This Saturday AEW will present their first PPV event of this weird and awkward empty arena era. The card looks exciting but I’d be lying if I said I was as hyped as I would usually be due to the deafening silence that awaits these potentially great matches. Either way it’s something to watch and I’m here to preview and predict what may happen this Saturday night.
It’s worth noting that this was written before the latest episode of Dynamite so apologies if the card changes or something exciting happens to lead to the PPV. Right, here we go.
This tag match to determine the number one contenders to the tag titles will be taking place on the preshow, I can’t help but feel this is unfair to Best Friends who have been a main stay in recent weeks when only a small percentage of the roster have been active. Given that we haven’t seen Private Party for a while and Best Friends have been having great matches on Dynamite, I can’t look past Trent & Chuckie T winning this in a fun opening match.
Prediction: Best Freinds
I’m glad to see a match in the AEW women’s division on this card that isn’t for the title. It shows the much needed depth that’s been added to the division in recent weeks, and quite frankly it would be a crime to not include Britt Baker on this card in some way after the great run she’s been on since turning heel. With that in mind I can see this being short and sweet and surely a win for Britt.
Prediction: Britt Baker
I’ve positioned this here but I would not be surprised in the slightest to see this as the main event given the spectacle it’s bound to be. You’ve got Chris Jericho and Sammy Guevara who are probably the funniest duo in all of wrestling right now, Kenny Omega with his history of creative DDT matches, The Young Bucks who have made a name for themselves with creative videos and Matt Hardy who…well it’s Matt Hardy, enough said. Between all of these guys and a blank canvas that is an empty stadium, I expect something equally hilarious and exciting. I really can’t predict which team wins but I have a feeling we won’t care given how entertaining this surely will be. I’ll go with The Inner Circle as that may continue the in-house fighting between The Elite.
Prediction: Inner Circle
This match could be a surprising dark horse. There were a ton a reports that these two tore the house down when they faced off in a non televised contest on Jericho’s cruise last year. Since then AEW have tried to recreate the match on Dynamite with little success but with this being a PPV match without the pressures of a live crowd who knows, maybe they can recapture that magic. MJF has to and will win this. Hopefully they continue his feud with Cody once this is concluded.
Prediction: MJF
AEW’s answer to WWE’s Money in the Bank comes in the form of the first ever Casino Ladder Match for the right to face the AEW Champion. The list of guys in this match are as follows: Darby Allin, Colt Cobana, Orange Cassidy, Fenix, Scorpio Sky, Frankie Kazarian, Kip Sabian, Luchasaurus and a mystery opponent. It’s always tough to predict these things when there’s a mystery opponent involved! All I know for sure is that this will be a crazy plunder brawl with Fenix performing stunts proving he is not human and everyone’s favourite dinosaur Luchasaurus doing some sort of dive which should be illegal for a reptile his size. Orange Cassidy will undoubtedly do something which turns into a popular GIF come morning and Darby Allin will take a bump which would kill a normal man. It’s a shame this will happen in front of an empty arena but I’m excited none the less. I’m going to take a punt and predict the mystery man will be the recently released Drew Gulak and he will also get the win. Though I’m not sure if he has a no compete clause in his WWE contract, if he does then I’ll go with Fenix to stop the trend of ex WWE guys being in the main event.
Prediction: Drew Gulak or Fenix
The match on the card which has the strongest build by far. This will be PPV Cody 101 with big entrances, probably some blood and a big baby face comeback. Adding Mike Tyson to the mix is random but has sparked my interest even more so no complaints here. I’m looking forward to this one and can see Archer getting the win after an MJF interference of some kind to further that story.
Prediction: Lance Archer
Although Hikaru Shida has come on leaps and bounds in the past few weeks, it’s way too early to take the title off Nyla Rose and I can see her holding onto the strap for a good while longer and rightfully so. Either way I expect a fun back and fourth with a few near falls. Shida will be made to look strong while Nyla gets the win, I’m quietly hoping for the best match of the AEW women’s division so far given who’s involved but that depends how much time they’re given.
Prediction: Nyla Rose
I can’t help but sigh thinking of this main event. I say main event but there’s a good chance that the Stadium Stampede, TNT Championship of even the Casino Ladder match manages to nab the last match on the card ahead of this. I love both guys but Brodie Lee hasn’t hit the ground running as much as I’d hoped he would and despite making drastic improvements to the naff Dark Order faction, it’s still not in a strong enough position to be the main event. Add to that the lack of build, only 2-3 weeks have been given to this and it involved the old cliche of the heel stealing the title belt. My hope is that these two go full CZW and surprise us all with an ultra violent bloodfest. I know that sounds barbaric but it’s genuinely the only way I can see these two pulling off a main event to remember. Moxley has to win, putting the title on Lee would be a massive misstep in my opinion.
Prediction: Jon Moxley
So there we have it. Do you agree with my predictions? Which match are you most hyped for? Let me know in the comments or tweet me @MikeyGalaszia or @RespawningUK.