Written By Gino Lewis
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AEW’s first PPV of 2024 is Sunday at Revolution. It is possibly the best job AEW has done building up a big show. The only other PPV that even comes to mind is All In last year. It will be far and away the biggest crowd of the year for AEW. The arena in Greensboro should be on fire. AEW started forming the card on the second Dynamite of the year back on January 10th when they started the rivalry for the three-way World Championship match between Samoa Joe, “Hangman” Adam Page and Swerve Strickland. Bouts were added to the lineup at a steady pace with each contest getting a chance to resonate with the audience.
Sting’s final match will take place at the show. That alone may have been enough to draw a sellout crowd. AEW backed it up with an excellent storyline along with Darby Allin and EVP’s The Young Bucks. There really isn’t anything on the show that is just thrown together other than the All-Star Scramble and Will Ospreay facing Konosuke Takeshita which could be the match of the night. A lot of matches do not have obvious winners which is a rare thing in AEW these days. There is no denying that AEW has lost some of the cool factor it had when it was new. It’s still special for me when it's at its best. Sunday should be one of those nights!
* All-Star Scramble Match: Chris Jericho vs. Wardlow vs. Powerhouse Hobbs vs. Lance Archer vs. Hook vs. Brian Cage vs. Magnus vs. Dante Martin
I would have liked this better if it were the original “Meat Madness” concept. I’m actually not sure exactly how this will work. It has been a while since I’ve seen a Scramble match. I believe it was the monumental Raw GM Mike Adamle who came up with it. An “Adamle Original” if you will. There isn’t any storyline going in. This is the one thrown together match on the card. It’s okay to have one random spot fest on a show like this to get a lot of people on the card. I’ll go with Wardlow to win since he had a promo recently saying he’s going after the World Title.
Winner: Wardlow
* FTR – Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler vs. Blackpool Combat Club – Jon Moxley & Claudio Castagnoli
A simple buildup is all it took to get this rivalry going. Simple but effective. Blackpool said they’d stomp out any tag team in AEW. FTR didn’t like that. They’ve been brawling every chance they get since then. Both teams have shown excellent intensity. It’s very clear they don’t like each other. I didn’t love the 20-minute time limit draw that created the necessity for this match on PPV. It was AEW’s third draw in a few months so I think it’s becoming a little too common. FTR getting a win would have added to the program. It wouldn’t have hurt Claudio to take a pin. Although, that may happen in this match. Jon Moxley almost never loses so I’ll pick his team to win. Mox actually could use a win on PPV. Moxley and Claudio becoming Tag Team Champions would work well for both men. That said, I think FTR should win since they are the regular team. It could certainly go either way.
Winners: Blackpool Combat Club – Jon Moxley & Claudio Castagnoli
* AEW Women’s World Championship: "Timeless" Toni Storm (c) vs. Deonna Purrazzo
AEW has possibly put as much effort into this feud as any in the history of their women’s division. It started out pretty good but has fizzled out a bit in recent weeks. I’m not sure if Deonna is a great fit in AEW’s six minutes with a commercial break formula for the women. I remember her having a lot better matches in TNA/Impact where she got more runway to work over a body part and tell a story. Toni Storm’s character has been brilliant as always. The story between them does make sense. I give AEW credit for trying to set up a compelling women’s match even if they came up a little short. I hope they get 12-15 minutes to really put on a good show. If not these women, then who? With Mercedes Mone’s debut in less than two weeks a title change doesn’t make sense here. Toni vs Mercedes would be a bigger match.
Winner And Still AEW Women’s Champion: Toni Storm
* Will Ospreay vs. Konosuke Takeshita
Besides the Scramble this is the only other match that doesn’t have a story. There was a stare down between the combatants on Dynamite. Both are members of the Don Callis family. Other than that, there isn’t anything going on. It doesn’t really matter in this case. This should be incredible and possibly steal the show. Ospreay might not be with the Callis family long. I think the story between these two is starting with this match. That’s fine with me. It wouldn’t surprise me to see Will’s friends Aussie Open join him to go against the Callis family. Ospreay winning is the biggest lock in the lineup. It would be a travesty if he lost his first match as a full-time member of the AEW roster.
Winner: Will Ospreay
* International Championship: Orange Cassidy (c) vs. Roderick Strong
Like most matches on this card, there is a storyline. This one just isn’t very strong. If you look at it in a vacuum it’s a decent story that makes sense. Adam Cole proclaimed Strong was going after the International Championship a couple months ago. Undisputed Kingdom has beaten up all of Cassidy’s friends. It’s just not who they should be feuding with. Roddy calling out Orange six weeks in advance was clunky. Undisputed should obviously be going against the Bang Bang Scissor Gang who only formed to go against them. It was bad booking for AEW to shelve that rivalry. It still should be a really good match. A title change seems likely. There isn’t anything left for Orange to do with this title. Maybe the Bang Bang guys can chase Strong for the belt.
Winner and NEW International Champion: Roderick Strong
* TNT Championship: Christian Cage (c) vs. Daniel Garcia
Another match with a solid storyline that could go either way. Those are the kind of matches most wrestling fans want to see that we aren’t getting enough of on weekly AEW television. I think a title change could happen here as well. The money storyline for Christian Cage is with Adam Copeland who he will probably team up with again down the line. It might be the right time to for Christian to drop the belt. Daniel Garcia is the perfect wrestler to hold the TNT Title. Christian and Copeland’s next match doesn’t really need to have a title involved. Cope showing up and stopping Christian’s “family” from cheating and helping Garcia win makes a lot of sense. I’m leaning the other way though. I think Cage retains.
