AEW
Revolution is just one of four pay-per-view events AEW does a year, so it’s no surprise that Sunday’s show is stacked. Kenny Omega defends his AEW Championship against Jon Moxley in what is sure to be a controversial Exploding Barbed Wire Deathmatch. But if the crazy hardcore stuff isn’t your thing, there’s still a lot to look forward to: Young Bucks defending their tag titles against Jericho and MJF, the in-ring return of Sting and the announcement of a “major star” signing with AEW.
Check back to this page when the main show starts (5 p.m. PT/8 p.m. ET) as I’ll be updating with results and analysis.
Sting and Darby Allin vs. Team Taz
This cinematic street fight is up next.
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Christian Cage is All Elite
Tony Khan and Paul Wight promised a “major, Hall of Fame” star would be signing with AEW at Revolution. That star turned out to be former WWE World Heavyweight Champion Christian.
He’s going by his old NWA/TNA name of Christian Cage. There was no promo or any word uttered by Christian: He came out, signed the contract and showed off his new tee that reads: “Out. Work. Everyone.”
Scorpio Sky ins Face of the Revolution ladder match
This bout for a shot at the TNT Championship was scheduled to be Cody Rhodes versus Lance Archer versus Penta versus Max Caster versus Scorpio Sky versus TBA. TBA turned out to be former Impact tag champ Ethan Page, who is now All Elite.
The ladder match started out a little disjointed, which is hard to avoid with this many bodies. The first super-big spot was Penta hitting a Destroyer on Cody, pretty much crashing him through a ladder. This led to a story where Cody was out of the match, with doctors advising him to stay out. He was walked off — but we knew he would return, and he sure did.
He wasn’t the only one to crash through a ladder either, as Lance Archer hit an acrobatic knee strike on Scorpio Sky, causing him to break a ladder in half.
In a later memorable spot, Ethan Page managed to carry Lance Archer on his back for a Scott Hall-esque powerbomb — only for Page to then be taken out with a clothesline by Jake Roberts. I question having the young and athletic Page being demolished by the much older Roberts, but the crowd loved it.
Cody eventually returned, as he knew he would, and made a fiery comeback. He and Scorpio Sky ended up on the top of the ladder, but Sky knocked Cody off and grabbed the brass ring.
After a long ladder match, Scorpio Sky grabbed the brass ring to become the No. 1 Contender for Darby Allin’s TNT Championship.
Rating: 4.25 stars.
Hangman Page pins Matt Hardy
Hangman Adam Page defeated Matt Hardy with a Buckshot Lariat following a lengthy, average-to-good match.
Not a lot to say about the bulk of the bout. Matt Hardy worked over Page’s arm and hand so he couldn’t take advantage of the Buckshot Lariat. That would play a part in certain spots, but not the end. After a solid but unremarkable match, Page was getting the better of Hardy when Private Party interfered.
Page took out Isiah Kassidy and Marq Quen, but then Hardy got a great counter, turning the Buckshot Lariat into a Side Effect. Once Private Party got back involved, The Dark Order came down to more than even the odds. The finish was cool: Page was on the apron but was knocked off by Hardy. Dark Order caught him and pushed him back on the apron, from which he hit the Buckshot Lariat.
Rating: 2.75 stars. Fine but nothing special. Good to see Page get the decisive win.
Miro and Kip Sabian vs. Chuck Taylor and Orange Cassidy
Miro and Sabian attack Chuck Taylor and Orange Cassidy in the back before the match. Cassidy is taken out, and Miro drags a bloody Taylor to the ring. He tells Taylor to give up, but a defiant Taylor slaps Miro and tells the ref to ring the bell — with no Orange Cassidy in sight.
After a few minutes of Taylor being beat down, Orange Cassidy limps his way to the ring. He plays dead then surprises Miro with an Orange Punch. He then gets a tag in and makes a comeback. He can’t get the win though, and is eventually taken out by Miro. Penelope Ford was distracting the ref, and Miro pushed Taylor into her then clocked Cassidy with a big kick. He then hits Taylor with a roundhouse kick and then a jumping kick. He then gets a Camel Clutch for the win, submitting Chuck Taylor.
Rating: 3 stars.
Hikaru Shida retains women’s title
Hikaru Shida and Ryo Mizunami were hampered here, since there was little in the way of compelling story going into this match. Mizunami has been on one Dynamite, so the crowd wasn’t invested from the outside. That said, they worked up to a strong bout. In the end, Shida won with a wicked knee strike.
The two began wrestling a straightforward match, but ended up on the outside. Shida hit a skull-crusher type move on the outside, and from that point Mizunami played the part of a plucky underdog. Despite Mizunami’s size advantage, this dynamic worked very well.
It largely worked because the two worked a snug, hard-hitting match. It ended appropriately, then, with a corkscrew knee strike.
Rating: 3.5 stars.
Fenix and Pac win Casino Battle Royale
The Casino Battle Royale is essentially a tag-team Royal Rumble. Two teams (that’s four people) start off, with another team being added every 90 seconds. This is an issue at first: There’s so many people in the ring that it’s essentially just a spotfest every 90 seconds. A team comes in, clears house, rinse and repeat.
So for most of the match, it was just things happening. But then we got down to the final four teams. It was Jungle Boy, representing Jurassic Express, Pac and Fenix, John Silver and Alex Reynolds of The Dark Order, and SCU. That’s when things got good.
When it got down to the final four people, things got great. John Silver was eliminated by Fenix in spectacular fashion (see above) after a great exchange with Pac, which left Pac and Fenix against Jungle Boy. Jungle Boy got Pac out, and the final few minutes of Fenix versus Jungle Boy was outstanding. Ultimately, Fenix clocked Jungle Boy with a superkick and then eliminated him.
The Death Triangle have earned a shot against The Young Buck’s tag titles.
Rating: 3.5 stars. A 2.5 star match with a 4.5 star final few minutes.
The Young Bucks beat Jericho and MJF
Revolution’s main show opened with a strong match in Chris Jericho and MJF versus The Young Bucks for the latter’s tag titles. After around 18 minutes, the Bucks scored a decisive win by killing MJF with superkicks and pinning Chris Jericho following a Meltzer Driver.
With Jericho and MJF assaulting Nick and Matt Jackson’s dad on the Dynamite leading to Revolution, the bout started appropriately aggressive. The Bucks took down both MJF and Jericho and brawled with them on the outside. Once back in the ring, we got a well-paced tag match with some great spots.
Highlights include Jericho copping a double superkick mid-Lionsault, a strong false finish after Jericho clocked Matt with his baseball bat, and Jericho interrupting a Meltzer Driver attempt by catching a mid-air Codebreaker.
The finish came after MJF was caught in between the Bucks, being ping ponged by superkicks between them. The cynic in me wondered why he didn’t just fall down, instead of getting blitzed by a dozen kicks, but that’s the Bucks’ style. He was hit by so many kicks he started dribbling, a nice touch. With MJF out, the Bucks got a Meltzer Driver on Jericho for a clean win.
Rating: 4 stars. Very strong opener.
Preshow Results
The preshow match was scheduled to be Britt Baker and Rebel versus Riho and Thunder Rosa. That was changed, however, when Riho was replaced by Maki Itoh.
After an idol performance by Itoh, she and Baker got the W when Rebel hit Thunder Rosa with a crutch, leading Baker to get a pinfall.
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