Bitter rivals turned a formidable force, Adam Page and Swerve Strickland team up against The Opps in a Lights Out Match. Plus, Jon Moxley takes on Shelton Benjamin. 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.
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Lights Out Match: “Hangman” Adam Page and Swerve Strickland (w/ Prince Nana) vs. AEW World Trios Champions The Opps (Powerhouse Hobbs and HOOK)
Since his return at Full Gear following a three-month absence, former AEW World Champion Swerve Strickland has once again set his sights on the title he once held, which is unsurprising. What has been surprising, though, is that Strickland has also struck up an alliance with his archnemesis “Hangman” Adam Page. Even though Samoa Joe is no longer the world champ, Strickland and Page are still gunning for The Opps, especially HOOK, the man who cost Page the AEW World Championship at the November pay-per-view. After already doling out vicious beatings to members of The Opps and The Opps Dojo, Strickland and Page will have the opportunity on Wednesday night to hand out their bloodiest beating to date as they take on HOOK and Will Hobbs in a Lights Out Match. What that means is that the bout is unsanctioned, anything goes and AEW has completely washed its hands of the match. That should terrify HOOK and Hobbs who are well aware of what Swerve and “The Cowboy” are capable of when there are restraints in place. Now completely unfettered, Strickland and Page can unleash a world of hurt on their opponents. Can The Opps manage to outsmart Page and Swerve or will the Hangman and Strickland make HOOK and Hobbs regret ever crossing them?
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AEW Continental Championship Eliminator Match: Jon Moxley (c) vs. “The Standard of Excellence” Shelton Benjamin
With Bobby Lashley on the shelf with injury for the immediate term, The Hurt Business is focusing on singles action. Last Wednesday night on Dynamite, new AEW Continental Champion Jon Moxley, fresh off of capturing the title over Kazuchika Okada at Worlds End, outlasted the Don Callis Family’s Josh Alexander in a Continental Championship Eliminator Match. Mo picked up the victory with the Bulldog Choke. After the match, Montel Vontavious Porter and Shelton Benjamin made their way down the ramp to let Moxley know that Benjamin had next. And he does on Dynamite when he steps up for an Eliminator Match. A former AEW World Tag Team Champion alongside Lashley, Benjamin is seeking his first singles title in AEW to add to what is already a packed trophy case. The Minnesota product has previously held the Ring of Honor World Tag Team Championships on two occasions with Charlie Haas and the WWE World Tag Team Championships three times, twice with Haas and once with Cedric Alexander. Individually, Benjamin is a three-time WWE Intercontinental Champion and also held the WWE United States Championship. Benjamin’s credentials spek for themselves, but he has never faced off with Moxley at any point in their careers. While the technical edge undoubtedly belongs to Benjamin, Moxley can hang with anybody and proved that yet again during the Continental Classic when he gritted out win after win to advance and eventually win the tournament. Mox’s performance in the tournament was so gutsy that he managed to win over many of the fans who had turned their backs on him over the Death Riders’ reign of terror. Can Benjamin pick up a win and earn himself a title shot or will Mox stay hot and turn away another potential contender?
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ROH World Champion Bandido vs. ROH World Tag Team Champion “The Spanish God” Sammy Guevara (w/ The Beast Mortos and Dralistico)
With a date with Maxwell Jacob Friedman and a match for his AEW World Championship set for next week’s Maximum Carnage edition of Dynamite, Bandido is not taking things easy. A week after defeating La Faccion Ingobernable member The Beast Mortos, somehow managing to get him up in the 21-Plex, the ROH World Champion returns to action on Wednesday night against another LFI member in the form of Sammy Guevara. The match will be the former TNT Champion’s first on Dynamite in over a year. Guevara last competed on AEW’s flagship show on Oct. 23, 2024. The match is a major opportunity for Guevara and it will be one where he likes his chances. Not only will the spotlight be firmly on Guevara, but he catches Bandido at a moment when he could very well be at least a little bit distracted with MJF on the horizon next week. If that’s the case, that’s all the opening he’ll need to make Bandido pay. While the match isn’t an ROH World Championship Eliminator, a win over Bandido will certainly put Guevara in the frame for a title shot down the road. Bandido and Guevara have shared a ring in the past, but Wednesday’s match marks only the second singles bout between the two men. Bandido previously defeated Guevara in a match in Monterrey, Mexico for the RIOT Lucha Libre promotion in 2019. Will Guevara mark his return to Dynamite with a big win or will Bandido use Wednesday night’s match to send one last message to MJF ahead of next week?
