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Ospreay meets Castagnoli on Dynamite on TSN2

Will Ospreay Will Ospreay - All Elite Wrestling
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Before he meets Bryan Danielson at Sunday's Dynasty pay-per-view, Will Ospreay takes on Claudio Castagnoli. Plus, Daniel Garcia teams with Death Triangle to face off with The Elite in trios action and we will hear from new IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Jon Moxley. You can catch AEW Dynamite LIVE beginning at 8pm et/5pm pt on TSN2, streaming on the TSN App and on TSN.ca.


Will Ospreay vs. Claudio Castagnoli - In the weeks leading up to their first-ever meeting at Sunday night's Dynasty pay-per-view, it's been no secret that Will Ospreay and "The American Dragon" Bryan Danielson have been attempting to outdo one another. Look no further than each man taking a match with "The Wrestler" Katsuyori Shibata. Both men escaped their respective matches with Shibata with a victory, but a price was exacted from both and each of Ospreay and Danielson found a different way to win. This past Saturday night on Collision, the rivalry between the two men got decidedly unfriendly thanks to the intervention of Ospreay's stablemates, the Don Callis Family. After a classic 30-minute battle that saw the Blackpool Combat Club's Danielson and Claudio Castagnoli defeat ROH World TV Champion Kyle Fletcher and Powerhouse Hobbs when Castagnoli put Fletcher away with the Neutralizer, Konosuke Takeshita struck. "The Alpha" made his way down the ramp to lay waste to the fallen BCC. His attack culminated with a devastating brainbuster to Danielson on the ramp. The beating of Danielson and Castagnoli was so vicious that it went in contrast to the tenor the rivalry between Danielson and Ospreay to that point. On top of that, Ospreay was nowhere to be seen, so it begs the question of whether or not Ospreay had any knowledge of the attack or signed off on it. Ospreay's exact relationship with Don Callis and the rest of the Family hasn't exactly been clear since his arrival in AEW as a full-time performer. Ospreay first aligned with Callis ahead of last summer's Forbidden Door when he defeated Kenny Omega for the IWGP United States Championship in Toronto. The alliance seemed to be predicated on a common enemy in Omega, rather than any genuine rapport. Callis has rarely accompanied Ospreay for his matches in AEW and prefers to sit in at the commentary desk instead. How strong this bond actually is remains to be seen. What is clear, though, is that Castagnoli will be out for revenge on Wednesday night when he takes on Ospreay. Castagnoli won't give a damn whether or not Ospreay signed off on the attack. He's going to pay for it. Castagnoli heads into the match with only one singles blemish on his resume in 2024, a loss to "Hangman" Adam Page on the Jan. 10 edition of Dynamite. Ospreay remains undefeated in AEW with his last singles defeat coming back in February when he failed to reclaim the RevPro Undisputed British Heavyweight Championship from Michael Oku. Will Castagnoli exact his pound of flesh or will Ospreay keep rolling into Dynasty?

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The Elite (AEW Continental Champion "The Rainmaker" Kazuchika Okada, Nicholas Jackson and Matthew Jackson) vs. Daniel Garcia and Death Triangle ("The Bastard" PAC and Penta El Zero Miedo) (w/ Alex Abrahantes) - It's no secret that PAC is relishing his upcoming AEW Continental Championship match against Kazuchika Okada at Dynasty. Perhaps the most miserable man in AEW, "The Bastard" only derives pleasure from doling out violence to others and is counting down the days until he gets his hands on the seven-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion. Okada formally introduced himself to PAC last week on Dynamite when he cracked him in the head with a chair shot. This past Saturday night on Collision, PAC thanked him for it, noting that the ringing headache reminds him of how much he hates Okada. On Wednesday night, the two men will meet for the first time ever when Okada teams with the Nicholas Jackson and Matthew Jackson to take on PAC, Penta El Zero Miedo and Daniel Garcia. The Young Bucks and Penta are no strangers to one another and have done battle on numerous occasions with the Jacksons and Penta and his brother, Rey Fenix, taking part in a number of classic matches. The Jacksons and former stablemate Kenny Omega also took on all three members of Death Triangle in a memorable best-of-seven series for the AEW World Trios Championships at the end of 2022 that carried on into the beginning of 2023 that culminated in The Elite winning back the titles. The other man in the match is Daniel Garcia, who is coming off of a victory over Angelico on Collision. The Buffalo native is still looking for his first title in AEW and a strong performance against a current champion in Okada and former (and, perhaps, future) champions in the Jacksons could put him in line for a title shot down the road. Which of these talented threesomes will pick up a win on Wednesday night?

