All Elite Wrestling has two pseudo-pay-per-view events coming up with Battle of the Belts III (taping Friday, airing Saturday) and the Quake by the Lake edition of AEW Dynamite and Rampage next week.
While these aren’t true landmark shows, they are still special events with some titles up for grabs and some interesting matches set to unfold. In my mind, that’s worth breaking down with at least a quick set of predictions, as you never know what might happen.
Let’s break down the cards as they are currently announced!
AEW BATTLE OF THE BELTS III
ROH World Championship Match: Claudio Castagnoli (c) vs. Konosuke Takeshita
AEW can pull off some surprises here and there, but one thing that has remained relatively consistent is that Tony Khan tends to put titles on people he wants to actually see as champion.
Claudio Castagnoli just won the ROH title. It was likely the reason he was put under contract in the first place, as that was the intention, rather than for him to replace Bryan Danielson. This even came about at the expense of Jonathan Gresham, who left AEW after dropping the title.
I cannot under any circumstance imagine Castagnoli losing that belt any time soon. That goes double for dropping it to someone who isn’t signed to AEW or ROH.
Konosuke Takeshita has been impressive and is gaining a lot of steam, but this is more about just having a good match, rather than the title being in jeopardy.
Castagnoli retains and shows some respect to Takeshita after the match.
AEW Women’s World Championship Match: Thunder Rosa (c) vs. Jamie Hayter
Thunder Rosa’s title run hasn’t been exactly amazing. In fact, I’d go so far as to say it has been underwhelming, if not boring. I’m not personally enthralled with anything she’s done.
That doesn’t mean I think she’s losing the title here, though. Quite the opposite. I think it’s a certainty she retains.
Jamie Hayter is no slouch. She’s probably going to win this title at some point down the line. But so far, she’s only felt like Britt Baker’s sidekick to me, rather than someone I could imagine actually winning the title and being built around.
If Baker were champion and this were a “former friends, now enemies” feud, then maybe. Rosa against Hayter outright? I think its just a means to stall having yet another Rosa vs. Baker match for All Out. Or, maybe, a four-way with Hayter, Baker and Toni Storm, just to get all parties involved.
AEW TNT Championship Match: Wardlow (c) vs. Jay Lethal
It’ll become a broken record, but yes, I think the champion is retaining.
Far too much has been built up for Wardlow to just win the TNT Championship and drop it to Jay Lethal on a pre-taped thing like this. I don’t care if Satnam Singh and Sonjay Dutt get involved, it’s still going to be a one-sided affair.
Lethal strikes me as the type of guy who can win an ROH title, but probably won’t win an AEW championship. There will probably always be bigger fish to fry and he’s there to fill in the gaps, work with the younger talent and be a presence, but not be the guy at any given moment.
Wardlow, in comparison, is someone who could put the company on his shoulders. This midcard title reign is another step toward that future. He’s not losing it for quite some time, and only to someone more worthwhile—and, likely, with some sort of cheating involved.
AEW QUAKE BY THE LAKE
AEW TBS Championship Match: Jade Cargill’s Open Challenge
I’m intrigued. Is this just going to be something as simple as Athena answering the call, or will someone else surprise us?
Athena does actually stand some chance at winning the title, in my mind. It isn’t something worth betting the house on, but there’s potential. She’s an established name who I could imagine Khan being fond of enough to justify giving a title run to.
Granted, I still think Cargill is in Wardlow territory wherein she’s a world champion in the waiting and won’t drop the belt for quite some time. Plus, we don’t even know who the challenger is. It could very well be The Bunny getting her ass kicked and that’s that.
Mercedes Martinez could do a champion versus champion deal. She’d lose, but it would be interesting to see. Hikaru Shida could try her hand at the title, most likely unsuccessfully.
Or, it could be someone who hasn’t yet wrestled for AEW. Maybe Madison Rayne even jumps right into the mix. Persia Pirotta from NXT could pop up, as she’s likely a free agent now. We know it won’t be Dakota Kai, that’s for sure.
Outside of Athena, the only person I can picture having any shot at all would be an outsider like Candice LeRae, but even then, I think I’m going to be backing Cargill retaining in nearly all scenarios until someone really stands out to me as an “uh oh” challenger.
Coffin Match: Darby Allin vs. Brody King
This should be a lot of fun. Darby Allin will get tossed around like a ragdoll. Brody King will look like an absolute beast in probably the most dominant performance (minus squash matches) that we’ve seen from him yet.
Ultimately, though, I think Allin is getting the upset. So far, this feud has revolved around King making a name for himself at Allin’s expense. Proper storytelling usually dictates this would be where the babyface who is wrestling in his signature gimmick match gets the win to offset all those beatings.
Lucha Brothers vs. Andrade El Idolo and Rush
Talk about a match that will be fun. This is a show-stealer in the works. Given enough time, it could be one of those multi-segment matches that fans chant “fight forever” about.
I don’t feel strongly one way or another about my prediction. My gut tells me Andrade and Rush SHOULD win, but I don’t know if that necessarily translates to WILL win. We are talking about The Lucha Bros, after all. They’re former tag team champions and have a reputation that precedes them.
Since I can imagine this being a feud we see more than one match from, I think I’ll still go with the heels winning. I think fans will be happy either way, though.
AEW Interim World Championship Match: Jon Moxley (c) vs. Chris Jericho
Absolutely no way is Chris Jericho winning this title. In fact, no one should dethrone Jon Moxley until we get to the proper match with CM Punk to determine the true champion.
Anything less than that would be a flunky way of doing things. Having an interim champion lose the title to another interim champion muddies the water and overcomplicates things. If that were the case, why not just make Jericho the champion at Forbidden Door?
Unless Moxley is injured and forced to relinquish the title, I see no reason why he should let it go—least of all to another former champion, another former WWE guy (since that’s a criticism some fans have had of this title already) and someone who Moxley already beat for the real belt the first time around.
This makes sense for a filler feud. It isn’t the next direction for the title.
What are your predictions for these two shows? Keep the discussion going by dropping a comment below with your thoughts! And stay tuned to coverage of these shows here at eWrestlingNews!
