Three title matches headline Dynamite on TSN2
Published
Orange Cassidy puts his AEW International Championship on the line against Aussie Open's Kyle Fletcher. Plus, the Lucha Bros. defend the ROH World Tag Team Championships against the Blackpool Combat Club and the House of Black issue an Open House challenge for their AEW World Trios Championships. You can catch AEW Dynamite LIVE at 8pm et/5pm pt on TSN2, streaming on the TSN App and on TSN.ca.
AEW International Championship match: "Freshly Squeezed" Orange Cassidy (c) vs. Kyle Fletcher - Two weeks ago on Dynamite, Kyle Fletcher laid out Orange Cassidy in the back after he had just defended his AEW International Championship against Daniel Garcia, seemingly issuing a challenge for his title. But a lot has changed over the past two weeks for Fletcher. At the time of his challenge, Fletcher was looking for a third championship around his waist, but now he has none. At New Japan Pro-Wrestling's Resurgence show in Long Beach, CA on Sunday, Fletcher announced that Aussie Open would be relinquishing both the IWGP World Tag Team Championships and the New Japan Strong Openweight Tag Team Championships due to Mark Davis undergoing knee surgery. Focused on singles wrestling for the time being, Fletcher gets his shot at Cassidy on Wednesday night. For Cassidy, the match will be his first of two this week with a 21-man Blackjack Battle Royale for his title set for Double or Nothing on Sunday. A battle royale for his title seems like a risky proposition, but that won't matter if he can't get past Fletcher on Dynamite. This will not be the first time the two have faced off in singles action. At a Fight Club Pro show in Wolverhampton, England in 2018 on a card that also featured Masato Tanaka vs. WALTER, Fletcher defeated Cassidy. Cassidy has managed to turn the International Championship into the workhorse title with this his 22nd defence of the title he won back last fall in Toronto, but the frequency of his defences are taking a toll with Cassidy beaten and bruised even when he picks up victories. It seems like only a matter of time before somebody is able to wrest the title away. Will it be Fletcher on Wednesday night?
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ROH World Tag Team Championship match: Lucha Bros. (Penta El Zero Miedo and Rey Fenix) (c) (w/ Alex Abrahantes) vs. Blackpool Combat Club (ROH World Champion Claudio Castagnoli and Wheeler YUTA) - Claudio Castagnoli and Wheeler YUTA earned themselves at shot at Penta El Zero Miedo and Rey Fenix's titles on the May 10 edition of Dynamite in a Double Jeopardy Match when Castagnoli defeated Fenix in a terrifically competitive encounter. For Castagnoli, Wednesday's match will be an opportunity to regain a title he hasn't held for 13 years. While a decorated singles wrestler, Castagnoli has also has great success in tag-team wrestling with multiple partners. At an Apr. 3, 2010 show in Charlotte, the Kings of Wrestling (Castagnoli and Chris Hero) defeated the Briscoe Brothers (Jay Briscoe and Mark Briscoe) to win the ROH titles for a second time. Castagnoli was also a seven-time tag champ in WWE alongside TJ Wilson, Shinsuke Nakamura and most famously with Sheamus. YUTA could become the latest man to win gold alongside Castagnoli, but it won't be easy. This will only be the Lucha Bros.' second title defence after winning the titles in the Reach for the Sky Ladder Match at March's Supercard of Honor in a bout that also included Top Flight (Dante Martin and Darius Martin), Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher and Mark Davis), the Kingdom (Matt Taven and Mike Bennett) and La Faccion Ingobernable (Dralistico and Rush). On the Apr. 7 Battle of the Belts, Penta and Fenix defeated QTV (QT Marshall and Powerhouse Hobbs) in their only defence to date. The biggest issue for Castagnoli and YUTA might be what comes next. On Sunday, they and the rest of the BCC (Jon Moxley and "The American Dragon" Bryan Danielson) are set for a brutal Anarchy in the Arena match against The Elite ("Hangman" Adam Page, Kenny Omega, Nick Jackson and Matt Jackson). If even part of their minds are focused on that match and not on the Lucha Bros., they can probably forget about winning those titles. Can Castagnoli and YUTA bring more gold back to the BCC or will Penta and Fenix keep those belts on their own waists?
