This whole writing thing is so … weird. As somebody who has had a steady job since they got outta high school – first at an animal hospital for ten years, then at four (very) different auto shops for around 15 more – just sitting at a desk and thinking, and letting those words get going is a big change. I love doing it, especially this blog thing. I’d like to think the handful of folks who click on these at least read the opening monologue, even if they aren’t really getting into the wrestling discourse of it all, but who’s to say?
And that’s when it gets hard to sit down and do it, when ya start thinking like that. As I always say when I write about my dad, this is as much for me as it is for anyone else. I got my first paying gig writing about wrestling through this blog, and at this point it serves as much as an audition as it does free therapy for your beloved author. I also just like the process. I fill my coffee mug, sit at my desk, and do the “fun” writing before I get into the paid stuff. But even the fun stuff still requires work, you know? Picking a quote to subtweet under the promotional stuff, putting the work out there on socials in hopes that maybe somebody takes a chance and gives the thing a read – that’s not nothing, and it actually makes me a little nervous.
All that is to say that I usually do the Casual Friday blog on Thursdays, when there’s no new wrestling that I regularly watch and I’m usually between paid gigs. But this week I was supposed to go help a pal work on her place, and the weather said maybe don’t do that, so my timeline’s all screwy. And that’s the thing I’ve found most frustrating about this whole creative endeavor – it’s really hard to get going if your brain just decides it’s not a writing day. Today clearly is. I can always tell when I sit down and the words just kinda flow from my fingertips. So I’ll knock this out, and then get to the paid stuff until Mo is up and at them, and then it’s back to pretend farm work. Those crops ain’t gonna water themselves! (Well, not until we invest in sprinklers.)
It’s been snowing since I woke up, and since my wife and I stayed up well past our bedtimes playing co-op Stardew Valley, I’m writing this from my couch on my laptop with Ditka and Trillian snoring beside me. I tend to worry that my mechanical keyboard is too noisy, and the office is right across from the bedroom. So I opted for the silent laptop and an ergonomically inferior writing setup. At least the coffee maker is closer.
We Watched Some Wrestling!
So I posted this to the blog on Tuesday night, just before turning on the TV to watch NXT Roadblock, the last WWE special of any kind before WrestleMania XL on April 6-7. And while I was right more than I was wrong, I was especially happy that my main event prediction panned out! Not only are we getting good-guy-Mafia-leader Tony D against Ilya Dragunov for the NXT Championship at Stand and Deliver, but we also saw the return of Trick Williams, first teased during the Tony D / Carmelo Hayes match as a theme song and distraction, but then gifted afterward by Tony himself. I’m really looking forward to Hayes and Trick, as this storyline has been brewing for quite a while.
The rest of the show was fine, with Shawn Spears winning in a squash, tag champs The Wolf Dogs and the Kabuki Warriors retaining, and Joe Gacy losing again to Dijak in an asylum match. That last one was a lot of silly fun, with spray painted tables and a box labeled “Do Not Open” that, when opened, launched a spring-loaded boxing glove into Dijak’s stomach.
Oh, and during that Kabuki Warriors match, Tatum Paxley and women’s champ Lyra Valkyria lost, but more importantly Roxanne Perez came out afterward to complete her heel turn, fully attacking the champ’s arm after her loss. I think it’s not too risky to say we’ll see those two at Stand and Deliver as well, with Paxley in her BFF’s corner.
The post-Sting era of AEW Dynamite brought with it a new set and new logos for both the show and the company, as well as a promo-heavy episode that served as a lite-reset after Sunday’s big PPV, which we talked about already. And while the first hour, admittedly, might have dragged a little bit, AEW more than made up for it in the back half of the show.
A fantastic Young Bucks segments led into a brawl between the brothers and Eddie Kingston, and when the numbers caught up to Kingston a coin drop confirmed the rumors, and Kazuchika Okada made his debut as an AEW performer. However, after suspending Hangman Adam Page for his actions on Sunday, and firing Kenny Omega from the Elite (because he wasn’t making his dates – because the man has been getting treated for diverticulitis!) the Bucks had an opening … and Okada established himself as the newest member of the group by hitting Eddie with a Rainmaker lariat! A great kinda swerve, letting the big debut happen alongside a heel…I guess it isn’t a turn, per se, but it was unexpected to see Okada debut as a villain alongside the clearly-loving-it Bucks.
We also got a helluva main event, with Will Ospreay following his first match as an AEW regular on Sunday with another banger, this time against Kyle Fletcher. Both guys put everything they had into this fight, and it was really as good a TV match as you can ask for.
