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"Timeless" Toni Storm (AEW Women’s Champion) vs Mercedes Moné
Cory: If it were based on how hard people worked to get their feud over, this would be the main event. Storm’s “Timeless” gimmick is fantastic, her promos have been the best in the company, and she has done a great job of showing that this match is a major threat without seeming weak. Mone got her feet under her in AEW a while back, and every Big Match she has feels like the best she’s ever had. I expect them to tear it up, and while I wouldn‘t be disappointed if either won, I think it’s time to let the CEO get the Big Belt.
Richard: I hope the fans at ringside will be provided with a feast commensurate with what these ladies have consumed watching the other's matches over the last month. This is the marquee match up in the women's division at this time, and I think it might be the best women's match of the weekend. With all of the titles that Mone has won, would she know if she lost this one? I hope it does not mean that there is going to be a wonky finish to allow Mone to lose this title instead of being beaten clean. These women are on the same level. A Storm is coming this weekend, but in Texas, not Georgia. It's Toni Time (on Tony's show [with Tony on commentary])
Mike: I am in agreement with Richard here. Mercedes getting the win doesn't help anyone. Storm getting the win just makes Storm an even bigger character in AEW than she already is. To a lot of AEW fans I hear from, Storm is their favorite and the reason they watch. No reason to slow that momentum.
Jon Moxley (AEW World Champion) vs. "Hangman" Adam Page
Cory: It’s long past time to take the belt off of Moxley, but is Page the one to do it? His last title run was unspectacular, and let’s face it, the biggest Male star in the company right now is Will Ospreay, and he is the ONLY person currently on the Forbidden Door poster. Will they give Moxley another two months with the title so Ospreay can win it in England? I have said for the last few PPVs that this is when Mox is going to lose the belt, but I just can’t muster up any excitement for Page. It is the biggest show of the year, though, and Mox’s reign wore out its welcome quickly. I think they will give Page another try with the belt and he wins on Saturday.
Richard: Will the streak be broken on Saturday when it comes to Jon Moxley? I say no. He will bleed. Will this be the night that the briefcase is retired or will we wait until the man comes down from the mountain to challenge Moxley and finally take the title from him. They have rehabilitated Page enough to justify giving him the title back. It can't be worse than what we have seen from Mox or what we saw previously from Page. There will be much distractiference in this match and we will probably see more people outside the ring doing stuff than in the two gauntlet matches combined. Just like with all of my Roman predictions. I am picking against Moxley so that means he retains. Friday the 13th Part 9 was just as good as Part 6.
Mike: It's a cowboy...in Texas...in a Texas Death Match. Hangman Page is ending the Moxley reign.
Kazuchika Okada (Continental Champion) vs Kenny Omega (International Champion)
Cory: Omega is giving interviews that he is on the downside of his career. He’s been beat up since AEW started, and has not been working as much as he used to. Okada has not been living it his all, and I often joke that he’s giving about 40% in his matches. I don’t think you have have Okada in the company at the price he has to be charging without getting more out of him. I have no doubt they will have the best match possible, even if it can’t live up to their previous bouts. However, the belt needs to go to Okada. Kenny doesn’t need a title to be a star in AEW.
Richard: A 'title unification' match without unifying titles and making a new title out of it. If WWE's trope is 'When in doubt, Triple Threat it Out', is AEW's 'YOU GET A TITLE . . . YOU GET A TITLE'? If Omega is as close to 100 percent as he can be and if Okada wants to wrestle as close to 100 percent as he wants to, this could be a great match. I think it will be very good. Who benefits the most by winning this/these titles? Will either of them lose this/these title(s) any time soon or is it a way to give someone as much gold as Mone? There will be interference, as is tradition, and that will take a little away from my enjoyment of the match. Omega will be hit in the intestines area many times but he will fight though the pain and win the title.
Mike: I am most curious about how long they go. I suspect Omega gets the win here and I hope it's against the Okada we knew and loved in Japan.
Men’s Gauntlet Battle Royal
Cory: sure feels like they are setting this up for Mark Briscoe to win, doesn’t it?
Richard: Since MJF and Mark Briscoe are the first two, this match will be won by one of them in about 45 to 70 seconds. Now we go to reality and this will be every battle royal style match where people will have a chance to win but remember that they have to play to the crowd instead of WINNING THE F***ING MATCH. I would fine and suspend MJF and Mark if they let this go past them since they are fighting for a future title match so why let others get that chance? Let them be pissed like Roddy the time he was shut out of a gauntlet match. Briscoe should win this one and sometimes you have to go with the best option.
Mike: Anyone other than Mark Briscoe is a mistake in my opinion.
Women’s Gauntlet Battle Royal
Cory: These are always a crap shoot, so I am just going to guess Megan Bayne because she’s hot right now.
Richard: Read above so I don't have to repeat myself, but if Statlander or Bayne let anyone else get into this match, they should be publicly reprimanded and fined. If it isn't either one of them, give the win to Jamie Hayter if she is cleared to wrestle.
Mike: I will go for someone who deserves the big push - Athena.
Swerve Strickland and Will Ospreay vs The Young Bucks (Matthew Jackson and Nicholas Jackson)
Cory: The stipulation is that if the Young Bucks lose, they are no longer EVPs (in storyline, I would assume) and if Ospreay and Swerve lose, they can’t challenge for a title for a year. Much like Mox’s title reign, the EVP thing has gone on for fart too long, is used inconsistently, we didn’t get a follow-up to them destroying documents last winter, and so on. Still, the Bucks seem to only have one story now, and that is their power grab. Would AEW lock Swerve and Ospreay out of the title picture, especially with a show in England coming up soon? I am going to say Ospreay and Swerve win, the Bucks go away for a while again, and this match is filled with insane sports.
