If there’s one thing AEW boss Tony Khan loves, it’s an All-Star Tag. Next on the list, however, would be a tournament.
Both can be useful booking tropes. They’ve added some stakes and had some fun with the New Japan-style “get the stars on the card without making them work a full singles bout” multi-person matches by giving them monetary purses. Tournaments are pretty straight-forward, and generally a little less playful. Although TK did make us do a double-take when he booked the Unified champion in the new tourney to determine All Out’s Unified title match.
The details were announced on Dynamite last night (Sept. 10).
The just-created title — Kazuchika Okada beat Kenny Omega in a match for the Continental and International belts at July’s All In Texas — will be awarded to the winner of a Triple Threat on Sept. 20 in Toronto. The entrants in that match will be determined by three qualifiers.
On Collision this Saturday (which tapes tomorrow as AEW wraps up their Philadelphia residency at 2300 Arena), Okada wrestles against British phenom Michael Oku in one qualifier while Anthony Bowens and Konosuke Takeshita face off in another. Then next Wednesday on the supersized September to Remember show from Ontario, the final qualifier pits Mascara Dorada against The Beast Mortos.
Seems like a complicated way to get to Okada and Takeshita in the same ring to us, but perhaps this will also delay that until after The Alpha uses his G1 Climax-earned IWGP World title shot at NJPW’s King of Pro Wrestling event next month. Plus, there are several matches in there that should be pretty great… and that TK certainly wants to see.
