Tony Khan Books New Tournament Qualifier With Wrestler Returning To AEW On Rampage
AEW President, CEO, General Manager & Head Of Creative Tony Khan has announced another qualifier for The Owen Hart Foundation Women's Tournament.
Khan announced today that Friday's AEW Rampage on TNT will feature Riho vs. Yuka Sakazaki.
The winner of Riho vs. Sakazaki on Rampage will join these 6 confirmed entrants for the women's tournament – Toni Storm, Jamie Hayter, Hikaru Shida, Red Velvet, Ruby Soho, and Britt Baker.
The 5 confirmed entrants for The Owen Hart Foundation Men's Tournament as of this writing are Darby Allin, ROH World Television Champion Samoa Joe, Adam Cole, Kyle O'Reilly, and ROH World Tag Team & AAA Tag Team Champion Dax Harwood. Wednesday's Rampage will feature two more men's qualifiers – Jeff Hardy vs. Bobby Fish and Dante Martin vs. Rey Fenix.
The 8-man and 8-woman tournaments are scheduled to kick off on May 11 at the AEW Dynamite from the UBS Arena in Long Island, NY. The finals will then be held at AEW Double Or Nothing on May 29, and Dr. Martha Hart will be there live to present the Owen Cup trophy to the winners.
Sakazaki originally worked the inaugural AEW Double Or Nothing pay-per-view in 2019, teaming with Aja Kong and Emi Sakura for a loss to Riho, Ryo Mizunami and Hikaru Shida. She has worked 12 other matches since then, last competing in July 2021 with a win over KiLynn King on Elevation, a win over Penelope Ford at Fyter Fest Dynamite, a win over Amber Nova on Elevation, and a win over Dani Jordyn on Elevation.
Friday's AEW Rampage on TNT will have a special start time of 5:30pm ET due to the NBA Playoffs. The episode will be taped tomorrow from the Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena in Baltimore, Maryland, after Dynamite goes off the air. You can click here for the current line-up for Dynamite.
Below is the updated line-up for Friday's Rampage:
It's shaping up to be an exciting card for Friday Rampage on TNT at the special early start time including:
-Owen Hart Cup qualifier: Yuka vs Riho
-HOOK
-@RealBrittBaker/@jmehytr vs Toni Storm/@realrubysoho+ tomorrow we have a great card for #AEWDynamite on TBS @ 8pm ET/7pm CT! https://t.co/bDX9EcnrdI
— Tony Khan (@TonyKhan) May 3, 2022