Richard: With so many stipulations, they should add that super kicks are banned to add something to the match. Since the Bucks have executed a reign of terror over the company as EVPs (but with the PERSON IN CHARGE DOING ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO STOP PEOPLE UNDER HIM), it is not as bad as the Death Riders and what they have done to AEW (beyond showing us how clean the hallways and parking lots are at these buildings). Nana needs to be super kicked many times, but he has to stay on his feet so he can do his goofy dance between boots to the head. If Page wins the title, it would be funny to see Swerve have to wait a year to challenge him again to resume the feud. Imagine the guy who was expected to be the man on top (Will Ospreay) be kept out the scene, at least until they return to the UK next year. The Bucks win because why the heck not.
Mike: This should be a show about big moments and stories ending. The Bucks will lose here.
Adam Cole (c) vs. Kyle Fletcher
Cory: Is it just me or is the bloom SERIOUSLY off the rose with Adam Cole? Since he returned, he hasn’t been nearly as good as he was before, he seems to be on commentary more often than in the ring, and when he is in the ring, his work isn’t as exciting. I just wonder if it is a nagging injury or something else going on, since his star was fading before he got the title and now that he’s had it, the title seems to have dropped off everyone’s radar. I am seeing them put it in Fletcher, who has a great match every week and could make the title important again.
Richard: This feels like a foregone conclusion that we will get a new champion, even if I had trouble remembering that Cole was the champion. I have been a fan of Kyle for a long time and I think he deserves the title, even if he should be the number two man in the faction behind Takeshita. I cannot wait to see the pink title belt on Wednesday night. Poor Adam SiColea
Mike: I have to agree with my compatriats here. Fletcher wins.
The Hurt Syndicate (Bobby Lashley and Shelton Benjamin) (Tag Team Champions) vs. JetSpeed (Kevin Knight and "Speedball" Mike Bailey) vs. The Patriarchy (Christian Cage and Nick Wayne)
Cory: Having the Hut Syndicate holding the tag team title is the same problem you have when a monster has the title: How do you get it off of them? This may be the best way possible, with Christian Cage pulling out a typical underhanded win with the Hurt Syndicate not involved in the pin, and they have to chase Christian and beat the hell out of Nick Wayne, since taking Cage’s beating has become his job. I can see a small chance this is when Wayne turns on Cage, but they haven’t teased it enough lately, so it would be better to have him do it after they have had the titles for a while. The Patriarchy wins.
Richard: In an attempt to draw the WWE fans who are on the fence between Great American Bash and this show, we have our TRIPLE THREAT SPECTACULAR. There are times when they put together a multi-person/multi-team match to allow champions to lose without taking the pin because they don't do elimination matches. Knight and Bailey are a good team, but do they radiate 'TAG CHAMPS' when you see them? Does young master Wayne deserve to be a tag champ? If Christian and Nick get pinned, does Christian blame Nick and demand a DNA test to disprove that he is Nick's father?
Mike: I have been waiting for them to do the deal where Cage gets turned on and Adam Copeland makes the save. Maybe that happens here? Either way, I don't see a title change.
"Big Boom!" A.J. and The Conglomeration (Hologram, Kyle O'Reilly, and Tomohiro Ishii) (with Big Justice and The Rizzler) vs Don Callis Family (Hechicero, Lance Archer, Rocky Romero, and Trent Beretta)
Cory: This one is strange, because you’d think they wanted to get this out there for people who follow AJ on social media, but instead, they have a short promo on Collision to let people know. And AJ’s team will win because its a throwaway match to get the people who still follow him to tune in.
Richard: At least AEW knows to keep their 'celebrities' (regardless of which sublevel they are) on the pre-shows. Will the kid touch his chin more during the match than the number of near falls? Who takes the pin from AJ? At least Ishii gets a pay per view pre-show pay day.
Mike: BOOM ain't losing. Romero gets pinned.
The Opps (Katsuyori Shibata, Powerhouse Hobbs, and Samoa Joe) (AEW Trios Champions) vs. Death Riders (Claudio Castagnoli and Wheeler Yuta) and Gabe Kidd
Cory: I think this is the first Trio title defense in months, which shows how little the title means. There is a small part of me that thinks they will move the title to the Death Riders to make up for Mox losing the World title and keep the group strong, but in the end, I think they will keep the title on Opps simply because it’s good to have a title on Samoa Joe.
Richard: I forgot they still had Trios Titles. This should be a decent match, but I don't know any reason they should change the titles. I am interested in seeing Kidd and Joe square off.
Mike: This should be fun. I can absolutely see a title change here, especially if that Hook tease leads to him turning.
FTR (Cash Wheeler and Dax Harwood) w/Stoke vs Outrunners (Truth Magnum and Turbo Floyd)
Cory: The match they had on Collision last week was fantastic and I look for this one to be just as good if not better. FTR always tries to top themselves, and the Outrunners don’t just use 80s gimmicks, but 80s style storytelling, same as FTR. This match may steal the show. I also think the Outrunners will win, since FTR won their TV match. Either way, I am really looking forward to this match.
Richard: Why are FTR on Zero Hour? This should be a good match and these two teams have a lot of chemistry. For some reason, I think the decline of FTR continues to see when they reach their breaking point with Stokely.
Mike: Outrunners get the win.
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