Two weeks out from Fyter Fest, AEW returns with Fight For The Fallen. After growing accustomed to big waits for these events, this one has likely snuck up on many. This is the budding promotion’s third show, and a special one. It takes place in Jacksonville, Florida, one of the unfortunately many cities in America to see many incidents of random acts of gun violence. Reports in April showed that there were 51 homicides in the city over the first four months of the year.
This show is being held in support of the local community, with all proceeds going to the families of victims. Passionate though I may be about wrestling and the competition that’s been heating up, suffice to say the cause here is much more important than that. I’ll always support AEW regardless, but I certainly hope this particular show is a success for everyone involved.
That said, we have a card to preview here, so let’s get to it.
Britt Baker & Riho vs. Bea Priestley & Shoko Nakajima
Now this is an interesting one, it’s likely gonna be a bit of a sleeper hit actually. Britt and Riho come in with a good bit of momentum, having both garnered big wins in their initial AEW outings. But they go against two very intriguing signings making their debuts here. Shoko of course continues the joshi movement that’s been spreading in AEW and been very well-acclaimed so far. Bea Priestley is an up-and-comer out of Britain, known for her work in Progress and Stardom. She actually turned down a WWE contract in signing with AEW.
Not knowing exactly how they see either of the two newbies makes this a little harder to call. But they’ve already started building both members of the other team. So I’ll say the importance of momentum is further established, with Britt Baker and Riho getting the duke. Look for this one to be a showcase for Bea and Shoko though.
Sonny Kiss vs. Peter Avalon
Our prerequisite Buy In comedy match, which will no doubt amuse me but incite the ire of many. C’est la vie. Sonny Kiss is a flamboyant character who was built up a fair bit before Double Or Nothing but has yet to get a chance to shine on the shows themselves thus far. This is certainly a fine opportunity to show what he’s about, as the Librarians continue their comedic jobber to the stars role. Sonny Kiss to win.
Darby Allin, Jimmy Havoc & Joey Janela vs. Sammy Guevara, MJF & Shawn Spears
A very curious match… in a good way. On one side, we have a team that makes a fair bit of sense, with three of the most violent, wild and reckless performers in AEW paired up. Allin, Havoc and Janela are all like-minded, as has been lampshaded by their responses. On the other side, we have MJF & Shawn Spears, who hate each other after Spears’ attack on MJF’s mentor Cody. Rounding out their team is Sammy Guevara who, going by his BTE presentation, absolutely nobody likes.
It seems a given that Spears will have a huge match with Cody at All Out, so logically his side should win… but I think that’s a bit too simplistic in this case. One team here will be cohesive and one very much won’t be, and I see AEW as a company that would portray that as a much more real disadvantage then it tends to be elsewhere. Real teams should win in AEW, is what I’m getting at. Plus every member of the other side looks well positioned for a push themselves, particularly Darby.
So I’m gonna pick Allin, Havoc and Janela to win this one, thanks to MJF and Spears’ discontent with working together. I wouldn’t be surprised if one, or both of them, left the match altogether, forcing poor Guevara to square off with three suicidal maniacs all by his lonesome.
SoCal Uncensored (Frankie Kazarian & Scorpio Sky) vs. The Lucha Bros
This has a lot of entertainment value, both in the in-ring action and character departments. There will be plenty of high-flying hard-hitting goodness in this. But between high spots, they will absolutely be trying their damnedest to get a dueling chant going. Cero Miedo vs. SCUUUUUU! It probably won’t be too hard, in all honesty.
SCU are a rock solid team, and I suspect they’ll be cornerstones of the division in their own way. But Penta and Fenix have been among, if not the most impressive performers out of both of AEW’s first two offerings. They’re due a win in this humble previewer’s opinion, and I know some EVPs who probably feel the same. Lucha Bros take this one.
Allie vs. Brandi Rhodes
Brandi caused many a tear with her heartfelt story on the second episode of Road To Fight For The Fallen. She went into her history of failures and how a crippling lack of confidence kept her from her dreams in the past. And so she comes into this with an inspirational message of hope and never giving up, a desire to finally prove to herself that she’s good enough.
But… while she’s a solid worker, she’s outshone by everyone else in the division. She has by far the least experience and the least proven. Many still largely look at her as a valet more than a wrestler. Should she wrack up early victories, it’s going to come with cries of nepotism no matter how it’s done and that’s just the unfortunate truth. I’m sure she knows that, and the other higher ups do as well. If she’s going to be a successful wrestler in her own right in AEW, it can only be after she’s proven herself worthy on big stages.
Basically what that means is she’s going to have be impressive in big losses for a while. For her to come up short here after that segment would be a sad story, but one I can easily see them wanting to tell, an important step on the journey for her that we’ve been presented with. Allie to win this one.
