Sunday’s AEW Dynasty saw its share of successful title changes & title defenses including the ceremonial FTW Championship changing into the hands of Chris Jericho.
Jericho defeated Hook for the title, hitting him with a bat strike to the face while Hook defiantly flipped him off. In the later stages of the bout, Jericho had already hit a Judas Effect for a nearfall and kept telling Hook to stay down but to no avail.
After the bat shot, Hook’s father Taz got up from the announce desk but didn’t get involved. He told Jericho to back off after the match to help play up the severity of the bat shot.
The win ends the 238-day second reign of Hook which saw just three successful title defenses. Jericho becomes the ninth overall titleholder and the seventh unique champion dating back to its creation in ECW in 1998.
Jericho joins AEW World Champion Swerve Strickland, AEW Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks, TBS Champion Willow Nightingale, and AEW unified Trios Champions Bullet Club Gold as new titleholders coming out of the night.
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Several champions did leave St. Louis with their title reigns intact.
AEW Women’s Champion Toni Storm defeated former champion Thunder Rosa after a second Storm Zero that was preceded by a low blow kick. It’s Storm’s fourth title defense in her third reign.
In his first title defense, AEW Continental Champion Kazuchika Okada defeated PAC to retain in their first-ever meeting while AEW International Champion Roderick Strong defended against former teammate Kyle O’Reilly in his first-ever title defense.
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Miracles do happen as Adam Cole rose out of his wheelchair following Strong’s title defense over Kyle O’Reilly, walking into the ring.
It's a miracle… @AdamColePro can walk! #AEWDynasty
➡️ https://t.co/CkfxC2VBqd pic.twitter.com/P12DMesML9
— TDE Wrestling (@tde_gif) April 22, 2024
As The Undisputed Kingdom celebrated, Cole shot a disgusted look toward Wardlow, following up on his displeasure for the big man losing to then-AEW World Champion Samoa Joe in March.
— TDE Wrestling (@tde_gif) April 22, 2024
It was another literal step toward returning to in-ring action for Cole who has been on the injured list since last September’s Grand Slam Dynamite when he broke his ankle jumping off the entrance ramp during the MJF-Joe World title match.
There is still no public timetable for Cole’s return. Former friend turned enemy MJF has also been out of action since being screwed over by Cole at last December’s Worlds End, costing him the World title.
News Summary:
- AEW Dynasty notes: Chris Jericho wins FTW title, Adam Cole out of wheelchair
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