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Full Preview and Predictions for Night 1 of AEW Fyter Fest Match Card
Jul 1, 2020
All Elite Wrestling returns with a stacked card at Fyter Fest that includes four championship matches. Unlike last year, the event is split between two Wednesdays starting July 1 and concluding July 8.
Three of the four title bouts take place during Night 1 of Fyter Fest, including the tag team, TNT and women's world championships. Expectations are high for a show that takes up two weeks, so let's see if the first portion can live up to the hype.
Here's the breakdown of every announced match at Fyter Fest's first week. You can watch on TNT at 8 p.m. ET Wednesday.
Reigning tag team champions Kenny Omega and Adam Page have successfully defended their world tag team title five times since winning it in January 2019, defeating the likes of SCU, The Lucha Brothers and The Young Bucks. After ending The Elite's feud with the Inner Circle at Double or Nothing in May, they've been caught in between the Young Bucks and FTR's impending rivalry on a couple of occasions.
Meanwhile, Best Friends have won eight straight matches. They earned the right to be No. 1 contenders when they defeated Private Party at Double or Nothing and defended their title opportunity against Le Sex Gods three weeks ago.
Will Omega and Page continue their dominant reign or will we get new tag team champions for the first time since January?
Prediction:Omega and Page defeat Best Friends
It seems like Omega and Page will remain involved in a feud with FTR and the Young Bucks. There's more to be done with them as champions, and Best Friends won't be hurt by a loss here.
Since becoming the inaugural TNT champion at Double or Nothing, Cody decided he would be a fighting champion by putting the title on the line in an open challenge nearly every week on Dynamite. He's successfully defended the belt three times against Jungle Boy, Marq Quen and a debuting Ricky Starks, respectively.
Fyter Fest will be the first time since March that Jake Hager will compete in singles competition after having his hands full working with the Inner Circle recently. Despite his absence in the division, he continued to keep tabs on Cody by watching his title defenses and even attacking him and Arn Anderson at one point. Things escalated during their press conference when Hager's wife threw water at Cody.
Prediction: Cody defeats Hager
Cody is in prime position to be the TNT champion for a long time. Having him drop the title to someone who has barely competed in singles matches recently wouldn't make a ton of sense. Hager needs a couple of more non-title rivalries to build him up before he's seen as a legitimate threat for a championship.
After defeating Nyla Rose at Double or Nothing to become the women's champion, Hikaru Shida is now on a 12-match winning streak in singles competition dating back to January. Despite facing Penelope Ford in two four-way matches and one tag team match before, they've never faced each other in a one-on-one singles bout.
Ford earned her title shot by pinning Shida in a tag team match three weeks ago. On the latest episode of Dynamite, the champion attacked Ford and even her fiance, Kip Sabian, before the two women were eventually pulled apart.
Prediction: Shida defeats Ford
The latter is going to be a staple of the women's division for a long time coming, but she hasn't yet established herself as enough of a contender to warrant stripping the title off a red-hot Shida.
The rivalry between these two teams goes back to Double or Nothing, when MJF defeated Jungle Boy. Both young talents continued to confront each other over the following weeks, but Jungle Boy got the upper hand when he eliminated MJF and Wardlow in a Battle Royal for a shot at the TNT Championship.
Wardlow turned his attention to Luchasaurus last week when they competed in a lumberjack match in which Jungle Boy and MJF got involved. After Wardlow won, a tag team match between the two teams was announced for Fyter Fest.
Prediction:Jurassic Express defeat MJF and Wardlow
The Salt of the Earth and Mr. Mayhem are establishing themselves as a dominant force with a good mix of in-ring savvy and brute strength. However, a loss as a first-time tag team doesn't really hurt them as much as it would benefit Jurassic Express.
MJF would still keep his undefeated singles record, Wardlow would still be perceived as a threat, and the Jurassic Express build their resume with a statement win.
Matt Hardy defeated Santana last week but was attacked by Ortiz post-match. The three have an extensive history as Hardy helped The Elite fend off the Inner Circle during the Stadium Stampede match at Double or Nothing.
Private Party came to the aid of Hardy, so The Woken will be ringside in their corner at Fyter Fest.
