2/18 AEW Dynamite Underwent Major Changes – The February 18, 2026 episode of AEW Dynamite from Memorial Auditorium faced significant last-minute adjustments due to illness and injuries across the roster following Grand Slam Australia.
According to F4WOline, the company worked with what he described as a “skeleton crew” as both talent returning from Australia and those who remained stateside were affected.
“I don’t know the names, but I was told in the afternoon that this show was completely rewritten. Not completely, I mean, Omega/Swerve was exactly what it was going to be, and I think that the four-way women’s TBS Championship was what it was going to be. There were a lot of illnesses… so it was like a skeleton crew in a lot of ways…..I know Mortos was not scheduled for the show, to wrestle on the show. He was a replacement,” Meltzer said.
Despite the disruption, two major matches stayed intact. In the main event, Swerve Strickland defeated Kenny Omega in their first singles meeting. After the bout, Strickland continued the assault and appeared to turn heel, hanging Omega with a chain and delivering a vertebreaker through the announce table. The match was moved to this show instead of AEW Revolution due to Omega’s commitment to the Capcom Cup 12 in Japan.
The TBS Championship also remained as planned, with Willow Nightingale retaining against Mina Shirakawa, Megan Bayne, and Marina Shafir in a four-way match.
Elsewhere, several replacements and altered matchups filled the card. Kevin Knight defeated The Beast Mortos, who stepped in late. Tomohiro Ishii replaced Roderick Strong and teamed with Orange Cassidy to beat Clark Connors and Gabe Kidd.
In another bout, Jon Moxley defeated Mark Davis in a Continental Championship Eliminator after Davis injured his hand striking the ring post, allowing Moxley to secure the Bulldog Choke.
The episode also featured the televised debut of The Brawling Birds, as Jamie Hayter and Alex Windsor defeated Viva Van and B3CCA.
Despite the setbacks and last-minute rewrites, the show delivered key storyline developments and major angles for the upcoming AEW Revolution PPV, particularly with Strickland’s post-match actions and the reshuffled lineup.
2/18 AEW Dynamite Underwent Major Changes
WA on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/wrestlingattitude/
WA on Facebook (Women's Wrestling) - https://www.facebook.com/WrestlingDivas/
WA on X/Twitter - https://x.com/wa_wrestling
WA on Instagram (Women's Wrestling) - https://www.instagram.com/wa_wrestlingattitude/
WA on Google News - https://news.google.com/publications/CAAqBwgKMJf3owsw2oG8Aw
WA on Bluesky - https://bsky.app/profile/wrestlingattitude.bsky.social
