Champions Most Likely to Lose at WWE Payback and AEW All Out 2023
September 1, 2023
With plenty of drama inside the ring and behind the scenes in the wrestling industry over the last several weeks, fans have turned their attention to WWE Payback and AEW All Out.
Several big-name Superstars in both companies have held a championship for a long time, and a change in direction could be for the best. As the fall television schedule becomes packed with football and primetime shows, it is more important than ever to keep wrestling fans invested in the product.
And what better way to get people excited than by booking title changes? Here are the performers most likely to lose their championship this weekend.
MJF
Despite the storyline indicating it was time for Adam Cole to win, Tony Khan and his creative team found a way to make MJF and his challenger look strong and continue their friendship.
The unlikely partnership will be short-lived, though, as Cole should turn heel on the AEW world champion after he costs the duo the ROH World Tag Team Championship against The Dark Order on Sunday.
MJF has been gaining traction as a face, receiving positive reactions from the fans for his work as the good guy who still talks trash on everyone. One way to ensure the face turn works is to have Cole and his friends leave the champion a bloody mess in the middle of the ring.
In addition to successfully completing the double turn, AEW would build to an eventual rematch, likely coming after Cole uses heel tactics and help from his friends to win the Grand Slam World title eliminator tournament.
As fun as the run of Better Than You Bay Bay has been, just like Y2AJ, a short run as a tag team is all it takes to make an unforgettable blood feud.
Rey Mysterio
United States champion Rey Mysterio is one of the greatest luchadors ever to live, but his run with the United States Championship will be viewed as nothing more than a tool to further storylines at Payback.
Austin Theory is one of the brightest young stars in the business today, and he deserves a marquee storyline and proper character development. In a company that struggles in those two areas, holding a championship is the next best thing, and he should win the belt back from the popular face immediately.
The ultimate x-factor in this match is Santos Escobar, the leader of the Latino World Order. With WWE booking underlying tension between the two men, Escobar should interfere on Saturday and cost Mysterio the victory and the belt.
Not only would Theory be able to slink away as the heel champion who took advantage of the interference, but WWE would also set up a marquee storyline between Mysterio and Escobar, possibly for control of the LWO.
Orange Cassidy
When discussing the term workhorse in wrestling, names like Seth Rollins and Jon Moxley are the first to come to mind, but Orange Cassidy needs to be in that discussion after becoming a stalwart of weekly AEW programming.
On a week-to-week basis, few performers are positioned in such marquee spots and forced to put on show-stealing performances while defending a newer championship as often as Orange Cassidy.
While there is no question that OC has carried the AEW International Championship with honor and prestige—bringing legitimacy to a belt that meant nothing—the story is that he is physically breaking down and could be ripe for the picking.
With an eminent threat approaching in Moxley, someone who thrives on weakness and will smell blood in the water, Orange Cassidy should put up a good fight and another excellent performance, but he should lose the belt to the bigger name on one of the biggest stages.
Some may feel that Moxley is above a secondary championship, but it's as much about who OC loses the belt to as much as who carries it moving forward. After helping to carry the company for several months, Cassidy deserves to lose the title in a big-time match against one of the best in the world.
If OC must lose, it better be amazing.
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