Closing Up Shop
The weekend ahead has some good stuff, despite it only being the regular TV schedule for both AEW and the Fed. I think the Rock is scheduled for SmackDown, but don’t hold me to that. Rampage has a great announced card, and Collision looks pretty good too! We’ll recap all of those early next week, but for now it’s time to feed the fur-kids and get to writing. Have a great weekend!
If you have questions, concerns, or comments, drop 'em in the comments section below! And follow me on Twitter (X), Facebook, BlueSky and/or Instagram using the links on the right.
Thank you so much for reading. If you liked what you saw, consider telling your friends, mentioning Let’s Watch Some Wrestling on social media, or even buying me a hot cup of coffee using the Ko-Fi button. Have a great week, and I’ll see you back here next time, dear reader. Until then, Let’s Watch Some Wrestling!
AEW Revolution happened Sunday night, and while I’m certain I’m going to be watching it again, as it stands right now it’s the best show I’ve watched this year, as well as the best pay-per-view All Elite Wrestling has hosted in a while. That’s not to say the last few haven’t had some good moments – it’s just that everything on this card felt like it was building to that insane, wonderful, nearly perfect sendoff to The Man They Call Sting.
We’re on a bit of a tight schedule, so let’s get into a lil’ recap of what we saw!
The Let’s Watch Some Wrestling AEW Revolution Review!
Just so we’re keeping track, my current PLE/PPV record is .500. A perfect Elimination Chamber was preceded by an abysmal one outta six for NXT Vengeance Day and a half-and-half Royal Rumble. Hopefully it was just a rough start to the year, or people will start to doubt my incredible prognostication!
We’ve got eleven matches on the card per Wikipedia, although that includes a pair of Zero Hour matches. However, since we know they’re happening, they still count towards the overall record. The main card features six championship matches and another fight for a title shot. We’ve got a lot of predicting to get to, so ramblers, let’s get rambling!
Zero Hour Match: The Bang Bang Scissor Gang versus Planet Jarrett, Private Party, and Willie Mack in a twelve-man tag team match
We were right, the “good guys” won! It was a silly match, and one that was there to get a lot of guys on the card, but it was still pretty good! The finish saw Jay White get a pin on Willie Mack, and afterward Jay grabbed a mic and talked up the combined might of The Acclaimed and Bullet Club Gold, and teased a solo match for the Switchblade on March 13th. It was revealed later in the night that we’ll be seeing Jay White take on Darby Allin in Boston for Big Business, which should be an awesome match on a really important card for AEW.
Zero Hour Match: Julia Hart and Skye Blue versus Kris Statlander and Willow Nightingale in a tag team match
The good guys won here, too, but I guessed wrong on that front. Another fun match that was good, not great, but served a purpose. Sure, it could have been on any random Dynamite or Collision, but these women need time in front of a crowd to improve, and to see what works for them as they continue to work together in matches. Willow and Stat were cohesive throughout, and Julia Hart’s return to the ring, while not without some hiccups, reminded us that she’s evil and capable. Skye Blue continues to impress, and I’m thinking we’ll see some combination of these four in the weeks to come.
Well, despite my longing for an Adam Copeland return and heel turn, tonight really wasn’t the night for it. In hindsight, anything that happened on this show would have to be replayed out of the shadow of Sting’s retirement match, since that kinda loomed over everything. However, we did call the Christian Cage win, so that’s something!
Garcia paid tribute to the Icon with a cool, colorful scorpion jacket during his entrance, and he and Christian Cage had a solid match! Of course, interference by Killswitch, Nick Wayne, and Nick’s mom were enough to overwhelm Daniel and his pal Daddy Magic. Garcia had some really good offense near the end, but a Nick Wayne stunner allowed Cage to hit his Killswitch finisher and retain his title.
“I see Eddie retaining, earning that handshake…” You know, he did just that. This was exactly what it needed to be, with Kingston constantly coming back after wave after wave of offense. Danielson looked sharp, and there were several spots in the match where I thought he had it, but in the end the story really needed to end with Eddie Kingston getting his arm raised in victory by a defeated, and respectful (after a little playful will they/won’t they handshake) Bryan Danielson. Danielson even led the crowd in a full on standing ovation for Kingston as he stepped off the apron and allowed Eddie to soak in the arena’s love. It was really good, and if this is the last we see of these two, a fitting end to their rivalry.
