Two title matches are official for next Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite with one featuring reigning World Champion Darby Allin and the other featuring the man he beat for the title last week in MJF.
After successfully defending the gold against a bloody Tommaso Ciampa in Wednesday’s main event, Allin will defend against Brody King in a week’s time. King defeated Lio Rush Wednesday and after Allin’s title defense, King came out and said he talked to Tony Khan and he will challenge for the gold next week.
King failed to defeat MJF for the title at February’s Grand Slam Australia and promised afterward he wasn’t done going for the title. The two have wrestled eight singles matches through the years, four of those coming in AEW. They are 2-2 with King last besting Allin in the 2024 Continental Classic.
In the other match, MJF will challenge Kevin Knight for the TNT title, also made Wednesday in the ring. MJF was in the ring calling out Allin for a title rematch when Knight came out to share his thoughts about the former champion. The two began to get into it with MJF saying the TNT title was for those with a ceiling which Knight took issue with.
He then issued a challenge to MJF who said he realized how proud Knight is of the title and wanted to take it from him. Knight was prepared to do it Wednesday, but MJF tricked him and said he would “dance with the devil next week, kid.”
MJF defended his then-World title against Knight in March.
Current AEW Dynamite lineup | Next Wednesday | Fairfax, VA
AEW World Champion Darby Allin defends against Brody King
Brody King is missing AEW Dynamite this week to attend the funeral of a friend who recently passed away.
It was announced last night that King won’t be appearing on Wednesday’s Dynamite due to personal reasons. In his place, Bandido will be teaming with Darby Allin & Jack Perry for a trios match against Andrade El Idolo, Konosuke Takeshita & Mark Davis.
On X/Twitter this afternoon, King thanked Bandido for taking his place and Tony Khan for allowing him to miss the show.
“I promise I would much rather be at Dynamite than having to attend my friends funeral,” King wrote. “Thank you to Bandido for being the best partner and stepping up in my absence and thank you to Tony for giving me the ability to be with my friends and family at this time. #Boluedersforver”
King’s friend Bo Lueders, a guitarist for the hardcore band Harm’s Way, passed away at 38 years old earlier this month. Lueders was also close with wrestlers CM Punk and Danhausen.
“Rest in peace Bo. I love you. I’ll miss you,” Danhausen wrote on April 2. “Check on your friends, tell them you love them.”
Dynamite is being held at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada tonight and will include Willow Nightingale vs. Queen Aminata for the TBS Championship, an appearance by Chris Jericho, and more.
I promise I would much rather be at Dynamite than having to attend my friends funeral. Thank you to Bandido for being the best partner and stepping up in my absence and thank you to Tony for giving me the ability to be with my friends and family at this time. #Boluedersforverhttps://t.co/7xCYH0Ldzo
Brody King has been replaced by his tag team partner, Bandido, in the upcoming AEW Dynamite trios match.
Previously set to tag along with Darby Allin and Jack Perry on the April 8 edition of AEW Dynamite, King has now taken himself off the schedule and will be missing this Wednesday’s Dynamite due to personal reasons.
King’s partner, Bandido, will now replace him in the team as the trio takes on the team of Andrade El Idolo, Mark Davis, & Konosuke Takeshita. AEW President Tony Khan earlier announced the match change on social media.
AEW Dynamite lineup | April 8, 2026
The upcoming AEW Dynamite episode is scheduled to take place at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Canada. Here is the updated lineup for the show:
Willow Nightingale (c) vs. Queen Aminata for the AEW TBS title
Chris Jericho to address his return
Darby Allin, Bandido & Jack Perry vs. Don Callis Family (Konosuke Takeshita, Mark Davis, & Andrade El Idolo)
With Brody out for personal reasons, his partner has his back: Bandido will join Darby/Jungle Jack vs Don Callis Family All-Stars TOMORROW! pic.twitter.com/tasNixBUsu
Julia Hart says she thinks what Brody King has done is great regarding the anti-ICE chants that have frequently been heard at AEW shows of late.
During an interview with Inside the Ropes, Hart was asked how she feels about her former House of Black stablemate being at the center of the chants. Hart responded that being from Minnesota the issue is something that hits close to home for her.
