In the aftermath of REVOLUTION 2024 and “The Icon” Sting's amazing final match, All Elite Wrestling returns to the Gas South Arena in Duluth, GA for TWO huge nights of professional wrestling starting on March 6th with DYNAMITE! With Sting going out undefeated, and as ½ of the AEW World Tag Team Champions, what does the future of those titles look like? During the REVOLUTION Media Scrum AEW GM Tony Khan mentioned holding a tournament to crown new champions, so what shape will that take? And knowing that we are now on the road to DYNASTY 2024 on April 21st in St. Louis, how will the AEW locker room step up for that pay-per-view extravaganza coming to the Chaifetz Arena? Do not miss out on this Wednesday's DYNAMITE as the future of AEW takes shape!
DYNAMITE begins at 8pm ET/7pm CT live on TBS, as well as at AEWPlus.com for international fans, so be sure to visit the official AEW YouTube channel, as well as AEW's assorted social media platforms, for highlights from last week's episodes of REVOLUTION 2024, DYNAMITE, RAMPAGE, COLLISION, the latest CONTROL CENTER, and so much more! Then join us this Thursday night right back at Gas South for a night of COLLISION!
SINGLES MATCH...
ROH World TV Champion Kyle Fletcher vs. “The Aerial Assassin” Will Ospreay
What a fight Will Ospreay had on Sunday night at REVOLUTION 2024! He and Konosuke Takeshita, despite both being Don Callis Family members, decimated one another in hopes of achieving victory, but ultimately the decision went to “The Aerial Assassin”. So taxing was the battle that during the post-PPV media scrum AEW GM Tony Khan noted that Ospreay might not be medically cleared to compete in this contest with Kyle Fletcher that was announced during the REVOLUTION broadcast. Thankfully for all parties involved, but primarily for the health of Ospreay, he was cleared to compete and this Wednesday night on DYNAMITE, we will witness two friends collide in their first singles match since October 2020!
The in-ring relationship between Fletcher and Ospreay dates back to December 2018 and battles over the PROGRESS Tag Team Championships, including a near 45-minute Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match won by Aussie Open of Fletcher and Mark Davis. The two would also unite Melbourne City Wrestling in Australia to challenge for that company's tag team championship, as well as go head-to-head over RevPro's Undisputed British Heavyweight Title held by Ospreay. Their fights as foes, and their time as allies, led Ospreay to recruit Aussie Open to his United Empire group in NJPW, and that collective proved a most formidable force in New Japan, RevPro, OTT, and here in AEW where they took part in the inaugural tournament to crown the first AEW World Trios Champions.
Though it's been many months since Fletcher and Ospreay occupied the same space, their friendship has endured, but now that they're both under the AEW umbrella, and in the Callis Family, the sky is the limit on what they could accomplish together! But before that possibility becomes a reality, the current ROH World Television Champion and the former IWGP World Heavyweight Champion are going to go one-on-one! For Ospreay this will mark his first match on DYNAMITE since 8/31/22, and his first singles bout on AEW's flagship since 6/15/22, so he's going to be coming in to make a statement to the fans watching around the world as well everyone in the AEW locker room. For Fletcher this also carries the potential for a statement victory, and as ROH World TV Champion (a title Ospreay himself held for 2 days in 2016) would be a huge bolster to his profile heading towards SUPERCARD OF HONOR 2024 in Philadelphia.
One question need be asked though; how many intrafamilial fights can The Don Callis Family withstand?
ONE-ON-ONE...
Former TBS Champion Kris Statlander vs. Former Women's World Champion Riho
It's been over four years since the last time Kris Statlander and Riho met inside the AEW ring for a one-on-one match, long before the creation of the TBS Championship, and just three months into Riho's reign as the first AEW Women's World Champion. Unfortunately for Riho, it also turned out to be her final successful title defense as Nyla Rose would bring her reign crashing to an end one month later.
Stat and Riho would compete against one another in a Four Way in March 2020, and be partners in a pair of Trios match in 2021, but have not shared a ring since the 11/16/21 edition of DARK, but with Riho's return to AEW competition last Friday night on RAMPAGE, and Kris's tag team victory on the REVOLUTION 2024: ZERO HOUR, the two will meet once more this Wednesday night!
It's clear from Stokely's post-match comments that championships are the ultimate goal of Statlander and Willow Nightingale, and scoring a victory over the first-ever Women's World Champion would be a huge boost for Statlander in that regards, just as a win over the former TBS Champ would be a boon to Riho's return, after all she's never challenged for the championship currently around the waist of Julia Hart. As for Stat, she hasn't yet received a rematch for the TBS Championship she wasn't actually beaten for, nor has she challenged for the AEW Women's World Title since ALL OUT 2021 during Dr. Britt Baker's reign, so this is going to be a hotly contested battle between two women looking to become contenders!
