Swerve, Ospreay team up on Dynamite on TSN2
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Before they face off for the AEW World Championship at Forbidden Door, Swerve Strickland Will Ospreay team up to take on the Gates of Agony. Plus, the Blackpool Combat Club meets Los Ingobernables de Japon in trios action. You can catch AEW Dynamite LIVE at 8pm et/5pm pt on TSN2, streaming on the TSN App and on TSN.ca.
AEW World Champion Swerve Strickland and AEW International Champion "The Aerial Assassin" Will Ospreay (w/ Prince Nana) vs. The Gates of Agony (Toa Liona and Bishop Kaun) (w/ "The Machine" Brian Cage and "The Alchemist" Hechicero) - Before they can battle it out for the AEW World Championship in the main event of Forbidden Door, AEW World Champion Swerve Strickland and AEW International Champion Will Ospreay must put their differences aside to take on the Gates of Agony on Dynamite. While it's obvious that there's a great deal of respect between the two men, it appears to be wearing thin. Last Wednesday night, the two men engaged in a very heated back and forth that threatened to go off the rails when Strickland brought up Ospreay's wife and son a second time after he had been told not to with Prince Nana barely keeping the peace. A master of mind games, Strickland has never been afraid to push the envelope before and he's clearly inside Ospreay's head. The question is, can they put everything between them aside for one night to take on a very capable pair of foes in Toa Liona and Bishop Kaun? Let's not forget how personal this match is for Strickland, as well. Liona and Kaun were former stablemates of Strickland's as the Mogul Embassy alongside Brian Cage before turning on Swerve last month. Revenge would be sweet for the champion on Wednesday night. There's also the question of Cage himself. Ospreay prevailed over Cage in a hard-fought AEW International Championship match this past Saturday night on Collision. Will he make his presence known with his stablemates taking on a pair of men he has no love lost for? Will Swerve and Ospreay manage to coexist or will the Gates of Agony take advantage of discord between them?
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Blackpool Combat Club (IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli and ROH Pure Champion Wheeler YUTA) vs. Los Ingobernables de Japon (Shingo Takagi, Hiromu Takahashi and Titan) - The Blackpool Combat Club and Los Ingobernables de Japon are set to mix it up in a big way at Forbidden Door. Jon Moxley is set to put the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship on the line against the faction's leader, and the man he won the title from, Tetsuya Naito, while it's a battle of the Dragons as Shingo Takagi meets "The American Dragon" Bryan Danielson in a first-round matchup of the Owen Hart Foundation Cup. We will get a taste of the two sides coming together on Wednesday night with trios action as Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli and Wheeler YUTA take on the trio of Takagi, Hiromu Takahashi and Titan. The match marks a Dynamite debut for the latter trio. Takahashi, a five-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion, last appeared in an AEW ring at Forbidden Door 2023 when he, Takagi and BUSHI defeated Jeff Cobb, Kyle Fletcher and TJP. Takagi was in action this past Friday night on Rampage when he picked up a win over AR Fox. It will be Titan's first appearance in AEW since he lost a match on Collision to Chris Jericho in March. Danielson will obviously be a very interested party as to what happens in Wednesday night's match and will be sitting in on commentary for it. Moxley is undoubtedly planning to use the match to send a message to Naito, while Castagnoli is hoping to bounce back from a hugely disappointing loss in the Owen to "The Bastard" PAC last week. For YUTA, the match is just his fourth since returning after a five-month absence with injury. With a lot of moving parts, which of these two teams will come out on top?
