For the second time in 2026, Kenny Omega meets Swerve Strickland. Plus, Thekla defends the AEW Women’s World Championship against Mina Shirakawa. You can catch AEW Dynamite LIVE on Wednesday night at 8 p.m. ET/ 5 p.m. PT on TSN2, the TSN App, and TSN.ca.
“The Cleaner” Kenny Omega vs. Swerve Strickland (w/ Prince Nana)
Since 2025 turned to 2026, the AEW World Championship picture has been hotter maybe than ever before with the sheer number of names trying to get their hands on the title currently around the waist of Maxwell Jacob Friedman. Two of those men are a pair of former champions in Kenny Omega and Swerve Strickland. The latter has not held the title in nearly 18 months, while the former’s drought is approaching five years. Already in competition for the title, the dynamic between the two men changed forever on the Feb. 11 edition of Dynamite.
As the two met in the ring to exchange (un)pleasantries, Swerve called himself “the most dangerous man in AEW,” a remark that Omega immediately dismissed. Brody King, Omega said, was the most dangerous man in the company. Swerve wouldn’t forget that as the conversation turned into a wild brawl.
When the two met the following week for a match on Dynamite, Omega looked to take control. He primed Swerve for a V-Trigger, but just as he was about to make contract, Strickland pulled referee Aubrey Edwards in front of him to take the impact. With there being no official momentarily, this allowed for Swerve to remove a turnbuckle pad and slingshot Omega throat-first into the exposed metal. From there, Strickland hit a House Call and Big Pressure to get the victory.
After the match, Strickland wasn’t done. He choked Omega over the ropes with his chain before depositing Omega through the announce table with a Vertebreaker. It was like a switch flipped and the most sadistic version of Strickland returned.
At Revolution earlier this month, Strickland defeated King in a match to unofficially declare who the baddest man in AEW was and earn the No. 1 contendership to the world title. But like with his victory over Omega, a win wasn’t enough. Just as Strickland was preparing to deliver a Vertebreaker to King on cinder blocks, Omega returned to chase off Swerve and Prince Nana.
Now on Wednesday night, Omega gets another crack at Strickland, but there will be more than pride on the line. Omega convinced Strickland to put his No. 1 contendership on the line, yet it won’t come without a cost. Should Strickland defeat Omega again, he will take Omega’s Executive Vice-President of AEW role. The stakes couldn’t be higher with the bad blood flowing between the two men. Which of these former champions will pick up a massive which and which man will incur a painful defeat?
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AEW Women’s World Championship match: “The Toxic Spider” Thekla (c) (w/ Skye Blue and Julia Hart) vs. Mina Shirakawa
Perhaps the biggest news coming out of last week’s Dynamite was the status of “Timeless” Toni Storm. Set to meet Marina Shafir in a no-disqualification match last Wednesday night, Storm was found in the back, lying prone in a puddle of blood. There was no assailant nearby and nobody claimed responsibility.
With Storm out of action, the no-disqualification match was still a go with Mina Shirakawa stepping in for her friend and pulling out a victory. Shirakawa defeated Shafir after corking her in the head with a champagne bottle and hitting Storm Zero. Her win came with an opportunity, but also a potential cost.
On Collision, Lexy Nair caught up with AEW Women’s World Champion Thekla, who took responsibility for Storm’s attack...well, sort of. Thekla claimed Storm staged the attack herself to avoid having to deal with her and suggested that more women in the back take Storm’s lead and fake their own deaths. Instead of doing that, Shirakawa will challenge Thekla for her title.
Thekla and Shirakawa are far from strangers from one another, having shared a ring on numerous occasions over the years in Stardom. Safe to say, there is no love lost between the pair. In their first-ever singles match back in January of 2022, Thekla defeated Shirakawa to win the vacant SWA Undisputed World Women’s Title. Their respective factions would face off repeatedly, with Shirakawa aligned with Tam Nakano’s Cosmic Angels before creating her own Club Venus group and Thekla associated with Giulia’s Donna del Mondo before joining Oedo Tai as “The Idol Killer.” In AEW, Thekla defeated Shirakawa in their lone singles match. The Austrian holds a 3-2 edge all-time in solo encounters.
Shirakawa is still looking for her first AEW gold and will enter the match as a decided underdog. Since arriving in AEW, Thekla has lost just two singles matches and has lost just once in 2026. She comes into Wednesday a winner of five straight bouts. Can Shirakawa steal away goal from her old rival or will Thekla’s reign continue?
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The Conglomeration (“Freshly Squeezed” Orange Cassidy and Roderick Strong) vs. The Dogs (David Finlay and “100 Proof” Clark Connors)
As it turns out, Roderick Strong knows how to conglomerate after all. Weeks after abandoning Orange Cassidy in a tag team match and leaving him for dead, Strong shockingly returned on the Mar. 11 edition of Dynamite to save Cassidy from a beatdown at the hands of The Dogs (David Finlay, Gabe Kidd and Clark Connors) and to make amends for his behaviour. Strong, Cassidy and Darby Allin would go on defeat The Dogs in a trios match at Revolution.
This past Sunday night on Collision, Strong and Cassidy defeated the team of The Lethal Twist (Jay Lethal and Lee Johnson) in tag action. After the match, Strong grabbed the mic and explained his actions. He said that he was wrong to reject the friendship offered to him and officially declared himself a member of The Conglomeration. Before they could exit the ring, Finlay and Connors appeared on the video screen to inform them that The Dogs weren’t finished with them just yet and challenged them to a match on Wednesday night.
Wednesday night’s match might actually go off without any interference. After being beaten last week by Allin in a coffin match that saw him stuck in a straitjacket for most of it, Kidd is unlikely to be in attendance at Dynamite. But if he does show up and try to make the numbers game work for The Dogs, Mark Briscoe or Tomohiro Ishii won’t be far behind to even up the odds. With the enmity between these four men pronounced, which team can pick up a victory?
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Darby Allin vs. “El Toro Blanco” Rush (w/ The Beast Mortos and Dralistico)
Darby Allin is no stranger to climbing mountains, both actual and metaphorical. In recent weeks, he finally put to bed long-time rivalries with Jon Moxley’s Death Riders and with Gabe Kidd. After defeating the latter in a coffin match last week on Dynamite, Allin made public his next intended conquest. He told Maxwell Jacob Friedman that he’s coming for his AEW World Championship, renewing hostilities with a fellow member of “The Four Pillars of AEW.”
But before he can get his hands on Friedman, Allin has a tall task ahead of him on Dynamite in the form of Rush. The leader of La Faccion Ingobernable, Rush has only recently returned from a knee injury that kept him out of action since mid-November. Upon returning to AEW, the former ROH World Champion hasn’t skipped a beat, showing his trademark intensity. The older brother of Dralistico and Dragon Lee, Rush can match Allin’s recklessness with viciousness.
It’s a risky match for Allin to take so soon after declaring his world title intentions. Rush is more than capable of derailing Allin’s momentum. He won’t stand idly by as somebody else chases a championship that he feels just as deserving of an opportunity to challenge for it. Can Allin continue his march on MJF or will Rush send him to the back of the line?
