AEW has a big PPV coming up this Sunday, with some huge title matches and a couple surprises in store, so let's make some predictions!
Revolution is upon us once again. If you've been reading my stuff here at Enuffa.com, you know I consider Revolution 2020 to be AEW's best PPV offering so far. On paper I don't see this show quite living up to that standard, but there's potential here for a pretty great PPV. Two multi-man schmozzes on one PPV is a little much, but aside from that we have three potentially great championship bouts, some big appearances by old timers that won't get in the way of the young stars, one surprise debut, and a big announcement about another. Let's get to it.
Pre-Show Match: Riho & Thunder Rosa vs. Britt Baker & Rebel
I was a little disappointed that neither Riho nor Britt Baker ended up winning the women's Eliminator tournament. I thought either of them could've been a huge opponent for Hikaru Shida and was frankly baffled that Nyla Rose beat both of them since we'd already seen Shida vs. Rose twice. That said, Rose fell in the finals to Ryo Mizunami anyway, so it's all good I guess. All of this to say, Riho is a former champion who's actually better now than when she held the title, and Baker is absolutely a future champion. Turning heel absolutely made her - she has it. And let's not overlook the tremendously talented Thunder Rosa, who should also be in line for a title run. This match could actually be quite good given the talent involved. It's a shame it's only on the pre-show. There's speculation about Rebel not being cleared, in which case maybe there will be a last-minute substitution. No idea who wins this but I'll go with the babyfaces getting the pin on Rebel (or her surrogate).
Pick: Riho & Rosa
Casino Tag Team Battle Royale
I won't go through all the participants here but this company does fun battle royals, so it should be enjoyable. There are some great teams, some not-so-great teams, and a TBA that I'm assuming is Jurassic Express? FTR is curiously absent as well. But let's narrow it down to which teams could possibly earn a Tag Title match at this point. Alex Reynolds & John Silver, Santana & Ortiz, Butcher & Blade, Private Party, Top Flight, Death Triangle, and TBA. I'd say always bet on the TBA, but barring that being a compelling entrant I'll go with Top Flight I guess.
Pick: TBA, unless TBA sucks in which case Top Flight
Miro & Kip Sabian vs. Orange Cassidy & Chuck Taylor
This one is all about paying off the wedding angle where Orange Cassidy crashed Kip Sabian and Penelope Ford's wedding. I see Miro finally getting a prominent win and going into a singles run. Hence why Chuck Taylor is here. I can't see Cassidy eating the pin; instead we'll probably see Miro vs. Cassidy as the singles feud coming out of this. Should be amusing.
Pick: Miro & Kip
Adam Page vs. Matt Hardy
At stake in this match is the winner getting the loser's income for three months. Page has been excellent in-ring, Hardy has been fine. This should be a solid match and hopefully Page finally gets a big singles push coming out of it. Page would be a great candidate to challenge Kenny Omega in May, as they still have unresolved issues from their tag team run.
Pick: Adam Page
Street Fight: Brian Cage & Ricky Starks vs. Darby Allin & Sting
I assume this will be a cinematic match to protect the 61-year-old Sting. The other three guys are all really good and should provide some fun action. I'm okay with using Sting as an active wrestler if it's done extremely sparingly. He can still move around great and execute his big moves crisply. Just don't make a habit of it or give him a title match. If this is used to put over the three young guys, I'm on board.
Pick: Darby & Sting have to win this
Face of the Revolution Ladder Match: Cody Rhodes vs. Scorpio Sky vs. Penta vs. Lance Archer vs. Max Caster vs. TBA
This should be a pretty great car wreck of a match, with the winner getting a future TNT Title shot. Penta is amazing, Caster is a helluva young talent, Scorpio is impressive, Archer will be the dependable big man who can also do crazy spots. Cody is Cody. And then there's another TBA. No idea who that could be. I know Christian is a free agent, but I'm not at all excited by that prospect; he's 47 years old and not much of a draw without Edge. Bringing him in would feel like TNA circa 2005, so I hope he's neither this TBA nor Paul Wight's big announcement. A more exciting prospect, especially given the Face of the Revolution moniker, would be for Tessa Blanchard to debut here, breaking all sorts of boundaries by entering a men's ladder match, having previously held a major men's championship. That would be newsworthy. Either way I'm going with TBA again.
Pick: TBA
AEW Women's Championship: Hikaru Shida vs. Ryo Mizunami
Well this seems an odd choice for a top contender, in spite of Mizunami's obvious in-ring talent. This match should be very good, as these two have a history together. I'm looking forward to it to be sure, but considering how much bigger a Shida-Baker or Shida-Riho match would've been it's a weird move elevating a Japanese star mostly unfamiliar to the AEW audience. Maybe something happened behind the scenes, like a new signing, where they said "Let's hold off on Baker getting the shot, we have this new person waiting in the wings." I dunno. But I can't see Ryo winning the title here since she's only been on AEW television a handful of times.
Pick: Shida retains
AEW Tag Team Championship: The Young Bucks vs. Chris Jericho & MJF
I see this match stealing the show, adding another potential MOTY contender to the Bucks' resume. Add in the attack on Matt and Nick's father last week, and this match becomes quite heated. This could end up being MJF's best match to date. As a side note I'd actually like to see MJF and Wardlow get a Tag Title run at some point. Since they're clearly building to The Bucks vs. Anderson & Gallows I think the Bucks retain here and Jericho and MJF come one step closer to splitting off, but this should be tremendous.
Pick: Bucks retain
AEW Championship Exploding Barb Wire Death Match: Kenny Omega vs. Jon Moxley
What an odd choice for a stipulation. I hope they can pull this off; either it'll be super memorable or fall flat on its face. Not much room for anything in between. Truth be told I'd rather see a traditional wrestling match between these two, but their wild hardcore match in 2019 was really good for its type. Hopefully this match will at least equal that one. Kenny obviously has to retain since he's only been champ a few months, and Moxley could concievably get kayfabe injured and be off TV for a little while.
Pick: Kenny retains
Paul Wight Announcement
Paul has promised the announcement of a new AEW signee, a "Hall of Fame-worthy talent" who will be a big asset to the company. Unless this is a WCW-level bait and switch, I see three possibilities. "Hall of Fame-worthy" implies this person has been around a long time and made their name in WWE. So there's the aforementioned Christian, who would be a monumental letdown. Christian is a great worker and very charismatic, but outside of WWE's definition of the term, his career has hardly been "Hall of Fame-worthy." He was an upper-midcard guy in WWE and then got pushed too hard and too fast in TNA, while not really moving their needle. So I'll be very disappointed if he's the guy. The second possibility is Brock Lesnar, whose WWE contract ended months ago. That would obviously be a HUGE get for AEW given his status as one of the biggest PPV draws of all time. But I don't see that happening. AEW would need to spend at least $5 million a year to get Brock, and while he'd be a surefire ratings boost I don't think there's room to both use him effectively AND build new stars the way they need to. Not to mention I imagine he has some loyalty to Vince. My third pick would be CM Punk, who I see as a perfect balance of someone with star power to increase ratings and someone who can help make new stars. Punk vs. Omega would be a huge dream match they could build for Double or Nothing, or even All Out. He's had a Hall of Fame career and would certainly be a big asset to the company. Why they haven't made him a serious offer already is beyond me. So yeah, I'm rooting for CM Punk to be the reveal.
Well that's the lineup. As always Revolution should be a strong PPV and could be of historical significance depending on how these surprises shake out. Stay tuned.....
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