so much so that he took what The Young Bucks had to offer in order to get his hands on Swerve Strickland, and those are men who he once called brothers who've repeatedly stabbed him in the back and even suspended him indefinitely months ago. Page is adamant about bringing ruin to everything Swerve has accomplished over the last five months since the REVOLUTION 2024 Three Way with Samoa Joe, and The Owen is just a means to an end for Hangman.
For Bryan Danielson The Owen represents something personal as well, but not revenge or violence, rather it represents trying to end this final full-time year of his in-ring career on a positive note. After feeling like his career has been littered with failures since telling the world of his intentions for 2024, Danielson has hinged his aspirations for finding proper closure on winning The Owen and moving onto Wembley Stadium to challenge the AEW World Champion. To Bryan, that seems a balm on missing ALL IN: LONDON 2023, a patch on his losses to Eddie Kingston, Zack Sabre Jr, Kazuchika Okada, and Will Ospreay, a way to bring the most amazing in-ring career of the last two decades to a close in a meaningful way. He's went through tremendous fights with Shingo Takagi and PAC in the first two rounds, two men he hadn't battled in years, so it seems appropriate that he brings his Owen to a close against the man who has possibly been his staunchest rival in All Elite Wrestling.
For Hangman the road to Calgary meant entering The Owen as The Elite's hand-picked opponent for Jeff Jarrett, and then colliding with long-time rival Jay White in the Semifinals. The former was a man he'd never faced, the latter a man he'd never beaten, but the fury within Hangman's soul (not to neglect Christian Cage) helped carry him to victories over both. Still, despite the loss to Hangman in the Quarterfinals, “The Last Outlaw” made his presence felt in that “Switchblade” bout when the former AEW World Champion took advantage of the downed referee, and that has led to tonight's situation where Jeff Jarrett, one of the men closest to Owen Hart before tragic death twenty-five years ago, will serves as an enforcer in the Finals:
As important as the 2022 and 2023 tournaments were, this 2024 Owen Hart Foundation Tournament is undoubtedly a step above the previous two years in large part due to the ALL IN: LONDON 2024 World Championship match that awaits the winner but also because of the emotional stakes each man in this Final has invested in the outcome of the match. It's more than just winning the tournament, more than honoring the legacy of Owen Hart, more than claiming that cup as a trophy, and it's more than just following in the footsteps of Adam Cole and Ricky Starks. It's about Wembley, it's about the AEW World Championship, it's about legacy and revenge and passion and hate, and who is the best man on this night in Calgary!
WOMEN'S OWEN HART FOUNDATION TOURNAMENT FINALS
2023 Owen Hart Tournament Winner Willow Nightingale vs. Mariah May
As monumental as the fourth clash between Bryan Danielson and Hangman Page may be, with the Women's Bracket in the 2024 Owen, we have a chance to see the first 2-Time winner of the tournament should Willow Nightingale emerge victorious tonight in the Saddledome. Last year the possibility existed with Dr. Britt Baker, but Ruby Soho knocked Britt out of contention in the Quarterfinals on her way to losing to Willow in the Finals.
That means Willow can make history tonight in Calgary by becoming the first to accomplish that milestone, and considering her road to the Saddledome went through Serena Deeb and former best friend Kris Statlander, she's certainly earned her spot in this Final. Yet Willow's faced with an incredibly tough task to make her Wembley championship dreams a reality; she must defeat Mariah May in order to earn that title fight, and that is not easy task under any circumstance:
For Mariah, Wembley represents multiple dreams coming to a head simultaneously, the biggest of which is obviously the potential to face her idol “Timeless” Toni Storm in a World Championship match, but also the chance for Mariah's family in England to watch her wrestle in-person for just the second time in her career. A win is justifying the faith Toni Storm had in entering her in The Owen in the first place, and paying off a road that went through two former AEW Women's World Champions in Saraya and Hikaru Shida.
Tonight is a night where dreams will come true, be it for Willow and hers to be a 2-Time Owen winner or for Mariah and hers to move onto the biggest fight of her career in her home country. Which of these two world-class warriors will have their hand raised inside the Saddledome?
STAMPEDE STREET FIGHT...
FTW Champion “The Learning Tree” Chris Jericho vs. Samoa Joe
It has been seven years since the last time Chris Jericho stood inside a wrestling ring with Samoa Joe one-on-one so perhaps he's forgotten what it means to fight the former AEW World Champion under such circumstances. Yes this is a Stampede Street Fight, meaning Jericho's minions under the Learning Tree could potentially get involved, but that also means Joe is free to unleash the monster inside his soul, that beast that makes him one of the scariest individuals in professional wrestling bar none. There are few experiences like walking onto a stage and seeing the eyes of Joe staring back at you, few things that are as fear-inducing, but now the FTW Champion has to confront that under a Street Fight situation and the utter lack of rules that conveys.
