AEW Revolution 2021 3/7/2021
Britt Baker claims Rebel is injured and can't wrestle tonight. Rebel the ncame out with a crutch. Maki Itoh then came out as her replacement. They have her sing but the sound is too quiet for most of it. It gets sortened out half way through it but I'm sure most people had no idea what was going on. I would not have debuted her this way on American soil. She also lost her ear piece during this.
Britt Baker and Maki Itoh with Rebel vs Thunder Rosa
Riho works on Baker's arm early. Riho cartwheels off the ropes and hits a dropkick then titl-a-whirl headscissors Britt. They both tag out.
Rosa and Itoh trade forearms. Itoh cried after some forearms then stepped on Rosa's foot. Itoh hits some bad corner punches and Rosa drops Riho on Itoh. Riho 619's Itoh for 2.
Riho and Itoh trade forearms and Itoh misses a running headbutt. Riho does a top rope crossbody onto Itoh. Britt hits a slingblade on Rosa and Itoh hits a headbutt on Rosa. Itoh tornado ddt's Rosa then misses a top rope headbutt. Riho comes in and tries a running knee but Itoh rolls backwards and single leg crabs her, but Riho hits the ropes.
Riho tries a strike but Itoh blocks it with her head then Itoh headbutts her. Britt comes in and hits a schwein on Riho. Rebel gets on the apron after Rosa and Britt trade some pinfall attempts and Britt ends up running into her. Rosa then hits a death valley driver on her but Itoh breaks it up. Rebel hits Rosa in the head with a crutch then Britt rolls her up for the win.
I thought this was a little long for an opener and I don't know about starting a show off with a dirty finish.
AEW Tag Team Championship - The Young Bucks vs MJF and Chis Jericho with Wardlow
JR is hoarse and the night just started. They went outside early and the Bucks hit double topes on their opponents. Then they did stereo sunset flips and sharpshooters. The Bucks bridged Jericho on the middle rope then one of them swanton'd him. Jericho hit a springboard dropkick to Nick on the apron.
MJF and Jericho step on Nick then do the Bucks' pose. Wardlow held the middle rope when Matt ran it and Matt fell out. Matt took a delayed double suplex. He was picked on for a while then hit a double ddt on both opponents for the Nick hot tag. Nick hit a combo bulldog/lariat and a slingshot canadian destroyer which of course was only for 2.
The Bucks hit a combo shiranui/powerbomb on MJF, which also should have ended the match. Jericho hit a tombstone and the other Buck went for the Meltzer driver anyway in a stupid botch. MJF countered Matt's hurricanrana with a powerbomb. MJF did a bunch of crotch chops to Matt. Matt got hit with something from Jericho and took a middle rope piledriver but still kicked out. The Bucks hit double crossbodies then double superkicked Jericho off a lionsault. They then hit a botched Meltzer Driver and won it.
This went around 20 minutes. As usual, they did too much and the selling was not the focus. And for how much they were doing, it felt like it went on forever.
Casino Tag Team Royale for a future AEW World Tag Team Championship match
The rules for this took up a whole graphic. A new team enters every 90 seconds here and both wrestlers have to be eliminated for the team to leave the match. We know this is going over 20 minutes.
QT got yelled at by Dustin for eliminating the Gunn's then spit on him and eliminated himself. Jack Evans was hiding under the ring and helped eliminate 10 but the camera's missed most of it. I did not get to see the finish and will report back on this when I do.
Paul Wight was interviewed in the back. He said he will be giving us scoops and said a hint for the new debut tonight will be someone who can outwork anyone.
Al Snow and DDT were seen at ringside. Snow had an OVW face cover on.
They showed a package for the women's title match with Ryo saying AEW encouraged her to keep wrestling. Shida said 10 years ago that Ryo told her she couldn't beat here in a 100 years. She said she drew her 3 times.
