AEW Dynamite: Ricky Starks will emerge as number one contender

AEW Dynamite is back this Wednesday and will be broadcast live on TBS from Chicago, Illinois as the promotion presents its Fallout from Full Gear episode.

Coming off of a highly entertaining Full Gear pay-per-view which gave us new AEW Men and interim Women’s World Champions, the stage is set for AEW to move into 2023 with a sense of renewed momentum as the promotion looks to put a tumultuous 2022 behind it.

This week’s Dynamite episode will most likely bring celebrations, new storylines, and introduce new challengers for all the major titles in the promotion.

Let’s take a look at the announced matches for AEW Dynamite and what to expect from each.

Death Triangle vs The Elite in a best-of-seven series for the AEW Trios Titles

Coming off of Death Triangle’s surprising victory over The Elite at Full Gear, it was announced that the two trios will be competing in a best-of-seven series for the AEW Trios Titles, with their match at Full Gear counting as the first match in the series.

This series elicits a couple of polar opposite reactions.  On one end, it is hard to be mad at the fact that six of the most talented wrestlers in the world will be wrestling each other repeatedly in the coming weeks.  All six of these performers consistently deliver an outstanding in-ring product, as they displayed at Full Gear.

But on the other hand, a best of seven series seems like overkill and it diminishes Death Triangle’s win at Full Gear as The Elite winning the series, and eventually, the Trios Titles seems like the most likely outcome.

The Elite should come out victorious in the second match of the series on Wednesday as they are now aware of what Death Triangle is willing to do to win.  Winners: The Elite

Orange Cassidy vs Jake Hager for the All-Atlantic Championship

After a couple of interesting All-Atlantic Championship Title defenses against the likes of Katsuyori Shibata, Rey Fenix, and Luchasaurus, Orange Cassidy’s next title defense will come against the likes of the sparsely used Jake Hager.

There isn’t really a story here.  This feels more like a way to give Hager something to do and get another successful title defense under the belt of Orange Cassidy.

Hager can surprise at times by putting on decent performances in the ring, and it wouldn’t be surprising if he pushes Orange Cassidy to the limit on Wednesday, but there is no chance of a title change here.  Winner: Orange Cassidy

Ethan Page vs Ricky Starks in the AEW World Title Eliminator Tournament Final

In what has amounted to a much-needed singles push for both competitors, Ethan Page and Ricky Starks will meet in the AEW World Title Eliminator Tournament Final, with the winner moving on to face MJF at Winter is Coming.

This match could really go either way.  Ethan Page’s alliance with The Firm, a faction that has attacked MJF at every turn recently, makes a Page victory extremely likely here.

However, the way MJF beat Jon Moxley at Full Gear plants him staunchly back in the category of heel, so having Friedman defend the title against a very popular Ricky Starks also makes a lot of sense.

At the end of the day, AEW can’t go wrong either way here as both men are so much more capable of doing more than they have been doing over the past year.   But this feels like the right time to push Ricky Starks.  Winner: Ricky Starks

Chris Jericho vs Tomohiro Ishii for the ROH World Title

When Chris Jericho beat Claudio Castagnoli to win the Ring of Honor World Title, it was met with a good amount of backlash, as Castagnoli’s first-ever world title run seemed to end before it really got started.

However, putting the ROH Title on Jericho made a lot of sense.  Jericho is no longer in his prime, but ever since he committed to getting in better shape he has proven week in and week out that he is still capable of putting on great matches and that he has a lot left to offer.

And as Tony Khan continues to search for a television deal for a weekly Ring of Honor show, the name value that Chris Jericho offers is quite honestly Khan’s best bet.

And for that reason, the Ring of Jericho run will most likely carry on for some time to come, and when he does eventually lose it, it should go right back around the waist of Claudio Castagnoli.

Wednesday’s match against Ishii doesn’t exactly create intrigue on who will win the match, but it does give wrestling fans the opportunity to watch two absolute legends of the sport go one-on-one.  Winner: Chris Jericho