Winner And Still TNT Champion: Christian Cage
* AEW Continental Crown Championship: Eddie Kingston (c) vs. Bryan Danielson
Of all the matchups on the show this one may have had the best build. These fighters have never liked each other but the rivalry really picked up during the Continental Classic where each wrestler scored a win over the other. Danielson has been stealing the spotlight and disrespecting Eddie almost every week on Collision. Kingston has been on commentary for a lot of Bryan’s matches. He’s done a great job fanning the flames. The heat here seems very real. I believe these guys actually hate each other and want to beat the other’s brains in. I think this is the most 50/50 match on the card. Danielson doesn’t need this Championship and Kingston does. However, I don’t think Bryan is going to lose to Eddie again. Although Bryan beating Eddie decisively on Dynamite does cast more doubt on the result. I’m sure Bryan would enjoy working small indy style crowds at ROH and New Japan Strong shows.
Winner And NEW Continental Crown Champion: Bryan Danielson
* AEW World Championship: Samoa Joe (c) vs. “Hangman” Adam Page vs. Swerve Strickland
I’ve really enjoyed the build for this contest. Like I mentioned earlier, AEW started down this path right after their last PPV World’s End. It has had a steady pace. All three wrestlers are entering Revolution with positive momentum. While I didn’t think the time limit draw between FTR and BCC worked that well, I did like the draw between Hangman and Swerve on the February 7th episode of Dynamite. The outcome was obvious but that’s because it made sense to set up the triple threat match which was always the plan for Revolution. Swerve against Hangman has been the best thing going in AEW for a long time. It’s still a hot feud so putting them in the World Title picture made a lot of sense. Samoa Joe has remained strong and had some really good promos along the way.
Until Dynamite on Wednesday, I thought Hangman was mainly in this match to take the pin. That changed a bit with the angle on Dynamite where he fully turned heel by faking an injury and attacking Strickland from behind. I still wouldn’t say this is a match where all three men have an equal chance of winning. However, I could certainly make a case for any of them walking out as AEW World Champion. There could still be plenty of life in the Swerve/Hangman rivalry especially now with Hangman firmly positioned as a heel and Swerve as the babyface. Having Page win and Swerve chase him for the title and win it at Double or Nothing or All In would be a great direction to go. Strickland could just win here as well as no one is more over with the AEW audience right now. I’m going to stick with what I’ve thought all along that Samoa Joe will retain. It just seems too early for him to drop the belt.
Winner And Still AEW World Champion: Samoa Joe
* AEW Tag Team Championships in a Tornado Tag Team Match: Sting & Darby Allin (c) vs. The Young Bucks – Matthew & Nicholas Jackson
Without a doubt the most significant match on the card. Really one of the more historic matches in AEW’s short history. A lot of people weren’t happy when The Young Bucks were positioned as Sting’s final opponents. Many were clamoring for a singles match. I’m not sure if Sting has that in him. In the ring The Bucks should be a nearly perfect selection. Love them or hate them, they can carry almost anyone to a terrific bout. The problem was they had become rather bland in AEW. Well, that has completely changed in the past several weeks. Leaning in to their asshole personas Matthew and Nicholas have reclaimed their roles as EVPs to abuse their power any chance they get. They are so annoying. In a good heelish way. Most of the crowd truly despises them. The face/heel dynamic is as clear as it gets in this one. That isn’t always the case in AEW.
The rivalry became as personal as it can get after Sting and Darby won the Tag Team Championships from Ricky Starks and Big Bill on Dynamite February 7th. While that alone would have been a memorable moment, it paled in comparison to the post-match angle. The Bucks beat down Sting and Darby with bats getting their blood all over their new white suits. Sting’s sons who I don’t remember ever seeing on TV were collateral damage in the beat down. It was one of the best show ending angles in AEW history. Sting and Darby have both had amazing promo work to add fuel to the fire. Sting mentioning the unfortunate passing of this father adds yet another layer to it. I hope Christian Cage doesn’t get wind of that.
When the match was first announced I was adamant The Young Bucks should win thinking Sting needs to put someone over on his way out. I’ve had a 180 on that. While the heat The Bucks would get for winning could be legendary, it’s not really what AEW does and this isn’t the right time to start. Sting has gotten a very nice swan song to his career in AEW. He should get to go out on top and it wouldn’t be good business to send the only large crowd you’ve had in 2024 home angry. The Bucks can get a ton of heat even in defeat by lying and saying they ended Sting’s career. I’m curious to see what AEW does with the Tag Titles assuming Sting and Darby win. Whatever it is, I think The Young Bucks should be the next champs. I’ve come around to thinking this is one of the most obvious results of the show.
Winners And Still AEW Tag Team Champions: Sting and Darby Allin
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BONUS TOPICS!
The Match I’m Looking Forward To The Most – Sting and Darby Allin vs The Young Bucks
The Match I Care About The Least – Orange Cassidy vs Roderick Strong
Longest Match – AEW World Championship at about 26 minutes
Shortest Match – AEW Women’s Championship at about 9 minutes
Excitement Level on a Scale of 1-10 (1 being low, 10 being high) – 8.75/10
This should be one of the best AEW PPV’s of all time! Like I’ve wrote about all review, the storylines are very strong which hasn’t been a strength for AEW. I’d be surprised and disappointed if there aren’t at least 3 four-star level matches or higher. There could easily be five of six. Sadly, AEW keeping the momentum after the show and avoiding another scandal that overshadows it might be more important than the show itself.
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