MJF puts the AEW World Championship on the line against Winnipeg’s Kenny Omega. Plus, Kyle Fletcher vies for Konosuke Takeshita’s AEW International Championship. 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.
AEW World Championship match: Maxwell Jacob Friedman (c) vs. Kenny Omega
Maxwell Jacob Friedman has defended the AEW World Championship against Kenny Omega twice before and both times he came out on top. Most recently, MJF kept his title at April’s Dynasty pay-per-view in Vancouver. He will once again put the strap on the line against Omega on Dynamite, but this time the stakes will be even higher.
On last week’s Dynamite, Friedman reluctantly granted a title match to Omega, yet it was one that came with a cost. The champion offered Omega the shot with the exact same terms he gave to his former Elite stablemate “Hangman” Adam Page back at March’s Revolution: fail to win and you can never challenge for the title again. After some debate, Omega accepted the terms and the match was on for Wednesday night.
While the pressure is obviously on Omega, it’s not like Friedman heads into the match free and easy. Following his title win, claiming AEW’s top prize for the second time, back at Worlds End in December, Friedman ended up losing the championship on the Apr. 15 Dynamite to Darby Allin. He would eventually regain the title at Double or Nothing, but the psychological damage to the prideful Friedman was done, having seen his second reign end after less than four months. Coming off of a brutal title defence over Mark Briscoe last week, Friedman will do everything in his power to ensure his third reign as champion won’t be even shorter.
As for Omega, the Winnipeg native is vying for the title for the third time since his only reign as champion ended back at Full Gear 2021, losing the championship to Page. Both of Omega’s previous losses in championship matches were the ones to Friedman. Perhaps the third time’s the charm? He comes into the match a winner of three straight, most recently defeating TMDK’s Zack Sabre Jr. at Forbidden Door.
Wednesday night’s match comes with the backdrop of All In quickly approaching. At Forbidden Door, Will Ospreay defeated Swerve Strickland to earn a title match at Wembley Stadium in August. Ospreay is a man that both Omega and MJF have a great deal of history with and each is relishing the opportunity to step into the ring with him again. Before that can happen, of course, Friedman and Omega must get through Wednesday night?
Can MJF permanently end Omega’s AEW World Championship dreams or will Omega bring the title back to The Elite?
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AEW International Championship match: NJPW World Television Champion “The Alpha” Konosuke Takeshita (c) vs. “The Protostar” Kyle Fletcher (w/ Don Callis and Jake Doyle)
Protoshita explodes on Wednesday night as former partners Konosuke Takeshita and Kyle Fletcher go one-on-one for the former’s AEW International Championship. The break between the two came back at Double or Nothing when Takeshita’s increasingly tense relationship with the rest of the Don Callis Family came to a head. The arrival of Fletcher on the scene appeared to be an attempt to defuse the situation, but it was just a ruse.
A former IWGP World Champion, Takeshita took on stablemate and rival Kazuchika Okada at the May PPV, looking to win the International title for a second time. The match was tense and hard-hitting with Takeshita ultimately pulling out the victory with Raging Fire. There would be no celebration, however. Mark Davis and Rocky Romero hit the ring alongside Callis and appeared to be ready to set in on Takeshita. Before that could happen, though, Fletcher arrived on the scene, making his return from a two-month injury absence.
The former TNT Champion embraced Takeshita and went to put the title on the new champion before nailing him in the head with it instead. Fletcher then planted Takeshita with a brainbuster before one more belt shot for good measure. Fletcher made his choice and sided with the Family.
Out for revenge, Takeshita has found himself some new allies in the form of The Conglomeration (Mark Briscoe, Orange Cassidy, Roderick Strong and Kyle O’Reilly). If the Family attempt to get involved in Wednesday night’s match, The Conglomeration will have Takeshita’s back. But that likely won’t be enough to dissuade Don Callis and co. from chicanery.
The match on Dynamite will actually be the third time Takeshita and Fletcher have met in singles action, but first in nearly three years. Takeshita defeated Fletcher back on the Oct. 27, 2023 edition of Rampage, their only previous match in AEW. Before that, they wrestled in Manchester in 2020 for a promotion called “Schadenfreude & Friends” on a card that also featured Callum Newman and an inflatable Minoru Suzuki. Takeshita also won that match.
