AEW Dynamite airs tonight (Oct. 6) with a Grand Slam show emanating from Adidas Arena in Paris, France. This is the second episode of Dynamite during the three week build to WrestleDream, which takes place on October 17.
One of these AEW stars is definitely winning a world title in France
AEW Dynamite makes its long-awaited debut in France tonight, and I think that means a world title change must be planned, in order to give the fans something exciting and memorable for their first AEW experience. Luckily, there happens to be three world title matches on this card,
so let’s see which championship is most likely to change hands.
First up is AEW Women’s World Champion Mercedes Mone defending against Queen Aminata, who has won four singles matches over the last month across Collision and ROH programming. Her mini win streak must be coming to an end tonight, because there’s no chance in hell that Queen is beating The CEO. This is Mercedes’ first title defense after finally winning the AEW world title, and she’s already booked in a much more intriguing title defense at WrestleDream against Thekla.
Next up is AEW World Champion Will Ospreay vs. AEW International Champion Kazuchika Okada. Ospreay has a long history of getting his ass kicked by The Rainmaker in NJPW, so it can’t be ruled out that this trend will continue in AEW. However, it would be shocking for Ospreay to lose the belt so soon after winning it at All In. Okada’s title is not on the line in this match, so he can take the loss without much consequence.
That leaves ROH World Champion Bandido vs. AEW World Trios Champion Kofi as the match on tonight’s card with the highest chance for a title change. Yeah, it’s cheating a bit to throw the ROH belt in the same category as Mercedes and Ospreay since it’s the jabroni C-show title, but that’s what also makes it easier to book a title change. Bandido has done a great job defending the belt with top notch matches for the last 548 days, but Kofi is one of AEW’s hottest acts right now as part of the New Level, and he’s also a former WWE champion. I don’t think it’s crazy at all to think that Tony Khan would put this not-so-important world title around Kofi’s waist this early into his AEW run, to remind fans that Kofi is much more than just a great tag team wrestler.
Is France getting a world title change for AEW Dynamite’s debut, or will all the current champs retain? Tune into AEW Grand Slam France on a Tuesday night to find out.
The rest of the card
TNT Champion Darby Allin thinks Kyle Fletcher deserves a shot at the belt considering that he had to vacate it earlier this year rather than losing it in a match. Therefore it’s Darby vs. Kyle for TNT gold tonight. I don’t think this is the title change that AEW has in store for France because it’s a heel who would be winning the belt, and it makes more sense for Allin to replicate the success of his world title run from earlier this year with frequent open challenges.
“Jungle” Jack Perry gets to live out his death wish tonight when he goes one-on-one with Samoa Joe. This is a qualifying bout for the Clockwork Carnage world title main event at WrestleDream. Samoa is a former AEW world champion and this is his return match, so he seems like a much better fit for Clockwork Carnage than Perry.
Finally, Gabe Kidd & AEW Continental Champion Jon Moxley vs. Mark Davis & Jake Doyle is a late addition to tonight’s card. This is a filler tag team match that I guess is happening because Tony Khan thinks Mox is his best ratings draw. Moxley and the Death Riders are probably babyfaces for good after PAC’s death, so does that mean Gabe Kidd no longer fits in the group?
Other stuff to keep an eye on
– AEW already had a very short PPV cycle between All Out and WrestleDream, and then mostly skipped a week of storyline advancement last week following PAC’s death. Therefore Tony Khan needs to build the WrestleDream card ASAP.
– That includes announcing all the wrestlers who will compete in the Clockwork Carnage match for the AEW world title. We know two of the eight wrestlers involved based on the winners of tonight’s matches (Ospreay or Okada, Joe or Perry). Will the remaining six wrestlers in the WrestleDream main event be announced during tonight’s broadcast? Is the OTC MJF coming back for it? Are AEW World Trios Champion Swerve Strickland and AEW National Champion Andrade in the mix? What about Konosuke Takeshita, who is one of the very best pro wrestlers in the world? Does Adam Copeland have any interest in the top singles prize in AEW?
– 55-year-old Chris Jericho and 21-year-old Nick Wayne are having their rematch at Grand Slam France, but it’s not being advertised for tonight. It must instead be happening on Night Two, which is also being taped tonight but airs this weekend on Collision.
– Will Hangman Page stick around in the trios division with Brodido after they failed to win the titles back at All Out? If not, what kind of Cowboy Shit will Page get involved with for the rest of the year?
– How much longer will Tommaso Ciampa wait before he makes it clear which title he won’t be able to win next in AEW?
– The Young Bucks are defending the AEW world tag team championship at WrestleDream against Kevin Knight and Kyle Fletcher. Do Matt and Nick Jackson have enough space in their Superkick Party to take out all 633 members of the Don Callis Family who might try to attack them between now and the PPV?
– Wardlow was on the losing team in his AEW return match last week. Will he do the smart thing and abandon the Callis Family as quickly as possible?
– Are the Motor City Machine Guns going to be full time wrestlers in AEW now that the calendar has flipped to October?
– Do the Hurt Syndicate need to come up with a better business plan given how little interest there is in hiring them to hurt people?
– Where the f*** is RUSH?
What will you be looking for on Dynamite?
