This Sunday, AllElite Wrestling presents the second-ever Dynasty pay-per-view, live from the Liacouras Center in Philadelphia,Pennsylvania! Major wrestling events often include matches contested without any material stakes, but that won't be the case this weekend; as of this writing, seven of the 10 currently announced Dynasty matches are for championships, and the other three are all quarterfinals matches in the men's and women's Owen HartCup Tournaments and that's without even mentioning that Bandido's mask is on the line!
It's a high-stakes show, and that makes the prospect of predictions especially dangerous! As always, however, the Wrestling Inc. staff are here to make our picks though we sadly only have nine matches on offer, as Mark Briscoe vs. Kyle Fletcher was added to the Dynasty card after the votes had already been tallied. But there are still so many questions: Who will finally come out on top between DanielGarcia and Adam Cole? Can ToniStorm conquer the monstrous Megan Bayne? And most importantly, willSwerve Strickland repeat his accomplishment from last year's Dynasty and win the AEW WorldChampionship,freeing the company from the tyrannical grip of Jon Moxley and the Death Riders?
It's a lot of questions, and we've got a lot of answers. Let's get to the picks!
Will Ospreay was one of the first stars to declare himself for the 2025 Owen Hart Foundation tournament, which we found out kicks off on Sunday at Dynasty, and we fully believe he'll be the first man moving on in the tournament. A full 100% of us here at WINC believe Ospreay is defeating AEW newcomer Kevin Knight at the pay-per-view and will move on to face the winner of Brody King and Konosuke Takeshita at a later date.
After defeating former friend Kyle Fletcher in a vicious steel cage match at AEW Revolution, Ospreay declared that he was gunning for the AEW World Championship and said he wants his match in the main event at All In Texas in July.Knight only just made his AEW debut on last Saturday's "AEW Collision" when he was defeated by Jay White. It was announced on Wednesday, however, that White is out of the tournament, due to what was later reported as a real injury, and Knight would take his place. When the bracket was revealed on "Dynamite," fans found out Knight would be taking on Ospreay, who he had just teamed with on the show to defeat Blake Christian and Lee Johnson.
If we didn't already think Ospreay was heading toward the AEW World Championship, or at least the finals of the tournament at Double or Nothing next month, it was solidified on Wednesday. Knight is an excellent talent that AEW is lucky to have, but we don't think he's beating Ospreay when he's on a mission for gold. We do, however, think he's an excellent replace for White, and their match on Sunday should be a banger where Knight only continues to impress, dispute our predicted loss for the talent.
Written byDaisyRuth
This weekend will see a first time clash between the former and the currently reigning TBS Champion, Julia Hart and Mercedes Mone, in the opening round of the 2025 Owen Hart Women's Tournament. For Hart it is a return to the tournament format, having lost in the opening round of the 2022 tournament, while Mone will be making her tournament debut with the goal of earning herself a shot at the Women's World Championship at All In Texas. Without trying to look too far ahead, Mone and Hart have been drawn on the same side of the bracket as Athena and Harley Cameron, seemingly taking a step closer to "Four Belts" Mone and "Forever" ROH Women's World Champion happening. And that might have proved one of the deciding factors as the poll put to the Wrestling Inc. teams reflects that 93% believe Mone will be advancing on Sunday.
Even before the brackets were announced it appeared as though Athena versus Mone was on the way, with Mone briefly feuding with Billie Starkz with her TBS Championship on the line and specifically disparaging "whoever" it was that had trained her. It's also hard to ignore that Mone currently holds not only the TBS title but also the RevPro Undisputed British Women's Championship unified with the Southside Women's Championship since 2023 and NJPW Strong Openweight Championship, and hasn't lost a singles match since joining AEW. Hart, on the other hand, returned in January after dropping the TBS title at Dynasty last year, and has yet to establish herself any consistent form; she is 4-2 since returning with losses against Jamie Hayter and Queen Aminata.
Written by Max Everett
Claudio Castagnoli, PAC, and Wheeler Yuta have held the AEW World Trios Championship for well over 200 days and have defended the title just seven times. Though they'll have some formidable opponents in the form of Adam Copeland and FTR, some heavily broadcasted drama among the babyface team has led to the Death Riders becoming overwhelming favorites to retain.
Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler of FTR have seemingly been at odds in recent weeks as Harwood's onscreen frustration has mounted. This has resulted in Harwood getting physical with both Copeland and Wheeler, and Wednesday's "AEW Dynamite" featured an interview with FTR during which Wheeler said the two would have to have a talk following their Dynasty match.
