Dustin Rhodes is set to challenge for the ROH World Title for the first time ever.
Tonight’s AEW Rampage on TNT opened with Castagnoli and ROH Pure Champion Wheeler Yuta in the ring for a promo. Castagnoli issued an Open Challenge for the title, and it was quickly answered by Rhodes. Rhodes said they were both alike until recently as both had never held a World Title. Castagnoli mentioned how Rhodes is having his best run ever in AEW, and said he sees the same fire in his eyes that has been burning for over 30 years. Castagnoli accepted the match match and they shook hands, and the bout was announced for next week’s Rampage episode on August 26.
Next week’s Rampage will be taped next Wednesday from the Wolstein Center in Cleveland, OH.
Next Friday’s ROH World Title match will be the second title defense for Castagnoli. He won the title from Jonathan Gresham at ROH Death Before Dishonor on July 23, and then retained over Konosuke Takeshita at AEW Battle of The Belts III on August 6.
Rhodes competed in the Royal Rampage Battle Royal on July 1, but his last singles match was the loss to current AEW World Champion CM Punk on the April 20 Dynamite episode. Before the match with Punk, Rhodes had only wrestled two other matches in 2022 – a Grudge Match win over Lance Archer on the March 25 Rampage, and the match with Sammy Guevara for the Interim AEW TNT Title at Battle of The Belts I on January 8, which Guevara won.
There’s no word yet on if Castagnoli will defend at AEW All Out on September 4, but we will keep you updated.
Stay tuned to WrestlingHeadlines.com for more. Below are related shots of Rhodes and Castagnoli on Rampage:
Follow Marc on Twitter at @this_is_marc. Send any news, tips or corrections to us by clicking here.