AEW Fyter Fest bold predictions: Cage becomes champ

AEW Fyter Fest will be held “sometime this summer.” While we don’t know when it will be held, we do know some of the matches for the card. Here are some bold predictions as we look towards Fyter Fest.

Fyter Fest has two definitive matches set, both being championship matches. First, we have AEW World Champion Jon Moxley defending the championship against “The Machine” Brian Cage. Second, AEW World Tag Team Champion Kenny Omega and “Hangman” Adam Page will defend against Best Friends (Chuck Taylor and Trent?), that is, if they emerge victorious over Kip Sabian and Jimmy Havoc (The SuperBad Squad) on Dynamite.

I’m sure there will be more clarity on the card when there’s a set date/location and after another episode or two of Dynamite. However, since we’re not at that point, I figured I’d make some bold predictions for the event.

We should keep in mind a few things: any prediction made here is fully non-refundable, so please don’t go making bets off my guesses; the likelihood of any prediction happening is about the same as me making the NBA; and the chance that a non-roster member makes an impact at the event similar to Cage at Double or Nothing. Don’t forget that card is always subject to change.

It’s also important to keep in mind that any prediction must be coherent with current and long-term stories/angles for there to be any credence. Predictions shouldn’t be made in a vacuum; they should be made within context. I could predict that Orange Cassidy becomes World Champion somehow, but that wouldn’t make any sense given the stories for Moxley, Cage, and Cassidy.

A little roadmap of what’s to come: I’ll bookend the predictions with those for the two main championships in AEW, starting with the AEW Women’s Championship match and ending with the AEW World Championship match. In between, I’ll discuss the pairing of Wardlow and MJF, the Tag Team Championship picture, and the seemingly inevitable clash between Chris Jericho and Mike Tyson.

With all that said, let’s begin with our first prediction.

Prediction: Hikaru Shida retains in a triple threat match against Nyla Rose and Big Swole, leading to a post-match attack from Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D. and Rebel (“Reba”)

Shida successfully won the AEW Women’s Championship after defeating Rose at Double or Nothing in one of the better women’s matches in AEW. She followed that up with a hard-fought victory over Christy Jaynes on last week’s Dynamite.

On tonight’ Dynamite, #1 Rose faces unranked Swole with potential title implications. It should be noted that before the pandemic and her voluntarily staying at home, Swole was highly ranked and seemed set for a high-profile feud with Baker.

How do we get to a triple threat, then?

Rose, incensed at losing the championship, can be disqualified in her match against Swole for being over-aggressive and ignoring the referee’s warnings. This would have to occur after Swole has inflicted her share of offense on Rose to make it more believable. It would also help keep Swole strong while simultaneously doing the same for her adversary.

Swole gains a big boost from her victory in the rankings (the rankings don’t seem to take into account the method of victory), and then defeats either Kris Statlander or Penelope Ford in her next match. Rose rebounds with a victory over whoever Swole doesn’t face. Both then have wins over ranked contenders in the division.

Rose can worm her way into the championship match by saying even though Swole defeated her, she wasn’t pinned or submitted.

(Shida is either winning matches against talent like Jaynes and/or filming videos/vignettes to air in her absence.)

Shida eventually retains her title by pinning Rose again as she becomes Rose’s kryptonite. As she celebrates, she is crushed by Rebel, I mean Reba, I mean Rebel as Baker slowly, methodically, arrogantly makes her way to the ring.

Rebel can keep laying it into Shida as Baker grabs a mic and tells Shida, “I’ll see you at All Out.” Rebel can then hit whatever her finisher will be in AEW on Shida, and the two walk to the back.

The intervening weeks should have an incensed Shida searching for Baker and Rebel only to find out that they’re not present and filmed segments for the show.

They only appear live when Shida isn’t present and after this happens a few times, Shida dupes them on the go-home show by not being advertised only to appear and jump the two. Baker escapes, leaving Rebel to take the 3 Count Shining Wizard variant from Shida.