It may be possible that there are plans to break FTR up, but it's difficult to see where the two would fit on their own. What feels much more likely is that Harwood and Wheeler will both turn on Copeland, and a loss to the Death Riders could be the catalyst for such a betrayal. The company could delay this inevitability by having the trio win instead, but most of our team believe the Death Riders' title run will continue, much to our despair.
Written by Nick Miller
Initially, Bobby Lashley and Shelton Benjamin seemed on track to defend the AEW World Tag Team Championships against the Murder Machines, Brian Cage and Lance Archer. Due to a knee injury sustained by Cage, though, AEW reportedly pivoted its creative plans, with The Learning Tree's Big Bill and Bryan Keith now vying for the titles at AEW Dynasty instead.
Given that Bill and Keith appear to be replacement opponents, Wrestling Inc. staff aren't confident in their chances of dethroning the powerful forces that are Lashley and Benjamin. In fact, 100% of us believe that The Hurt Syndicate will retain their tag titles on Sunday.
Another factor we've considered in this AEW Tag Team Championship match is former AEW World Champion Maxwell Jacob Friedman. Recently, MJF accepted an offer from MVP to join forces with him and The Hurt Syndicate. Lashley, however, has expressed disapproval toward that idea, as he doesn't trust or like MJF. Still, MJF asserts that he can help Lashley and Benjamin keep possession of their tag titles, with the expectation that they will help him regain the AEW World Championship in return.
With Lashley in doubt of MJF's potential loyalty, we believe MJF will go the extra mile to win him over and ensure that The Hurt Syndicate walk out of Dynasty as winners too. After all, MJF is no stranger to doing whatever it takes, even if it means cheating. And given his increased frustration in being out of the AEW World Championship picture, he likely foresees a unified Hurt Syndicate being his best route to get back into it.
Written by Ella Jay
While it's not officially booked for the show, Chris Jericho has laid out a challenge for Bandido. Jericho's ROH Title will be on the line against Bandido's mask, and an overwhelming majority of the Wrestling Inc. Staff are calling Jericho's bluff.
AEW is not the kind of disrespectful organization like WCW, unmasking luchadors for a cheap pop and a rating. The company seems to thoroughly respect Lucha Libre, which leads me to believe that Bandido, despite not being contracted to any lucha libre promotion, will likely be losing his mask on his own terms, much like the lucha legends who came before him. This just doesn't feel like the kind of promotion that would unmask Bandido on a PPV undercard in April.
Beyond that, Chris Jericho as ROH Champion is a tired, worn-out idea. It was tiresome the first time and the second time has been so uninspired that it has left myself and many at work bored to tears. It is time for an ROH Champion who actually makes the brand look good, instead of like a reanimated corpse of a promotion like WWE's version ECW. Bandido is the man for the job because, at this point, I will literally take anyone beating Jericho. They could have Billie Starkz win the title from him tomorrow and I would say "Finally," but Bandido would probably be a more competitive choice.
Written byRoss Berman
After their two recent matches yielded inconclusive results, Adam Cole pushed for a third, more definitive one against TNT Champion Daniel Garcia. According to Garcia, he didn't need to wrestle Cole again, having already retained his title against him, Still, he wanted to, with the added stipulations of no outside interference and no time limit at AEW Dynasty. Unfortunately for Garcia, this decision may come back to haunt him as the majority of Wrestling Inc. staff 71% to be exact believe the "Bay Bay" will walk out as the new champion.
When Garcia won the TNT Championship at Full Gear, many of us felt it was a celebration of his hard work and recent decision to re-sign with AEW in spite of reported interest from WWE. Since then, Garcia's appearances on AEW's flagship program of "AEW Dynamite" have glaringly lessened, with most of them tied to the Death Riders storyline, rather than his TNT Championship. On the other hand, Garcia has become a regular fixture on "AEW Collision," which has showcased his successful title defenses over Lee Moriarty, Kyle O'Reilly, and Katsuyori Shibata. Respectfully, though, they are no Adam Cole, whom AEW CEO Tony Khan previously cited as the biggest competition against All Elite Wrestling during the famous Wednesday Night Wars with "WWE NXT."
Under the WWE banner, Cole dominated television screens as the NXT Champion. In AEW/ROH, he once carried the ROH World Tag Team Championships alongside MJF. As such, it seems fitting for Cole to capture singles gold in AEW next.
Although it isn't the company's top prize (the AEW World Championship), the TNT Championship would effectively make him the face of "Collision," which could potentially boost the show's viewership, much like he did in "NXT." And we all know how much fans love ratings, right?
