Mercedes Moné puts the TBS Championship on the line against Willow Nightingale. Plus, Jack Perry challenges Ricochet for the AEW National Championship. You can catch AEW Dynamite LIVEon Wednesday night at 8 p.m. ET/ 5 p.m. PT on TSN2, the TSN App, and TSN.ca.
TBS Championship match: “The CEO” Mercedes Moné (c) vs. AEW Women’s World Tag Team Champion Willow Nightingale
It’s safe to say 2025 isn’t ending the way Mercedes Moné has intended. While the year is still undoubtedly one of the greatest of her career, the runaway train momentum she had earlier this year has slowed down. At its apex, Moné was the holder of 13 different championships, but that number has since dwindled. She lost the Ring of Honor World Television Championship to Red Velvet and her Undisputed British Women’s Championship is now around the waist of Alex Windsor. Her pursuit of the AEW Women’s World Championship went for naught twice, thwarted by two different champions in Toni Storm and Kris Statlander months apart. Moné’s attempt at claiming the AEW Women’s World Tag Team Championship, alongside former rival Athena, met a dead end on two occasions: first, she and Athena were defeated by eventual inaugural champions The Babes of Wrath (Willow Nightingale and Harley Cameron) in the quarter-finals of the tournament to crown the first champions and then, this past weekend at Worlds End, the champions retained their titles with a win over Moné and Athena when Nightingale pinned “The CEO.” Moné’s frustration boiled over after the match and, perhaps, caused her to get a little bit reckless. Vowing to kick Nightingale’s “f---ing ass,” she put her TBS Championship on the line in a challenge for Dynamite. The history between the two women is well documented. In their first ever match in May of 2023, Nightingale defeated Moné to become the inaugural New Japan Strong Women’s Champion in a match that saw Moné pick up an injury that sidelined her for months. She would get her revenge on Nightingale, though, a year later at Double or Nothing 2024 when she beat her for the TBS Championship, the very same one that’s on the line on Wednesday night. The match on Dynamite will be the first singles meeting between the two since then. Taking on a competitor the calibre of Moné is a daunting task for most, but the fearless Nightingale has proven herself more than capable of handling “The CEO” in the past. Can Moné steady the ship and close out the year on a high or will Nightingale bring another title back to The Conglomeration?
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AEW National Championship match: Ricochet (c) (w/ Toa Liona and Bishop Kaun) vs. “Jungle” Jack Perry (w/ Luchasaurus)
Since becoming the inaugural AEW National Champion at Full Gear in November, Ricochet has successfully defended his championship on three occasions, but on Wednesday night, he will make his first defence on Dynamite. Opposing him will be Jack Perry, who earned the match by pinning Ricochet at Worlds End in a eight-man match that saw Jurassic Express (Perry and Luchasaurus) and JetSpeed (Kevin Knight and Mike Bailey) defeat The Demand (Ricochet, Toa Liona and Bishop Kaun) and Josh Alexander. A former AEW World Tag Team Champion, Perry is looking to capture AEW singles gold for the first time since he held the TNT Championship for 146 days in 2024. Wednesday night’s match is the first-ever singles meeting between the two men. The match should be an interesting one despite the lack of familiarity because Ricochet and Perry have shared a number of common opponents in the past and have the profiles of similar opponents from each man’s previous history. What happens outside of the ring will also be of great importance. As he always does, Ricochet will have The GOA (Liona and Kaun) with him at ringside to help gain him any advantage they can. To counteract that, Perry will have the hulking Luchasaurus accompanying him to the ring, but even with his prodigious size, the numbers game remains in Ricochet’s favour. Will Ricochet make it four straight wins as AEW National Champion or will Perry taste gold for the first time in nearly 18 months?
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AEW Continental Championship Eliminator Match: Jon Moxley (c) vs. “The Walking Weapon” Josh Alexander
Something very interesting happened at Worlds End that capped off a shift that began weeks ago. When Jon Moxley lost the AEW World Championship to “Hangman” Adam Page at All In last summer, he began to spiral. Already unhinged on his best day, Mox became increasingly unmoored from reality and his work began to suffer. The tyrant who ruled the Death Riders with an iron fist began tapping out left and right in matches and the facade of this unsinkable force of nature began to quickly crumble. But something changed with the onset of the 2025 Continental Championship. The third annual edition of the tournament awakened something inside of Moxley that had been missing for years. Gone was the misanthropy that led him to keep his world title in a briefcase instead of wearing it proudly and it was replaced by the fiery version of Moxley we’d grown accustomed to in years past. That version of Moxley was one that the fans loved and, as the tournament progressed, the crowds once again got behind the four-time AEW World Champion. It culminated at Worlds End when Moxley survived Kyle Fletcher, in perhaps the match of the tournament, and defending champion Kazuchuka Okada, to win the tourney and claim the title. After the match, Moxley cut an impassioned promo, putting over all of the tournament’s competitors and pro wrestling on the whole. Jon Moxley had been reborn. We will get our first look at this new/old Mox on Wednesday night when he takes on Bolton, Ont.’s Josh Alexander in a Continental Championship Eliminator Match. Like all Eliminator Matches, the title is not on the line, but should Alexander beat Moxley, he will earn a future championship match. Because this is for the Continental title, Continental rules apply, which means there will be no interference and neither man will be accompanied by a second. The ninth Triple Crown Champion in TNA Wrestling history, Alexander is still looking for his first championship in AEW and a win over Moxley will set him up for a shot at gold. While Moxley and Alexander came up in many of the same independent federations over the years in the northeast and midwest, Wednesday night’s match will be the first ever meeting between the two. Moxley’s ability to inflict brutality is almost second to none, but there might not be anybody better suited to withstand it than Alexander. If Moxley wants war, then Alexander will be ready for it. Will Mox begin his reign with a win or will Alexander set himself up for a title shot?
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We will hear from AEW World Champion Maxwell Jacob Friedman
Time and time again, MJF has proven that he doesn’t make empty promises. After being defeated by Mark Briscoe at All Out last fall in Toronto, MJF took leave from AEW and vowed not to return until he was once again the killer who became the youngest champion in the promotion’s history. Coming back to insert himself into the AEW World Championship match at Worlds End, Friedman defeated Samoa Joe, Adam Page and Swerve Strickland to once again claim AEW’s top prize and do what he said he was going to do. In winning on Saturday night, Friedman joined Lou Thesz, Rikidozan, Shinsuke Nakamura, Kazuchika Okada, Yokozuna, The Rock, Brock Lesnar, John Cena and Randy Orton as the only men to hold a world title twice before the age of 30. Never at a loss for words, what will Friedman have to say for himself on Wednesday night?