I can then see Shida yelling out in rage like Goku when he first turned Super Saiyan as Baker looks on from the entrance area in shock and fear.

Baker’s trajectory pre-knee injury suggested she would at least challenge for the Women’s Championship. Is All Out where AEW dons her their new champion, or do they keep at it with the babyface champion in Shida?

Prediction: Wardlow inadvertently-but-on-purpose costs MJF the TNT Championship match against Cody, then brutally lays out MJF after

While the beginning of this predicted implosion may have been the above moment when MJF accidentally struck Wardlow with the Dynamite Diamond Ring, the catalyst may have been the promo from MJF before the match. He said when it came down to the two of them, the “Ward-Dog would know what to do.”

Warldow said, “But,” only for MJF to interrupt and yell, “BUT NOTHING!” with an awkward pause after, only to laugh it off and tell Wardlow it was a rib. Wardlow looked perplexed, perturbed, and angry as MJF walked away.

While MJF lost the battle royal and his opportunity to face Cody on tonight’s episode of Dynamite, he was ranked #1 heading into last week’s show.

Seeing how MJF sees it as his career mission to antagonize and ruin Cody, challenging for the TNT Championship makes sense for this ongoing, long-term story (oh, and also since the AEW World Championship match is scheduled for the same event).

MJF could reassert his position as the top ranked wrestler and tell Cody he’s invoking his right as #1 contender to challenge for the TNT Championship at Fyter Fest. He even tweeted a redesigned TNT Championship in his preferred Burberry print, so there’s already a foundation for MJF challenging Cody for the title.

Cody agrees not only because he’s booked as an honorable face, but how could he pass up this opportunity to exact some vengeance on MJF?

The match goes much like their first match, but as MJF goes to retrieve the ring from Wardlow, the ring slips out of Wardlow’s hand and falls to the ground. MJF becomes incensed and screams at Wardlow, who reluctantly begins to look for the ring on the ground. MJF turns around to a Disaster Kick and Cross Rhodes from Cody, taking his first pin as Cody wins 1-2-3.

Post-match, MJF berates Wardlow in the ring, telling Wardlow it’s all his fault and he’s worthless, physically pushing Wardlow a few times. Wardlow, after the second or third push, glares at MJF, who tries to back away with a smile and say he was just kidding. Wardlow brutalizes him with a lariat.

He then hits a German suplex or two, followed by his drop-down knee in the corner. He follows this with a wicked F10 that decimates MJF, who just lays in the middle of the ring. Wardlow could then take the ring and place it on MJF’s finger in a last little salute.

The beauty of playing it out this way is neither would necessarily turn face. Wardlow can continue to wrestle as a heel and dominate opponents without detriment because fans will look at his turning on MJF as justified.

Think of it like Marlo Stanfield staging a coup against Avon Barkesdale to monopolize the Baltimore drug game. Wardlow basically steps out of the shadows to forge his own empire.

MJF is, well, MJF. He’ll cut a promo on how he only lost because of the incompetence of Wardlow and continue to be his narcissistic self. It’s going to be hard to buy MJF as a face without some thorough, long-term booking anyway.

Either way, now both men are free from the shackles of each other, and Wardlow can embark on a journey where we find out if he’s more than just hulking brute.

Prediction: Best Friends win the AEW Tag Team Championship, and Page teases turning on Omega only for it to be just that, a tease

Again, this is all predicated on Omega and Page retaining their titles against The SuperBad Crew. If that doesn’t happen, well, I guess you can skip to the next slide.

Should they retain, they face Taylor and Trent? (presumably accompanied by Cassidy) at Fyter Fest. Best Friends became top contender after defeating Private Party during the Buy In preshow for Double or Nothing.

This should be your standard tag team match pitting two face teams against each other. Standard doesn’t mean unspectacular, and considering the match involves Omega and Page, at the very least, the match should above average.

The biggest thing to pay attention to during this match would be the little stories playing out: who’s taking the most punishment, how is each team’s communication, whose tactics gain the upper hand, etc.?

