This is another of the new pay per view and it is in a bit of a tough spot. While it has an absolutely stacked card, we are just over a month away from Double Or Nothing, which is one of the major shows. That could leave this show in something of a weird place, but the talent is more than capable of carrying it to a solid event. The potential is right there so let’s get to it.

Zero Hour: Matt Sydal vs. Trent Beretta

This is fallout from Beretta turning on Orange Cassidy a few weeks ago, which was followed by Beretta attacking Sydal for daring to help Cassidy. Beretta is actually something of a hot heel at the moment as the fans did not like him turning on one of their favorites. In other words, as usual, a personal issue is something fans will care about and it could do Beretta a lot of good.

There is a grand total of no reason for Sydal to win here and as a result, this is the biggest layup on the entire card. Beretta needs to win here and should do so in short order as this is little more than a Rampage main event. Sydal is the guy you put out there to make someone else look good and Beretta is pretty much locked in for a big match against Cassidy at Double Or Nothing. Beretta wins here with no doubt whatsoever.

Zero Hour: Orange Cassidy/Katsuyori Shibata vs. Shane Taylor Promotions

This feels like a way to get Cassidy and Shibata on the show and the Promotions are the current designated jobbers. You can only get so much out of that kind of a match as, again, it feels like something that belongs on Rampage. I’m not entirely thrilled by the idea of having to see Shibata again as he is the definition of not my style, but here we are again anyway.

While it isn’t as huge of a layup as Sydal vs. Beretta, there is pretty much no reason to believe Cassidy and Shibata are losing here. Barring interference from Beretta, this should be Cassidy and Shibata winning again. The Promotions are nothing more than people there to look intimidating and then lose, which is what they will do here as the fans get to cheer for Cassidy.

Zero Hour: Ring Of Honor Six Man Tag Team Titles/AEW Trios Titles: Bullet Club Gold(c) vs. Acclaimed/Billy Gunn(c)

It took long enough. That is the only thing I can think of here as my goodness there is barely enough of a reason to have one set of six man titles but here we have TWO. While neither of them needs to be there, it will be nice to get this down to one set so we can have less gold floating around. Other than that, it’s a bit of a personal feud with Gunn vs. his kids, but that’s about the extent of the interest.

I’ll go with the Club winning here, as Acclaimed and Gunn are ice cold right now. It makes sense for the Club to win, if nothing else because the star of their team isn’t 60 years old. Let Jay White get his win here and hopefully continue figuring things out, as he hasn’t exactly been a smash hit so far. Also of note: I’ve heard that this is and isn’t on Zero Hour but it would be a nice main event before we can get on to the stuff that matters a lot more.

FTW Title: Hook(c) vs. Chris Jericho

Let’s get one of the weaker ones out of the way. Despite Jericho desperately needing to just go away for a bit, here he is getting a title shot against some young star. I’m not sure how well that is going to go, but the segments setting it up have not been good coming in. As usual, this is going to be a hardcore match because that’s pretty much all Hook does on his own these days.

I’ll go with Hook, just for the sake of maintaining my own sanity. The worst part is I could very easily see Jericho winning the title as some kind of weird deal where Hook has to get it back, even though Hook already beat Jericho (ala Ricky Starks). Hopefully they don’t go nuts and let Hook win here and move on, though the more I think about this, the more worried I get over them doing something stupid. Hook wins, or at least I hope he does.

Adam Copeland/Mark Briscoe/Eddie Kingston vs. House Of Black

This is a weird one as Copeland gets his big win to retain the title yet he’s here in a six man tag. The House has come after Copeland and now he has some friends, who happen to have been fighting over the Ring Of Honor World Title just a few weeks ago. That should make for an interesting story, though it still makes me wonder why we aren’t getting Copeland in a title defense.

I’m not sure why a makeshift team should be able to defeat an established one so we’ll say the House wins here. If nothing else, someone pinning Copeland or Briscoe could set them up for a title match down the line. It’s what makes the most sense and there are different options to choose, though Kingston taking the fall to protect the champions would not surprise me in the slightest. Either way, the House wins here, as they should.

TBS Title: Julia Hart(c) vs. Willow Nightingale

I’ve been saying this for a long time now but e pluribus gads Nightingale needs to win something already. She has been that one star who never really wins anything but manages to lose a bunch of title shots. Winning the title here would help, even if she is going to be sacrificed at the altar of Mercedes Mone next month anyway. While Hart is good, she is just kind of there at the moment and that isn’t a good sign for her title reign.

I’ll go with Nightingale FINALLY winning here, as it is not only long overdue but it makes a lot more sense for Nightingale to win and feud with Mone. That’s what has been teased for weeks now and even if Nightingale loses the title quickly, it’s better than never winning it in the first place. Go with what makes sense here, which is Nightingale powerbombing the heck out of Hart to win the title so Mone can come out for a dancing staredown.

International Title: Roderick Strong(c) vs. Kyle O’Reilly

Yes believe it or not we are seeing more of the Undisputed Era members fighting again because that’s just what they do. O’Reilly is back after missing quite a bit of time due to health issues and now he’s getting a title shot after winning a handful of matches. As luck would have it, that means we get more from the Undisputed Kingdom, which has one swimmingly thus far. But yeah, this is our pay per view title match.

I’ll take Strong retaining, as the team is more or less worthless if he loses the title. I haven’t been been interested in either of them for a good while and while the match should be good, it hasn’t made for the best build. I’m sure the in-ring action will work though, which is almost always the case with everyone involved. Just come up with something more interesting for them to do? Please?

Tag Team Titles: Young Bucks vs. FTR

It’s a tournament final for the vacant titles and naturally it’s a ladder match. I can give them points for trying something new with the feud but egads can we just stop with the ladders? And FTR vs. the Bucks? And the Bucks in general? This is a match where the result has more or less been telegraphed, all the way down to how it happens, which is where this is probably going.

Yes I’ll take the Bucks winning here because they need to beat FTR again and get their big push again, because the fans just love everything about them. Throw in the likely return of Jack Perry to help them and we’ve got all the makings of a heel stable. AEW has been doubling down on the Bucks despite them running fans off in droves and now they seem to be getting some titles to go with it.

Continental Title: Kazuchika Okada(c) vs. Pac

The fact that I had to think about which of the THREE midcard titles Okada held should tell you there are too many of those things running around. Anyway, this is Okada’s first defense since winning the title from Orange Cassidy and that doesn’t leave a ton of drama about the result. The good thing is that Pac is here for his one big match before leaving for whatever reason and that should make for a heck of a showdown.

Of course Okada wins here, as not only is he friends with the Bucks and needs to be part of their team as they rise up, but there is almost no way that he is going to lose so soon after debuting. The good thing is that the match should be a heck of a showdown and we could be in for two guys beating the living daylights out of each other. What we won’t be in for is a new champion, as Okada retains.

Women’s Title: Toni Storm(c) vs. Thunder Rosa

This is a place where we could use a “none of the above” option. Storm is desperately in need of a face turn as she can be her goofy self, but for some reason we’re stuck with her as a villain. On the other hand you have Rosa, who has not felt anywhere near special since her return. That doesn’t make for the strongest set of options, but maybe it’s just a weak feud.

I’ll go with Storm retaining, as she has stuff going on with Mariah May and Mina Shirakawa, so keeping the title on her makes sense. It would help if the May story actually got going for a change, but we could still be a long way off from that happening. For now though, hopefully the match works, but it should end with Storm winning, hopefully before turning good and breathing some life into her.

Bryan Danielson vs. Will Ospreay

I’m not completely certain this isn’t the headliner as it has been the bigger story in recent weeks. The idea here is pretty simple: they’re both really good at wrestling and want to have the best match possible. That might not be the most interesting story, but it’s what we’re getting for at worst the co-headliner of the show. The main question here would seem to be “how good can they be” and that response could be quite high.

For the life of me I can’t imagine a reason for Danielson to win here as Ospreay gets to continue his rise up AEW. He’s been presented as one of the biggest things in AEW and this would be his signature win so far. Hopefully it helps get him away from the Don Callis Family, or at least Callis himself, as Ospreay deserves much more. For now though, we should be in for a classic, but good luck on living up to the hype they have built up.

AEW World Title: Samoa Joe(c) vs. Swerve Strickland

Strickland has to win here and that’s pretty much point blank. He has been built up as this huge star but without winning the World Title, that doesn’t mean much. Joe hasn’t been champion all that long (at least by AEW standards) but right now it is time to move the belt on to Strickland, just for the sake of giving him the big boost that he needs. I’m not sure where things go for him from there, but without the title win, Strickland doesn’t have a chance.

I’ll go with what needs to happen here and say Strickland wins. At the end of the day, Joe has been a made man for a very long time now and it makes sense for him to put Strickland over. Strickland doesn’t even have to be champion long, but what matters is that he gets the big win. Give him his win and then move on to whatever else, but don’t waste someone who has gotten that over without pulling the trigger on him.

Overall Thoughts

That is one heck of a stacked card, if nothing else for the amount of titles that are going to be on the line. AEW has more titles than it knows what to do with most of the time but it can lead to a show like this where you are going to get all kinds of title matches for a change. That is going to be the case this weekend and if the show lives up to its potential, we should be in for a heck of a show.

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So it’s time for Night Two and again we’ll do a quick one here as there is more than enough to talk about otherwise.

Seth Rollins b. Drew McIntyre. Yes that sounds insane and I hope I’m wrong but this feels like Priest’s time to cash in, either here or tomorrow night on Raw. That knee injury is too good to pass up and Priest doesn’t have the Tag Team Titles to worry about.

Logan Paul retains the US Title over Kevin Owens and Randy Orton. Paul is a star, Orton doesn’t need the title and Owens is better chasing the belt than holding it.

The Pride b. Final Testament. This should be fun but it needs to wrap up the feud once and for all. Lashley can Hurt Lock Kross to get rid of him and get a nice moment for a change.

LA Knight b. AJ Styles. Is there any reason to put Styles over here? Knight has been needing that big win for awhile now and while this might not be the biggest thing in the world, it’s certainly better than anything else he’s gotten.

Iyo Sky b. Bayley. You need a villain to win one of the bigger matches and this feels like the right spot. With Cargill, Belair and Naomi around, a heel champion makes more sense.

Cody Rhodes b. Roman Reigns. He has to, as this feels like the Assemble The Avengers moment with a bunch of people coming out to help FINALLY take Reigns out and end the Bloodline for good. Or at least knock them out of power.

Overall, this feels like the weaker of the two cards but it could be a lot worse. As usual, this is ALL about Reigns and whatever he is going to be able to do, as hopefully Cody can FINALLY finish the story and move on to something else already.

I hate having to do this but I just do not have the time to do a full on preview for the show in my usual format. It’s this or nothing this time so here’s a short form version:

Rhea Ripley retains over Becky Lynch. Ripley has held the title for a year and doesn’t feel anywhere near ready to lose it yet.

Gunther retains over Sami Zayn. The pieces are there, but I don’t think they pull the trigger on Gunther just yet.

The Tag Team Titles are split, with DIY and New Catch Republic (due to a lack of anyone else) getting a set each.

Jey Uso b. Jimmy Uso. Why in the world would it be anything else?

Bianca Belair/Naomi/Jade Cargill b. Damage CTRL. Did I mention the JADE CARGILL part? There is zero chance she’s losing her first Wrestlemania match.

Santos Escobar/Dominik Mysterio b. Rey Mysterio/Andrade. Yeah they did the angle on Smackdown, but why in the world would you have Rey beat Dominik two years in a row?

Bloodline b. Cody Rhodes/Seth Rollins, setting up Bloodline Rules for Cody’s big title shot. I like the idea of him winning straight up, but having Cody overcome ALL of the odds is a better story.

It’s been a little while since AEW has been on pay per view as there was no monthly pay per view in January or February. It helps that Revolution is one of the main four pay per views from AEW so we should be in for a big one. Samoa Joe is defending the World Title against Hangman Page and Swerve Strickland in a triple threat but the real main event will see Sting/Darby Allin defending the Tag Team Titles against the Young Bucks in Sting’s retirement match. Let’s get to it.

Pre-Show: Julia Hart/Skye Blue vs. Kris Statlander/Willow Nightingale

This is a feud that has been going on and off for a few weeks now and the interesting part is whether Nightingale and Statlander are on good terms with Stokely Hathaway in the middle. Neither of them seem to like him but he’s there anyway for some reason. At the same time, either of them could be the next challenger for Hart’s TBS Title, whenever that might take place.

I think they’ll go for the title challenger coming out of this match, which would see Nightingale and Statlander winning. Nightingale pinning Blue would go a long way towards making that happen so we’ll say that takes place, even if Hart could use a boost since she has been out of the ring for a few weeks now. This should be how the night gets started and we could be in for a good kickoff.

Pre-Show: Bang Bang Scissor Gang vs. Jeff Jarrett/Jay Lethal/Satnam Singh/Willie Mack/Private Party

This was added recently and the villains actually got to work together a bit this weekend on Collision. That’s more interaction than I was expecting, even if Mack feels very tacked on to the team. The story here would seem to be the problems between the Gang, which could make things interesting as they hopefully head towards a unification match for the two six man titles.

For now though, I’ll go with the Gang winning, as there is little reason for a team of lowers like Jarrett and company to win here. Unless there is some kind of an issue between the Gang, there is no reason to believe that the team will be in danger. This is going to be a total circus given how many people will be involved, but that is what happens when you have this big of a roster.

FTR vs. Blackpool Combat Club

This is a match that has been built up in recent weeks and they went to a time limit draw the first time around. FTR is probably the best team going today and it is always fun to see them in the ring, regardless of their opponents. The first match between these guys worked well so hopefully they can recreate it here on the bigger stage. And have one of the teams win, which often helps.

As much as I like FTR and would love to see them win, the Club seems to be the likely choice here so we’ll go with them. The Club is regularly featured while FTR gets put out there for a lot of high profile losses. Unless the CMLL wrestlers get involved to mess with the Club, I’m seeing them taking out FTR, who can go on being the best team in the world no matter what happens here.

International Title: Orange Cassidy(c) vs. Roderick Strong

So this is the match that has been set up for several weeks now and there is more or less zero reason for Strong to lose. The Undisputed Kingdom desperately needs a win as they have barely done anything since coming together last year. Strong winning the title wouldn’t be some saving grace but it would be better than nothing and it’s not like Cassidy needs the title any longer.

I’ll go with the logical move here and have Cassidy lose the title to Strong. There is no reason to keep the title on Cassidy, who has done the “I’m tired and fight everyone” bit to death over the last year. Strong isn’t likely to be some big, dominant champion, but at least he will have won something. Just make it happen already and move on, as the build for this hasn’t been the best.

Will Ospreay vs. Konosuke Takeshita

This is Ospreay’s debut as a full time member of the AEW roster and he happens to be facing off with a fellow member of the Don Callis Family. That should open up some doors, but the reaction that Ospreay received on Dynamite should tell you exactly what you should be expecting from the match. While it should be good, I’m not sure how much drama there is going to be.

Naturally this is going to be Ospreay going over, as there is zero reason to have him lose in his first match as part of AEW. At the same time, there is a good chance that this will lead to his departure from the Family, as there is no reason to keep him in. Ospreay wins here in a heck of a match, which will be made better as Takeshita has been treated as a big enough deal so far in AEW.

Women’s Title: Toni Storm(c) vs. Deonna Purrazzo

This is a match that feels like it is more about the future than what is going on here. After Mariah May won her match on Collision, Storm came to the ring and ignored May’s win, which likely hurt her feelings. That should set up the May vs. Storm fight, which makes me wonder how things are going to go here. May very well could get involved, and that could change things quite a bit.

At the end of the day, while I think May will get involved, I’m thinking Storm retains the title. Purrazzo has been doing well but I’m not sure she has been doing well enough to take the title. The May vs. Storm feud is already set up and very well could be up next for the title. For now though, Storm retains over Purrazzo, who can move on to something else after the loss.

Continental Crown: Eddie Kingston(c) vs. Bryan Danielson

While this is for the title, it’s much more about respect, as Danielson cannot stand Kingston and wants the title. At the same time, Kingston wants Danielson’s respect and will get a handshake if he wins. Kingston has already been elevated by winning the title and it might be time for him to move on to something else. Then again that would mean Danielson winning a big match and that has already happened in the last year.

For now, I’ll take Kingston retaining the title. While I can’t imagine him being a long term champion as it doesn’t seem to be his nature, he could use another big win or two to really establish himself as a bigger deal. Danielson has long since proven that he isn’t going to be hurt by a loss, so we’ll say he goes that way here. It should be a heck of a fight, but it ends with the title being retained.

All Star Scramble Match

This is an eight way and replacing Meat Madness due to reasons. With so many people involved it can be kind of difficult to pick a winner, as you might have someone come in and steal a pin. There are some that you can probably write off to start, which leaves you with only a few real options. That makes things all the more interesting, though it’s still hard to pick.

Since it’s quite the crap shoot, I’ll go with with a wildcard and pick Dante Martin. He could be slotted into a one off title match and lose to the champion without giving up anything big. At the same time you could easily have him steal a pin somewhere in there, as the whole thing will be all over the place. I have next to no confidence in Martin winning, but with eight options it’s more or less a glorified guess anyway.

TNT Title: Christian Cage(c) vs. Daniel Garcia

Here we have a match that feels like it belongs more on Rampage or Collision but it could work out well enough as a one off title shot. Garcia has been built up in recent weeks, but I’m not sure I can imagine the idea of him winning the title. It feels like quite a jump for him to go that high up the ladder out of nowhere, though there is one way that I could see it happening.

One way or another, I’m expecting Adam Copeland to come back here and set up his next match with cage. At the same time though, Copeland wants to take the title back from Cage rather than helping Garcia win it, so we’ll say Cage retains and then Copeland shows up. Garcia has come a long way in recent weeks, but Cage’s title reign feels like it is going to end in epic fashion and losing to Garcia isn’t it.

AEW World Title: Samoa Joe(c) vs. Swerve Strickland vs. Hangman Page

The more I think about this one, the more confused I am about which way to go. Oddly enough, Strickland might be the least likely to win the title, which is almost hard to fathom coming in. Joe is already defending the title and hasn’t held it that long while Page is in the middle of a turn and is such a wildcard that I could see him getting the title so Strickland could chase him.

At the end of the day though, I think I’ll take Joe winning to retain, possibly over Strickland after Page costs him the title. Normally this would feel like a feud between two people with the champ just on the side but that would suggest Joe is normal, which is flat out wrong. I’ll go with Joe retaining here, though I could easily see any of them getting the belt, which is quite the impressive build.

Tag Team Titles: Sting/Darby Allin(c) vs. Young Bucks

This has to headline right? There is more or less no way this isn’t the biggest match on the show and that has me scared. Tony Khan has a bad tendency to go with the heat ending rather than sending the fans home happy and I’m scared that’s where he’ll go here. There is nothing in the world that would say Sting and Allin should lose and I’m worried that it’s going in that direction.

With that being said, I’ll go with Sting and Allin to retain, as there is more or less no reason for the Bucks to win. It would be the definition of the wrong kind of heat as the fans want to see the good guys get a win to send Sting off into the sunset as a champion. While I can absolutely see the Bucks naming themselves champions after the loss, they need to go down here and in spite of Ric Flair being around, I think that’s what will happen.

Overall Thoughts

The more I look at this card, the more interested I am. The show has some variety going on and we should be in for a good show, which tends to be the case with the pay per views. AEW has had time to set this up and we could be in for something that works out well for everyone. As long as Sting and Allin walk out on top, everything should work out, especially with what could be some rather good matches.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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This is one of the shows that WWE runs every year but this one is different in a variety of ways. As usual it’s still part of the Road To WrestleMania, but at the same time, it’s going to be taking place in a stadium in Australia to make it feel that much bigger. In addition to the Chamber matches, Rhea Ripley is going to get the hero’s welcome as she defends against Nia Jax. Let’s get to it.

Kickoff Show: Women’s Tag Team Titles: Kabuki Warriors(c) vs. Candice LeRae/Indi Hartwell

This was added earlier this week at the press event and feels like it is there for the sole purpose of getting Hartwell on the card in her home country. That is not a bad thing as the fans are going to go nuts to seeing one of their own in the first match of the night. That will be quite the moment, though I’m not sure it is going to have quite the match to follow up on the start.

Despite there being the chance to blow the roof (assuming there is one) off the stadium, I don’t see any reason to change the titles here. Hartwell and LeRae have been treated as a lower level team for their entire time together so giving them a fluke title win would be a lot. It’s not impossible, but this feels destined to be LeRae taking the fall to retain the titles after Hartwell gets a special moment.

Tag Team Titles: Judgment Day(c) vs. Tyler Bate/Pete Dunne

It’s nice to see WWE’s tag division starting to come together, with the idea of putting some wrestlers without much to do into a team being a good way to start. That is what they have done with Bate and Dunne, who have enough of a history to be a logical team, with the talent making things that much better. At the same time, the champions only have so much going on right now so we could be in for a surprise here.

As much as I could see the titles changing hands here, I’ll say Judgment Day retains. While Judgment Day isn’t exactly on an all time run, it would feel a bit strange to have them drop the titles at one of the less important shows. Bate and Dunne could have a nice future as a team, but I just can’t imagine them taking the titles here. That still seems to be the Miz/R-Truth spot, so for now we’ll say the UK guys go down.

Women’s Elimination Chamber

As I tend to do with this kind of a match, there are only so many realistic options to win. In this case, we can eliminate Raquel Rodriguez, Naomi, Tiffany Stratton and probably Liv Morgan. Other than maybe a total dark horse run from Morgan, none of those four are going to go into WrestleMania for a title match. That leaves you with two viable options and only one of them seems to be likely to win.

The two options here are Bianca Belair and Becky Lynch, and based on the last few weeks, I cannot fathom a situation where Lynch doesn’t win. Lynch vs. Rhea Ripley has been hyped up for weeks now and feels like a viable WrestleMania match. While I’m scared of the possibility of a Morgan win, this feels like a place where Belair gets set up for something else and Lynch moves on so we’ll go with that.

Raw Women’s Title: Rhea Ripley(c) vs. Nia Jax

I’m not convinced this isn’t going to headline the show and that would not be a bad idea. The show’s advertising has been almost entirely built around one person and that is Ripley. She is going to get the biggest reaction in her grand homecoming with a chance to slay a monster in Jax. That sounds like a main event level match to me, but it also sounds like quite the easy result to predict.

Let me put this simply: if Jax wins this match, WWE should be canceled and replaced with Hangin With Mr. Cooper reruns, because the WWE brain trust will have officially lost their eve loving minds. Ripley losing the title to Jax in her home country would be the dumbest possible outcome and there is almost no fathomable way that could happen. This is Ripley’s hero moment and having her celebrate as the Chamber winner stares at her to close the show would not be shocking.

Men’s Elimination Chamber

Now this one is harder to predict, as the lineup is absolutely stacked. There are six entrants in the match and they range from former multiple time World Champions to the best celebrity wrestler ever to one of the most popular stars in WWE today. That is the kind of lineup you do not see very often and we could be in for a heck of a fight with that much star power around.

We can eliminated Logan Paul, Kevin Owens, Bobby Lashley and (probably) LA Knight, leaving us with Randy Orton and Drew McIntyre. Orton doesn’t have much going on right now, but McIntyre has more or less said his career is worthless if he doesn’t win here. McIntyre has been set up to win this match and it is the most logical story, so we’ll go with what makes sense and say McIntyre goes over.

Overall Thoughts

This show is in a bit of a weird place, as it is all about setting the stage for Wrestlemania, but so much of Wrestlemania is already set. We’ll get two more title matches covered for the show here and then it is all about building those matches. The crowd should help carry this show, but those Chamber matches might have a hard time getting around what feel like somewhat obvious winners. For now though, I’m looking forward to the show, which has a lot of potential to feel special.

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So after one of the busiest weeks that WWE has ever seen, we have one of the biggest shows of the year as the Road To Wrestlemania begins. As usual, this show revolves around the Royal Rumble matches and in this case, there isn’t one clear cut favorite to win both of them. The more options the matches have, the better things tend to go with them and that is certainly true here so let’s get to it.

US Title: Logan Paul(c) vs. Kevin Owens

This is a match that has gotten quite a bit of attention as Paul is back to defend the title. Paul really is one of the best talents in WWE today but he is going to need someone to help him through the match. That is what he has in Owens and the talking has been great as well. Paul is in a weird spot as he is still more or less a rookie but has high expectations and now we get to see what he can do with his title involved.

I’ll go with Paul retaining here, as he is a hue star and there is no reason to have him lose the title so soon. He is probably carrying the title into, if not through, Wrestlemania so giving him a win over Owens will only boost things up. We should be in for a good showdown here, with Owens doing his thing well enough and making Paul look good, even in defeat.

WWE Universal Title: Roman Reigns(c) vs. LA Knight vs. AJ Styles vs. Randy Orton

What we have here is a good idea, as it’s hard to imagine Reigns losing the title in a singles match, so they’ve added in some drama with the two extra challenges and a chance that someone else could steal a fall for the title. While that might be hard to fathom actually happening, I do like the idea of WWE trying to make things feel a bit more intense, especially with the RKO as a threat.

To the shock of no one, I’ll go with Reigns retaining and the question being whether he pins Knight or Styles. Knight would seem to be the logical choice as he’s a step beneath the other two and it would make sense for him to lose here. Either way, it is almost impossible to imagine Reigns losing here, as he seems destined for some huge title match at Wrestlemania, which we might find out tonight as well.

Women’s Royal Rumble

We’ll go with the match with fewer options here, as there are two main choices for the win here. That being said, the Rumble is weird as you never know who might pop in and turn the whole thing around. That has been the case before and it very well might be again, though you really can’t guess at that kind of a surprise. Therefore we’ll go with the options of people already announced and that narrows it down a lot.

The two main options here would seem to be Becky Lynch and Bayley, as Lynch vs. Ripley seems a very likely possibility after their showdown on Raw. At the same time, Bayley has been pushing towards the match more than anyone else and with Elimination Chamber still looming, it would seem like Lynch has another way in. Therefore I’ll go with Bayley, though it doesn’t feel like a big guarantee.

Men’s Royal Rumble

Now we get to the complicated one, as there are multiple possible options to win here, and that’s not even counting all of the potential surprises. We have, at minimum, three main possibilities here and that opens up a bunch of doors for Wrestlemania, as at least one of them is going to get the title shot through other means. It also makes me wonder who wins here, which is kind of the point.

The more I think about it, the more CM Punk seems to be the likely choice. The other two main options, including Gunther and Cody Rhodes, either have another path to Wrestlemania or another path to get there. Punk coming back for his first match in ten years and winning the Rumble would be huge and set up a likely match with Seth Rollins. That’s assuming the Rock isn’t a surprise #30, but for now we’ll go for Punk

Overall Thoughts

It’s a four match show, but when two of those matches will probably combine for about two and a half hours, they should be fine. The important thing here is that nothing on the card looks bad and I’m really not sure how confident I am in either Royal Rumble pick. That is a great feeling to have and with so many options, I want to see where the matches go and that is something that hasn’t happened in more than a bit.