Chris Jericho vs Wardlow vs Powerhouse Hobbs vs Lance Archer vs HOOK vs Brian Cage vs Magnus vs Dante Martin in an All-Star Scramble for a future AEW World Championship match
Our second big multi-person match of the night after the Zero Hour twelve-man was this scramble for an AEW Championship opportunity. Wardlow won, as predicted, but we had a lot of fun along the way. MEAT MADNESS lived on in spirit when Lance Archer, Powerhouse Hobbs, Wardlow, and Brian Cage cleared the appetizers and let the crowd enjoy a four-steak table, and the crowd meat-chanted in approval. The little guys had a chance to showcase their stuff as well, especially Dante Martin, but in the end those recent Wardlow promos wouldn’t have really held up if he didn’t pick up the win here.
“...Strong gets to be the guy to take the International Championship off of Cassidy after a second run that never quite reached the heights of the first…” Hey, I was right! This match was all about Orange Cassidy’s broken body, and from the moment Cassidy removed his jean jacket to reveal his ribs and back covered in tape, we kinda knew what was coming. Fortunately, if anybody’s moveset was custom-built to take advantage of a back injury, it’s Roddy Strong. The man can turn anything into a backbreaker, and he did in this match.
Cassidy put his all into this match, as always, but it was time for him to get some rest, and End of Heartache put the King of Sloth Style down for a three count. A clean win after a hard-fought match, and now we’ll see what the Undisputed Kingdom does with a full slate of victories coming out of this show.
Oh, and the post-match celebration for the bad guys gave us the return of Kyle O’Reilly! I don’t like to speculate, but Kyle looked kinda…gaunt? Pale? Not great? Regardless, he helped Strong and pals celebrate, but didn’t accept the UK shirt he was offered. We’ll see what develops from here, too!
FTR versus the Blackpool Combat Club in a tag team match
Betting against the BCC is a fool’s errand, and yet I chose to do that. Foolishly. Another bloody chapter in this rivalry saw Dax Harwood get real, real messy. It was violent, hard-hitting, and basically what we got the last few times these teams have met. Which isn’t a bad thing, although I’ll admit I’m over the BCC as a group. But with a tag team tournament looming in the coming weeks, I’m sure we’ll see both of these teams getting involved and maybe meeting one more time. It was a good, if a bit long, fight, and one that gave both teams plenty of chances to pull out a win.
Toni retained! It took distractions from both her butler and a cosplaying Mariah May, but the Timeless One held on, as we predicted. I loved the entrance of Mariah May as “classic” Toni Storm, and it took a second for me and my buddy to realize that wasn’t actually Toni. Mariah played her part well throughout, and I’m convinced that we’ll see her and Storm battle in the future – probably after Toni drops the AEW Women’s title and maybe goes even further off the deep end.
This match with Deonna Purrazzo just never reached the heights I hoped it would. After the admittedly thrown together stinker between Purrazzo and Madison Rayne a few weeks ago, I would have thought Deonna would have been motivated to really put on a show here. It was fine, even good at some points, but never really moved beyond that. And with the women’s division heating up and new additions (and a renewed focus) coming soon, the last thing anybody wants is to be left behind.
Will Ospreay versus Konosuke Takeshita
The match of the night and, on any other night, the match everyone would be talking about for months. If there’s any way you can watch just one match from this show … well, dammit, you should still watch Sting’s last match. But also catch this insane, brutal, fast-paced sprint! I’m incredibly biased towards Konosuke Takeshita, my sweet-faced Cinnabon son, but even without those cinnamon-scented glasses on I was just in awe at some of the stuff these two pulled out. There’s a sheer-drop brainbuster from the top rope that left Ospreay with a bruised butt and might have left lesser wrestlers in a crumpled heap.
Spanish Flys, gut-wrench German Suplexes from the new master of the move, poison ‘ranas…just, really, if you can find the means, watch this incredible match between two young performers with no reason to fight aside from a need to wow the crowd. And remember, everybody was mostly fine afterwards and Will has made a career out of making moves look worse than they seem for crowd investment.
It was incredible, and while Will Ospreay won like we’d predicted, it didn’t really matter in the end as both men earned the “Fight Forever” chants they were getting. After the match, Don Callis and Kyle Fletcher joined Ospreay and Takeshita in the ring, and we learned that Fletcher and Ospreay will be facing one another on Dynamite this week as Callis continues to book matches between his “family.”
Hangman has fully lost his mind and compromised his convictions at this point. In a match that really sold Samoa Joe as the indignant champion reminding Page and Swerve that he’s not to be pushed aside or taken lightly, Joe retained while Strickland proved he wants to win with some degree of respectability. Don’t get me wrong – Swerve Strickland is on a roll, and absolutely deserves to be champion, but not in a three-way match on a show that’s destined to be remembered for its main event and little else, despite a number of great matches.
