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Updated Lineup and Predictions for AEW Fyter Fest Part 1 Tonight (July 1): Three Title Matches

By John Canton • Published 1st July 2020

It’s a big edition of AEW Dynamite this week. You could say it’s the biggest edition of Dynamite this year and definitely since the health crisis started in mid-March that changed things for all of us. They actually aren’t calling it Dynamite this week because they’re doing a Fyter Fest special this week and next week where all four AEW Titles will be on the line over the two weeks. Three of those title matches will take place tonight. Fyter Fest will air live tonight on TNT in the US and TSN here in Canada on Canada Day.

In addition to the matches announced, the great Chris Jericho will be on commentary. I know he’ll put over Canada Day tonight since he’s a fellow Canadian. Thanks in advance, Chris.

They have five main matches announced, so here they are with my quick predictions for each.

AEW TNT Championship: Cody (c) vs. Jake Hager

I feel like Cody is going to be a long term TNT Champion, so I don’t expect a title change here although I like Hager as a performer. I’m interested in the match quality because sometimes Hager can have slow and plodding matches, but I feel like Cody has the skills to bring out the best in him. Will Cody get busted open during the match? Probably. He likes to do that in his bigger matches. I’ll go with Cody winning after about 15 minutes.

AEW Tag Team Championships: Kenny Omega and “Hangman” Adam Page (c) vs. Best Friends (Chuck Taylor and Trent)

This will probably be the best match on the show and maybe one of the better AEW matches of the year. I also think it might be time for a title change. As much as I have enjoyed Omega and Page as champions, they are still two singles wrestlers that are teaming together rather than a full time tag team. The Best Friends are a regular tag team and they mentioned last week in a video package that they have never held tag team titles before. I think the AEW tag team division is one of the biggest strengths of the company. I’d like to see a title change here, which can lead to Omega and Page going off on their own as singles stars. I expect this to get around 20 minutes and I’m going with the title change with Best Friends as the new AEW Tag Team Champions.

AEW Women’s Championship: Hikaru Shida (c) vs. Penelope Ford

The build for this has been okay, but not great. Shida is an awesome wrestler that has impressed me during this first year of AEW shows. Ford has a great look to her, she’s improved a lot in the ring and I think she’ll be a champion at some point in the future. I just don’t think she’ll get the win here. Shida should retain here in what will be a competitive match, but I don’t know how good it will be. They will certainly get 10-15 minutes to try to impress us and I hope it’s fun to watch.

Jurassic Express (Luchasaurus and Jungle Boy) vs. Maxwell Jacob Friedman and Wardlow

This has been built up well with Jungle Boy and MJF having issues for a long time while Luchasaurus and Wardlow had an entertaining Lumberjack Match last week. What I like so much about MJF is he’s a true heel that doesn’t try to act cool or suck up the “smart” fans out there. He’s a jerk to everybody. It’s fun to watch. MJF also hasn’t a lost a match this year and his only AEW loss was in a multi-man match where he wasn’t beaten so you could say that he was undefeated…sort of. Anyway, I think Jungle Boy could really use a significant win on a bigger show like this, so I hope we get to see Jungle Boy pin MJF here. That can lead to another singles match between them and I really liked their last singles match, so I’m all for more matches between the two men in their early 20s. If Jungle Boy doesn’t win then that’s fine, but I think he needs it more than the heels do.

Santana and Ortiz vs. Private Party (Marq Quen and Isaiah Kassidy)

They are two talented, young teams in the tag team division that have a chance to show what they can do. Private Party has Matt Hardy with them as a mentor type manager, which is a smart idea that will give some credibility to the Private Party team that are two guys in their early 20s. I think it would be cool if Santana and Ortiz were elevated to the point where they are serious threats to be the AEW Tag Team Champions. There are a lot of teams out there, so it’s tough to climb the ladder and I have a feeling that the next champions (after Best Friends, who I predicted earlier) are probably going to be FTR or the Young Bucks. Anyway, for this match I’ll go with the heel team of Santan and Ortiz in a match that should be fast-paced and exciting.

Next Wednesday’s part two of Fyter Fest will be taped tomorrow and will air next Wednesday in the Dynamite time slot. Here’s the lineup for part two.

* AEW Championship: Jon Moxley (c) vs. Brian Cage

* Orange Cassidy vs. Chris Jericho

* The Butcher and The Blade & Lucha Brothers vs. Young Bucks & FTR

* Brodie Lee, Colt Cabana and Stu Grayson vs. SCU (Frankie Kazarian, Scorpio Sky and Christopher Daniels)

* Lance Archer vs. Joey Janela

* Nyla Rose in action. They did not name the opponent.

The AEW President Tony Khan, who is the main booker of the promotion, tweeted his excitement about the show last night.

I’ll be back later this evening or tomorrow morning with the review. It’s the Canada Day holiday here for me, so I don’t know if I’ll have time to write about it this evening.