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Mixed tag-team match: TNT Champion "The Rated R Superstar" Adam Copeland and Willow Nightingale (w/ Stokely Hathaway) vs. The House of Black (TBS Champion Julia Hart and "Big, Bad" Brody King) - It will be a rarity on Wednesday night on Dynamite when Adam Copeland and Willow Nightingale team up to take on the House of Black's Julia Hart and Brody King. The match will be just the 16th mixed tag-team encounter in AEW history and the first in almost a year. The bout will also serve as a preview for two big matchups at Sunday night's Dynasty pay-per-view. In St. Louis, Hart will be defending her TBS Championship against Nightingale, while Copeland will team with ROH World Champion Mark Briscoe and New Japan Strong Openweight Champion Eddie Kingston in trios action against King, Malakai Black and Buddy Matthews. While mixed tags aren't a common occurrence in AEW, Copeland is no stranger to them, having competed alongside his wife, Beth Phoenix, in a number of them. But Wednesday night won't necessarily be about wins and losses and rather about sending a message about Sunday night. Both sides will be looking to send out an opening salvo ahead of what will be considerably more high-stakes matchups on the weekend. For Nightingale, this will be her sixth-ever meeting with Hart. She is 2-3 in their previous matchups, but has dropped both of their singles bouts. She will be hoping the third time is the charm on Sunday night as Nightingale looks to capture her first AEW gold. For King, the match offers an opportunity to step into the ring with Copeland, a man who has no problem with putting his championship on the line against all comers. Showing him firsthand what he's capable of will undoubtedly put King front of mind when it comes to just who Copeland might offer a title match to next. While King is a former AEW World Trios Champion, he has yet to hold singles gold in AEW. With big matches on the horizon on Sunday, which of these two teams will come out on top?

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"The Virtuosa" Deonna Purrazzo vs. Mariah May (w/ Luther) - Deonna Purrazzo feels like a forgotten woman in AEW right now. Purrazzo failed to unseat "Timeless" Toni Storm as the AEW Women's World Champion at last month's Revolution pay-per-view and has fallen out of the title picture since. At Sunday's Dynasty PPV, Storm puts her title on the line against former champion Thunder Rosa with Purrazzo believing strongly that she should be back in the frame for that shot. During her title match, Purrazzo made Storm tap out to a Fujiwara armbar, but the referee didn't see it, having been completely distracted by Mariah May and Luther. It was another distraction from May that allowed Storm to hit Storm Zero and defeat Purrazzo. On the Mar. 20 edition of Dynamite, Purrazzo teamed with Rosa to defeat Storm and May, but the two were far from a cohesive unit. Purrazzo thought she had May beat when Rosa blind-tagged herself into the match and eventually got a pin on Storm. Despite being a winner that night, Purrazzo certainly didn't feel like it. She will have the opportunity to take out some of her mounting frustrations on May this Wednesday night. It will be the first ever singles meeting between the two. Since losing for the first time in an AEW ring - to Rosa - on the Apr. 3 Dynamite, May has reeled off two straight victories, defeating Momo Kohgo and, most recently, Anna Jay on last week's show. May has also found herself in the middle of a weird and potentially romantic tug-of-war between Storm and her former associate in STARDOM's Club Venus, Mina Shirakawa. Will that situation have any bearing on Wednesday night's match? Will Purrazzo enact her vengeance or will May continue to get back on track?

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PLUS:

IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Jon Moxley makes his return to AEW. fresh off of defeating Tetsuya Naito for New Japan Pro-Wrestling's top prize last Friday night

- We will hear from AEW World Champion Samoa Joe and Swerve Strickland (w/ Prince Nana) ahead of their title match at Dynasty

- "The CEO" Mercedes Mone makes an appearance

- Taz brokers a meeting between his son, the FTW Champion Hook, and Chris Jericho