AEW Revolution 2024 3/3/2024

AEW Revolution 2024 3/3/2024

NOTE - I didn't see Eddie/Bryan yet. I'll cover that as soon as I can.

Pre-show: Willow Nightingale and Kris Statlander vs Skye Blue and Julia Hart

Willow got the win on Skye here. This was a full length match here and went too long. They busted out some different spots for this one than they normally do. I don't exactly know what's going on with Willow/Stoke/Kris, but I think a win would have helped Skye and her new partner in Julia Hart.

TNT Title - Christian Cage (c) vs Daniel Garcia

Garcia had new pink shiny pants on here. It was a longer opening match which I'm not a fan of. Garcia was beaten up on for most of this then he worked Christian's knees for a bit. That ended up being forgotten and we had a bunch of shenanigans with The Patriarchy and Matt Menard getting involved. Christian ended up winning this one.

Lexi talks while Bryan Danielson warms up. She said he's confident he can make Eddie tap out. Renee talked for Eddie sand said eddie dedicates the match to Jun Akiyama.

All Star 8-Man Scramble

 

This isn't a ladder match or anything like that, just a match with 8 people against each other. It was a spotfest as you would expect with lots of dives here. Lance did his moonsaults while rope walking, Jericho and Magnus did stereo asai moonsaults, Jericho did a dive off the top and even Hook did a dive. Jericho threw a fog machine at Hobbs at once point, getting vapor everywhere. Like most of these matches, there were only 2-3 people in for most of this one with everyone else watching outside. Wardlow ended up getting the pin over Dante Martin here and got his eye swollen in the process. 

AEW International Title - Orange Cassidy (c) vs Roderick Strong

They started off fast here. Strong grabbed OC by the pockets and backbreakerd him then OC toped him into the rails. Strong shoulder powerbombed him onto the top buckle and OC took a hard fall off of it in a dangerous spot. They did way too much here with canadian destroyer kickouts and Strong ended up winning.

Kyle O'Reilly ended up coming out after, hugging Strong and having some device hooked into his arm. Kyle refused to join Undisputed Kingdom though, opting not to wear the shirt given to him.

FTR vs Claudio Castagnoli and Jon Moxley

Cash got beat up on for a while early. Dax got busted open hardway and bled big time. Dax took a doomsday device euro uppercut and Mox took a power bomb + top rope lariat combo. Cash did a tope, taking a CC euro off of it then Cash took a neutralizer on the floor. CC then took a piledriver on the floor. Mox choked out Dax with a sleeper to win it not too long after. I didn't like the finish on this one as the sleeper finish was a bit random. They did a little too much here as is customary with these kind of matches and I thought the beat down on Cash early went a little long. Despite being on PPV, they really didn't go that over the top and didn't have the time for a classic.

AEW Women's Title - Toni Storm vs Deonna Purrazzo

Mariah May came out dressed up in Toni's old gear. They trade armdrags early and fought over armlocks. Luther had Toni in his arms at one point and Deonna dove on them. DP had Toni tapped out but Luther and Mariah got involved, then Toni beat DP with the storm zero. I wasn't a fan of this one. It was pretty slow and despite them having real issues, they did a regular technical wrestling match for a lot of this. The finish didn't add anything and I don't like Deonna losing in her first title match.

Will Ospreay vs Konosuke Takeshita

KT did a pop-up doi fives here and hit a spinning blue thunder off of an os cutter attempt. Will took a nasty botched turnbuckle brainbuster that nearly killed Will. KT hit package tombstone and Will hit a hidden blade for 1. Will hit a styles clash and then a tiger driver '91. Will then won with a hidden blade. It was a very dangerous match that Will was lucky he didn't die in. Nothing but big, dangerous moves and kickouts here. Awful stuff.

Kyle Fletcher came down and hugged Will after, then they announced they would have a match on Dynamite.

AEW Title - Samoa Joe (c) vs Swerve Strickland vs Adam Page

Joe won this by tapping out Page with a choke. I was surprised by this one as I was sure Page would win. It wasn't that great with one man being down for most of this while the other two fought. Page knocked the refs down several times and used the title belt on Swerve. I'm not real sure where this leaves Page and Swerve coming out of this one.

Tornado Tag Match - AEW Tag Titles - Sting and Darby Allin vs The Young Bucks

Ricky Steamboat is the guest timekeeper. We got a video of Sting at a movie theater seeing clips of his career. It says "It's Showtime" on it then he says "It's showtime for the last time, let's do this". Sting's kids came out in surfer Sting gear, someone care out in NWO wolfpack Sting gear and Sting just wore his normal gear.

Darby topes The Bucks to start as Sting throws his jacket at them. Sting and Darby hit corner moves then  Sting's kids then hit splashes on The Bucks. It's a shame these guys aren't a tag team as they look cool. Sting then hits a double scorpion deathlock on The Bucks.

The Bucks are thrown over the rails. A buck takes a back body drop on the floor then Darby coffin drops The Bucks outside. Sting brings out glass panes and breaks one with a bat. They fight on the stage and Darby takes a falcon arrow off the stage through a table. Sting is then suplexed off the stage through a table.

Darby is double powerbombed onto a ladder, but bounces onto his feet with it. Darby bangs Nick's head off a ladder. Glass is bridged on chairs outside and Darby climbs a giant ladder. Darby then swantons onto the glass pane and gets nothing. He has blood all on his back and it's ripped apart.

Sting gets in and fights off The Bucks. Sting gets on a ladder then is powerbombed through a table. Sting no sells it then Sting is sent into a glass pane. Sting takes a scorpion deathdrop for 2. A Buck grabs a title. Steamboat tries to take it from him then he is hit in the gut with a chair. Ric Flair  tries to help Sting and tries to make The Bucks back off. Ric then takes a double superkick. Steamboat then takes a double superkick on the apron.

Sting takes a belt shot to the head. Sting fires up and hits a scorpion deathdrop for 2. Sting takes an EVP trigger, kicking out at 1. Sting takes a double superkick. A Buck goes up top and is pushed off of it through a table. Sting hits a scoprion deathdrop for 2 then Darby to rope coffin drops a Buck. Sting then taps a Buck out with a scorpion deathlock.

They did way too much here with Sting and Darby taking moves off the stage early and still being able to go after. Darby even swanton'd himself off a ladder through glass outside and still popped back up. I think a normal tag match with Sting making a big comeback or a big hot tag would have really sufficed just fine here. I liked them bringing in Flair and Steamboat here and having JR and Schiavone on commentary though and I'm glad Sting did get the win. I loved the entrance here with Sting's kids getting involved and while I didn't like a lot of stuff here, I did like the overall presentation of Sting going out with a bang.

Sting thanked the crowd after and said he hoped it was a night the fans wouldn't forget. He said this was a night he would never forget. Sting said Darby was the greatest partner he ever had and wondered how many stitches Darby's back would take. Sting said he has to wait as he's getting cues and the show ends in a stupid moment to hurt the show.

Overall thoughts: It was a long PPV as usual from AEW with every match getting a lot of time...except for Sting's big goodbye. Sting getting his final speech cut off was a legendary AEW screw-up here. I didn't really care for the show much with Will/Takeshita being super dangerous and the 3-way not being that interesting. Sting's final match wasn't perfect but there was some love in there and they did try to make it a special moment. I would maybe check out Sting's match since it's his final match, but not much else.