Ospreay meets Fletcher on Dynamite on TSN2
Published
Will Ospreay makes his in-ring Dynamite debut as a contracted AEW wrestler as he takes on Don Callis Family stablemate Kyle Fletcher. Plus, former AEW Women's World Champion Riho meets Kris Statlander. You can catch AEW Dynamite LIVE at 8pm et/5pm pt on TSN2, streaming on the TSN App and on TSN.ca.
Will Ospreay vs. ROH World TV Champion Kyle Fletcher (w/ Don Callis) - They were stablemates in the United Empire and now stablemates in the Don Callis Family, but on Wednesday night, Will Ospreay and Kyle Fletcher will be opponents. Fresh off of a victory in a match of the year candidate against another stablemate in "The Alpha" Konosuke Takeshita at Revolution, Ospreay makes his in-ring Dynamite debut as an AEW-contracted talent. Fletcher will be in action for the first time since a January 31 loss to Chris Jericho on Dynamite. The match will be a massive one for Fletcher who captured the vacant ROH World TV Championship at December's Final Battle in a six-way elimination match that also featured Bryan Keith, Dalton Castle, Komander, Lee Johnson and Lee Moriarty. Fletcher has made it no secret that Ospreay has acted as a mentor to him, both in England and in Japan, taking him under his wing in the early days of his career. But despite his great affection for Ospreay, Fletcher has also seen him as a rival over the course of his career. At Revolution Pro Wrestling's Epic Encounters 3 back in October of 2020, Ospreay successfully defended the Undisputed British Heavyweight Championship over Fletcher. In their two singles meetings, Ospreay has won both. But Fletcher does have one major win over Ospreay - in a Tables, Ladders and Chairs match at PROGRESS Wrestling's Breadknife in London in March of 2019, Aussie Open (Fletcher and Mark Davis) won the PROGESS Tag Team Champions over the Swords of Essex (Ospreay and Paul Robinson), who had previously won the titles from Fletcher and Davis months earlier. Of note for Wednesday's contest is what kind of shape Ospreay will be in after the war with Takeshita. Ospreay appeared to be in a great deal of discomfort following a top-rope brainbuster on Sunday night. Will Ospreay pick up another win or will Fletcher spring the upset on Wednesday night?
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Riho vs. Kris Statlander (w/ Stokely Hathaway) - Two former champions look to continue building momentum as each seeks to once again enter the title chase as former AEW Women's World Champion takes on a former TBS Champion in Kris Statlander. Riho was the inaugural AEW women's champ, defeating "The Native Beast" Nyla Rose for the honour on the very first edition of Dynamite in the fall of 2019. She went on to defend it successfully on four occasions before dropping it to Rose in February of 2020. Since then, Riho has lost both of her title matches in an attempt to regain her belt, first to Jamie Hayter in April of 2023 and most recently against "Timeless" Toni Storm at the Dec. 30 World's End pay-per-view. She picked up her first win of 2024 this past Friday night on Rampage when she defeated Trish Adora. Statlander became the first woman to defeat Jade Cargill, taking the TBS Championship away from her at last May's Double or Nothing PPV. She went on to defend the title on 16 occasions before losing it to Julia Hart in a three-way that also included Skye Blue at November's Full Gear. In recent weeks, Statlander and Willow Nightingale have been embroiled in a bitter feud with Hart and Blue and are coming off of a big tag-team victory at Revolution. Central to their partnership has been the arrival of Stokely Hathaway as the duo's manager. While there have been some bumps along the way, Hathaway has been a net positive for both women. Will he be a factor on Wednesday night? Statlander and Riho have met in singles action only once before with the former picking up the victory over the latter in an AEW Women's World Championship match on the Jan. 8, 2020 Dynamite. With gold on both of their minds, which of these two women will emerge victorious on Wednesday night?
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PLUS:
- Dynamite debuts a new set and look