Prediction: Santana and Ortiz defeat Private Party
This is a toss-up as both teams would strongly benefit from a win over another established tag team, but Santana and Ortiz get the edge because there's still probably more to the storyline between Hardy and the Inner Circle members. Private Party doing Hardy's job and defeating the tag team that battled with him over the past few months doesn't seem to be the course this rivalry goes down.
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The Top Highs and Lows from AEW's First Year
May 26, 2020
It's been just over a year since All Elite Wrestling hosted its first event, Double or Nothing, at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas. Since then, the company has put its best foot forward to convince curious fans that they should tune in week in and week out.
Let's take a look at areas where they excelled and others that still need to be improved on in Year 2.
High: Being a true alternative to WWE
This was the one thing AEW absolutely had to get right in its first year—and it did.
A portion of wrestling fans had become tired of WWE's product over the last few years and were hoping for an easily accessible alternative. And in walks AEW, run mostly by current professional wrestlers who feel more in touch with the wants of fans because they deal with them directly every time they compete.
The new company noticed an opportunity to fill that void and did so by not only offering some of the world's best wrestling but also by differentiating itself with a TV-14 rating, an emphasis on sports-centric themes such as records and rankings, and allowing its talent to come up with compelling promos and storylines without being hampered by management.
Once its deal with TNT started last October, there was a new weekly wrestling program on a national network that could directly compete with the WWE for the first time in almost 20 years. More importantly though, it's a product that makes a clear attempt to stand out from its competition.
High: Building new stars
Although AEW has relied on well-known talent such as Chris Jericho, Jon Moxley and Cody for the top of its cards, we saw less established roster members emerge over the past year and become some of the most entertaining aspects to many shows.
Young stars like Darby Allin, MJF, Sammy Guevara and Britt Baker used the largest platform of their careers to become staples of the AEW product in its first year. They'll be faces of the company sooner rather than later if they continue to get the kind of reactions they have been.
Oh, and don't forget Orange Cassidy who is quickly becoming one of the most marketable people at AEW.
Meanwhile, wrestlers like "Hangman" Adam Page and Lance Archer, who were draws at other promotions but didn't quite have the exposure stateside as they do now, are also reaping the benefits of making the move to a promotion with national reach.
This is a promising sign for AEW just one year in.
Low: Women's Division
It's hard to establish and consistently get the best out of a men's, women's and tag team division all at the same time. It's rarely seen at any company, so to witness the women's division get the short end of the stick over the past year isn't surprising, but it's still disappointing.
With wonderful in-depth storytelling coming from the other divisions, there hasn't really been a marquee storyline or feud that fans can point to in the women's division since the first Double or Nothing.
We've also seen the same handful of wrestlers over and over again, making the division appear very thin. It's not always a bad thing to lean on your best talent, but the lack of creativity for them makes it hard to feel emotionally invested. The closest we've come to that is probably Britt Baker's "role model" gimmick.
The quality of in-ring work from talent such as Baker, Nyla Rose, Riho and Hikaru Shida has been great, but the division still needs that added touch of storytelling to set it off.
Hopefully we will see more of that in AEW's second year.
High: Tag Team Division
Despite the women's division needing work, AEW's tag team division established itself as the world's best in just one year.
"I feel very strongly about saying that our tag team division is the best in the world and I don't even think it's close," Nick Jackson of The Young Bucks told Wade Sheridan of UPI. "Perhaps the strongest division in the company, too. Almost every tag team is pretty over with the fans."
Jackson is right. There isn't a more well-rounded division at AEW than the tag teams. It's remarkable how many tandems made a significant impact within the company in a short amount of time, and those that did are over with the fans.
Along with The Young Bucks and Lucha Brothers, who were already well-established, we saw SCU, Best Friends, Private Party, Jurassic Express and Proud and Powerful all get their moments to shine.
And we didn't even mention tag team champions Page and Kenny Omega, whose foray into the division has been a welcome one, highlighted by their match-of-the-year candidate at Revolution against The Young Bucks.
It's also worth noting the successful turnaround of The Dark Order. The act looked to be a dud early on, but teasing the Exalted One for months before unveiling Mr. Brodie Lee as the team's leader reignited fan interest in the team. There's something to say for AEW about recognizing a problem and solving it before it's too late.
Despite The Young Bucks and Lucha Brothers being the most recognized teams heading into AEW's inception, neither have held the championship. Further credit goes to the bookers for building various teams around them to have their own unique gimmicks and not relying on their biggest stars to carry the division. It's paid off handsomely, and now there are a host of duos to be interested in.
