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All Elite Wrestling’s “Revolution” delivered on its high expectations with one of the better in-ring pay-per-views in recent memory.
The show — which didn’t have founding members Kenny Omega or Cody Rhodes on the card — wasn’t perfect. It lacked a title change and, if you were watching for all five hours with the pre-show, felt long at times. But where AEW continues to shine is the consistent quality of its matches, storyline payoffs and memorable moments.
“Revolution” was a perfect example of the amazing buffet of pro wrestling AEW can provide. It left us with a new star in Wardlow, CM Punk on track for a world title quest and a surprise debut that led to the top moment of the night.
Here are five takeaways from AEW “Revolution” from Orlando on Sunday night:
Beautiful Bloody Violence
“Revolution” featured two matches you could count on to bring the blood with MJF and CM Punk in their dog collar match and Jon Moxley saying he needs to bleed with Bryan Danielson before they can team up. And while there certainly were crimson masks on Punk and Moxley, these matches also delivered two of the night’s best stories.
MJF, a fan of Punk as a kid, has been saying he wanted to see the old version of his hero. He got him at “Revolution.”
Punk entered not to “Cult of Personality” by Living Colour, but his Ring of Honor theme “Miseria Cantare” by AFI, in the same ring attire he faced Raven in during a dog collar match in that promotion.
This grudge match centered around Punk being limited by a kayfabe injured knee and MJF hindered by a hurt hand. It also included thumbtacks that Punk was super-plexed on and MJF was knocked out on with a GTS after Wardlow’s betrayal. The big man, whom MJF has put down for weeks, handed the Dynamite Diamond Ring to Punk after faking that he didn’t have it for his boss. It felt like a poetic ending here and the true arrival of whatever-it-takes-to-win CM Punk. The welcome back tour is over and we are down to serious pro wrestling business and passion.
Danielson and Moxley gave us a brutally physical, yet beautifully technical performance. Mixed with the sounds of slaps, strikes and plenty of bravado were both men’s rolodex of wrestling maneuvers. Both competitors had the counter, hold or submission to thwart what the other was throwing at them. Mox had the last laugh, countering a Danielson submission into a pin near the ropes for the win.
The result ticked off Danielson so much that he went after the referee and attacked Moxley again. The two began brawling and a flood of AEW officials couldn’t contain them. It brought a debuting William Regal — a mentor to both men in real life — from the back to finally talk to and beat some sense into them with a vicious (and loud) palm strike for each. Finally, both men shook hands and we could have a really, kick-ass new tag team with Regal — who will also be big in developing AEW talent behind the scenes — as their manager. Just wow.
A Star Is Born
What a night for Wardlow. AEW has done a fantastic job turning him into a potential babyface champion and “Revolution” put some of the finishing touches on the transformation.
Wardlow, who gives off some Kevin Nash-like cool with his physical stature and charisma, won a really fun Face of the Revolution ladder match to earn a TNT championship opportunity. The 34-year-old got to push both Keith Lee and Will Hobbs off the stage and onto a table in one of the highlights of a match that centered on the trio of big men.
Like his Power Bomb Symphonies, Wardlow’s win and betrayal of MJF both got big reactions from the crowd. It all paid off after MJF said – then took back – that Wardlow would have to give him the TNT championship should he win. There is a good chance MJF or Shawn Spears costs Wardlow the belt when it’s time to fully kick off their eventual feud.
Galloping On
“Hangman” Adam Page’s title reign added another building block. The AEW world champion’s first defense was a Texas Death Match against Lance Archer that tested his toughness.
Beating Adam Cole in the main event on Sunday, in his second major defense, did two things. It gave him that go-home moment retaining the belt to close a pay-per-view and allowed him to overcome a doubter from his past. He continues to prove he is no longer “the other Adam” by beating Cole, a former Ring of Honor and NXT champion.
This match was filled with a ton of near falls, including Cole hitting the Boom knee after interference from Kyle O’Reilly and Bobby Fish that Page kicked from late. Cole got his fingers on the rope after taking the first Buckshot Lariat. A knee-pad-down Boom knee and a second Buckshot Lariat was what it took to finally win it. In a callback to their time in Ring of Honor, Page shook a knocked-out Cole’s hand when it was over.
While Cole will likely be heading into a feud with The Young Bucks and Kenny Omega when the former AEW world champion returns, there isn’t a clear challenger for Page right now. Is AEW ready to go to him and CM Punk or will there be another stop-gap feud before that?. ReDRagon and the Young Bucks’ cooperation broke down in their match for the AEW tag team championship, allowing Jurassic Express to retain. The Elite have plenty of issues to work out.
Crash TV
Daredevil Darby Allin may be a terrible and great influence on Sting all at the same. We witnessed a soon-to-be 63-year-old Steve Borden jump off a balcony onto Andrade El Idolo and through a stack of four tables. It wasn’t pretty as Sting looked to have hit his head on one table, but man it was wild. Sting was OK and was the first person at post-show media session.
The six-man tornado tag, which felt like the TLC-type portion of the show, also saw TNT champion Sammy Guevara hit a Spanish Fly on Isiah Kassidy — off a raised portion of the staging — though a table. While a large portion of the four-hour main card felt like a marathon, this was just a fun sprint that ended with Allin barely jumping far enough to deliver the Coffin Drop to Matt Hardy to end it. It was a great bridge from Danielson-Moxely to the main event.
Undeniable
At some point AEW will have to fully embrace what they have in Eddie Kingston and at least give him a run with the TNT championship. Maybe “Revolution” was the start. He and Chris Jericho felt super motivated in the opening match that had great pacing and just gave us two veterans fighting it out for respect. Kingston finally got his first win at an AEW pay-per-view to a huge, huge pop after Jericho missed a Judas Effect onto an exposed turnbuckle. It gave Kingston the opening for a second spinning backfist and a transition into a stretch plum submission that tapped out Jericho. It’s the biggest win of Kingston’s career. Whether Jericho going back on his promise to shake hands could reignite tensions with Santana and Ortiz or continue this feud with Kingston is the question now.
Notes
Thunder Rosa’s day isn’t here just yet. She feels destined to take the AEW women’s championship from Dr. Britt Baker — who debuted a new belt — at some point. It just wasn’t Sunday as interference from Rebel and Jamie Hayter cost Rosa the match. Rosa faces Leyla Hersh in a No. 1 contender’s match Wednesday on “Dynamite.” The winner gets a shot a Baker’s title. A rematch in Rosa’s hometown of San Antonio the following week does feel like a great place to crown her.
Keith Lee was booked strong in the Face of the Revolution ladder match. However, not winning could risk moving him into no-man’s land in the middle of AEW’s card. The promotion has presented him well so far, so we will see.
Jade Cargill and Tay Conti continue to be two of AEW’s most improved wrestlers and it showed in a match for Cargill’s TBS championship. While Cargill moved to 29-0 and is getting a big push, Conti has now lost matches for both women’s titles. It’s hard to see where the latter goes from here.
On The Buy In, Hersh continued to be built as a heel, using a turnbuckle clamp to beat Kris Statlander. Hook defeated QT Marshall. Taz’s son keeps getting huge pops with each win and looks the part of a future star. The House of Black topped PAC, Pentagon and Erick Redbeard.
AEW announced the signing of former NXT North American champion Shane “Swerve” Strickland, who appeared live.
Biggest Winner: Wardlow
Biggest Loser: Tay Conti, Keith Lee
Match of the night: Jon Moxley vs. Bryan Danielson
Grade: A
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