This week All Elite Wrestling comes our way from a closed set in Jacksonville, Florida. Last week, Omega & Hangman retained their tag team championships (again), Lance Archer tried to murder Joey Janela, Taz gave Cage the FTW championship, FTR & The Young Bucks worked well together, but not well enough to win, Big Swole got served, and Orange Cassidy got pulped.
Advertised for tonight:
- Jon Moxley versus Brian Cage for The AEW Championship
- Sonny Kiss versus Cody for the TNT Championship
- FTR versus The Lucha Bros
- Kenny Omega & The Young Bucks versus Jurassic Express
- The Nightmare Sisters in action
- Chris Jericho speaks
- Raising awareness & money for COVID 19
Here are five questions about AEW tonight:
1) Will Moxley versus Cage be worth the wait?
It’s been almost two months since Cage won a chance to challenge for the AEW championship at Double or Nothing, but due to extenuating circumstances (PANDEMIC) it has been delayed until tonight. We’ve seen the two competitors cut promos in multiple video packages to hype their match, battle each other in parking lots, battle jobbers to continue to stake their claim on the championships - all the classic pre championship match hub bub, but tonight we finally get to see the Mox versus The Machine and my big question is “will it be worth the wait?”
I ask this for two reasons. One - this is the first real match, besides his debut, that Brian Cage will be participating in. So far it’s been Squash City for the S’wolverine and this is his opportunity to show an AEW audience that might not be familiar with his work what the big man can do. It’s a different sort of debut for him.
Two - there is nothing that really has set this match a part from all of Moxley’s other championship defenses. Honestly, as much sense as it made to make Mox the champion at the time, they don’t seem to have much of a game plan for him. Win match, barely show up on weekly TV, make a bunch of hype videos, brawl somewhere not in the ring, show up, eek out a win and repeat. Other than facing a new competitor in Cage the buildup to this match is shockingly similar to his bout against Hager. I don’t know how they did it, but AEW managed to take one of their most interesting performers in Moxley and make it, dare I say it, predictable!
Hopefully, the championship match tonight breaks Mox out of his rut and we get a championship bout worthy of the title.
2) Will Cody’s open challenge continue to be a spotlight match?
Sonny Kiss has all the makings of a prime time star - charisma, endless talent, sick dance moves - and it’s frankly a crying shame that it’s taken the powers that be at AEW this long to push him. He’s been a main player on AEW Dark, but has rarely been seen on Dynamite. That changes tonight.
Of course, there is no real threat of Sonny Kiss dethroning Cody and taking the TNT championship, but this is a great opportunity for Sonny Kiss and all his talent to be showcased. We’ve been getting to see more of him in action with his tag partner Joey Janela and a singles match like this is exactly the kind of push Sonny needs to make him a household favorite.
Between Joey’s match with Archer and Kiss’ match with Cody - plus their amazing video packages these past weeks - it looks like Janela & Kiss are on their way to becoming a staple in the AEW tag team division and I, for one, am extremely here for it!
3) Can Brandi & Allie continue to work together without killing each other?
They have been enemies since the moment Allie debuted in AEW, but over the past few weeks Brandi and Allie have become a shockingly cohesive team. They are racking up the W’s on Dark and have earned themselves a match on Dynamite.
Their pairing is nice for two reasons. One - switching the focus from “Allie the home-wrecking girlfriend” to “Allie the reluctant tag partner” is refreshing and saves us from many embarrassing and played out story lines. Sure, Dustin is still their to be the grumpy old man that accidentally is sexist all the time, but baby steps. And two - building up Allie and Brandi as a formidable tag team (hopefully against other formidable tag teams) gets us one step closer to those rumored women’s tag division titles.
Let’s just hope they can keep it together until then.
4) Will FTR make up for The Young Bucks loss last week?
FTR teamed up with The Young Bucks last week and while they surprisingly (to them) meshed together extremely well they still lost when The Young Bucks were pinned by The Lucha Bros.
Now, a loss is a loss, but you know that FTR doesn’t count it as their loss - it’s those dang Young Bucks! Tonight FTR gets a chance at redemption when they face the Lucha Bros by on their own, but will the match end in redemption or embarrassment?
FTR has been mighty vocal since their debut in AEW about coming to the promotion to face the best of the best. They openly consider Lucha Bros to be on that list, but they have also been vocal about how they don’t consider the Young Bucks to be.
Anyone with eyes knows that we are eventually headed toward a FTR/Young Bucks battle, but the big question is “how do we get there?”
Tonight, if FTR wins they can brag about the fact that they were able to beat The Lucha Bros when The Bucks couldn’t and if they lose, well, that’s prime material for The Bucks to bait them.
Just one step closer to the dream match.
5) What ridiculous thing will Britt Baker & Big Swole do tonight?
Last week Swole got served and Britt got her nose broken. Each week these two have consistently one of the best - and most ridiculous - interactions of the entire show. I have no idea how they are planning to torture each other tonight, but I am already planning on it being my favorite part of the show.
Tune into AEW on TNT at 8 EST tonight to see if we get any answers to these questions!