Storm, Okada title defences headline Dynamite on TSN2
Published
For the first time, AEW Dynamite originates outside of North America from Cardiff as Toni Storm defends the AEW Women's World Championship against Saraya and Claudio Castagnoli challenges Kazuchika Okada for the AEW Continental Championship. ou can catch AEW Dynamite from Wales at 8pm et/5pm pt on TSN2, streaming on the TSN App and on TSN.ca.
AEW Women's World Championship match: "Timeless" Toni Storm (c) (w/ Luther) vs. Saraya (w/ Harley Cameron) - At All In last August at Wembley Stadium, Saraya pinned Toni Storm in a four corners match that also included champion Hikaru Shida and Dr. Britt Baker, DMD, to become the AEW Women's World Champion. Flash forward one year and not only is Saraya not the champion any longer, but she's not scheduled to be on the card at all at this Sunday's All In back at Wembley. It's something that isn't lost on the London-born competitor who celebrated her birthday earlier in August. In recent weeks, Saraya has lamented her standing in the women's division, but it appears her complaints haven't fallen on deaf ears. On last week's Rampage, current champion Storm let Saraya know she's heard her loud and clear. Storm and Saraya, of course, have a long history as both allies and rivals. In 2023, Saraya and Storm formed the Outcasts tag team and ran roughshod over the women's division for months. Their alliance fell apart when Storm adopted her "Timeless" persona. Last Friday, Storm offered Saraya a shot at her title in Cardiff on Wednesday night. What makes the challenge even bolder is that Storm is currently set to face her former protege, "The Glamour" Mariah May, at All In on Sunday in what should be a heated grudge match. Should Saraya defeat Storm on Dynamite, though, that match and the opportunity for revenge on May goes out the window for Storm. Saraya and Storm have met only once before in singles action. On the Grand Slam edition of Dynamite last September at Arthur Ashe Stadium in Queens, Saraya successfully defended the women's title against Storm. With the situations reversed on Wednesday night, how will this play out? Will Storm continue on the path towards May and vengeance or will Saraya become just the third competitor to hold the AEW Women's World Championship more than once?
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AEW Continental Championship match: "The Rainmaker" Kazuchika Okada (c) vs. Claudio Castagnoli - On last week's Dynamite, Claudio Castagnoli told Renee Paquette just how much losing last year's Continental Classic bothered him. The former ROH World Champion competed in the Blue League and finished in fourth place among the six competitors with a record of 2-2-1. Castagnoli defeated Daniel Garcia and Andrade El Idolo, went to a time-limit draw with Blackpool Combat Club stablemate Bryan Danielson and lost to Brody King and the eventual tournament winner and Castagnoli's archrival, Eddie Kingston. Castagnoli believes that his showing isn't indicative of his quality as a wrestler and he plans to prove that on Wednesday night when he takes on the AEW Continental Champion Kazuchika Okada for his title. Hearing Castagnoli's challenge, Okada was dismissive of not only it, but of the Continental Classic in general. Okada noted that 12 men competed in that tournament, but only he is the champion. Okada won the title on the March 20 edition of Dynamite from Toronto, defeating Kingston for it. Since then, Okada has successfully defended it on only two occasions with wins over PAC and Dax Harwood. That last defence came back in May. Since arriving in AEW in March, Okada has yet to be pinned or submitted. He reminded Castagnoli that he's a four-time winner of the G1 Climax and a seven-time IWGP World Heavyweight Champion. As Okada continued to blow off Castagnoli, "The Swiss Cyborg" made a request of him: he wanted to face the New Japan Pro-Wrestling legend and not The Elite's lackey that Okada has become in AEW. Castagnoli should be careful for what he wishes for because even as good as he is, there could be a Rainmaker in his future. Will Okada make it 3-0 in title matches or will Castagnoli bring another championship back home to the BCC?
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Hook (w/ "The Wrestler" Katsuyori Shibata) vs. "The Redwood" Big Bill (w/ FTW Champion "The Learning Tree" Chris Jericho and "The Bad Apple" Bryan Keith) - The feud between Hook and Chris Jericho has been simmering for months. It all began when Hook (rightly) surmised that Jericho's interest in furthering his career had more to do with preserving his own than actually helping him succeed. Since then, Jericho has dubbed himself "The Learning Tree," a veteran wrestler looking out for the best interests of the younger generation, bringing both Big Bill and Bryan Keith under his wing. He also defeated Hook for the FTW Championship at April's Dynasty pay-per-view. The "F--- the World" title was introduced by Hook's father, Extreme Championship Wrestling icon Taz, back in 1998, but since winning it, Jericho has rechristened as the "For the World" Championship. Not only has Jericho and his crew taken away Hook's title, but he's injured his friends, putting both Samoa Joe and Katsuyori Shibata out of action with brutal beatings. Hook himself incurred an injury when he took one of Jericho's patented fireballs to the face, forcing him to don an eyepatch in recent days. Hook will get his opportunity to earn his title back with a match against Jericho at All In, but before that goes down, he must answer the challenge of the monstrous Big Bill on Dynamite. A former AEW World Tag Team Champion, Bill will possess a major size advantage over Hook like he does in most of his matches. This size difference begs the question as to whether or not Hook will be able to utilize his suplex-based offence or be able to lock in the Redrum on somebody the stature of Bill. Can Hook send a message to Jericho or will the giant Redwood be too much to overcome?
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PLUS:
- Ahead of the main event of All In, AEW World Champion Swerve Strickland and his challenger, "The American Dragon" Bryan Danielson, will have a "Final Showdown."
- AEW American Champion Maxwell Jacob Friedman and his opponent at All In, "The Aerial Assassin" Will Ospreay, meet face to face