28th January 2025
At this point, Cagematch and the AEW website only have 3 matches up for the Dynamite/Collision double event in Huntsville on Wednesday, January 28. There will almost certainly be more matches added to the card at the last minute, but let's look at the ones we already know about.
Jarrett has been saying all month that he's going to make a last attempt to win a title before considering retirement, and while Castagnoli doesn't hold a singles title and hasn't for a while, defeating him would definitely show that Jarrett means business.
Castagnoli is more than ten years younger and has obvious height, weight and reach advantages over Jarrett. He's also beaten far more and more diverse opponents than Jarrett in the past year.
The only people to defeat Jarrett in a singles match in the same timeframe were Adam Page and Bryan Danielson, but that says less about his wins and more that he's only had six recent singles matches.
Regardless of Jarrett's long and successful career, I don't think he's shown that, at his age, he can oversome someone of Claudio Castagnoli's abilities and stature.
Prediction: Claudio Castagnoli
This one seems pretty straightformard. While Brian Cage looks great, he not only wasn't able to defeat Kenny Omega two weeks ago, but also came out worse for wear in an unsanctioned brawl with Omega and Ospreay despite the Don Callis Family outnumbering them two to one.
Cage's record on Ring of Honour is certainly impressive, even being the Television Title holder until very recently, but Ospreay has been on a tear, and defeating opponents as strong as and as big as or bigger than Cage.
Prediction: Will Ospreay
Yuka Sakazaki is having a great run right now, only losing one match in the past year, and that to Mariah May. Mercedes Moné, on the other hand, is undefeated in that same time, having defended her titles against some of the best in the world.
Much as I wish Sakazaki all the best, I feel that she needs more than magical girl power to dethrone the CEO.
Prediction: Mercedes Moné