The road to Revolution was congested, but found its way to an excellent 12-match card. It just continued this whole thing I’d been feeling. It was getting at me since the last big AEW card, though it wasn’t until a few weeks ago that a line on page 16 of David Halberstam’s The Breaks of the Game fully articulated it succinctly: “there was more, but it was less.”
Look. AEW beats a lot of other wrestling. Any American wrestling. Most wrestling in general. These are verifiable facts that everyone is well aware of. They brought GODDAMN CM PUNK back among thirty other things they brought back to wrestling or do well at in wrestling. With more talent and more TV though, building momentum feels replaced with balancing priorities. A bunch of good to great wrestlers are being introduced at a rapid pace, but they’re expected to get interesting opposite other wrestlers who weren’t properly cycled into the world to begin with. The most important stuff — World Champion included — no longer felt so important too, or at least not emphasized enough to where the strings pulled to finally bring the card together weren’t so visible.
They got there though, and the third AEW Revolution took place at the Addition Financial Arena in Orlando, Florida. Eddie Kingston is here! Bryan Danielson vs. Jon Moxley! CM Punk vs. MJF in a Dog Collar Match, referencing some of CM Punk’s most famous feuds in history! Hangman Adam Page in the main event! They got there!
0. Kris Statlander vs. Leyla Legit Hirsch
The 10-minute runtime for this Buy-In opener allowed many things, but it also had way too many things. The wrestling was slow, the setups were rough, and by the time they reached an Electric Chair Drop from the top rope it felt like they were actively mocking the reputation of AEW PPV’s. Ended with a wrench or something too. A match that needed to chill. *1/2
0. Hook vs. QT Marshall
Consider Hook sent. I like Hook, or at least I like what I’ve seen from Hook in the six quick matches I’ve seen him wrestle in after a year of endearing cameos on AEW TV. The journey continues. **
0. Malakai Black, Brody King & Buddy Matthews vs. PAC, Penta Oscuro & Erick Redbeard
This match, 20-minutes long with several potential victims of a crowded roster, turned all of my bitching on its’ head by being Freaking Incredible. If you are going to have a ton of wrestlers, and you give them something to do — albeit something that has to involve Alex Abrahantes wearing a vampire costume for some reason — you might just be able to pair them up in a random 6-man tag and open your show red hot.
Erick Redbeard always had a way about finding his place in matches with high-flyers and was on assignment here even before he delivered that awesome spin kick right to some poor sucker’s face. Buddy Matthews vs. both PAC and Penta were tremendous exchanges of wrestling too, including Buddy taking one of his classic bumps right on top of his head from a Canadian Destroyer. ***1/4
1. Eddie Kingston vs. Chris Jericho
Eddie Kingston is very good at pro wrestling, but not how a lot of wrestlers today are “very good.” There’s a set of intangibles he brings both in and outside the ring that create a pretty complete package of very good wrestler: promos, personality, personal journey, contact on strikes, attention-demanding selling, ability to change a crowd atmosphere, to create drama, to payoff the drama, and a commitment at all times that seems to serve as an answer to anyone who dare question that this is not real. He might even be great.
That will come from 20+ years as a pro wrestler but it will also come from an appreciation for mid-90s All Japan, a time and place that — through strikes to the face and suplexes on the head and kickouts at the last second and goddamn 100% undisputed commitment — might have taken the “pro wrestling main event” to its furthest, most eye-popping and wonderful (psychotic too) possible heights.