At one point, Hangman doesn’t just bump the ref – already a replacement from a previous ref bump – he literally pounces on the guy, beating him before heaving him out of the ring. In the end, a series of finishers from all three participants led to Swerve getting dropped out of the ring, and Hangman falling to Joe’s Coquina Clutch. While it wasn’t quite the hara-kiri finish I was hoping for, it did serve to show that Hangman has fully committed to the anything-to-win mindset, while Strickland declined a chance to knock Page out with Prince Nana’s headgear in an effort to get a clean, undeniable win. It’s coming, just not tonight. Still, a good match in the unenviable spot between the main event and one of the best matches of the year.
“Good guys win, bad guys lose, we all try not to openly bawl.” Yup, yup, and yup. What a sendoff for the Icon, a bloody mess that started with some great video work and ended with Darby Allin just leaking blood from all over his back. A great video with Sting in an empty theater watching highlights from his non-WCW/WWE career led to his entrance into the arena. His sons, last seen getting beat up by the Young Bucks, led the crowd in cheers, dressed as Sting Classic and Sting Wolfpac, respectively. Stinger himself came out to Metallica’s “Seek and Destroy” and to the shouts and volume-raising of your humble author.
And then the mayhem began. Just the best kind of fun, a full-on plunder match that saw Sting’s large adult sons get revenge on the Bucks with a series of Stinger splashes on both Matt and Nick from, well, all the good guys. Tables, glass, and the tallest ladder AEW could find combined for some gnarly spots, the gnarliest of which was Darby Allin coffin dropping from that ladder in the ring onto a set of steel chairs with a pane of glass set up on top of it. And the resulting carnage took Darby out for a good portion of the match, with Darby’s entire back just covered in blood and broken glass.
As I think a lot of us hoped, the Young Bucks got to be the worst version of themselves after this. Attacks on both Ric Flair, who tried to defend Sting from the Bucks, and on guest timekeeper Ricky Steamboat kept the finish in doubt, and multiple superkicks and BTE- excuse me, EVP-triggers knocked Sting down, but not out. An incredible twist on the HBK/Flair line was unleashed, with the Bucks shouting, “We’re NOT sorry, we HATE YOU!” before double superkicks got a pinfall, but not a victory. Somewhere after an EVP-trigger got a ONE COUNT on the veteran, I think we all kinda knew he wasn’t going out on his back. And sure enough, a returning and bloodied Allin managed one last Coffin Drop onto Matt Jackson, allowing Sting to lock in the Scorpion Death Lock and finish the match, and his career, with a title defended and a victory earned.
Closing Up Shop
What else can I say? That match summed up Sting’s AEW run perfectly. It did exactly what that type of battle is designed to do – hide the shortcomings of an older performer, allow everybody to hit some insane moves and take some questionable bumps, allow the bad guys to look super evil, and then show that, at least in kayfabe, good always triumphs in the end. Maybe we didn’t need to see Darby Allin attempt to slice his entire back off, but if you don’t want that you don’t sign Darby for a match, realistically.
The Young Bucks deserved this match as much as anyone, and they’ll be able to build some quality bad guy stuff from here, as Darby will be relinquishing the tag team titles for a tournament coming up and I’m sure we’ll have some storyline bullying from our EVPs to come.
The celebration after the title defense was cut short, and it’s around 7am as I write this so I haven’t had a chance to look up Sting’s speech to the crowd and send off from the AEW locker room, but I’ve seen photos and I’ll link it below. It was incredible, well-done, and a fantastic end to an equally impressive show.
If you have questions, concerns, or comments, drop 'em in the comments section below! And follow me on Twitter (X), Facebook, BlueSky and/or Instagram using the links on the right.
Thank you so much for reading. If you liked what you saw, consider telling your friends, mentioning Let’s Watch Some Wrestling on social media, or even buying me a hot cup of coffee using the Ko-Fi button. Have a great week, and I’ll see you back here next time, dear reader. Until then, Let’s Watch Some Wrestling!
Hey, it’s Revolution Weekend! Before we get into things, I wanted to talk a little bit about the Stinger himself. This is a guy who has been on our little blue marble in the universe for over sixty years (!) and has been performing since 1985 (!!). For a little perspective, that’s the last time the Bears won a Super Bowl. Hell, my WIFE was born in 1985 – on Monday morning, for not just her but thousands of wrestling fans, the part of their lives where Sting isn’t a professional wrestler will begin. The part of Sting’s life where he was a wrestler – the part after his attendance of a WWF show in California, until his retirement nearly forty years later – will be over. He’ll be Steve Borden again, dad and husband and man of faith.