Hart said:
“Well yeah, you know Brody did a great job of just wearing a t-shirt that’s all. He donated so much money to the families that needed it and me being from Minnesota where a lot of this stuff was happening kind of hit close to home. Like some of the stuff that was happening was right out of a donut shop that I used to go to while growing up. You know it’s kind of like a weird feeling and all we can do is help anyone in need and donating money and being supportive as a community. But, yeah, I think it’s great what Brody has done.”
The 24-year-old is from Bloomington, Minnesota, and trained at the Academy School of Professional Wrestling in Minneapolis, run by Ken Anderson, formerly WWE’s Mr. Kennedy. She also trained at the Nightmare Factory in Atlanta and made her AEW debut in just the ninth match of her career in May 2021.
During the same interview with Inside the Ropes, Hart also spoke about getting into wrestling as a child when her older cousin introduced her to it. She said:
“My cousin John who was quite a few years older than me lived with us for a while, he showed me wresting. He would make me play the video games with him and when I found out there’s a real TV show and I was like, ‘I wanna do that. That’s gonna be me.’”
“He actually saw me in Colorado when he was in Colorado. He actually saw me for the first time so that was like full circle. So cool. And I hadn’t seen him in like so long. He was just so proud of me, and I thought it was the coolest thing, and I was like, ‘If you didn’t show me wrestling, I wouldn’t be here today.”
Hart’s full interview with Inside the Ropes is available here.
Brody King addressed his reaction to anti-ICE chants at AEW shows.
AEW received mainstream news coverage last month after fans chanted “F– ICE” before the start of King’s match against MJF on the February 4 episode of Dynamite from the Pearl Theater at Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas. Fans have continued the chants at AEW shows since, sometimes adding it to chants of “F– Don Callis.”
During a recent interview with Denise Salcedo, King was asked about the chants. King said he does not view it as a “political thing,” adding that “it’s just what’s right and what’s wrong.”
King said:
“I feel like when I was younger I always wanted somebody that felt like me on TV or wherever to express the way that they felt so I can have someone to champion for me. And if I can be that for other people that are being marginalized then I want to be that for them.
Everyone tries to bring up the political thing, in my opinion, it’s just what’s right and what’s wrong. And there’s a lot of wrong happening in the world and if I can speak out against it then I will. And you know we got guys like Mick Foley who also do the same thing.”
King was also asked about the anti-ICE chants receiving mainstream media attention.
“I wore the Abolish ICE shirt at Arena Mexico almost a year ago, I think it was June of last year, and the chants happened this year right before Australia. It got a lot of attention for the shirt and then out of nowhere kind of picked up more attention.
Obviously the state of things gets more boiled over, people are frustrated and that’s going to come out in certain ways, and I can’t think of a more positive way for it to come out than them chanting it at a wrestling show.”
Asked about his reaction to hearing the chants on the February 4 episode of Dynamite, King said:
“It took me off guard, but I also felt like I could run through a wall at that moment. And I feel like the way that MJF looked at that camera, he knew I was going to run through a wall as well.”
King has been vocal in his opposition to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and raises money through merchandise and comic books for families impacted by ICE raids.
Following Swerve Strickland’s singles victory over Brody King, fans almost witnessed Strickland drop King on cinder blocks when Omega’s music hit. As Prince Nana brought the blocks to Strickland, Omega’s music hit, and he came down to the ring with a roaring Los Angeles crowd behind him.
The former World Champion returned and confronted Strickland as he ran away with Nana. Omega stood tall in the ring with King and raised his hand to close the segment.
King and Strickland delivered a hard-hitting contest, with several brutal spots. One moment in the match saw Strickland drop King with a Vertebreaker on the ringside floor, before hitting the third ‘House Call’ finisher and pinning him.
Several weeks ago, Strickland had put Omega out of action after dropping him with a verterbreaker to him through a commentary table. Omega was also recently present at the Capcom Cup in Japan.
On a new Wrestling Weekly, Les Thatcher and Vic Sosa have their eyes on AEW Revolution which should be yet another outstanding pay-per-view.
