St-Pierre’s AEW Revolution Review

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Your hosts are Jim Ross, Excalibur, and Tony Schiavone. Apologies for the tangent, but if you had told me even 3 years ago that Tony would have this sort of career renaissance, I’d have probably asked you how you knew he was still alive so I knew whether it was appropriate for me to laugh or not. He’s just tremendous in this role and is genuinely doing some of his career-best work. It’s refreshing to see an old-school guy have his love for wrestling rekindled by such a modern take on the art, really. A lot of old timers should heed that approach, especially since – after WCW’s latter years – it could be entirely forgiven if Schiavone never looked at a wrestling ring again. Instead, he came in with as open a mind as possible and it’s clear he loves what he does again… although the paycheck probably helps too.

Jake Hager vs. Dustin Rhodes
They had the crowd, which is more than some wrestlers can say, but this felt a little too similar to a midcard WWE match for my liking. It wasn’t slow in the sense of either man lacking the athleticism, but their clunky sense of pacing and lack of urgency felt quite out of place in an otherwise state-of-the-art wrestling climate. The tired “grab a hold until it’s time to go home” formula doesn’t make for good wrestling content anymore, and it doesn’t really seem like Jake Hager has evolved from that format after his WWE tenure. It was technically proficient and was gifted a generous crowd, but this was bang average and a middling start to an otherwise intriguing event. **

Sammy Guevara vs. Darby Allin
These two were not given the most liberal time allotment in wrestling history, but I’d argue strongly that it ended up being a great risk to take on the booking front. Not only were they made men after that maniacal opening table spot – thus giving the crowd a reason to go nuts before the bell even rang – but it gave them the opportunity to “get their shit in” as it were and move from strength to strength at a pace that made the most of their immense athletic abilities. The clean babyface victory puts a cap on it, because it’s hard to complain about Darby Allin getting momentum even at the expense of an ever-improving Guevara. He’s one of the brightest prospects in all of wrestling as his in-ring and even artistic acumen continue to evolve, and while AEW has done an admirable job of building him slowly, I hope this marks a turn in his career as he continues to gain traction. Even if the high was fleeting, this segment delivered in earnest as a high-octane blitz of spots, so I’d call it a rousing success on all fronts. ***1/4

AEW Tag Titles: Kenny Omega & Adam Page (c) vs. The Young Bucks
I will be absolutely stunned if anything eclipses this for 2020’s Match of the Year award. I think it is clearly the best match in AEW’s short history so far, and in my eyes, will go down as one of their crowning achievements no matter how long the promotion lasts.

Quite simply, this combined everything that makes these four men so compelling. It was the incredible drama that swept you off your feet, like in Kenny Omega’s famed NJPW battle against the Bucks alongside Kota Ibushi. It was the exploration of The Elite’s history as a unit. It was the unbelievable cohesion The Young Bucks honed during their PWG career. It was Adam Page’s coming out party as a true main event caliber pro wrestler, finally putting the pieces together after years of never quite being there. This was the best every competitor had to offer.

In some ways, this felt like an overly dramatic Vince Russo-esque time warp. Adam Page is mad at his friends and the match is centered on his potential betrayal at the expense of the match itself. We’ve seen that trope for so long that often times, a viewer can see it from a mile away. But in all my years of watching pro wrestling, I’ve never seen this story handled so delicately. I’ve never seen it told in such an engrossing manner that not only does it bypass cliches, but it creates entirely new ways in which to enhance its narrative.

In a lot of ways, it felt like Omega and Page came together in this match. It was clear that emotions and hard feelings were going to worm their way into the proceedings, but it altered the chemistry in a much more complex way than I anticipated. It didn’t become Page vs. The World like the build-up implied. It became Page vs. The World, until Page’s aggression forced Kenny Omega to either coexist and fight against the world too, or get caught in the crossfire the Hangman had set up with his former friends. Kenny was going to be a victim of those raising tensions, and he often was. He was targeted with cheap shots and sly tag team moves that The Young Bucks largely left behind in Reseda. Page’s tactics brought Kenny Omega into a situation where even he – a beacon of understanding – worked himself up. It was fight or flight, and he chose to fight. He had to.

