Last week was a busy one for AEW with two live events in two cities, first DYNAMITE in Cincinnati on Tuesday, followed by RAMPAGE in Jacksonville on Friday! Jon Moxley retained the AEW World Championship over Hangman via referee stoppage in his hometown of Cincinnati, while Chris Jericho kept the ROH World Title in his possession by defeated former champion Dalton Castle. The Interim Women's World Championship stayed with Toni Storm after she beat Hikaru Shida, but the champ was then laid out by Jamie Hayter and Rebel, in an attempt to soften her up for Dr. Britt Baker D.M.D. Unfortunately Saraya had other plans for the Good Doctor, and Riho returned to AEW to insure Baker's lackeys didn't continue to attack Storm.
Plus, Death Triangle retained the AEW World Trios Titles over Best Friends on DYNAMITE, Orange Cassidy beat both Ten and Rush to retain the AEW All-Atlantic Championship on RAMPAGE, and HOOK kept the FTW Title in his possession when he choked out Ari Daivari. On top of that, Willow Nightingale officially became All Elite after defeating Leila Grey!
This week, DYNAMITE returns to Wednesday night, and the Chartway Arena in Norfolk, VAfor another top-shelf edition of AEW's flagship program! The AEW World Championship will now be at stake when Jon Moxley meets Penta El Zero Miedo in their very first singles match in All Elite Wrestling, and just their second ever! Plus, the ROH World Champion Chris Jericho and ROH Pure Champion Daniel Garcia unite to battle The Blackpool Combat Club of Claudio Castagnoli and Wheeler Yuta, while their BCC compatriot Bryan Danielson meets The J.A.S' Sammy Guevara in their first-ever singles match. Plus, the returning Riho, fresh off a victory on DARK over Jungle Kyona, meets Jamie Hayter in a rematch of their December 2021 bout, and the AAA/IWGP/ROH World Tag Champions FTR return to DYNAMITE action against Swerve In Our Glory with the #1 Contendership to the AEW World Tag Team Championship at stake!
It's all going down in the Chartway Arena this Wednesday night, live on TBS, starting at 8pm EDT/7pm CDT, and at AEWPlus.com for international audiences! Be sure to visit the official AEW YouTube page to get prepared for the action with highlights from last week's events in Cincinnati and Jacksonville, as well as the latest episodes of AEW Dark: Elevation, AEW Dark, Road To, and The Control Center with Tony Schiavone!
AEW WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH...
Jon Moxley(c) vs. Penta El Zero Miedo (w/ Alex Abrahantes)
On paper, AEW World Champion Jon Moxley is set to go one-on-one at FULL GEAR 2022 against AEW's very own devil, Maxwell Jacob Friedman, with the AEW World Championship on the line. It's a bout coming around as a result of MJF's Casino Ladder Match victory at ALL OUT 2022, a rematch of their World Championship bout at ALL OUT 2020, but after what we witnessed in the video embedded above, it may not be the fight we get after all.
Moxley, after his victory over Hangman Page in Cincinnati, wants more competition, wants more fight, and he is looking for it against anyone who will step up to the challenge. He just had to utter the words “no fear” though, which brought the physical representation of “cero miedo” into the picture, and now Penta El Zero Miedo is accepting the open invitation laid out by the AEW World Champion!
This marks the very first time these two men will collide in All Elite Wrestling, in any form, and just the second encounter they have ever had inside a professional wrestling ring. They last time they met, over three years ago in Poughkeepsie, NY, it was Moxley who came out on top after ripping Penta's mask off, and dropping him with a Paradigm Shift, but this is a whole new ballgame, and on a whole new level.
The AEW World Championship will be on the line, the first opportunity Penta El Zero Miedo has ever had to capture the crown, and both men are firing on all cylinders inside the ring. Penta, along with Death Triangle, are hot off their first successful World Trios Championship defense while Mox is coming off the first successful defense of his third AEW World Championship reign over Hangman Page. Fans now that both men are willing to get violent, willing to get bloody, willing to take the fight to dark waters, in order to achieve their victory, so the question on Wednesday night may be which man is willing to get the dirtiest in order to walk away AEW World Champion. We've seen Moxley get brutal against his challengers, and we've seen Penta do it to his own brother just two years ago, so we know the darkness inside both men. Will it be each man's darkness that determines this outcome?
AEW WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP #1 CONTENDER'S MATCH...
FTR (Cash Wheeler & Dax Harwood) vs. Swerve In Our Glory (Keith Lee & Swerve Strickland)
FTR have reigned as AAA Tag Team Champions for over 370 days, as ROH World Tag Champions for more than 200 days, and as IWGP Tag Champions for over 120 days, but it has been since 11/7/20, over 700 days, since Cash Wheeler and Dax Harwood have touched the AEW World Tag Team Championship titles. As a point of fact, since The Young Bucks beat them at FULL GEAR 2020, Dax and Cash have received just two opportunities to reclaim the titles, both against The Lucha Brothers, and it has been nearly a year since their last opportunity, despite being a top ranked tag team for all of 2022, and collecting those three aforementioned championships along the way.
But after this Wednesday night, that could all change, all Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler have to do is defeat another former AEW World Tag Team Championship team in Swerve Strickland and Keith Lee, collectively known as Swerve In Our Glory. See during those 700-plus days FTR went without reclaiming the titles, Swerve and Lee captured the titles in a Three Way involving the very Young Bucks that beat FTR, and reigned for 70 days at the top of the tag team mountain before The Acclaimed knocked them off the summit. In that time, Strickland and Keith made three successful defenses, matching the number Dax and Cash made in their 63-day championship reign, putting FTR at the second-shortest reign in the title's history.
