Copeland makes in-ring debut on Title Tuesday on TSN2
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"The Rated R Superstar" Adam Copeland makes his AEW in-ring debut as he takes on Luchasaurus. Plus, Saraya defends the AEW Women's World Championship against Hikaru Shida and Bryan Danielson meets Swerve Strickland for a shot at the TBS Championship. You can catch AEW Dynamite: Title Tuesday LIVE at 8pm et/5pm pt on TSN2, streaming on the TSN App and on TSN.ca.
"The Rated R Superstar" Adam Copeland vs. Luchasaurus (w/ TNT Champion Christian Cage and Nick Wayne) - Adam Copeland didn't hear what he was expecting from best friend Christian Cage last Wednesday night on Dynamite. Explaining his arrival in AEW, the 11-time world champion explained that his daughters had encouraged him to "Go have fun with Uncle Jay" and that's exactly what he planned to do. His entreaty to the man with whom he won seven WWE World Tag Team Championships to run it back was soundly rejected by the current TNT Champion with a simple "Go f--- yourself." This past Saturday night on Collision, Copeland sought clarity and instead received a beating at the hands of Cage's associates in Luchasaurus and Nick Wayne. Now on Dynamite, Copeland steps into an AEW ring for the first time when he takes on the hulking Luchasaurus, who laid Copeland out with the Extinction rabbit lariat on Saturday night. The match will mark Copeland's first in nearly two months since his emotional WWE farewell match in Toronto this past August. While ring rust shouldn't be an issue for the experienced veteran, emotions could run high and get the best of him. Not only is there the pressure of performing in his AEW debut, there's what's happening with Cage, which will undoubtedly be at the forefront of his mind. Can Copeland make his AEW debut a successful one or will Luchasaurus spoil the party?
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AEW Women's World Championship match: Saraya (c) vs. Hikaru Shida - Hikaru Shida is looking to become the first-ever three-time AEW Women's World Champion, but to do so, she will have to get by current champion Saraya. Making things a little less daunting for Shida is the fact that Saraya's Outcasts associate, Ruby Soho, has been banned from ringside. Still, Tuesday night will be a tall order for Shida, who defeated Soho to earn the title match on the Sept. 29 edition of Rampage. If Shida is to win the title for a third time, she will have to do something that no other woman in AEW has been able to do thus far - beat Saraya in a singles match. Since her arrival in AEW, the Norwich, England native is 5-0 in singles matches. Her last singles win came in the first defence of her world title on the Sept. 20 edition of Dynamite over former Outcasts member Toni Storm. It should be noted that Saraya won the title at All In at Wembley Stadium in August in a four-way match that also included Shida. The match will mark the fourth time that the two women have shared a ring together with Saraya prevailing every single time (in the All In match and a pair of tag-team encounters). Not only can Shida become the first three-time champion (Storm is the only other two-time champion) on Tuesday night, she can add to her record of most days as AEW Women's World Champion which currently sits at 397, 107 more days than Dr. Britt Baker, DMD. Will Saraya stay undefeated and hang onto her title or will Shida entered some very rarefied air on Dynamite?
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AEW International Championship match: Rey Fenix (c) (w/ Alex Abrahantes) vs. Jon Moxley - Over the course of its history, championship rematches in AEW have always been heated affairs that have seen lingering resentment boil to the surface as former titleholders attempt to take back what once belonged to them from the person to whom they lost it. While there's undoubtedly enmity between Rey Fenix and Jon Moxley, Tuesday night's rematch between the two for the AEW International Championship comes with a caveat - injuries. Before we look ahead to the rematch, let's look back at how things started between Fenix and Moxley. On the Aug. 9 edition of Dynamite, the Blackpool Combat Club team of Moxley and Claudio Castagnoli defeated the Lucha Bros. (Fenix and Penta El Zero Miedo). The victory wasn't enough for the BCC, however, with hostilities spilling over after the match. Then at Fyter Fest on Aug. 23, Moxley defeated Fenix in a singles match and proceeded to beat down Fenix after the match to the point that he was unable to compete in the Stadium Stampede match at All In. A week later at All Out, Moxley ended Orange Cassidy's 10-month reign as AEW International Champion in a hard-fought encounter. Fenix got his revenge, though, when he defeated Moxley for his title at Grand Slam on Sept. 20 in a match in which both men were battered. Since that time, Fenix has successfully defended his title against "The Last Outlaw" Jeff Jarrett and Nick Jackson, but he remains worse for wear. Fenix was forced to exit the four-way match for the No. 1 contendership for the AEW World Tag Team Championships at last weekend's WrestleDream pay-per-view early when he couldn't lift up Cassidy into a fireman's carry. But Moxley is banged up, too, still dealing with the repercussions of his first match with Fenix. Rest assured, these two men will still beat the hell out of one another on Tuesday night, but just how will each man hold up with a title on the line?