Written by Ella Jay
Another match that all of us here at WINC agree on is the AEW International Championship triple threat pitting champion Kenny Omega against Ricochet and "Speedball" Mike Bailey. All of us, a full 100%, think that Omega is holding on to the gold, likely to unify the title with the Continental Championship held by Kazuchika Okada at AEW All In Texas. Omega also just won his first championship back after over a year on the shelf due to diverticulitis at Revolution, so we really don't think he's dropping it anytime soon, no matter how good his opponents may be.
Omega was initially only to have one opponent at Dynasty, but during a fatal four-way match involved Ricochet, Bailey, Mark Davis, and Orange Cassidy, Ricochet and Bailey simultaneously pinned Davis and it was announced that both men would go on to Dynasty to challenge Omega in triple threat action. In the weeks since the contenders were determined, Bailey confronted Omega on "AEW Dynamite" and told him despite the massive amount of respect he has for him, he planned on taking his head off at Dynasty. Ricochet hasn't been seen on AEW programming since the double-pin, due to time off for his wedding, but he has been throwing shots on social media and said he thought Bailey has "a great face for slapping."
Despite Ricochet's new, stronger heel gimmick and Bailey being one of the newest, most highly anticipated members of the AEW roster, we just don't think they're going to topple Omega. This could potentially be one of the best matches on the Dynasty card due to the talent involved, but we fully believe the gold is staying around "The Cleaner's" waist ahead of All In.
Written by DaisyRuth
After finally giving her story with Mariah May the dramatic closing act that it rightfully deserved, "Timeless" Toni Storm wanted new challengers to step up and attempt to wrestle her AEW Women's World Championship from around her waist. Almost immediately, she was confronted by the newest member of the AEW women's division, "The Megasus" Megan Bayne, who has made it abundantly clear that she is here to rule the locker room with an iron fist.
If you had asked some of the Wrestling Inc. staff a few weeks ago what the result of this match would be, the percentage would be a lot different as it looked as if Bayne was poised to get the type of push that WWE gave Brock Lesnar in 2002, something many of us saw as a legitimate possibility. After all, Storm's story with May was so mentally and physically taxing that it was very easy to believe that the champion simply wouldn't be prepared for a monster like Bayne, making a title change seem very plausible. However, a few things have changed since then.
For starters, Bayne picked up a pinfall victory over Storm in a tag team match on the March 26 episode of "AEW Dynamite" which, if you've followed wrestling for a long period of time, is usually the tell-tale sign that a challenger is not going over when the title is on the line. What's more, Storm has been presented as a true main event star since Revolution and has gathered even more momentum than she had this time last year when she was the champion, something that AEW probably doesn't want to tinker with when everything's going so well.
Finally, with the Owen Hart Foundation Tournament right around the corner, which will determine who challenges for the AEW Women's World Championship at All In Texas, it simply feels a bit too early to be taking the belt off of Storm when there's so many possible avenues she can go down in the weeks and months to come. Most of us see Storm retaining, but since we aren't at 100% in agreement here at Wrestling Inc., some of us still believe "The Megasus" can shock the world.
Written bySam Palmer
One year on from capturing his first AEW World Championship from Samoa Joe, Swerve Strickland will be returning to Dynasty for another attempt at the title now held by Jon Moxley. Flanked by the Death Riders Moxley has reigned as World Champion since WrestleDream 2024, decimating Bryan Danielson in what has been his last professional wrestling bout perhaps ever and all those who have made attempts to wrest the title away from him since: Orange Cassidy, Jay White, Powerhouse Hobbs, "Hangman" Adam Page, Christian Cage, and Cope. The prevailing belief among the Wrestling Inc. team going into this weekend is that Strickland will fall just as those before him, with Moxley taking 64% of the poll put to the staff.
But it is also worth noting that despite a sizable majority, this has been the first time in Moxley's reign that less than 70% have foreseen a retention; he was 100% favorite to win at Full Gear 2024, 94% at Worlds End 2024, and 71% for Revolution 2025. That should speak to the belief behind Strickland to repeat history at Dynasty, as well as the long-standing idea that he and "Hangman" Page's storyline deserves a title match. But it cannot be ignored that while Moxley comes into the match seemingly infallible in singles competition with the help of his stable Strickland doesn't boast such a glistening record. He defeated Ricochet at Revolution to secure the title shot, but that in itself was to redeem a prior loss to the "One and Only," picking up TV wins in between but losing his previous two major bouts against Bobby Lashley at Full Gear and Page at All Out 2024.
Written by Max Everett