I revealed this little nugget to my wife and we immediately decided she’ll wake up Monday and reflexively put on Crow makeup. A snow machine will kick on whenever she enters the living room, and Metallica’s “Seek and Destroy” will become number one on her Spotify list. But I digress…
Sting has been as good a guy, both in kayfabe and in real life, as any pro wrestler I can remember. He’s one of those “never hear a bad word about him” dudes. I think that’s part of why Sunday’s show is going to be so special for so many of us. He’s a good person, going out on his own terms, and he’s probably one of the few who we believe when he says he’s done. Read this autobiographical article in The Players’ Tribune, and this one at the same site written by his AEW tag team partner Darby Allen, one can learn a lot about Sting.
For as much as the Chicagoland version of me is a CM Punk guy, Eddie Guerrero is always going to be my all-time favorite wrestler. While the first professional wrestling I ever saw was SummerSlam in 1990, when I got really into the sport it was watching WCW Monday Nitro in my friend’s basement – shoutout to Benny, Jerry, PJ, and Ed) around 1997. And Eddie was a big part of that. I didn’t realize until years later what similar personal stories Eddie and Sting had. Both men suffered crises of faith and battles with addiction. But both also did the work overcoming those demons, and eventually becoming two of the most beloved guys in their industry. Of course, Eddie’s story had a much sadder ending, passing away in a hotel room, his heart having suffered too much from the years of abuse. For Sting, getting to go out in a way fitting for a hero, whether that’s on his back or standing tall in victory, just feels like the best possible way to finish his legendary career.
One last thing. The Players’ Tribune posted the above YouTube video of Sting listening to voicemails they collected from the man’s family, friends, and fellow wrestlers. It’s sweet, but there’s a point that I think encapsulates how much he puts into his performance. He’s clearly getting emotional hearing all these nice things…and someone off screen must walk past and do the “Stinger point” at him – the Scott Hall style thing, you know the one – and he instantly pops back into Showtime mode, hitting them with the point back. It’s a little thing for him, something he’s probably done hundreds of thousands of times for hundreds of thousands of fans. But Sting knows what it means to someone else, and just flips a switch to give them a moment that’ll stay with them forever.
That’s what we’re losing on Sunday night. Not just another performer, but one of the last true Icons of the industry. A man who genuinely cares about the fans, and who gives his all to make that ticket price worth it to everyone in attendance. And while it’s ultimately his call on how he goes out as Revolution ends, I’d love to see him ride off into the sunset, undefeated in All Elite Wrestling, standing tall over the kind of sleazy heels in the Young Bucks that he’s eventually overcome his whole career.
To me, that’s Sting.
A Quick Recap of the Weekend in Wrestling
Friday’s SmackDown gave us The Rock in full heel mode, but added some wrinkles to both WrestleMania and the road we’re on to get us there. In a (LONG) promo to open the show, Roman Reigns quickly tired of the crowd not properly acknowledging his presence, to the point where Roman was ready to dip out. After a clearly frazzled Paul Heyman explained that they couldn’t leave until The Rock made his appearance, Rocky joined the Bloodline to call out Cody Rhodes, and to indirectly allow for two main even matches to be locked in. A tag team match between Rhodes, with Seth “Freakin” Rollins, and The Rock, joined by Our Tribal Chief, would decide whether Cody gets a title shot on night two of WrestleMania – albeit with “Bloodline Rules,” whatever that means.
So Roman was basically put into a match he didn’t necessarily want. BUT he also didn’t allow the promo to end with Rock calling the shots for the family. When Rock went for the segment-ending “If ya smelllllll…” Roman literally pushed the mic from Rock’s mouth. Reigns said he’d do anything for the family, but he needed one thing from The Rock – he needed Rock to acknowledge him. Rock paused, removed his sunglasses, and did so. But the tension was there, even after the two embraced and Rocky admonished the fans for booing his willingness to do anything for family as well. The tension was there, and I’m hoping this may even lead to a match for the position of Tribal Chief, whether it’s at next year’s ‘Mania or at another big event like SummerSlam.
The rest of the show was good, with a lot of match-building and storyline growth. LA Knight was featured wandering the backstage area, hunting for AJ Styles until he ran into SmackDown GM Nick Aldis, who informed him that AJ was home to prevent just this confrontation. Knight was adamant that he’ll get his hands on Styles one way or the other, and I think we’ve all but locked in this match for WrestleMania as well.
Tiffany Stratton got a big win over Naomi, which was a great way to build off of Tiffy’s incredible performance in the Elimination Chamber. It sucks that it came against Naomi, but maybe this leads to a full-on program between the two superstars.