Now these four individuals will collide on Wednesday night with a shot at the AEW World Tag Team Championship on the line, and a chance for each team to become 2-Time champions should they dethrone The Acclaimed down the line. Can FTR finally get the opportunity they've been pursuing since December of last year, or will Swerve In Our Glory get their round three with The Acclaimed?
Tune in Wednesday night to see which tag team steps up as the number one contenders to the World Tag Team Championship!
ONE-ON-ONE...
Riho vs. Jamie Hayter
On Wednesday night, the AEW faithful witnessed the original Women's World Champion return to the fold after five months away to save AEW Interim Women's World Champion Toni Storm from an assault perpetrated by Rebel and Jamie Hayter.
Now in December of 2021, en route to her AEW Women's World Championship bout with Dr. Britt Baker D.M.D at the first BATTLE OF THE BELTS, Riho scored a victory over Hayter in singles competition, but was ultimately unsuccessful in her title bid, even though there was some dissension between Baker and Hayter on that night.
Fast forward nine months, Riho is still here to remind Dr. Britt Baker and crew that she's going to be a thorn in their side for a long time to come! With that in mind, Jamie Hayter is set to get back into the ring with Riho this Wednesday night in Norfolk in hopes of avenging her 2021 loss, and evening the score for last week's interruption of the Toni Storm beatdown.
Will this be a repeat performance for Riho, or will Hayter even the score with the first Women's World Champion when the battle at the Chartway Arena? Tune into TBS this Wednesday night to find out!
BCC vs. J.A.S...
“The American Dragon” Bryan Danielson vs. Sammy Guevara
“The American Dragon” Bryan Danielson failed; in front of the entire world in Toronto, ON, Canada, he failed to defeat Chris Jericho and claim the ROH World Championship for a second time. It doesn't matter that Daniel Garcia was directly involved in the end result of the bout, the bottom line is that Dragon lost to “The Ocho”, and left the future of Ring of Honor in the hands of someone who does not care about the history of the landmark company, nor its legacy.
It doesn't matter that Bryan put his faith in Daniel Garcia to choose “wrestler” over “sports entertainer”, or that he strapped the ROH Pure Championship around Garcia's waist after he beat Bryan's BCC ally Wheeler Yuta; what matter is he left the future of ROH in the hands of Jericho, and that is something he will have to live with from here on out.
All Bryan can do is get back into the ring, accept his mistakes where it comes to Garcia, perhaps even own up to how it affected his Blackpool allies, and try to get back at Jericho down the line. This road to redemption, if that's what it should be called, begins this Wednesday night when Danielson meets “The Spanish God” Sammy Guevara in singles competition, Guevara's first bout since he and Jericho's tag team victory over Garcia and Danielson several weeks ago.
A 3-Time TNT Champion, Sammy Guevara is no slouch in the ring, but despite the resume he's built since the birth of All Elite Wrestling, Guevara has never faced anyone quite like “The American Dragon”. Bryan is the heart of professional wrestling, he is its very soul when discussing the art of the sport, but he is also someone who lives for the violence that comes with pro wrestling, for the fight itself, and Guevara may not be prepared for what that entails.
Can Bryan redeem himself against this J.A.S. member, or will Guevara use the Jericho Appreciation Society's willingness to bend the rules to find a way to victory?
TAG TEAM GRUDGE MATCH...
ROH World Champion Chris Jericho & ROH Pure Champion Daniel Garcia
vs.
Claudio Castagnoli & Wheeler Yuta (w/ William Regal)
Chris Jericho defeated Claudio Castagnoli to become ROH World Champion; Daniel Garcia defeated Wheeler Yuta to claim the ROH Pure Championship AND Yuta had to watch his own Blackpool Combat Club ally Bryan Danielson strap-up Garcia in the process. To say those two defeats left scars on The BCC would be an understatement, but this Wednesday night on DYNAMITE, Double C and Yutes will have an opportunity to even the score!
For the first time, Yuta and Claudio will team up to face Chris Jericho and Daniel Garcia in tag team action, hoping to garner a measure of revenge for their respective defeats. Now The J.A.S. are riding high after Jericho's wins over CC, Danielson, and Dalton Castle, as well as with “Red Death” picking the sports entertainer side of the equation over the pro wrestler, and they hope to parlay all their recent successes into yet another “W” over The Blackpool Combat Club!
Will that be the case this Wednesday night in Virginia, or will William Regal's unit even the score with Jericho's ilk in tag team competition?
MJF ALWAYS HAS SOMETHING TO SAY....
After spilling his guts about his recollection of the shared history with William Regal, and declaring he'd cash in his AEW World Championship opportunity at FULL GEAR 2022, Maxwell Jacob Friedman will be in the house this Wednesday night with something else to get off his chest. What will he have to say now that he's officially declared his intentions?
On Wednesday night, All Elite Wrestling is back in its home time slot, and back in Norfolk, VA's Chartway Arena and we are bringing huge matches with us! The AEW World Championship is up for grabs when Jon Moxley fights Penta El Zero Miedo in their first AEW match while Mox's Blackpool Combat Club peers are quite busy themselves with the Jericho Appreciation Society! Bryan Danielson is set to take on Sammy Guevara while Claudio Castagnoli & Wheeler Yuta will meet ROH World Champion Chris Jericho and ROH Pure Champion Daniel Garcia in tag team competition! In addition, the original AEW Women's World Champion Riho is back on DYNAMITE to battle Jamie Hayter, and FTR return to tag team action when the triple champs meet Swerve In Our Glory with top contendership for the AEW World Tag Team Championships at stake!
DYNAMITE is coming to you live on TBS starting at 8pm ET/7pm CT this Wednesday night, and the official AEW YouTube channel is your home for all the latest with Dynamite and Rampage highlights from Cincy and Jax, as well as the latest editions of AEW Dark: Elevation, AEW Dark, and Road To!