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Alex Windsor vs. Marina Shafir
Preview: Shafir has had a long-standing feud with Toni Storm, which parlayed into a feud with Mina Shirakawa who has since aligned with the Brawling Birds (Alex Windsor & Jamie Hayter). Windsor has taken up for Mina, thus agreeing to a match with Shafir on Zero Hour.
Prediction: Marina Shafir defeats Alex Windsor
Shafir just lost to Toni Storm on the last PPV at Revolution. She needs to get a win back to maintain credibility and Windsor can afford the loss as she’s currently in a tag team.
Andrade El Ídolo vs. Darby Allin – If Allin wins, he will get a future AEW World Championship match
Preview: Darby threw his name in the World Title picture hat after winning his feud with Gabe Kidd and the Dogs. This put him in the crosshairs of MJF who saw an opportunity to utilize the Don Callis Family with pure bribery to nip the Darby problem in the bud. Don Callis suggested that if Darby can defeat his handpicked family member, Andrade, at Dynasty he will get a title shot with MJF. Meanwhile, Andrade doesn’t seem to be 100% onboard with the family working with MJF.
Prediction: Darby Allin defeats Andrade El Ídolo to earn a future AEW World Championship match
Darby Allin had the AEW World title in sight when it was around the waist of Jon Moxley before the former decided to take a sabbatical to climb Mt. Everest. Now, Darby is back, focused and ready to be in the World Title picture and a compelling feud with his original four pillar member, MJF.
Thekla (c) vs. Jamie Hayter for the AEW Women’s World Championship
Preview: Thekla has been on a dominant heel tear since defeating Kris Statlander for the AEW Women’s World Title. At one point, Jamie Hayter was arguably the biggest women’s singles star in AEW and had a very strong trajectory. Then came Hayter’s long-term injury and she has never been able to regain the same magic since her return. This is an opportunity to elevate her status, once again, and remain a regular in the women’s main event picture.
Prediction: Thekla (c) defeats Jamie Hayter for the AEW Women’s World Championship
Thekla has been on a relatively strong run since course-correcting from the failure that was the Kris Statlander title run. There’s really no reason to take the title off of her so soon and Hayter has her Brawling Birds tag team to fall back on for a title run. I would have Hayter look very strong in defeat for her to maintain credibility so as to potentially come back to the title scene in the future, at some point.
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Tommaso Ciampa vs. Winner of Anthony Bowens-Rush Vs. TBA Field – Casino Gauntlet match for the AEW TNT Championship
Preview: Due to the unfortunate and untimely injury of Kyle Fletcher, the AEW TNT Title has been vacated and a new champion needs to be decided in a Casino Gauntlet match. Tommaso Ciampa defeated Máscara Dorada to qualify as the first entrant and Anthony Bowens will face off against Rush on Collision to decide who will qualify as the second entrant. The rest of the field will be match-time decisions so expect your usual returns and/or surprises.
Prediction: Tommaso Ciampa wins the Casino Gauntlet match for the AEW TNT Championship
Ciampa has already been a prior TNT Champion (losing the title to Fletcher) and he seems to have become an important piece in the AEW ecosystem. His first run, though short, seemed well-received so why not run it back and make Ciampa a workhorse-type champion?
The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) vs. Don Callis Family (Kazuchika Okada & Konosuke Takeshita)
Preview: This match was originally supposed to be Kyle Fletcher & Kazuchika Okada Vs. The Young Bucks but, as previously mentioned, Fletcher has a serious injury so they had to pivot to the at odds Okada & Takeshita “can they coexist” tag team to represent the Don Callis Family. Callis agreed that if they agreed to team then Takeshita would get a shot at Okada’s International Title at the next PPV, Double or Nothing. I imagine that the primary intent of this match is to further that storyline.
Prediction: The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) defeat Don Callis Family (Kazuchika Okada & Konosuke Takeshita)
Spoiler alert: I don’t think that Takeshita and Okada will be able to co-exist as a tag team and some misunderstanding or miscue will lead to their defeat in this match and more animosity as we head to Takeshita Vs. Okada as a top-billed match at Double or Nothing. The real question is will both men still be under the banner of the Don Callis Family Double or Nothing?
