Tonight’s AEW Dynamite features four matches in the Men’s and Women’s Owen Hart Cup Tournaments, two of which feature surprise entrants as “Jokers.” AEW president Tony Khan shed some light on that on Busted Open Radio on Wednesday afternoon, saying that both will be making their in-ring debuts for the company as they take on Samoa Joe and Dr. Britt Baker. When Mickie James tried to have Khan drop a hint about either wrestler, he responded with, “You are a very educated student of the sport of pro wrestling. I’m sure if you really put your thinking cap on, I bet you can guess who these two are.”
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The big theory regarding the pair is that it will be two former WWE stars in Cesaro and Ember Moon, now going by Athena. Cesaro has remained quiet about his pro wrestling future, though a masked cameraman spotted at ringside over the past few weeks has an uncanny resemblance to the Swiss star, leading fans to believe it might be him hiding in plain sight.
As for Athena, she spoke very highly of the company in an interview with Chris Van Vliet earlier this month, saying, “I was seeing everything going on at AEW and I was like, ‘That looks fun. That looks like what I thought I was going to do.’ For a while, we couldn’t even talk about it backstage because they were like, ‘You shouldn’t be watching the competitor.’ I was like, ‘How do you expect us to outshine them?’ It was different because I wasn’t watching for film. I was watching because I was envious of what was happening there. I would text Dustin (Rhodes) on occasions and he would respond back, ‘We sure are having fun over here.’ I’m like, ‘I see that you’re having fun, Dustin! How are you, how is life? Don’t rub it in.’ Dustin was one of those people that, when I was on Raw and SmackDown and still trying to figure out my identity within that new roster, he was the only one who would sit there and give me character advice. ‘You need to do this and that. F— what they say.’ That’s Goldust. That’s the ultimate character. My man survived throughout everything. He took such an interest in my character-work when no one else would. I saw him and my friend Leva (Bates) is like, ‘I’m having a great time over here.’ To see genuinely how happy everyone was.”
Update: Athena started a Twitch stream late Wednesday afternoon and confirmed she wouldn’t be on the show, noting it’s a four-hour drive from her home in Garland, TX, to Houston.
But then Tommaso Ciampa had to go and throw another twist into the mystery. The former NXT Champion posted a photo with Johnny Gargano and Candice LeRae, captioning the photo, “Hanging out with a couple of jokers.” Bother Gargano and LeRae allowed their WWE contracts to expire and are free agents. While Gargano has teased the possibility of joining AEW in the past, LeRae is only three months removed from having her first child so the odds of her getting back in the ring so soon are slim.
Who do you think the two jokers will be tonight? Will they both win their debut matches? Let us know your thoughts down in the comments!
