Swerve, Hangman compete in 'Dealer's Choice' matches on Dynamite on TSN2
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Archrivals "Hangman" Adam Page and Swerve Strickland choose each other's opponents in "Dealer's Choice" matchups. Plus, Jon Moxley meets Jeff Hardy and Kyle Fletcher takes on Chris Jericho. You can catch AEW Dynamite LIVE at 8pm et/5pm pt on TSN2, streaming on the TSN App and on TSN.ca.
Dealer's Choice match: "Hangman" Adam Page vs. Toa Liona (w/ Prince Nana, "The Machine" Brian Cage, Bishop Kaun and Swerve Strickland) - Swerve Strickland didn't need to look far when it came to finding an opponent for Adam Page on Wednesday night. Strickland has chosen Mogul Embassy stablemate Toa Liona to take on his rival on Dynamite. While the match is ostensibly a test for Page against a vicious opponent, Wednesday night's match is also a major challenge for Liona. Primarily a tag-team wrestler (with Bishop Kaun as the Gates of Agony) and trios wrestler (with Kaun and Brian Cage), Liona will be competing in his first-ever televised singles match in AEW and it's coming against a former AEW World Champion. That's not to say that Liona won't be ready, having stepped into the ring with the likes of Tomohiro Ishii, EVIL, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Kazuchika Okada in the last 12 months alone. Liona and Page have also met before. On the Sept. 22, 2023 edition of Rampage, Page and the Young Bucks (Nick Jackson and Matt Jackson) defeated the Mogul Embassy for the ROH World Six-Man Championship. But Liona, Kaun and Cage got their revenge weeks later on the Nov. 1 Dynamite when they won the titles back from The Elite. With Page looking to send a message to both Swerve and AEW World Champion Samoa Joe, Page can ill-afford to overlook Liona and what he's capable of doing in a ring. Will Page continue his march towards a title match or will Liona pick up the biggest victory of his career?
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Dealer's Choice match: Swerve Strickland (w/ Prince Nana) vs. ??? - While we don't officially know who Adam Page has picked to face off with Swerve Strickland, we have a pretty good idea. On Collision, when Page was asked who he selected, he replied, "You'll just have to watch the Whole FN Show to find out," clearly hinting at "Mr. Monday Night" himself, Rob Van Dam. Needless to say, the red-hot Strickland and RVD have never wrestled before and the high-flying former WWE and ECW World Champion will present a very interesting challenge for Swerve. With Swerve hellbent on winning the AEW World Championship, he will be meeting an RVD with nothing to lose and one who would relish the opportunity to derail Strickland's momentum. Like Hangman in his match, Strickland simply cannot afford to give his full focus towards Van Dam. Anything less could result in an embarrassing upset. Can Swerve keeling tolling or will RVD cool off his hot streak?
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Jon Moxley vs. Jeff Hardy - Things aren't getting easier for the increasingly frustrated Jeff Hardy. After back-to-back losses to Darby Allin and Swerve Strickland, Hardy will face off with AEW's measuring stick in former three-time AEW World Champion Jon Moxley. Moxley has started 2024 as ornery as ever and has thrown down the gauntlet to the rest of AEW. Credit to Hardy for stepping up, but this incarnation of Moxley appears to be unstoppable. Moxley and Blackpool Combat Club stablemate Claudio Castagnoli are coming off of a hard-fought victory over Shane Taylor Promotions (Shane Taylor and Lee Moriarty) on this past Saturday night on Collision. That victory followed up on singles wins over both Taylor and Moriarty for Moxley. Wednesday night's matchup will be the first time that Hardy and Mox have met in AEW, but the two aren't strangers to one another. Hardy and brother Matt Hardy have taken on Mox and his Shield stablemate Seth Rollins in tag-team action on a number of occasions during their time in WWE. Still, this will be the duo's first bout since 2019 and much has changed for both men. A win over Mox could stop the bleeding for Hardy and get him back on track. As for Moxley, he doesn't view Hardy as a six-time world champion. He only sees another opponent to beat into submission. Can Hardy stop the skid or is there a Death Rider in his future?
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"The Virtuosa" Deonna Purrazzo vs. "La Wera Loca" Taya Valkyrie (w/ Johnny TV) - Deonna Purrazzo looks to stay undefeated in AEW as she continues her collision course with AEW Women's World Champion "Timeless" Toni Storm when she takes on old foe Taya Valkyrie on Wednesday night. Valkyrie has been incensed by Purrazzo seemingly skipping to the front of the line for a title shot despite just arriving in AEW and hopes to ensure that her match against Storm never comes to pass. Valkyrie and Purrazzo are no strangers to one another, having wrestling each other on a number of occasions in both Impact/TNA and AAA. At Impact's Rebellion pay-per-view in 2022, Valkyrie defeated Purrazzo to win the AAA Reina de Reinas title a little over a year after Purrazzo had successfully defended the Impact Knockouts Championship over her. Months later, the team of Purrazzo and Chelsea Green defeated the Death Dollz (Valkyrie and Rosemary) for the Impact Knockouts Tag Team Championships before Valkyrie and Jessicka Havok would win them back several weeks later. All told, Valkyrie holds a 7-4 edge over Purrazzo and is 2-1 in singles matches. To raise the stakes of Wednesday's match, Storm herself will sit in with the commentary team to watch the match firsthand. Can Purrazzo move to 3-0 in AEW or will Valkyrie send her to the back of the line?
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Chris Jericho vs. ROH World TV Champion Kyle Fletcher (w/ Don Callis, Powerhouse Hobbs and "The Alpha" Konosuke Takeshita) - Chris Jericho's bitter feud with the Don Callis Family continues on Wednesday night when he goes one-on-one with ROH World TV Champion Kyle Fletcher. Fletcher laid out the challenge for the eight-time world champion this past Friday night on Rampage. While Fletcher won't be alone, having Callis and stablemates Will Hobbs and Konosuke Takeshita by his side, Jericho is unlikely to have any kind of back-up with both Kenny Omega and Sammy Guevara on the shelf. As it inevitably will, the numbers game catching up with Jericho is a scenario for which he must prepare. While Fletcher has taken on Jericho before on a number of occasions in tag and multi-man matches, this will be the first singles match between the two and one of the most high-profile matches to date of Fletcher's young career. Fletcher heads into the match as a winner of five straight singles bouts. A win over Jericho would signal that Fletcher, a former IWGP World Tag Team Champion with Mark Davis as Aussie Open, is here to stay in the singles division. Can Jericho fight back against the Don Callis Family or will Fletcher pick up a massive victory?