AEW's Ricochet Set For Wrestle Dynasty Title Match After ZSJ Retains At Wrestle Kingdom

By Sam Palmer
Ricochet cutting a promo Etsuo Hara/Getty Images

Zack Sabre Jr. is still IWGP World Heavyweight Champion following the events of NJPW's Wrestle Kingdom 19, which means that Ricochet has now got the opportunity of a lifetime heading into Wrestle Dynasty on January 5. Following Sabre's win over Shota Umino, it was confirmed that the champion's match with Ricochet on January 5 will not only be the main event of the show, but will now be for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship.

Ricochet got the match with the IWGP World Heavyweight Champion after making a surprise appearance at the end of NJPW's Power Struggle in November 2024, attacking Sabre after his match with Shingo Takagi. The AEW star took to social media after the show ended to explain his actions, claiming that he needed to remind everyone that he is still "the f**king man around here," an attitude that AEW fans have started to see after he viciously attacked Swerve Strickland with a pair of scissors on the Fight for the Fallen episode of "AEW Dynamite."

If Ricochet wins, it will be his first world championship since holding the PWG World Championship in 2017 and 2018, a title he actually successfully defended against Sabre. However, if Sabre wins, it will be his fourth successive title defense since becoming champion in October 2024, with Hirooki Goto waiting in the wings after earning a shot at the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship by winning the New Japan Ranbo on the Wrestle Kingdom 19 pre-show. While the two men haven't had a one-on-one contest since the aforementioned PWG World Championship match in 2017, they did briefly share the ring during the Casino Gauntlet match at All In: London 2024, the match where Ricochet made his AEW debut.

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