The Kabuki Warriors battled a definitely-not-evil Dakota Kai and Bayley, only for Kai to turn on Bayley in an expected move that honestly felt a bit rushed to me. Still, they needed to establish Bayley as a lone wolf babyface, abandoned by her former friends and proteges, and they did that. Now let’s see those duct-taped Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Bayley Buddies at ‘Mania for Bayley’s match against IO SKY!
Bron Breakker absolutely destroyed fellow NXT wrestler Xyon Quinn with a spear and a pinfall, keeping the big fella’s momentum strong going into both ‘Mania season and next week’s NXT Roadblock TV special.
The following Carlito versus Santos Escobar street fight was a lot of fun, and featured the return of Rey Mysterio after Carlito and his LWO pals were laid out by Escobar’s Legado de Fantasma. Rey’s grey beard poking out of his Jason Baker-designed hard mask is a cool look, and the good guys celebrated the returning hero after a victory.
After Pete Dunne and Tyler Bate met Aldis to lobby for a WrestleMania rematch against the Judgment Day for the Tag Team championships, we got a good main event that saw Randy Orton defeat Austin Theory, with the always-great Kevin Owens on commentary. Theory and his buddy (for now) Grayson Waller attacked after the match, only to eat some finishers and allow the good guys to stand tall to end the show.
On Rampage, CMLL continued their invasion/collaboration with AEW, as we saw Claudo get a hard fought victory over Rugido, and Magnus qualify for the All-Star Scramble (RIP Meat Madness) over Matt Sydal. Lance Archer teamed with The Righteous for a quick squash, and beloved former champ Riho made her return to the ring in a decent match with Trish Adora, who absolutely should be on TV more often. I don’t watch enough Ring of Honor but I have heard she’s put some good matches on over there.
We also saw Ruby Soho and Angelo Parker continue their on-screen pairing, only for them to get wrecked by Saraya and pals. I like that we still have a story that’s basically Rampage-centric, giving fans a reason to tune into the fastest hour of wrestling on TV.
Collision was up next, but aside from the opening three-way that saw Dante Martin earn his way into the All-Star Scramble, and the main event that featured several of the guys that will be on the Revolution card, it wasn't super eventful. We did see Mark Briscoe attempt to set Buddy Matthews on fire with the entrance pyro, though! That was cool.
And that’s that! All caught up. It’s time for…
The Let’s Watch Some Wrestling AEW Revolution Preview!
Just so we’re keeping track, my current PLE/PPV record is .500. A perfect Elimination Chamber was preceded by an abysmal one outta six for NXT Vengeance Day and a half-and-half Royal Rumble. Hopefully it was just a rough start to the year, or people will start to doubt my incredible prognostication!
We’ve got eleven matches on the card per Wikipedia, although that includes a pair of Zero Hour matches. However, since we know they’re happening, they still count towards the overall record. The main card features six championship matches and another fight for a title shot. We’ve got a lot of predicting to get to, so ramblers, let’s get rambling!
Zero Hour Match: Julia Hart and Skye Blue versus Kris Statlander and Willow Nightingale in a tag team match
I’ve been talking up Kris Statlander a lot recently, because she deserves it! She’s talented, creative, and has a personality that rarely gets the spotlight it should. Willow is fantastic as well, if still a little rough from time to time, but that will smooth out with experience. Julia Hart is just getting back from injury and Skye Blue has had some decent outings lately, including a win over Statlander on Dynamite after kinda-manager Stokely Hathaway distracted Stat by offering her a chain to attack Skye.
All that is to say that the bad guys will likely pick up the win here, allowing Hart to look strong in her return to the ring while also building the rift Stokely has introduced between Nightingale and Statlander.
Zero Hour Match: The Bang Bang Scissor Gang versus Planet Jarrett, Private Party, and Willie Mack in a twelve-man tag team match
What’s there to say about a tossed-together twelve-man tag team match? It’ll be fun, and I’m sure there will be some good spots to go along with the assumed tension that will lead to (maybe) a trios title unification when the Bang Bang Gang remembers that they’re just better as bad guys. I’ll go with the good guys winning, but not without a miscommunication or two.
FTR versus the Blackpool Combat Club in a tag team match
I can’t help but think that the victory by the BCC on Wednesday’s Dynamite foreshadowed a few events. Maybe it’s wishful thinking on my part, but I see FTR winning here and (spoiler for several paragraphs down) Danielson losing to Eddie Kingston as well. What I’m hoping is that those losses lead to some self-reflection on the part of the Blackpool Combat Club, with the members realizing the BCC might be better off separating for a while. Regardless, these guys put on a hell of a show on Dynamite, and I’d expect the same on Sting’s send-off show.