On this week’s show, we’ll give our predictions on the matches as well as our thoughts on Cody Rhodes’ recent comments and what it might mean for him moving forward.
AEW wrestler Brody King is now all set to face Zilla Fatu at the upcoming House of Glory Culture Clash event in Las Vegas, Nevada.
On April 16, 2026, days before WWE WrestleMania 42 in Las Vegas, House of Glory will run its Culture Clash show at the Palms Casino Resort.
This will mark King’s return to HOG Wrestling. The upcoming match against Fatu will be his first for House of Glory since 2022. Both of his previous matches for HOG involved Jacob Fatu and ended in a disqualification.
Zilla Fatu, 26, is the reigning HOG Crown Jewel Champion and will collide against King in a singles match for the first-time-ever.
The event will also feature appearances from Ricky Sosa, The Hardys (Matt Hardy & Jeff Hardy), Shotzi Blackheart, Amazing Red, and more.
Fatu was also recently involved in an AEW World title match against MJF, which he lost at HOG No Turning Back.
AEW wrestlers MJF and Brody King have each been announced for upcoming indie dates.
– Beyond Wrestling has revealed that MJF will return to the promotion for the first time since 2019. He’s set to appear at Beyond’s Break the Walls Down event that’s being held in Cranston, Rhode Island on June 5.
THREE MONTHS AWAY: AEW World Champion @The_MJF returns to Rhode Island for the first time since 2019 at the Beyond Wrestling "Break The Walls Down" supershow on Friday, 6/5/26 at Rhodes On The Pawtuxet in Cranston, RI!
– King’s booking is for House of Glory Wrestling in Las Vegas on April 16. The show — titled Culture Clash — is taking place on the Thursday of WrestleMania week as part of Slam Fest, a multi-promotional event that’s being put on by Mojo Rawly’s talent agency Paragon Talent Group. Matt & Jeff Hardy are among the other wrestlers set to compete on the House of Glory card.
LAS VEGAS…ITS OFFICIAL 🎰🔥
The King of Violence is coming.
BRODY KING LIVE IN ACTION at HOG: CULTURE CLASH @Brodyxking
— House Of Glory Wrestling (@HOGwrestling) March 6, 2026
Opponents have not been announced yet for either MJF or King.
MJF is the current AEW World Champion. He’s taken to working some indie dates during his reign, already having matches against Alec Price for Limitless Wrestling and Zilla Fatu for House of Glory. MJF’s schedule also includes an appearance for One Fall Wrestling in McDonough, Georgia on March 26.
A World title feud between MJF and King recently took place in AEW with MJF retaining at Grand Slam Australia. MJF is now set to defend against Hangman Page in a Texas Death match at AEW Revolution 2026 on March 15.
Aleister Black is happy to see his former stablemate Brody King thriving in AEW.
Before Black departed AEW for WWE, he led The House of Black with King, Buddy Matthews, and Julia Hart. King has since held Tag Team gold with Bandido and reached World Championship contention before ultimately losing to MJF. In an interview with The Stunner, Black said he knew his AEW faction members would fare well after he left. He had a conversation with King and Matthews prior to leaving AEW where they all agreed that shaking things up might be for the best.
“It was a very thorough conversation between me, [King], and Buddy. They were in agreement. They were like, ‘Yeah, we also think that it might be best, you know, to change course.’ Because we felt that we were hitting a wall constantly. Not in a malicious way, not in a bad way. Like, there’s only so much room and so much time for everybody, which is fine,” Black said.
“I said to [King], ‘I think once I go one direction, I think you will eventually see a big explosion in regards to how you are being perceived as.’ And I’m glad that we see that now because the whole reason why I initially told Tony [Khan] about Brody was because I already saw that. I knew how good he could be. And even when we first started moving around with him, I had to kind of tone him down a little bit because he’s a big human being. He came out of an era where a lot of big guys would still do flips and stuff like that. I would say, ‘I’d like for you to be more effective. One elbow from you equals dude on the ground and not getting back up.’ Instead of like five forearms and a clothesline.
