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COMPLETE AEW REVOLUTION BLOG

Here we are, ladies and gentlemen, we're here for what is sure to be a polarizing night.  I, for one, have never seen a match like the Exploding Ring Barb Wire Death Match.  I'm not exactly sure what to expect here.  On the one hand, I appreciate innovation as much as the next guy.  These guys are going to work their tails off to make this memorable.  On the other hand, I'm afraid these two are going to do ungodly things to themselves to try and prove some kind of point.  If the bar gets raised too high, then where the heck does mainstream wrestling go from here?

Your Role Model, Dr. Britt Baker, sans Rebel (REBA!!!).  Reba is out of action with an injury, apparently verified by the team doctor for the Jacksonville Jaguars.  Maki Ihto is introduced as her replacement.  The crowd seems to really like it as she sings her way to the ring.  Given her bubbly personality, and BY GAWD she is putting everything into her entrance, I don't foresee a smooth partnership.  Thunder Rosa and Riho are the opposition. Gonna give Tony Khan his due here, this pre show match has some real bonafide star power. What Baker lacks at this point in career, she more than makes it for it with her star power.  I'm invested big time in her and Thunder Rosa.  Ihto flips off Thunder Rosa.  Heck, I may have been wrong about her meshing.  Knowing nothing about her, I assumed she was a big time babyface.  I've heard of her but never experienced her at all.  

Fairly standard fare thus far. I appreciate these women giving us a little appetizer for the PPV proper without overdoing it.  Nice little showcase and announcers, to their credit, are really doing a solid job fleshing out the characters here.  Ihto almost gets the tap out on Riho.  Lots of back and forth, Rosa almost puts this away with a Death Valley.  Rebel (REBA) uses her crutch on Thunder Rosa to set up the pin.  Excellent way to whet our appetites.

The PPV proper is coming up NEXT!

In memory of Jim Crocket Jr.  May he rest in peace and thank you for all you did for me as a fan.

WOW!  We're kicking things off with the World Tag Team Championship.  Jacksonville is more than happy to sing along as Chris Jericho and MJF with Wardlow enter the ring.  The story AEW did making this personal was commendable in my opinion.  I listened to MJF on Talk is Jericho this week and I stand even stronger in my opinion that they need the titles here.  There is too much on the vine to have them fail and break this act up.  MJF is one of the most punchable man ever in wrestling, the exact opposite of Cory Strode (miss ya tonight, buddy).

So far a very nice mix of Young Bucks craziness and Jericho and MJF slowing things down with chicanery.  The only issue I'm having here is that we're 10 days away from Papa Buck being beaten bloody, but yet here they are wrestling and trying to be flashy as opposed to fighting, which is what this should be, a knock down drag out grudge match.  MJF lands straight down on his head from a Canadian Destroyer.  That looked scary but he's right back on his feet.  Excalibur with a Motor City Machine Guns reference.  Hmmm...I wonder.

Odd mistime on a springboard move and Jericho nails the Walls of Jericho.  Jade Cargill sits ringside.  OK, OK, she did well Wednesday, I admit it.  So far there's been very little mention of the issue with Sammy Guevara.  I can't help but think he'll be involved.  The challengers come within a hair's breath of winning after some Wardlow interference.  Jericho is making this slow down, so as a match this is much more fluid than standard Young Buck fare.  Superkick party on poor MJF.  Meltzer Driver and the Young Bucks pin Jericho to retain.

Definitely a solid opener.  I'm going to maintain the wrong team won here.  That is in no way a knock on the Bucks at all.  I just think the story plays out better with MJF and Jericho as champions.

Jim Ross' voice is not going to make it through the night.  He is a warrior for trying because it's as plain as day he is suffering.

Tag Team Casino Royale is next and they're going Royal Rumble rules as opposed to the usual AEW fare of five at a time.

Dustin Rhodes & QT Marshall kick things off with Dark Order 5 and 10.  Order of entrance is every 90 seconds.  Both members of a team must be thrown over the top and on to the floor.  Good to see 5 and 10 getting some real face time on PPV.

Santana and Ortiz are next and they go straight to town on the Natural Nightmares.  A QT Marshall cutter sends 5 over the top.  