This is called comeuppance, this is getting what one deserves, and even if “The Redwood” Big Bill and “Bad Apple” Bryan Keith are at the ready, there's also the possibility that HOOK and Katsuyori Shibata will be on-hand to keep the scales balanced and allow this to be the one-on-one fight it should be. Still, Jericho is a slippery man, always looking for an angle, always searching for that advantage, and if there's anyone who can find one in this situation it would be the FTW Champion. That may be his only hope of getting out of this Stampede Street Fight in one piece...
GLOBAL GLORY FOUR-WAY...
Claudio Castagnoli vs. “The Bastard” PAC vs. “The Protostar” Kyle Fletcher vs. Tomohiro Ishii
Global Glory indeed; we have Claudio Castagnoli from Switzerland, PAC from England, Kyle Fletcher from Australia, and Tomohiro Ishii from Japan, all battling it out tonight in Calgary with nothing but bragging rights at stake! Which of these four world class competitors will step up and emerge as the best man on this night?
THE CHAMPION RETURNS...
At FORBIDDEN DOOR 2024, AEW World Champion Swerve Strickland threw everything he had in his arsenal at Will Ospreay and it was barely enough to put the AEW International Champion down long enough to successfully retain the World Title. Ospreay gave Swerve the fight of both their lives, but it was Swerve who managed to leave Long Island with the AEW World Championship around his waist. Perhaps it was the Don Callis effect that led to the victory, perhaps Swerve would've won regardless, that's something we will never know; but what we do know is that by the end of the night tonight Swerve will be fully aware of who is coming for the AEW World Championship at ALL IN: LONDON 2024 in a little over a month. Will it be Bryan Danielson, the man who beat him last October when a TNT Championship match was at stake? Or will it be Hangman Page, the man who prevented him from cheating to beat Bryan that night, but who he also holds a 2-0-1 advantage over in their singles bouts, including a win in that unforgettably violent Texas Death Match at FULL GEAR 2023? Of course this all requires Swerve to remain AEW World Champion between now and August 25th, and there is a lot that can happen between tonight in Calgary and then...
WE'LL HEAR FROM THE AERIAL ASSASSIN...
Then there is the man who failed to capture the AEW World Title on Long Island less than two weeks ago, but a man who must continue fighting forward, as he is the reigning AEW International Champion, and must do so knowing that Maxwell Jacob Friedman has singled him out as all that he views as wrong with All Elite Wrestling and its fans. MJF somehow believes the fans turned on him, despite them cheering his return, embracing “their scumbag” with open arms, and hanging on every word that spewed forth from between his forked tongue. The reality seems closer to MJF looking for an excuse to just be the man he truly is at heart, and laying blame at the feet of the fans rather an accepting responsibility for his choices, but that's nothing new when it comes to the former AEW World Champion. Record-setting reign aside, MJF has made a career out of laying blame elsewhere, and now he's chosen “The Aerial Assassin” Will Ospreay and the AEW fans as his target, but unlike the fans, Ospreay can do something about it inside the squared circle. Is that what he'll address tonight on DYNAMITE? Is he looking for a fight with Maxwell? We will all find out when Will Ospreay speaks tonight on TBS!
DOUBLE CHAMPIONSHIP VICTORY TOAST...
Mercedes Moné has not had the greatest of luck when it comes to throwing herself a celebration; it went to hell after her TBS Championship victory when Skye Blue crashed the party, and her Double Championship celebration last week was certainly dampened by the returning Dr. Britt Baker D.M.D despite Mercedes' attempt to throw her own party during Baker's interview time. Well perhaps the third time will be the charm because tonight on DYNAMITE, Moné is going to try once again to pat herself on the back for capturing the NJPW STRONG Women's Championship at FORBIDDEN DOOR 2024 and adding it to her trophy case alongside the TBS Title. Will she be able to pull off an uninterrupted celebration tonight in Calgary, or will it be an aborted party thanks to outside factors?
Tonight, All Elite Wrestling returns to the Saddledome in Calgary for one of the biggest nights of our calendar year: the finals of Men's & Women's Owen Hart Foundation Tournaments pit 2023 Winner Willow Nightingale against Mariah May and Hangman Page versus Bryan Danielson in their fourth singles match! The winners of these bouts will go on to Wembley Stadium on August 25th to face whomever the World Champions may be! In addition, Samoa Joe and FTW Champion Chris Jericho will fight it out in a Stampede Street Fight, plus the Global Glory Four Way pits competitors from around the globe against one another, AEW World Champion Swerve Strickland is back following his FORBIDDEN DOOR 2024 clash with Will Ospreay, and we expect to also hear from the AEW International Champion! Make it a point to check out AEW's official YouTube channel to catch footage from last week's episdoes of DYNAMITE, RAMPAGE, and COLLISION, Kyle Fletcher as RJ City's guest on HEY!(EW), and more!
Then join AEW next Wednesday night in Little Rock, AR at the Simmons Bank Arena as we continue on the path to ALL IN: LONDON 2024
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