Which former WWE Superstar will debut against Darby Allin on AEW Dynamite tonight?
AEW's daredevil Darby Allin recently recaptured the TNT Championship and seemed to already be back at defending the title on every occasion possible. While the TNT Championship has been defended against many other surprising names, a former WWE Superstar has answered Allin's challenge.
Many fans online have been critical of the direction the TNT Championship was heading after Miro dropped the belt to Sammy Guevara in 2021. Darby Allin's run was notably often praised online, so could AEW be trying to bring the championship back to its former glory?
In response to Darby's open challenge, former WWE Superstar KUSHIDA will make his AEW debut tonight and will also have a shot at the TNT Championship.
An open challenge has been issued for the TNT Championship & KUSHIDA has answered the call!
TONIGHT at #AEWDynamite LIVE from Fresno, TNT Champ @DarbyAllin defends the title against former #ROH World TV Champ KUSHIDA at 8pm ET/7pm CT on @tbsnetwork https://t.co/mHITHClm1y
While Allin is on a hot winning streak, the star has never faced the six-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion before. Could tonight's bout result in a shocking end to the star's second run as TNT Champion?
Missed out on last week's AEW Dynamite? Catch up with the results before tonight's show right here.
Darby Allin holds his AEW match against Jeff Hardy in high regard
Shortly after Jeff Hardy's All Elite Wrestling debut in early 2022, fans quickly began clamoring for a dream match between him and Darby Allin due to their numerous similarities. Fans quickly got their wish as the two stars battled in a hardcore bout on the May 11 episode of Dynamite.
Jeff Hardy vs Darby Allin definitely lived up to the “dream match” hype. Darby Allin bought out the crazy 2000s Jeff outta him, that we haven’t seen in a while.
Definitely up there as one of my favourite matches of the year. https://t.co/J6IWH2HXkc
During Darby Allin's appearance on The Sessions with Renee Paquette last year, the star fondly looked back at his bout against The Charismatic Enigma.
"It felt like I was putting a match together with myself. It was like, 'I’m going to front flip off of this.' Then he’s like, 'I’m going to flip off of this and you’re going to land on the stairs.' I have never heard someone say that. It felt like I was talking to myself," he said. [H/T: 411Mania]
Unfortunately, Jeff Hardy is still involved in an ongoing pre-trial hearing, so it's unclear when he'll be able to take Darby on again. The latest update on Hardy's trial stated that he was set to appear in court today (January 18), and at this stage, there is no public information on the next phase of his proceedings.