Omega, Storm, Fletcher in action on Dynamite on TSN2
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Kenny Omega takes on Blake Christian. Plus, Kyle Fletcher meets Brody King and we'll hear from Swerve Strickland. 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 International Champion "The Cleaner" Kenny Omega vs. Blake Christian (w/ Lee Johnson)
For just the second time since 2023, Kenny Omega is in singles action on Dynamite. The Winnipeg native returns to the ring for the first time since defeating Konosuke Takeshita for the AEW International Championship at Revolution when he takes on Blake Christian. Fans of ROH, New Japan Pro-Wrestling and GCW will be very familiar with Christian, but his exposure to AEW audiences has been limited. A former GCW World Champion, the high-flying Christian was a participant in last spring's Best of the Super Juniors in NJPW where he picked up victories over the likes of Yoshinobu Kanemaru, BUSHI and Clark Connors. A pro since 2017, Christian also spent time in NXT in 2021. Over his career, Christian has faced off with a litany of top talent including former world champions Zack Sabre Jr., Tetsuya Naito and Eddie Kingston. A match with Omega in front of a national TV audience could be just what the 27-year-old Christian needs to break through to that next level. While the International Championship isn't on the line, a win over AEW's first-ever Grand Slam Champion would certainly put a future title shot on the table. Christian is the type of opponent Omega can't afford to overlook, even with a major title defence on the horizon. Omega will defend the International Championship in a three-way match at next weekend's Dynasty pay-per-view against Ricochet and "Speedball" Mike Bailey. While not a one-for-one stand-in for either of Ricochet or Bailey, Christian does possess a similar move set that could inform Omega as how to handle his two challengers. Omega must also watch out for how Christian has been closing out his matches of late with Vanilla Choke Zero, a bridging reverse crossface submission that has shades of Bryan Danielson's Cattle Mutilation. Will Omega use Wednesday's match to send a message to Bailey and Ricochet or can Christian give the champion all he can handle?
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AEW Women's World Champion "Timeless" Toni Storm (w/ Luther) and Thunder Rosa vs. "Megasus" Megan Bayne and "The Superbad Girl" Penelope Ford
Who can stop Megan Bayne right now? That's the question both AEW Women's World Champion Toni Storm and Thunder Rosa have been asking in recent weeks. Since her return to AEW in January, the 26-year-old Bayne has been a wrecking ball. She's laid waste to everybody put in front of her, punctuating her assaults with her version of the F5, the Fate's Descent. Two weeks ago on Dynamite, Bayne made it clear that Storm was next on her list, attacking the world champion from behind and putting her down with a Bow Down. In the main event of last week's Dynamite, Bayne picked up her second singles win over former TBS Champion Kris Statlander. After the match, she hit a second Fate's Descent, prompting Storm, who was on commentary for the match, to tape up her right hand, enter the ring and sock Bayne over the top rope. Somehow, Bayne still managed to land on her feet. Storm then grabbed the mic and let Bayne know that she was ready for her at Dynasty. But before the champion puts her belt on the line, Storm teams with former AEW Women's World Champion Thunder Rosa to take on the team of Bayne and Penelope Ford, who's established an alliance with the former Stardom performer. The match will mark the third time Bayne has shared the ring with "La Mera Mera" in recent weeks, having already defeated her in a singles match on the Mar. 15 edition of Collision and in tag action on the Mar. 5 Dynamite when she and Ford beat Thunder Rosa and Statlander. So far nobody has an answer for Bayne and Storm will need to come up with one quickly with only 10 days until their title match. Can the champion and Thunder Rosa come up with a plan or will Bayne continue to overpower her foes?
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"The Protostar" Kyle Fletcher (w/ Don Callis) vs. "Big, Bad" Brody King (w/ Julia Hart)
Wednesday's Dynamite offers an intriguing match between two men with much to prove. The Don Callis Family's Kyle Fletcher takes on Brody King of the Hounds of Hell with both men coming off of disappointing losses at Revolution. Fletcher came out on the short end of a hellacious cage match against former friend Will Ospreay, while King failed to unseat Kazuchika Okada as the AEW Continental Champion. In many ways, there are parallels between Fletcher and King. Both men find themselves focusing on the singles division after years of tag-team action. As one half of Aussie Open alongside Don Callis Family stablemate Mark Davis, Fletcher captured both the IWGP World Tag Team Championships and the ROH World Tag Team Championships. King is a former AEW World Trios Champion (with Malakai Black and Buddy Matthews) as part of the House of Black and has also held the PWG World Tag Team Championships with Black as the Kings of the Black Throne, defeating Aussie Open for the titles, and the ROH World Tag Team Championships with PCO as Villain Enterprises. When it comes to establishing themselves as singles contenders, it's not unfair to say that Fletcher is, perhaps, a step ahead of King. Fletcher had a nearly 200-day reign as ROH World TV Champion from late 2023 to the middle of last year. Both men entered the 2024 Continental Classic with Fletcher topping the Blue League with a 4-1 mark, while King finished at 2-3. While there will be no title on the line on Dynamite, it's easy to see why both of these competitors will tackle this bout with vigour. With both men looking to make moves and set themselves up for title contention, which of Fletcher or King can pick up an important victory?