Because we just had a similar situation with Matt Riddle and Timothy Thatcher on NXT, I don’t want this to turn exactly into that scene, but something similar. What if the climax of the match saw the champion go for their Buckshot-Trigger combo only for Trent? to move and Page hit the lariat on Omega? Page, momentarily shocked, could then eat a superkick from Trent?, who then sends Page out of the ring.

This allows Best Friends to hit the Strong Zero on a dazed Omega, becoming the NEW AEW Tag Team Champion.

Best Friends celebrate their victory as they head to the back. Our attention shifts back to ringside where a dejected Omega sits with his head down and Page recovers on the outside. Page, looking incensed, enters the ring and forces Omega up. He glares at him, and right when fans anticipate Page laying out Omega, he says, “We’ll get them back,” referring to the Tag Team Championship. He hugs Omega, and they head back.

It’s too easy to have a turn here after their first title loss, and too predictable. I think the most prudent thing to do to extend the story while keeping fan interest is to tease the turn hard only for it to be just a tease. It should have that much more impact when one of them turns (yes, one of them and not specifically Page), particularly if it happens unexpectedly.

What we have heading out of Fyter Fest is a multilayered story. First, can Omega and Page regain the Tag Team Championship? Second, does their partnership suffer or strengthen after the loss? Third, how does Omega’s ranking in the singles division play into their story? Lastly, what other clues should we look for that may signal who is turning?

Regardless, I expect fans will stay interested if only to see who turns on who and when.

Prediction: Inner Circle faces Mike Tyson’s Crew, and Chris Jericho’s head is served up on a platter to Tyson yet again

Remember this?

Jericho obviously does as he invoked the very segment when he called for “Mike Tyson’s head on a platter” last Wednesday. He didn’t get Tyson’s head, but did have a face-to-face meeting with Tyson and his crew, although trying to recreate 1998 was a little too cute for me.

Speaking of Tyson’s crew, did you see who was involved? As I noted last week, it included three former UFC Champions in “The Phenom” Vitor Belfort, “Suga” Rashad Evans, and “Triple C”/”King of Cringe” Henry Cejudo (seriously, everything he does just makes you cringe). That’s four people to oppose Inner Circle.

Should they get a fifth member, then we have a full crew-on-crew match; if not, then either Sammy Guevara or Jake Hager should be scheduled for something on Fyter Fest to logically remove them from the match.

The beauty of this match is it could be taped like the Stadium Stampede match to mitigate risks and cover for any mishaps/inexperience from Tyson’s crew. However, to avoid having too similar of a walking brawl throughout the stadium, AEW should make it more a street fight or even something quirky like their own version of a Fight Pit match.

A Fight Pit type match may be just the thing to draw out the best from the three former cage fighters.

The downside to booking this match is we’re all pretty sure Inner Circle would put Tyson and his crew over, just as they put over The Elite at Double or Nothing. It will have been a rough four to six months for Inner Circle dating to Jericho losing the AEW World Championship to Moxley in February.

This is also a stretch where I commented last week that saw Inner Circle become too comical to the point of detriment. Rather than a serious, edgy heel stable with a comedic side, we now have an overtly humorous stable that traded victories for laughs.

If last week wasn’t the impetus for them to become more serious, maybe this match at Fyter Fest will. It’s pretty hard to be humorous and not serious when you’re standing in a cage across from at least four bonafide boxing and MMA champions.

The ending should be Tyson knocking out Jericho with that nasty left hook that took down so many opponents during Tyson’s career, pinning him 1-2-3. Tyson’s crew emerges victorious and Inner Circle has to regroup once more.

Where would they shift after? Do they set their eyes on the Tag Team Championship with Santana & Ortiz and/or Le Sex Gods? Do Hager, Guevara, or even Jericho seek the TNT Championship? What about the World Championship? How does Jericho’s role shift if he doesn’t pursue a championship?

There are lots of questions concerning Inner Circle even before Fyter Fest, so it’ll be interesting to see what their role is and how they execute their segments.

