Who will AEW choose and the Owen Hart Tournament Jokers?
The Owen Hart Foundation tournament is underway. The rumors have been flying all over the internet as to who the jokers in the tournament might be. We will soon find out on Wednesdays Dynamite. With AEW becoming the masters of anticipation, expect the unveiling of the jokers to be some of the biggest surprises in AEWs history thus far. Thus, we are going to predict who are going to be the jokers in the Owen Hart Foundation tournament.
Men’s Joker
On the men’s side of the tournament, the utmost important thing for the joker to portray is someone who can come in and can beat Samoa Joe. The joker has the tall task of trying to come in and take out a crowd favorite. While some hijinks might occur to help with the Ring of Honor angle, the perfect opponent for Joe at this moment can help boost the incoming star towards a big push towards the finals of the tournament. The following predicted jokers are some big names who might make their debut or re-debut at the Owen Hart tournament.
Jay White
A good guess and an already familiar name in the AEW sphere would be Jay White. With the Forbidden Door Pay-Per-View just around the corner, it would make a lot of sense to have White as the joker. They could start an angle that could create chaos within the Elite, as he must take on Elite and Bullet Club compatriot Adam Cole. White is also a big enough name and a believable enough wrestler to come in and defeat Joe, either cleanly or, more realistically, underhandedly, with the help of Jay Lethal, Sanjay Dutt, and Satnam Singh. White making a deep run in the Owen hart tournament could spark the fire that creates the Elite Civil war.
Kenny Omega
Speaking of the Elite, how wonderful would it be to hear Battle Cry blaring to a full house at Dynamite, welcoming back the Battle Machine himself, Kenny Omega. Out of all the scenarios, this is perhaps the least likely, as Omega is still recovering from multiple injuries. Specifically, a hernia injury that has been keeping him sidelined for a couple of months now. The idea of Omega’s return sounds much greater on paper than it does in actual practicality, but one can imagine. Plus, never rule anything out when it comes to Omega, dude is a freak athlete.
Johnny Gargano
Johnny Gargano’s name was clearly and loudly cheered for when AEW was in Cleveland after Gargano’s contract expired with WWE. Having Johnny Wrestling on the AEW roster would be another feather on the cap of Tony Khan, as he would grab another of the past NXT stalwarts. While an on-camera past exists between Joe and Gargano, they have never actually faced off in a ring against each other. This would be a great match between two great wrestlers. There is no reason to think this cant happen.
Claudio
Perhaps the most likely possibility for the joker would be Claudio. The former Cesaro is someone the AEW fan base has been clamoring to see in AEW since many wrestling fans believe that Claudio was not given the proper push in WWE. So what better way to give the fans what they want than by having Claudio come in and get a huge first win with AEW. This is a mouth-watering matchup for fans. They can let two very sound and exciting wrestlers take on each other in an opening-round match of the tournament, and if this were to happen, we could expect a rematch between Eddie Kingston and Claudio.
Women’s Joker
Just like in the men’s tournament, the joker in the women’s bracket is going to have to come in and wrestle a big name. But not just any big name, perhaps the most recognizable name on the women’s roster; Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D. Just like in the Joe match, there is a belief that Baker is a big stepping-stone for the joker. Baker will have bigger fish to fry as her program with Jamie Hayter is sure to start after the tournament. Predicting the joker in the Owen Hart tournament on the women’s side should be incredibly fun.
Candice LaRae
Could you imagine that if on the same night her husband debuts for AEW, so does Candice LaRae!? There was a very cryptic back-and-forth between LaRae and the Young Bucks on Twitter, where each account posted a new banner of them German suplexing each other. Could this mean the return of LaRae to wrestling post-partum? While this seems to be a very unlikely scenario, the reason to put a joker in the first place is for the wrestling nerds to go crazy with fantasy booking online. It would be great if it was LaRae, just don’t expect that to be the outcome.
Deonna Purrazzo
With Deonna Purrazzo making her debut for AEW recently, losing her ROH title to Mercedes Martinez, taking on real-life friend Britt Baker would be an interesting way to bounce back. The relationship between Impact! wrestling and AEW seem to have mended. It wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibilities for their top women star to come in to make a huge impact (pun intended) in the Owen Hart tournament. If Purrazzo does end up being the joker, her winning the match would be highly unlikely, but a program between her and Baker would be something worthwhile.
Mickie James
Mickie James has been wrestling for what seems like every promotion under the sun this past year. So to have Thanos James collect her AEW stone is not completely out of the question. This would, perhaps, be the least popular move for the AEW fateful; however, who would be expecting to see someone who hasn’t wrestled for a while making their debut for the company. Khan books as he was a fan so that probably crosses off James from the list of potential jokers.
Athena
Just like Claudio, if there were betting favorites to make their debut on Dynamite as the joker, Athena would be the one on the women’s side of the bracket. The former Ember Moon has been linked to AEW since she departed from NXT in November of 2021. Athena would be a great addition to the AEW women’s division, which seems to be growing into something more stable. A matchup between Athena and Baker is a dream match for many, so to have it be Athena’s first match in AEW would be special.
Sasha Banks
This one is an incredibly long shot, but hey, a fan can dream. Reports surfaced after the May 16th edition of Monday Night RAW that both Sasha and Naomi walked out on RAW because of being unhappy with their creative direction. For Sasha to be the joker, Banks needs to leave WWE but would also need to bypass their 90-day no-compete clause. That would be a monumental hurdle to clear by Wednesday, so it’s nearly impossible. Plus, it would be incredibly upsetting if Tony Khan had the joker lined up but decided to last-minute change it up for Banks. That would set an unwanted precedent in the locker room. One would damage TK’s reputation.
Predicting the jokers in the Owen Hart tournament is half the fun. The other half is trying to figure out who is going to win the whole thing. Now it’s time to sit back and enjoy the first annual tournament!
