By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
AEW announced full details of how the Interim AEW World Champion will be crowned. As previously announced, a battle royal will be held at the beginning of Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite. The winner of the battle royal will face Jon Moxley in the show’s main event. The winner of that match will advance to the interim title match at the June 26 Forbidden Door pay-per-view in Chicago.
AEW announced Saturday that Hiroshi Tanahashi will face Hirooki Goto at the New Japan Pro Wrestling Dominion event on June 12 in Osaka, Japan. The winner of that match will advance to the interim title match at the Forbidden Door pay-per-view.
Powell’s POV: Read the full statement from AEW below. While it’s hard to say who will advance to the title match from the AEW side, my guess is that Tanahashi will face that person in the finals of the eliminator series. Tanahashi is the bigger name. He was also scheduled to challenge CM Punk for the AEW World Championship at the Forbidden Door event before Punk suffered an injury that created the need for the interim championship.
#AEWDynamite #NJPWDominion#ForbiddenDoor @AEW @AEWonTV @TBSNetwork @njpwworld @njpw1972 @njpwglobal pic.twitter.com/2EVTOfnFHh
— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) June 4, 2022
Well you had your finger on the pulse of what AEW’s substitute plans were. Shouldn’t Adam Page be given the position of not having to earn his spot in the qualification match being that he was the AEW champion and never got a rematch? (Not that it is automatically granted)
I would say on equal terms at least have Adam Page and Jon Moxley square off for that slot and the remainder of the wrestlers in the battle royal for the other one. I’m not a Adam Page fan over others but that just seems logical.
It depends what type of story they are telling. I think there’s at least a chance that Page stating that he needed to save AEW from CM Punk may be related to the MJF storyline. My shot in the dark theory is that it will be explained that the MJF character was in the ear of Page, meaning they will be aligned somehow. If that’s the case, then AEW could put Page in the battle royal. The company is giving Page a chance, but Page could even go so far as to claim that he should have been given the belt back, not just thrown in a battle royal. So from a storytelling standpoint, AEW looks like they gave Page a chance, yet the Page character can make a case for being slighted to explain his heelish mindset. Again, it’s all just my fantasy booking theory. They may have something completely different in mind.
Phil always has pretty good insights
“Phil always has pretty good insights”
Thanks for the compliment; your contributions are valued also.
The theory you laid out there either may be close in concept to what they do or is a better plan than how they ultimately proceed.
Here is the thing; being that we are both Vikings fans, Jason Powell and I have to go into sessions of deep thinking and reflection as to how they manage to squander opportunities in the biggest moments after getting our hopes up. It is good brain training in a way.
I’m kidding; they don’t always collapse but when they do it is in highly creative and spectacular fashion.
The Vikings don’t always collapse. But they damn sure do if the stakes are high. And we can add the Wild and Wolves to our list of disappointments. Sadly, the team with the 18-game losing streak in the postseason is the only local men’s team to win a championship, and the last time that happened was in 1991. Sigh.