Matt and Mike Sydal are next, followed by Evil Uno and Stu Grayson.  The Dark Order looks to have 3 teams here, as Silver and Reynolds are coming in later.  Mike Sydal eliminated.  So far we've got your standard Battle Royal match, nothing anyone will remember tomorrow.  Austin and Colton Gunn of the Gunn Club are next and, good lord, Colton looks like his dad.  Makes me feel very old to think I sat in arenas watching Billy Gunn before these guys were even born. 

Cesar Bononi and Pretty Peter Avalon come in next.  I've got 1:10 as the under/over on Avalon.  Admittedly, I really dig his entrance music.  Good thing I put zero cash down on that little prediction.  The Varsity Blonds, my Dark Horse pick, come in next.  I think there's so much upside to them.  Avalon lasted 2:11.  I was close.  QT eliminates Bonani and the Gunn Club, which leads to an odd argument.  Bear Country is next.  The argument dealt with QT eliminating fellow stablemates the Gunn Club. Marshall eliminates himself in disgust.

Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus are next and the crowd is singing along even after the music stops.  Jungle Boy eliminates Ortiz.  Good night Cesar Bonani, courtesy of Luchasaurus.  Butcher and Blade are next and they're going toe to with Bear Country.  Thank goodness I'm not on Play by Play.  I can't keep up.  Private Party is next, followed by SCU, Kazarian and Daniels.  Now the pledge is that they'll break up next time they lose.  If they don't win here, does it count?  SCU, to me, is one of AEW's biggest missteps in how they've been used.  Fenix and Pac are in next.  Bear Country eliminate Luchasaurus and then both get tossed.  Nice little run tonight by Bear Country, who have Otis type charisma.  That's a compliment.

In next are my pick to win, the Mighty Dark Order of John Silver and Alex Reynolds. They drew the final entrant.  We're down to 4: Jurassic Express, Death Trinagle, SCU and Dark Order.  Jungle Boy eliminates Reynolds, and Fenix takes care of Silver.  We're down to Jungle Boy v Fenix and Pac and it's another star making turn for Jungle Boy, who eliminated Pac. I can't even describe the insanity going on and it's FENIX who gets the win for Death Triangle.  They get the next shot. Speaking of shots, I need one after trying to follow this.

Paul Wight hypes the big signing.  This better be big, or else it becomes Dixie Carter-ish

Ryo Mizunami vs Hikaru Shida is up next. Shids is a star, plain and simple.  No way she should lose here tonight.  Ryo looked really good beating Nyla Rose on Wednesday.  When Shida eventually loses, it should mean something huge.  Mizunami, to me, is not up to that level yet in AEW.  These rapid chops that they're trying to throw at each other looks really really bad.  No offense to either of them, but they're going so fast that they can't register AND the person taking it looks ridiculous basically standing there offering no defense.  Gotta say these two have been spotty at best here.  Shida slaps her leg in full view of the camera.  She nails a dropkick for 2.  

Shida nails a vertebreaker and hopefully they can re group.  Rapid fire head butts by the challenger that come nowhere close to contact.  I know I'm going to be in the minority here but this isn't clicking for me at all. They're working their butts off and the announcers are correctly pointing out the physicality.  BTW Excalibur has taken the lead on commentary here.  JR gave it all he had  and maybe he'll try and rebound but that voice was not sounding good at all.

Mizunami gets dropped on her head and immediately springs to her feet.  May have been too quick and he's holding her neck.  We're trading high impact strikes and 2 counts to draw the audience in.  Seems like they missed the finish as Mizumani kicked out twice from Shida's knee strikes.  Shida had to hit a third and a hard roll up to pin the challenger to retain. And here comes Nyla Rose, Maki Ihto, Reba and Britt Baker to beat down champion and challenger.  Thunder Rosa gets a little shine back by making the save.

You're not going to hear me complain about the work here, but this one just didn't click like it should have.

Alex Marvez proves he can't a question in as he tries to interview Chuck Taylor and Orange Cassidy.  Miro and Kip Sabian attack and drag their opponents out for tonight's match.

