AEW Unveils Plan To Replace Current Champion
AEW boss Tony Khan has made a big decision.
In the days after losing the TNT Championship to Kyle Fletcher on July 31, Dustin Rhodes announced that he required “very invasive major surgery.” An emotional Rhodes confirmed that he needed double knee replacement surgery, while quickly denying that his injuries were in any way part of a storyline.
During his match with Fletcher, the young star delivered a brutal assault on his knees while stabbing him in the leg with a screwdriver.
In a follow-up post, Dustin Rhodes said that his knees were “destroyed,” but despite that, he remains determined to return to the ring. The veteran is expected to miss the rest of 2025 and much of 2026 at the very least as he recovers.
On August 22, The Natural confirmed that he’d undergone the surgery and had returned home.
Although Rhodes lost the TNT Championship before his hiatus, he remains one-half of the ROH World Tag Team Champions and one-third of the ROH World Six-Man Champions.
AEW Boss Tony Khan Confirms Plans For ROH Titles
With Death Before Dishonor just around the corner, the futures of the ROH World Tag Team Championship and World Six-Man Championship have finally been decided. With regard to the former, Sammy Guevara will defend the gold with an as-yet unnamed partner against The Outrunners.
On the same show, he’ll fill in for Rhodes alongside the Von Erichs to defend the Six-Man Titles against Shane Taylor Promotions.
Dustin Rhodes signed a new six-year contract with AEW in December 2024 to extend his career as a wrestler, ambassador, coach, and consultant.
ROH Death Before Dishonor will be held at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia on August 29.
You can find the updated card for ROH Death Before Dishonor below.
- Athena (c) vs. Mina Shirakawa – ROH Women’s World Championship
- Bandido (c) vs. Hechicero – ROH World Championship
- QT Marshall vs. Paul Walter Hauser – Fight Without Honor
- Sammy Guevara & TBC (c) vs. The Outrunners – ROH World Tag Team Championship
- Lee Moriarty (c) vs. Xelhua – ROH Pure Championship
- The Von Erichs & Sammy Guevara (c) vs. Shane Taylor Promotions – ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship