SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
Zero Hour/Buy-In
Bang Bang Gang (Jay White & Ace Austin & Austin Gunn & Colten Gunn (with Juice Robinson) vs. Death Riders (Daniel Garcia & Wheeler Yuta) and The Dogs (David Finlay & Clark Connors) – Eight-man Tornado Tailgate Brawl
Preview: Three of AEW’s main factions are involved in this one and they’ve been interacting for some time now. This match is more designed for high-action and chaos to get the crowd going for the main card.
Prediction: Bang Bang Gang (Jay White & Ace Austin & Austin Gunn & Colten Gunn (with Juice Robinson) defeat Death Riders (Daniel Garcia & Wheeler Yuta) and The Dogs (David Finlay & Clark Connors) in an Eight-man Tornado Tailgate Brawl
I expect that the good guys will go over in this match to get the crowd off to a good start.
Jack Perry vs. Katsuyori Shibata
Preview: This match is essentially a vehicle for Jack Perry to get his hands on Shibata’s Opps Brethren Samoa Joe, who is a former AEW Champion. Several weeks back, Perry made a declaration that he wanted to beat former champions to firmly establish himself as a title contender.
Prediction: Jack Perry defeats Katsuyori Shibata
Perry gets this win to earn the opportunity to wrestle Samoa Joe in what I presume will be the main event of a “named” Dynamite. Perhaps the upcoming Grand Slam: Paris?
Persephone defends her TBS Championship in an Open Challenge (excluding Hyan, Maya World, and Thunder Rosa)
Preview: There are tons of options here. Knowing Tony Khan, could this be a debuting wrestler like Dani Luna or Mara Sade?
Prediction: Persephone defeats Challenger TBA to retain the TBS Championship
I doubt Persephone drops her TBS Championship on a pre-show. They just added Britt Baker to her act so I assume that there is more to flesh out there.
MAIN CARD
Christian Cage & Adam Copeland (c) vs. FTR (Cash Wheeler & Dax Harwood) vs. The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) – Three-way ladder match for the AEW World Tag Team Championship
Preview: These are three tag teams that have arguably helped shape and define their generations as much, if not more, than any other tag teams in history. That has been the driving force of the build to this match and that has largely been successful, to this point. The interplays between the three teams has brought into past, present and potential future accomplishments and I think that has helped in making me less certain about who the winner of this match might be. This has essentially been given the TLC gimmick even though they can’t technically say it on television which adds even more to the authentic feel to the build and the match itself. Expect a lot of ambitious and potentially teeth-gritting spots. I was, overall, a fan of the jabs between the teams on the go-home Dynamite and I did enjoy them getting physical (sans the idiotic beatdown of the security guard).
Prediction: Cage and Cope (Christian Cage & Adam Copeland) (c) defeat FTR (Cash Wheeler & Dax Harwood) vs. The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) in Three-way ladder match to retain the AEW World Tag Team Championship
Initially, I had suspected that the Bucks would win this match to go on to face Darby Allin and Steve Borden (who I presume will win the number one contenders match for the tag titles later in the show) calling back to win Darby and Borden’s Father, Sting, defeated the Bucks to retain and then relinquish the tag titles in Sting’s final match. But then, on the go-home Dynamite, Darby and Borden had a backstage interaction with Copeland which got me thinking that, perhaps, this may be leading to Darby-Borden Vs. Copeland-Cage at some point in the not too distant future.
ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW…
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The Brawling Birds (Alex Windsor & Jamie Hayter) (c) vs. Divine Dominion (Lena Kross & Megan Bayne) – Chicago Street Fight for the AEW Women’s World Tag Team Championship
Preview: The build to their first match at All In spanned a few months and Hayter and Windsor got their feel good, home country win to earn the Women’s Tag Titles. Now we’ve come to the rematch with a deserved street fight gimmick, based on the wrestling characters involved in this match and the personal level that this feud has gotten to. I expect heavy-hitting and quite a bit of violence in this match.
Prediction: The Brawling Birds (Alex Windsor & Jamie Hayter) (c) defeat Divine Dominion (Lena Kross & Megan Bayne) in a Chicago Street Fight to retain the AEW Women’s World Tag Team Championship
The Brawling Birds just won these titles, last month, at All In so I don’t expect them to relinquish them in their first defense. I think that Bayne now may be destined for a stronger push in the women’s singles division than she received her first go-around so I could see this being one of the last tag matches for the Divine Dominion team. My only concern is what might happen to Lena Kross if she isn’t paired with Bayne but Kross did impress me in her own singles match on Dynamite so there may be some potential there, as well.
Swerve Strickland & The New Level (Austin Creed & Kofi) (c) vs. “Hangman” Adam Page & Brodido (Brody King & Bandido) – AEW World Trios Championship
Preview: The parallels in this match were laid out, quite clearly, by Kofi and Creed in their pre-match promo before they defended their Trios Titles against “The Demand” on the go-home Dynamite opening match. Hangman has a history of abandoning teams. Swerve has a history of abandoning teams. Hangman and Swerve have a long, complicated and somewhat explosive history, in their own rights. There are quite a few moving pieces in this match and it will be interesting to evaluate and parse the interactions in an attempt to understand what they might signify and where the story between all six involved in this match may be heading post-All Out. And, as is to be suspected in AEW, expect a good amount of high-energy action throughout the match.
