Former WWE Superstar and current New Japan Pro Wrestling roster member KENTA has appeared on AEW programming for the first time.
KENTA showed up at the end of this week’s special Dynamite episode, which was titled “Beach Break.”
The man formerly known as Hideo Itami invaded the ring with his face covered and attacked Jon Moxley following the main event. He then pulled down his face mask to reveal himself before hitting Mox with a G2S.
The New Japan star — who was wearing a “G2Sleep” Bullet Club t-shirt — also stared down former Bullet Club member Kenny Omega.
Tonight’s AEW Dynamite episode airs on TNT at Daily’s Place in Jacksonville, Florida.
* Hangman Page vs. Ryan Nemeth
* Chris Jericho and MJF vs. The Varsity Blondes
* Dr. Britt Baker vs. Shanna
* Lance Archer vs. Eddie Kingston
* Dax Harwood vs. Jungle Boy (Cash Wheeler and Tully Blanchard will be handcuffed to Luchasaurus to prevent outside interference)
* AEW World Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks and Impact Wrestling World Tag Team Champions The Good Brothers vs. The Dark Order
* Cody Rhodes will respond to recent comments from NBA Legend Shaquille O’Neal
* Sting and TNT Champion Darby Allin will discuss their Revolution Street Fight against Brian Cage and Ricky Starks
* Jon Moxley will discuss his Beach Break six-man match with PAC and Rey Fenix vs. AEW World Champion Kenny Omega and Impact World Tag Team Champions The Good Brothers
Tonight’s AEW Dynamite episode airs on TNT at Daily’s Place in Jacksonville, Florida.
* Peter Avalon vs. Cody Rhodes
* Penelope Ford vs. Leyla Hirsch
* Chris Jericho and MJF vs. Santana and Ortiz vs. Sammy Guevara and Jake Hager (Winner is the official tag team of the Inner Circle)
* Hangman Page, Colt Cabana, John Silver, and Alex Reynolds vs. The Hybrid2 and Chaos Project (Page to give his answer on joining the group after the match)
* Top Flight and Matt Sydal vs. Matt Hardy and Private Party
* Miro to give an update on his new butler Chuck Taylor
* Jon Moxley in action
* Sting to congratulate AEW TNT Champion Darby Allin
* AEW World Champion Kenny Omega to reflect on his dominance
Kenny Omega is the new All Elite Wrestling World Champion after he defeated Jon Moxley in the main event of this week’s Dynamite … with a little help from Don Callis.
Callis was a special guest commentator for the match due to his association with Kenny Omega’s family (Kenny’s Uncle, The Golden Sheik, was Callis’ manager in Manitoba’s WFWA promotion).
But it seemed that Callis has no intention of staying at the commentary desk.
Omega was able to steal a win from Moxley after Callis distracted the ref with a mic … the same mic that Omega then used to bash the defending champ in the face with.
Omega covered Mox for the victory and was declared the new AEW World Champion. Callis then made a hasty exit from the building with the new champ in toe.
Before getting in a car, Callis said he would explain his actions on Tuesday night’s edition of Impact Wrestling, seemingly confirming a partnership between the two promotions.
Check out footage of Omega’s sneaky victory and subsequent escape below.
After months of rumors, “The Icon” Sting has appeared on AEW TV for the first time with a thrilling debut on this week’s Dynamite.
Below is a recap of Sting’s appearance:
Post-match, Hobbs gets back in the ring and runs over Allin. Arn gets into the ring and swings away on Hobbs! He drops Starks with a punch. Starks then beats up Arn, but Dustin Rhodes runs out for the save. Bulldog on Hobbs, spinning powerslam on Starks. Brian Cage runs out and drops Dustin with an F-5. Cody takes an F-5, Hobbs has the FTW Championship now and Hobbs goes to hit him with it, but the lights go out.
Music plays and a video plays on the big screen. Sting walks out! He pulls out his trademark black bat. Team Taz bails out of the ring. Sting walks up to Arn Anderson and looks at him for a moment. He goes to Dustin, looks at him, then goes over to Cody in the corner. Sting gets up and makes his way to Darby Allin and gets right in his face for a longer period of time. Sting then walks to the ramp and gives a few “Woo!” chants to the crowd and walks to the back.
Following the segment, the Dynamite commentary team confirmed that Tony Khan had signed Sting to a multi-year contract.
Check out Sting’s AEW debut below.
According to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio, AEW plans to feature Sting as a regular character on TV and not just as a legend making sporadic appearances once in a while. Meltzer noted AEW wanted to bring in “a star from the old generation of TNT as a regular” since such a move could potentially help draw in fans from yesteryears.
It was noted that AEW will be careful with the 61-year-old Sting and that “he won’t be taking any bumps”, despite being used as a regular character on TV. In the event that Sting does anything physical, it would be done with utmost precaution, added Meltzer.
With AEW already releasing new Sting merchandise, Meltzer made a note of the timing behind Sting’s debut. “They timed this right before Christmas,” he said, while adding that Sting’s arrival gives the company a great boost going into the holiday season.
After Sting’s WWE legends contract expired in May, WWE pulled all of his merchandise in October. Typically, most WWE alumni re-sign their legends contracts. However, when Sting didn’t re-sign, the writing was on the wall for him to join AEW, according to Meltzer.
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