The Women will get the same opportunity as the men on January 15.
That’s because Tony Khan has confirmed that a women’s gauntlet match will take place on the special Maximum Carnage show. The speciality match will determine Mariah May’s challenger for the AEW Women’s World title at Grand Slam Australia.
At this moment, no names have been confirmed for the Gauntlet match, though there are several wrestlers who seem like the perfect candidate for Mariah May. The most obvious is Toni Storm, even with the concussion angle. It’s not clear how long the direction of that story will last, but the former AEW Women’s World Champion is billed from Gold Coast, Australia, so it would be surprising if Storm didn’t have a big match at the upcoming Grand Slam show.
Either way, the Gauntlet match gives the women on the AEW roster a chance to show that they can be just as good as the men. It should be exciting! The Maximum Carnage show is expected to be headlined with Jon Moxley defending the AEW World title. The challenger will be determined following this Wednesday Gauntlet match.
Have you wondered why AEW has suddenly branded January 15 as a special show despite coming off Fight for the Fallen? That’s because Warner Bros. Discovery wants that episode to be important due to advertising purposes, according to Fightful Select. It may seem random to throw a world title match at the last minute, but we should get something fun out of watching Moxley defend his AEW World title in his hometown. Who could his challenger be?
There’s no word on who AEW might put in that spot. It’s unlikely that Moxley is dropping the belt, unless Tony Khan is going to swerve us with a random title change. It would be great if he used this opportunity to give someone who isn’t used as in the main event often a chance to have a great match against Moxley.
Below is the advertised line-up for next week’s Dynamite in Cincinnati, Ohio:
- AEW World Title Match: Jon Moxley (c) vs. TBA
- AEW Women’s World Title #1 Contenders Casino Gauntlet: Competitors TBA
- Hook vs. Christian Cage