Darby Allin won the TNT Championship for a second time on the January 4th episode of AEW Dynamite.
Since then he has already defended the title against Mike Bennett and most recently NJPW star Juice Robinson. Fresh off the back of his win on the January 13th edition of Rampage it was announced that Allin will put the gold on the line again on Dynamite.
Darby Allin To Make 3rd TNT Title Defence On Rampage
Not only that, but Allin will be defending his championship against debuting NJPW star KUSHIDA. The Japanese star found success across a number of promotions including New Japan Pro-Wrestling before signing with WWE in 2019. After becoming a regular feature of NXT and winning the Cruiserweight Championship, the star slid down the card eventually forming ‘Jacket Time’ with Ikemen Jiro. The pair failed to pick up any significant momentum and KUSHIA left WWE in April 2022 when his contract expired.
The six-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion returned to NJPW two months later.
Elsewhere on Dynamite, Eddie Kingston and Ortiz lost to the Malakai Black and Brody King via interference from Julia Hart and Buddy Matthews. Meanwhile in a brutal main event, Ruby Soho and Willow Nightingale saw off Tay Melo and Anna JAS in Street Fight. The bout saw Nightingale Powerbomb Anna JAS off the stage through a table before Soho hit her Destination Unknown finisher on Melo onto a pile of thumbtacks to grab the win.
AEW Dynamite – January 18th
- Bryan Danielson vs. Bandido
- Top Flight vs. The Young Bucks
- Darby Allin vs. KUSHIDA – TNT Championship
- Ricky Starks vs. Jake Hager
- Willow Nightingale vs. Toni Storm
- Orange Cassidy vs. Jay Lethal – All Atlantic Championship