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It’s the end of the year and that means there is time for one more pay per view. Since it’s AEW, the show is stacked with twelve matches announced so far. The two big draws are the finals of the Continental Classic for the Triple Crown Title, plus MJF defending the World Title against Samoa Joe. The question in the latter is whether or not the Devil will be revealed, which would probably help quite a bit. Let’s get to it.

Zero Hour: Kris Statlander vs. Willow Nightingale

This was added on Rampage and the big issue seems to be Stokely Hathaway trying to cause drama. That is where Hathaway excels and some of the things that he’s been saying have been more entertaining than the story itself. As for the actual match, both of them need a win and maybe a change of pace, which very well could come here, even if the options aren’t great.

I’ll go with Statlander winning here as she could use the win more, along with the principle that Nightingale doesn’t win anything. At the same time, having Nightingale be the evil one who sides with Hathaway might be the traditional way to go, but I can’t imagine anyone in AEW thinking evil Nightingale is a good idea. Statlander wins and then something probably happens after the match, but Nightingale going bad would be the worst possible outcome.

Zero Hour: FTW Title: Hook(c) vs. Wheeler Yuta

This is under FTW rules, meaning anything goes. I’ll take that over Pure Rules, but this hasn’t been the most eye catching feud so far. They seem to be going for a brawling vs. technical style, which could work well when Hook gets to show off all of his suplexes. That works in theory, but egads Yuta is not interesting a lot of the time and there isn’t much of a way around that. Having an opponent as young as Hook isn’t going to help that and I’m almost worried about how this is going to go.

I’ll go with Hook winning here, as it lets Yuta complain that they didn’t do things in the right style to set up a rematch. I appreciate the idea of Hook getting in the ring more often and he’s done well before, though he needs things set up very well for him. Keeping him on the pre-show is the right move at the moment, though he might be in for a bigger feud with Yuta should this continue. Hook needs to win to make that happen, so we’ll say Hook wins here.

Zero Hour: Battle Royal

So this is a tricky one, as we have a twenty man battle royal for a future TNT Title shot but we don’t know any of the participants. That doesn’t leave much in the way of a preview, but AEW sure does love itself a battle royal here and there. These things kind of have to happen if there are so many people who need to get on the show, but it is quite the cliché at this point.

We need a blind guess here, so I’ll play the safe guard here and go with Trent Beretta. You can almost guarantee that he’s going to be involved in the thing so let’s say he wants to set up his one off title shot. This is pretty easily the one with the least amount of confidence as I can’t even guess who all will be included, but hopefully they have the entertaining kind of battle royal that they know how to do.

Swerve Strickland vs. Keith Lee

We’ll go with this one before Tony Khan changes his mind and doesn’t do the match again. These two started having issues last November and then did a big angle in December, only to never actually wrestle. That leaves us with a weird match as the story has pretty much gone ice cold, but also because Strickland is in a very different place than he was when the whole thing started.

There is no reason for Strickland to lose here as he is rapidly rising up the ranks and could be on the way to the World Title picture in the near future. While Lee is incredibly athletic and fun to watch, he also has very little going on at the moment. I’m really not sure why this loose end needed to be fixed over a year after it got started, but Strickland wins here and moves on to something more important.

Women’s Title: Toni Storm(c) vs. Riho

Riho returned after another hiatus and was immediately back in the title scene, as tends to be the case when she returns most of the time. She might even be acting a bit more serious this time around, but Storm is still feeling it with this rather bizarre Timeless deal. That has made for a pretty strange story but then again, it isn’t like they had time to really set anything up.

Storm wins here, as Riho is likely going to go away again after or shortly after the match. With Mariah May likely waiting on Storm in the near future, this should be Storm retaining and doing pretty well. Riho hasn’t been interesting in a good while now so it would be pretty insane to give her the title again. Storm retains and moves on to something more natural for her, while Riho just kind of fades away until she gets another title shot down the line.

TBS Title: Julia Hart(c) vs. Abadon

This is another surprise as Abadon is getting a push that isn’t close to Halloween. That’s a different way to go for her and it’s kind of working, as AEW has presented her as the creepy monster who could be a threat. At the same time, Hart is already the supernatural kind of star so this is a bit of a weird setup. The match hasn’t had a great build, but it deserves credit for adding someone new to the mix.

While Abadon has done well enough in her chance, there is no reason to expect her to win the title here so we’ll say Hart retains. Hart has been doing well with her new stuff and it would be kind of nuts for her to lose one of her first title defenses. Abadon has done well in a short amount of time, but she hasn’t shown herself ready for the level of being a champion. It should be a weird fight, but Hart wins in the end.

Ricky Starks/Big Bill/Don Callis Family vs. Chris Jericho/Sammy Guevara/Darby Allin/Sting

Here we have the result of a pretty wild segment on Dynamite which saw about three stories coming together to set up an eight man tag. In other words, Sting needed to be on the show and he works almost exclusively in big tag matches. That has served him well so far and now we get to see what he can do again with quite the group of talented people around him.

There is little reason to have the freshly reunited Guevara and Jericho, as well as Sting, lose here so we’ll go with the good guys winning. I’m not sure who you have them pin here, but Jericho or Guevara pinning Starks or Bill would do well to set up their Tag Team Title match. This should be a lot of fun as the teams should be able to have the kind of wild match that this needs to be.

Blackpool Combat Club/Mark Briscoe/Daniel Garcia vs. Brody King/Jay White/Jay Lethal/Rush

This is the second eight man tag as we have most of the people in the Continental Classic thrown onto the show. That could go in a variety of different ways as there are several combinations, even if we’ve seen a bunch of them in recent weeks. The good thing is they can put almost any of them together for a solid match and we’ll probably be seeing quite a bit of it here.

Hopefully this ends with either Garcia or Briscoe getting the pin as both of them had a bit of momentum after their last match in the tournament. Neither of them have anything going on at the moment but a win in a match like this could be a nice boost. This has the potential to be all over the place with quite a bit of time and it could be quite the show stealer if given the chance.

Miro vs. Andrade El Idolo

It’s the classic story: Miro is married to CJ Perry, who is managing El Idolo, but promised not to massacre El Idolo until after the Continental Classic was over. Since Miro almost never wrestles (one match per month since September), it’s hard to say where this is going to go but at least there is a story. Granted it isn’t much of one as Perry and El Idolo have barely been a thing long enough to matter, but it’s something.

Since Miro never really does anything these days, I’ll take El Idolo to win here as he has quite a bit more going on at the moment. I’m sure this will wind up involving Perry, but there is only so much that she can do given how things are set up. Miro is one of the more interesting people in AEW but he never really wrestles, so there is little reason for him to win. El Idolo did well in the tournament and a win over Miro could take him a long way.

TBS Title: Christian Cage(c) vs. Adam Copeland

Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but Cage is overshadowing Copeland, despite Copeland being treated as the bigger star. The good thing is that Cage has turned into a heck of a villain in AEW and he has done it by becoming one of the most unlikable people imaginable. They’re going to have a No DQ match, which should open up quite a few doors for some wild brawling involving Cage’s friends. In other words, exactly what this needs to be.