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TNT Championship No. 1 contendership match: "The American Dragon" Bryan Danielson vs. Swerve Strickland (w/ Prince Nana) - Two of the Pacific Northwest's finest wrestling exports came up with giant wins in front of a partisan home crowd at last weekend's WrestleDream pay-per-view in Seattle. In the main event, Aberdeen, WA's Bryan Danielson defeated New Japan Pro-Wrestling World Television Champion Zack Sabre Jr. in a breathtaking technical dream match, putting the Briton away with the Busaiku knee. Earlier on the card, Tacoma, WA's Swerve Strickland picked up what was maybe his biggest singles victory in AEW when he defeated former AEW World Champion and current ROH World Six-Man Champion "Hangman" Adam Page. On Tuesday night, Danielson and Strickland will meet for the first time ever with a shot at Christian Cage and the TNT Championship on the line. While Danielson and Strickland have wrestled in a number of the same promotions over the years, it's never been at the same time until now. Coming off of the biggest win of his AEW career, Strickland has the opportunity to further ensconce himself as a main-event player by taking out a man whose career and legacy he is undoubtedly familiar with coming up in the Seattle-area. This past Saturday night on Collision, Swerve sent his regards to Danielson in the form of the Gates of Agony (Bishop Kaun and Toa Liona), who attacked "The American Dragon" following his victory over Aussie Open's Kyle Fletcher. It was Strickland's way of telling the former six-time world champion not to forget about him. And while the match might be bigger from a career standpoint for Swerve, it's still a very important one for Danielson. As decorated a champion as he might be, he still hasn't worn gold in AEW and a victory against Strickland takes him directly to another title match. Can Strickland keep rolling or will Danielson set up a date with Cage?
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ROH World Six-Man Champion "Hangman" Adam Page vs. "Switchblade" Jay White (w/ "Rock Hard" Juice Robinson, Austin Gunn and Colten Gunn) - Jay White isn't the AEW World Champion, but he does have the world title. White laid claim to the belt that belongs to Maxwell Jacob Friedman last Wednesday night on Dynamite. White says it was in retribution for MJF's attack on White during the previous week. But Friedman denies having anything to do with the beating that saw masked assailants lay out White in the back with one wearing MJF's familiar devil mask. For his part, King Switch has used to incident to springboard himself to an AEW World Championship match against MJF in the main event of next month's Full Gear pay-per-view. But as far as he's concerned, White is already the world champion. In fact, White considers Tuesday night's match against Adam Page a World Title Eliminator. Even though Page is a former AEW World Champion, White says he isn't worthy of a title shot because he's never defeated him in the past. Obviously beating a top contender like White would be a huge feather in the cap of the Hangman, but he needs a win here for another reason. Always one to wear his heart on his sleeve, Page is coming off of a dispiriting loss to Swerve Strickland at WrestleDream. Over the course of his career, Page has always bounced back from disappointment and hopes Tuesday night will be no different against the former IWGP World Heavyweight Champion. Which of these two top stars will prevail?
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Powerhouse Hobbs (w/ Don Callis) vs. "The Ocho" Chris Jericho - The Don Callis Family grew by one last week on Dynamite when Will Hobbs destroyed Kenny Omega and Chris Jericho from behind after their match against Konosuke Takeshita and Kyle Fletcher, a late replacement for Sammy Guevara, who was not medically cleared. Hobbs put an exclamation point on the beating by laying Jericho out with one of his patented spinebusters. On Tuesday night, Jericho will be out for revenge when he gets Hobbs one-on-one. The match will be the first meeting between the two and comes at a time when Jericho is still in the midst of his ongoing war with Callis and still reeling from the betrayal of longtime associate Guevara who had at one time considered Jericho to be a mentor. For Hobbs, an association with the mercurial Callis could be exactly what he needs to once again return to title contention. Hobbs held the TNT Championship last spring, having defeated Wardlow for the title before dropping it back to him a little over a month later. Hobbs sees the guidance of Callis as the potential catalyst to return to greatness. Callis, of course, sees Hobbs as another powerful soldier to continue in his quest to take down Jericho and Omega. Can his latest charge pick up a big win for the Don Callis Family on Tuesday night?
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PLUS:
- We will hear from TNT Champion Christian Cage
- "Timeless" Toni Storm makes an appearance