AEW set the bar very high for their tag division in Year 1. Let's see how they try to top it.
Low: Partnership with AAA and OWE
When AEW first announced it would partner with promotions from around the world to feature lesser known foreign talent, it seemed as if it would be a regular part of programming. That hasn't been the case.
Perhaps AEW never had plans to make this partnership bigger than it is, but it's still been underwhelming to say the least. All we've really seen from AAA on AEW is the occasional defense of the former's tag team titles held by the Lucha Brothers and the Mega Championship held by Omega. Aside from that, the only appearance we've seen from an AAA star in AEW is Laredo Kid at last year's Fyter Fest.
OWE has made even less of a mark at AEW. Cima, the president of OWE, has made a handful of appearances with the American-based company up to this point but splits his time between AEW and running his own promotion in China.
Other than him, T-Hawk and El Lindaman are the only OWE roster members to feature on AEW when they did so in a six-man tag match alongside Cima at the first edition of Double or Nothing.
The two partnerships have been lackluster, although part of it could be out of AEW's control as Owe talent previously booked for American shows couldn't participate due to visa issues. However, it's been a year since the collaborations started and AEW has hardly scratched the surface.
High: Commitment to rankings and records
AEW committed itself to sports analytics as a way to boost in-ring storylines from the very beginning and it hasn't wavered on that.
"Introducing statistics to wrestling for the first time ever, AEW will raise the stakes for its matches and deepen fan engagement by tracking each competitor's wins and losses as the wrestlers pursue championships," president Tony Khan said in a press release ahead of last year's Double or Nothing.
The company has done just that and kept updated win-loss records for every wrestler. In addition, the top five men's and women's competitors, as well as the top five tag teams, are ranked each week to give fans a more concise title picture.
Taking into consideration win-loss records and strength of schedule also makes for the most transparent booking you'll find at a wrestling promotion.
It's been a breath of fresh air in an industry where fans are often left in the dark.
What else would you have included in AEW's highs and lows of the past year? Let us know in the comments.
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One Year of AEW: Ranking the Top 5 Heels
May 7, 2020
The first edition of Double or Nothing was almost a year ago, and we've since seen new stars and established talent showcase their talent in All Elite Wrestling. Many have left a particularly big impression on the fans, but not necessarily in a way that makes them happy.
In fact, chances are you've heavily rooted against everyone on this list of the top five heels in AEW over the past year. We took into consideration fan reaction, entertainment value, general heel work and success at AEW so far to determine our five.
Here are the wrestlers who did the best job of being the absolute worst. Disagree? Let us know who you would've included in the comments.
5. Dr. Britt Baker
Best heel moments: Insulting the Texas crowd, roasting Tony Schiavone, "How to Be a Role Model" promos
It took Britt Baker all of 2019 to find her footing at AEW, but she finally did so when the new year came around.
Originally pushed as a face, there was little reason for fans to get behind her other than the fact she's a real-life dentist. Baker, needing to jumpstart her gimmick, took her dentistry role and started bragging about it ad nauseam to anyone who would listen. She also insulted crowds, fellow talent and even Tony Schiavone.
Her character took another step recently by cutting condescending promos on "How to Be a Role Model." It will be interesting to see where Baker takes this. It's been fun heel work to watch come together for someone who seems to be enjoying it.
4. Sammy Guevara
Best heel moments: Helping the Inner Circle in various feuds, crushing Darby Allin's throat with a skateboard, 630 flip at Revolution
Chris Jericho's Inner Circle has been a great breeding ground for some of AEW's heels, and no one has benefitted more from learning under his wing than Sammy Guevara.
Guevara had little character development before Inner Circle's formation.Fans quickly noticed the athleticism he possessed, but it wasn't until Dynamite began that we saw him go from a good wrestler with heel-ish tendencies to one of the best things about the Inner Circle.
The Spanish God manages to walk the line between being entertaining and annoying. He was also on the forefront of helping Jericho stage attacks against The Elite and Jon Moxley while carrying out a quality feud of his own against Darby Allin.
The next step for Guevara in Year Two is showcasing even more of his personality. His wrestling is already good. Now he just needs the presence to back it up.
