Tonight’s (Oct. 14) live three hour special episode of AEW Dynamite and Collision was actually 3.5 hours long, and it featured the final five qualifying matches for the new Clockwork Carnage gimmick match that is the main event of this Saturday’s WrestleDream pay-per-view.
On paper, these matches looked so damn predictable that it was hard to see any scenario where even one upset might take place. Even so, there still had to be at least one major swerve coming on the PPV go home show, right?
Nope!
Adam Copeland defeated Josh Alexander with a spear, of course, before announcing his retirement in 2027.
“The Machine” Brian Cage’s steroids weren’t enough to keep him from tapping out to Konosuke Takeshita, of course.
AEW International Champion Kazuchika Okada retained his title and qualified for Clockwork Carnage by defeating Myron Reed with The Rainmaker, of course.
Special guest commentator Walker Stewart said an upset win for Ace Austin would change the trajectory of his AEW career. But that’s not what happened after Ricochet hit him with the Spirit Gun and Vertigo, of course.
Finally, TNT Champion Darby Allin defeated Hechicero with the Coffin Drop, because of course he did.
With these five results in, that means Clockwork Carnage is officially set. It will be Will Ospreay vs. Samoa Joe vs. Speedball Bailey vs. Adam Copeland vs. Konosuke Takeshita vs. Kazuchika Okada vs. Ricochet vs. Darby Allin for the AEW world championship. And just in case you already forgot which eight wrestlers are in the match, there was a wild brawl between them to end AEW’s unnecessarily long 3.5 hour combo episode of Dynamite and Collision.
Are you surprised by the lack of surprise winners tonight, Cagesiders? Which of these stars will win the first ever Clockwork Carnage match on Saturday and walk out of WrestleDream as the AEW world champion? Which ones will be eliminated in Phase One? Give me your thoughts and predictions in the comments below.
Catch up on all the results from Dynamite in our live blog right here.
