Kris Statlander defends her newly won AEW Women’s World Championship against Mina Shirakawa. Plus, the Conglomeration meets the Don Callis Family in trios action. 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 Women’s World Championship match: Kris Statlander (c) vs. Interim ROH World Television Champion Mina Shirakawa
For the first time in 217 days, a new AEW Women’s World Champion was crowned at All Out in Toronto as “Timeless” Toni Storm’s fourth reign came to an end. In a match that also included Thekla and Jamie Hayter, Kris Statlander pinned Storm with the Seatbelt to win her first world title. In doing so, Statlander became the first woman to hold both the AEW Women’s World Championship and the TBS Championship. After she celebrated her surprise victory, Statlander vowed to be a fighting champion and will prove that on Dynamite when she puts her title on the line against Mina Shirakawa. Shirakawa will be looking to become a double champion, as she already holds the Interim ROH World Television Championship. But it will be more than simply a title Shirakawa is after on Wednesday night - she’s also out to avenge her friend Storm following her loss on Saturday. The match will be the first-ever meeting between the two women. Statlander heads into the match having not dropped a singles bout in five months. Her last defeat came in April during the Owen Hart Foundation Cup semis to Hayter. While this momentum has led Statlander to AEW’s top prize, questions about where her loyalty lies remain. She’s formed a partnership in recent weeks with Harley Cameron, but she’s also been in contact with former Best Friends stablemate Wheeler YUTA, who appears to be recruiting her for the Death Riders. Though she’s publicly spurned his advances, she has been using YUTA’s Seatbelt in recent matches (to great success), raising the question of just what kind of influence he is to her right now. Will Statlander open her reign with a big win or will Shirakawa end it before it even starts?
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The Conglomeration (Mark Briscoe, Hologram and ?) (w/ Willow Nightingale) vs. The Don Callis Family (AEW Unified Champion “The Rainmaker” Kazuchika Okada, “The Alpha” Konosuke Takeshita and “The Alchemist” Hechicero) (w/ Don Callis and ”The Murderhawk Monster" Lance Archer)
Mark Briscoe’s win on Saturday at All Out might have been the biggest of his AEW career. The 13-time ROH World Tag Team Champion finally got the better of rival Maxwell Jacob Friedman after months of torment, defeating him in a brutal and bloody Tables and Tacks Match. Briscoe picked up the win by hitting a Froggy Bow through a table and following it up with a Jay Driller on the tacks. After the match, Briscoe was in a celebratory mood and threw out a trios challenge to the Don Callis Family. Representing the Conglomeration will be Briscoe and Hologram, but not Tomohiro Ishii or Kyle O’Reilly. On Saturday, O’Reilly got off the phone with the team’s third man and after informing him of the match, he simply replied, “Whatever.” That appeared to herald the return of the one and only “Freshly Squeezed” Orange Cassidy, who’s been on the shelf with a torn pec since March. On the other side of the ring will be three men who had mixed results in Toronto. Kazuchika Okada, Konosuke Takeshita and Hechicero were all in action at All Out with the former two men competing against one another in the same match. Okada managed to keep his AEW Unified Championship in an absolute barnburner of a three-way against Takeshita and Mascara Dorada, who had a breakout performance. Takeshita appeared to have the match won. He hit Dorada with a Raging Fire, but before he could get the pin, Okada intervened and knocked him out of the ring with a dropkick. That allowed Okada to pick up Dorada and plant him with a Rainmaker to claim the pinfall victory. After the match, Callis had the two men shake hands, but it was clear that Takeshita was furious with the way that title slipped away from him. Whether or not Takeshita and Okada can remain on the same page for an entire match remains to be seen and it will force Hechicero to try to hold everything together. Can the Family put on a united front or will the Conglomeration pick up a big win?
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Tony Khan makes a major announcement
AEW president Tony Khan has asked for TV time on Wednesday to make what he’s calling a major announcement. Rumours are swirling as to what this might entail, but nobody seems to know exactly what he plans to address. Just what does Khan have planned for Wednesday night?
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The Acclaimed (“Platinum” Max Caster and “The Pride of Pro Wrestling” Anthony Bowens) are in action
Whether they like it or not, Max Caster and Anthony Bowens will reunite on Wednesday night. The former AEW World Tag Team Champions split up at the beginning of the year with Bowens sick of Caster’s egotism. But going out on their own has been easier said than done. A string of recent losses has brought out a vicious side in Bowens, who lashed out at Billy Gunn in frustration. His anger has led him to attack Caster on multiple occasions in recent weeks. As for Caster, his “Five-Minute Challenge” matches have not gone to plan, suffering loss after loss to the likes of AEW World Champion “Hangman” Adam Page, IWGP World Champion Zack Sabre Jr. and AEW World Tag Team Champion Brody King among countless others. While both men don’t want to acknowledge that they might be better off together, Jerry Lynn is forcing the issue. The Extreme Championship Wrestling legend and AEW coach has attempted to get them back on the same page, but has been rebuffed at every attempt. But two weeks ago on Collision, Lynn was accosted by the Swirl (Blake Christian and Lee Johnson) leading to Caster and Bowens coming to his aid. It was Lynn who signed a match for the duo on Wednesday night and threatened Caster and Bowens with suspension and a fine if they fail to show up. What can we expect from this very tense reunion?
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The fallout from All Out
Saturday’s All Out show saw champions retain (Adam Page, Mercedes Mone and Brodido all kept their titles), major returns (Eddie Kingston and “The Bastard” PAC are back, while Jack Perry and Luchasaurus are back together as Jurassic Express) and dangerous escalations in feuds (FTR laying out both Christian Cage and Beth Copeland with stuff piledrivers after the match and Darby Allin setting Jon Moxley on fire). Just what comes next after a newsworthy Saturday afternoon?