THE FUTURE OF THE TAG TEAM TITLES?
Though it was quite the unforgettable, emotional, historic night this past Sunday at REVOLUTION 2024 as All Elite Wrestling honored the iconic career of Sting, one thing that cannot go unmentioned is the fact that he and Darby Allin ended the night still the reigning AEW World Tag Team Champions. It was a milestone for Sting to retire undefeated in AEW, and an even greater accomplishment to do so with the championship around his waist, but with his retirement from competition, and Darby with no plans to continue on as tag team without Sting, the AEW World Tag Team Championship was declared vacant by AEW GM Tony Khan during the post-PPV Media Scrum. In addition, Tony Khan also made mention of a tournament being held to crown new champions, something akin to AEW's own March Madness brackets, and that's already led to several AEW tag teams throwing their names into the hats.
So what will this tournament look like? How will the future of the AEW World Tag Team Championship titles take shape? Only time will tell, but it is a question on the lips of teams around the world who love nothing more than to be the ones to claim the vacant crown as their own! Also, given their defeat in Sunday night's World Tag Team Championship match, one can't help but wonder if the above post from The Young Bucks has anything to do with this situation...
FTW CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH...
HOOK(c) vs. “The Machine” Brian Cage
It's been building for weeks now, reaching a fever pitch during the All-Star 8-Man Scramble Sunday night, and finally on Wednesday night, “The Machine” Brian Cage will clash with FTW Champion HOOK with the title on the line! Given the history of the two men under the Team Taz banner, not to mention the sheer fact that HOOK's father was the one who not only brought Cage to AEW but also bequeathed him the FTW Championship in the first place, this is going to be a heated affair.
In addition to the REVOLUTION 2024 Scramble, these two competitors have been on opposing sides of a pair of multi-man matches in 2024 with Brian Cage's side winning both bouts, but this will mark their first-ever singles match. Between his two reigns with the title, HOOK has been FTW Champion for 549 out of the last 588 days, with his first reign comprising 357 of those days, leaving him twenty days shy of surpassing Cage's tenure as champion, and twenty-one shy of Ricky Starks' record of 378.
Can HOOK make it past “The Machine” this Wednesday on DYNAMITE and continue the long trek towards breaking the records set by his former Team Taz allies? Or will Brian Cage, with the support of Prince Nana and The Mogul Embassy, begin a second reign of domination as FTW Champion?
IS THE UNDISPUTED AGE UPON US?
Coming out of REVOLUTION 2024 there is one thing for certain, The Undisputed Kingdom is on top of the world! Not only did Roderick Strong dethrone 2-Time AEW International Champion Orange Cassidy to claim that title as his own, but Wardlow also dominated in the All-Star 8-Man Scramble match to earn a future AEW World Championship match with Samoa Joe. Between Strong and Taven/Bennett, The UK already has two championships in their camp, with the potential for a third down the line, and thus are clearly riding high based on the words shared in the video above. Yet an unknown variable was inserted into the mix this past Sunday night when Kyle O'Reilly made his long-awaited return to All Elite Wrestling following Strong's victory over OC! For a moment it seemed like Kyle would fight his friends, then like he would join their ranks, but ultimately Kyle simply whispered something into Roderick's ear before walking away from the ring with eyes full of emotion.
While The Undisputed Kingdom has much to celebrate, there are many questions to be asked, such as what does their future hold as it pertains to Kyle O'Reilly and how long will Wardlow have to wait for his shot at AEW World Champion Samoa Joe? Tune in this Wednesday night to DYNAMITE to see how it all unfolds for O'Reilly, Adam Cole, new AEW International Champion Roderick Strong, ROH World Tag Champions Taven & Bennett, and new #1 Contender Wardlow!
Even though we are all still recovering from REVOLUTION 2024 and Sting's farewell to in-ring competition, All Elite Wrestling has to move forward and that means a return to the Gas South Arena in Duluth, GA for DYNAMITE, and starting on the road to DYNASTY 2024 in St. Louis on April 21st!
DYNAMITE comes your way at 8pm ET/7pm CT live on TBS, as well as at AEWPlus.com for international fans, with ROH World TV Champion Kyle Fletcher taking on Will Ospreay, former TBS Champion Kris Statlander battling the original Women's World Champion Riho, and plenty more on tap! Make a point to visit the official AEW YouTube channel, as well as AEW's assorted social media platforms, for highlights from REVOLUTION 2024, as well as last week's episodes of DYNAMITE, RAMPAGE, COLLISION, the latest CONTROL CENTER, and so much more! Then join us this Thursday night right back at Gas South for a night of COLLISION!