Canton’s Corner: Predictions For AEW’s Huge Dynamite & Rampage Shows This Week

Welcome back to Canton’s Corner as I sit here a few hours before the AEW Dynamite Grand Slam show live from Artur Ashe Stadium. It’s the AEW debut in New York City although it’s in Queen’s. The expected attendance is supposed to be just over 20,000 people inside the famed stadium that usually hosts US Open tennis. I’m pretty excited about and I credit AEW for building this up in a big way with some incredible matches. It certainly feels like a pay-per-view event taking place tonight and concluding on Friday.

Dynamite will be live tonight from 8pm ET to 10pm ET on TNT in the US, TSN here in Canada and wherever you usually watch AEW. Rampage will be taped tonight and air on Friday night for a special two hour episode started at 10pm ET on TNT in the US. I’m excited to watch and review both.

What I’m here to do now is rundown the advertised card with my predictions for all of the matches. Let’s begin with AEW Dynamite Grand Slam in NYC tonight:

AEW DYNAMITE – SEPTEMBER 22

Kenny Omega vs. Bryan Danielson

It is not for Omega’s AEW World Title. It is Danielson’s first AEW match.

I think it’s fair to assume that this is the main event. They could go with something else, but this should be on last. If it is, they better leave them at least 15-20 minutes to have a great match because these are two of the best wrestlers alive and they will need that kind of time. If it’s only ten minutes I’ll be disappointed. As for the result, there’s a part of me that thinks that AEW isn’t going to bring in Danielson and have him lose his first match, so I’m probably picking Danielson to win. However, I think they could certainly shock people by having Omega win. By having Danielson win, it could set up a rematch at the Full Gear PPV on November 13, but Danielson may not have enough wins to earn a title shot. I still think “Hangman” Adam Page should be the guy to beat Omega. Anyway, for this match I’ll go with Danielson ending the show on a happy note. I just think a win for Omega could happen to shock the audience too. My Pick: Bryan Danielson wins.

Cody Rhodes vs. Malakai Black

In terms of storyline and build, this might be the match that has set things up the best due to Black beating Cody Rhodes and sending him out of AEW for several weeks (so Cody can tape a show I won’t watch). When Cody came back last week, he got into a huge brawl with Black that the fans were into. Does Cody get his revenge by giving Black his first loss? I say no. I think Black should continue to dominate in AEW, remain undefeated and move on to another opponent whether that’s CM Punk, Daniel Bryan or somebody else. I can see this being a competitive match, but in the end, Black should hit that spin kick for the win. My Pick: Aleister Black wins.

FTR (Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler) vs. Sting & Darby Allin

This was set up on last week’s Dynamite, so at least they tried to do a story to get to the match. Sting hasn’t lost a match in his AEW career thus far and I don’t see him losing this match either. The way they got to this point was FTR beating up the faces, so the faces should and will get the revenge here. I think FTR will probably isolate Allin for most of the match, then Sting can get the hot tag and go from there. I think if this went about ten minutes that would probably be fine for a match like this. My Pick: Sting & Darby Allin win.

AEW Women’s Championship: Britt Baker (c) vs. Ruby Soho

If you read my AEW Rampage review from last week then you know I LOVED their promo segment last week. Prior to that, I wasn’t sure why I should care about this match happening, but then they killed it with that promo and it made me care a lot more. Wrestling is about caring, my friends. If you make us care, we will love it, get excited and enjoy it. Britt’s a tremendous champion that has had the title for a few months now. She could lose it here because Ruby is on fire and has a lot of momentum and I think people would be fine with that. However, I think there’s going to be a long term story with Britt defending the title against Thunder Rosa with Rosa as the woman that takes the title. That’s just my hunch. I think they’ll do a great job here. I’m looking forward to it. My Pick: Britt Baker wins.

MJF vs. Brian Pillman Jr.

This match has been building for a few weeks now after MJF took some personal shots at Pillman when they were in Cincinnati. It’s the biggest match of Pillman’s career so far. Since Pillman is a tag team wrestler in the Varsity Blonds with Griff Garrison, I don’t expect him to win. However, I think it will be an even matchup. MJF winning by Salt of the Earth armbar makes sense since Chris Jericho beat him at All Out, so MJF needs a big win. My Pick: MJF wins.