Best heel moments: All three matches against Kenny Omega, match against Orange Cassidy
Speaking of presence, there's something about PAC that just captures a fan's interest.
Those familiar with his work before AEW knew what he was capable of once he joined the promotion. He's delivered so far. His clash against Kenny Omega at All Out was one of the best technical matches of 2019. Their feud reached its peak last February when the two competed in a 30-minute Iron Man match after PAC attacked Michael Nakazawa, Omega's close friend. The Bastard lost in sudden-death overtime, but that match is considered one of the best to take place on Dynamite so far.
Other highlights from his time at AEW include coming out of a rivalry with Adam Page on top, defeating fan-favorite Orange Cassidy in his in-ring debut at Revolution and forming the Death Triangle stable with the Lucha Brothers.
PAC's stern, no-nonsense approach demands attention whenever he's in the ring. It appears that tag team action with the Death Triangle is in his near future, but don't be surprised to see him make a run at the AEW Championship by the end of the year, too.
2. MJF
Best heel moments: Fyter Fest promo (watch below), turning on Cody and eventual feud
Anyone who watched a moment of MJF over the past year probably felt a sense of disdain for him that only wrestling can conjure. Every time he picked up a microphone, there was an overwhelming urge to wish the worst on him. That's exactly why The Salt of the Earth is one of the best heels in the world.
Top wrestlers provoke emotional reactions from fans, good or bad. MJF does that better than almost everyone on the AEW roster through his harsh words, backstabbing and cowardice. He quickly established himself as one of the company's best talkers at Fyter Fest.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2s2lJypzR4
The 24-year-old aligned himself with Cody, referring to the American Nightmare as his mentor and helping him fend off attacks from the Inner Circle. Cody, who announced before facing Jericho for the AEW Championship at Full Gear that he would never challenge for the title again if he lost, was defeated by Le Champion after MJF threw in the towel and signaled a forfeit. Initially apologetic, MJF then turned on Cody and cited a lack of opportunities from his former ally as the reason for doing so.
This would turn into AEW's feud of the year. Layered with intricate storytelling already, MJF told Cody that the only way he would get a match against him at Revolution is if he defeated his personal bodyguard Wardlow in a steel cage match and took 10 lashes on national television. Both the cage match and lashes were tough to watch at times as Cody's body showed the effects.
Although Cody did accomplish both tasks, MJF still came out victorious in their match at Revolution. He was sensational throughout their feud and had fans hanging on every word he said and every action he took. At 24, we haven't even seen the best of what MJF has to offer yet.
1. Chris Jericho
Best heel moments: Becoming the inaugural AEW Champion, forming the Inner Circle, "Le Champion," "Little bit of the bubbly"
There wasn't a better person to crown the inaugural AEW world champion than Chris Jericho. The well-established heel main-evented the company's first show at Double or Nothing and won the title at All Out. Now known as Le Champion, Jericho formed the Inner Circle on the first Dynamite episode and made it clear that they were the most dominant stable at AEW early on.
With the help of his new allies, Jericho terrorized The Elite as well as anyone who he defended his belt against. This included successful defenses against Darby Allin, Cody and Scorpio Sky. His reign as Le Champion lasted over six months until Jon Moxley dethroned him at Revolution last February.
Jericho's time as the inaugural champion was an entertaining one as he delivered inside the ring while also coining phrases like "a little bit of the bubbly" outside of it. Despite his heel work, fans also can't help but sing along to his theme whenever he makes his entrance.
There's still a level of respect from fans toward Jericho, an icon of the wrestling industry whose wisdom for the business made a lasting impact on AEW in its first year. Time will tell what the 49-year-old has to offer inside the ring for the remainder of his contract, but AEW would do well to keep him around in some role for as long as they can.
Brodie Lee and Top Potential Opponents for Jon Moxley at AEW Double or Nothing
Apr 28, 2020
TOKYO, JAPAN - JANUARY 04: Jon Moxley of United States enters the ring prior to the IWGP US Championship bout during the New Japan Pro-Wrestling 'Wrestle Kingdom 14' at the Tokyo Dome on January 04, 2020 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Etsuo Hara/Getty Images)
With Double or Nothing less than one month away, one of the biggest questions related to the pay-per-view is who Jon Moxley will defend the AEW World Championship against.
