AEW Dynamite Winter is Coming dark match notes: New Billy Gunn team, surprise return
The dark matches before Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite Winter is Coming were notable for several reasons other than Sting’s son making his promotional in-ring debut.
For the first time in nearly two years, Ortiz graced an AEW ring, taking on Hook in a losing effort. The 34-year-old has only wrestled twice in AEW since losing a no DQ match to former partner Mike Santana in October 2023 due to injuries and non-use. He has worked different indies around the U.S. and Canada this year.
In another dark match, Billy Gunn‘s estrangement from the reluctant reunited team of Anthony Bowens and Max Caster appears to be permanent as he is supporting a new team of Brady Booker and Elijah Drago who defeated two local wrestlers.
Booker is the former Bodhi Hayward in WWE NXT who was released in late-2022. He wrestled two matches on AEW Dark in early-2023 and then once again in January 2024 in Ring of Honor. He competed in ROH dark matches five times this year under his new name, both teaming with Drago and against him. He and Drago also worked an January 2025 AEW dark match against Dark Order. Drago made his AEW debut in July 2024 in a dark match win over QT Marshall.
Booker and Drago have both worked in the ring with Gunn several times over the last three years on indie shows.
Since 2011, Josh has been a contributing editor to Wrestling Observer/F4WOnline.com and also hosts the Punch-Out podcast. He has also written for Fight Magazine, Bloody Elbow, Bleacher Report, and other websites. He's a 2000 graduate of the University of Maine, worked in pro sports, and once was an indie ring announcer.