The New Level of Austin Creed and KOFI make their Dynamite debuts as they and Swerve Strickland defend the AEW World Trios Championships against The Rascalz. Plus, new AEW Women’s World Champion Mercedes Mone hosts a championship celebration. You can catch the action LIVE on TSN2, TSN.ca and the TSN App.
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AEW World Trios Championship match: Swerve Strickland and The New Level (“Awesome” Austin Creed and KOFI) (c) (w/ Prince Nana) vs. The Rascalz (Zachary Wentz, Dezmond Xavier and Myron Reed)
For months, fans had speculated about the arrival of one of wrestling’s most decorated teams in AEW and that moment came to pass at All In. Swerve Strickland’s partners as the wild-card team in the Roulette Royale for the AEW World Trios Championships were none other than Austin Creed and KOFI. Rechristened “The New Level” complete with an A$AP Ferg theme, Creed and KOFI became champions on their first night in the company, claiming the trios crowns with Strickland. On Wednesday night, they will put them on the line for the first time.
For the uninitiated, Creed and KOFI were two-thirds of The New Day alongside Big E. The faction held the WWE World Tag Team Championships on 12 occasions, while KOFI is also a former WWE Champion, four-time WWE Intercontinental Champion and three-time WWE US Champion. One of the most beloved teams in the history of the business, The New Level now call AEW home and have aligned themselves with arguably the loosest of loose cannons in the company in former AEW World Champion Strickland. They’ve put the trios division on notice, but that’s not all.
At Sunday’s pay-per-view at Wembley Stadium, the team of Cage & Cope (Christian Cage and Adam Copeland) successfully retained the AEW World Tag Team Championships over The Young Bucks (Nick Jackson and Matt Jackson). There was no time for celebration, though, because the victorious duo immediately had company. Both the returning FTR (Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler) and the Motor City Machine Guns (Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley) made their way down to the ring. If that weren’t enough of a collection of talent, The New Level joined them as five of the greatest tag teams in the history of the business shared the same ring. All of those teams were there to stake their claims as the top team in the division.
Before that can happen, though, Strickland and The New Level must handle the challenge of The Rascalz’ Zachary Wentz, Dezmond Xavier and Myron Reed. Wentz, Xavier and Reed have made no secret of how much they admire Creed and KOFI, so it will a thrill to face off with them. As for Strickland, that’s a different story. All three men have a long history with Swerve, dating back over a decade. They first did battle back in Combat Zone Wrestling in 2016. If anybody knows what Strickland has turned into and is capable of, it’s The Rascalz.
Will Swerve and The New Level’s first match as a trio be a success or will Wentz, Xavier and Reed end their reign before it even begins?
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AEW Women’s World Champion “The CEO” Mercedes Mone’s championship celebration
The third time was the charm for Mercedes Mone at Wembley Stadium in more than one way on Sunday. Not only did Mone finally claim the AEW Women’s World Championship in her third attempt at it, she beat Willow Nightingale, a woman who had won two titles from her in the past, to do so. Now atop the mountain in AEW, Mone wants to celebrate.
In winning AEW’s top title in what was an absolute war, Mone established a first. She became the first woman in history to hold the AEW Women’s World Championship, the WWE Women’s Championship, the IWGP Women’s Championship and CMLL World Women’s Championship. That is absolutely cause for celebration.
Never one for lacking confidence, Mone will undoubtedly announce her intentions for her reign as champion. But might somebody spoil the party? Winning that title makes her a marked woman and she’s going to learn that in a hurry.
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The fallout from All In
There were no shortage of other talking points coming out of Sunday’s show. Will Ospreay is the new AEW World Champion after beating Kenny Omega in what was arguably the finest match in the history of the promotion. Darby Allin regained the TNT Championship from Kevin Knight in a brutal spectacle.
Persephone is now a double champion, claiming the TBS Championship from Maya World with a surprise assist from the returning Britt Baker. The AEW International Championship still belongs to the Don Callis Family, but it’s now around the waist of Kazuchika Okada. In winning the Casino Gauntlet, the AEW World Championship has a new No. 1 contender in the form of AEW National Champion Andrade El Idolo.
With the landscape quickly changing in All Elite Wrestling, what does Wednesday night have in store?