Chris Jericho vs. Ricochet
Preview: The surprise return of Chris Jerich to AEW after nearly one year is still fresh after just over one week. One can hope that he has returned with no intent to form another stable or have long-winded segments that sucks the air out of the room. Hopefully, he’s back to fully put over rising heels. While Ricochet is no longer a “young” wrestler he is relatively new to the AEW scene and he is worthy of elevating his new, successful role. I imagine that the Gates of Agony will get involved in this match while being in ricochet’s corner.
Prediction: Ricochet defeats Chris Jericho
Jericho would get an incredibly bad reaction should he return only to immediately put himself over. I think that he is well aware of this. My only hope is that Jericho doesn’t bring in any wrestlers to “neutralize” the Gates of Agony and turn this into a stable feud that spans months-upon-months.
Jon Moxley (c) vs. Will Ospreay for the AEW Continental Championship
Preview: With this match being under Continental title rules it will presumably have a 20-minute time limit. Therefore, unlike many Moxley matches and with Ospreay involved, I imagine that this match will be a sprint rather than a sluggish marathon. Moxley is, in storyline, responsible for Ospreay’s Significant neck injury and subsequent surgery which kept him out for a substantial period of time. That aspect has this match truly feeling like a blood feud even though there is some ambiguousness about the face-heel dynamic here.
Prediction: Jon Moxley (c) defeats Will Ospreay for the AEW Continental Championship
I expect much bigger things for Ospreay this summer like winning the Owen Cup, headlining All In: London and finally winning the AEW World Championship in his home Country. Therefore, he doesn’t need to be saddled down with the Continental title, in the meantime. The only issue is that it seems too early in Ospreay’s return to take such a big loss, but I think he can regain momentum back quickly on his journey to winning the Owen Cup and beyond.
MJF (c) vs. Kenny Omega for the AEW World Championship
Preview: It seems appropriate that much of the build to this match has occurred in Canada where MJF has labeled himself an “American hero” to generate strong heat. This has also been billed as “Wrestling God Vs. The Devil” which gives it a transcendent feel. It almost feels bigger than a wrestling match and AEW has done a good job of capturing that by highlighting Kenny’s legendary history in video packages and MJF’s blatant heel tendencies in similar packages.
Prediction: MJF (c) defeats Kenny Omega for the AEW World Championship
MJF has felt like the cornerstone of AEW (my apologies to Chris Jericho) since he won back his AEW World championship late last year. It would be a crucial error to take the belt off of him so quickly after AEW has done such a good job of lining up viable face contenders for MJF to knockdown (including Darby Allin). Meanwhile, I’d have Kenny look strong here as I would like to revisit MJF-Kenny, perhaps as soon as late 2026.
FTR (Cash Wheeler & Dax Harwood) (c) (with Stokely) vs. Cope and Cage (Adam Copeland & Christian Cage) for the AEW World Tag Team Championship
Preview: This feud has spanned since last year and turned into a legitimate blood feud after FTR attacked Adam Copeland’s Wife (Beth Copeland) and injured her in kayfabe. There’s a long history between FTR and Cope as Cope has been a long-time mentor to the tag team who would eventually turn on him. Chrisitan has a mutual disdain for FTR though he goes about addressing it in seemingly more heelish ways than Cope.
Prediction: Cope and Cage (Adam Copeland & Christian Cage) defeats FTR (Cash Wheeler & Dax Harwood) (c) (with Stokely) for the AEW World Tag Team Championship
As I mentioned previously in the article, I expect MJF to defeat Canada’s favorite Kenny Omega to close out the show so Canada will certainly get one feel-good story in their beloved native tag team of Cope and Christian winning the tag gold at Dynasty. As Cope and Christian also aren’t spring chickens, at this point, it makes sense to give them the belts for one final, nostalgia tag title run. Hopefully, with the intention of getting over some younger teams in the process.
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