By Don Murphy, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@DonThePredictor)
A huge weekend of wrestling is upon us with six major shows between Friday and Sunday. I’ll have you covered with previews of four of them, and we start with AEW All In Texas, taking place Saturday afternoon in Arlington, Texas, at Globe Life Field.
While AEW positions this show as its biggest of the year, we can get into the strong and not-so-strong points of each match. Whether you love the company or hate it, AEW is on an upward trajectory for the first time in a couple of years. They’ve figured out, for the most part, how to make the most of their presentation. And yes, detractors can point to capacity at Globe Life Field being over 40,000 and the show likely filling a little over half that. Maybe the company overshot, but over 25,000 people at a U.S.-based non-WWE show in 2025, when there are 20-plus hours of wrestling on television each week, shouldn’t be overlooked. What’s more, the number one wrestling company in the world is going out of its way to counterprogram against them. Face it, folks – whether the style is for you or not, AEW isn’t going anywhere, and the industry as a whole is better off for it. Soap box rant aside, let’s run down the card.
Jon Moxley vs. Hangman Page in a Texas Death Match for the AEW World Championship. A few weeks ago, I would have told you that the creative team was focusing too much on Will Ospreay rallying the babyfaces to help Page counter the Death Riders. I also would have told you that anyone who liked this approach but hated the way Cody Rhodes “finished his story” with tons of outside interference was a hypocrite. Over the last two weeks, my point of view has changed. They scaled back on the babyfaces and focused more on Page’s journey and Moxley’s mission. Once that was established, they went back to exploring the relationship between Page, Ospreay, and Swerve Strickland, including a sensational segment on last night’s Collision (check out my review of the show for details). So, I think this will be all it is hyped up to be, with one of the AEW originals freeing the title from its captivity over the past year and giving the live crowd a big moment. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a Bryan Danielson cameo during the closing melee.
Don Predicts: Hangman Page wins the AEW World Championship.
Toni Storm vs. TBS Champion Mercedes Mone for the AEW Women’s Championship. Unlike the men’s title match, I feel like this feud never got out of first gear. I like Toni Storm, but there comes a time to drop the double entendres and sexual references to take a more serious approach. The history between the two was there – it just never materialized as much as it could have. That said, it’ll be a fine match, which unfortunately will likely be overshadowed by Mone winning yet another title and adding to the narrative of some fans that she has creative control and refuses to lose (even though Tony Khan outright denied it during his media call). It’ll be interesting to see where both wrestlers go next.
Don Predicts: Mercedes Mone wins the AEW Women’s Championship.
AEW International Champion Kenny Omega vs. AEW Continental Champion Kazuchika Okada for the new AEW Unified Championship. I am a huge fan of the Rocky series of films. There’s a scene in Rocky IV where Apollo Creed and Rocky are watching their second fight and Rocky tells Apollo, “That ain’t us up there no more – we can’t do this thing like we did it before.” That’s my concern here. I enjoyed their New Japan trilogy, and I am sure both will try their best (even Okada, who has been accused of phoning it in since joining AEW). But the fact remains that both are seven years older, and since then, Omega’s injuries have caught up. I also don’t think the addition of Don Callis to this match has made it more compelling, other than to likely protect the loser with outside interference. It looks like a future feud with Konosuke Takeshita and Okada will happen down the road, so I’m thinking the title is unified and kept within the Callis Family.
Don Predicts: Kazuchika Okada becomes the AEW Unified Champion.
Bobby Lashley and Shelton Benjamin vs. Kevin Knight and Mike Bailey vs. Nick Wayne and Christian Cage in a three-way for the AEW Tag Team Titles. I’m not a fan of three-way matches. I get why they’re doing it because while they were telling a good story with Knight and Bailey, few believe they have a shot to win the titles. Adding Cage and Wayne gives the match another dynamic as Cage is determined to win a title with his “son.” Ultimately, I think the champions will retain when Cage or Wayne are pinned off a miscue. This will further the eventual breakup of the Patriarchy while Knight and Bailey are saved for another opportunity down the road.
Don Predicts: Bobby Lashley and Shelton Benjamin retain the AEW Tag Team Titles.