Double or Nothing is set to happen on a closed set with no fans in attendance rather than in Las Vegas as planned because of the coronavirus pandemic, but it still promises to be a huge show, and Moxley will undoubtedly be one of the headliners.
COVID-19 forced AEW to tape a lot of content in advance and the absence of several top stars has made it tough to build storylines, but that may soon change, as AEW President Tony Khan confirmed that Dynamite will return to Daily's Place in Jacksonville, Florida, for a live episode May 6.
With the build toward Double or Nothing likely to ramp up in a big way on that show, here are a few AEW stars who stand out as the top candidates to challenge Moxley at the pay-per-view.
Brodie Lee
No performer in AEW has been more consistently dominant in recent weeks than Brodie Lee, who was revealed as the leader of Dark Order last month.
While most of Lee's bouts have been enhancement matches, it is clear that AEW is trying to build him toward a top spot, and it won't be at all surprising if that leads to him getting an AEW World Championship match at Double or Nothing.
After beating Chris Jericho for the title at Revolution and retaining it against Jake Hager a couple of weeks ago, it seems likely that Mox is done with The Inner Circle for now. That is supported by the fact and Jericho and Co. seem more preoccupied with Matt Hardy and The Elite.
If that is the case, then someone new has to emerge, and Lee makes sense on multiple levels.
For starters, Lee is the leader of a heel stable, and Moxley is coming off a feud with the leader of a heel stable in Jericho. Moxley thrives as the lone wolf babyface who is ready and willing to beat the odds at all times, which is an angle that AEW could go back to with Moxley against Lee and all of Dark Order.
Also, Lee previously wrestled in WWE as Luke Harper where he and Moxley, then known as Dean Ambrose, mixed it up plenty of times.
Since Lee and Moxley already have familiarity and chemistry, putting them in the ring against each other on somewhat short notice with little build is a good way to mitigate the risk of the AEW World Championship match falling flat.
While it may seem a bit soon to put Lee in such a big spot, having him go for the title early will help establish him as a top heel, and there are also ways for him to lose without looking bad, such as botched interference from his minions, which would play into his unreasonable boss character.
MJF
MJF began 2020 on an absolute roll and scored the biggest victory of his career at Revolution when he cheated to defeat Cody.
While MJF seemed well on his way to the top of the card and an AEW Championship opportunity, things changed due to the coronavirus pandemic. MJF hasn't had a match since the March 11 episode of Dynamite and his appearances have been sporadic.
MJF appeared on last week's show and cut a promo in front of his home saying he was injured. While it is possible that the injury could be legitimate, it is likely that AEW is using it as a storyline explanation for MJF being away due to the fact that he is from an area that has been hit hard by COVID-19.
AEW has avoided using wrestlers based in coronavirus hot spots such as New York and California, but that may soon change with Dynamite going back live May 6.
If that is the case and MJF isn't actually injured, he makes plenty of sense as Moxley's opponent. He has earned the right based on his victory over Cody, plus he is arguably the strongest heel AEW has.
MJF and Moxley could have some great battles on the mic, plus the presence of Wardlow in MJF's corner would allow Moxley to work as the underdog.
Starting the feud this late in the game wouldn't be ideal, but MJF is such a skilled heel that he could make an AEW World title feud and match with Moxley feel like a big deal in a short amount of time.
Darby Allin
Moxley's Double or Nothing opponent could depend on how the TNT Championship tournament plays out on Wednesday's episode of Dynamite.
The semifinals of the tourney are scheduled for Wednesday with Cody facing Darby Allin and Lance Archer taking on Dustin Rhodes. If Cody and Archer win as expected to set up an anticipated showdown at Double or Nothing, it would leave a clear path for Allin to the AEW World Championship.
While Moxley and Allin are technically both babyfaces, Allin is more of a tweener who is willing to act heelish and work against faces in certain situations.
Moxley and Allin already have plenty of history that could contribute to them facing off at Double or Nothing.
They had a singles match against each other back in November that Moxley won, and they later teamed together in March against Jericho and Sammy Guevara.
Mox never made it into the match, though, since he was attacked by The Inner Circle ahead of time. That forced Allin to fight on his own in a losing effort. It wasn't until the match was over that Moxley showed up and attempted to fight back.
Perhaps Allin could spin Moxley's absence into a narrative that Mox purposely hung him out to dry, which would be a good jumping-off point for their rivalry.
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