As we noted in last month’s feature for AEW WrestleDream, the concept of Mark Briscoe vs. Kyle Fletcher sounds good on paper as both performers are exciting to watch for different reasons. The space surrounding that line on that paper, however, is filled with troublesome possibilities that I simply can’t overlook.

One month after Fletcher successfully defended his TNT Championship against Briscoe at WrestleDream, he will raise it up once more in a no disqualification match at AEW Full Gear, with the added stipulation that if Briscoe loses, he will join The Don Callis Family. The thought of that alone is enough to make me shudder.

Upon current count, the Don Callis Family has 11 active members, including Don Callis himself. Even excluding the injured Brian Cage and Wardlow as well as the legally sidelined Andrade El Idolo, a faction of 11 is still overwhelming, and frankly, hard to keep track of as a viewer sometimes. So why would I want to see Mark Briscoe, one of AEW’s most free-spirited and electric performers, confined to a group that must fight for individual air-time? It’s that same free-spirit nature that would also be dulled if surrounded by heelish and more serious faction members such as Callis, Fletcher, Josh Alexander, and Lance Archer. For those reasons, I don’t want Briscoe to lose. 

At the same time, I don’t want Fletcher to lose either. Fletcher has repeatedly been labeled as a future AEW World Champion. Right now, it seems too soon for Fletcher to pursue the AEW World Championship again, given that he just lost to reigning champion “Hangman” Adam Page in September. With that in mind, it would be wise for AEW to set Fletcher up on a long, dominant run as TNT Champion with the end goal of eventually — emphasis on eventually – elevating him to the main event scene on a more permanent basis.

Should Fletcher fall short to Briscoe (whom again, he already defeated) at Full Gear, his momentum in AEW will likely be halted, and even worse, lose the faith of the viewers. Even as a heel, many of us are lowkey rooting for Fletcher simply because he’s that good, and when given the opportunity to set himself apart from Will Ospreay, has truly shined as “The ProtoStar.” So why put his reign as TNT Champion to an end at only four months?

Needless to say, this match appears to be a lose-lose-lose situation for Fletcher, Briscoe, and the fans, so much so that I’m now wondering if a no-contest outcome is possible under no disqualification rules.

Written by Ella Jay