CM Punk interview

There’s not much to preview here, but it’s smart to have Punk talk in front of a big crowd. Punk is against Powerhouse Hobbs on Rampage, so look for Punk to be interrupted by Taz and Team Taz leading to an entertaining verbal exchange.

AEW RAMPAGE – FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 24

AEW Rampage Grand Slam in NYC on Friday, September 24 for a special two-hour episode that has four tag team matches. That’s a lot of tag team wrestling, but it gets more people on the show.

Powerhouse Hobbs vs. CM Punk

This is Punk’s first TV match in seven years and his second match in AEW after he beat Darby Allin at All Out. It’s the biggest match of Hobbs’ career so far. The thought of Punk losing hasn’t crossed my mind at all because it makes sense for him to rack up the wins while remaining undefeated in AEW. A win for Hobbs could be huge for him. I just feel like it will be Punk’s time to shine. Hobbs will control most of it, Punk makes the big comeback and picks up the win after about 10-15 minutes. My Pick: CM Punk wins.

Adam Cole & Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson) vs. Christian Cage & Jurassic Express (Luchasaurus & Jungle Boy)

This should be an excellent match. Lots of great talent in the ring here and it is Cole’s second match in AEW. Since it’s a Young Bucks match, you know they’ll get plenty of time. I see it as being a pretty chaotic match with the referee losing control for several because, once again, that’s something we are used to when watching Young Bucks matches. Anyway, I feel like they are going to do Cole vs. Jungle Boy in a singles match soon, so it would make sense for Cole to get the win here, maybe by pinning Jungle Boy after some cheap tactic. They can set up a singles match after that. My Pick: Adam Cole & Young Bucks win.

Lights Out Match: Eddie Kingston & Jon Moxley vs. Minoru Suzuki & Lance Archer

Here’s the wild, crazy and potentially bloodiest match of the two AEW Grand Slam shows. A Lights Out Match gives them the permission to do whatever the hell they want. I expect at least two guys to bleed, maybe three, and the first sign of blood will probably come within two minutes. There’s no telling how far these guys are going to go in terms of creating a big moment. I can see there some big table spot or some other big stunt that gets a huge reaction from the crowd. Suzuki & Archer winning would be huge for them, I think Moxley & Kingston picking up the victory makes the most sense. My Pick: Jon Moxley & Eddie Kingston win.

Lucha Brothers, Santana & Ortiz vs. Private Party, The Butcher & The Blade

This one should be fun too, but the heel side is weak. The heels are part of the Matt Hardy Family Office group that loses more than they win. Santana & Ortiz are New Yorkers, so I think this match will take place in order to put them over for a big babyface win. Santana & Ortiz using that momentum to challenge Lucha Brothers for the AEW Tag Team Titles down the road makes a lot of sense too. My Pick:Lucha Brothers, Santana & Ortiz win.

Men of the Year – Ethan Page & Scorpio Sky vs. The Inner Circle – Chris Jericho & Jake Hager

I hope the heels go over here. I think after Ethan Page & Scorpio Sky lost to Sting & Darby Allin, they lost momentum. When Page lost to Allin in singles as well, that also hurt. It should be a win for the heels with Dan Lambert and his MMA friends possibly getting involved to cost Jericho/Hager the match. Cheap heel wins are fun like that. I’m sure this will be a thrill for Jericho seeing as how his dad played for the NY Rangers and Chris was actually born in New York although he grew up in Canada. Since Hager rarely has matches in AEW, maybe he can take the pin here. My Pick: Men of the Year – Ethan Page & Scorpio Sky win.

Anna Jay vs. Penelope Ford

One of the biggest problems with AEW is the lack of attention on the women’s division. I know Tony Khan doesn’t seem to see it as a fault, but they are advertising 11 matches on Dynamite and Rampage combined. There are only two women’s matches. If you want fans to criticize AEW less in terms of the women’s division then use your women wrestling talent more. There are plenty of women in AEW. Some of them are doing nothing. It can change if the creative team put more effort into creating stories for them. With that said, I think Anna and Penelope are both easy on the eyes while improving a lot in the ring since AEW started. Kudos to them for working hard. I’ll go with Anna Jay winning since the heels got the upper hand last week. My Pick: Anna Jay wins.

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That’s where I’ll wrap it up. I will be back tonight with a live AEW Dynamite review on TJRWrestling, so please check that out later this evening during the show or after it’s over.

Thank you for reading!