Prediction: Swerve Strickland and The New Level (Austin Creed & Kofi) (c) defeat “Hangman” Adam Page & Brodido (Brody King & Bandido) to retain the AEW World Trios Championship
I don’t think that the Swerve and New Level story is finished being told quite yet. While I don’t necessarily think that it is a long-term stable, there is still more meat on the bone to be had from a storytelling perspective. After this match, Hangman can break away from Brodido and resume his singles ambitions and Brodido can join the loaded tag scene, again. I think that there will be significant interplay between Swerve and the New Level over the next few weeks and we’ll learn much more about the Swerve character direction and whether it becomes a more defined face or reverts back to heel like he was before his break and return as a trios wrestler.
Thekla vs. Willow Nightingale – Determines the #1 contender to the AEW Women’s World Championship at WrestleDream
Preview: Thekla has been delightful and strangely unique in her organic transition to babyface that the fans have been eating up to this point. She has a cadence and way of speaking that draws one in and keeps them listening. Willow is as white meat a babyface as one could create, even in a video game, although, every now-and-then, can come across as a bit too much. AEW is in an interesting place here as they have to walk a fine line so neither wrestler’s face persona is damaged in this build and match and Thekla has a way with insults that can sometimes come across as overwhelming her opponent which usually works pretty good but isn’t ideal for this match. I think that they’ve done an adequate job so far. The timing isn’t the best but this match has to happen when it is happening and it will ultimately be worth the risk when we have a face-aligned Thekla Vs. a heel-aligned Mercedes for the Women’s Title at WrestleDream (spoiler).
Prediction: Thekla defeats Willow Nightingale and becomes the #1 contender to the AEW Women’s World Championship at WrestleDream
Willow vs. Mercedes probably needs some time to breath so Thekla Vs. Mercedes is undeniably the biggest match they can build to here. I’m sure that we will visit the Willow and Mercedes story again in the not too distant future, but now is not the time. Thekla is riding a hot streak and you want to catch that lightning in a bottle and so how far it can be taken.
Darby Allin & Steven Borden vs. The Don Callis Family (Kevin Knight & Kyle Fletcher) – Determines the #1 contenders to the AEW World Tag Team Championship
Preview: I like the fact that AEW is having two number one contender matches on the same PPV. It’s a good way to have a match feel more significant without having a trinket title involved. It has a much more sports-like feel. The Darby and Borden pairing just makes sense based off of Darby’s prior relationship with Borden’s Father, Sting, in AEW and Borden could certainly use the experience of a wrestler with so much time on the mat and in promos like Darby guiding him in his new career. I like them mixing it up with Fletcher and Knight of the Callis Family (who have had their own issues). It keeps both Fletcher and Knight in a high-profile match without being forced into the main event when it doesn’t call for them. The dislike between these teams feels genuine.
Prediction: Darby Allin & Steven Borden vs. The Don Callis Family (Kevin Knight & Kyle Fletcher) to become the #1 contenders to the AEW World Tag Team Championship
With the interaction between Darby & Borden and Copeland backstage on the go-home Dynamite, I feel as though we are getting to that match with the title on the line at a named TV event or at WrestleDream. Also, I don’t see Fletcher and Knight as a tag team for too long as they are both more valuable as singles acts. I feel as though they were paired specifically to help get Borden over in his new tag team with Darby.
Kazuchika Okada (c) vs. Tommaso Ciampa – AEW International Championship
Preview: This match has felt as though it was somewhat thrown together as a “dream match” between two wrestlers with strong and historically strong in-ring accolades. That isn’t inherently bad as it’s okay to have one or two of those on a PPV “for the sickos” but I wish there was a bit more to this story- build. I see these two hitting-hard, in match, and Okada being the de-facto babyface while Ciampa is treated as the heel by the crowd.
Prediction: Kazuchika Okada (c) defeats Tommaso Ciampa to retain the AEW International Championship
I believe that Okada has to eventually drop the International Title to Kyle Fletcher to make that story come full circle. However, Okada and Fletcher align from a face-heel dynamic after the title changes hands is still a mystery to me. Ciampa will be fine taking a clean loss here.
Andrade El Ídolo (c) vs. Pac – AEW National Championship
Preview: This match is designed to give Andrade a credible win over a tough, game challenger in Pac from the Death Riders. Andrade needs to keep stacking these credible wins to make the fans view him as a true World Title contender as he holds that Casino Gauntlet World Title shot. There really isn’t much more to it than that. Pac losing here could play into the story of an eventual turn on Moxley as the Death Riders leader, along with Gabb Kidd.
Prediction: Andrade El Ídolo (c) defeats Pac to retain the AEW National Championship
Andrade adds another win to his win column as he moves toward the World Title.
Will Ospreay (c) vs. Jon Moxley – AEW World Championship
Preview: The Ospreay-Moxley story has been built over months now and was the foundation of how Ospreay gained his new found confidence and earned his way to the World Title opportunity and eventually win against Kenny Omega at All In in Ospreay’s home country. Now it has come time for Ospreay to “return the favor” and give Moxley a shot to prove that the student has not yet surpassed the teacher. I loved the touch they added on the go home Dynamite when Moxley asked Ospreay if Will felt like a champion standing across from him and Ospreay said essentially “Yes, I feel like the champion” with a few emphatic expletives for the appropriate, added flair. Moxley had a look of “what monster did I create?” and that subtly really did a good job in tying a bow around the build between All Out and All In. As I mentioned on the Dynamite post-show with Wade, this week, I think that this is probably chapter five in a ten chapter story between Ospreay and Moxley. If the Death Riders do turn on Mox at All Out I could even see Ospreay and Mox aligning against the evil force.
Prediction: Will Ospreay (c) defeats Jon Moxley to retain the AEW World Championship
After the multi-year story to Ospreay’s culmination World Title win at Wembley they would have to be insane to take the belt off of him before one defense.