“He picked up on that tremendously. He saw that it was more effective. He saw that it helped his character get over. He was just one of those guys that I feel was a big diamond in the rough. He’s a good dude. I have a lot of love for him. We fight like brothers, even back then, and sometimes I’m his dad and sometimes he’s my dad. We’ve always had a good relationship, and I am very, very happy for him. Because that’s what should happen. Unique guy, charismatic guy, talented guy.”
In November 2024, Black wrestled his final AEW match before eventually departing the company in February 2025. He is now on the WWE SmackDown roster and works alongside his wife Zelina Vega.
A grudge match challenge from last week is now official for AEW Revolution as Swerve Strickland will take on Brody King.
King called out Strickland for a match at the pay-per-view last Wednesday with the former AEW World Champion blowing it off. On this week’s Dynamite, King called out Strickland again, but Prince Nana came out instead, distracting King so Strickland could attack from behind.
Strickland choked out and hung King with his chain before telling King he would meet him at Revolution after which Bandido ran out for the late save.
It will be their first-ever singles match in AEW and their first one-on-one match since a June 2018 MLW event.
Current AEW Revolution card | Sunday, March 15 | Los Angeles
AEW World Champion MJF defends against Hangman Page in a Texas Death Match where if Page loses, he can’t challenge for the World title ever again
AEW World Tag Team Champions FTR (Cash Wheeler & Dax Harwood) defend against The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson)
AEW Continental Champion Jon Moxley defends against Konosuke Takeshita with no time limit
Garrett Gonzales is back with Dave Meltzer, subbing for Bryan Alvarez who is on vacation. My Fight Game Podcast co-host John LaRocca also joined us for the very first WOR + Fight Game collaboration.
We recapped AEW Grand Slam and Friday Night’s SmackDown.
We also discussed the weekend news including the following:
CNN Business covering AEW and Brody King
Cain Velasquez out of jail
Mistico discussing winning the WON Wrestler of the Year
*Winners, top place winners, comments and every winner of every award dating back to 1980, from Wrestler of the Year, MMA MVP, Most Outstanding, Most Outstanding MMA Fighter, Tag Team of the Year, Best on Interviews, Promotion of the Year, Best Weekly TV show, Match of the Year, MMA Fight of the year, U.S./Canada MPV, Japanese MVP, Mexico MVP, Europe MVP, Best non-heavyweight, Women’s MVP, Women’s MMA MVP, Feud of the Year, Best Box Office Draw, Most Improved, Most Charismatic, Best Technical, Best Brawler, Best Flying Wrestler, Most Overrated, Most Underrated, Rookie of the Year, Best Non-WRestler, Best Television Announcer, Worst Television Announcer, Most major show, Worst major show, Best maneuver, Most Disgusting Promotional Tactic, Worst TV show, Worst match, Worst feud, Worst promotion, Best Booker of the Year, Promoter of the Year, Best Gimmick, Worst Gimmick, Best Book and Best Documentary.
*Tons of news related to the build to WrestleMania, why the card may be changing, a major concern regarding ticket sales, predictabiity vs. surprises, How Bron Brakker’s injury changes things, Brock Lesnar situation, Becky Lynch situation, situation in Las Vegas, concerns in Las Vegas, why ticket sales are down, plus build to Elimination Chamber
*Tadao Yasuda, a unique life of a former sumo star, IWGP champion, one of the biggest upsets in MMA history, the birth of the New Year’s Eve fighting tradition, gambling issues and more
*Coverage of the New Beginning in Osaka, talent leaving, talent staying, what is the difrection for New Japan the next few months and a worst and best match of the year candidate one right after the other
*Betting odds for this week’s wrestling
*Most detailed look at the TV ratings, a look at the red flags, streaming numbers and more.
