Mox defends against Cope in a street fight on Dynamite on TSN2
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Jon Moxley defends the AEW World Championship against Adam Copeland in an anything-goes street fight. Plus, "Speedball" Mike Bailey meets Orange Cassidy, Ricochet and Mark Davis in a four-way match to determine Kenny Omega's opponent at Dynasty. You can catch AEW Dynamite LIVE on Wednesday night at 8 p.m. ET/ 5 p.m. PT on TSN2, the TSN App, and TSN.ca.
AEW World Championship street fight: Jon Moxley (c) (w/ "The Problem" Marina Shafir) vs. "The Rated R Superstar" Adam Copeland
Jon Moxley won the AEW World Championship for the fourth time over former stablemate "The American Dragon" Bryan Danielson at October's WrestleDream pay-per-view. Since then, he's successfully defended it three times, but on Wednesday night, he faces his stiffest test to date in the form of Adam Copeland. This will mark the second time that Mox has defended his title against Cope, but he escaped that match without pinning or submitting the 11-time world champion. How? Well, "The Patriarch" Christian Cage decided to cash in his Casino Gauntlet title match contract he won last summer at All In at March 3's Revolution, turning the match into a three-way. The match ended with Cage passing out in the Bulldog Choke and Moxley retaining his title. The match saw a litany of outside interference with the likes of Wheeler YUTA and "Switchblade" Jay White making their presence felt. To remedy this, Wednesday's match will be a street fight where anything goes. Outside interference is welcome. Will this leave Cope at a disadvantage since Mox will have his Death Riders army of YUTA, Claudio Castagnoli and "The Bastard" PAC at his disposal? Cope will have a few tricks up his sleeve and is no stranger to plunder matches. A veteran of the legendary TLC series of matches and an absolutely brutal match at WrestleMania 22 against Mick Foley, Copeland will be unbothered by the prospects of an anything-goes match. He is more than capable of turning the tables on Moxley. And what about Cage? As far he's concerned, he's still very much in the title picture. On last week's Dynamite, he demanded the return of his contract and blamed the referee at Revolution for making it a three-way match. But more interesting was Nick Wayne angrily telling Cage that everything would have been fine had they just stuck to the plan. What exactly was the plan and is it still in place? And will Cage rear his head on Wednesday night? Both Mox and Cope must also remember that former champion Swerve Strickland is waiting in the wings for his title shot at Dynasty. Can Mox keep his grip on the AEW World Championship or will Copeland become a 12-time world champion?
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AEW International Championship Eliminator Tournament four-way final: "Freshly Squeezed" Orange Cassidy vs. Mark Davis (w/ Don Callis, "The Murderhawk Monster" Lance Archer and "The Machine" Brian Cage) vs. Ricochet vs. "Speedball" Mike Bailey
New AEW International Champion "The Cleaner" Kenny Omega needs an opponent at Dynasty and he'll get one on Wednesday night. Dynamite sees the four-way final of the International Championship Eliminator Tournament with former champion Orange Cassidy taking on Mark Davis, Ricochet and Mike Bailey. Cassidy qualified for the match with a victory over Hechicero on last week's Dynamite. On Collision, Ricochet and Davis both qualified with wins over Katsuyori Shibata and Mark Briscoe, respectively. The fourth man in the match is none other than Laval, Que.'s Bailey, who made his AEW debut last Wednesday night with a victory over the Beast Mortos. If you are unfamiliar with Bailey's work, the former TNA X-Division Champion is one of the most gifted in-ring performers of his generation. Bailey has extensive experience all over the world, including multiple title reigns in Japan's DDT Pro-Wrestling. Bailey has done battle with the likes of Bobby Lashley, Konosuke Takeshita, Gunther and Bronson Reed among others. He immediately becomes a threat to every champion in AEW with Omega, perhaps, the first on the list. All four men in this match have something to prove. Bailey can put the rest of AEW on notice to his arrival with a victory to set up a date with Omega. Speedball and Omega have met once before, in Pro Wrestling Guerrilla in 2015, with the latter emerging victorious. You can certainly consider Davis's victory over Briscoe to be an upset, but Davis wants to show he's more than simply a tag-team wrestler. Watching Aussie Open partner Kyle Fletcher emerge as a singles title contender had to light a fire under the former IWGP World Tag Team Champion. No matter what's going on with Davis and his relationship with the Don Callis Family, he's a competitor first and foremost and a real threat to move on to Dynasty. As for Ricochet, he's still smarting from his defeat at the hands of archrival Swerve Strickland at Revolution. While there's no shame in losing to a former world champion, Ricochet certainly doesn't feel that way. He'd love nothing more than to salve his bruised ego with a championship. Omega and Ricochet have only met once before in singles action, in the semi-finals of PWG's 2014 Battle of Los Angeles, with Ricochet advancing to the final where he defeated Johnny Gargano and Roderick Strong in a three-way match. Cassidy is one of only two men to have held the International Championship on more than one occasion, alongside Will Ospreay. He would undoubtedly love to hold that record on his own with a third reign. Cassidy would also love another chance to unseat Omega as a champion. The two have only wrestled once before with Omega retaining the AEW World Championship over Cassidy in a three-way match that also included PAC at Double or Nothing 2021.With all four men presenting an intriguing challenge to Omega, which of this quartet can earn a title shot?
