Ho-lee shit, look at the lineup for this Sunday's AEW Revolution PPV. In terms of match quality this might be the most on-paper stacked show this company has ever put together. Look past the main event which is, granted, not the most exciting thing story-wise but should still deliver big in-ring, and there's a murderer's row of ****+ matchups. AEW is definitely trying to keep the Revolution streak alive. The build for this entire show has been excellent and AEW has had more momentum over the last couple months than they've had in a long time.
I'm just gonna get right into it....
Zero Hour: Big Boom AJ/Orange Cassidy/Mark Briscoe vs. Johnny TV/MxM
Yeah they're still capitalizing on Big Boom and his YouTube followers, but whatever, it's on the pre-show and doesn't matter. If it entices some extra PPV buys, cool. The babyfaces obviously win.
Pick: Big Orange Briscoe
AEW Tag Team Championship: The Hurt Syndicate vs. The Outrunners
Alright, down to business. The Outrunners are finally getting a real tag title shot, and while they sorta banana-peeled into it, the crowd should be pretty hot for this. Magnum and Turbo are super popular and Lashley and Benjamin are over like crazy. I predict a lot of dueling chants. There's no way THS is losing the belts already but hopefully The Outrunners will look good in a loss the same way Harley Cameron just did.
Pick: Hurt Syndicate retains
AEW Continental Championship: Kazuchika Okada vs. Brody King
This will be a low-key G1-style banger. Brody needs to win some gold soon, he's great. Okada is working smarter-not-harder these days but on PPV he never fails to turn it up. I have to think they'll set up Okada-Omega V for All In, which I think will involve both this title and the International one, hopefully to be merged into a single belt. Hmm, the INTERnational Title vs. the CONTINENTAL Title. Some combination of those two words could do just the trick. Anyway, with that in mind I think Okada retains again. But again, hopefully King is elevated regardless.
Pick: Okada retains
TBS Championship: Mercedes Moné vs. Momo Watanabe
Watanabe doesn't have the audience recognition of the AEW regulars but hopefully she'll win the crowd over with good wrestling. I'm curious who will be the one to eventually dethrone Mercedes - it won't be Momo but maybe Harley gets built up for a few more months on her way to a career-making win? This should be very good but will face an uphill battle with the live crowd, particularly on a show this stacked.
Pick: Mercedes retains
Steel Cage: Will Ospreay vs. Kyle Fletcher
It's Will's first singles cage match and I imagine he's got some special stuff planned for it. This feud has made a bona fide star out of Fletcher and hopefully win or lose he'll continue to rise up the ranks; he's a complete package. Ospreay has to have an AEW World Title run in his future, it's just a matter of when. This being the blowoff match, conventional wisdom has Ospreay winning, but I wouldn't be sad if Kyle took this one as he could use the extra boost.
Pick: Ospreay
AEW International Championship: Konosuke Takeshita vs. Kenny Omega
These two had a fantastic singles match 18 months ago and this should be just as great. Takeshita may be NJPW-bound for the next several months since he signed a part-time deal there and there isn't an obvious follow-up AEW feud for him after this. I'm hoping he gets a run with the IWGP World Title this year; he's the best guy on any NJPW show at this point. Since Okada-Omega is the direction for All In I think Kenny captures the belt here.
Pick: Kenny
MJF vs. Hangman Page
This should be a stellar old-school wrestling match. These two have done an excellent job with the build. Great promos, great pull-aparts, MJF tried to light Page on fire. Tons of heat here. I'm gonna say Page NEEDS to win this if it's a one-off. If the plan is a series, Max could take the first match (though I'd still have Page win regardless), but Page has lost SO many PPV matches over the years it's time to give him a major win. He needs to be in the title picture till he gets another run with it.
Pick: Hangman
AEW Women's Championship Falls Count Anywhere: Toni Storm vs. Mariah May
I'm so goddamn excited for this. Toni vs. Mariah is among the best feuds of the past year-plus, and among the best women's feuds of all time. These two play their characters to perfection (check out the sit-down interview this week - only two minutes but man did it land for me) and they're both going to need compelling programs once this one's finished. I'm reminded of Robert Duvall's character in Apocalypse Now lamenting, "Someday this war's gonna end..." I'm picking Toni.
Pick: Toni retains
#1 Contender: Swerve Strickland vs. Ricochet
Dude, how fucking great is Ricochet now? WWE had this guy on the main roster for five years and did absolutely dick with him, and now he's one of the best heels in the business. There are few types of people as hateable in 2025 as an entitled dork who gets violent when he feels slighted, and Ric taps into that so so well he's actually been outperforming Swerve on the mic. No small feat. These two had a great TV match a couple weeks ago and this should be even better. Swerve should of course win and go on to dethrone Moxley next month (fucking FINALLY), and resume the title run that never should've ended when it did. Maybe Swerve-Hangman V at All In, for the belt?
Pick: Swerve
AEW World Championship: Jon Moxley vs. Adam Copeland
Alright, I agree, this is a bit underwhelming as a PPV main event, especially on THIS show. But let's be honest, these two are going to work their asses of to make this a memorable fight. There's going to be a lot of violence and blood, and since Mox was high on Cope's wishlist when he arrived, he'll make this count. Cope absolutely should NOT win the title, ever, nor should Christian Cage successfully cash in his contract, ever. Both those guys are prominent ex-WWE stars in their 50s and not at all what AEW needs as a top champion right now. Seems like Jay White is going to turn heel on Cope and kick off a new feud, which is a great move for White. He's a natural heel and being Cope's babyface sidekick has neutered him. Mox uses the outside help to keep the title and moves on to Swerve.
Pick: Mox retains
AEW Revolution has been for my money the best PPV of the year the last three years, and with this lineup it could very well add a fourth year to that streak. Revolution has become what WrestleKingdom was from 2015-2021, an absolute can't-miss spectacle. I need lots of popcorn....
No comments:
Post a Comment