AEW Women's World Title - Hikaru Shida vs Ryo Mizunami
Shida stole Ryo's taunt early, then Ryo tried to it but got interrupted. Shida jumped off a chair with double knee's on Ryo but got thrown over the barricade into fans. Ryo blocked a Shida hip throw. Shida hit a Peach Sunrise/MK Ultra on the ramp. then superplexed her back in. Ryo hit some headbutts then two hard lariats. Shida came back with a stiff ofrearm and running knee.
They traded forearms and Ryo hit her with a uranage and a spear. Ryo then hit a top rope legdrop but it was only for 2. Shida came back with a straightjacket german that Ryo didn't sell, then Ryo hit her in the back of the head with a lariat. Shida didn't sell that much either and hit two falcon arrows for 2. Shida hit another running knee an enzugiri but only got another 2. She hit yet another running knee but it was still only for 2. Shida then hit a spinning knee and won it.
As customary, they did way too much here with endless kickouts. It wasn't actually too bad until they started doing all that, which really brought down the match.
Both Shida and Ryo were beat down after the match by Itoh, Rose, Baker and Vickie Guerrero but all of them ran when Rosa came down. Why 4 people would be scared of a 1v4 is beyond me.
They announced Double or Nothing 3 on May 30th, 2021. This is on a Sunday again.
Alex Marvez interviewed Orange Cassidy and Chuck Taylor. Miro and Kip jumped them. Chuck was thrown into a wall and had his head thrown the glass on a door, and OC was slammed onto an electrical box.
Miro and Kip Sabian with Penelope Ford vs Chuck Taylor and Orange Cassidy
Chuck is bleeding and gets thrown into the ring. Miro then grabs a mic and yells at him. Chuck gets beat up to start this and was springboard dropkicked by Kip.
Chuck made a come back after a little but had nobody to tag in as OC hadn't arrived to the ring yet. OC ran off the stage and hit a superman punch to Miro who was a few steps down. OC then tope'd Kip and did a diving DDT on him from the top. Kip came back with a falcon arrow and took a tilt-a-whirl ddt. OC had Kip up for a samurai driver then Chuck double stomped Kip while he was up there for 2.
OC then put his hands in his pockets and did the stupid shin kicks. Ford distracted OC and Miro pushed OC into her. Miro then hit a high kick and a nasty swinging slam. Miro then put a camel clutch on Chuck soon after and won.
OC doing the stupid pockets thing in a grudge match like this was so dumb and hurt this match. Miro looked okay here at least and they thankfully didn't book him to lose. Hopefully this is the end of that feud.
Chrirs Jericho and MJF were interviewed with Santana and Ortiz. Jericho didn't like him being told he failed tonight. Jericho said the Inner Circle would have a war council on Wednesday as they need to make a change. MJF agreed and they pounded fists. One has to assume MJF is turning on Jericho.
Big Money Match - Matt Hardy vs Hangman Page
The build to this was really dumb. Page already had Hardy's money thanks to the contract but put that and his money up for grabs here which made no sense.
Page controls early and hits a fallaway slam. Hardy was thrown over the rails outside and Page jumped off a rail with a double axe handle on him. Page accidentally punched the post outside. Hardy put Page's hand between the steps and the stage and pushed the steps in.
Hardy continued to work the hand, biting the fingers and pulling them apart. Page made a comeback and hit a small springboard lariat with Hardy on the apron but soon after he took a twist of fate on the outside.
Page was put on the middle turnbuckles and Hardy german suplexed him off, which he took a hard bump for. Page came back and he and Hardy went over the top on his lariat. Page then moonsaulted off the top onto Hardy on the floor.
Back in and Page jumped off the top on him then hit a sliding lariat. Matt hit a splash mountain on Page for 2 out of the corner. Page hit a samurai driver and Private Party jumped on the apron. Then they jumped on the ropes and Page cleared them out. He then tried a buckshot lariat but took a side effect and a twist of fate which of course was only worth 2.
The Dark Order then came out to help and saved Page from falling off the apron then Page hit a buckshot lariat to win.
This was a long match with a ton of big moves and kickouts which just weren't needed for a midcard feud like this. The work on Page's hand which made up a lot of this ended up being completely disregarded and didn't end up meaning anything.