As much as I don’t want it to be the case, I’m thinking Copeland wins here. He hasn’t had the big moment in AEW yet and there is a good chance that he’ll get the title here for that moment. Cage winning would make more sense and I certainly hope he does, as he has become the best heel in AEW in a very long time. I’m expecting Copeland to win here but really hope I’m wrong.

Triple Crown Title: Jon Moxley vs. Eddie Kingston

If not for the whole Devil thing, I would almost have this one be the main event of the show. The Continental Classic has dominated AEW TV for the last six weeks or so and this has the most potential of anything on the card. Kingston is getting to defend his Ring O Honor and Strong Openweight Title, which has me wondering how much the whole tournament was necessary to get us here. Anyway, the promo to set this up has me wanting to see these two go at it and now we’ll get to see just that.

For the life of me I have no idea why Moxley would win here as the big emotional moment would be Kingston winning another big one to give the fans something to cheer. I’ll go with that as the feel good option, while also remembering that Tony Khan really, really, really likes to snatch those moments away from the fans. Moxley absolutely does not need this win while Kingston certainly does, so hopefully sanity prevails and Kingston wins as he should.

AEW World Title: Maxwell Jacob Friedman(c) vs. Samoa Joe

This is one of the weaker World Title matches in recent memory, as Joe has played a huge second fiddle to the Devil and everything going on with him. They tried to remedy that on Dynamite by having Joe fake the injury and cost MJF the ROH Tag Team Titles, even though that is one of the best things that could have happened. I’m far more interested in the Devil story finally going anywhere than the result of the title match though and that’s really not good.

There is zero reason for the Devil to not be revealed or MJF to retain the title here so I’ll take Joe to win. MJF already beat him once so get to where things should be, which is Joe winning the World Title on a grand stage. The Devil (I’ll take Adam Cole for the reveal, as it might not be the most interesting but it’s the person who makes the most sense) needs to be done here and cost MJF the title though, even if I have no idea what is next for everyone after.

Overall Thoughts

The biggest though, other than how many matches there are on here, is how weird the build to this has been. Dynamite, and a good chunk of Collision, has been dominated by the Continental Classic and the Devil stuff as of late and there is only so much that can be done for the rest of the show. I have hope for how this is going to go, but it’s going to be on the wrestlers to do the heavy lifting here.

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We’re wrapping up the big WWE shows of the year with this, which is another show built around a concept match. In this case that would be the Iron Survival Challenge, which is kind of like a gauntlet Iron Man match with a penalty box. Either way, it’s for a future title shot and we have a men’s and women’s version. The rest of the card is looking good enough so let’s get to it.

Kickoff Show: Axiom vs. Nathan Frazer

This match was supposed to happen this week on NXT but that fell apart due to a big brawl. They’re fighting over Axiom not being the nicest friend following a recent Frazer loss. It helps that they have a history and should be able to have a good match with each other in their sleep. That should make for a heck of a way to get the crowd warmed up so they do at least have the right idea.

I’ll go with Frazer to win here, as Axiom has a tendency to never win anything and he probably won’t again here. Frazer is the more successful of the two and it would make sense to have him get the win to start the night. I still think Axiom continues to be someone who should be able to move up the ladder a bit, but for now he is probably losing to Frazer.

Kiana James vs. Roxanne Perez

We’ll start the main card with a pretty big one, as Perez is looking for revenge inside a cage. I’m not sure why this feud needed to keep going after Halloween Havoc but here we are with one more big fight. Perez is already one of the more established names in the division while James has that one Women’s Tag Team Title reign with Fallon Henley in a story that feels like it was forever ago.

I see no reason for Perez to lose here outside of some major interference so we’ll go with Perez winning. She should be on her way to something bigger and a definitive win over James is a good way to set things up. James will get in some offense here, but I can’t picture someone as good as Perez coming up short in what should be the big blowoff match for the feud. Perez wins in a fight.

Carmelo Hayes vs. Lexis King

This is the next big step in one of the more interesting stories taking place in NXT at the moment. The question right now is whether or not Hayes was working with King in some way to take out Trick Williams but he’s fighting Lexis here to prove his loyalty to Williams. What matters here is finding out if Hayes is telling the truth and there is a good chance we find that out here.

This almost has to be King’s to win so we’ll go there. King is still brand new to NXT and there is no reason to have him lose here. What matters is getting the story advanced, which could go in a few different ways. What won’t matter is anything that happens if King loses here, so we’ll go with him getting the win, likely through some kind of shenanigans. The end game seems to be Hayes vs. Williams, and Hayes losing here can be a step towards the eventual showdown.

North American Title: Dominik Mysterio(c) vs. Dragon Lee

Unfortunately this is the replacement match after Wes Lee announced that he has suffered an injury so bad that he will be out of action for 8-12 months. As a result, Dominik’s father Rey Mysterio announced that he was bringing in Dragon to come after the title instead. This will be the latest attempt to do something with Dragon, who is rather talented and seems to be a big prospect who has to win something at some point.

Given all of the circumstances, I’ll take Dragon to win the title here, as he has to win something at some point. You can put the title back on Dominik if he needs it, but Dragon can’t keep losing over and over. It’s not a bad thing to give us a cool title change here and that might be the idea. If nothing else you don’t want to see Dragon losing so many times, which he did clean this week on SmackDown for whatever reason. For now though, I’ll go with the upset title change and likely be wrong.

NXT Title: Ilja Dragunov(c) vs. Baron Corbin

This is a match that should sound kind of lame on paper but they have turned it into something that much better than expected. Dragunov turned the tables on Corbin’s mind games this week and now the question is what happens when Dragunov is allowed to get violent. At the same time, Corbin is doing some of the better stuff he has done in recent years and I’m actually wanting to see them fight.

We’ll go with a pretty easy winner here and have Dragunov retain the title. What matters here is having a big fight and give Dragunov a run for his money, but I can actually imagine Corbin winning the title in a big surprise. Corbin winning a title like this would be a big career moment for him, though I can’t bring myself to say he does it here. Dragunov wins, though the more I think about it, the more I could see a title change being possible.

Women’s Iron Survivor Challenge

As usual in a match like this, the best thing to do is eliminate some of the potential winners. In this case, we can knock out Kelani Jordan (too new) and Fallon Henley (talented, but nowhere near the title picture). That leaves Tiffany Stratton, Lash Legend and Blair Davenport, all of whom could come away with this thing. The interesting thing is I could see it going any of those ways and that makes for some promising prospects.

I’ll go with Davenport getting the win and the title shot. Stratton has been done and Legend feels like it would be little more than a one off challenger for Lyra Valkyria. Davenport seems like she could be someone who could be a big threat to take the title and that means she should get the win here. While Stratton is always a possibility, it makes more sense to go with Davenport for a change.

Men’s Iron Survivor Challenge

With the whole process of elimination idea again, we’ll get rid of Josh Briggs, who feels like the most random choice to put in this match. I kind of want to drop Bron Breakker, who has already had the big title run but he’s too big of a star to leave out. That gives us a pretty stacked group of options and that should make for a good match, as the more potential winners you have, the better it should be.