Will Ospreay versus Konosuke Takeshita
This might be our match of the night. Ospreay’s first performance as an AEW wrestler, Takeshita getting a big stage against a world class opponent, and the Don Callis family there to … well, okay, they don’t add much to the fight. But Callis aside, these two have the ability to tear the house down, and barring interference or some other shmozzy finish, it might be a contender for match of the year. I think Ospreay starts his All Elite run with a win, but that won’t take anything away from my sweet Cinnabon son Takeshita.
Maybe the two even shake hands afterward, before Callis orders the other family members to attack Ospreay. That sends Will on a face run that can take him all the way to London in August, and maybe allows Will Hobbs and Takeshita to defect alongside him.
Chris Jericho vs Wardlow vs Powerhouse Hobbs vs Lance Archer vs HOOK vs Brian Cage vs Magnus vs Dante Martin in an All-Star Scramble for a future AEW World Championship match
This is our replacement for the Meat Madness match we were teased but had cruelly taken away due to Miro and Keith Lee unable to participate. Honestly, it’s nice that Tony Khan wanted all participants of the big MEAT matches to be healthy and take part in Meat Madness, so I’m fine with waiting for Miro and maybe Keith Lee to get cleared. That’s speculation on my part, but those are the names I remember garnering MEAT chants, however as we’ve discussed I also have the memory of a goldfish. But I digress!
This scramble, the breakfast replacement for the full dinner that Meat Madness would have supplied, features a more diverse lineup – a continental breakfast, if you will. It’s light, but it’ll pass the time and leave you just full enough to get through the day…ok, I’m taking this metaphor as far as it’ll go. Wardlow has been cutting some passionate promos lately in between destroying jobbers in squash matches. Between those and Adam Cole’s initial claims that Wardlow will win the AEW World Championship just to hand it over once Cole is healthy, I think Wardlow is picking up the win here. Maybe he holds onto that title shot for a while, until Cole is ready to get back in the ring. Or maybe he just cashes it in at the next pay-per-view, giving the champ another win and setting up a face turn for the big, meaty Wardlow. Who’s to say?
I have said a lot about the whole Undisputed Kingdom / Devil storyline, which means I can say less here! The whole faction feels like a placeholder without MJF on television, but if they’re trying to make the best of a dumb situation, AEW is going to start putting things in motion to make this a dominant group.
That means Strong gets to be the guy to take the International Championship off of Cassidy after a second run that never quite reached the heights of the first, but still provided plenty of great matches. Cassidy’s been favoring his back since the attack after his match on Wednesday, and Roddy is known for some great counters into backbreakers, so this should be another good one…just not one that Cassidy walks away from as champ.
I’m seeing a lot of folks online thinking this is an obvious win for Bryan Danielson, but I disagree. Danielson really seems to love the builds to his matches as much as his ability to tell a story between the ropes, and he’s found a similar skill set in Eddie Kingston. Once the handshake stipulation was established, I felt like this is Kingston’s moment. On a card where even if the good guy wins in the main event, we’ll all be a little down knowing what that means, Kingston winning gives another good moment for the crowd to cheer the good guy overcoming the odds, and the bad guy getting what he deserves. I see Eddie retaining, earning that handshake, and Danielson getting mad or getting down on the BCC.
Daniel Garcia has been so damn impressive in the past few weeks. His in ring work has been amazing, he’s improved immensely on the microphone, and he’s gone from the guy struggling to get a point in the Continental Classic to a technician who deserves respect – and this title shot.
However, if he’s respected, then Christian Cage is there to remind him that he had a father…and his father is dead. I should not find that stupid line as funny as I do, it gets me every time. Anyways, the suspicious disappearance of Adam Copeland after his beating from Cage’s Patriarchy crew makes me think one of two things: either Copeland intentionally stepped away to allow Garcia to get the full focus during this match with Cage, or Cope is coming back and blaming Garcia for his suffering. I’m kinda hoping for the latter, as a full rivalry between Copeland and Garcia would be fun as hell. It would also kinda align Christian and Copeland, maybe giving us that final tag team run many fans have been hoping to see.
Since I’m hoping for the motorcycle-helmeted surprise attack a la ECW One Night Stand 2006’s main event, I also have Christian Cage retaining his TNT Championship. Garcia has some friends that will help neutralize Killswitch and Nick Wayne, but he’ll still fall victim to a spear and a big reveal after the pinfall.