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Mark Davis (w/ Don Callis) vs. Powerhouse Hobbs
Several years ago, the great Big E was asked who his dream match was and, perhaps surprisingly, his answer was Bill Goldberg. Why? "You want your five-star matches?" the future WWE Champion said. "You want your 30-minute classics? Not me. Big meaty men slapping meat!" Big E will get that on Wednesday night when the Don Callis Family's Mark Davis goes one on one with a former member of the faction in Will Hobbs. Wednesday's match will be the first-ever singles meeting between the two men who have both faced off in tag matches and teamed together in the past. While he didn't win the match, Davis put in quite the performance in last week's International Championship Eliminator Final against Mike Bailey, Ricochet and Orange Cassidy. The most powerful of the four men in the match, Davis's finest moment came when he put Ricochet down with a one-armed power bomb before killing Bailey with a pop-up power bomb in quick succession. Things with be different for the former IWGP World Tag Team Champion on Dynamite because Hobbs presents a frightening level of power of his own right. The former TNT Champion is looking to once again book his place in the title picture. Hobbs's only singles losses since last November have come in title matches, to Konosuke Takeshita for the AEW International Championship and to Jon Moxley for the AEW World Championship. The challenge of Davis will undoubtedly test Hobbs's mettle, but it's one that a competitor like Hobbs will relish. Which of these two big meaty men will walk away with a W on Wednesday night?
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"The Alpha" Konosuke Takeshita (w/ Don Callis) vs. Mark Briscoe
Are we witnessing a change in Konosuke Takeshita? The Don Callis Family member's 148-day reign as AEW International Champion came to an end at Revolution when he fell to Kenny Omega. In the weeks since, Takeshita's cocky demeanour appears to be gone and replaced by a steely kind of anger. He returned to the ring two weeks ago on Dynamite when he answered Max Caster's open challenge and proceeded to decimate the former AEW World Tag Team Champion in 90 seconds. It could have been even shorter than that, but Takeshita chose to lift up Caster's shoulders on a two-count in order to lay him out with a Raging Fire. Takeshita then teamed with stablemates Brian Cage and Lance Archer to defeat Powerhouse Hobbs and the Conglomeration's Mark Briscoe and Rocky Romero on Saturday night's Collision when he put Romero away with the Raging Fire. Takeshita's apparent vibe shift has resulted in a more vicious, more no-nonsense version of a man already capable of holding any championship in the industry. On Wednesday night, his newfound attitude will come up against the always game Briscoe in singles action. Takeshita and the former ROH World Champion are no strangers to one another, having done battle on a number of occasions over the past couple of years, but have yet to meet in singles competition. Briscoe is coming off of back-to-back singles losses to Takeshita's Don Callis Family's stablemates in Kyle Fletcher and Mark Davis. The last thing he wants is to make it three straight and will put up the kind of fight only Mark Briscoe is capable of to ensure that doesn't happen. Only one of these former champions will have his hand raised on Wednesday night. Who will it be?
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MJF responds to MVP's offer
Two weeks ago on Dynamite, we learned that Maxwell Jacob Friedman and MVP were old friends. After MJF fell to "Hangman" Adam Page at Revolution, MVP told the former AEW World Champion that he was clinging to past glory and needed to do things differently in order to once again compete for gold. He handed Friedman his business card that MJF immediately rejected before reconsidering and putting it in his jacket pocket. On Wednesday night, MJF says he will have an answer for his old friend. Will MJF join the Hurt Syndicate?
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Rated FTR (Adam Copeland, Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler) sit down with Tony Schiavone
Just what the hell happened last Wednesday night after Jon Moxley retained the AEW World Championship over Adam Copeland in a street fight? As expected, the rest of the Death Riders (Wheeler YUTA, PAC, Claudio Castagnoli and Marina Shafir) made their presence known to aid the champion, but they were eventually run off by Cope's allies, FTR (Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler) and Willow Nightingale. It wasn't until the Patriarchy's Nick Wayne and Kip Sabian got involved that the numbers game became too much. Wayne hit Cope with a Wayne's World and while he initially kicked out of an immediate pin attempt, he quickly succumbed the Bulldog Choke. What happened in the aftermath was almost as newsworthy as the match itself. Lying on the mat, Cope extended his hand to be helped up by Harwood. Perhaps frustrated by Cope's loss, Harwood refused and headed to the back. Wheeler tried to stop him to find out what was up, but he got a shove from his tag partner for his trouble. On Dynamite, Tony Schiavone will sit down with the three men to find out just what is going on with them.
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Swerve Strickland calls out AEW World Champion Jon Moxley
Jon Moxley will have no time to celebrate his win over Adam Copeland. After former champion Swerve Strickland defeated Ricochet at Revolution to become the new No. 1 contender for the AEW World Championship, he quickly introduced himself to Moxley by blindsiding him with a super Swerve Stop. Last week during Mox's title match, Prince Nana could be seen watching on as an interested spectator. With only 10 days until Strickland attempts to regain his title, what will he have to say to Moxley?