DYNAMITE in Philadelphia was a wild ride this past Wednesday; not only did “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair arrive on the scene to stand at Sting's side, but “The Icon” was also challenged to a fight by TNT Champion Christian Cage for FULL GEAR 2023! Plus, we witnessed Kazuchika Okada make his DYNAMITE debut alongside Orange Cassidy to fight The BCC, but unfortunately for the AEW International Champion, it ended with Claudio pinning OC and earning himself a championship fight next week. Hikaru Shida retained her AEW Women's World Championship over Ruby Soho, The Elite retained their ROH World Six-Man Titles, and not only did MJF keep possession of the Dynamite Diamond Ring, but he also found himself with an unexpected challenger:
That's right, on COLLISION, MJF will defend his AEW World Championship against former champion Kenny Omega, and should Maxwell retain, he will be on track to break Omega's 346-day record as the longest reigning champion in AEW history! But that's on Saturday at the Mohegan Sun, and before we get there, there's RAMPAGE, and that has three big fights on tap! Ortiz and Mike Santana, the former Proud 'n' Powerful, will kick things off with a No DQ, No Countout fight that no one ever thought they would see! Plus, we will find out the next challenger to Shida's Women's World Title when four of ROH's best compete for a title match also set for this Saturday night, and after his falling out with Don Callis' Family, Kyle Fletcher will clash with Takeshita!
AEW's Friday night fights get underway at 10pm ET/9pm CT on TNT, as well as at AEWPlus.com for our international audiences, so check out the official AEW YouTube channel prior to RAMPAGE begins to see highlights from this week's DYNAMITE, as well as previous episodes of RAMPAGE and COLLISION, plus THE CONTROL CENTER, and a great deal more!
NO COUNT OUT, NO DISQUALIFICATION...
Mike Santana vs. Ortiz
This has been a long time coming; Mike Santana and Ortiz have been part of each other's lives for over a decade, they are Tag Team Champions 15-times over across multiple wrestling promotions throughout their careers, and were bonded as Proud & Powerful from the inception of All Elite Wrestling until the injury suffered by Santana at Blood & Guts 2022. At least that was the perception most had following their return to the AEW landscape to compete at ALL IN: LONDON's Stadium Stampede. Based on the words shared by Ortiz in the video above, it seems the issues between these two men predate that 2022 injury, it's just that it all finally fell apart in the aftermath.
Since London these two men, once among the upper echelon of tag team wrestling, have engaged in something tantamount to a cold war; a great deal of words exchanged, their feelings and emotions laid bare for the AEW faithful to see, and each looking to the other as the party responsible for how this all started.
For this team who first made their impact on AEW during ALL OUT 2019 at the expense of The Young Bucks, it looks like this Friday night in Philadelphia will be the end of their road traveled together. With no disqualifications and no count outs, Mike Santana and Ortiz will fight each other one-on-one for the first time since 2016, and possibly for the last time ever. Both men want to be done with one another, to put each other in the rear view, and move on with their careers on their own, but before either can, they must put an end to each other.
No one knows Ortiz like Santana, nor does anyone know Santana like Ortiz, and each will bring all that knowledge, all that venom, all those feelings and emotions to this fight, with the hope of being the one still standing at the end of the fight...
COLLISION TITLE MATCH AT STAKE...
Abadon vs. Skye Blue vs. Willow Nightingale vs. Anna Jay
Out of action since June, this Friday night Abadon returns to AEW competition and jumps right into the fire! With a shot at Hikaru Shida's AEW Women's World Championship on the line this Saturday night, Abadon will compete against Skye Blue, Willow Nightingale, and Anna Jay in a Four Way bout!
Of these four women, only Skye Blue has never locked horns with Shida, only stood by her side as an ally, and of the three who have been in the ring with the 3-Time Women's World Champ, not one of them has scored a victory over her. Of the three loses on Abadon's record, two of them have been to Shida and one in a championship bout while Anna Jay has fallen three times to Shida, twice in title fights, and Willow has just one loss to Shida with no championship involved. Skye Blue is the only one with a clean slate opposite Shida, and that may play in her favor should she make it through this fray on Friday, but she's got to get to COLLISION first!
Hikaru Shida will be ready for the fight no matter which woman comes out of this contender's bout on top, but considering she just went through one championship fight already this week, one has to ask how her body's feeling following a fight with Ruby Soho? At least Shida will have a few days to recover while the winner of this has less than twenty-four hours to prepare for their championship opportunity!
ONE-ON-ONE...
Konosuke Takeshita vs. Kyle Fletcher
When Sammy Guevara went down with injury, Don Callis pulled Kyle Fletcher into his world of drama to be Konosuke Takeshita's partner against Kenny Omega and Chris Jericho. Though Callis' duo lost, Fletcher was every bit the impressive athlete in this match that he'd shown to be as a team with Mark Davis. Still, the fact they lost didn't stop Callis from putting all the blame on Kyle's shoulders, and thus when Fletcher went head-to-head with Kenny Omega and lost, with Callis sitting there on commentary, it only gave Don more fuel with which to denigrate one-half of Aussie Open.
Well this Friday night on RAMPAGE, Kyle Fletcher will have his opportunity to shove it all right back in Don Callis' smug face when he takes on “The Alpha” Konosuke Takeshita in singles competition! It's the second time in their careers these two men have faced off, the first taking place in England back in January 2020 and won by Takeshita. Will the results be the same nearly four years later, or will Kyle Fletcher be able to reckon with the numbers of the Don Callis Family and take home the victory?
RAMPAGE begins at 10pm ET/9pm CT on TNT, as well as at AEWPlus.com for our international audiences, so swing by the official AEW YouTube channel before to the show for highlights from Wednesday's DYNAMITE, as well as previous episodes of RAMPAGE and COLLISION, plus THE CONTROL CENTER, and much, much more! And do not miss the biggest night in COLLISION history this Saturday when MJF and Kenny Omega meet for the very first time and with the AEW World Championship at stake no less!