Revolution has been the strangest AEW PPV card I’ve seen yet. The build to every single match leaves something to be desired. There isn’t a single great story that has really hooked me on this whole card. There’s no particular moment I can’t wait to see. And yet, the card itself, as far as bell to bell matches go, has the potential to be one of the better shows they’ve done. With one last shot to add some much needed oomph to the stories headed into the show would Rampage do that? Spoilers; not even a little bit. But let’s rank what they did give us.
Honorable Mention: “Jungle Boy” Jack Perry. He said a fight with Christian isn’t enough. Christian is so obsessed with Jack’s Dad he’s going to give him a chance to meet him. They’re going to face off at Revolution in a Final Burial match which sounds like the AEW equivalent of a Buried Alive match. I’m interested in this.
5. Mark Briscoe. “Chicken” was great tonight when he said he looked out the curtain at the tag battle royal he figured Jay must have been down there already but when he ran down he remembered Jay is upstairs now. But then he saw Mark Sterling and got bothered again but the Lucha Bros. warmed his heart. All that to lead to the announcement of him and the Lucha Brothers v. The Varsity Athletes and Daivari on Zero Hour. Somebody in a Facebook group suggested Mark form a trio with FTR and while I like that more there is some fun potential with he and the Lucha Bros. even if it’s just as a one off.
4. Blackpool Combat Club. Wheeler Yuta got the win for BCC in a 4 way against Top Flight, Aussie Open and the Dark Order by stealing a pin with a seatbelt pin on Darius Martin after a blind tag while Dark Order took him out. This match started hot with Silver and Reynolds jumping BCC before the bell. This had a lot the action you’d expect from these 4 teams and was a solid showcase of all the teams involved but the main focus here was BCC’s continued heel turn and their rivalry with Dark Order. At one point J.R. mentioned the winning team getting a PPV payday but then corrected himself. After the match Silver and Reynolds jumped BCC and they brawled to the back and I was left wondering why, with only 1 match announced for Zero Hour Dark Order v. BCC wasn’t added.
3. Powerhouse Hobbs. Hobbs beat Serpentico quickly with a spinebuster and a Town Business before grabbing the mic and saying the next chapter in the Book of Hobbs is him as TNT Champion. I hope he wins it. He’s too good to be stuck flosting around largely unused like he has been. If they wanted to try to get some of the momentum back on Wardlow’s side with wins over Joe and Hobbs in the same week I’d get it but I really want to see Hobbs getting the W and twice as much if somehow Joe retains at Revolution which I don’t expect.
2. Riho. Her and Emi Sakura had probably my favorite bell to bell match of the night and it’s only in the 2nd spot because there was literally no story or build at all coming in. This match was a crossbody war. Emi hit one on Riho against the barricade. Riho dove into the ring to nail Sakura with one. Emi then hit one to Riho in the corner against the ropes. Riho rolled up Sakura for 2 and Emi returned the favor with a near fall of her own. Sakura tried a moonsault but Riho rolled in to barely avoid it. Sakura actually hit her face on Riho as she was avoiding the attack. Riho tried a diving stomp but Emi dodged it. Riho tried a crucifix pin but as Emi fought it off Riho instead hit a smooth twisting roll through for a different roll-up and the win. Riho is one of the smallest wrestler I’ve ever seen but she has that Mysterio element to her where I can buy it because she uses such a high flying, fast paced, outsmart your opponent style to pick up victories. Commentary sold her winning streak and I look forward to what I assume will be an upcoming title match for her against the winner at Revolution. My only nit-pick here is that they had the seatbelt pin in the opener so two sneaky pins in a 4 match show isn’t great but still a fun match on it’s own merits.
1. Naturally Limitless. Keith Lee and Dustin Rhodes were out for revenge in tonight’s main event against Swerve Strickland and Parker Boudreaux. We ditched the triple box pre-match promos in favor of video packages again which I’m not crazy about. As of writing this there is still nothing announced for Lee and Swerve on Revolution which feels like such a failure on Tony Khan’s part. When we have a thrown together 4 way tag title match, a feud with Jericho that should have ended a month ago, a TNT title match I don’t think a single soul asked for and a women’s triple threat that feels like a match from the middle of a feud not having one of your only long term stories that would also be a fresh match not be on the card feels like a total misstep by Tony Khan. But the guys did what they could tonight with what they were given. Boudreaux still needs a lot of work. He movements and timing are so clunky in the ring and it stood out that much more being in there with vets as good as Swerve, Lee and Dustin. In hindsight it would have been cool to see his spot in Mogul Affiliates go to somebody who looks just as imposing but is much more capable like Archer or even Big Bill. The story here was Lee trying his best to get his hands on Swerve and Swerve doing his best to avoid Lee. One of the best spots here came when Boudreaux held Lee in the ropes so Swerve could spring off of him with his moonsault to Dustin on the floor that they used to do as a team. Lee tried to toss Dustin on to the heels but Swerve ducked out of the ring forcing Parker to take the entirety of the blow. Dustin whipped Boudreaux into Lee who hit him with the former Big Bang Catastrophe for the win as Swerve looked on from the ramp. The main event was fine but none of the matches tonight were much to write home about. I’ll just repeat how much I wish Lee v. Swerve was on the PPV. I can’t wait until Tony Khan gets some help with creative because he’s a great match maker but so bad with his story telling and pacing.
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