RVD makes AEW debut on Dynamite on TSN2
Published
Jack Perry puts his FTW Championship on the line against ECW icon Rob Van Dam. Plus, a pair of legendary teams collide when the Hardys take on the Young Bucks and Hikaru Shida defends her AEW Women's World Championship against Anna Jay. You can catch AEW Dynamite LIVE at 8pm et/5pm pt on TSN2, streaming on the TSN App and on TSN.ca.
FTW Championship match: Jack Perry (c) vs. "The Whole F'N Show" Rob Van Dam - Since Jack Perry defeated Hook for the FTW Championship on the July 19 edition of Dynamite, he's done nothing but run down the legacy of Extreme Championship Wrestling, the promotion that gave birth to the FTW title in 1998. On last week's Dynamite, Perry confronted former ECW World Champion and current AEW coach Jerry Lynn and demanded that he defend himself and his beloved former promotion. Lynn told Perry that there is no doctor in the world who would clear him physically, so he brought in a friend to shut Perry up for him in the form of Rob Van Dam. The longest reigning ECW World TV Champion, a former ECW World Tag Team Champion alongside Sabu and a former ECW World Champion, Van Dam was also a Grand Slam Champion in WWE, holding the WWE Championship, the Intercontinental Championship, the European Championship and Tag Team Championships (alongside Kane, Rey Mysterio and Booker T). In RVD, Perry has found a worthy competitor and a motivated one, who will now do what he can to make Perry pay for the disrespect towards the company he helped build and make famous. Perry has talked a big game and will now need to back that up in his first defence of the FTW Championship. Can Perry make his mark by taking out an ECW icon or will RVD protect ECW's legacy?
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The Young Bucks (Nick Jackson and Matt Jackson) (w/ Brandon Cutler) vs. The Hardys (Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy) - In recent months, the Young Bucks' sole focus had been on The Elite's war with the Blackpool Combat Club, but with that now put to bed with their victory over the BCC in Blood & Guts on the July 19 edition of Dynamite, the Jackson brothers have another test on the horizon. At All In on Aug. 27 at Wembley Stadium in London, the Bucks will take on AEW World Tag Team Champions FTR (Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler) in a bout that won't only decide the AEW titles, but also who is the best tag team of the modern era. In order to build up to their challenge for the titles they previously held for two occasions for a combined 330 days, the Jacksons will step into the ring with one of pro wrestling's most iconic teams of all-time in Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy. The Hardys and Jacksons have done battle on a number of occasions over the years, but only once in AEW. In their lone encounter in AEW, the Hardys were victorious over the Bucks at Double or Nothing 2022 when Jeff Hardy put Nick Jackson away with the Swanton Bomb. The match on Wednesday night will be a measuring stick for a Young Bucks team that hasn't wrestled in a traditional tag team match since defeating Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher and Mark Davis) on the Feb. 24 edition of Rampage. What kind of challenge will the 12-time world tag team champions provide for the Jackson brothers on Wednesday night?
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AEW Women's World Championship match: Hikaru Shida (c) vs. Anna Jay - The 200th edition of Dynamite last Wednesday night was a celebration of AEW history and it culminated with Hikaru Shida winning the AEW Women's World Championship for a second time by defeating Toni Storm. Shida isn't taking any time in defending her title as she will face off with Anna Jay on Wednesday night, but Jay has much on her mind. While she's coming off of a big win over Skye Blue on Rampage, that match and her title challenge come with the backdrop of a crumbling Jericho Appreciation Society (more on that later). Jay can ill afford to have her mind anywhere outside of the ring against Shida. This will mark the third time the duo has met in singles action, but it will be the first time in nearly three years. Shida has won both of their previous encounters, including an AEW Women's World Championship match on the Nov. 25, 2020 episode of Dynamite. To date, that match was Jay's only shot at the AEW Women's World Championship. At the time, Jay probably had no idea that she wouldn't get another title shot in nearly three years, but with that knowledge of just how infrequently they come along, she will need to make the most of this chance. Can Jay win her first AEW title or will Shida start off her new reign with a victory?
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Blackpool Combat Club (Jon Moxley and ROH World Champion Claudio Castagnoli) (w/ Wheeler YUTA) vs. Lucha Bros. (Penta El Zero Miedo and Rey Fenix) (w/ Alex Abrahantes) - Even before the Blackpool Combat Club defeated Best Friends (Chuck Taylor and Trent Beretta) in last Friday's Parking Lot Fight, the Lucha Bros. had already called next. Now Jon Moxley and Claudio Castagnoli, barely having survived their match with Best Friends, will take on Penta El Zero Miedo and Rey Fenix on Wednesday night. It will be the third straight Wednesday in which Mox and Penta have shared a ring. On the July 26 Dynamite, the Lucha Bros. defeated Moxley and Castagnoli and the Best Friends in a three-way match before Beretta got the better of Moxley and Penta in a three-way match on the Aug. 2 Dynamite. Having faced off as frequently as the have in the weeks since Ring of Honor's Death Before Dishonor pay-per-view where this three-way feud kicked off in earnest, these two teams are more than familiar with one another, but the issue is going to be wear and tear. These teams have beaten the holy hell out of one another during this feud and there's no way that any of the four men will head into Wednesday night anything close to 100 per cent. While it's uncertain which team will pick up a victory, what is clear is that it's going to come at a huge physical cost. Which of these duos will have their arms raised on Wednesday night?
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PLUS:
- We will hear from AEW World Champion Maxwell Jacob Friedman and his challenger at All In, Adam Cole
- As announced last week, there will be a mandatory meeting for the Jericho Appreciation Society ("The Ocho" Chris Jericho, Jake Hager, "The Spanish God" Sammy Guevara, "Red Death" Daniel Garcia, "Daddy Magic" Matt Menard, "Cool Hand" Angelo Parker, Anna Jay and Tay Melo) to discuss the group's future