The thing Kingston has going right now is he’s been able to showcase that styles’ greatness not by aping it but by blending it into whatever scenario he finds himself in on PPV including this one, where he and 51-years-old Chris Jericho delivered some of King’s Road’s strange joys — including a targeted attack to the orbital bone — from within a tight 15-minute opening match package. Heck of a show that might have passed a torch, if that’s still a thing. The Stretch Plum is now canon in wrestling again too. ****
2. AEW World Tag Team Title: Jurassic Express [c] vs. The Young Bucks vs. Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish
Somewhere around 15 minutes into this 3-Way Tag Match its’ enjoyable chaos seemed to wrap over itself with a more redundant chaos, but there was plenty to love here as the crazy kids just kept it moving. Jungle Boy’s balance on all the high-flying he did was wild, but his connection on the springboard Doomsday Device caused me to audibly gasp. ****
3. Face of the Revolution Ladder Match: Christian Cage vs. Keith Lee vs. Orange Cassidy vs. Wardlow vs. Ricky Starks vs. Powerhouse Hobbs
Good Ladder Match that felt distinct from all the others, which in 2022 is miracle worker stuff. The big boy trio of Keith Lee, Wardlow and Powerhouse Hobbs all got their showcase and Orange Cassidy’s skin the cat from underneath a ladder was genuinely one of the most impressive things I’ve ever seen in wrestling. ****
Who’s House? Swerve’s House.
4. AEW TBS Title: Jade Cargill [c] vs. Tay Conti
Even without the big swing they took by beginning the match with a kiss, this was exceeding expectations for a little while before they tried a few too many near falls that just made it feel like any other match on the show… just less. **1/2
5. Dog Collar Match: CM Punk vs. MJF
I don’t particularly care for bloody violence in my wrestling, unless of course it’s necessary. Nor do I really even care for the very idea of a “Dog Collar Match,” unless it’s that one time with Greg Valentine or at least references something from wrestling history. And close-up camera shots of CM Punk punching open a fresh wound aren’t something I’m going to rush to recommend to friends and family, unless they’re my closest.
I won’t write longform here about my entire wrestling fandom, but attending the first Ring of Honor show in Chicago Ridge (Punk/Cabana vs. The Briscoes!) then the second and third had a lot to do with why I’m into this so much. I thought this particular match needed more punches than thumbtacks as they fought to the finish, but it was yet another stop on the continuous dopamine rush that has been CM Punk’s return to pro wrestling. In delivering this anticipated now compelling rivalry and writing another chapter in his remarkably consistent arc as a pro wrestler, he might be the only wrestler who’s been able to actually Control His Narrative.
The Wardlow turn was delivered perfectly too. ****3/4
6. AEW Women’s World Title: Dr. Britt Baker [c] vs. Thunder Rosa
They will have their day, one day, and hopefully on that day they will be on the same page, too. **3/4
7. Bryan Danielson vs. Jon Moxley
This was pretty much as advertised with two all-time greats (yep) locking up for the first time in a while, if not a little later in the card than expected. They powered through a quiet crowd by trading credible wrestling holds on a bloodstained mat then eventually just beating each other’s ass in a variety of ways that sometimes included one guy grabbing another by the beard for leverage. More IWA Mid-South tribute than Punk’s efforts earlier, made even better when it was revealed as a backdoor pilot to the AEW debut of William Regal. ****1/4
8. Sting, Darby Allin & Sammy Guevara vs. Andrade el Idolo, Matt Hardy & Isiah Kassidy
They could’ve taken it easy but instead brought the noise, most notably Steve “Sting” Borden doing a balcony dive and a Spanish Fly from Sammy Guevara off a ladder through two tables that rivaled the Orange Cassidy spot from earlier. Somehow, Private Party worked their Silly String spot into a crowd brawl too. ***1/2
9. AEW World Title: Hangman Page [c] vs. Adam Cole
The Battle of Adams main event had elements of 90s All Japan too, though it came with more superkicks and less commitment. The last five minutes were occasionally confusing but mostly incredible, and Hangman’s Buckshot Lariat was a-ma-zing. It was a good match that just didn’t do enough to stand out from the other good matches before or like it. Regardless: good defense for Hangman. ****
Happy Thoughts: Tremendous night of wrestling, just one best viewed in two or three parts. Punk, Danielson and Moxley delivered greatness while Eddie Kingston, Wardlow and even MJF came out of the night looking like even bigger deals. 4.0 / 5.0