The Dark Order and Page hugged after and gave him beer.
Face of the Revolution Ladder Match - Penta El Zero Miedo vs Cody Rhodes vs Lance Archer vs Scorpio Sky vs Max Caster vs Ethan Page
They have to grab the brass ring here which is a shot at Vince. Max did a rap mentioning a politician who was accused of sexually harassing his workers and Dr. Seuss's books which was were banned from many places this week. Archer punched out someone on his way to the ring.
Ethan Page was the mystery participant here. He just left Impact recently and he is supposedly not Paul Wight's big surprise man today.
Archer throws a ladder at two opponents early. Penta does a sling blade on Archer while Archer holds the ladder, but it wasn't too clean. Penta then got german suplexed with a ladder in hand and it almost went off the ropes.
Jack Evans came out with a boombox then 10 followed him and spinebustered him on the stage. Cody did a springboard disaster kick on Max and Archer was rammed through the middle part of the ladder. Max hit Cody with his boombox. Penta runs up the ladder(which is bridged on the middle rope) and flips onto multiple people. Page botched a slam on Sky on the ladder then threw Sky on the ladder while Archer was between the legs of it.
Cody springboard dropkicked Penta off the ladder. A ladder was bridged between the apron and the rail and Penta hit a canadian destroyer on Cody on it. Page was suplexed onto the floor. Max and Sky fought on two different ladders in the ring. Page and Archer joined them but there wasn't a big spot. Scorpio hit a bad neckbreaker on Penta off the ladder. During all of this Cody was being attended to in the entrance trunnels.
Max hit a sunset bomb on Pager over the ladder. Scorpio frogsplashed Max while he was laying on the ladder. Sky was on the top rope and Archer ran up the buckles to knee him and Sky went through a ladder on the outside. Page was in the tree of woe and max was belly to belly suplexed on him. Cody came back out and hit people with his belt.
Cody hit a cross Rhodes on Page. He climbed a ladder in the corner and was superplexed off a ladder, then Max hit an elbow from the ladder onto Cody's back. Archer gets back in and chokeslams everyone, then he hits Max with a blackout on the ladder. Page low blows Archer when he's on top of the ladder then razor's edge's him. Jake then hits him with a short arm ddt, the Penta superkicks Jake. Cody tried some kind of Cody cutter to Penta on the ladder but it was botched. Cody and Scorpio fought on top of the ladder and Scorpio knocked him off to win it.
The mystery man is going to be revealed and it turns out to be Christian, who will be known as Christian Cage. My guess is he still wanted to wrestle and WWE said no or low-balled him and he went to AEW. Had he not just wrestled at the Royal Rumble it would have meant more. The announcement wasn't that exciting as Big Show's signing was more shocking and the hype got too big.
Street Fight - Darby Allin and Sting vs Ricky Starks and Brian Cage
This from an "undisclosed location". It's some building with a ring. This is a cinematic match. Darby skateboards in and Sting drives a car in. We also see a girl in a mask who shoots fire out of a gun and some people in hoodies and Sting masks. Darby rides a skateboard down a hill and then rides the back of Sting's pick-up truck.
Sting's facepaint is half Darby's facepaint. The Sting hoodie guys surround the ring. Darby jumps off a wall on Cage. abd Cage beats up some of the Sting people outside. Cage carries Darby by his pants then throws him through a door. Starks gets clotheslined over the top and seems to hit his arm hard off the floor. Sting throws a bat at Starks who runs. Starks gets slammed into the wall a few times as does Darby.
Cage puts Darby in a vertical suplex and walks him up the steps then suplexes him on a trash can. Cage gets dropkicked into a wall. Starks rams a giant barrell into Sting. String sprays Cage with a fire extinguisher and Darby breaks a bottle over Cage's head.
Cage gets spinebustered onto wood and Starks hits Sting with a 2x4. Darby cilmbs a pillar and coffin drops Starks. Hobbs in an orange mask powerbombs Darby into a pillar then Hook judo throws Darby on the concrete. Darby is swung through a class window.