*Notes on the honoring and retirement of El Satanico and career highlights
*Mistico sellout updates
*The last Friday for a month at Arena Mexico with the biggest names
*AAA TV tapings with WWE talent
*Starddom PPV notes
*Epstein files wrestling references
*Biggest UK women’s show coming
*Show coming up attempting to be the largest attendance for an all-women’s show in three decades
*Pareamount again trying to get WBD
*How politics affects pro wrestling
*Grand Slam Australia notes
*MJF talks Punk
*TV reviews
*YouTube notes
*CBS airing UFC on 3/7
*Zuffa boxing defies Ali Act with world title announcement
*WWE injury updates
*Bad Bunny Super Bowl controversy
*WWE Hall of Famer threatens to quit if another person isn’t removed
— Garrett Gonzales and I will be back tonight talking about the weekend news and more on the awards. We have a Friday night show up on the site talking about the WON Awards, Brody King, AEW Grand Slam, lots of info regarding WrestleMania in Las Vegas, and the issues going on and more.
— Cain Velasquez was released from prison earlier today after spending ten months incarcerated for attempting to shoot the man he believed had sexually abused his son between the ages of two and four. Velasquez showed up at the home of the man he believed had molested his son and people in the home took off in a car. Velasquez chased the car with the man, his mother and his stepfather in a high speed chase from Morgan Hill to San Jose, firing shots that hit the stepfather. His parole was moved up a month because of his participating rehabilitative programs.
He was sentenced at first to five years in prison, but he got credit for time served. He has a restitution hearing for the victim of the shooting Paul Bender, on 3/18. The Velasquez family is also suing Harry Goularte Jr., Patricia Goularte and Bender over the allegations of abuse by Goularte Jr., and negligence by the other two in covering it up. Right now a trial is scheduled for that case on 11/9.
— In this article on MMA Fighting on Velasquez, at the bottom is a video of Velasquez being released at 8:30 a.m. today, seeing his wife and kids and a Mariachi band playing. Velasquez did work for AAA after his arrest but I can’t see that happening under WWE ownership. I’m sure he’ll get offers from the various promotions that do boxing, forms of fighting, Dirty Boxing, Bare Knuckle, and perhaps even real wrestling that focus on past their prime UFC stars.
— CNN’s website covered the political issues surrounding Brody King and the anti-ICE chants over the weekend which also confirmed AEW being partially owned by WBD. We had understood this was the case for years but nobody had ever said it on the record. (There was nobody saying it on the record here, either.) We do know that Tony Khan, father Shad Khan and sister Shanna Khan own 90 percent or more of AEW and that Tony Khan has 100 percent of the voting and decision making power in the company. I’ll talk more about the article on the show tonight, but the gist of that subject was covered on Friday’s show.
— Saturday’s Grand Slam Australia drew about 7,029. For the first time in a market, that’s disappointing but they don’t have television in Australia past streaming on Disney+.
— Looking for reports from last night’s WWE show in Lubbock, TX (big house show) and last night’s NXT show in Kent, WA, with results, finishes and highlights to [email protected]. We’re also looking for reports from Sydney last night for matches not on television and detailed notes from Brisbane’s show earlier today.
— Royce Keys, the former Powerhouse HObbs,made his singles debut for WWE in a dark match Friday night in Dallas before SmackDown aired. We’re looking for a report from Dallas on that one as well.
— CMLL sold out Arena Mexico on Friday and Arena Coliseo on Saturday. The Saturday show sold out on Friday, which is unusual for Saturday to sell out before the walk-up. Friday I expected to sell out because Mistico, Soberano Jr., Mascara Dorada, Altantis Jr., Hechicero and so many of the top CMLL stars are headed to Japan and won’t be on another Friday show until 3/13.
— We haven’t heard about any great matches from the weekend internationally other than yesterday’s Grand Slam show and people were raving about Friday’s Mistico vs Templario match. I would think there would be people that liked a certain style who may love Blue Panther vs. Xelhua from Arena Coliseo last night but I haven’t seen it yet.
— The woman at ringside who did the angle with Andrade and Adam Page was wrestler Aysha, who actually wrestled on Sunday’s AEW house show in Brisbane where Jessica McKay and Cassie Lee debuted. This story goes back a month as they dropped the tag titles in TNA because they had the AEW offer.
— In Google searches for the weekend, Cain Velasquez was No. 46 with 20,000 and Jake Paul was No. 67 with 20,000. SmackDown had 5,000 as the only thing really related to current pro wrestling and with no UFC or major boxing event this weekend, that was the only stuff in the top 400.
