The road back to winning the AEW World Trios Championships was rocky for Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks. They won the inaugural tournament for the belts last September at All Out but were stripped of the titles after an alleged backstage confrontation and fight with CM Punk. That’s all been covered ad nauseam, but winning those belts again on Dynamite on January 11 wasn’t a straightforward in-ring affair for Omega and The Young Bucks. It was Match 7 in an unheard-of best-of-seven series against Death Triangle, with each bout being more hard-hitting than the last. The Elite came out on top, erasing a 3-1 deficit en route to earning the trios titles again.
It capped off an emotional four-month period for The Elite. The plan wasn’t for them to be stripped of their titles following All Out, but backstage issues necessitated that move from Tony Khan. Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks were suspended instead of defending, but the time away seemingly allowed them to cook up this idea for a seven-match series. The outcome was never really in question. This series was always going to be an underdog story for The Elite. Despite that, the best-of-seven deserves some love for being truly and wholly unique. None of the matches felt the same, and each escalated physically.
The Elite Vs. Death Triangle Will Always Be Remembered By AEW Fans
Not all AEW fans were on board when the best-of-seven format was announced. The Elite and Death Triangle combine for six of the most outstanding modern-day professional wrestlers on the planet, but getting seven memorable matches against one another in a row seemed like a tall order. This series style works in the NHL or NBA because those sports aren’t scripted. The drama is generated in real-time, and fans get hooked on the swings and internal storylines that emerge in each series.
AEW isn’t the same as pro basketball, though. Everyone involved pieced together these matches, and accomplishing something special seven consecutive times didn’t seem possible. One of the matches had to be a stinker, right? That’s what logic would dictate, but Kenny Omega, The Young Bucks, Rey Fenix, PAC, and Penta El Zero M weren’t bound by the laws of nature during this series. By Match 7, the stakes were high, and the audience was heavily invested. They’d watched these two teams give it their all over the last several weeks, and the time had come to decide a winner. Fans will remember the seventh match as one of the best in Dynamite history. A concise five-star banger at a time when stars are stretching the limit of audience attention spans. The frantic and desperate pace matched that of a Game 7 in sports, and was brilliant to behold.
One-of-a-kind events are infrequent in professional wrestling and AEW. Fresh finishes are hard to come by, and all of these stories have been told before with different characters. Death Triangle and The Elite accomplished something exceptional during this best-of-seven, and fans who witnessed it might never see anything like it. It lands alongside moments like Mankind getting thrown off the top of Hell in the Cell or The Undertaker’s first shocking loss at WrestleMania. Unmanufactured and unrepeatable moments, the likes of which AEW may never see again. The show must go on, however, leaving fans wondering…
What’s Next For The Elite?
When AEW announced the World Trios Championships, the company was swimming in groups who could contend for the titles. Initially, it looked like it could be the most competitive championship scene in the company, full stop. The landscape has changed over the last several months, however. There’s no CM Punk or FTR left to team up. The United Empire is in NJPW. La Facción Ingobernable, as AEW fans have seen them, won’t work since Dragon Lee signed with WWE, and Andrade El Idolo is off television right now. The Dark Order has fallen on dark times, while The Trustbusters are a man down after Parker Boudreaux joined the Mogul Affiliates. That doesn’t leave The Elite with much competition.
Swerve Strickland’s new group represent an exciting option, but that faction isn’t even a month old. Having them enter into a feud they simply aren’t going to win—there’s no chance Omega, and The Young Bucks lose their first program defending the belts—might not be wise. Momentum matters in professional wrestling, but it could help elevate Mogul Affiliates to a new level in the eyes of fans. There are worse things than feuding with some of the top stars in the company in a losing effort. The door would also be open for Keith Lee to seek his vengeance during a pay-per-view match, giving Tony Khan an easy exit point without making anyone look particularly weak.
Many AEW fans assumed House of Black would be challenging The Elite following Dynamite, which could still come to fruition. They’re engaged in a feud on Rampage, but it’d be easy enough to pull them away from Eddie Kingston in a week or two. HOB faces a similar issue to the Mogul Affiliates, however. They only returned to television recently, and eating a few losses at the hands of The Elite would not be the best thing for their momentum.
With that in mind, a stopgap program with Orange Cassidy and The Best Friends—or something similar—might be the best route forward for All Elite Wrestling at this time. Orange has been a fantastic North American Champion, and putting on stellar matches with Omega and The Young Bucks wouldn’t threaten his momentum as a singles competitor. There aren’t many outstanding options for The Elite as they head toward their first title defenses, but Khan will almost certainly think of something.