When AEW returns to its second home, Chicago, Illinois, for Beach Break this week, plenty of unanswered questions will be answered ahead of Double or Nothing. Some questions you might learn before Wednesday night. For example, I’ve learned that we Brits have a very different definition of what a beach is! For those wrestling on Wednesday, this will hardly be a vacation. No tropical, relaxing getaway, this won’t be a vacation for those wrestlers on the card. For some, like Jon Moxley, if he lets his guard down for one second against Samoa Joe, inside that steel cage, it’s over.

The Hurt Syndicate has become one of the most consistent and entertaining groups since their debut. I’d argue that more than Death Riders, their interactions with other wrestlers have caused more positive change to AEW, in its turning of the creative corner. MJF’s attempts to join The Hurt Syndicate have drawn comparisons to Sami Zayn’s and The Bloodline. The comic and engaging progression from week to week has engaged and made many fans laugh. However, some fans, particularly women, have soured on MJF’s character. The fix for which I’ve discussed is easy and changes nothing about the characters or storyline. For weeks, MJF clashes with Bobby “Bob” Lashley, and attempts to bribe and win him over have failed.

On paper, in fantasy booking, in a vacuum, the prospect of this heavyweight, hard-hitting, and violent contest could be epic. These two MMA-inspired wrestlers could produce some (bloody) magic inside the cage. Samoa Joe’s TNA World Championship cage match against Kurt Angle is the stuff of legend. Joe, under pressure, delivers. Joe will kill and has presented himself as a viable threat. Yet in AEW history, a steel cage hasn’t always stopped interference or overbooking. Likewise, the current Death Riders arc is something some fans are apathetic to and others despise. Something I didn’t cover in that storyline analysis was Moxley’s in-ring form. Moxley’s matches have underdelivered. Progressively, the developments and changes in the Death Riders saga have seen glacial character progression and promise. The Opps’ victory over Death Riders at Spring BreakThru was a capital M moment. It was catharsis. It could be a turning point in the storyline if the match and finish deliver. Here’s hoping that neither man chokes.