9 Predictions For Chris Jericho's AEW Mystery Partners
F*ck The Revival.
AEW got the buzz back last night.
Following the mixed reception to Fight For The Fallen, a few too many PR misfires, and the strange decision to promote Cody Vs. mainstream unknown Sammy Guevara as the leading announcement for the ambitious TV debut, Twitter caught fire with the announcement of the presumed main event:
Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks Vs. Chris Jericho and two mystery opponents.
Wrestling fans bloody love a good mystery, don't they, until they realise that, more often than not, Savio Vega is likelier to walk down the ramp than Ricky Steamboat. And immediately, the inevitable happened: conditioned through constant teasing, edging, on Being The Elite, several fans posted GIFs of the Revival underneath the announcement. This isn't possible; the contractual status of Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder (extended, too, through injury) prohibits it. And it's not as if Vince McMahon, bang up for a bit of the competition he apparently thrives on, is going to grant their release.
Top guys: out.
Chris Jericho, on Instagram, effectively announced two new acts - "And trust me...you’re not gonna believe who I’m planning on bringing in!" - ruling out the deflating possibility of the familiar...
9. CazXL & NZo
Or Big Cass and Enzo Amore, as the controversial duo were known in WWE.
You may not know them as CazXL and nZo, because, despite ostensibly reforming, the tag team haven't actually reformed. CazXL is quietly toiling away on the Independent circuit, but nZo, you imagine, is waiting for a bigger payday consistent with his delusion. The two men have appeared together this year, as part of a wild but ultimately retconned angle at the NJPW/ROH G1 Supercard in Madison Square Garden.
For your writer's money, it was actually a great, audacious, and layered angle: CazXL and nZo were true outsiders, perceived as unprofessional and poor workers invading a company built on workrate and indeed "honour". nZo's hilariously pathetic Survivor Series '18 hijack lent it a certain precedent, too, adding much to the shoot element.
Consensus was significantly less enthused; the furious rejection was so strong that the team never did debut, and now, any buzz or intrigue has dissipated entirely.
The arrival of the team could lead to a very intriguing, very online match between nZo and Joey Janela, stemming from their spat at a Blink 182 concert - but that feels more like the preserve of the postmodern Game Changer Wrestling, and not an aspirational mainstream entity.
Likelihood: 5%