Cage hits Sting with a shovel and Darby throws Sting a bat, which he breaks over Cage's back. Sting then hits Cage with a shovel and Darby coffin drops him from a high window down to another floor! Sting misses a splash and hits the exposed buckle and Starks spears him for 2. Sting gets back up and hits a scorpion death drop for the win.
This was a really entertaining match. They didn't do too much and they had some pretty cool spots. Darby's dive was just insane. This was one of the better cinematic matches. The only real question here was what happened to the masked guys.
We are now in hour 3 and the main is surely going over 30.
AEW World Championship - Exploding Barbed Wire Time Bomb Triple Hell Death Match - Kenny Omega (c) vs Jon Moxley
Moxley has an Onita leather jacket on and enters through the crowd area. The ref, Bryce Remsberg, has a full body suit on and a plastic full face covering. No broom girls for this one. Thankfully someone talked him out of that.
They do the customary tease of throwing someone in early. Kenny gets lariated over the top onto the ramp on the side that doesn't have barbed wire on it. A trashcan is there with a barbed wire bat which Mox uses. Moc then russian legsweeps Kenny with the bat on the ramp. Back in and Kenny throws powder in Kenny's eyes, then is thrown into the exploding barbed wire. It wasn't one of the better explosions but it was better than some.
Kenny drops Mox's knee on a standing trash can. Mox gets busted open and put in the figure four. Mox has a bunch of blood. Mox grabs a barbed wire chair and saws Omega's knee with it. They get back up and Mox goes into the barbed wire table set up in the corner. Kenny hits an asai moonsault for 2 then starts caning Jon.
Mox pushes Kenny off with his feet and he goes into the exploding ropes twice with these ropes being able to explode twice. Kennyy then takes an exploder suplex then a second one onto the barbed wire wood table in the corner. Kenny takes a german then a side slame on the barbed wire chair. Mox wraps his arm in barbed wire but takes a couple of dragon suplexes. Mox doesn't sell it though and comes back with a lariat on the barbed wire arm at 15 minutes.
Mox goes into the ropes and we get a nice explosion on that one. Kenny starts really holding his eye. The explosions on that side get turned off after this as they fight on the apron. Mox hits his double underhook ddt off the apron onto the barbed wire boards outside and the explosion on that was just pyro.
They go back in and Mox hits Kenny with barbed wire then he piledrives him. Kenny gets back up and thunder fire powerbombs him then v-triggers him into the buckles twice. Kenny then hits the one winged angel for 2. Mox's foot hits the ropes and triggers the explosion in a neat spot to break up that pin.
The Good Brothers come down and Mox beats them with the barbed wire bat but Kenny hits Mox with an exploding barbed wire bat in the face which of course is only a 2. Mox then takes a one winged angel through a chair and thankfully wins it.
After the match, the counter for the explosion continues. Mox gets handcuffed and beaten up. Kenny rubs the barbed wire bat in Mox's head and hits him with it. We get the minute timer and we get a clock and a siren, finally! Everyone runs for it except Omega. Eddie Kingston comes out and tries to save Mox, then lays over top of him as the explosion goes off We get a super weak explosion that was hilarious.
I expected it to be silly and goofy. It wasn't. But I also expected them to do too much and to not sell enough and they definitely did that here. The blood was nice but this match should have been over a long time ago with some of the stuff they did. The ddt off the apron, the exploding bat to the face and the original one winged angel should have been enough.
The explosions were better than the IWA King of the Deathmatch explosions but weaker than almost every FMW explosion ever. The last explosion was really really bad and hurt the match.
Overall thoughts: Almost every match went too long with not enough selling and too many moves. Itoh's, Cage's and Page's debuts were all botched and the main event final explosion was botched. Almost every match went too long with everyone doing too much and while I appreciate the effort, it's better to work smarter than harder. I would honestly give this a 3 or 4 out of 10 and that's mostly for effort and not for my personal enjoyment.
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