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TBS Championship match: NJPW Strong Women's Champion and Undisputed British Women's Champion "The CEO" Mercedes Mone (c) vs. Billie Starkz
At Revolution, Mercedes Mone retained her TBS Championship, defeating Momo Watanabe for a second time. She didn't come out of the match unscathed, though. Thanks to a vicious kick from the Wonder of Stardom Champion, Mone had a bruised larynx following the bout. But it was a 15th successful title defence for Mone since defeating Willow Nightingale for the title at Double or Nothing last May. While she's never shied away from a challenge, it's clear that Billie Starkz managed to get under Mone's skin and that's what prompted her to offer a title match to the 20-year-old inaugural ROH Women's TV Champion. Mocking Mone's bruised throat on last week's Dynamite, an annoyed Mone agreed to a title match after a series of backstage run-ins over the past few weeks. What appears to be unclear, though, is if Mone is aware of Starkz's pedigree. Even at her young age, Starkz is in her eighth year of active competition. She's already shared a ring with the likes of Toni Storm, Masha Slamovich, Alex Shelley and Megan Bayne. Starkz's rivalry/mentorship with ROH Women's World Champion Athena has produced a number of must-see matches. Last spring, she won an eight-woman tournament to become the first-ever ROH Women's TV Champion and held onto the title for four months before dropping it to Red Velvet. Starkz will be completely undeterred by who Mone is and what she's accomplished and that's something Mone will learn in a hurry. But Starkz's work is cut out for her. Since her arrival in AEW last May, Mone has yet to taste defeat. The likes of Britt Baker, Nyla Rose, Stephanie Vaquer and Mina Shirakawa have all fallen to Mone and the six-time WWE Women's Champion has shown no signs of slowing down. Still, Mone will overlook Starkz at her own peril. Will the Mone Train keep rolling or can Starkz pick up the biggest victory of her career?
"Megasus" Megan Bayne vs. Kris Statlander
Is anybody safe from Megan Bayne right now? On last week's Dynamite, AEW Women's World Champion "Timeless" Toni Storm tried to celebrate her victory at Revolution over hated rival Mariah May and throw down the gauntlet to the rest of the AEW women's division. Before she could return to the back, though, she was laid out from behind by Bayne. Bayne picked up Storm and planted her on the ramp with a Bow Down. We hadn't seen the last of Bayne for the night, though. After Willow Nightingale picked up a victory over Penelope Ford, Ford attempted to get a measure of revenge and attacked the former TBS Champion with a chair. Preventing her from continuing her attack, though, was Kris Statlander, who ran her off. In recent weeks, Statlander has attempted to make amends with her former close friend Nightingale, who was surprised to see her in the ring with her. Their momentary confusion was just the opening Bayne needed to attack both of them from behind with a vicious double clothesline. She followed that up with a Bow Down on Statlander. This past Saturday night on Collision, her rampage continued when she defeated former AEW Women's World Champion Thunder Rosa with a Bow Down. That wasn't enough, though, as she then picked up Rosa and put her in an Argentine backbreaker. Storm had seen enough and attempted to intervene, but Bayne again laid waste to her with a Bow Down. It was only when Statlander arrived that Bayne could be persuaded to leave. On Wednesday, Statlander gets the chance to go one on one with Bayne for a second time. Bayne has had Statlander's number, thus far, in AEW. She defeated the former TBS Champion in singles action on the Feb. 19 Dynamite before she and Ford beat Statlander and Rosa in a tag match on the Mar. 5 edition of the show. If there is one thing Statlander can take solace in, it's that she is one of the few women in AEW who can come close to matching the power of Bayne. Fueled by the desire for revenge, can Statlander finally defeat Bayne or will the monstrous Megasus claim another victim as she marches towards gold?