Former champs collide as Hangman meets Moxley on TSN2
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Returning to the ring for the first time in nearly three months, "Hangman" Adam Page takes on Jon Moxley. Plus, the best-of-seven series for the AEW World Trios Championship reaches its climax as Death Triangle and The Elite meet in a ladder match in Match 7 and Bryan Danielson takes on Konosuke Takeshita. You can catch AEW Dynamite LIVE at 8pm et/5pm pt on TSN2, streaming on the TSN App and on TSN.ca.
Jon Moxley vs. "Hangman" Adam Page - The last time these two former AEW World Champions stepped into the ring together was the last time Adam Page competed in AEW. On the Oct. 18 edition of Dynamite, Page attempted to wrest back the world title from then-champion Jon Moxley. Late in the match, Moxley connected with the King Kong Lariat and the Hangman was knocked out cold. The match was immediately stopped with the victory awarded to Moxley via referee stoppage. After the match, Page was placed in concussion protocol and had not appeared on AEW programming for several weeks before making his return on the Nov. 30 Dynamite to confront Moxley. Almost immediately, Moxley made issued a barbed remark about Page's time away and that set the Hangman off. While the two have engaged in a number of pull-apart brawls over the past several weeks, Wednesday night marks the first time that Page has been medically cleared to compete inside a ring. Fueled by bad blood, Wednesday night's match is unlikely to be pretty. The question is, can Hangman keep his emotions in check or will they act as a hindrance? A win over a three-time former champion and perennial contender in Moxley would go a long way to put Page back on the way to a title shot against current AEW Champion Maxwell Jacob Friedman? Can Hangman achieve a measure of revenge or will Mox make him regret coming back for more?
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Match 7 in the best-of-seven series for the AEW World Trios Championships: Escalara de Muerta - Death Triangle ("The Bastard" PAC, Rey Fenix and Penta El Zero Miedo) (c) (w/ Alex Abrahantes) vs. The Elite (IWGP United States Champion "The Cleaner" Kenny Omega, Nick Jackson and Matt Jackson) (w/ Don Callis, Brandon Cutler and Michael Nakazawa) - It all comes down to this. After fighting back from 3-1 down, Kenny Omega, Nick Jackson and Matt Jackson have forced a Match 7 in their quest to take back the titles they never actually lost, but what kind of shape will these six men be in after six brutal matches in which they gave everything? On top of that, Omega is coming off of a hard-fought battle at Wrestle Kingdom 17 last week in Tokyo when he became a two-time IWGP United States Champion by defeating Will Ospreay. If the state of each man's physical and mental health wasn't questionable enough, the deciding match on Wednesday will be a ladder match which could spell an untold amount of violence and injury. The bout will be the fourth ladder match for a title in AEW history. The Young Bucks competed in two of them, including the most recent. On the June 15 edition of Dynamite, the Jacksons successfully retained their AEW World Tag Team Championships over Jurassic Express ("Jungle Boy" Jack Perry and Luchasaurus). But the Bucks also competed in the very first AEW championship ladder match and weren't quite so successful then. At All Out 2019, the Jacksons were unable to take the AAA World Tag Championships from the Lucha Bros., two of their three opponents on Wednesday night. In fact, Omega is the only one of the six men competing on Dynamite who has not featured in an AEW ladder match. His last ladder match came all the way back in 2016 when he lost the IWGP Intercontinental Championship to Michael Elgin at Dominion. All six men will put everything on the line on Wednesday night, but which trio will come out on top?
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"The American Dragon" Bryan Danielson vs. Konosuke Takeshita - In a match that could steal the show, Bryan Danielson meets Konosuke Takeshita for the first time ever and the stakes for Danielson are high. On last week's Dynamite, AEW World Champion MJF agreed to defend his title against Danielson at the March Revolution pay-per-view, but on one condition - up until February 8, Danielson must go undefeated against MJF's handpicked opponents. The first challenge from MJF is Takeshita who is still looking for his first signature win in AEW. The former K-OD Openweight Champion fell to former tag-team partner "Speedball" Mike Bailey in the final of Pro Wrestling Guerrilla's Battle of Los Angeles 2023 last weekend. Danielson will be the third member of the Blackpool Combat Club who Takeshita has faced off with, but Takeshita hopes the third time is the charm as he previously lost to both Jon Moxley and ROH World Champion Claudio Castagnoli. Takeshita has everything that it takes to succeed in AEW, but it just hasn't come together yet for him. A win over the man many consider to be the best wrestler in the world could kick off something special for Takeshita. It's that potential that has made Takeshita of great interest to Don Callis, who has continued to scout his matches. Can Takeshita pick up the biggest win of his AEW career or will Danielson begin his march towards MJF?
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The Killer and The Pillar (AEW Women's World Champion Jamie Hayter and Dr. Britt Baker, DMD) (w/ Rebel) vs. Saraya and Toni Storm - After much speculation, Saraya revealed former AEW Women's World Champion Toni Storm as her mystery partner on last week's Dynamite. What was interesting about her choice was how it was made. Saraya announced Storm as her partner in a backstage segment, but also with them was another former AEW Women's World Champion in Hikaru Shida. Shida was visibly taken aback when Saraya called Storm "the best wrestler in the world." Hurt feelings aside, Saraya and Storm will have their hands full with Jamie Hayter and Britt Bakter. The Killer and The Pillar put on a dominant display on Rampage this past Friday when they quickly dispatched the Renegade Twins (Robyn Renegade and Charlette Renegade). Having regularly teamed together, Hayter and Baker will have a decided experience edge over their opponents. This will mark Saraya's first match since defeating Baker in a singles encounter at Full Gear in November. It's also Storm's first match since dropping the world title to Hayter at that same show. With lingering bad blood very evident, which duo will come out on top?
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Junglehook ("Jungle Boy" Jack Perry and FTW World Champion Hook) vs. The Firm ("Big" Bill Morrissey and Lee Moriarty) (w/ Stokely Hathaway) - Two of AEW's most exciting young stars team together for the first time when Jack Perry and the undefeated Hook take on The Firm's Bill Morrissey and Lee Moriarty. The genesis of the ill will between these two teams came back on the Nov. 18 edition of Rampage when Moriarty failed in his quest to take the FTW title from Hook, but things really popped off during the Dynamite Diamond Ring Battle Royal on the Dec. 7 Dynamite when Morrissey brutally attacked Perry. Finding a common foe, Hook and Perry will now face their tormentors together. The question that needs to be asked is how will they be able to neutralize the much larger Morrissey. The only thing standing in the way between Hook and a chokeslam from Morrissey on the Dec. 28 Dynamite was a chair shot to the back from Perry. Because chairs won't be legal on Wednesday night, Hook and Perry are going to need to find another way to deal with Morrissey. Can Junglehook pick up a win or will Moriarty and Morrissey (quite literally) stand tall?
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PLUS:
- We will hear from "The Ocho" Chris Jericho and the rest of the Jericho Appreciation Society fresh off of their brutal attack of "Absolute" Ricky Starks