REVOLUTION PREDICTIONS
World Title - Omega vs. Moxley: I really wanted PAC to challenge Omega and for it to be a really good straight wrestling match. They seemed to be going that route, setting up him, Archer, and Moxley as Omega's top 3 challengers. However they pulled back on PAC recently and gave Moxley the match which surprises me. On paper this is a good idea. They're the top two W/L records in the company (Moxley #1, Omega #2) and are 1-1 against each other in previous matches, so this definitely had to happen. I just wouldn't have done it so soon, since they just fought for the title not long ago on TV. So Omega's first major (all respect to Fenix) challenger after beating Moxley for the title...is Moxley. On the bright side for PAC, maybe they're saving PAC for a time when he'll actually win the title before they have him main event a PPV. Omega's opponent has zero chance of winning here so it might as well be Moxley and not someone else who actually has something to lose.
As for the match, I reaaaally wish this were a 3 Stages of Hell type match. Normal, street fight, THEN exploding barbed wire for the third phase if it goes that far. In any case, the whole match being like this just screams "excessive" because it isn't 1999 anymore when this would have been rad to the max. Not even sure if I'm going to order this PPV and I have usually ordered their PPVs (the rarity helps). The story here is good: Moxley won their hardcore match, Omega won their normal match, so this should favor Moxley. However Omega has Callis and the Good Brothers. This is also like NJPW in that champions always have the advantage and tend to hold titles for a while, so a title switching after a month or two is unlikely. It'll happen to someone eventually, but it ain't here.
Winner: Omega
Tag Titles - Young Bucks vs. Jericho and MJF: Looks like most people are predicting the Bucks retain here, thinking Jericho and MJF aren't long for this world as a team, but I disagree. I could see the Bucks actually having a shorter reign. Unlike Omega being destined to be standard-bearer, the Bucks can easily phase in and out of being champions and being regular tag guys. They won the titles just a couple weeks before Omega did, but maybe it was just to get it out of the way since they were already overshadowing whoever had the titles until they actually won them. Everybody expected them to dominate the tag titles all this time. So I could see them losing after a couple months. Jericho and MJF have all kinds of upside as tag champions, and it should make them even more insufferable. I could see Jericho sticking by MJF even as the Inner Circle falls apart around them, leading eventually to them losing the titles to their former buddies Proud and Powerful (who the audiences seem to really want to turn face). That's just an idea, though. Nothing has fallen apart yet outside of Sammy Guevara leaving. Maybe MJF wants to take over the group rather than mess it up. We still don't really know what his motivations are. Regardless, I also don't see The Elite getting a clean-sweep of wins on this show, so...
Winners: Jericho and MJF
"Big Money" Matt Hardy vs. Adam "The Fuck" Page, winner gets all of the other's earnings for 2021: I don't think the winner here should be up for much debate. However Matt Hardy does seem to have this tendency of winning feuds he shouldn't win against younger guys (like EC3 and Sammy Guevara). I could see Matt being a world champion again somewhere for a short time, but in AEW he's gotta get in line for that and he's pretty far down. Adam Page on the other hand is probably their top young guy prospect and starting what will presumably be a long climb towards challenging Omega. With the money stipulation involved, I could see Matt Hardy ending up destitute from this, forcing him to revert to Broken Matt (or some new personality). He only did the Broken persona for a very short time when he first joined and I wasn't sure why, but now I am: Without crowds it wasn't the same, plus they probably wanted to build towards a Break of their own in this company. AKA normal Matt for a while until he goes through his breaking arc. Least that's what I would do.
Winner: Adam "The Fuck" Page
Darby Allin and Sting vs. Brian Cage and Ricky Starks: It's pretty surprising to see Sting wrestling again. However I don't know how I feel about this matchup. Cage and Starks could be major future stars for them and I don't really want to see them get knocked around by Sting. I'm sure they'll do this as well as possible, though, and find a way to structure the match where it does something for everyone involved. Also wish Darby were defending the TNT Championship in singles matches, but I get what they're going for here. Hard to predict this one because A) Cage and Starks winning would set up one of them to challenge Darby, presumably, yet B) I think the whole point of this story is for Darby to win the feud with the help of Sting.
Winners: Darby Allin and Sting
Best Friends (Chuckie and Orange) vs Miro and Kip Sabin: Another tough one to predict since everything has leaned towards the good guys winning this, but I could see The Undefeated Miro (in singles matches) just obliterating both of them. Seems like he's the one being set up for bigger things to come.
Winners: Miro and Kip
Hikaru Shida vs Ryo Mizanami: Hard to see Shida losing to a challenger so out-of-nowhere. I think she holds it until Double or Nothing and faces Britt there.
Winner: Shida
Face of the Revolution match, winner gets a TNT title shot, Cody vs. Lance Archer vs. Pentagon vs. Scorpio Sky vs. Max Caster vs TBA: I thought this was for the world title. Pretty cool that they're making the TNT title important here, but I feel like it doesn't get defended nearly often enough anymore to matter like it did a few months ago. I don't know if it's because I'm having a hard time buying Darby Allin as a threat because of his size or what, but a lot of these guys seem like they're above going after him and the TNT title to begin with. Max Caster has a lot of upside and needs to be featured more, so I could see him getting this. However, "TBA" is usually a sign when it comes to these things. Good chance TBA is gonna be the winner if it's a big surprise, unless it's a throwaway addition that they just haven't decided on yet.
Winner: Platinum Max
TBA Debut: Ethan Page
Tag Team Battle Royale, winner gets a tag title shot: They really like doing these, and they're a fun concept. Every team has essentially 2 HP and if one gets tossed out it isn't over for them yet. Since I predicted Jericho and MJF winning the titles, I'm gonna go with Proud and Powerful winning this. They'll want their shot and Jericho/MJF will weasel out of it for now.
Winners: Proud and Powerful
What Grinds My Gears: No PAC?
The Big Surprise Signing: Kurt Angle, who challenges Omega for Double or Nothing in a title vs career match.