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AEW Women's World Champion "Timeless" Toni Storm, "The Glamour" Mariah May and Artist of Stardom Champion Mina Shirakawa (w/ Luther) vs. The Outcasts (Saraya, Harley Cameron and Anna Jay) (w/ Zak Knight) - Contract signings in professional wrestling never seem to actually work out, do they? On last week's Dynamite, AEW Women's World Champion Toni Storm and her challenger, Mina Shirakawa, officially signed their contracts for their title match at Forbidden Door and engaged in a spirited back and forth. As the women were preparing to exit the ring, Shirakawa let Mariah May know it was time for her to choose between Storm and Shirakawa. Before an obviously conflicted May could give an answer, Saraya and Harley Cameron made their way down to ringside. It was only a distraction as Anna Jay jumped the three women from behind. As Storm helped May avoid a double team, she set up the table in the corner and prepared to give former ally Saraya the hip attack. But Saraya managed to get out of the way and Storm crashed and burned in a heap with the Outcasts pleased with the havoc they managed to wreak. On Dynamite, Storm and Shirakawa will be forced to put their differences aside as the seek vengeance in trios action. Like with Swerve Strickland and Will Ospreay, it remains to be seen if that's even possible. While the two women undoubtedly want to dole out payback for last week, their mutual distrust is very obvious. May will have much massaging to do to get her two friends on the same page and that could be easier said than done. Can Storm and Shirakawa operate as a team or will the Outcasts get the last laugh for a second straight week?
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Owen Hart Foundation Cup quarter-finals match: Rey Fenix (w/ Penta El Zero Miedo and Alex Abrahantes) vs. AEW World Unified Trios Champion "Switchblade" Jay White (w/ "Rock Hard' Juice Robinson, Colten Gunn and Austin Gunn) - On last week's Dynamite, we saw "The Bastard" PAC become the first man to book his place in the Owen Hart Foundation Cup semi-finals. After trading a series of cradles with Claudio Castagnoli, PAC managed to earn a three count and move on. Another man will join him in the final four on Wednesday night when Jay White takes on Rey Fenix. The duo are far from strangers from one another. At last month's Double or Nothing pay-per-view, the Bullet Club Gold team of White, Austin Gunn and Colten Gunn successfully defended their AEW World Unified Trios Championships over Death Triangle (Fenix, PAC and Penta El Zero Miedo) thanks to interference from the returning Juice Robinson. Wednesday night's match will be the first-ever one-on-one meeting between Fenix and King Switch and not only will it be an opportunity for each man to get a step closer to an AEW World Championship match at All In at Wembley Stadium, it's a chance for Fenix to get a receipt for the loss at the PPV. A reign with the world title would make Fenix the first wrestler in AEW history to hold four different championships, having previously held all of the AEW International Championship, the AEW World Trios Championships and AEW World Tag Team Championships. Will White keep Fenix away from history and advance in the tournament?
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Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Kyle O'Reilly - It should be a technical clinic on Wednesday night when two of the best wrestlers in the world meet one on one as Zack Sabre Jr. takes on Kyle O'Reilly. The match comes only days before Sabre is set to take on "Freshly Squeezed" Orange Cassidy at Forbidden Door. On last Wednesday night's Dynamite, the team of O'Reilly, Cassidy, ROH World Champion Mark Briscoe and Dante Martin defeated ZSJ, Roderick Strong and the Don Callis Family's ROH World TV Champion Kyle Fletcher and Konosuke Takeshita when O'Reilly pushed Cassidy out of the way of an attack from Strong that allowed him to hit an Orange Punch for the win. Sabre and O'Reilly are well acquainted, having met on several occasions before in the past in a number of different promotions. But the match will mark their first singles match since 2017 and much has changed since then. Over their histories, ZSJ holds a 7-3 edge, including a 2-0 mark in singles matches, both of which occurred in Pro Wrestling Guerrilla. Sabre will obviously have his mind on Cassidy. A student of wrestling and, perhaps, the best technical wrestler on the planet, ZSJ is infuriated by Cassidy's lackadaisical attitude and believes that he makes a mockery of the business. Keeping his focus on Sunday and not on O'Reilly will be a recipe for disaster for ZSJ as an opponent of O'Reilly's calibre requires full attention. Which of these two technicians will pull out a victory?
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PLUS:
- With Dynamite in Buffalo, hometown boy "Red Death" Daniel Garcia will be in action
- Ahead of his match with Hechicero at Forbidden Door, Maxwell Jacob Friedman makes an appearance
- After confronting her Forbidden Door opponent, NJPW Strong Women's Champion, CMLL Women's World Champion, CMLL Women's World Tag Team Champion Stephanie Vaquer, at Arena Mexico last week, we will hear from the TBS Champion "The CEO" Mercedes Mone