The more I look at the field, the more Tyler Bate sticks out to me so we’ll go with him in something of an upset. Trick Williams is busy dealing with Carmelo Hayes and/or Lexis King, Breakker has been champion too long in the past and Dijak just doesn’t feel like a potential winner. Bate vs. Dragunov could make for a heck of a fight on a big TV show, but Bate has to get a title shot to make that a possibility. He can d it here by winning the Iron Survivor Challenge.

Overall Thoughts

Despite two of the matches being the same concept, this show has a decent amount of variety. The Iron Survivor Challenges will be the focal point, but the NXT Title match could be a great fight and there is a cage match to go with some violence. Throw in the storyline match between King and Hayes and we should be in for a solid show. NXT specials like this have been mostly good and while it’s not going to be Takeover, it could go rather well.

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I’ve always loved Survivor Series and but it is the show that has evolved more than any othe other Big Four pay per views. The days of the elimination tag matches are long gone but now things are more focused on the ideas of survival. We have a pair of WarGames matches this year, which should be more than enough to carry the show. Other than that, the show is looking decent enough so let’s get to it.

Raw Women’s Title: Rhea Ripley(c) vs. Zoey Stark

We’ll start with what should be the easy one here as Ripley is by far the biggest star in women’s wrestling and needs a victim. The good thing is that we’re getting someone fresh in Stark, who only had her one shot in a five way, which barely means anything. This is a match we haven’t seen before and it should make for a nice showdown, even if there might not be the most drama.

So of course Ripley retains here, as it could be a very, very long time before she loses the title. I’d be rather surprised if we don’t get a Becky Lynch showdown at WrestleMania next year and that isn’t going to be derailed by Stark winning here. Stark will definitely get in some offense, but this is going to be Ripley hitting Riptide and doing her dominant cover to retain and move on to something bigger.

Dragon Lee vs. Santos Escobar

This is an adjusted match as Lee is replacing Carlito, who was injured by Escobar on Smackdown. What has me interested here is that this could be part of a much bigger story, especially with Rey Mysterio out of action for the next good while. It’s pretty clear that WWE sees a lot in Lee and it would make sense to push him in a spot like this one. That leaves some questions here though and that makes it a bit more interesting.

I’ll take Escobar winning here, likely through some shenanigans. There are more than a few other people who have to be accounted for in this story and I’m expecting some of them to get involved here. If Escobar is supposed to be the new big bad, there is little reason to care about what he is going to be doing with Mysterio later on. Escobar wins here, albeit with some shenanigans.

Intercontinental Title: Gunther(c) vs. The Miz

Now this one could go either way and that makes for a good bit of fun. The thing is, now that Gunther has the record, there is a much greater chance that he could finally lose the title. Other than the total combined days record, which he would break some time in February, there isn’t much else for Gunther to do with the title. Miz also has a nice track record of winning matches where he seems to have no chance and that would be the case again here.

Now that being said, as much as I believe there is a chance Miz could pull off the big upset here, I think I’ll go with Gunther to retain. I could see the Imperium minions causing drama here, but Gunther deserves a better ending to his title reign than that. I’m not sure how that is going to happen, but I don’t think it’s going to be at the hands of Miz and what would probably be a fluke win.

Women’s WarGames

We’re getting to the meat of the matter here with one of the two matches that really matter and what will probably open the show. This is the latest band of thrown together heroes against Damage CTRL, though the villains are hardly all together either. Smackdown focused on the issues between Lynch and Charlotte, but that could very well be a red herring going into the big showdown.

I’ll go with Lynch and company winning here, as Damage CTRL seems to be ready to fall apart, with a loss coming here making sense. I could see Lynch and or Charlotte saving the other in a Sting/Nikita Koloff way (look it up) and Bayley taking the fall, earning her big trouble from the rest of the team. Having this at four on four helps a lot as it could shorten the match, which has been one of the biggest problems in WarGames past. But yeah, Damage CTRL loses here.

Men’s WarGames

Here’s the real main event as an even rag taggier band of good guys are getting together to fight Judgment Day/Drew McIntyre. On paper, this should be Judgment Day going over and causing a bunch of chaos on Raw, though any match where JD McDonagh is included means a chance of the good guys picking up a win. That’s just one of the ways this could go though and that has me wondering.

I could see this going either way but I’ll take Judgment Day/McIntyre winning here. At the end of the day, it makes more sense to have them win, perhaps even with a Money In The Bank tease as Seth Rollins will be right there. What matters here is keeping McIntyre strong though, as he is freshly turned heel and you don’t want him to lose in his first big match on the new side. The villains win, after a war that goes on a good bit long.

Overall Thoughts

This is a show with a shorter card and in a way that makes sense. Save for LA Knight not being on the card, there isn’t much missing from the show and we could be in for a good night. I’m liking the idea of the women’s WarGames match going a bit shorter, as it should make for a better match. This show doesn’t really have a marquee matchup but in a way that works, as it’s more about the team showdowns anyway. Now just don’t have WarGames be an overly long and bloated mess and everything will be fine.

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AEW has changed up its pay per view schedule so much that their original Big Four do not exactly feel as important these days. While the promotion isn’t ice cold, they don’t have the hottest product in the world going into this show. That being said, AEW’s pay per view record is more than good enough to rally things up in the blink of an eye. The main event and a few other things have me interested and that might be enough to carry things. Let’s get to it.

Zero Hour: Ring Of Honor World Title: Eddie Kingston(c) vs. Jay Lethal

So this match, which felt like it could have headlined Final Battle next month, is instead taking place here and might not even main event the pre-show. Lethal’s friends helped him beat Kingston to set this up and now Kingston wants to face him one one one. That should work out rather well as Lethal is capable of wrestling a good, simple match against anyone and we could be in for something nice here.

I’ll go with Kingston winning, as Lethal isn’t exactly on fire right now. There is little reason to change the title here since this feels like a way to give Kingston a win over an ROH legend. I’ve heard worse ideas, though I’m not sure who is going to face Kingston at Final Battle. They teased something with Ortiz on Rampage, but that’s for next month. For now, Kingston wins here and moves on to Final Battle.

Zero Hour: Claudio Castagnoli vs. Buddy Matthews

The two stables have been kind of teasing each other in recent weeks and then Castagnoli saved Wheeler Yuta from Matthews after their match on Collision. Therefore, we have a heck of a rather hard hitting showdown and that should be more than enough to make for some entertaining television. Matthews continues to feel like someone who could be a breakout star and it’s nice to see him getting this kind of spot.

For now though, Castagnoli wins here, as the only way I can imagine seeing Matthews win is through some House Of Black interference. This is one of those matches that sounds goo on paper and will probably be even better when they actually get in the ring. Castagnoli is about as dependable as you can get and we should be in for a good, hard hitting, ten or so minute match here.