Now, with such fantastically nuanced narratives laced into the highspots, it would be forgivable had the match faltered athletically. Some wrestlers choose one over the other so as to focus on their strengths and create something with an identity. But The Young Bucks (and their opponents, it must be said) are such virtuosos of their craft that not only did they pull out their trademark Movez content, but they did such an extraordinary job of playing it into the story that it created an entirely new identity for itself. It essentially blended the best of their PWG work – the endless spots, heel mannerisms, and increasingly high risk – with what they’ve largely evolved into; a still athletically driven tandem that now specializes in a flair for the dramatic. The return to their antagonistic roots didn’t feel created from hatred; they simply had nothing else. It worked to get them on the map so long ago, after all. Why wouldn’t it now? But when it came to antagonists, no one in the match was more evolved than Adam Page, and that’s ultimately what decided the contest. It’s beautiful psychology at play.

There are mountains of words I’ve still yet to write about this match, but they really aren’t necessary. It’s much easier, more practical, and simpler if I just outline it for you as clearly as I can. This is as close to perfect as wrestling can get. It is what wrestling often purports itself to be. In my opinion, it’s what wrestling should be. This was a piece of art that makes wrestling look like one of the most compelling performances in the world. I implore anyone – lapsed or in tune – to give a half hour of your life to this match, because it’s the perfect example of what wrestling can be when it’s at its very, very, very best. *****

AEW Women’s Title: Nyla Rose (c) vs. Kris Statlander
These poor women were tasked with the mission of following the best match in company history, and while they certainly tried their best, there was a lot here that simply didn’t land. Nyla Rose’s coronation came in a tremendous match against Riho, but her chemistry with Statlander is just not on that level. The match itself lacked cohesion and urgency, and with a crowd that desperately needed a break, there wasn’t the level of forgiveness that Hager and Rhodes got earlier in the night.

That’s not to say there weren’t good qualities about this match, though. Kris Statlander looked at her best as a babyface, with her trademark spots beginning to resonate with the audience in a more permanent fashion. Her handstand escape of Nyla Rose’s big kneedrop was a match highlight, and there are flashes of brilliance when she makes her comebacks. Nyla herself, while still green to be sure, improves at a very admirable rate. So while it’s hard to ignore the rough patches, there was a lot in this match’s foundation that makes a rematch down the line a desirable goal under better circumstances. It just didn’t have much of a chance to succeed where it landed on the card, nor was it fully formed enough as a story to overcome that obstacle. **

Cody vs. Maxwell Jacob Friedman
While the in-ring content itself didn’t really get to the point of Cody’s matches with Jericho or brother Dustin, there was still so much to love here that it’s hardly a downgrade. It wasn’t a fight for the ages, but to me, it wouldn’t make sense if it was. That’s not who MJF is as a performer, especially at this stage in what’s clearly still an evolving program. But even with all those “restrictions”, I still came out of this feeling like I got what I wanted in the end.

MJF’s performance as the irredeemable pussy with a mean streak bordered on perfection. The way he blended that persona with just enough in-ring competence to give him credibility was fabulous, and it’s a credit to the announce team that they focused on that. Giving MJF a leg to stand on professionally in this instance was key to making him look like more than a cliched rich kid. With so much emphasis being put on Cody wanting to beat him to death, the match needed a new thread to carry it through the 25 minute runtime, and MJF and co. did a fine job of adding new wrinkles to his character while still staying true to what makes him so delightfully antagonistic. Sure, he still used Wardlow to hand him that extra inch of advantage at points, but he was still a great professional wrestler, and that’s such a great trick to have up the sleeve of the ever-uncouth MJF.

The moving parts outside kept this match moving at a swift enough pace to make it interesting, as the battle of wits between managers played its part just enough to seem significant without harming the match. A lot of times, wrestlers and bookers have a hard time balancing that and can turn it into a crutch, but I felt it added to the proceedings as a whole. With Arn getting kicked in the head, it creates more dissension and doubt within Cody’s ranks without making him look like a clown. One could say it was a bit overboard given Cody was going to lose this match, but it’s clear that Cody has the hearts of everyone watching at this point. All anyone wants him to do is succeed, and the more things go wrong, the harder the fans fight. That’s what makes this program such an incredibly engrossing piece of work.

