AEW Fyter Fest 2020 Night 1
July 1, 2020 
Daily’s Place 
Jacksonville, FL

Watch: TNT / Fite.TV

Meet Our Previewers

Joe Lanza: Rich wanted to pop a number, so he coaxed The Most Compelling Voice In Wrestling Media into a rare non-paywall appearance. Speaking of paywall, VoicesofWrestling.com/Patreon or Patreon.com/VoicesofWrestling.

Steve Case: Part of the new Midcard Matinee (@Midcard_Matinee, midcardmatinee.com) Podcast. Pumped for what appears to be the stronger card of the two top to bottom. We shall see if it lives up! Follow @Coachcase44

MJF & Wardlow vs. Luchasaurus and Jungle Boy

Joe: There are many who feel that The Jungle Boy should finally defeat MJF here, but like Sandler in Uncut Gems, I disagree. There is plenty of time to get behind The Jungle Boy, who isn’t anywhere close to being ready for the big time push many feel he’s a lock to receive at some point down the line, so it wouldn’t make any sense to burn off his first MJF win (even in a tag) with MJF on a clear ascent to the top of the card. MJF should keep beating The Jungle Boy like a drum, even if by using nefarious means, until The Jungle Boy is ready for a big-time PPV win over his long term rival. Keep building the heat and make the people salivate for this one. This isn’t the time. Prediction: MJF & Wardlow, but really any result that isn’t MJF taking the fall is fine.  

Steve: The Jungle Boy/MJF lifelong blood feud continues! This isn’t close to reaching the same heights, but this has the chance to be AEW’s Dreamer/Raven or Bret/Shawn in terms of career-long rivals that evolves and grows with the promotion. In Dreamer/Raven fashion, we are starting to see feuds branch off of them with Luchasaurus and Wardlow. I thought MJF/Jungle Boy was MOTN at Double or Nothing and Luchasaurus/Wardlow was a great hoss fight/spotfest hybrid last week, so my hopes for this match are pretty high. There’s no doubt Marko Stunt will find a way to get involved, and likely destroyed at some point, since he does that so well. Wardlow and Luchasaurus will exchange their power moves and elite athleticism towards what I hope turns into a straight-up singles match down the line. Through some sort of chicanery, MJF gets a flash pin on Jungle Boy to continue to build that story. Prediction: MJF & Wardlow

Private Party vs. Santana & Ortiz

Joe: Proud & Powerful have fallen too deep into the wackiness of Inner Circle for my tastes, and this is a perfect opportunity to cut the comedy shit and get serious. Like The Jungle Boy, Private Party are probably years away from being serious money players, so a loss doesn’t really hurt them. A dominant Proud & Powerful win is what I would dial-up, and I wouldn’t even be opposed to a straight-up statement-making squash. I don’t think AEW will do that, but I do think Proud & Powerful will win. Prediction: Proud & Powerful

Steve: It’s time for Santana & Ortiz to have a banger match. They have been walking the fine line between slapstick comedy act and one of the world’s best tag teams for way too long. The rebuild started with a GREAT squash on Dark a few weeks back, and hopefully, the rebuild continues here. Private Party can be sloppy at times, but hopefully, a team with experience that can match them in energy and athleticism like Santana & Ortiz can keep them on point. My one fear is that since Sammy is suspended, Matt Hardy will get too involved, since that was no doubt going to be a match before Sammy’s old comments surfaced. Even so, the basement of this is a wild, sloppy spotfest, with the ceiling being great, on par with the better Private Party matches and potentially Santana & Ortiz’s best match to date. Prediction: Santana & Ortiz

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AEW Women’s World Title
Hikaru Shida (C) vs. Penelope Ford

Joe: This was a match I had zero interest in until last week when Shida squashed something called Red Velvet on Dynamite and then viciously attacked Ford at ringside. What a hot angle! This is a big match for Ford, who is still a little green and probably not ready for this kind of a spot, but has a chance to really raise her stock with a big time performance. Injuries and the covid opened up this opportunity, so let’s see if Ford can take advantage. Prediction: Shida 

Steve: For all the flack the AEW women’s division gets, Hikaru Shida would fit into any division in America and hold her own. She has been far and away the best and most consistent female performer for AEW since they started, and has been a part of some of their better women’s matches. Penelope has improved greatly since I first saw her on a Spring Break show a few years ago. She still needs some polish for sure, but she has the look, the elite athleticism, and apparent drive to be a star in the future. Working in big time matches with Shida will no doubt help with that improvement. On Dynamite last week, Shida squashed a poor jobber, in between looking like a killer towards both Penelope and Kip Sabian, breaking his glasses. As long as his involvement is minimal, this match has a chance to be sleeper great. Shida will get the win, but hopefully after Penelope with her best showing to date. Prediction: Hikaru Shida

TNT Title Match
Cody (C) vs. Jake Hager

Joe: This has the potential to be bad, with two guys who really need the right opponent to make things work. The effort is always there with Cody, with chemistry sometimes being the issue. The effort isn’t always there with Hager, who has largely been terrible since the day he left WWE and went on to have one of the worst high profile indie runs in recent memory. Hager’s AEW stuff hasn’t been much better, with Mox dragging all he could out of him and the Dustin match being firmly mediocre. Maybe these two will have shocking chemistry and shock us. But there is a real possibility of this being ugly. Prediction: Cody

Steve: Here’s the match that I’m worried about. Cody has been absolutely great in AEW, bringing the old school seriousness and match style and blending it perfectly with today’s wrestling. His segments, matches, and stories are often the highlights of AEW programming. Hager is very good in his role of being the scary, intimidating background heavy who has legitimate credentials behind Jericho. The press conference was a cool and different idea that I think can work better down the line with a match where the result is in a little more doubt. In this case though, I see no scenario that sees Cody lose here. On top of that, I have a hard time imagining this match being any good. I hope I am wrong and will happily eat my own words if these two find a way to have a memorable match, but I have my doubts.  Prediction: Cody

AEW World Tag Team Titles
Kenny Omega & Hangman Page (C) vs Best Friends

Joe: I’m probably the low man on Best Friends, whose act is a little too ironic for my tastes. I expect this to be good, but with Omega, Trent, and Chucky T involved, there is a danger this gets a little too cute and annoys me. AEW has an insanely deep tag division, but could use a no-nonsense ass-kicker team like Miracle Violence Connection, Road Warriors, The Steiners, or The Gangstas to beat the living shit out of people. Prediction: Omega & Hangman

Steve: I am SO PUMPED for this match! Best Friends have been arguably the MVP’s of the pandemic era Dynamites and have been turning in consistently strong matches with everyone. You know that in such a prominent position and against a team like Omega & Hangman they are going to deliver. What more can be said about the Omega and Hangman tag team? They are incredible. Hangman is a star and Kenny is still Kenny. Though it’s not a high percentage, I don’t think there’s a zero percent chance Best Friends win here. I predict Kenny and Hangman get it done, but the inevitable split looms. Does it happen here? Do more seeds get planted? With the Dark Order looming in the rankings, it wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility for Best Friends to score a huge upset and go right into that feud. It’s not likely, but it’s not impossible. Prediction: Kenny Omega & Hangman Page