Mox, Hangman face off ahead of All In on TSN2
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Ahead of their Texas Death Match at All In, Jon Moxley and "Hangman" Adam Page meet in an eight-man tag match. Plus, Samoa Joe takes on Wheeler YUTA and Mark Briscoe and MJF have a face to face. 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.
"Hangman" Adam Page, "The Aerial Assassin" Will Ospreay and AEW World Trios Champions The Opps (Powerhouse Hobbs and "The Wrestler" Katsuyori Shibata) vs. The Young Bucks (Nicholas Jackson and Matthew Jackson) and Death Riders (AEW World Champion Jon Moxley and Claudio Castagnoli) (w/ "The Problem" Marina Shafir
On last week's Dynamite, it was made official - AEW World Champion Jon Moxley's title defence at All In against former champion "Hangman" Adam Page will now be a Texas Death Match. Page made the challenge that was initially rebuffed by Mox, but after the Cowboy withstood a vicious beating from behind by Wheeler YUTA and the returning Claudio Castagnoli, the champion acquiesced. To demonstrate his seriousness about withstanding the champion in a Texas Death Match, Page laid out Moxley's associate, Marina Shafir, with a Buckshot Lariat after she had repeatedly peppered him with strikes. The match will be the ninth Texas Death Match in AEW and the sixth featuring Page. Page is 5-1 in those matches with his only defeat coming at the hands of Swerve Strickland at Full Gear 2023. One of those victories, though, came against Moxley. The Hangman defeated Moxley at Revolution 2023 when he wrapped a chain around his neck, killed him with a Buckshot and then hung him over the top rope until he tapped out. They don't call him the Hangman for nothing. In fact, Mox has lost both Texas Death Matches he's participated in in AEW. On the July 21, 2021 edition of Dynamite, Moxley lost the IWGP United States Championship to Lance Archer in a Texas Death Match. Will Moxley's growing frustration with Page prove to be his undoing. While the Mox-Hangman dynamic will be the focal point of this eight-man match, there are other simmering feuds that will play out on Wednesday night. Will Ospreay will have the opportunity to get his hands on the Young Bucks (Nicholas Jackson and Matt Jackson) before he teams with Strickland against the duo for a high-stakes tag match at All In. Should the Jacksons lose that match, they will be forced to relinquish their AEW executive vice-president roles. But if Ospreay and Swerve lose, neither man will be able to vie for the AEW World Championship for the next year. Two-thirds of the AEW World Trios Champions, Will Hobbs and Katsuyori Shibata, face off with one of their challengers at All in former champion Claudio Castagnoli. "The Swiss Cyborg" will team with YUTA and a mystery third man ("The Bastard" PAC returning from injury?) as they look to bring the belts back to the Death Riders. With so many combustible elements in play, which of these quartets can pick up a victory?
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AEW World Trios Champion Samoa Joe vs. Wheeler YUTA (w/ "The Problem" Marina Shafir)
The other two men involved in Saturday's trios match will meet one-on-one when Samoa Joe takes on Wheeler YUTA. "The Samoan Submission Machine" and the rest of the Opps have been thorns in the Death Riders' side for months now since taking their titles on the Apr. 16 edition of Dynamite when Joe choked out Jon Moxley, who was subbing in for the injured PAC. YUTA and co. will have the chance to get those belts back at All In, but before then he must answer the call of the former AEW World Champion on Wednesday night. The match on Dynamite will be the first ever singles match between the two men. Interestingly enough, Joe is the only current or former AEW World Champion in the company that YUTA has not wrestled one-on-one before. As for those matches, YUTA hasn't exactly been successful in them. In one-on-one bouts against Chris Jericho, Jon Moxley, Kenny Omega, Adam Page, Bryan Danielson, Maxwell Jacob Friedman and Swerve Strickland, he is 0-11. He will look to change that on Wednesday night, but taking out Joe will be a tall order. The last time Joe lost in a traditional singles match was when he dropped the world title to Strickland at Dynasty 2024. Can YUTA finally defeat a former world champion or will Joe introduce him to the Coquina Clutch?
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"Megasus" Megan Bayne (w/ Penelope Ford) vs. Tay Melo (w/ Anna Jay) vs. Queen Aminata vs. "The Toxic Spider" Thekla
On the June 25 edition of Dynamite, Kris Statlander defeated ROH Women's World Champion Athena, Willow Nightingale and Thunder Rosa to claim the No. 1 spot in the women's Casino Gauntlet match at All In. Now in a Casino Battle Royale, the No. 1 spot wouldn't be advantageous at all, but a Casino Gauntlet is different. Since a Casino Gauntlet ends as soon as one competitor pins or submits another, there is no guarantee that the wrestlers slated for the match will even get into it. If you're scheduled to be the fifth entrant, but the third entrant pins the second before they hit your music, your chance to win the match has evaporated into the ether. With the winner of Saturday's match earning a future AEW Women's World Championship shot, holding the No. 1 spot is a big advantage for Statlander. But the No. 2 spot is just as important and that is what's at stake on Wednesday night when Megan Bayne takes on Tay Melo, Queen Aminata and Thekla in another four-way. None of these four women has held AEW gold before, so they're all more than aware of the opportunity at hand here. All four of these women have faced off in various permutations in recent weeks, so there is no lack of familiarity at play. How that will inform each woman's strategy remains to be seen. Who can set up a date with Statlander on Saturday night?
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AEW Women's World Champion "Timeless" Toni Storm (w/ Luther) and TBS Champion "The CEO" Mercedes Mone have a final face-off
The time for talking is almost over. For one final time ahead of the most anticipated women's match in AEW history at All In, champion meets challenger as Toni Storm shares the ring with Mercedes Mone. The two have come to blows multiple times in recent weeks, so that is certainly a potentiality for Wednesday night. But their encounter on Dynamite is likely going to be about mind games more than anything else. Mone remains undefeated in AEW and the TBS Champion faces her stiffest test in Storm, yet the belt collector remains undaunted and will look to put on the most unbothered face possible for Storm. Of the two women, Storm appears to be the one of the two who has allowed the other to get under her skin the most. It's clear that Mone has struck a nerve with the champion and has made her increasingly uncomfortable in recent weeks. She seemed to be completely lost in thought during Mone's successful TBS Championship defence last Wednesday night against Mina Shirakawa. Can Mone strike one more blow in the battle of wits ahead of Saturday night?
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Mark Briscoe and Maxwell Jacob Friedman have a "Talky-Talk"
The first two entrants in the men's Casino Gauntlet at All In will meet in the squared circle on Wednesday night when Mark Briscoe and MJF have what the former calls a "talky-talk." Briscoe earned the No. 1 spot in the match by winning a four-way over ROH World Champion Bandido, Konosuke Takeshita and Roderick Strong two weeks ago. This past Wednesday night, MJF claimed the No. 2 spot with a win over Anthony Bowens, AR Fox and Brody King. After the match, Briscoe, who has run afoul of Friedman in recent weeks, challenged MJF to have a conversation on Dynamite without the rest of the Hurt Syndicate (AEW World Tag Team Champions Bobby Lashley and Shelton Benjamin and MVP) present in the ring. While MJF agreed to meet Briscoe, he was noncommittal about leaving the rest of his crew in the back. Friedman has vowed to pin Briscoe before a third entrant can even make it into the match, knowing that rival Mistico is also slated to participate. Just what will Briscoe and Friedman get up to on Wednesday night?