The February 18, 2026, episode of AEW Dynamite, held at the Memorial Auditorium in Sacramento, California, was forced into last-minute changes due to a widespread illness and several injuries affecting the roster following Grand Slam Australia. Dave Meltzer reported on Wrestling Observer Radio that the show operated with what felt like a “skeleton crew” as both talent who traveled to Australia and those who stayed behind were affected by the same sickness bug.
While much of the card underwent rewrites, two major segments remained as originally planned: the four-way match for the TBS Championship and the main event between Kenny Omega and Swerve Strickland.
“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, both people from Australia, and I think there were some injuries too. There were a lot of illnesses from people, some in Australia, but a lot who didn’t go, so the feeling was that somebody must have been sick last Wednesday, and a lot of people got it, because people who were not in Australia also got sick all at the same time. 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.
AEW Dynamite Highlights
- Main Event: Swerve Strickland defeated Kenny Omega in their first-ever singles encounter. Following the match, Strickland completed a heel turn by attacking Omega, eventually delivering a vertebreaker off the ring steps through the announce table while repeatedly stating, “I needed this”. The Omega vs. Strickland match took place on this episode rather than the upcoming AEW Revolution pay-per-view due to a scheduling conflict for Kenny Omega involving the Capcom Cup 12 esports tournament in Japan.
- TBS Championship: Willow Nightingale successfully defended her title in a four-way match against Mina Shirakawa, Megan Bayne, and Marina Shafir.
- The Beast Mortos vs. Kevin Knight: Knight ultimately won the match with a UFO Splash.
- The Conglomeration: Tomohiro Ishii was a replacement for Roderick Strong. Ishii teamed with Cassidy to defeat Clark Connors and Gabe Kidd.
- Jon Moxley vs. Mark Davis: Moxley defeated Davis in a Continental Championship Eliminator match via a Bulldog Choke after Davis accidentally punched a steel ring post and suffered a hand injury during the bout.
- The Brawling Birds: Jamie Hayter and Alex Windsor made their televised debut, defeating Viva Van and B3CCA.
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