With just under a month to go, we take a look at how the full match card is shaping up for AEW Fyter Fest 2020 and who is likely to leave victorious.
We’ve got just under a month until the two-part event that is AEW Fyter Fest 2020 arrives. While it began as a play on words for the infamous Fyre Fest, it looks like Fyter Fest is going to become an annual staple of AEW’s pay-per-view lineup.
Last year the event was free to stream on B/R Live, but this year AEW has decided to instead turn it into a two-night extravaganza to air in the same timeslot where we’d normally see AEW Dynamite on TNT. Night one will air on July 1, and the following week will conclude the event on July 8.
There’s already one match confirmed and set in stone for the show, but recent events point to several others. With AEW’s commitment to making these shows pay-per-view quality, and the fact that with commercials that only leaves them about 90 minutes of content per night, I’m expecting eight matches for the event at most.
Here, let’s take a look at what we might see on each night, and who could be walking out of AEW Fyter Fest 2020 with the win and potentially with championship gold.
Night One
#1 Contendership for the AEW Women’s World Title: Big Swole vs. Kris Statlander
To set the stage on night one, there’s the possibility of a hard-hitting babyface vs. babyface clash to determine the next challenger for the AEW Women’s World Championship. Big Swole came up short in a recent match with Nyla Rose, and Statlander couldn’t get the job done when she challenged Rose for the title.
The x-factor here is Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D. who has seen rising tensions with Big Swole. This could be a fantastic competitive matchup, but I expect Baker to be the deciding part of it by costing Swole the match. This would set up Swole vs. Baker for All Out, when Baker is healed, and put Statlander in line for a title shot on a future episode of AEW Dynamite.
Prediction: Kris Statlander
TNT Championship Match: Cody (c) vs. Darby Allin
One of three championships to be defended on night one, we’re sure to see Cody put his TNT Championship on the line. He’ll also be defending it in the coming weeks, but I don’t expect him to lose it. No, that’s got to wait for AEW Fyter Fest.
It was at the inaugural AEW Fyter Fest that Darby Allin took Cody to a 20-minute time limit draw, and it will be at the second-annual AEW Fyter Fest that Darby finally defeats Cody for the first time and captures the TNT Championship. It will be the first taste of gold for Allin, and a win over Cody will further legitimize him as a future star for the company.
Prediction: Darby Allin is the new TNT Champion
AEW Tag Team Championship Match: Kenny Omega & Hangman Page (c) vs. FTR (Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler)
It feels a little quick to already have FTR going after the AEW Tag Team Titles, but I think they’ll be blazing their trail to this shot in the coming weeks. FTR makes their in-ring debut this Wednesday against The Butcher and The Blade, a match they’re sure to win, and will tear through some of the other division standouts on subsequent episodes.
It’s clear that AEW is laying the groundwork for an eventual FTR vs. Young Bucks matchup, but that feels like it’s better suited for AEW All Out than AEW Fyter Fest. As such, this will be the time we finally see the unlikely pairing of Omega and Page fall apart against the tag team prowess of FTR. We’ll have new champions, and the stage will be set for AEW All Out.
Prediction: FTR are the new AEW Tag Team Champions
AEW World Championship Match: Jon Moxley (c) vs. Brian Cage
You might expect this to main event night two, but I’ll get to that in a moment. Instead, main eventing the first half of AEW Fyter Fest 2020 will be Jon Moxley defending the AEW World Championship against the monstrous machine known as Brian Cage, who will have Taz at his side.
This is nothing short of a dream match between two in-ring standouts we’ve never seen square off. Jon Moxley has had a hell of a championship reign, but this is where it all comes crashing to a halt. It seems clear that AEW wants Cage on top sooner rather than later, and it will be a shocking end to night one when Brian Cage becomes the new AEW World Champion.
Prediction: Brian Cage is the new AEW World Champion
Night Two
Lance Archer vs. “Broken” Matt Hardy
Moving forward a week to night two, we’ve got an intriguing matchup between two veterans who have blazed very different paths in their careers. Still reeling and angry from his loss to Cody, Lance Archer will be looking to make a huge statement at AEW Fyter Fest, and there may be no bigger name to make that statement at the expense of than “Broken” Matt Hardy.
We could even see this clash go down at the Hardy Compound, as Archer hasn’t shown an aversion to outdoors chaos. When you finally add in intellect and cunning of Jake Roberts, there’s no telling what to expect here, but in the end Lance Archer will be the one standing tall having earned the biggest win of his AEW career thus far.
Prediction: Lance Archer
TNT Championship Match: Darby Allin (c) vs. MJF
So, this isn’t going to be what people are expecting. This match will be made in the weeks leading up, and it’ll be made by then-champion Cody. As MJF tries to weasel his way into a title shot, he sees an opportunity and goads Cody into being the “fighting champion” by putting his title on the line during both nights of AEW Fyter Fest.
Of course, MJF’s plan is that Cody will be weakened but ultimately defeat Darby Allin the week before, and MJF might even try to intervene and make sure that happens. However, instead of getting a weakened Cody, MJF will find himself up against a reinvigorated Darby Allin firing on all cylinders in his first title defense, and there’s no way Allin loses the title that quickly.
Prediction: Darby Allin
AEW Women’s World Championship Steel Cage Match: Hikaru Shida (c) vs. Nyla Rose
As for the AEW Women’s World Championship, there’s no doubt “The Native Beast” Nyla Rose will be gunning for a rematch. She’s already toppled Big Swole since losing to Shida, and seems to still be right in line for a future title shot.
With their last match being No DQ, things would only escalate from there, leading to this final clash inside a Steel Cage. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Shida’s kendo stick and a few weapons inside the cage as well, and this could be another spectacular match out of these two women, but it will be Shida who stands tall once again and retains the title.
Prediction: Hikaru Shida is still the AEW Women’s World Champion
The Inner Circle (Chris Jericho, Jake Hager, Santana, and Ortiz) vs. Best Friends (Trent, Chuckie T, and Orange Cassidy) and Mike Tyson
Finally, we’ve got the main event of night two of AEW Fyter Fest 2020. This will be one hell of a match. It’s clear that AEW is setting up an eventual match between Chris Jericho and Mike Tyson, one in which I’m fairly sure Tyson will knock Jericho back to 1999 with a single punch. On top of that, we’ve seen Best Friends mixing it up and getting on the nerves of Jericho and company as of late.
Mike Tyson vs. Chris Jericho isn’t the kind of match they’ll be giving away on free TV, which means this is here to point towards AEW All Out. On top of that, it gives Tyson a chance to step in the ring with multiple partners to take the focus away from him and protect him. While I expect Tyson to knock out Jericho during this contest, I also expect other members of The Inner Circle to secure the victory over someone else when it happens.
This all perfectly sets the stage for AEW All Out. Chris Jericho will spend weeks bragging that he beat Mike Tyson, leading to a one-on-one collision for the ages where The Baddest Man On The Planet will behead Le Champion with one strike.
Prediction: The Inner Circle