Following the chaotic AEW All Out pay-per-view on Sunday, All Elite Wrestling returned to television to produce its two weekly shows at the KeyBank Center in Buffalo, NY. The double taping kicked off with a live edition of AEW Dynamite, where AEW President Tony Khan addressed the world title situation. Khan revealed that he has vacated the AEW World Title and that a “tournament of champions” would be held, with the winner emerging as the new AEW World Champion. Former AEW World Champions Chris Jericho and Jon Moxley each received a first round bye, while fellow former titleholders like “Hangman” Adam Page, Bryan Danielson, Sammy Guevara, and Darby Allin would compete in first round match-ups.
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It’s worth noting that while his name was not mentioned on television nor was he shown in any of the AEW All Out highlights, stripping CM Punk of the world title is due to injury. Punk suffered an arm injury in his match against Moxley on Sunday and is said to be out of action for upwards of eight months. This isn’t taking into account any disciplinary action that will enforced on Punk, as he is reportedly set to either be suspended or let go from AEW following his actions on Sunday.
The first of those bouts went down on Dynamite, with Danielson getting the victory over Hangman in a hard-fought battle that many described as being “pay-per-view main event worthy.” This was Danielson’s first win against Hangman, as the two feuded for the world title earlier this year. In their two matches, Hangman emerged victorious in the second while the two battled to a 60-minute time limit draw in their first meeting.
WARNING – AEW Rampage spoilers for 9/9 ahead.
The second first-round contest went down immediately after AEW Dynamite, as Sammy Guevara took on Darby Allin in a taped match for Friday’s AEW Rampage. Guevara was able to pin Allin for the 1-2-3, setting him on a collision course with Jon Moxley next week. Danielson will also meet Jericho in next week’s semifinals. The winners of those two matches will then advance to AEW Dynamite: Grand Slam to fight for the vacant AEW World Title.
Beyond the tournament of champions, AEW Rampage was also home to a Samoa Joe promo, which saw the Ring of Honor Television Champion be confronted by Josh Woods. Those two will wrestle for Joe’s title next week on AEW Rampage. Serena Deeb the defeated Madison Rayne in singles competition, while Claudio Castagnoli retained his ROH World Title against Dax Harwood of FTR.
Stay tuned to ComicBook.com for updates on the AEW tournament of champions.