— All Japan announced the 2026 Champion Carnival lineup as Rei Saito, Kento Miyahara, Go Shiozaki, Hideki Suzuki, Jun Saito, Ryuki Honda, Ren Ayabe, Yuma Anzai, Kengo Mashimo, Daisuke Sekimoto, Kuma Arashi, Madoka Kikuta (Dragon Gate), Xyon, Odyssey, Cyrus and Talos. Interesting no Davey Boy Smith Jr.
— Marigold’s 3D tournament will end on 2/23 at Korakuen Hall with Nagisa Nozaki & Misa Matsui & Rea Seto vs Mai Sakurai & Natsumi Showzuki & Erina Yamanaka.
— New Japan/CMLL Fantastica Mania debuts on Wednesday at Yoyogi Gym in Tokyo with tag team tournament first round matches with Valiente Jr. & Futuro vs. El Hijo de Stuka Jr. & Shoma Kato, Tiger Mask & Stigma vs. Averno & Magnus, Atlantis & Atlantis Jr. vs. Satoshi Kojima & Okumura, and Mistico & Mascara Dorada vs. Ultimo Guerrero & Sho. It airs on New Japan World at 5:30 a.m. that day.
— The NWA Crockett Cup tournament will be on 4/4 at the OC Theater in Forney, TX.
— Jacy Jayne and El Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. were talked about on the WWC television show in Puerto Rico.
— Sammy Guevara vs. Amazing Red has been announced for the 3/21 HOG show in Brentwood, NY at the Suffolk Credit Union Arena.
— Yesterday was the birthday of Penny Mitchell, who was actually the woman under the Spider Lady mask in WWF every night except the night Moolah was under the mask and beat Wendi Richter without her knowledge in an MSG title match because Richter hadn’t signed a new contract. I believe Mitchell turned 65. (thanks to Ken Raftery).
— There was a question on this week’s Trivial Pursuit about the “8th Wonder of the World” who was the first person inducted into the WWE hall of fame. The contestant correctly guessed it was Andre the Giant. (thanks to Matt Schreiner)
— Farmer Burns, the original trainer of Frank Gotch, was born on this day in 1861. He was one of the most important figures at the end of the 19th century and start of the 20th century. Today is the birthday of Hugo Savinovich (67), LuFisto (46), Jenna Morasca (45) and Rich Swann (35). Louie Spicolli was 27 when he passed away on this day 28 years ago. Johnny Weaver, the longtime top babyface in the Carolinas, was 72 when he passed away 18 years ago today. One year ago today, Hall of Famer Gran Hamada passed away at the age of 74. Hamada was one of the most underrated wrestlers ever. He could do it all. (thanks to Tony Richards)
After failing to defeat MJF for the AEW World title at Saturday’s Grand Slam Australia, Brody King has already set his sights on what’s next.
In a clip shared to AEW’s social media accounts after the loss, King was commiserating with Bandido backstage and said that even though the champion “weaseled” his way to another win, he is not going to sit around and feel sorry for himself, issuing an open challenge and a return date.
“Bring the biggest. Bring the baddest. February 25th, I’m getting myself back into the World title hunt and I’m looking for a fight,” he said.
That date is the Wednesday, February 25 edition of Dynamite from Denver, Colorado, which will also feature a Collision taping afterward.
King has been in the news the past two weeks for the anti-ICE chants that rang out before his title eliminator bout with MJF which continued in Sydney Saturday, but were not edited out of the broadcast.
"Man, I was this close. You know what? Now I can taste it!"
Happy Valley-tine’s Day or Greg Valentine’s Day. Whatever you celebrate, it’s time for Wrestling Observer Live.
TNA No Surrender Friday night was a mix of action, surprises and the usual booking.
As WWE SmackDown builds towards Elimination Chamber, does it feel like some fan favorites are running out of gas? We’ve seen them do so much during their tenure, there’s just not much else to get excited about.
Plus, AEW Grand Slam (no spoilers), WBD and politics, the WON Awards and more. Check it out.
