Former ROH Champion Debuting For AEW This Week
Tony Khan lines up former ROH World Champion for this week's AEW Dynamite.
A former Ring Of Honor World Champion will have a shot at regaining the gold on this Wednesday's episode of AEW Dynamite.
AEW founder and CEO Tony Khan confirmed that Bandido will challenge new title-holder Chris Jericho, doing so via Twitter. This will be Jericho's first defence of the championship he took from Claudio Castagnoli at last Wednesday's Grand Slam special in New York City.
Wednesday Night #AEWDynamiteLive this week in Philadelphia, PA@TBSNetwork 8pm ET/7pm CT#ROH World ChampionshipChris Jericho vs Bandido
AdvertisementNewly crowned @ringofhonorWorld Champion @IAmJericho will defend the title on TBS Wednesday vs former ROH World Champion @bandidowrestler! pic.twitter.com/pNebojnOVe
— Tony Khan (@TonyKhan) September 26, 2022
Bandido's previous ROH Title reign commenced with a victory over current AEW star Rush on 11 July 2021. He went on to mount successful defences against Flip Gordon, Alex Zayne, and Matt Taven, plus Brody King, Demonic Flamita, and EC3 in a four-way bout, though a COVID-19 diagnosis preventing him from defending against Jonathan Gresham last December muddied the waters. Gresham ended up wrestling Jay Lethal at Final Battle 2021, winning a new ROH Championship.
Gresham and Bandido finally wrestled to effectively unify the straps on the first show of Khan's era as ROH owner, with Gresham defeating the masked man at Supercard Of Honor 2022 (1 April).
On Instagram, Khan stated that Bandido is getting the shot at Jericho as he never received a rematch for the ROH Title.
AEW appears to be playing a game of contrasts with Jericho as Ring Of Honor champion. The veteran won the strap through dishonourable means, low-blowing Castagnoli ahead of the pin, which is at odds with ROH's brand identity. Theoretically, this is effective heel storyline fodder.