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Open House Match for the AEW World Trios Championships: House of Black (Malakai Black, Brody King and Buddy Matthews) (c) (w/ Julia Hart) vs. AR Fox, Blake Christian and Metalik - For the second time, Malakai Black, Brody King and Buddy Matthews will defend their AEW World Trios Championships under Open House rules. The trio defeated Best Friends (Chuck Taylor and Trent Beretta) and Bandido on the May 10 edition of Dynamite. The amended rules were as follows: 1. Count outs are set at 20 seconds instead of the traditional 10 2. No rope escapes - getting to the ropes to break up a pin or submission won't save you 3. Disqualification is enforced 4. Dealer's choice - the House of Black will give the trio of AR Fox, Blake Christian and Metalik the opportunity to pick a rule of their own like Best Friends and Bandido did when they chose to have Julia Hart banned from ringside for the match. The match will mark House of Black's fourth defence since winning the titles from The Elite (Kenny Omega, Nick Jackson and Matt Jackson) at Revolution in early March. The match will also be the Dynamite debuts for both Christian and Metalik. Fox, Christian and Metalik have competed together as a trio twice before, most recently at Supercard of Honor when they wrestled in a losing effort against The Embassy ("The Machine" Brian Cage, Bishop Kaun and Toa Liona) for the ROH World Six-Man Championships. A victory on Wednesday night would announce their presence to an AEW audience in a big way. Fox has already had some trios success in AEW, winning the $300,000 Three Kings Christmas Casino Trios Battle Royale alongside Top Flight (Dante Martin and Darius Martin) at the end of 2022. Will the House of Black continue to roll or can Fox, Christian and Metalik spring an upset?
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Taya Valkyrie vs. Lady Frost - Taya Valkyrie knows why she failed in her first shot at Jade Cargill and her TBS Championship. On the Apr. 26 edition of Dynamite, Valkyrie faced off against Cargill and appeared to have her beat. She was gearing up to hit Cargill with her Road to Valhalla finisher before remembering the one stipulation for the match - thanks to the finagling of Cargill's attorney, "Smart" Mark Sterling, Valkyrie was banned from using the move in the bout because Cargill also uses the chickenwing facebuster as her own finisher, called Jaded. The momentary confusion from Valkyrie allowed Cargill the opportunity to roll her up and retain her title. On last week's Rampage, Valkyrie laid out Cargill with Road to Valhalla and informed her that her next title defence, at Sunday night's Double or Nothing, will be against her. But before Valkyrie can get her second match with Cargill, she will take on Lady Frost, making her Dynamite debut. on Wednesday night. This will be a first-ever meeting between the two competitors. A five-year veteran from Pittsburgh, Frost is the granddaughter of former WWWF International Tag Team Champion Tony Marino. Over her career, she's stepped into the ring with the likes of ROH Women's World Champion Athena, Willow Nightingale and Impact Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo. While Valkyrie normally enjoys a power advantage in most of her matches, that might not be the case with Frost. Will Valkyrie send a message to Cargill or will Frost make her Dynamite debut a successful one?
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PLUS:
- AEW president Tony Khan announces the location for the debut edition of AEW Collision
- "The Ocho" Chris Jericho and Adam Cole sign their contract ahead of their anything-goes match at Double or Nothing
- We will hear from "Absolute" Ricky Starks after last week's DQ loss to "Switchblade" Jay White
- All Four Pillars (AEW World Champion Maxwell Jacob Friedman, Darby Allin, "Jungle Boy" Jack Perry and "The Spanish God" Sammy Guevara) speak ahead of the four-way match for MJF's title at Double or Nothing
- AEW World Tag Champions FTR (Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler) address their Double or Nothing opponents Triple J ("The Last Outlaw" Jeff Jarrett and Jay Lethal)