Allin meets Claudio in falls-count-anywhere match on Dynamite on TSN2
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Darby Allin wrestles on Dynamite for the first time in 2025 in a falls-count-anywhere match against Claudio Castagnoli. Plus, Jon Moxley squares off with Daniel Garcia. You can catch AEW Dynamite LIVE on Wednesday night at 8 p.m. ET/ 5 p.m. PT on TSN2, the TSN App, and TSN.ca.
Falls-count-anywhere match: Darby Allin vs. Claudio Castagnoli (w/ Wheeler YUTA)
As AEW makes its debut in Philadelphia's famed 2300 Arena, the former ECW Arena, there's no better kind of match to kick off the residency than a falls-count-anywhere match between a pair of bitter rivals as the returning Darby Allin meets the Death Riders' Claudio Castagnoli. For Allin, it's his first match on Dynamite since last Christmas Day. He made his in-ring return this past Sunday at Forbidden Door as he, Will Ospreay, Kota Ibushi, Kenny Omega and Hiroshi Tanahashi outlasted Castagnoli, Jon Moxley, Gabe Kidd, Nick Jackson and Matt Jackson in a brutal lights-out steel-cage match. But the win came with a major cost. As the victorious quintet celebrated their triumph, Moxley and Castagnoli blindsided Ospreay as the cage was once again locked. With Ospreay helpless and his teammates unable to get back into the cage, Moxley delivered Death Rider after Death Rider to Ospreay's already injured neck. Castagnoli then placed a steel chair around it for Moxley to put an exclamation mark on the beatdown by Pillmanizing Ospreay. With that, Ospreay now heads off for surgery and will be out of action for some time. For Allin the attack on Ospreay undoubtedly brought back bad memories of the Death Riders' assault on him that put him on the shelf for months. Not only will Allin be able to get a measure of revenge on Castagnoli on Wednesday night, he'll have the opportunity to avenge Ospreay. While a falls-count-anywhere match is right up Allin's alley, it does hand an advantage to Castagnoli and opens the door for interference from the rest of the Death Riders. Still, that won't be a deterrent to Allin and he might have some aces up his sleeve of his own. The match marks just the third singles meeting between the two men and Allin is still looking for his first victory over Castagnoli. The two last faced off in Gold League action in the 2024 Continental Classic on the Dec. 21, 2024 edition of Collision. Though Castagnoli got the win, it wasn't a clean one. He needed the use of brass knuckles to put away Allin, yet another thing that Allin remembers well. Which of these two men will use the stipulation best to his advantage to pick up a victory?
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Jon Moxley (w/ "The Problem" Marina Shafir) vs. Daniel Garcia
You can say a lot of things about his brutality and viciousness, but you can't knock Jon Moxley's motor. Despite losing the AEW World Championship to "Hangman" Adam Page at last month's All In, Moxley has barely taken a breath since. Following the defeat to Page, Moxley has wrestled seven matches including this past Sunday's cage match at Forbidden Door. Perhaps this drive to compete is just another aspect of his sociopathy that we saw manifest itself in the hellacious beating of Will Ospreay at the pay-per-view. When Ospreay does finally return to action, Mox will have to answer for his actions, but before that happens, he will go one on one with Daniel Garcia on Dynamite. While Garcia didn't compete at Forbidden Door, he was present. Garcia was in the corner of Nigel McGuinness as he unsuccessfully challenged Zack Sabre Jr. for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship. Garcia has found himself in a bit of a rut since dropping the TNT Championship to Adam Cole in April at Dynasty. He is coming off of three straight losses in high-profile matches. On the Aug. 16 Collision, Garcia fell to McGuinness in a four-way match that also included Hechicero and ROH Pure Champion Lee Moriarty for the right to face ZSJ at Forbidden Door. Prior to that, he lost to Kyle Fletcher on the July 5 Collision in a match for the No. 1 contendership for the TNT Championship and then lost in the impromptu four-way match for the vacant title at All In that was won by Dustin Rhodes. A win over four-time AEW World Champion Moxley could be just the tonic Garcia needs to kick start things. Wednesday night's match marks the third singles meeting between Garcia and Moxley, but the first since 2022. Moxley has picked up a victory in both previous encounters. Can Garcia earn a much-needed win or will the sadistic Mox continue to wreak havoc?
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"Megasus" Megan Bayne and Penelope Ford vs. Kris Statlander and Harley Cameron
For the first time since May, Dynamite will Feel the Wrath. After returning to action following a nearly three-month absence at Forbidden Door, Harley Cameron wrestles her first match on Dynamite since the spring. At the PPV, Cameron teamed with Willow Nightingale, Kris Statlander and Queen Aminata in a losing effort against Megan Bayne and the Triangle of Madness (Thekla, Julia Hart and Skye Blue). On Wednesday night, she again teams with Statlander to take on Bayne and Penelope Ford. Bayne is the reason for Cameron's extended absence. Back on the May 28 edition of Dynamite, she teamed with Anna Jay in a no-disqualifications match against Bayne and Ford. During the match, Bayne dropped Cameron face first on to the ring steps, resulting in Cameron breaking her noise and requiring facial surgery. While Cameron will have vengeance on her mind on Wednesday night, the match could also be an important one for Bayne and Statlander. AEW Women's World Champion "Timeless" Toni Storm has dispatched her top two contenders at back-to-back PPVs, first beating the previously undefeated TBS Champion Mercedes Mone at All In before defeating ROH Women's World Champion Athena this past Sunday at Forbidden Door. Storm once again needs another challenger and both of Bayne and Statlander feel like they're the perfect choice. Since Storm defeated Bayne to keep her title at April's Dynasty, Bayne has won all eight of her singles matches as she looks to get herself back into championship contention. Statlander last challenged for a title, Mone's TBS title, at December's Worlds End show. Statlander has not wrestled for the AEW Women's World Championship in nearly four years. Getting a win over Bayne could change that in a hurry. With bad blood swirling in a potentially consequential tag match, which duo will emerge with a win on Wednesday night?