Josh Barnett to make AEW debut at WrestleDream Zero Hour

Josh Barnett is set to make his AEW debut at Sunday’s WrestleDream Zero Hour event.

In a video package, Claudio Castagnoli talked about recently losing the ROH World Championship then issued an open challenge. Barnett, being billed as Antonio Inoki’s prized pupil, accepted the challenge saying tomorrow Claudio would see what a challenge could really become.

Barnett, a former UFC heavyweight champion, has hosted a yearly event under the GCW banner called Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport in recent years. On this year’s show, he lost to Timothy Thatcher. He most recently competed in Pro Wrestling NOAH, where he defeated Masakatsu Funaki in a martial arts rules match.

A new eight-person mixed tag match has also been added to Zero Hour. Shane Taylor, Lee Moriarty, Mercedes Martinez, and Diamante will take on Satoshi Kojima, Keith Lee, Athena, and Billie Starkz.

Zero Hour will begin at 6:30 pm ET Sunday, featuring RJ City, Renee Paquette, and Stokely Hathaway. Matches will follow 7 pm ET.

The updated lineup for WrestleDream and WrestleDream Zero Hour:

AEW WrestleDream, 8 p.m. Eastern time on pay-per-view —

  • Bryan Danielson vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
  • Hangman Page vs. Swerve Strickland
  • AEW Tag Team Championship: FTR (Cash Wheeler & Dax Harwood) defend against Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis)
  • ROH Tag Team Championship: MJF defends against The Righteous (Vincent & Dutch) in a handicap match
  • NJPW Strong Openweight & ROH World Championship: Eddie Kingston defends both titles against Katsuyori Shibata
  • Two-out-of-three falls match for the TNT Championship: Christian Cage defends against Darby Allin
  • TBS Championship: Kris Statlander defends against Julia Hart
  • Will Ospreay, Konosuke Takeshita & Sammy Guevara vs. Kenny Omega, Kota Ibushi & Chris Jericho
  • Lucha Brothers (Rey Fenix & Penta El Zero Miedo) vs. Hook & Orange Cassidy vs. The Gunns (Austin and Colten) vs. The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) for a future AEW Tag Team title shot
  • Wheeler Yuta vs. Ricky Starks

WrestleDream Zero Hour, 6:30 p.m. Eastern time on AEW’s YouTube channel & social media platforms —

  • AEW World Trios Championship: Max Caster, Anthony Bowens & Billy Gunn defend against TMDK (Shane Haste, Mikey Nicholls & Bad Dude Tito)
  • Josh Barnett vs. Claudio Castagnoli
  • Shane Taylor, Lee Moriarty, Mercedes Martinez, and Diamante vs. Satoshi Kojima, Keith Lee, Athena, and Billie Starkz
  • Nick Wayne vs. Luchasaurus