Prediction: Cage decimates Moxley to become the new AEW World Champion

I predicate this on the fact that since Moxley made his way through the crowd at the end of the first Double or Nothing, no other wrestler has entered AEW and made as immediate of an impact as Moxley did than Brian Cage.

Say what you want about Lance Archer or Brodie Lee, but neither of them earned a World Championship shot in their first match. Neither were thrust directly into the World Championship picture; Archer meandered until the TNT Championship Tournament and Lee went from torturing Christopher Daniels to winning squashes to stealing physical possession of Moxley’s World Championship.

Lee’s debut was ballyhooed as “The Exalted One,” but he floundered for a bit at first until he found the character we know today.

Cage, on the other hand, debuted by winning the Casino Ladder Match, ensuring he is the next challenger for Moxley’s title. Further, unlike Archer or Lee, Cage and his manager, Taz, immediately targeted Moxley last Wednesday on Dynamite, Cage’s first appearance.

They didn’t just target Moxley, though. Taz said Cage was going to rip Moxley’s heart out of his chest. Taz said everything but, “Brian Cage is invincible,” to get him over to fans.

It helps that Moxley not only seems willing for a fight with Cage, but relishes the opportunity to both inflict and sustain violence and harm. He knows that Cage is “The Machine” for a reason. Much like his baseball counterpart in “The Machine” Albert Pujols during the Aughts (2000-2009), it’s because he utterly destroys his competition (poor Darby Allin and Lee Johnson, and Brad Lidge on the baseball side).

To the actual match, this isn’t going to be a back-and-forth or even 70-30 match. This is going to be like Brock Lesnar dismantling John Cena at SummerSlam 2014. Cage is basically just going to throw Moxley around and physically brutalize him as he sees fit.

Think of Moxley taking a couple of German suplexes and still having that masochistic smile on his face as he revels in the pain. An F10000 or two, followed by a Drill Claw (maybe an avalanche Drill Claw?), and we have a new champion in a clean victory.

Why make the switch? Well, outside of Archer and possibly Omega, who else is left for Moxley to face at the World Championship level? He beat Jericho to become World Champion and defended against Hager and Lee.

Even if we consider others like Omega or Allin, he’s already bested them in singles competition albeit not as World Champion. Cody is locked in as TNT Champion and wrestlers like Scorpio Sky or MJF aren’t at World Championship level yet. Archer is closer than Sky or MJF, but I have a feeling he redoubles his efforts on destroying “Caesar,” and taking the TNT Championship from Cody.

Cage also presents something different than an Archer, Lee, or Moxley: he’s big and strong, but he can also move like PAC or Rey Fenix. For example, he literally military pressed Allin while Allin was laying on a ladder and threw Allin and the ladder out of the ring simultaneously!

Also, here he is doing his own version of Omega’s You Can’t Escape (with a botch first), but he still hits a fluid moonsault!

His unique style combining power wrestling with lucha libra-like high flying is a wonder to behold. A man as big as Lesnar should not be able to move like Ricochet.

This represents exciting match opportunities for Cage in AEW. Allin could be his first challenger presuming Moxley sells his beating a bit. They have the story of the ladder match to draw on, plus Allin’s history with refusing Taz’s tutelage.

How about Cage vs. Archer if Archer does go for the World Championship? It could be billed as the good old fashioned “Immovable Object meets the Unstoppable Force,” and both men’s athleticism could make the match better than anticipated.

There’s also the rematch with Moxley that’s bound to happen.

Whether it’s Cage against Pentagon Jr., Lee, Omega, or Hager, Cage should be able to have memorable World Championship matches no matter his competition. Cage would also be the first non-WWE affiliated wrestler to hold the AEW World Championship, which should mean something for the company that is in direct competition with WWE.

I hope it happens because it would match his booking and presents fresh matches for the World Championship. Will it? I guess we’ll find out at Fyter Fest.

Those are my five bold predictions, though at least one might not qualify as so bold. In any case, what are your thoughts? Predictions?

Let’s find out together “sometime this summer.”