The rivalry surrounding the AEW World Trios Championships is headed for an escalation at AEW WrestleDream, where Swerve Strickland and New Level will defend against Hangman Adam Page, Bandido and Brody King in a two-out-of-three falls match.
The match was confirmed during AEW Dynamite Grand Slam: France after a night in which several of the competitors were already deeply involved in the show’s action. The announcement puts another major chapter in the long-running conflict between Page and Strickland on pay-per-view, while giving the challengers a chance to reclaim championship gold under a format that places as much emphasis on endurance and adjustments as it does on gaining a single decisive pinfall.
Strickland and his New Level partners, Kofi and Austin Creed, will enter WrestleDream as the reigning AEW World Trios Champions. Across the ring will be Page, ROH World Champion Bandido and Brody King, a unit that has been identified as Brodido and Page. Their upcoming match will not be a simple one-fall rematch. To leave with the titles, one side must win twice, adding a further layer to an already personal championship fight.
New Level raises the stakes after Grand Slam: France
The road to the WrestleDream stipulation began in the aftermath of Bandido’s ROH World Championship defense against Kofi. Bandido retained his championship, but the trios rivalry remained a factor around the bout, with distractions from members of the opposing sides at ringside influencing the atmosphere surrounding the contest.
For more background on this topic, read Jon Moxley Set To Defend AEW Continental Championship Against Mark Davis At WrestleDream.
After Bandido’s successful title defense, Strickland and New Level addressed their rivals in a pre-recorded backstage promo. Strickland stated that his group would be willing to defend the AEW World Trios Championships in a rematch against Page, Bandido and King. Kofi and Creed then pushed the proposal beyond an ordinary rematch, suggesting that the teams meet in a two-out-of-three falls match at WrestleDream.
The challenge was later made official on the program, ensuring that the title picture will again intersect with the Page-Strickland rivalry next weekend. For a conflict that has consistently been marked by heightened emotions and increasingly consequential encounters, the trios championship setting provides both sides with a different kind of pressure. Page and Strickland are not merely trying to defeat one another; they must now guide their respective partners through a match that could require three separate falls.
Strickland and New Level have agreed to defend the AEW World Trios Championships against Page, Bandido and Brody King in a two-out-of-three falls match at WrestleDream.
A rematch with a different challenge
The WrestleDream bout follows Strickland and New Level’s successful championship defense over Brodido and Page at AEW All Out. That result established the champions as a formidable three-man combination and left the challengers needing to find a way to overcome a group that has already proven it can beat them with the titles at stake.
In a standard trios match, one mistake can decide everything. The two-out-of-three falls format changes that dynamic. A team can survive a loss in the opening fall and still recover, but doing so means revealing more of its strategy while preserving enough energy and unity to take the next two decisions. The champions will have the advantage of entering the match with a previous victory over this exact trio, while Page, Bandido and King have the chance to study what went wrong at All Out and respond with a more complete plan.
For Strickland, Kofi and Creed, the stipulation creates an opportunity to demonstrate that their All Out win was not simply a matter of momentum or circumstance. Two falls would require the champions to sustain control and execute repeatedly against three dangerous opponents. They will also be carrying the burden that comes with defending rather than chasing. The challengers need two falls to take the championships, but New Level need two falls to prove their reign can withstand the deepest possible challenge from this opposition.
For Page’s side, the match represents more than another title opportunity. It is another direct collision with Strickland, an opponent with whom Page has developed one of AEW’s most heated rivalries. The trios division has brought additional bodies into their conflict, but it has not removed the central tension. Every fall offers the possibility that Page and Strickland will be forced into a crucial exchange, whether it is the finish of a fall, a momentum-changing sequence, or a moment when one man must rely on his partners to protect the result.
How the championship picture reached this point
New Level’s ascent to the AEW World Trios Championships began at AEW All In London. During the Trios Roulette Royal, Kofi and Austin Creed made their AEW debuts as Strickland’s mystery partners. Their reveal immediately positioned the trio as a significant new force in the division, combining Strickland’s established standing in AEW with two arrivals who entered alongside him rather than as separate competitors.
Strickland, Kofi and Creed went on to win the AEW World Trios Titles that night, and their connection has since been central to the championship landscape. By aligning with Strickland from the outset, Kofi and Creed ensured that New Level would not have to spend its early period building toward cohesion in public. Their first major statement came as a group, and winning the titles placed a target on them immediately.
Page, Bandido and King have emerged as one of the key groups looking to bring that reign to an end. Bandido carries the ROH World Championship into the broader rivalry, having just retained it against Kofi at Grand Slam: France. King supplies a physical presence that can shift a trios match in an instant, while Page’s issues with Strickland give the challengers an intensely personal reason to pursue the AEW championships.
That mixture of motivations is part of what makes the WrestleDream contest different from a routine rematch. Bandido has championship momentum following his successful defense. Kofi will have reason to answer that defeat. King and Creed each have a chance to influence a major title match involving partners whose animosity has become impossible to separate from the action. And at the center of it all are Page and Strickland, whose rivalry will again be played out with championship stakes and two additional competitors on each side.
What two falls could demand from both teams
A two-out-of-three falls match rewards versatility. Winning the first fall can provide confidence, but it can also place a team in a difficult position if the opposition comes back with a new approach. The competitors must manage recovery time between decisions, prevent their partners from being isolated for extended stretches, and avoid allowing a single heated confrontation to distract from the larger objective.
That final point may be especially relevant for Page and Strickland. Their history gives every exchange between them added significance, but the championships can only change hands if their full teams win two falls. A personal battle may create an opening for one side, yet it may also expose a partner. Bandido and King will need to capitalize if Page gains momentum against Strickland, just as Kofi and Creed will be tasked with converting any advantage Strickland creates.
The format also increases the importance of teamwork after a setback. A first-fall loss does not end the match, but it places immediate pressure on a trio to respond. The challengers could be forced to win consecutive falls to capture the titles. Conversely, if Page, Bandido and King score first, New Level would have to show the resolve expected of champions by taking the next two. There is no room for one successful sequence to define the entire night.
With the AEW World Trios Championships at stake, WrestleDream will provide a decisive test of New Level’s reign and another major stage for Page and Strickland’s unresolved issues. Strickland, Kofi and Creed have already beaten this challenger lineup at All Out. Page, Bandido and King now have a stipulation designed to give them more time, more opportunities and a clearer path to prove they can outlast the champions.
At WrestleDream, one fall will not be enough. The champions must defeat their rivals twice to retain, while the challengers must do the same to end New Level’s reign. For Page and Strickland, that means their rivalry is set to continue in a match where momentum can change more than once—and where the final result may require the winning team to survive its opponents two separate times.
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Darryl Polo
Darryl Polo is a passionate wrestling fan covering WWE, AEW, TNA and beyond. He loves great rivalries, breakout stars and the moments that keep fans talking long after the bell. How we work.