I enjoy the “Timeless” Toni Storm gimmick – the black and white camera, the hammy acting, the vague innuendo, it’s all great. I’ve also argued from the start of its popularity that Storm hasn’t needed a championship to keep the character strong. However, now that she’s had a good run, losing that title could send her into fun new directions, i.e. absolutely losing her goddamn mind. That’ll be fun when it happens, probably shortly after Mercedes Moné debuts. It’s not happening tonight.
Deonna Purrazzo has had a lot of fun with this rivalry, and I think both women have really gotten their story over. The whole mentor/mentee thing and the matching tattoos have worked well, and Purrazzo has had more good matches than bad in her introduction to AEW fans since her debut. If I have a problem with her, it’s that Purrazzo’s wrestling character just doesn’t work as a good guy. She keeps the whole “Virtuosa” thing, with the shooing hand motions and better-than-you attitude, but fans are expected to cheer her over Toni because Toni is having a bit of an identity crisis?
I don’t mean to complain. Storm and Purrazzo will put on a good match, Storm will retain, and she’ll eventually hand the belt over to Mercedes. Hopefully the debut of a real, legit superstar in the women’s division means everybody gets more TV time – you know, rising tide lifts all ships – and we continue to see Storm’s great character work.
The story that we’ve been seeing over the last few weeks has been really interesting. Hangman has been incredibly single-minded in his pursuit of Swerve, and I think that’s going to play into how he wrestles this three-way match. Swerve wants a championship, and he’s willing to do anything to get it, as evidenced by the whole breaking-and-entering-and-child-endangerment thing a while back. Samoa Joe rightfully seems disrespected by the two men who are getting a shot at his title. And these three mindsets could lead to an interesting finish on Sunday.
I’m thinking Joe retains, and here’s why. Hangman, as intent on preventing Strickland from winning a title as he is on winning one himself, will cost Swerve the match at Page’s own expense. Sacrificing himself to keep the belt off of his enemy, as it were. I believe Swerve deserves a championship, and he deserves to win it in the biggest possible way. That can’t possibly happen on a night when an industry icon is hanging up his boots. So, we carry this storyline on a little longer. We allow another battle between Page and Strickland. Maybe we even let Wardlow take the title off of Joe, only to drop it to a waiting and highly-ranked Swerve. Who’s to say? All I know is I wouldn’t put a world title change on a retirement night where it’s not even the main event, and therefore Joe keeps his belt.
It all builds to this. It’s a long night with ten matches preceding it, but this building will explode once Sting’s music hits. We spoke at length about Sting, so let’s give a little thought to the other guys in this match, and how a win or loss affects them.
The Young Bucks, relishing their roles as evil vice presidents, have already done a lot with their characters since their return from hiatus. It’s been said and written that they lost their smiles, to borrow a phrase from Shawn Michaels, and that they weren’t really having fun as wrestlers. This heel turn seems to have helped get them back in a better mindset, and a win would cement them as the worst bosses since … well, most wrestling bosses, really. They would get a lot of mileage from sending Sting out on his back, and some might argue that the old way of putting a guy over as you leave is what Sting would want to do. Darby would also benefit, with a long rivalry with the Bucks growing out of this match.
I also will tell you that I personally don’t care about any of that. You send the fans home happy, you let the good guys win, you allow the legendary man who gave us all more than any of us deserved over the last 39-plus years to stand tall and walk off a champion. Does it make booking difficult, forcing Darby to find another partner or relinquish the title? Not really. It’s pro wrestling, you can always think of a way to get a belt off someone. Force Allin to partner with mystery guys every week, or have him respectfully give up the titles that he won with the Stinger, moving on from tag team action to focus on his own career, refreshed and revitalized by a mentorship from one of the greatest to ever step in the ring.
I won’t be mad either way. I understand wanting to put guys over, and I also understand a business wanting to thank a guy who meant so much to it. So what I’m really hoping for is spectacle. Get a helicopter to bring Sting in. Sign Metallica to play “Seek and Destroy.” Do a full-on shmozz where the Bucks reveal that they’ve put a bounty out on Sting, and then have every other performer on the roster surround Sting and Darby in Sting masks. Hell, pull the “I love you, I’m sorry” from HBK and just let Sting no-sell it. I have a hundred of these in my head, but at the end of the day I just like seeing the good guys win in the end. It’s the naive kid in me that keeps me watching this stuff. Good guys win, bad guys lose, we all try not to openly bawl.
Closing Up Shop
And that’s it! Kind of an emotional rollercoaster today, huh? I’ll be back on Monday to do a short recap, and we’ll see how things went. Have a good Sunday and enjoy Revolution!
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