AEW Dynamite: Holiday Bash Preview and Predictions

AEW Dynamite is back this Wednesday with its Holiday Bash edition, and it will be broadcast from Greensboro, North Carolina.

Fresh off the heels of Winter is Coming, which featured some great matches, Holiday Bash is a card that has the potential to be just as good as its predecessor.

True, there won’t be an epic 60-minute AEW Championship match on this card, but there is still plenty to love about this week’s match card.

One of the things AEW has done really well up to this point is to keep its matchups fresh.  We don’t see a lot of rematches in this promotion.  And when we do, they are usually weeks, or in some cases month apart so they still feel fresh.

This card is a shining example of that as all three singles matches on the card are happening for the first time in AEW.

And while we have seen FTR vs Sting and Darby Allin before, that was almost three months ago.  And this time we have the added incentive of CM Punk and MJF competing in the ring for the first time as well.

This is just another example of how AEW is booking its expanded roster very well, and keeping its product fresh.

Let’s take a look at the four announced matches for AEW Dynamite: Holiday Bash and what to expect from each.

Orange Cassidy vs Adam Cole

After weeks of taking superkicks at the expense of the SuperKliq, Orange Cassidy will finally get the chance to go one-on-one with Adam Cole.

Any time that these two are in the ring together two things are guaranteed, some entertaining comedic spots and high-quality in-ring action.

Adam Cole and Orange Cassidy have worked so well together in tag team matches that the chemistry should be off the charts in this singles tilt.

What makes Adam Cole and Orange Cassidy’s encounters so good is that they feed off of each other.  For every nonchalant, lethargic action Orange Cassidy makes, you can literally see Adam Cole’s blood pressure rising all over his face.  And the more angry Adam Cole gets, the more fun it is for Orange Cassidy to antagonize him.

Add this to the fact that they are both fantastic in-ring performers and this will most likely be the match of the evening.

Adam Cole should go over in this match for two reasons.  Orange Cassidy is beyond over with the fans and a win or loss here won’t change that and Adam Cole should stay strong as AEW builds him into a challenger for Adam Page’s AEW Championship Title in the not-so-distant future.  Winner: Adam Cole

Malakai Black vs Griff Garrison

One half of the Varsity Blonds, Griff Garrison will look to avenge Julia Hart when he takes on Malakai Black.

This match sprung up out of nowhere when Malakai Black appeared and sprayed black mist into the face of Julia Hart last week.

Why would Black attack Hart and the Varsity Blonds?  What good does it do for Black to feud by himself with a tag team?

Unless……we are at long last about to get a new member of the House of Black.

And all signs point to the new addition to the House of Black being Brody King.

This makes perfect sense as Black has been teasing a new member to the House of Black for weeks.  And Brody King makes perfect sense as King and Black are the current PWG tag team champions.

So on Holiday Bash, Griff Garrison and Brian Pillman, Jr. will be getting a big lump of coal in their stockings in the form of AEW’s newest roster member, Brody King.  Winner: Malakai Black

Nyla Rose vs Ruby Soho in a Women’s TBS Title Tourney Semifinal

In the first semi-final of the TBS Women’s Title Tournament, Ruby Soho will take on the “Native Beast” Nyla Rose.

AEW’s build to the final three matches of this tournament has been brilliant as all four women left are completely believable options to become the first TBS Champion.

However, the fact that Nyla Rose has a reign as the AEW Women’s Champion already tends to tip the scales in Ruby Soho’s favor in this match.

A Nyla win would create a bit of a been there, seen that, for the finals of this tournament.  On the other hand, a Ruby Soho victory would set up a very interesting match no matter who wins the other semifinal.

If Thunder Rosa wins, then you have the final two competitors in the Women’s Battle Royale from All Out, locking horns once again for the right to become the inaugural TBS Champion.

If Jade Cargill beats Thunder Rosa then we have the unstoppable up and comer against the scrappy underdog that wasn’t even ranked high enough to earn a first-round bye.

Either of those options is more desirable than anything Nyla Rose would bring to a tournament finals appearance.

And that is not a knock on Nyla Rose.  She has and will continue to be great in the AEW women’s division.  But the division has evolved enough to where it doesn’t have to be carried by Shida and Rose anymore.  It is time to take another step in that evolution.  Winner: Ruby Soho

MJF & FTR vs CM Punk, Darby Allin & Sting

If you are looking for a wrestling match that includes six men that fully understand wrestling psychology and how to tell a story during a match, look no further than the Holiday Bash main event between MJF, FTR, Darby Allin, Sting, and CM Punk.

This match is interesting for a number of reasons.

First, this is the first match that involves CM Punk and MJF.  Their war of words has been really good television over the past couple of weeks.  And while their exposure to each other may be very limited in this six-man tag team match, it will still further their feud to the next level.

Next, FTR doesn’t lose many tag team matches.  And the last time they were in the ring with Darby Allin and Sting they suffered a loss at AEW Dynamite: Grand Slam.  So you can rest assured that FTR has not forgotten that loss and will be looking to even the score against Allin and Sting.

Finally, Greensboro was the place that Sting wrestled Ric Flair to a 45-minute time limit draw at the first-ever Clash of the Champions in 1988.  A match that many consider being the one that put Sting “on the map”.

So to say there is a lot to look forward to in this match would be a bit of an understatement.

This will most likely go the way most tag matches go.  A hot start by the baby faces, followed by the heels isolating Darby Allin and Darby taking the bulk of the punishment.  MJF taunts CM Punk while he works over Allin and Punk is powerless to do anything about it.  Allin then manages to make the hot tag and the match breaks down into a free for all and who comes out on top is anyone’s guess.

My guess is CM Punk finally has an opportunity to get his hand on MJF, causing MJF to retreat to the back, leaving FTR a man down, and costing them the match as Sting uses the Scorpion Death Drop to win the match in a homecoming of sorts for the man known as “The Icon”.  Winners: CM Punk, Darby Allin & Sting