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AEW is back tonight tonight (Dec. 17) with a three hour Holiday Bash combo edition of Dynamite & Collision from Co-op Live in Manchester, England. This is the third episode of Dynamite during the five week build to Worlds End, which takes place on December 27.
One of AEW’s biggest stars is finally coming back
The annual Dynamite Diamond Battle Royal takes place tonight at Holiday Bash. Its like a normal Battle Royal, except the match ends when two wrestlers remain in the ring. Those two men will then fight each other next week at Dynamite on 34th
Street in New York City. The winner of that match not only wins the Dynamite Diamond Ring, but also earns a world title match on Jan. 14 at Dynamite Maximum Carnage.
Some of the names currently announced for tonight’s Battle Royal include AEW National Champion Ricochet, Shelton Benjamin, Anthony Bowens, Brody King, Mark Davis, and Max Caster. But there’s one man who hasn’t been announced yet who pretty much has to be in the match, and that’s The Blade former world champion MJF.
MJF has been missing from AEW programming since losing a hardcore match against Mark Briscoe at All Out, nearly three months ago. He said he won’t return to AEW until he’s ready to be the peak version of himself who once dominated the promotion as the longest reigning world champion in its history.
The reason why he must be returning tonight at Holiday Bash is simple; MJF has won the Dynamite Diamond Ring every single year since AEW introduced the gimmick in 2019. It wouldn’t make any sense to bring the ring back this year without MJF competing to win it yet again. There are world championship stakes on the line here as well, so everything is lining up for MJF to make his long-awaited comeback tonight to be one of the final two men left standing in the Dynamite Diamond Battle Royal.
Tune into Holiday Bash to see who the last two men left in the Dynamite Diamond Battle Royal will be, and to find out if MJF is finally back and ready to dominate AEW as the calendar changes to 2026.
The rest of the card
Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks are back together in action tonight as The Elite, taking on AEW Unified Champion Kazuchika Okada, IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Konosuke Takeshita, and Hechicero of the Don Callis Family in a trios match. The one million dollars of Tony Khan’s money that Don’s family won at Full Gear are on the line, so this is the Bucks chance to finally stop being broke. Omega said he’ll do the match for free, so Nicholas and Matthew may even get to split the full million if they win. I don’t know why Don keeps putting Okada and Takeshita on the same team and expecting them to get along, but that mistake will probably cost him one million dollars.
Toni Storm, Mina Shirakawa, and AEW Women’s Tag Team Champions Harley Cameron & Willow Nightingale all team up tonight in an 8-woman tag match against TBS Champion Mercedes Mone, ROH Women’s World Champion Athena, Marina Shafir, and Megan Bayne. Mercedes said she has a team of killers with her, so we’ll see if they can deliver on those lofty words. Will new challengers be established for any of the champions coming out of this match?
AEW World Tag Team Champions FTR defend their belts against Juice Robinson and Austin Gunn of the Bang Bang Gang. It feels like this feud is here to kill some time until Adam Copeland and Christian Cage are ready to come back to pursue the titles.
There will be a contract signing tonight for the three-way AEW world championship match at Worlds End between Samoa Joe, Swerve Strickland, and Hangman Page. Are The Opps setting up a trap to take out the babyface challengers with the title match only 10 days away? Is the alliance over between former rivals Swerve and Hangman now that they are both fighting over the world title?
Three more Continental Classic tournament matches are also being advertised for Holiday Bash: PAC vs. Kyle Fletcher in the Gold League, Roderick Strong vs. Jon Moxley in the Blue League, and Orange Cassidy vs. Mascara Dorada in the Blue League. Moxley will be mathematically eliminated if he loses tonight, but he’s facing the only wrestler stuck at zero points in the Gold League. PAC vs. Fletcher looks like the best tournament match on paper at Holiday Bash, and one PAC really needs to win if he wants to join the top of the standings with Fletcher, Okada, and Speedball Bailey.
Other stuff to keep an eye on
– Jamie Hayter is challenging AEW Women’s World Champion Kris Statlander for the gold at Worlds End. Will Hayter get some mic time tonight at Holiday Bash to cut a promo on the champ? Do the Sisters of Sin plan to keep attacking the babyfaces?
– TNT Champion Mark Briscoe successfully defended his belt against that loser Daniel Garcia last weekend at Winter is Coming. Is Garcia’s title chase already over?
– Is there anybody who Jack Perry can beat as Darby Allin’s replacement in the Continental Classic?
– What’s next for Eddie Kingston after he failed to beat Samoa Joe for the AEW world championship last week at Winter is Coming?
– Where the f*** are Chris Jericho and Britt Baker?
What will you be looking for on Dynamite?