Swerve Strickland and Will Ospreay vs. “The Young Bucks” Matthew Jackson and Nicholas Jackson for the Executive Vice President titles or Swerve and Ospreay can’t challenge for the AEW World Championship for one year. Despite the fact that this match features four of AEW’s top stars, I don’t think this is a good use of either team. For one thing, no one believes that the Jacksons will legitimately lose their power. You can take strip them of this on TV, but most fans are suspending disbelief there. With Swerve and Ospreay, there’s no way both will be taken out of the title picture. So while it’s a good match on paper, there’s very little in the way of suspense.
Don Predicts: Swerve Strickland and Will Ospreay defeat The Young Bucks.
Adam Cole vs. Kyle Fletcher for the TNT Championship. This will be the sleeper match of the night, and if my pick is right, we’ll have a new TNT Champion. Fletcher immediately boosts that title and the title boosts him. If Tony Khan were smart, I would make him the marquee champion on Collision and give him a long run, elevating himself and opponents along the way. Cole needs to be reprogrammed and taken away from his friends immediately. He still has more to give, but not like this.
Don Predicts: Kyle Fletcher wins the TNT Championship.
“The Opps” Samoa Joe, Powerhouse Hobbs, and Katsuyori Shibata vs. Gabe Kidd, Wheeler Yuta, and Claudio Castagnoli for the AEW Trios Titles. I’m not a big fan of the Trios Titles but I think we’ll see two stories play out as a result of this match. First, the Death Riders and Kidd will win and, when Moxley loses his title, this may be onus for the others to kick him out of the group to get him off TV for a while. Second, they teased a Hook heel turn during one of the last pay-per-views. I could see him reappearing and costing the Opps the titles.
Don Predicts: The Death Riders and Gabe Kidd win the AEW Trios Titles.
Men’s Casino Gauntlet match for a shot at the AEW World Championship (Entrants: Mark Briscoe, MJF, Mistico, Bandido, Brody King, Ricochet). These are tough to pick as we don’t know all of the entrants. I can’t think of any free agents that would make a big enough impact to be considered a big surprise. So, barring any surprises, I’m going to follow the story they’ve been telling with MJF and Hangman Page over the last couple of months as foreshadowing for a future title match. As an aside, the MJF/Briscoe altercation should be fun.
Don Predicts: MJF wins the Men’s Casino Gauntlet match.
Women’s Casino Gauntlet match for a shot at the AEW Women’s Championship (Entrants: Kris Statlander, Megan Bayne): This is even tougher to pick as we only know two entrants. I’m going to go out on a limb, again, barring a big free agent surprise, which I don’t see, assuming Mercedes Mone wins the AEW Women’s Title, I think they can still get something out of Mone and Athena. Athena is the best part about ROH, and while she’s already taken a loss to Mone, it wasn’t clean, so they could easily run it back.
Don Predicts: Athena wins the Women’s Casino Gauntlet match.
(Pre-Show) “FTR” Dak Harwood and Cash Wheeler vs. “The Outrunners” Truth Magnum and Turbo Floyd. FTR deserves better but at least they’re on the show. Eventually they’ll likely get their high-profile match with a reuniting Adam Copeland and Christian Cage. But for now, I’m happy, at the very least, that they’re giving a rub to The Outrunners on a big show. The Outrunners are campy, undercard fodder, but I’ve always been impressed with their ambition and passion in matches. Plus, the last match between the teams on Collision was very good and was received favorably.
Don Predicts: FTR defeats The Outrunners.
(Pre-Show) Big Boom AJ, Hologram, Kyle O’Reilly, and Tomohiro Ishii vs. Lance Archer, Hechicero, Trent Beretta, and Rocky Romero in an eight-man tag match. I am not a fan of AJ, but the guy knows how to market himself. Plus, he works 6-8 minutes and gets to hang out backstage for the rest of the show. You can’t beat that. This will be a crowd pleaser to open the pre-show. And truthfully, can you really call it an AEW show if Rocky Romero isn’t taking a pin?
Don Predicts: Big Boom AJ, Hologram, Kyle O’Reilly, and Tomohiro Ishii defeat Lance Archer, Hechicero, Trent Beretta, and Rocky Romero
The matches will be too long, there will be too many kickouts, no rules will be enforced, and the card will take 12 hours due to the oppressive heat and thunderstorms in the area.