Chuck got busted open hardway and the match has started without Orange Cassidy.  Taylor is going to have a hell of a shiner tomorrow.  Cassidy shows up a few minutes in, staggering to the ring.  The pre match beating didn't seem that bad.  It was a RUSE as Cassidy lays out Miro with the Orange Punch.  So now Sabian is lowering the boom on Cassidy but OC keeps kicking out.  Kind of weakens Kip as a threat to keep failing like this.  Kind of a wild scenario here as Miro shoves Cassidy into Penelope Ford.  Miro then cleans up on Taylor and Cassidy and finishes Chuck off with the Accolade.  This was quick, way too fast to mean anything except to get Miro over as a monster.

We're getting an Inner Circle War Council Wednesday.

Here's where In scratch my head a little.  Matt Hardy vs. Hangman Page in the Big Money Match.  We're about 1/2 through the show.  This match, no offense to the guys, is not something they did a good job getting me invested in. Matt Hardy has made this transition from Broken Matt to regular Matt to Big Money Heel Matt way too quickly and without decent enough reason.  They could have told an effective story over a few months where Hardy is desperate to sign Page as a talent but Page with a wink and a nod week in and week out over the course of a longer build.  This entire match, and the angle behind it, is a mere 4 weeks in the making.  Matt Hardy's a legend, no doubt, but at this stage he has no business going toe to toe with THE guy in waiting.

JR is picking his spots on commentary.  Basic story here is that Matt worked the hand of Page early on to keep this close.  Page hit a beautiful moonsault to the floor.  It might be time for this one to go home.  Just because you can go 15-20 minutes on PPV, doesn't necessarily mean you should.  Perfunctory interference from Private Party brings out the Dark Order for a little brawl.  Page with the Buckshot Lariat to win Matt Hardy's money.

Technically, there was nothing wrong with this.  It checked off all the Hangman Page and Matt Hardy boxes.  I'm just not sure, aside from the Dark Order-Page storyline advancing, what this really accomplished. 

Face of the Revolution time as Max Caster does it again with his entrance.  Absolutely love how this kid is killing it on the mic.  He's topical, I'll give him that (Gov. Cuomo would not have approved, I'm sure).  Lance Archer, Penta, Cody Rhodes and Scorpio Sky round out the first 5 entrants, but who's the sixth?  If this were WWE we wouldn't know until the very end of the match.  Jade Cargill is clapping for Cody as he comes to the ring.  Given that, in AEW storyline, Shaq is missing, shouldn't she be more concerned? I won't say it, I'm in too good a mood.  All Ego Ethan Page is the surprise sixth entrant.  I gotta say, I was hoping for Mance Warner.

The only thing going through my mind right now is Kenny Omega and Jon Moxley are watching this to make sure they top whatever may happen here.  Jack Evans gets involved and then spinebustered to hell by Dark Order 10 for his trouble.  Something went wrong between Sky and Ethan Page as Archer had to keep himself set up a looooong time between the bases of a ladder waiting for someone to get power bombed on top of him.  Cody takes a Destroyer on a ladder from Penta.  Ouch, that had to hurt both those guys.  Cody gets taken to the back.  I always feel bad for the guy in the inevitable postion where he's alone at the top of the ladder but the guy who's supposed knock him down isn't in position yet.  In this case, Scorpio Sky had to awkwardly stand there and pretend he can't reach the brass ring.  Still, it's better than getting thrown into a ladder so hard it breaks. 

Cody returns and he's selling like a champ.  They're working hard, no doubt.  Hell even Jake Roberts gets involved with a short clothesline.  Now they're just having a blast with steel chairs.  Scorpio Sky finally grabs the brass ring after knocking Cody off the ladder once and for all.  Hard work from all six but, to be perfectly honest, this one never got out of 2nd gear for me.  

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT TIME!  It's Christian Cage.  Good for him, I guess.  I have to be really honest, no disrespect.  This is not a game changer.  It's a good signing and I do love and respect the man, but this is not a signing that's going to make a difference in the whole spectrum.

Video package of the 8-9 times Sting and Darby Allin have chased off Team Taz leading to the street fight.  AEW has one last chance to salvage this faction.  Through absolutely no fault of their own, they've been neutered and made to look as effective as Paul Jones' Army.

