AEW has three weeks of shows before their All In PPV event in London on Aug. 27. With only one match confirmed heading into tonight (Aug. 9), there figured to be a flurry of announcement and set-ups over the next few episodes — and that was certainly the case with Dynamite.
For the Women’s World championship, the announcement came along with others. After Hikaru Shida beat Toni Storm for the belt last week, Tony Khan booked a one round tournament (aka qualifying matches) for a 4Way title match at Wembley Stadium.
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Somehow, Storm was given a bye to the finals, a 4Way title bout at All In. The justification for this was a rematch clause, which AEW used to proudly say they didn’t do. But it was necessary here, otherwise they’d have to find another justification for making Shida qualify in her already announced defense against Anna Jay on Dynamite... despite overcoming interference from Toni’s Outcasts teammates to beat her on Aug. 2.
The other tournament matches/qualifiers will be Saraya vs. Skye Blue on Rampage this Friday (Aug. 11), and a returning The Bunny vs. Dr. Britt Baker on next week’s Dynamite. Matches we’d wager Saraya & Baker will win.
Which is better than just announcing a match with the division’s biggest names, we suppose. And they did push the 4Way stipulation as an important piece of AEW Women’s World title history, listing several from the past, including ones at All Out and Grand Slam last year.
Still, the whole thing feels fairly clunky. Something not helped particularly by the end of Shida’s win over Anna Jay in the main event of Dynamite, which seemed to happen after the champ hit Katana despite Jay’s teammate Angelo Parker trying something to keep her from getting pinned.
It is official!@shidahikaru will join #ToniStorm in the 4-way match on Sunday, August 27, at #AEWAllIn LIVE on PPV at @wembleystadium in London, UK!
— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) August 10, 2023
️ https://t.co/UN1cNj1kQq pic.twitter.com/jIuzNHCvl4
Oh well. Let us know if you’re excited for this tournament. And check out this updated card of matches that have been officially booked for All In:
• MJF (c) vs. Adam Cole for the AEW World championship
• FTR (c) vs. The Young Bucks for the AEW World Tag Team titles
• Hikaru Shida (c) vs. Toni Storm vs. Saraya/Skye Blue vs. Britt Baker/The Bunny for the AEW Women’s World championship
• Darby Allin & Sting vs. Swerve Strickland & AR Fox in a Coffin Match
Get complete results and coverage of everything on tonight’s episode of Dynamite here.
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