Published: 3 hours ago by Sanchez Taylor | Last Updated: 10 hours ago by Sanchez Taylor
Sanchez has over six years of pro-wrestling news writing experience, covering the biggest news stories in WWE, NXT, AEW, TNA Wrestling and more. He has personally interviewed a number of top stars, producing exclusive content with the likes of AEW's Swerve Strickland and WWE's Nick Aldis.
AEW
We now have our first confirmed challenger for the AEW World Championship at WrestleDream, ahead of the introduction of the Clockwork Carnage match.
As was previously announced, The AEW World Champion will put his gold on the line against five other stars in a Clockwork Carnage match at the October 17 pay-per-view.
A qualifying match took place during Tuesday’s (October 6) AEW Grand Slam France show, with Samoa Joe facing off against “Jungle” Jack Perry for a spot in the title match.
In the closing moments of the bout, Perry climbed to the top turnbuckle, before Joe cut him off with an enzigiri. Perry then spat in Joe’s face as one final act of defiance before Joe hit him with a Muscle Buster to punch his ticket to WrestleDream.
With Joe being the first challenger to qualify for Clockwork Carnage, there has been some talk about the decision to have the former AEW World Champion in this new match.
How Clockwork Carnage works
The official ruleset for the Clockwork Carnage match at AEW WrestleDream.
The match type which premiered in Pro Wrestling EVE will see two stars start in the ring, and new wrestlers enter randomly every three minutes.
Eliminations occur via pinfall and submission until the final entrant joins the match, at which point it basically turns into an iron-man match for the remaining competitors, with a 15-minute scoring period starting.
The wrestler with the most falls following the scoring period will leave WrestleDream with the AEW World Championship.
Wrestling veteran
Samoa Joe has been wrestling for almost 27 years, first stepping into the ring in December 1999. For comparison, current AEW World Champion Will Ospreay was six years old when Samoa Joe first stepped into the ring.
Having wrestled for the likes of AEW, WWE, ROH and TNA Wrestling, Joe has competed in almost every major match stipulation over the years.
Having such a veteran name in AEW’s first Clockwork Carnage match is a good way to ground the match, giving everyone a dependable name to work with as they find their feet.
While Joe’s experience alone made him an ideal candidate for this match, there are several other reasons why it made sense to confirm him for Clockwork Carnage.
Another dream encounter with Will Ospreay
Prior to their previous one-on-one encounter, Will Ospreay publicly named Samoa Joe as a dream opponent a number of times.
The two stars finally faced off on at Double or Nothing in May, with Ospreay defeating Joe to advance to the semifinals of the Owen Hart Foundation tournament.
Putting Samoa Joe back in the world title picture allows Joe and Ospreay to meet again, but with championship gold on the line.
The former champion being involved in a multi-man bout for the title allows him to tease further singles encounters with Will Ospreay.
Regaining momentum
Samoa Joe’s Clockwork Carnage qualifier was actually his first match back since losing to Will Ospreay at the May 24 pay-per-view.
With AEW looking to re-establish Joe as a dominant monster again, it made a lot of sense to have the wrestling veteran go over Jack Perry in his first match back following an almost five month absence.
Clockwork Carnage is actually an ideal first program back for Samoa Joe, as the format would allow him to pick up multiple falls, even if he doesn’t walk out with the gold on October 19.
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