Okada meets Ibushi on Dynamite 300 on TSN2
Old foes Kazuchika Okada and Kota Ibushi meet in a singles match for the first time in nearly five years. Plus, Mercedes Mone defends the TBS Championship against Mina Shirakawa. You can catch the 300th edition of AEW Dynamite LIVE on Wednesday night at 8 p.m. ET/ 5 p.m. PT on TSN2, the TSN App, and TSN.ca.
AEW Continental Champion "The Rainmaker" Kazuchika Okada (w/ Don Callis and "The Murderhawk Monster" Lance Archer) vs. Kota Ibushi
For the first time in nearly five years, old rivals Kazuchika Okada and Kota Ibushi will meet in the squared circle and for the first time in an AEW ring. Both have changed a great deal since last facing off. Since adopting his "Rainmaker" persona back in 2012, Okada has never been short of confidence, but in 2025, that confidence has been replaced by sheer arrogance and contempt. Now backed by Don Callis, Okada prepares to take on eternal foe AEW International Champion Kenny Omega in a title unification match at next Saturday's All In with the match against Ibushi, Omega's close friend and longtime tag-team partner, serving as a final tune-up. For Ibushi, the match will be about more than simply defending Omega's honour - it's about proving he can still hang with the best. Numerous and series injuries have been a hallmark of Ibushi's career, especially in recent years, and the former IWGP World Heavyweight Champion is finally healthy for the first time in nearly two years. He made his return to AEW on last week's Dynamite, putting Trent Beretta away with a Kamigoye. Testing himself against Okada is jumping right into the deep end. With a rivalry going back all the way to 2009, Wednesday night's match will be the 62nd in which they've shared a ring, but only their eighth singles match. Okada has come out victorious in the majority of their meetings, posting a record of 5-2, but more importantly, Okada has won their most high-profile matches. While Ibushi did pick up wins over Okada in both the 2019 and 2020 G1s, Okada defeated Ibushi in the main event of Wrestle Kingdom 14 to retain the IWGP Championship and again in their most recent match, the 2021 G1 Final. The fact that Okada seems to get the better of Ibushi when the chips are down aren't lost on the Continental champ. Another win on Wednesday ahead of the Omega match would be reveled in by Okada and Callis alike. Can Ibushi make a giant statement on Wednesday night or will Okada use the match to send a message to Omega?
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TBS Championship match: CMLL World Women's Champion and Undisputed British Women's Champion "The CEO" Mercedes Mone (c) vs. Mina Shirakawa
Mercedes Mone doesn't like Mina Shirakawa and that enmity predates her current feud with Shirakawa's associate, AEW Women's World Champion "Timeless" Toni Storm. While Wednesday night's TBS Championship match comes with Mone's bout against Storm at All In - perhaps the biggest women's match in AEW history - under two weeks away, Mone will be thinking back to the New Japan Pro-Wrestling Resurgence show in Ontario, CA on May 9. On that night, Mone defended her NJPW STRONG Women's Championship in a three-way match against Shirakawa and AZM. Late in the match with the action fast and furious, Mone laid out both of her competitors with Meteoras, but couldn't find a pinfall. AZM then began handing out Canadian Destroyers in a frantic attempt to pick up the win. Finally, Shirakawa booted Mone off of the apron before falling prey to an Azumi Sushi rollup as AZM captured the title. Losing her championship without being pinned or submitted enraged Mone and it's something she hasn't gotten over nearly two months later. The fact that beating Shirakawa on Wednesday night would send quite the message to Storm is gravy on top of her desire for revenge. The match will be the third meeting between the two women. Their first match was a title-versus-title match back at January's Wrestle Dynasty Tokyo where Mone put her STRONG title up against Shirakawa's Undisputed British Women's Championship. In a hard-fought encounter, Mone claimed both belts by putting Shirakawa away with the Mone Maker. It will be interesting to see what both women have taken from that match. Mone knows she can beat Shirakawa, but Shirakawa is aware of the potential pitfalls to avoid this time out. And with the Storm match on the horizon, it's easy to think that the match is more important for the champion, yet Shirakawa is still seeking a signature singles win in AEW. Taking a belt off of Mone would certainly be that and more. Can Mone make it two wins over Shirakawa or will Shirakawa get some gold back around her waist? The match will be Mone's 1,000th of her illustrious career.
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Maxwell Jacob Friedman (w/ Montel Vontavious Porter) vs. "Big, Bad" Brody King vs. "The Pride of Pro Wrestling" Anthony Bowens (w/ "Daddy Ass" Billy Gunn) vs. AR Fox
On last week's Dynamite, Mark Briscoe picked up a win in a four-way match that also included ROH World Champion Bandido, Konosuke Takeshita and Roderick Strong when he pinned Strong after a Froggy Bow. The victory means that the former ROH World Champion will be the No. 1 entrant in the Casino Gauntlet match at All In where the winner will receive an AEW World Championship match. As a refresher, the reason why the No. 1 spot in the match is so important is because there's no guaranteed participation in it. Theoretically, the match could end with the first two competitors before anybody else is added to the match. This week on Dynamite, Briscoe will discover who he starts out the match up against when four more men compete in another four-way with the No. 2 spot on the line. The quartet of competitors is an interesting one in Maxwell Jacob Friedman, Brody King, Anthony Bowens and AR Fox. Former AEW World Champion MJF is in the midst of doing what he does best in pissing people off. Before last Wednesday night's match, Friedman and Briscoe exchanged barbs and it's clear that both men would be very happy to get their hands on one another at All In. But then this past Thursday night, MJF made it clear that he isn't finished with Mistico, the man whose mask he stole at Grand Slam Mexico two weeks ago. At Major League Wrestling's Summer of the Beasts show in Queens, Mistico was interrupted by the Contra Unit (Ikuro Kwon, Mads Krule Krugger and the Sentai Death Squad). While Mistico managed to beat the numbers game, another masked man, this time in a Mistico mask, approached him from behind and hit him with a low blow. He unmasked to reveal himself as none other than MJF. It was a shocking return to the promotion for Friedman who left MLW back in 2020. What MJF has planned for Mistico remains to be seen, but he immediately needs to turn his focus to Dynamite. Friedman says he's intent on recapturing the AEW World Championship and winning that gauntlet would provide a terrific opportunity to do so. The bruising King is still looking for his first singles title in AEW and the former AEW World Trios Champion would automatically become a favourite in the gauntlet should he qualify for it. Bowens is in a similar position. A former AEW World Trios Champion and a former AEW World Tag Team Champion, Bowens is still looking to break out in the singles division. A win on Wednesday night would be a major signal of intent. And what about Fox? Fox has a reputation that he undoubtedly like to ditch. He's a crowd-pleasing wrestler capable of giving every single opponent he's in with absolute hell, but he can never win when the chips are down. A win on Dynamite would change that instantly. With an important prize on the line, which of these four men will move on to All In?