Double Or Nothing 2021 Predictions

In this edition of The Wrestling Estate roundtable, we give our AEW Double Or Nothing 2021 predictions.

Which match are you most looking forward to?

Chad Gelfand: Miro vs. Lance Archer. Their promo a few weeks ago sold me on the match. I loved Miro’s intensity during it and he had some great one-liners. This match is sure to be brutal, too, with two athletic, big men who can work. This is my dark horse for match of the night.

Steven Jackson: It’s a toss-up between the TNT Title match and the Tag Team Title match. But as I love Eddie Kingston, the Tag Team Title match is the one I am most excited for!

John Corrigan: There’s no match that I find must-see, but I’ll be happy when Britt Baker finally wins the Women’s Championship. Sting wrestling without the cinematic treatment will be interesting, too.

Jack Goodwillie: It’s actually Stadium Stampede. It’s not often you see a feud begin with a blowoff gimmick match and for a good reason. But that’s exactly what the Inner Circle-Pinnacle feud did. The Stadium Stampede match drew mixed reviews last year for its comedy, so I’m curious to see how all the elements come together, as this match is the one chance to save this feud. Because AEW is smarter than to get just two matches out of 2021’s marquee stable vs. stable feud, he Inner Circle will get the job done.

Will Britt Baker finally become Women’s Champion?

Gelfand: Shida has had a great reign, helping raise the profile of the Women’s Championship over the course of the year. However, Britt Baker is ready for the championship and she’s been gaining momentum and building her character. Double or Nothing is the start of Britt Baker’s time at the top of AEW’s women’s division.

Jackson: Britt has to. 2021 has been Britt’s year and winning the AEW Women’s Championship from Hikaru Shida will be her defining moment.

Corrigan: Aw hell yeah!

Goodwillie: Yes. It’s past time for a change and the AEW women’s division has been the stalest part of AEW programming for almost two years running. Britt’s heel run has been a breath of fresh air, but it needs the title to really pay dividends. Shida is a good wrestler, but what more does she have to accomplish as the champ? Ideally, Britt Baker will get the W, and if AEW really believes in Shida as a foil to Britt, let her get the belt back in a couple weeks. But in order to create the illusion that anything can happen on your show, you need to mix in title changes from time to time as opposed to having them occur only when they’re completely expected.

Who will win the Casino Battle Royale?

Gelfand: Christian Cage. Cage and Kenny Omega already teased having a feud when Cage debuted on Dynamite. We’ll see that pay off with Cage winning the Battle Royale and challenging Omega at All Out.

Jackson: I really want it to be Penta El Zero Miedo as I so want him to be part of the singles title picture. But part of me is saying Christian Cage.

Corrigan: Brian Pillman Jr. Dark Side of the Ring positioned him as the most sympathetic babyface in the world and winning this gives AEW plenty of time to build him up as a credible challenger, while also keeping him aligned with the Varsity Blonds. Strike while the iron is hot!

Goodwillie: Christian Cage. It’s been kind of rough seeing Christian have such a highly heralded AEW debut, only to… just wrestle matches without any meaningful program to this point. It’s past time to get him one. The Omega match has already been teased, and the Casino Battle Royale is a great way to cheat the AEW rankings system and get a guy like Christian to where he needs to be.

What do you think of The Pinnacle-Inner Circle feud thus far?

Gelfand: I like it, but War Games and Stadium Stampede should have been reversed. War Games feels like it has a finality to it, so it will be interesting to see how Stadium Stampede, presented more seriously this year, brings closure to this feud.

Jackson: I’ve really been enjoying it. MJF has been leading The Pinnacle perfectly, making them the modern day Four Horsemen. Chris Jericho and the Inner Circle are the stable of AEW, so the fact that they are going into Stadium Stampede with it all on the line is really exciting. Blood and Guts was a taste of what is to come, and when you are saying that, you know you are in for something special!

Corrigan: It’s been a debacle since day one. MJF joining the Inner Circle accomplished nothing. He could have still built his army without singing showtunes with Jericho. Then, Inner Circle destroys the Pinnacle two weeks after they formed, neutering the supposedly top faction before it gained any steam. (A swirlie? C’mon now.) Everybody knows Blood & Guts was great until the finish, and I still can’t believe Sammy Guevara wasn’t attacked or even chastised by Jericho for surrendering. The beer truck tribute was corny and now we’re at Stadium Stampede, which will also be corny. At this point, I hope The Pinnacle wins because the Inner Circle has lost all credibility. It’s time for Sammy and Santana & Ortiz to shine on their own.

Goodwillie: Thumbs sideways. The promos have been good, and I like The Inner Circle as a face faction, but starting, and let me emphasize the word STARTING the feud in Blood and Guts… sort of defeats the purpose of Blood and Guts, doesn’t it? To the surprise of no one, the finish was lacking something fierce. Putting both teams through Blood and Guts only to have them compete again less than a month later really kills Blood and Guts for me. I would not say it set the business back 30 years. That is asinine. But for as long as the MJF-Inner Circle angle went on for, you’d think AEW would have handled the actual Pinnacle-Inner Circle feud with a little more care. Who are we kidding, though? This is still my most anticipated match of the night.

Who wins: Cody or Anthony Ogogo?

Gelfand: Ogogo. After Cody cut one of the worst promos of the year, and it seems like this delusional babyface shtick isn’t really an “act” or leading anywhere, Ogogo can definitely use the win. He’s one of AEW’s future stars to build around.

Jackson: Anthony Ogogo has to win. My British patriotism is coming out in this one.

Corrigan: Cody. Now before you get all worked up, we’ve seen this scenario before. When Sting came to WWE, he was the “vigilante” battling the corrupt Authority. But by the time of the match with Triple H, the storyline became WWE vs. WCW and we know how that needs to end. Similar situation here: This started with Ogogo being the prized pugilist of The Factory, led by Q.T. Marshall to destroy his former business partner. However, Cody turned this into USA vs. England, and we know how that needs to end.

Goodwillie: It’ll be probably Anthony Ogogogogogogogogogogogogogogogo. This feud has been really weird. Q.T. Marshall, or as I call him, “Mr. Monotone” and “The Man of One Facial Expression,” is an odd instigator to any feud, partially because watching him is equal to Ambien. The only difference is, you don’t need a prescription for Q.T., you can just watch him every Wednesday on TNT at 8/7 C at no additional cost. Because of this, he is a really tough sell as a credible heel, so the only way to get the Nightmare Family split program over is for him to use his minions in the big matches.

Enter Ogogo. He has a world of potential and is probably already better on the stick than Marshall, but I’m not a fan of the “gut punch” and we haven’t really seen enough of him in the ring to know what kind of performer he can be. We’ll get some answers on that this weekend, but chances are he is more Mark Henry than Kurt Angle. Don’t take that as a knock, though. It’s more a reality of being in the business for two years or less. That said, if he shows well against Cody, Ogogo will be the name on the tip of everybody’s tongues coming off this show.