Taz joins the booth.  Hopefully this'll give JR more time to rest that voice.  Guy is a warrior!

Ricky Starks and Brian Cage arrive in the street in a car that I will never be able to afford.  Hell, I'm not convinced I'm even allowed to look at it.  This is a Cinematic Match all the way.  The presentation alone on the two teams entrances alone is incredible.  Kudos to AEW for making this look so dramatic.  Darby's hoodlums are surrounding the ring and Cage is just pulverizing them. 

Very dramatic goth music.  The presentation is excellent.  Cage and Allin are brawling all over and Sting and Starks are working in the ring.  Smartly, the focus is on Cage and Darby.  The beauty of the Sting character here is that, obviously, we all know how old he is, but in this setting, the make-up, the filming etc., he looks like he belongs. He catches up to Darby and Cage and we have all four brawling.  Sting gets laid out by Starks with a 2x4.  Darby with a coffin drop on Starks and Powerhouse Hobbs with the save (with Hook in tow).  They send Darby through a plate class window,

Sting broke the bat on Brian Cage's back and Darby Allin take him out for good with a coffin drop from the balcony of the warehouse this thing is taking place at.  That's at least 2 stories.  Was it Darby? Was it a stunt man?  Who cares!  This is fun as hell!  Scorpion Death Drop and Sting gets the pin on Starks.

I have DESPISED the booking of Team Taz throughout the feud.  This, however, was one heck of a presentation.  I give Starks, Cage, Allin, Sting and, especially, the AEW production team a TON of credit and applause.

Well, here we go.  The match I've never seen but not 100% sure I want to.  Main Event on the way!  Jon Moxley v Kenny Omega for the AEW World Tilte in an Exp...oh hell you know what it's called.

Referee Bryce Remsberg is in full protective body suit.  Can't blame him.  Moxley takes the long route in.  The champion is taking this way more seriously: no dancing girls, no North Caroooollinaaaaaaaaaaa, just a flat out entrance.  Justin Roberts is doing the intros from the stage.  Moxley takes a swig from a flask.  I like the presentation but I'm seriously afraid of these guys are willing to go through.  The barbed wire looks legit.  If the match hits 30 minutes, all the explosives will detonate.

Don Callis joins the booth.  Interesting chess match so far as these guys aren't risking anything yet for fear of the wire.  Moxley has the barb wire bat, which I don't think is legit as Omega never really flinched.  Moxley goes into the wire and we get a fire cracker detonation.  Not devastating if you ask me.  These explosions need to really look good.  Nothing happened to Moxley's back but he's busted wide open.  He's bleeding a gusher and goes into the particle board covered in wire.

Schiavone is telling us that we're 20 minutes away.  Omega goes into the wire and we get more explosions.  These were a little louder.  Omega got slammed on his posterior and Moxley wraps his arm up in wire.  Moxley nails a lariat. Third explosion is a little more impressive but the smoke went right into Kenny's eyes.  I'm honestly not sure how I feel about this.  A Paradigm Shift to the barbed wire on the floor from the apron and now Omega is wearing the crimson mask.  The phrase Blood Born Disease is going through my mind.  I get suffering for your art, but this is uncomfortable to watch.  I'm not going to damn anyone who likes this but this sort of dangerous activity isn't for me.  

We're about 6 minutes away.  Good Brothers interfere (Anderson us wearing his Impact title belt).  Omega with an exploding baseball bat to the head and a One Winged Angel through a chair this one is mercifully over.  Kenny Omega pins Moxley and the attack continues, with the ides being the ring will explode with Moxley lying half-dead in it.  Mox is handcuffed as we count down to the final explosion.  Eddie Kingston ran out to protect Moxley.  He lays on top of Moxley to protect him and....

The final explosion!!!! And we got....sparklers and a little boom.  Kingston is selling like he's dead.  That "explosion" was awful.  Absolute fart in church. The AEW fans are booing this.  Deservedly so.  That was weak.  I can't describe to you how bad that came off.

Thanks for reading.  I need some time to process that ending.

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