Omega, Ospreay meet in trios action on TSN2
Published
The Elite (Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks) take on the United Empire (Will Ospreay and Aussie Open) in an AEW World Trios Championship Tournament semi-final match. Plus, Bryan Danielson meets Jake Hager and Toni Storm and Hikaru Shida team up to face Britt Baker and Jamie Hayter. You can catch AEW Dynamite LIVE at 8pm et/5pm pt on TSN2, streaming on the TSN.App and on TSN.ca.
AEW World Trios Championship Tournament semi-final match: The Elite ("The Cleaner" Kenny Omega, Nick Jackson and Matt Jackson) (w/ Don Callis, Brandon Cutler and Michael Nakazawa) vs. United Empire (IWGP United States Champion Will Ospreay, New Japan Strong Openweight Tag Team Champion Mark Davis and New Japan Strong Openweight Tag Team Champion Kyle Fletcher) - For the first time in nearly four years, Kenny Omega and Will Ospreay will share a ring on Wednesday night in Chicago. Simply put, the two men do not care for each other at all, despite charting a similar path. Before Omega took over leadership of Bullet Club and had a legendary feud with Kazuchika Okada that culminated in winning the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, Omega was a member of the NJPW junior heavyweight division. On two occasions, Omega held the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship, defeating Ryusuke Taguchi and KUSHIDA for the titles. Like Omega, Ospreay excelled in the junior heavyweight division and became a three-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion. After doing all he could in the division, he, too, moved up to heavyweight, memorably turning on Okada and defecting from CHAOS. In spring 2001, Ospreay defeated Omega's close friend and former partner Kota Ibushi for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship. It was a title he never lost, forced to vacate the belt less than a month later with a neck injury. Even with their shared journey, the two men have been sniping at one another on social media and taking shots at each other in interviews for years now. In a match for RevPro last month against Mad Kurt, Ospreay hit his opponent with Omega's signature One-Winged Angel finisher, went for a pin and purposely pulled Kurt's shoulder up to show that people can, in fact, kick out of the move. The tough talk and antics will finally become physical on Wednesday night when Omega, Nick Jackson and Matt Jackson look to advance to the AEW World Trios Championship Tournament final at the expense of Ospreay, Mark Davis and Kyle Fletcher. The Elite advanced to the semis with a victory over La Faccion Ingobernable, while the United Empire defeated Death Triangle last week to move on. The biggest question heading into Wednesday night once again surrounds Omega's health. In his return to action two weeks ago, Omega wore both a shoulder brace and compression shirt after being sidelined for the past nine months with various ailments. While Ospreay has worked a number of matches in short succession, including encounters with Okada and Ricky Knight Jr., the Brit is still the healthier of the two. Which trio will advance to the All Out final?
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"The American Dragon" Bryan Danielson (w/ William Regal) vs. Jake Hager (w/ Jericho Appreciation Society) - On last week's Dynamite, Chris Jericho and Bryan Danielson agreed to meet one on one at All Out. The match arose out of a battle for the future of Daniel Garcia. While Garcia is a member of the Jericho Appreciation Society, Danielson is his idol. After defeating Danielson last month, Garcia wasn't able to get the better of five-time world champion in a best-two-out-of-three-falls match on the August 17 edition of Dynamite. In the aftermath, Danielson offered a handshake, but before Garcia could accept, Danielson was jumped by Jericho. Angered because he ruined the moment, Garcia threw Jericho off of Danielson and stormed off. Last Wednesday night, Jericho demanded an apology from Garcia, but was rebuffed. Before they could settle their differences, Danielson reappeared and the challenge was made. But before he could leave the ring, he was blindsided by Jericho's enforcer, Jake Hager. Now for the first time in over eight years, Danielson meets Hager in a singles match. In their career, Danielson is 4-1 in singles matches against Hager. But Hager is unlikely to be too concerned about winning on Wednesday. His job is to soften Danielson up for Jericho on Sunday and it's a job he will relish. For Danielson, the name of the game will be avoiding any deleterious effects ahead of the weekend. A win would be nice, but survival is paramount. Will Danielson make it to All Out or can Hager prevent that from happening?
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Dr. Britt Baker, DMD and Jamie Hayter (w/ Rebel) vs. Toni Storm and Hikaru Shida - Before All Out when this quartet meets in a four-way match for the AEW Interim Women's World Championship, Britt Baker teams with Jamie Hayter to face Hikaru Shida and Toni Storm in tag-team action. The match on Sunday has come about because Thunder Rosa was forced to vacate her AEW Women's World Championship due to injury. While Baker and Hayter have been aligned for over a year, this will be the first time that Storm and Shida have tagged. But like with Danielson and Hager, winning and losing might not be of the highest importance among these four women. The match offers one last opportunity for each of the women to send a message to her opponents. Both Shida and Baker have been champion before, but neither Storm nor Hayter has tasted gold yet in AEW. The dynamics on Wednesday will be unconventional to say the least, but it will pale in comparison to what goes down on Sunday when Baker and Hayter will likely be forced to come to blows. Which team will have one last laugh before the pay-per-view?
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PLUS:
- We will hear from AEW World Champion Jon Moxley about his plans for All Out