This is not going to win any Match of the Year ballots – especially with the earlier tag match happening on the same card – but I’d call this a success regardless. It was just as dramatic as you would hope, but held just enough back to give us a reason to watch them wrestle again. It’s long term booking at its best, and in my estimation, AEW has done a fabulous job of handling this rivalry on that front. ***3/4

PAC vs. Orange Cassidy
This was one of the most energetic, heated, and overall most entertaining matches of the entire night. They told a story that you could see coming from a mile away, but that was exactly what the crowd wanted and as such, it featured some of their loudest reactions all night. It ain’t rocket appliances.

Orange Cassidy’s gimmick is such a home run in this borderline-wacky AEW environment, and there isn’t a foil better for him on the roster than the abhorrent PAC. Orange Cassidy hasn’t been much more than a character actor that ends up getting his butt kicked in the end, but they finally added depth to him here, and it worked out gorgeously. His years of CHIKARA training and experience acclimates him perfectly to the high-octane explosiveness he can turn to at the drop of a hat, and there aren’t many wrestlers more purely athletic and smooth than The Bastard to put a cap on it. Not only is it completely logical from a storyline standpoint given where the two men’s characters currently stand, but their in-ring chemistry delivered in earnest as well.

The booking of the finish seems a little overdone and it might be if you aren’t partial to interference, but I thought it worked well. Orange Cassidy didn’t lose clean, thus giving the audience a bundle of What Ifs should Orange continue his singles career on any sort of consistent basis. It also sets up a program between two of AEW’s most consistent tag teams that will likely feature some tremendous action on Dynamite. There are a lot of small questions coming out of this, but they’re all intriguing and exciting, much like the match that provided their foundation. This was fantastic. ***3/4

AEW World Title: Chris Jericho (c) vs. Jon Moxley
The last time Chris Jericho and Jon Moxley wrestled for over 20 minutes, it was at WWE’s Extreme Rules PPV in 2016, and it was one of the worst matches I saw that decade. They got a chance to do it again in a completely different context – and while it wasn’t an athletically gorgeous epic – it gave the audience a sense of gravitas and significance that not only ended the night in big fashion, but justified the big title change in the end.

The match itself was about as simple as it gets. The perpetually badass babyface in Jon Moxley had everything against him. His opponent has a brick wall of cronies lining up at every point to usurp him. His eye is busted. He has no permanent allies in the locker room. He had to battle through carefully laid plans of interference from those aforementioned cronies, and not only did he do that, but he was the one in the driver’s seat all along with his eye being on the mend. He was a babyface that isn’t booked to be a scared of his opponents. He doesn’t cry, bitch, moan, or run. He fights, and Jon Moxley was a beacon of babyface booking and presentation tonight for that reason alone.

Mileage certainly varies when it comes to the timing of the title change. If I’m speaking purely out of selfish desires, I don’t think I’d have taken the belt from Jericho. His performances as champion have been some of his career best work. His match and feud with Cody Rhodes overachieved in a manner that still kind of floors me several months on. His promos have been at their apex. He’s surrounded by such a well fleshed-out group of wrestlers that it feels almost premature to end his reign of terror now. However, it’s not like he’s leaving the business. There’s more to come from Chris Jericho now that he’s in this entirely new light, and there’s something to be said for how excited I am to see what the fallout is for his character specifically.

With all that being said though, I cannot complain about Jon Moxley being crowned here. His Dean Ambrose run in WWE was such a mixed bag of mediocrity, and seeing him succeed on such a grandiose level in AEW warms the heart. He’s a legitimate main event level star and has always had the talent to portray himself as such, but the more he performs outside of the WWE umbrella, the clearer it becomes that he was restricted by obsolescence and incompetence. He’s wrestled better matches in Japan (and even AEW) for sure, but this was exactly what it needed to be. A simple main event professional wrestling battle with the good guy getting what he rightfully deserves. It’s hard to find something wrong with that. ****

8.0

The final score: review Very Good

The 411

While not a beacon of consistency like an NXT Takeover event, AEW's first PPV of 2020 has to be seen as a triumph. In reality, any show with a match as special as Page & Omega vs. The Young Bucks earns that grade, but there still was so much more to the card around the admittedly obvious highlight. Everything had a purpose, and even if not all of it landed - the opener and women's matches being the culprits on that front - the show on a whole felt significant. It felt as though I was watching a pro wrestling company do its best to present something with an identity and a voice, and AEW has always done that with great aplomb. Of course, the tag match itself is worth the price of admission, but you're still getting a darn great wrestling event regardless, so seek this out ASAP.