Ring Of Honor Tag Team Titles: Maxwell Jacob Friedman/Samoa Joe(c) vs. The Gunns

Joe is teaming with MJF in the place of Adam Cole, though I’m not sure if it’s going to be a permanent thing. At the same time, Joe is probably going to want some compensation for helping MJF, which likely leads to a title match next month in Long Island. For now though, they have to deal with a talented team who can be a threat to win the titles. Granted they’re fighting to be the champions of a show they’ve never wrestled on.

As much as I’d love to see MJF get away from the titles and have them actually be around in ROH, I’m not sure I can picture the Gunns winning here. MJF and maybe Joe will have to lose the titles at some point in the future, though that might not happen until Final Battle. ROH needs the titles back, but this doesn’t feel like the spot where that is going to happen just yet.

AEW Women’s Title: Hikaru Shida(c) vs. Toni Storm

I try to get what I think are the most obvious results out of the way in these things and that seems to be the case here. Shida is a good champion and has been one of the most dependable people in all of AEW, but she’s up against a different kind of force here. Storm has tapped into something with this Timeless deal and that feels like it is going to be enough to go somewhere.

Of course I’ll take Storm here as I can’t see any reason to keep the title on Shida. While she’s very good and one of the workhorses of the division, but Storm is on another level entirely at the moment. It makes all the sense in the world to give her the title as it’s a case of striking while the iron is hot. This should be a layup, and unless Mariah May costs Storm the title, Storm gets the gold here.

TBS Title: Kris Statlander(c) vs. Julia Hart vs. Skye Blue

We’ll stick with the women here and another match that has a somewhat clear favorite. Hart seemed ready to take the title last month at WrestleDream but lost to Statlander, which makes me wonder how things are going to go here. This feels like it should be Hart’s to lose, though Blue being in there is a wild card given how much it seems AEW has wanted to push her.

It’s trickier than I thought but I’ll go with Hart winning here. At some point the House Of Black needs some gold and it would make sense for Hart to get them back on the champions’ list here. Hart has been built up very well in recent months and it fees like the time to go somewhere with that. Statlander has become a star during her reign, but it’s ok to move her out here and maybe into the main Women’s Title picture. Hart wins here, though Blue is a longshot option too.

Chris Jericho/Kenny Omega vs. Young Bucks

This is the Bucks’ title shot vs. the Canadians’ future as a team because, believe it or not, the Bucks can’t handle Omega having another friend. They did a bit of a rushed buildup to this one as the Bucks weren’t happy with Omega and Jericho teaming together because Omega seems to have forgotten the Elite. Thankfully that means the Bucks have turned heel again, which suits them so much better.

I’ll take Jericho and Omega to win here, as it would make the Bucks all the more frustrated and get them out of the title picture at the same time. The Bucks are going to find something else to whine about anyway so maybe the loss is enough to do just that. Omega and Jericho have done well enough as a team and I could see them going for the Tag Team Titles, even if it feels like a rehash of Omega and Hangman Page. Then again, the Elite’s whole thing is about repeating the same melodrama so that kind of fits. Omega and Jericho win here, or at least I think they do.

International Title: Orange Cassidy(c) vs. Jon Moxley

So this headlined a show about two and a half months ago but now we’re right back where we started before All Out. It felt like we were going to get back here eventually and maybe we’re here a bit earlier than expected, but the rematch is on. Moxley no sold the Orange Punch on Dynamite to scare Cassidy, which puts this in quite the different place than the original version.

As much as it would make sense for Cassidy to win here and tie the series, it feels like AEW wants to get back to where this was supposed to be when Moxley won at All Out. Maybe that means Cassidy comes back and wins the third match down the line, but Moxley was champion for all of a few weeks before the concussion screwed things up. I’ll go with Moxley here, despite a feeling that Cassidy could win with a rollup for a shock victory.

Sting/Darby Allin/Adam Copeland vs. Christian Cage/Luchasaurus/Nick Wayne

And yes, Ric Flair with be here with Sting and company. That’s likely going to get a bunch of the focus and yes there is always the chance that Flair turns on Sting again because we must repeat history every chance we can. For now though, it seems much more like a way to set up Copeland vs. Cage down the line and that is not the worst idea given how rarely they have fought over the years.

Outside of Flair cheating though, this should be Copeland and company’s to win. Wayne can be right there to take a fall without damaging anything major going forward, as tends to be the case in a six man like this. Things will probably break down multiple times, but this is another step in Sting’s retirement tour and having him get a win on pay per view is a fine way for him to step away from California.

Tag Team Titles: Ricky Starks/Big Bill(c) vs. La Faccion Ingobernable vs. FTR vs. Kings Of The Black Throne

Say it with me: it’s a ladder match. That feels like a requirement that AEW has to cover every so often and we’re getting it here for reasons of “Bill is tall”. That’s not exactly a great reason to have a ladder match but that’s modern wrestling for you. The only team you can probably write off here is FTR as they’ve had the titles so recently that getting them again doesn’t make a ton of sense. That leaves us with three options and it could be either of them.

I’ll take the champs to retain here, as I could go for seeing more of what they can do. They won the titles about a month and a half ago and have wound up doing some nice things with them. Let them get a defense in here, even though it might not be the most traditional match. What matters is getting ready for another match against one of these teams later on, but that might have to wait for Omega and Jericho if all things stand. For now though, the champs retain.

Hangman Page vs. Swerve Strickland

This is the “steal the show” match as it feels like they’re having two young stars get the chance to break through in a Texas Death Match (or Last Man Standing to everyone else). That’s a bit weird when Page is already one of the most decorated stars in AEW history, but Page is out for revenge/blood on Strickland and that often makes for a much more interesting situation.

This feels like Page getting his revenge so I’ll take that here after one heck of a fight. Strickland has been waiting for that big breakout moment and while it has been said over and over again, it should be coming one day. I just don’t think it’s here, as the idea of having Page get his home violated like that and then lose in the big fight seems like a bad idea. Page wins here, after a war.

AEW World Title: Maxwell Jacob Friedman(c) vs. Jay White

If this wasn’t the main event (or at least it should be), I would have put it high up because this doesn’t feel like the highest drama. White stole the belt at the start of their feud and has mostly kept it since, but now MJF wants the belt and the win. They’ve done a nice job with making me want to see MJF beat White and get everything back, but they might have tilted it a bit too far one way.

Naturally MJF retains here and gets the belt back. That’s not exactly a deep story and it’s hard to fathom that it doesn’t end with MJF getting the belt back here. Samoa Joe is all but guaranteed to be waiting for MJF next month in Long Island and having MJF win here is kind of required to make that work. White has done well enough but it’s time to move on without him as champion.

Overall Thoughts

The more I think about it, the more I would consider Strickland vs. Page headlining. It might not be the highest profile match on the show, but it certainly feels like the hottest one. I’m worried that it might be good enough that nothing can follow it and that could ruin whatever comes after. The show looks good enough, though having it come so soon after the previous one feels off in AEW> I’ll still take them as having a real chance to make this work though as Full Gear seems like it has a good deal of potential, as usual.

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