Historically speaking, wrestling pre-shows, from the WWE, to AEW, and even Ring of Honor, get a bad rep. It's where the acts who aren't quite good enough for the Pay-Per-View card get to at least say they were on the card, and an opportunity for wrestling fans to pass along to their non-wrestling fan friends in the hopes that they will want to come over and watch the show too.

It never works, but hey, you have to try, right?

While Tony Khan does a better job than most at getting interesting matches on his pre-show, with matches like Death Triangle plus Erick Redbeard versus House of Black earning rave reviews at AEW's Revolution and the Forbidden Door pre-show loaded with interesting bouts featuring performers like El Desperado, it's still hard to argue that either card would have been “better” had one of those matches gone on at 8 pm instead of 7 pm.

Death Before Dishonor‘s pre-show, Zero Hour, might be the exception, as with the promotion currently without a TV show, it's the best opportunity for TK and company to pack a ton of talent into an hour of action in the hopes of pushing his storylines along. Here is a fun fact about each match on the card.

Ring of Honor is running a PPV-worthy card for free.

4. Colt Cabana vs. Anthony Henry

While Colt Cabana hasn't been on AEW television since Thanksgiving, AEW Dark since April, and in a Ring of Honor, um, ring since April, he's been keeping busy, wrestling four indie matches since the start of May and playing the Brooklyn Brawler on NBC's The Young Rock, which, funny enough, was created and executive produced by new WWE Co-CEO Nick Khan's sister Nahnatchka.

3. Shinobi Shadow Squad vs. Trustbusters

While AEW/ROH fans should know the Shinobi Shadow Squad well, as Cheeseburger has been a fixture of the promotion for years now, this is the first time many will get to see the Trustbusters, a tag team featuring long-time NXT/205 Live stalwart Ari Daivari and one-time ROH performer/indie journeyman Slim J in the ring as a team. Thrown together at the latest round of AEW Dark tapings earlier this month alongside “Brock Lesnar 2.0,” Parker Boudreaux, Rampage ran a teaser for Daivari's arrival during the final night of Fyter Fest.

Unless the Trustbusters are headed for a Job Squad 2.0 sort of vibe, or a booking where only Boudreaux gets the wins, expect a win by Daivari and company, or at least the “Baby Beast” tossing Cheeseburger around after the bell.

2. Allysin Kay vs. Willow Nightingale 

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Tony Khan next to MJF with the AEW Dynasty logo as the background.

Matty Breisch ·

Swerve Strickland and Kofi Kingston with the AEW Dynasty logo as the background.

Matty Breisch ·

Tony Khan next to Kendell Roy from Succession with Nicolas Jackson of the Young Bucks on the left and Matthew Jackson of the Young Bucks on his right the Succession logo as the background.

Matty Breisch ·

AEW fans know and love Willow Nightingale very well, as the incredibly fun performer has wrestled 17 matches in the promotion and has become good friends with Kris Statlander and Athena in their battle versus Jade Cargill and the Baddies, but Allysin Kay has been in the promotion too, wrestling Serena Deeb in the pre-show of Full Gear 2020 for the NWA Championship. Will Kay go 1-1 in Khan-owned promotions at the end of the show? Or will Willow pull out the W and continue her stream of positive success in the greater AEW/ROH world?

1. Brian Cage and the Gates of Agony vs. Tony Deppen, Alex Zayne, and Blake Christian

The obvious decision would be to write about Brian Cage here, as he was the FTW Champion in AEW for over a year and was a fixture of the promotion, but you can read about that here. No, instead, it might be fun to know that Tony Deppen, Alex Zayne, and Blake Christian were actually supposed to be a trio back in 2020 before the world shut down. But where? Was it going to be in Ring of Honor, where Deppen worked at the time? Or in GCW, where all three worked on and off? Or maybe in NJPW? You've gotta love a mystery.