Will Takeshita be able to pick up an emotional victory or will Fletcher continue to break the heart of his former friend?
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Casino Gauntlet Match for an AEW Women’s World Championship match at Redemption: ROH Women’s World Champion “The Fallen Goddess” Athena vs. “The It Girl” Maya World vs. ?
AEW Women’s World Champion Thekla successfully retained her championship at Forbidden Door with a win over Stardom’s Starlight Kid. To add insult to injury, Thekla left with more than her title - she took Starlight Kid’s mask. Still the champion, the irritable Austrian needs a challenger for Montreal and she will find out who that is on Wednesday night.
On Dynamite, a Casino Gauntlet Match will determine Thekla’s opponent at the July 26 pay-per-view. While we don’t have a full list of combatants scheduled for the match, we do know who will get it underway and the situation will be combustible. The first two entrants in the match are Athena and Maya World.
Before we delve into the history between those two women, a note on Casino Gauntlet Matches: unlike a traditional battle royal, the later you enter this match isn’t for the better. A Casino Gauntlet ends as soon as somebody is pinned or submits. Conceivably, the match could end with only the first two competitors having entered the ring. If there isn’t a quick resolution, more entrants will enter at timed intervals until there is a victor.
Athena earned the first spot in Wednesday night’s match with a win over Stardom’s Rina on last Thursday night’s Collision. On that same show, World earned the second spot with a victory over Julia Hart. Their respective victories allow for the two women to renew their hostilities.
They weren’t always hostilities, though. Athena and World are both from the Dallas area and Athena was one of World’s trainers when she began her career in 2022. Once her biggest cheerleader, things changed for Athena when she started seeing World as a threat. The two women had their first match back in late 2023 when Athena beat World in a Proving Ground match in Ring of Honor. Back in March, the two wrestled in another Proving Ground match and this time it ended in a time-limit draw. The result earned World a shot at Athena’s title weeks later, but the champ retained.
Then last month, it finally happened - the student beat the teacher. World upset Athena in the Owen Hart Cup semis to earn a spot in the final against Mercedes Mone when she blocked the O-Face and rolled her up for what was the biggest win of her career to date. After the match, Athena feigned delight for her protegee only to beat her down with the help of Mone.
When Mone defeated World at Forbidden Door to win the tournament for a second consecutive year, Athena couldn’t hide her delight, gloating in an interview on the broadcast right afterwards. World wasn’t ready, she said, and her win over her was a fluke. She simply wasn’t on her level.
World will have the chance to make her eat her words on Wednesday night. But if she wants things to remain between her and Athena, she’ll have to move quickly before more parties are added to the conflict. The longer the match, the more the wrestlers.
Which woman will set up a date with Thekla at the PPV on Wednesday night?
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“The Psycho Killer” Tommaso Ciampa vs. JERICHO
The enmity between Tommaso Ciampa and Chris Jericho seemed to come out of the blue, but things got heated quickly. On the May 27 edition of Dynamite, Jericho finally got a win over his recent rival, Ricochet, putting him away with a Lionsault. His celebration was short-lived as Ciampa arrived out of nowhere to lay out the former AEW World Champion, capping his attack with a vicious Bicycle Knee.
On the May 30 edition of Collision, Ciampa laid out his issues with Jericho. In fact, there were 1,004 of them. Evoking Jericho’s famous promo on Dean Malenko, Ciampa said he hates Fozzy, Jericho’s light-up jackets and his full head of hair among the laundry list. In the weeks since, the battles between the two men have continued with things getting physical on almost every occasion.
What’s become clear is that Ciampa doesn’t want a funny Jericho or a goofy Jericho. He wants Jericho to recognize the seriousness of his dislike for him and act accordingly. Jericho has been happy to oblige. The catchphrases and jokes have been abandoned and Jericho has taken as serious a tack as he has in some time.
Wednesday night’s match will be the first ever between the two and it’s unlikely to be the last. There will be a winner and loser on Dynamite, but one match will hardly tell the full story between Ciampa and Jericho. It’s likely to be the first battle of a lengthy war.
Which one of these two men will strike first?