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“Timeless” Toni Storm (w/ Luther) vs. “The Problem” Marina Shafir (w/ Wheeler YUTA)
In recent weeks, former AEW Women’s World Champion Toni Storm has found herself drawn into the orbit of The Conglomeration, much to the chagrin of her Timeless Love Bombs teammate Mina Shirakawa. Both at Worlds End and last week on Dynamite, Storm fought alongside members of The Conglomeration in multi-person matches against the Death Riders. After a win on the PPV, the team of Storm, Orange Cassidy and Roderick Strong fell to Marina Shafir, Claudio Castagnoli and Daniel Garcia in a tornado match last Wednesday night. Following the match, Storm was once again enchanted by Cassidy, who had taken the loss for his team when he was pinned by Castagnoli after Swiss Death. While Shirakawa certainly does not like whatever is going on between Storm and Cassidy, they will likely see each other again on Wednesday night when Storm meets Shafir one on one. Wednesday night’s match will only be the second ever one-on-one encounter between the two and the first in over three years. Storm previously defeated Shafir on the June 22nd, 2022 edition of Dynamite. Much has changed since then and this is a much more accomplished and composed version of Shafir. A victory over Storm would certainly announce Shafir’s presence in the AEW Women’s World Championship picture and make current champion Kris Statlander take notice. Can Storm prevent Shafir from picking up the biggest victory of her career?
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“Jungle” Jack Perry and JetSpeed (“The Jet” Kevin Knight and “Speedball” Mike Bailey vs. The Demand (AEW National Champion Ricochet, Toa Liona and Bishop Kaun)
On last week’s Dynamite, Ricochet and the GOA managed to add injury to insult. If it weren’t bad enough that Ricochet managed to hang on to his AEW National Championship over Jack Perry thanks to all sorts of interference and chicanery from Toa Liona and Bishop Kaun, what they did to Luchasaurus was much, much worse. Accompanying Perry to the ring despite already being injured, the GOA ensured the former AEW World Tag Team Champion won’t be back any time soon when they Pillmanized his injured shoulder. It was a shocking display of the kind of brutality that the hulking Kaun and Liona are capable of on a regular basis. This Wednesday night, Perry has a chance to enact a measure of revenge when he teams with Kevin Knight and Mike Bailey to take on all three members of The Demand in a trios match. While Perry would love to get another crack at Ricochet’s title, Wednesday night will be all about vengeance. He won’t be looking for a win. He’ll be looking to put a beating on the men who took out his friend. Will The Demand heap more misery on Perry or can the former TNT Champion and JetSpeed give them a taste of their own medicine?
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Willow Nightingale holds a championship celebration
On last week’s Dynamite, “The Babe with the Power” ended Mercedes Moné’s reign as the longest-tenured TBS Champion at 584 days when she pinned “The CEO” after a Doctor Bomb. Not only did Willow Nightingale capture the TBS Championship for a second time, becoming the first two-time champion, she also became the first woman to concurrently hold two AEW championships. Nightingale was already one half of the AEW Women’s World Tag Team Champions alongside Harley Cameron. On Wednesday night, Nightingale and the rest of The Conglomeration will celebrate her accomplishments. But will anybody try to rain on her parade?
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We’ll hear from AEW World Champion Maxwell Jacob Friedman
It’s highly unlikely that a proud northerner like AEW World Champion MJF will be too thrilled with the prospect of traveling to Tulsa, OK, but he will be present for Dynamite on Wednesday night. And he’s a marked man. On last week’s show, former champions Kenny Omega, Adam Page and Swerve Strickland made it clear they want their title back and Brodido (Brody King and Bandido) also wants to ensure MJF’s return engagement with the BBB (Big Burberry Belt) is a short one. What will “The Salt of the Earth” have to say one week out from his title defence against Bandido?
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“Good Ol’ J.R.” Jim Ross returns to commentary
With Dynamite in his home state of Oklahoma, the legendary Jim Ross makes his return to the commentary desk on Wednesday night.