The Dark Order vs. Jack Evans & Angélico vs. Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus
(Winners face Best Friends at All Out for a bye in the first round of the AEW Tag Team Title tournament.)
Well hey, I called this one! Called that scenario exactly, in fact, nice. Let’s see if I continue to have this down…
The Dark Order have thus far not gotten too good of a reception. This gimmick’s concept is fine I think but the execution hasn’t been totally on point. That said, I think it could easily turn right around here, now that they’re in a fairly big match. The two are very good wrestlers in their own right, and here with two other great teams, they should certainly look it.
The Order have continually threatened the Best Friends, but they aren’t the only ones who were on the receiving end of an attack from them on their first appearance. They also assaulted Evans and Angélico, after their standout performance in a loss. That will come to a head here. Evans and Angélico will likely play the part of Private Party from the first such match, the ones with all the highest of high spots.
Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus are a neat wildcard here. They didn’t necessarily get signed as a tag team but they came together on BTE and got some big reactions for it, so a tandem was born. We’ve only gotten the slightest of glimpses of how they work as a team, but big man/little man combos have a pretty good track record. It’s not hard to see their styles meshing well. They’ll certainly have a nice opportunity to show their stuff in this one.
Per my previous predictions, The Dark Order will win this match to move onto their much teased encounter with the Best Friends.
Kenny Omega vs. CIMA
Coming off a solid performance and win in the main card opener at Fyter Fest, CIMA heads into what will easily be the most visible match that he’s ever had in America. Going up against Kenny Omega on this stage is a pretty big deal, even for a storied competitor like him. While not as mind-blowing on the level of the main event, it’s being billed as something of a dream match in it’s own right. After all, it features two men who made a huge name for themselves in Japan in their own ways facing off for the first time ever.
This should be very interesting. CIMA/Daniels was good, but here… you gotta think that every single thing CIMA has left, he’s going to give in this match. And Kenny is still reeling a bit from his loss to Jericho, in addition to needing to be in fighting form for his bout with Jon Moxley. It’s fairly important that he look good here, in his own right. Plus, I can only imagine this match is happening because Kenny wanted it to. So you know he’s going to want to make sure it delivers.
It’ll be a good one, but there is zero question who wins this one. Kenny Omega builds more momentum heading into All Out.
Hangman Page vs. Kip Sabian
I’m doing the order of these very deliberately, so yes I am indeed calling this as the semi-main. Hangman is gonna be main eventing All Out and competing for the AEW World Championship. You gotta present him high up the card eventually. While this card looks set to have a lot of really good matches, it’s not exactly stacked as far as name value goes, so this seems like a good opportunity. I could be entirely off-base, it could well open the main card, but that’s my take. They’re going with an oldschool vibe where the matches on the card escalate as it goes on rather than have any buffer matches between marquee bouts, and the actual term ‘semi-main event’ has come up in interviews at the very least. So it’s a concept that matters here, I’d say.
As for the match itself, it should be good. And it needs to be. Page is popular among the hardcore base but has yet to really have a star-making showing in front of the wider audience. I know they want Kip to shine too, wouldn’t put him in this position if they didn’t, and they see a lot of value in making English stars for their overseas audience. But this one really needs to be built around making Hangman look like a real badass as well as a talented worker.
Page is good. But he still needs to prove that he’s world championship good. This is his last chance to do that before All Out. The pressure is on. And the winner is very clear. Hangman racks up another victory.
Cody & Dustin Rhodes vs. The Young Bucks
On a very positive, world healing kinda night, it’s very appropriate to headline with this huge babyface vs. babyface match. Sure, a little tension has arisen from the Bucks’ constant mockery of the Rhodes brothers’ moment at Double Or Nothing. But ultimately this is going to be a feelgood match, and I think that’s very much the right decision.
Cody and Dustin were a great tandem for the short amount of time they were booked seriously in WWE. I have no doubt that what we see from them here will be their greatest performance yet. And of course, the Young Bucks are, well, the Young Bucks! The best tag team in the world, more or less indisputably. They’re incapable having matches that aren’t atleast great.
Most pointedly, after his match with Cody at Double or Nothing, Dustin tried to retire. Not in storyline, as far as I can see, but legitimately. He planned for that to be his last match, until Cody surprised him by coming in and asking him to join with him for this match. He couldn’t say no. But given that was his intent, and this match itself is almost a more fitting occasion, here in the main event no less… I think this one’s going to be it. I think this will actually be Dustin’s last match.
He’s going to out with a banger, I have no doubt in my mind about that. And I’m almost positive he’s going to go out the old fashioned way, on his back. The Young Bucks to win what is sure to be another emotional encounter.
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